LET HIM GO : Tuesday 1st December 2020.

'LET HIM GO' is an M-Rated American neo-Western drama offering that I saw earlier this week at my local multiplex. Directed, Co-Produced and written for the screen by Thomas Bezucha whose sporadic film making career takes in just three credits being 'Big Eden' in 2000, 'The Family Stone' in 2005 and 'Monte Carlo' in 2011. This film is based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Larry Watson. Originally slated for a US release in late August, this date was pushed back due to COVID-19 to early November and has so far taken close to US$9.5M at the Box Office. Now getting a release in Australia from last week, the film has generated largely positive Reviews. 

Set in the early to mid-'60's in rural Montana, retired Sheriff George Blackledge (Kevin Costner), lives with his wife Margaret (Diane Lane), their 26 year old son James (Ryan Bruce), his wife Lorna (Kayli Carter) and their newborn son, Jimmy. James has been training a horse for some time but admits that the horse isn't quite there yet. After breakfast he takes the horse out to check on some fence lines on their property. While Margaret is giving baby Jimmy a bath in the kitchen sink, the horse comes galloping back to the house, without James. Margaret alerts George, who jumps on his own steed and goes in search of James, only to find his still limp lifeless body down near a creek. It is assumed that James was thrown from the horse, and broke his neck in the process. 

We then fast forward three years and Lorna is getting married to Donnie Weboy (Will Brittain). Present at the wedding are George and Margaret, and young Jimmy who is now three years old. No one is in attendance from the Weboy family. In the local town Donnie, Lorna and Jimmy are living in a sparsely furnished rental apartment, which Margaret and George visit from time to time to meet with their grandson. One day while out shopping, Margaret observes from her car, Donnie physically striking both young Jimmy and Lorna. Sometime shortly thereafter Margaret has baked a cake which she takes around to Lorna's apartment, only to be told by the landlady that the family hurriedly packed up their belongings and left at midnight the evening before, with no indication as to their future whereabouts.

 

Needless to say this gives Margaret grave concerns for Jimmy's safety. So much so that she decides to pack up the car with essential supplies and go off in search of Lorna and Jimmy and bring them back to their Montana ranch. George arrives home and is confronted with Margaret sat at the kitchen table ready to leave. She explains what she saw, the fact that they have exited town quick smart under cover of darkness, and her fears for the safety and wellbeing of Jimmy. Reluctantly George agrees to go along with Margaret's plan, and they leave together.

They head out of Montana and into North Dakota stopping off at Forsyth and then carrying on to Gladstone where they are told they can find Donnie's uncle, Bill Weboy (Jeffrey Donovan) who may be able to shed some light on the family's whereabouts. Their initial meeting out on the street is a little stilted, but Margaret is steadfast in her determination and refuses to be intimidated by a Weboy. Bill invites them into his house and calls his sister to arrange a family dinner that night at the Weboy homestead. He tells George and Margaret to be back at his place at 4:00pm that afternoon, because they would never ever find the homestead on their own. They duly arrive at 4:00pm and George follows Bill closely behind all the way there to the remote homestead.

At dinner, they meet the Weboy family, including Blanche (Lesley Manville) the intimidating and disturbing matriarch of the clan and her other two sons Marvin and Elton (Adam Stafford and Connor Mackay respectively). Blanche's charms do not last long as the dinner conversation progresses and George begins to feel increasingly uneasy with the situation they find themselves in. When Donnie, Lorna and Jimmy arrive home late, Margaret embraces Jimmy and attempts to carry the young lad out of the house but this very rapidly goes south. Not feeling welcome anymore, they leave the Weboy house.

