Anora

by Robert Cavanaugh | Dec 20, 2024 | Movie, Movies

Anora

Dec 20, 2024 | 705 words | Movies

The trials and tribulations of a 23-year-old exotic dancer from Coney Island are not the kind of thing that usually prompts me to buy a movie ticket. But the new film Anora is a 2024 Palme d’Or winner that my wife and a close friend of hers decided we should go see, so off we went.

The movie opens in a strip club, and I readily admit to enjoying the sight of nearly-naked women sauntering around as much as the next fellow. It satisfies my prurient interest. And it reminds me of the deep and abiding admiration I have for the wonderful job God did in creating the female form.

But instead of offering us a scene or two with a few provocative close-ups before moving on, the director leans in with an extended sequence of interaction between the attractive dancers and their average-Joe clientele, and between the individual working-girl, just-scraping-by dancers. There doesn’t seem to be anything particularly revelatory in these encounters. After about twenty minutes of this I found myself wondering out loud, “Is there a story here?”

Things only marginally improve once our heroine, Ani, settles on a young Russian with plenty of cash to burn. He is smitten because she is of Russian descent herself and speaks a little of the language. After a few nights as a run-of-the-mill regular customer, he asks Ani if she works “outside,” and she obliges him by starting to make house calls. We get to watch Ani execute her standard strip-tease rituals by daylight, in the young man’s palatial and seemingly abandoned home.

Boredom was getting the better of me and I was on the verge of getting up and leaving, prepared to check out the feature playing in the theater next to ours. Then things took a turn, as this scrawny lad surprises Ani (and us) by asking her to marry him.

The pair continue their free-wheeling debauchery and along with a group of his friends take their non-stop partying to Vegas, where Ani and this goofy kid tie the knot. He is so incredibly immature and she is so worldly in that gritty exotic dancer sort of way, we can’t wait to find out what comes next.

This loppy, 21-year-old is the spoiled son of a wealthy Russin oligarch and once news of the Las Vegas nuptials leak, the oligarch’s state-side henchmen/babysitters are deployed to talk some sense into their wayward young charge, and see to it this quickie marriage is just as quickly annulled.

Ani spends the rest of the movie vigorously rejecting the notion her marriage is not real, and her protestations are simultaneously entertaining, endearing and a bit delusional, since her newly-minted spouse suffers from a bad case of arrested development. Maybe Ani can see this, too, but she can’t quite bring herself to admit it.

The movie is utterly believable, respects its characters, and avoids cliché. For instance, once the henchmen come into the picture things do not take a violent turn, at least not in the conventionally ominous way. Ani is actually the one who perpetrates what little violence there is, and in a comic twist the Russian henchmen/babysitters prove to be her victims.

The film also avoids sentimentality. Towards the end, when Mr. and Mrs. Russian oligarch finally make an appearance, having rushed to the States in their private jet, there is a brief moment when I thought the high-class no-nonsense mother might take a shine to our scrappy little blue-collar exotic dancer, seeing in her a kindred spirit. But the screenwriter had other, far more interesting ideas of how to bring this story home.

The final scene is quiet and unexpected and speaks volumes. I don’t want to ruin it for you by giving my interpretation. But if you want to drop me a line, I will be happy to share my thoughts.

As the screen went dark and the credits rolled to the sound of windshield wipers in the background, the same sound that served as the backdrop to that unique, wordless final scene, I was reminded of my one-line review of Saturday Night Fever from 1977. To paraphrase that review, Anora may start out in the strip club, but it doesn’t end up there.

Robert J. Cavanaugh, Jr.

www.robertjcavanaughjr.com

bobcavjr@gmail.com

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Tuesday (The Movie)

by Robert Cavanaugh | Jun 27, 2024 | Movie, Movies

A Philadelphia-area native offers a layman's perspective.

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Robert J. Cavanaugh, Jr.

