Category Archives: Drama

Amazon Prime Movie Review: Oh. What. Fun.

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The new streaming movie on Amazon Prime Video, “Oh. What. Fun.”, is a comedy about the holidays and the challenges a mother, Claire, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, faces every year to get everything ready for Christmas, along with her husband Nick, played by Denis Leary. There is the arrival of her three children, Sammy played by Dominic Sessa, Channing played by Felicity Jones, and Taylor played by Chloë Grace Moretz. An ongoing competition with her neighbor Jeanne, played by Jeanne Wang-Wasserman, over who has the best decorations both inside and especially the outside of their houses. Some scenes of this ongoing competition are funny, mainly the interactions between Claire and Jeanne as they try to top each other with decorations and Christmas gifts. One scene with Claire defying Jeanne’s request to not have giant Christmas balloons on her lawn this year was one of the better parts of this film.

The rest of this story has to do with Claire’s three children and their respective relationship problems. Taylor is a lesbian and has a major misunderstanding with her girlfriend, resulting in their breakup during their visit. Sammy was dumped by his wife, mainly over his lack of desire to ever find a job, and Channing and her husband Doug, played by Jason Schwartzman, are having ongoing marital problems during their Christmas visit.

One of the most impressive things about this above-average comedy is the long list of relevant and successful actors, most of them in relatively small parts, compared to their previous movie roles, proving again how difficult it is to get a great role and stay relevant in Hollywood. Felicity Jones hit some huge high points in her acting career with “On the Basis of Sex” (2018), and last year’s (way too long) “The Brutalist”. For Michelle Pfeiffer, this movie is one of her first leading roles in many years.

There is a “Home Alone” moment when the family was scheduled to see a local performance amnd Nick and his daughter Channing think that the other person is taking Claire in their car, and she is left behind, setting the stage for a long road trip when Claire out of anger and disgust just drives from Atlanta Georgia and winds up in Burbank California on the set of a daytime TV show, hosted by a woman named Zazzy Tims, played by Eva Longoria. This last part of this story, for the most part, does not work, and seems more like a gimmick than a logical end to a Christmas comedy movie like this.

The very low 35% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes are justified as this film misses the mark in too many areas, starting with the obvious, it’s just not funny enough. One of the harshest reviews is from Peter Travers: “Oh, What. Crap. This lump of coal in our holiday stocking entraps Michelle Pfeiffer and is flat, stilted, lazy and so stretched out with Xmas clichés that you want to scream, bah-humbug.” While I think that this is too harsh a review, unfortunately, there are too many reviews that are this negative. No comedy that is not funny enough can be recommended, so I rate this movie a solid pass.

Movie Review: Hamnet

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The new movie “Hamnet” is a fictional account of William Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, who died at age 11, and of Shakespeare’s relationship with his wife, Agnes, played by Jessie Buckley, and their three children, as the couple also had two daughters.

This story is a stark reminder of what life was like during the 1500s and 1600s, when there was very limited medical knowledge, and the majority of people lived in squalor and abject poverty – including Shakespeare and his entire family. Shakespeare’s wife gave birth without the help of any doctors, with her first birth alone in the woods. Her second birth was with a few relatives while giving birth to twins, a girl, Judith, played by Effie Linnen, and a boy, Hamnet, played by James Lintern.

The main part of this story was that William Shakespeare’s ambition to be a playwright was greater than his desire to be with his family, so Shakespeare, played by Paul Mescal, was constantly leaving for London to run his acting company. These absences became more depressing as this story continued, causing problems with his wife and especially his son, over time making Shakespeare’s constant leaving seem very cruel. Why get married and have children when you only care about writing and producing plays somewhere else? Why could Shakespeare’s family not travel with him to London? This idea was never considered in this story.

Shakespeare’s absences are speculation from the screenwriter and director Chloé Zhao, as there is no proof that Shakespeare abandoned his family for this writing and directing career in London. This is a fictional story that is well acted with powerful and emotional scenes that will very likely give actress Jessie Buckley an Oscar nomination, and, in my opinion, she will win for best actress this year.

This movie is very slow at times, and a little too long, it can be very depressing for a number of reasons, but the main reason to see this film is for the acting of Paul Mescal and mostly for Jessie Buckley. I agree with the high 86% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and give a solid recommendation for this film.

Movie Review: Eternity

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A movie about what might happen in the afterlife has not been a common idea in many years. The last one is the very good film written and directed by Albert Brooks, “Defending Your Life” (1991). This new one, “Eternity” starring Miles Teller as Larry, who dies after choking on a small pretzel, while his wife Joan played by Elizabeth Olsen is slowly dying of Cancer and is about 80 years old tries to cover new ground on this fundamental question for all of humanity.

In this story, the afterlife is like a giant Airport, where an A.C. (afterlife counselor), played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and John Early as Anna and Ryan, greet you when you arrive and then take you through all the rules you need to know before you can select your eternity.

It turns out that Joan was married once before to a young man who was killed in the Korean War, Luke, played by Callum Turner and two months later she married Larry and spent the next 67 years with him.

The rest of this movie, after they all arrive in this afterlife Airport, is waiting for Joan to make a decision on who she wants to spend eternity with. Unfortunately, this one decision that dominates this movie does not seem to be a strong enough premise to keep the audience’s attention for the entire two hours. This also includes the somewhat predictable twist at the end of this story.

Attempts at humor mostly fall flat, and the story is slow and boring in too many areas and too long. There are some small good parts, with much of the dialogue coming off like a B movie. There is not not enough to recommend here, and I do not agree with the too high ratings of 77% on Rotten Tomatoes, with my rating a 50% and a solid pass.