The next day George and Margaret meet Lorna during her lunch break from work at a local cafe. They convince her to leave with them. She then plans to leave her home at midnight, and tells them to wait for her at their hotel, saying that she'll be there by 2;00am and that they are to leave immediately because the Weboys will be hot on her tail, and they'll have no hesitation in killing her. At about 2:00am instead of Lorna, the Weboys having supposedly caught Lorna sneaking out, come knocking on the door at the hotel. Margaret tries to convince Blanche by telling her about the physical abuse he did to Lorna and her child, but Blanche instead tells Donnie to hit Margaret. George intervenes and later pulls out his pistol but is overpowered by the Weboy brothers who outnumber him four to one. Blanche pulls out a hatchet from a sack and orders Donnie to hack of his fingers so that he'll no longer be able to point a pistol at them. Donnie complies with his mothers wishes and brings down the hatchet on George's restrained hand, cutting off his four fingers. The Weboys leave.

After visiting the local hospital and having emergency surgery on his hand, the local Sheriff (Greg Lawson) arrives to hear George and Margarets side of the story having already heard the Weboys. The Sheriff sides with the Weboys and tells George that it will be in his best interests to leave. They do so but due to George's poor health and injury, have to make a stop at Peter's (Booboo Stewart) house, who is a Native American nineteen year old man they had met while on the way to the Weboys' estate and whom they befriended. Peter lives alone in a wooden shack out in the prairie with only his horse for company. 

That night, George takes the car and leaves for the Weboys house alone. After finding a shotgun propped up against the back door with two new cartridges close by and starting a fire using a dumped can of fuel, he slinks through the house in the dead of night seeking Lorna. Locating Lorna, he keeps Donnie, who was sleeping beside her, at gunpoint and asks her to leave with Jimmy. In a moment of distraction Donnie alerts the others, but Lorna is stopped by Bill. Blanche comes hurriedly out of her bedroom hearing the commotion brandishing a pistol, but accidentally kills Bill by shooting him in the face at point blank range. She then pushes Lorna down the stairs, leaving Jimmy clinging to George, who in a split second throws Jimmy over the banister into the arms of Lorna below. In that moment Blanche shoots George. Marvin and Elton appear smelling burning and go off to investigate the fire which is now taking hold. Returning, George takes control of Blanche's gun and shoots Marvin and Elton dead as they mount the stairs.

Margaret and Peter, who had followed George on horseback, meet up with Lorna clinging onto Jimmy outside the Weboy house. They then go to help George out of the house, but are halted by Blanche. Blanche shoots and kills George. With Peter's help, Margaret blasts Blanche with the shotgun, killing her outright. The fire is now raging through the house, as Peter urges Margaret to leave George where he lays. Margaret whispers fond memories into George's ear to send him on his way and exits the house as she, Peter, Lorna and Jimmy watch the house burn and collapse to the ground. Bidding a fond farewell to Peter    she then takes Lorna and the sleeping boy and leaves in the car, heading for home as day breaks.  

This 1960's revenge fuelled emotional and at times violent neo-Western lingers in places but is carried through by the heft of the performances of the three principle leads - Costner, Lane and Manville. The Direction is solid enough with sweeping vistas of snow clad mountains, river gorges, the plains and the big sky all adding weight to the storyline of an ageing couple marred by their own recent tragedy venture out of their comfort zone to protect their grandson from the clutches of a tyrannical family. Costner and Lane share an on-screen chemistry that is clearly evident in their performances ranging from affection and grumpy toward each other to both sharing in their mission to rescue the young lad, and Manville shines in the few scenes she does have as the menacing matriarch akin to Ma Baker. 'Let Him Go' offers up a simple premise, but is well told, well acted, well filmed even if it does labour in places.

'Let Him Go' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

MOLLY'S GAME : Tuesday 6th February 2018.