Tuesday (The Movie)

June 27, 2024 | 214 words | Movies

It is the small quiet films where nothing much happens that seem to make the biggest impression on me. These little projects earn next-to-nothing at the box office, so among other things I come away grateful that such trifles can still find a way to be financed and produced.

Tuesday is the latest such movie to land on my list of all-time favorites. It is advertised as a meditation on mortality, so right away you know this is not going to be a summer blockbuster.

It is an intimate two-character chamber piece focusing on a daughter who is placid about her impending death due to a debilitating disease, and her mother who is not so placid about the coming loss.

Death is also physically represented in the form of a colorful macaw that can morph from very small to quite large, and is given to the occasional laconic remark.

The talking bird takes a little getting used to at first, but by the final act the viewer understands what the screenwriter is up to, and the parable-like device is employed to great effect in bringing this moving story to a satisfying conclusion.

Lola Petticrew plays the daughter, Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays the mother, and Diana Pusic wrote and directed, in her feature film debut.

Robert J. Cavanaugh, Jr.

www.robertjcavanaughjr.com

bobcavjr@gmail.com

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The Nest

by Robert Cavanaugh | Jun 13, 2024 | Movie, Movies

A Philadelphia-area native offers a layman's perspective.

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Robert J. Cavanaugh, Jr.

The Nest

June 13, 2024 | 420 words | Movies

With it being so hard to find something worthwhile to watch these days, even with all these choices, I wanted to give a shout out to a quiet little movie I streamed last night that was just what the doctor ordered.

The Nest was a theatrical release in 2020 and apparently did next-to-nothing at the box office, based on a simple Google search I did this morning. That same internet search offers various review of the film, one of which describes it this way:

“The Nest is a rich, layered drama, the kind of quiet film sorely missed these days. Thanks to career-best performances from Jude Law and Carrie Coon and Sean Durkin’s excellent direction. The Nest is something truly special.”

I completely agree. Here is more from that same review:

“Each scene of The Nest feels meaningful, even when there are very few words spoken; it’s a tense rich drama, the stuff of films from decades past. There is a pivotal fight scene between Rory (Jude Law) and Allison (Carrie Coon) that feels like a trip to the theater, but I mean than in the best way possible; rather than cutting between close-ups or dramatic angles, the camera lets the actors do all the work.

“They get in each other’s faces, they fully react, they breathe and think and feel. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen in recent memory, and it shows a deep trust from the filmmaker in the performers. This is really the heart of The Nest, a film that doesn’t feel the need to dazzle or put on a display.

“At times, it almost feels like a series of increasingly tense vignettes, portraits of a family in crisis, of the way a series of small explosions leads to one nuclear in scale. Every development feels wholly earned, and the last scene – not a particularly loud or crazy one, but perhaps my favorite in the film – is a quiet conclusion, though not necessarily a resolution, a quietly astonishing finale few filmmakers ever attempt (and those that do rarely get it right).”

I hope this does not spoil anything for you; this movie was so good I just had to share. The only other thing I will say is this: The Nest may not be what you are looking for on a Friday or Saturday night. But last night was Wednesday, and this movie was perfect for me in every way.

P.S. The perceptive insights quoted above belong to Jade Budowski writing on the Decider web site.

Robert J. Cavanaugh, Jr.

www.robertjcavanaughjr.com

bobcavjr@gmail.com

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Fair Play: An Appreciation

by Robert Cavanaugh | Oct 30, 2023 | Movies, Politics

A Philadelphia-area native offers a layman's perspective.

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Robert J. Cavanaugh, Jr.

Fair Play: An Appreciation

October 30, 2023 | 488 words | Movies, Sexual Politics

After making a splash at the Sundance Film Festival in January, the new movie Fair Play received only a limited theatrical release in September before its streaming debut on Netflix earlier this month. It is billed as a drama/mystery/thriller, and after watching it last night I would add the word “tragedy” to that list as well.

