Category Archives: Romance

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.

Movie Review: A Big Bold Beautiful Journey

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The new movie “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” is another example of an innovative idea, never been done before, trying to be groundbreaking over a good story, good screenplay, excellent dialogue, or great new film.

This idea about a rental car company that only has defunct Saturn cars (the company went out of business in 2009), with a GPS device that leads people to portals where they can revisit different parts of their lives, is one of the craziest I have ever seen. This movie stars Colin Farrell as David and Margot Robbie as Sarah who meet at a wedding, then part ways, and then, due to the GPS in their rented Saturn cars, meet again, and make stops as they drive, visiting doors that are standing in the middle of nowhere that are portals to significant times in their lives. This is a somewhat interesting new idea, that just does not work as a movie, much like last year’s Tom Hanks movie “Here,” which has a similar concept that also did not work. Aside from the new concept not working, this movie is just way too boring in too many areas.

The good parts of this mostly failed movie are at the end when both characters talk about their previous painful relationship breakups and heartache, reminding all of us that, hand in hand with love and relationships, comes the potential for huge risk both financially and emotionally.

The Rotten Tomatoes rating of 37% is very accurate this time around and I agree with this rating. One has to acknowledge the risk of a new idea like this, but in the end, the entire concept just did not work. This one is a solid pass.