'MOLLY'S GAME' which I saw on Tuesday evening this week is Written and Directed, in his fimmmkaing debut, by Aaron Sorkin, who has here based his first film on the memoir 'Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker' by Molly Bloom. The Molly Bloom in question here is a former American poker entrepreneur who in April 2013 was charged with running a high-stakes poker game that originated in the Viper Room in Los Angeles and attracted wealthy individuals and business tycoons, sports figures, Hollywood celebrities including Tobey Maguire, Ben Affleck, Leonardo DiCaprio and Macauley Caulkin amongst others, and the Russian Mob. She was cleared of many charges and sentenced in 2014 to one year of probation, a $1,000 fine, and 200 hours of community service. The film Premiered at TIFF back in early September last year, and went on release in the US on Christmas Day 2017 and has received much critical acclaim for Sorkin's screenplay and the performances of its principal cast. Costing US$30M to make, the film has so far grossed US$50M, has received much positive press, and has garnered so far three wins and 33 other nominations, some which are still at the decision pending stage including the Academy Award and BAFTA nod for Best Adapted Screenplay. Aaron Sorkin's other big screen writing credits include 'A Few Good Men', 'The American President', 'Charlie Wilson's War', 'The Social Network' (for which he won an Academy Award), 'Moneyball' and 'Steve Jobs', as well a television's highly successful 'The West Wing' series amongst others.

And so based on a true story, this crime drama stars Jessica Chastain as Molly Bloom, a world class moguls skier who while qualifying for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games suffers a serious injury so ending her Olympic aspirations. Licking her rounds and instead of moving to law school as was her original plan, she moves to Los Angeles and gets a job as a bottle service waitress at a night club. She's making an OK wage plus tips, and in time meets Dean (Jeremy Strong) who runs an unsuccessful real estate business by day, but a hugely successful underground poker game by night. At first Molly becomes his office manager and Girl Friday, running chores and needless errands, but soon he gets her involved in running his poker games, all in secret and not to tell a soul. Going in she is clueless about the game, but quickly learns the language, the hands, the stakes and the personalities involved in Dean's games which include the rich and famous, movie stars, sports players, music personalities, wealthy businessmen from whom she starts to earn big tips.

As Molly begins to ingratiate herself to the regular players so the tips become from more frequent and more sizeable. She is good at what she does and keeps everything above board, maintaining meticulous records and strong (strictly business) relationships, all the while learning the intricacies of the game and the players. The most successful of whom is Player X (Michael Cera) playing a composite of some high profile Hollywood A-List Actor types. Molly aims to keep on the right side of Player X, for he has the pulling power to attract more high wealth players to Dean's games. In time however, Dean observes that Molly is becoming more independent at managing and running the games and is making plenty of money in tips - a fact that he is secretly jealous with. And so Dean delivers Molly an ultimatum, which is not to her liking, and so Dean fires her.

Molly has made a substantial sum in tips over the years, and so is hardly destitute. Musing over her new unemployed status, she decides that she is good enough at running such poker games, has a network of players who would gladly follow her, and has the credibility to make a real go of it. And so she rents a penthouse in a hotel, hires the tables and the staff to run the games, organises the catering and a well stocked bar and begins to secretly spread the word about her high stakes poker games. Player X, along with those others from Dean's games, defect over to Molly's game, and she becomes increasingly successful amassing more money from tips. All is good, until she learns that Player X has covertly been covering the losses of an initially conservative but increasingly compulsive poker player who has lost up big in recent weeks, ultimately costing him his marriage. Molly is none too pleased with Player X's unethical behaviour and the two fall out. Player X returns to Dean's game, taking all the other players with him. Overnight, Molly has gone from hero to zero!

Molly decides upon a change of scenery and heads to New York to begin a new underground poker game with a new bunch of high net worth individuals. Again, Molly proves successful, amassing enough players to be able run multiple games every week. However, in time things begin to take their toll. Despite her apparent success Molly is unable to cover her losses, when players lose and cannot afford to pay up. Her dealer convinces her to begin taking a percentage of large pots so as to be able to recover her potential losses - a fact that she is at first reluctant to undertake, but sees the sense in it and agrees.