The writer-director Chloe Domont has delivered a richly detailed story of young love gone awry in the workplace, as told from the woman’s point of view. The male lead (Luke) finds it increasingly difficult to cope with the female lead’s (Emily) professional ascent. Adding to the mix is how they are both putting in killer hours as junior analysts at the same cutthroat Manhattan hedge fund.

Ms. Domont has said in interviews the story is based on her own experience in the film and TV industry, where her success so far (she is only 36) has not felt like a “total win,” because as she “got big” the men she has dated have tended to feel small.

From what I can gather from reviews and internet postings the movie is being celebrated as an exhilarating tale of female empowerment. And it is certainly that. But I believe Domont has created a complex work of art by not settling for simply mounting a stirring example of that popular polemic.

The male lead (played Alden Ehrenreich) is more than a bundle of insecurities who starts whining and lashing out the minute his girlfriend scores a big promotion. And the female lead (played by Phoebe Dynevor) is not just a single-minded careerist out to use and abuse her boyfriend on a relentless climb up the corporate ladder.

These lovers come across as sympathetic characters right from the start. They are each presented as intelligent, hard-working, and confident in their abilities. It is obvious they are crazy about each other and care about the other’s welfare. This immediately draws the audience in and makes viewers interested in how their story will unfold.

Which is why I think this film ultimately qualifies as a tragedy, more than anything else. Both protagonists end up betraying their better nature in a quest for success, by failing to live up to their bright promise. Not just as a happily-ever-after couple, because we all know there is never any guarantee of that. But as decent and reasonable human beings.

We see their once-strong relationship slowly unravel, as a series of stressful situations prompts each of them to take turns cracking under enormous pressure. The coarser side of their respective personalities is revealed in those moments, completely eroding what they shared at the opening credits. The writer-director leans in to this coarseness, giving it full expression and letting the audience gauge its corrosive effect.

It is the overriding sense of “there but for the grace of God go I” that makes Fair Play a compelling – and at times unsettling – cinematic experience.

Robert J. Cavanaugh, Jr.

www.robertjcavanaughjr.com

bobcavjr@gmail.com

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Somewhere in Queens

by Robert Cavanaugh | Jun 12, 2023 | Movies

A Philadelphia-area native offers a layman's perspective.

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Robert J. Cavanaugh, Jr.

Somewhere in Queens

June 12, 2023 | 399 words | Movies

Here are a few words of praise for the new feature film, Somewhere in Queens, directed and co-written by veteran stand-up comedian and TV sitcom star Ray Romano.

I found the movie to be a masterpiece of observation. Credit the script, of course, but also the direction, as the camera is allowed to linger on seemingly inconsequential reactions and snippets of dialogue that enrich the story.

What’s that, you say? You have had enough of the “overbearing, extended Italian-American family” thing, blue collar division? Sure, there are some familiar stereotypes in this movie, but they are lovingly presented. And, yes, there are one or two bits that feel like sitcom exchanges. But they are expertly staged and play out smoothly. Beyond these obvious touches – plot devices, if you will – each character in most every scene lands on a vein of truth that made this viewer want to know more about these people.

Mr. Romano’s sad-sack Leo Russo may not be your cup of tea as a leading man, but not all men lead, and Romano is very convincing in bringing this second-fiddle Everyman to life. As things unfold and the plot thickens, Leo has a few quiet speeches of self-realization that moved me to tears. This dialogue is sparse and on point, and Mr. Romano delivers his lines with a gentle persuasion I found irresistible.

The same can be said of Laurie Metcalf, who is cast as Leo’s long-suffering wife, Angela. She is a crusty cancer survivor who at first glance appears to be rather hard to live with. But under Ms. Metcalf’s tough-as-nails exterior I never doubted her vulnerability. Her Angela made me cry, repeatedly. The two bring a long-time, low-key marriage to life in vivid colors: the good, the bad, and the ugly. She holds him accountable. And he supports her when she is most in need of support. I would recommend this movie to anyone who has been married a long time, regardless of your ethnicity.

