Veteransson

Our Souls at Night brings veterans Robert Redford and Jane Fonda together for a heart-felt movie, set in a small town in Colorado. The movie is directed by Ritesh Batra and based on the novel with the same name by Kent Haruf. Our Souls at Night opens with the widowed Addie (Fonda) knocking on widowed Louis' (Redford) door one night with a strange request: will you sleep with me? And by this she does not mean 'sleeping' but really, just sleeping. For the companionship. This of course shakes up the daily routine Louis is so used to. The opening shots show that he already accepted his story in this world to be over, he was not looking for nor expecting any change. But with Addie's request, Louis and she start a new chapter in their lives.

The writers did not go looking for great obstacles and inciting events that could shake up their developing relationship. While great obstacles and events are needed for a movie to remain interesting, this movie somehow does not suffer from it. Now why is that? One reason is the focus of the story. Although Addie and Louis are somewhat older, the movie's focus is not on people acting old. The obstacles they face have (almost) never something to do with the physical complications of their age. Instead, the movie focuses on the emotional baggage people with a lifetime of experience and regrets carry. There is no place for big inciting events since they have already taken place over the course of their lives. Their developing relationship is no walk in the park either. They do face some obstacles, mainly in the from of Addie's son Gene (Matthias Schoenaerts). Another reason why this movie works without a high amount of tension or conflict is the acting. Redford and Fonda are superstars and, yet they portray their characters so brilliantly that they manage to make you forget you're watching Redford and Fonda. There's a lot of subtle, brilliant acting. By keeping it simple, the movie manages to deliver a remarkable story about being old and still being able to get a fresh start in your final stage on earth. It is a refreshing view on an elderly relationship and does not fall for useless clichés or unnecessary drama. That being said, while the movie succeeds in what it wants to be, it will not blow you of your socks. The movie does benefit from the simplicity of the story, but is however also limited because of it. The plot does not take any big risks and therefore, does not get the payoff such risks might deliver. You will absolutely want these old people to be happy, there is no doubt about that. But this is mainly thanks to Redford and Fonda's performances and not because of the story. The characters are better and more important than the plot in this one and that is what stops this movie from being perfect. You will root for these people because they are so human, not because the stakes are high.

Our Souls at Night is thus a beautiful movie, told and performed with heart. It is a great one to get you away from the oversupply of Hollywood action and superheroes. You might finally get to feel something again with this one.

Sam Mendes returns with another picture following the lives of suburban families in America. In this one, the story is set in the 50's and takes place in Connecticut. No Kevin Spacey this time to steal the show, but Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet make up for that. They respectively portray Frank and April Wheeler who form a couple after meeting in a bar and move to suburbs after April gets knocked up. The movie opens with this bar scene, where they both meet and April tells Frank that she wants to pursue a career as an actress. Next, we cut to a play April is in and from the look on Frank's face it wasn't a good one. The two of them get into a fight on their way home and it becomes clear that they aren't the same people that met in a bar.

The main themes of the movie, as it is mentioned in the movie, are emptiness and hopelessness. More precisely, the fight against it. We first saw Frank with some kind of confidence and excitement about the future on his face, but now he's not the man that would be noticed in a bar. As he goes to work he blends in with all the other men going to work, wearing their hats and gray jackets, just like him. He has lost his distinctiveness. April wanted to act but now has to settle for a life as a housewife. They are both unhappy, lost in the emptiness and hopelessness. The American dream grants everyone the right to the pursuit of happiness, but happiness is what the Wheelers struggle with, which leads to tensions and bad decisions within their household.

This particular struggle is depicted perfectly by Sam Mendes. You can feel and see the emptiness in their lives, also thanks to some brilliant performances. DiCaprio is perfect and gives one of his best performances, which says a lot. The way he expresses his frustrations was amazing, the way he desperately tries to hold back his anger reminded me of a cover trying to stay on the cooking pot while the damp of the coiling water pushes it away. Kate Winslet is as brilliant as DiCaprio is, she gives a devastating, but brilliant performance. She won that year an Oscar for her performance in 'The Reader', but she deserved it for this one as well. DiCaprio wasn't even nominated. Why, I do not know.