One of her players is arrested and convicted for running a Ponzi Scheme which in turn leads to an investigation into Molly's poker games and who the other players involved were/are. At about this time, the pressure is mounting and Molly takes to drugs and alcohol to settle her nerves and ease the stress. Another player, Douglas Downey (Chris O'Dowd) who is infatuated with Molly, introduces wealthy individuals from the Russian Mafia to her game, although Molly is unaware of their mob connections. At the same time Molly is approached by the Italian Mafia who offer to coerce money from players who have racked up debts with Molly, but she politely declines. A few days later at the start of the two week Christmas break period, Molly is attacked in her apartment where she is held at gunpoint, badly beaten, robbed of her cash and jewels and her mother threatened with her life.

Having nursed her wounds and remained holed up in her apartment for two weeks over the Christmas break gradually healing, Molly is ready to return to her poker games. A phone call comes through from Downey in a panic warning her that the FBI is about to descend upon her, as a result of his informing on her. All of her assets are seized and she returns home to live with her mother Charlene (Claire Rankin).

Two years later, and Molly has published her book recounting her story, her rise, her downfall and naming a number of names associated with her games. In the meantime, Molly is arrested by the FBI together with thirty or so others as part of a money laundering scheme and illegal sports gambling operation in cahoots with the Mafia. She seeks out the support of Charlie Jaffey (Idris Elba) a high profile and very expensive New York lawyer who is reluctant at first to take her case. He however, agrees to help her after learning that she has over US$2M in unclaimed gambling debts and after reading her book which indicates to him that there is insufficient evidence pointing to criminal activity or wrongdoing to warrant a prison sentence.

While this is going on and the trial is awaited, Molly's estranged father Larry (Kevin Costner) who is a noted clinical psychologist, seeks out Molly having read about, and heard about her case in the news, in an attempt to reconcile with his only daughter. He admits that he was over bearing, domineering and demanding of her as a child, but that it was out of love and wanting the best for her in life. However, Larry has a skeleton in his cupboard that only Molly knew about, albeit subconsciously, and this is why he treated her differently to his two older sons who have both gone on to carve out very successful careers for themselves.

Bloom was looking down the barrel of a maximum penalty of ten years in prison, and a US$1.5M fine. On the day of the court hearing, Molly pleads guilty to a lesser charge for her involvement in the operation and was sentenced to a years probation, a US$1,000 fine, and 200 hours of community service much to her and Larrry's surprise, with the Judge practically dismissing the case on the grounds that there was little evidence to demonstrate any real criminal activity.

'Molly's Game' is a solid Directorial debut for Sorkin and has all his usual trademarks of rapid fire dialogue; sports, celebrities and underworld dealings; a strong female protagonist in Chastain and an equally strong support from Idris Elba. The film runs long at 140 minutes, but it moves along at a good pace and seldom leaves you wanting. You do however, need to pay attention as the film darts back and forth from the present day back to Molly's early childhood years learning to perfect her skiing moves under her ever present, demanding and relentless father, and her rebellious teenage years that influenced what she was to become. Then there is the language of the game itself and the images that flick up on the screen of winning hand combinations; then not to forget the confident quick paced dialogue delivered by lawyer Charlie Jaffey in conversation with Molly or defending her case to the Prosecutor's or plea bargaining; and then finally the back to front nature by which the film plays out which we see in flashbacks. The film is entertaining enough and well worth the price of your ticket entry for Chastain's performance alone if nothing else, and to see her sparring with Idris Elba, but in between the moments of razor sharp quickly delivered narrative and exposition, and the action of the poker table and its myriad of players, the film does drag its heels somewhat which elevates the film to the ranks of top card game movies, but doesn't surpass them.

-Steve, at Odeon Online- 

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 19th May 2016.

