evanston_dad

A no-nonsense and pretty satisfying neo-noir that will satisfy those who need a fix of that grungy, early 1970s aesthetic.

Robert Duvall and Joe Don Baker play two friends who team up to rip off a crime syndicate after the leader of the syndicate calls in a failed hit on Duvall. Neither of them really plays a character so much as a mood, and the same can be said for Karen Black, Duvall's girlfriend who's along for the ride. Black has nothing to do. This movie doesn't even try to pretend that women exist as anything other than to be window dressing, and it literally disposes of them when it has no need for them. But I'm not sure anyone should be looking to a crime thriller from 1973 if they want female characters with agency.

This movie isn't ambitious enough to be great or really even memorable, but it's that same quality that makes it an easy watch. And hey, it's got Robert Ryan in it, which automatically bumps it up at least one point as far as I'm concerned.

Grade: B+

Ok, so not the complete disaster Internet reviews had prepared me for, but this movie is.....not very good.

I've never seen the Akira Kurosawa movie "High and Low," but now I really want to. I can't imagine that Spike Lee's version does anything but mutilate Kurosawa's vision, so maybe that's why this one is so hated. Maybe many of those who have given it terrible ratings are comparing it to the original.

This movie has some things going for it. Denzel Washington and Jeffrey Wright try to deliver good performances, but they're hampered by bad writing and pacing. The event that kicks off the narrative -- the kidnapping of a music mogul's son -- is the stuff of any parent's nightmares, but there's no sense of urgency to it and no one ever seems too bothered by it. When they get the call that their son's been kidnapped, his mom, played by Ilfenesh Hadera in what is easily the film's worst performance, reacts the same way someone would if the school called and said her son had snuck out to go to a Yankees game. Washington's character arc, as near as I can tell, is that he learns money isn't everything. I love it in movies when ridiculously rich people learn that life's not all about material wealth without having to let go of any of their material wealth. In the last part of the film, Washington goes rogue and finds his son's kidnapper on his own, which gives us the movie's most embarrassing scene, a rap-off between Washington and A$AP Rocky (who I wanted to punch in the face), followed by the least exciting subway chase ever filmed.

Something is off from the second this movie starts, and that something is that Denzel Washington is just too old for this role. I know part of the point of his character is that he's starting to feel old and irrelevant, but really this character should have been in his 50s, not 70, which is Washington's real-life age, especially with a 40-year-old wife and a high school age son. I mean, dude, if you're 70 and feeling like you're getting too old for the music industry, just retire with your millions of dollars and be done with it. I don't see the problem here.

Ok, so I know I started this review by saying the movie had some things going for it, but after writing down all my thoughts about it I'm not sure what those things are. I mean I wasn't ever completely bored by it, so I guess that's something. Maybe it's just that Spike Lee is a good enough director that nothing he makes is ever going to be a total waste of time.

Grade: C.

I'm not a religious person, so the story of Christ doesn't have any default, built-in resonance for me. I have to be convinced to care about the story and the characters in any version I'm watching, but despite my lack of belief it still has potential for me to be compelling because I find the concept and the politics fascinating. But Pier Paolo Pasolini's lauded take on the material is detached and journalistic, which was the point since it's inspired by Italian neo-realism, but which also means that this version brings nothing new to the story and didn't have anything to say to me.

I've never understood why no version, save my favorite one, the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar," treats Jesus as if he were an actual man dealing with actual human emotions. Because wasn't that the whole point? The Jesus in this is a blank slate, and his constant brimstone and fire lecturing is actually irritating. Seriously, I wouldn't have followed this guy.

The movie creates some striking images, but it mostly just reminded me why I'm not religious in the first place. It conflates blind following with moral superiority, and what the world certainly doesn't need any more of are blind followers.

Nominated for three Oscars in 1966: Best Black & White Art Direction, Best Black & White Costume Design, and Best Scoring Adaptation or Treatment.

Grade: B.