The new movie “The Menu” succeeds in one very big area. It is far different than any movie most of us will ever see. But trying to be so different will never make any film great or even good. This movie goes from one new strange and weird idea to the next strange and weird scene, then on to the next one. Then finally some insane ending, considering all that came before, makes very little sense.
A group of very rich couples all congregate on some isolated Island, somewhere in the world, to experience a dinner given by one of the most highly respected chefs in the world. Everything is going fine as far as the impressive food until one of the workers commits suicide by shooting himself. Then they all find out that they will be dying at the end of the dinner. Then all the men in the congregation have to run out onto the island, at night, and the workers in the restaurant try to find and capture them. Surprisingly, nothing really comes out of this idea – continuing the strange “trying to fool the audience” theme of this movie.
Ultimately, this movie is far too weird and strange – across the board – to ever recommend. The high rotten Tomatoes rating of 89% makes absolutely no sense. The only upside is the long list of named actors who agreed to make this mostly bad and weird movie, including Ralph Fiennes, Judith Light, John Leguizamo, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Janet McTeer. It is even harder to believe that all of these named actors would agree to make this movie after reading the script.
I cannot recommend a movie that is all about being so different, rather than actually being good and entertaining. I rate The Menu a solid pass.
The “Me Too” Movement is now five years old. The phrase “Me Too” was coined in 2006 by activist Tarana Burke, but it was not until 2017 that actress Alyssa Milano was the first to urge all victims to share their experiences on social media. Then the movement exploded during a standup act with comedian Hannibal Burris who called Bill Cosby a rapist. The movement then expanded even further with movie producer Harvey Weinstein – who is the subject of the new movie “She Said”. The Me Too movement was a unique moment in history because many victims of sexual or work harassment were given strength in numbers to come out against so many well-known celebrities. Many of these celebrities, including Matt Laurer, Kevin Spacey, and Bill O’Riley no longer have careers in their chosen profession. Several of these famous and formerly successful people have also faced legal prosecution.
A lowlife like Harvey Weinstein is simple to understand. He is ugly and throughout his life was rejected by women countless times. Over the years his hurt over being constantly rejected turned from depression to anger and then rage. It could be argued that Weinstein’s huge success as a top movie producer could possibly be his unconscious way of getting even with so many good-looking women who rejected him. There is no better profession where an ugly man with power and influence could use his leverage to sexually harass women who desperately wanted to be an actress or wanted to stay in the highly competitive movie industry. Weinstein had the ability to make or break any woman’s acting career including famous actresses, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rose McGowan and even Ashley Judd. All 3 of these actresses are referenced or appear in this movie and have accused Harvey Weinstein of ruining their careers.
At the end of this film, due to the strength in numbers so many women were given due to the “Me Too” movement, 82 women accused Weinstein of sexual harassment or rape. Weinstein is a person devoid of any empathy for any other human being. He is justifiably paying for decades of ruining the lives of so many people and will spend the rest of his life in jail. He is also a person who was at the top of the entertainment world and was called “A God” by Meryl Streep during a Golden Globes award ceremony a number of years ago (see video below). How times have changed. One amazing thing about men like Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein is that they say that large numbers of women are all lying and they are telling the truth. How or why any lawyer would take their case is another mystery, apart from the legal representation they can afford.
This movie is mostly about a long series of interviews with a large number of Weinstein victims, including both actors and employees of his movie production company Miramax. She Said reminds me of the movie “All the Presidents Men”, released in 1976 about the investigation and interviews leading to the resignation of Richard Nixon due to Watergate in August 1974. The stars of this story are Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan who play the real-life reporters of the New York Times Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor who broke the Weinstein case, leading to him being convicted and sentenced to 23 years in prison. Other actors in this very good drama include Andre Braugher and Patricia Clarkson who play executives of the New York Times. Weinstein still faces more trials in Los Angeles and London. Considering Weinstein is already going away for 23 years and is 70 years old, seems a waste of money to contest any of these cases.
The Rotten Tomatoes ratings for She Said are a very high 86% and I agree with this rating with a strong recommendation.
Very often the best films are about the simplest of stories. This is true of the new movie “Armageddon Time”, which is about an 11-year-old Jewish Boy in 1980, who is having trouble in school and is best friends with a trouble-making black boy in his class. Their teacher is rude, especially to the black boy Johnny, played by Jaylin Webb and the main character of this story Paul, played by Banks Repeta – one of the most unusual names I have ever seen. They are caught smoking weed in the bathroom and run off on their own during a class trip to the Guggenheim museum, but for some unexplained reason, they never get into trouble after they take the subway home and were missing from the group. I consider this a glaring hole in the screenplay, surprising in the middle of this mostly strong story. Paul is constantly bullied by his brother, which is hard to watch at times. Paul’s mother Esther, played by Anne Hathaway and her husband Irving played by Jeremy Strong are good in their roles but their characters seem overwhelmed by all that is going on and living with Esther’s father Aaron, played by the great Anthony Hopkins. There is also a very small part in this film where Jessica Chastain is playing someone naked Maryanne Trump who gives a school speech. There is some suggestion that she could be part of the Trump family.
Overall this story is relatively lightweight, with nothing that significant happening, other than some scenes of childhood bigotry and the plight of Johnny, who is a young black boy with dreams of being an astronaut and slowly realizing that because he is black his options in life are limited compared to the white students around him. For me, the likability of Paul, played by Banks Repeta steals this movie and is the main reason for the positive reviews.
This movie has a strong cast and good acting and despite the small story, I do recommend this film for its simplicity and many lessons about the difficulty of childhood.
The Rotten Tomatoes ratings are a middle of the road 75% and I mostly agree with this rating.
A Screenwriters Perspective: Current and Past Movies. 