Last week I ran the introduction to the latest releases segment with a small feature on the Marvel Cinematic Universe Box Office successes, with the promise that I would do likewise with the DC Extended Universe this week. With 'Batman v. Superman' for DC now at a worldwide Box Office haul of US$870M and 'Captain America : Civil War' for Marvel at US$957M, and both still out on general release, the stakes are high in both camps, and the expectations of what is to come even higher. With that in mind here is the low down on the DC filmography with the Superman and Batman franchises reigning supreme and underpining that universe, here are the numbers :-

• 'Superman' - December 1978 - US$300M - with Christopher Reeve in the title role.
• 'Superman II' - June 1981 - $101M - with Christopher Reeve.
• 'Superman III' - June 1983 - US$60M - with Christopher Reeve.
• 'Superman IV' - July 1987 - US$11M - with Christoper Reeve.
• 'Superman Returns' - June 2006 - US374M - with Brandon Routh in the title role.
• 'Man of Steel' - June 2013 - US$668M - with Henry Cavill in the title role.
• 'Batman' - June 1989 - US$409M - with Michael Keaton in the title role.
• 'Batman Returns' - June 1992 - US$267M - with Michael Keaton.
• 'Batman Forever' - June 1995 - US$336M - with Val Kilmer in the title role.
• 'Batman and Robin' - June 1997 - US$238M - with George Clooney in the title role.
• 'Batman Begins' - June 2005 - US$359M - with Christian Bale in the title role.
• 'The Dark Knight' - July 2008 - US$1,003B - with Christian Bale and #24 highest ranking film of all time currently.
• 'The Dark Knight Rises' - July 2012 - US$1,085B - with Christian Bale and the #16 highest ranking film of all time currently.
• 'Batman v. Superman' - March 2016 - US$868M - with Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill in the title roles and the #45 highest ranking film of all time currently.
• Outside of these, there have been 'Catwoman', 'Constantine', 'Watchmen', 'Jonah Hex', 'Green Lantern' and 'The League of Extraordinary Gentleman' plus a host of other characters from the equally rich source material, some of which have performed reasonably well at the Box Office while others have not. Additionally, there have been numerous animated feature films, television films, short films and television series dating all the way back to the early 40's.

What does the future hold for the DC Extended Universe - already either due for imminent release, filming, in pre-production of on the slate there is : 'Suicide Squad' due August this year; 'Wonder Woman' due in June 2017; 'Justice League : Part One' due in November 2017; 'The Flash' due in March 2018; 'Aquaman' due in July 2018; 'Shazam' due in April 2019; 'Justice League : Part Two' due in June 2019; 'Cyborg' due in April 2020; and 'The Green Lantern Corp.' due in July 2020. Much to get excited about.

And so what is coming your way in the week ahead? Four new films, that's what! First up is another Marvel offering, but outside of their Cinematic Universe, but nonetheless #9 in a hugely successful franchise that sees the resurrected grand-daddy of all mutants go head to head in the world of the 20th Century, and there's only one team that can stand up and save the world. Then we have a film of transferred memories and the hunt for a package that will save the world, starring three fellas who were last together on the big screen in Oliver Stone's 'JFK'. Following on from this we have a comedy drama about a mother/daughter relationship that sees well meaning Mum going too far with the smotherly love only to be told back off - and so she channels its elsewhere, with surprising consequences; and wrapping up a doco of the musical kind definitely with strings attached!

With four new offerings, and still great content on general release as Reviewed and Previewed between these pages, get out amongst it this week to your local cinema, and when you have sat through your movie of choice, feel free to share your thoughts, observations, and ratings below this or any other Post in the Comments Box below. Enjoy your film.

'X-MEN : APOCALYPSE' (Rated MA15+) - the eagerly awaited ninth film in the hugely successful 'X-Men' franchise is now upon us with high expectations given how the more recent films in the series have performed. With Bryan Singer back in the Director's chair having also Directed the series opening two films 'X-Men' and 'X2' in 2000 and 2003 respectively, with 2014's 'Days of Future Past' too, it seems that this instalment is in safe and confident hands. In the meantime there has been 'The Last Stand', 'Origins : Wolverine', 'First Class', 'The Wolverine' and this years 'Deadpool'. Counting those previous eight films, the series has so far made US$3.82B from a combined Budget of US$1.08B, with 'Apocalypse' costing US$234M to bring to the big screen. 'Deadpool' has be the most lucrative so far returning US$762M from an outlay of just US$58M compared to 'Days of Future Past' as the next best which returned US$748M from a US$200M outlay.