The movie is devastating, because it is so relatable. There are so many people living in their seemingly perfect lives, but desperately hoping for something more. Every year they grow older as their regrets start to accumulate. The Wheelers want to escape from this rut and decide to move to Paris, but deep down they know they're stuck, and will never become what they wanted to become back when they were young, back in that bar. Besides this devastating look on the suburban life, there are a few lighter moments. Sam Mendes luckily lightens the mood from time to time by pointing out the silliness of this suburban life in a subtle comedic way. Only, we could have used more of this.

Another strength of this movie, that simply has to be mentioned, is Michael Shannon. He plays this character, who's unfortunately only in the movie for a couple of scenes, that suffers from mental issues. If telling the truth is a mental illness, then this guy is a complete lunatic. With his character, the movie cleverly makes fun of the suburban families for being afraid of the truth to an extent that they send people who actually tell the truth for once to a mental institution. All right, there was something off with this character, perfectly portrayed by Michael Shannon by the way. It is however a shame that his character wasn't more present in the movie. The movie could have benefited from his refreshing presence.

The themes in this movie are intriguing and relatable, the screenplay did an excellent job in making us understand the inner desires and motivations of the characters. The cinematography was terrific as well, and so was the entire ensemble cast. Yet, somehow this depressing tone of the movie became a drag at times. Some lighter moments could have made this movie easier to watch. '12 Years a Slave' had also this continuous depressing tone, without any lighter moments, but still managed to be absolutely perfect. 'Revolutionary Road fails at this, because even though the overall message is devastating and conveyed perfectly, the story is unfortunately not interesting enough to make your care for 2 hours.

'99 Homes' is directed and co-written by Ramin Bahrani, who so far mainly made low-budget indie movies with a relatively unknown cast. These movies never got into the mainstream spotlight, despite overall good reviews. This time, with Hollywood stars Michael Shannon, Andrew Garfield and Laura Dern added to the cast, Bahrani finally received his well-deserved attention. The movie even got a Golden Globe nomination for Michael Shannon's terrific performance.

The story follows Andrew Garfield's character, Dennis Nash, who lives together with his mother (Laura Dern) and son (Noah Lomax) outside of Orlando. The movie takes place in 2010, in the aftermath of the mortgage and international financial crisis. Dennis works as a roofer but jobs are scarce and he fails at paying off his loans. This results in realtor Rick Carver (Michael Shannon) knocking at the Nash family's door, evicting them from their family home.

Both Michael Shannon and Andrew Garfield steal the show in this one. Garfield is a British actor but is very credible in delivering an Orlando accent. He gives his character certain mimics and tics that make him feel real and credible as an uneducated roof worker. Michael Shannon shines at being an asshole, he's an unlikeable asshole realtor but somehow, I found myself rooting for him at times. Shannon seems to be in control of every muscle he uses to express himself and gives one of his best performances. The American housing crisis affected lots of families, which is shown in the movie. The tragedy these evicted families went through is depicted realistically with focus on the emotional toll this sudden change of environment had on the people. Thankfully, this drama was not captured for the sake of the drama, as you often see in Hollywood movies. The best part of the movie was the contrast of these poor families with the predator Rick Carver. He feeds off the situation in morally and legally questionable ways, but isn't a two-dimensional antagonist. He explains why he does what he does and even though you might still not agree with him, at least you understand his motivation. He's not just an asshole for the fun of it or to make the protagonist's life more difficult.

The screenplay of '99 Homes' unfortunately stops this movie from being great. The start is promising, after his eviction, Dennis Nash desperately wants his home back and basically sells his soul to the devil when he starts working for the realtor who kicked him out of his own home. But after this, every beat of the movie became predictable. The story did exactly what you'd think it would do and forgot to surprise. It more or less surprised me once however at the end of the second act, but only because it contradicted the ultimate desire of the protagonist. I thought this particular choice in the story was a cheap way of making some drama. The ending, the final climax was again predictable and unsatisfying.

'99 Homes' is still a good movie, with great acting and an intriguing plot. The drama depicted in this movie is handled with care and respect to those who have lost their homes. Unfortunately, the screenplay was a little too easy, too convenient and therefore predictable. It never surprised in a good way.