And so to this next instalment we see 'Apocalypse' (Oscar Isaac) - the first and most powerful mutant worshipped as a God since time began is both immortal and invincible having amassed the power of many other mutants along the way to becoming all powerful. Having been betrayed by his worshippers, he was entombed for centuries and his followers 'The Four Horsemen' destroyed. Now waking from a forced restful slumber in 1983, the newly energised Apocalypse soon realises that the world has forgotten him, and it has changed in ways that are far from his liking. Deciding to destroy the world and rebuild it to his own vision, he enlists four new horsemen - Psylocke (Olivia Munn), Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Archangel (Ben Hardy), and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) to support his cause and bring about the destruction needed to rebuild a new world order. With the fate of our little blue & green planet hanging in the balance, Professor X (James McAvoy) and Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) lead a young team of X-Men to thwart their evil foe and save the Earth. Also starring Nicholas Hoult as Beast, Tye Sheridan as Cyclops, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, Kodi Smith-McPhee as Nightcrawler with Rose Byrne, Hugh Jackman and Lucas Till. Let the battle commence!

'CRIMINAL' (Rated MA15+) - this action thriller Directed by Ariel Vromen has seen mixed reviews from around the traps for its US$32M Budget for which it has so far returned US$27M having been released Stateside in mid-April, and given the ensemble cast that stars. Essentially CIA Agent Bill Pope (Ryan Reynolds) is killed on the job while escorting a hacker informant to a safe house. Desperate to find this hacker who it seems can engage all the worlds nuclear warheads at will, Pope's next line of command Quaker Wells (Gary Oldman) reaches out to Dr. Mahal Franks (Tommy Lee Jones) a pre-eminent neurosurgeon who has developed a way of transplanting the memory of a dead man into a living one. Franks believes there is only one person who can undergo such treatment, and that person is convicted criminal Jericho Stewart (Kevin Costner). And so begins a cat and mouse game involving implanted memories, the CIA, a dead mans family, and an anarchist on the hunt for a package hidden somewhere safe that only the dead man's memory can reveal. Sounds completely plausible and rational. Also starring Gal Gadot as the dead Agents wife.

'THE MEDDLER' (Rated M) - Witten and Directed by Lorene Scafaria this is a dramedy that was Premiered at TIFF in September 2015, released in the US towards the end of April, has received strong critical acclaim, but this is yet to transfer into anything resembling serious Box Office takings. Nonetheless, here we have Lori Minervini (Rose Byrne in her second release this week) a still single  successful screenwriter living in LA when her recently widowed beloved Mother Marnie (Susan Sarandon) decides to up sticks and relocate from New Jersey to LA to be closer to her darling daughter. When Mum comes on too strong with the positive advise, interference and persistent meddling in Lori's life, it is time to draw the line, and so Marnie finds new ways to channel her positivity, optimism and generosity to help others change their lives for the better, with surprising results for all concerned. Also starring J.K.Simmons.

'HIGHLY STRUNG' (Rated M) - Scott Hicks latest foray into the world of music and cinema opened the Adelaide Film Festival in October last year, and this week gets its general release. Fitting that it should premier in Adelaide as this is where the Australian String Quartet are based and have been going strong there for the last 30 years. Hicks explores the world of stringed instruments, the power and the passion behind those that play them, the desire of those to own them, how they are made, what they stand for, where and how they sound the best, and the function that each member of the quartet holds. It's a story of drama and beauty, passion, obsession and possession into a world of classical music that many of us would otherwise pass by.

With four very different films once again, promising (almost) something for everyone, there'll be no reason not to catch a movie in the week ahead. When you have done so, share your thoughts, and until then - I'll see you at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-