The portrait of a getting-older married couple may be at the heart of the story, but its sphere of influence expands much further. This movie is so good because it goes in different directions, and does justice to every single situation, and every single character it introduces. It is both a serious comedy and a serious drama. And that makes this little film positively Shakesperean in its scope.

Robert J. Cavanaugh, Jr.

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bobcavjr@gmail.com

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Julia Reichert, R.I.P.

by Robert Cavanaugh | Mar 6, 2023 | Economics, Movies, Philosophy

A Philadelphia-area native offers a layman's perspective.

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Robert J. Cavanaugh, Jr.

Julia Reichert, R.I.P.

March 6, 2023 | 691 words | Movies, Economics, Philosophy

When Julia Reichert died a few months ago at the age of 76, she was eulogized as a “Documentarian of the Working Class.” I knew of her only through the 2019 Academy award-winning “American Factory,” about the Chinese take-over of a shuttered automobile plant in Dayton, Ohio, which she directed with her second husband, Steven Bognar.

By reading her obituary I learned about Ms. Reichert’s extensive career, as both a filmmaker and educator. A longtime professor of motion pictures at Wright State University in Dayton, Ms. Reichert “was in the forefront of a new generation of social documentarians who came out of the New Left and feminist movements of the early 1970s with a belief in film as an organizing tool with a social mission.”

“Although Ms. Reichert addressed a variety of social issues in the documentaries she directed and produced, her enduring interests were labor history and the lives of working women.”

Reichert’s resume as a filmmaker starts in 1971. As an undergraduate at Antioch College in Ohio she made a pioneering feminist documentary, “Growing Up Female,” with a male classmate by the name of James Klein, who became a frequent collaborator and her first husband. In 2011 “Growing Up Female” was selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

Other stellar early works completed with Mr. Klein include “Union Maids” (1976), and “Seeing Red” (1983). The critic Vincent Canby considered the latter “a fine, tough companion piece to ‘Union Maids.’” Rather than trading in dogma, he told us, her subject was “American Idealism.”

A few years ago the writer Barbara Ehrenreich (who herself died this past September) recalled how Ms. Reichert “defied every stereotype I’d had of independent filmmakers… She wasn’t rich, and she wasn’t arrogant or egotistical. The daughter of a butcher and a house cleaner turned registered nurse, she dressed and spoke plainly, usually beaming with enthusiasm, and never abandoned her Midwestern roots.”

It is her enthusiasm that really comes across in the interview she and Mr. Bognar did with Barack and Michelle Obama about the making of “American Factory.” (Netflix released the film in conjunction with the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions.) This interview is packaged as a companion piece to the film, both of which are available for streaming.

What makes “American Factory” so engaging is the way it is “suffused in ambivalence.” The New York Times called it “complex, stirring, timely and beautifully shaped, spanning continents as it surveys the past, present, and possible future of American labor.” It centers on a Chinese billionaire who purchases a shuttered GM truck factory, and re-opens it as an automobile glass factory. He is welcomed by the Ohio community as a hero who promises to restore lost jobs, only to become a villain by “confounding American workers with a new set of attitudes.” And by chopping their previous wage and benefit package by more than half.

Surprisingly that billionaire, Cao Dewang, is not portrayed as a one-dimensional scoundrel straight out of central casting, as one might expect from a Documentarian of the Working Class. In many ways he is actually the film’s protagonist.

Though everybody in this documentary eventually gets their say. We hear from union people, anti-union people, and an array of workers. Both the native Americans and the exuberant Chinese who are brought in to show the sometimes-recalcitrant locals how to be more efficient and productive.

“Hearing from” is an accurate description of how this and Reichert’s other films typically unfold. She avoids voice-over narration in favor of interviews with her mostly rank-and-file subjects who are allowed to speak for themselves on camera. This lets us make up our own minds about what we are watching.

The obituary closes by describing Julia Reichert as a committed artist who was more interested in people than in ideology. She “wore her politics so lightly that almost no one seemed to notice when she concluded her Oscar acceptance speech for ‘American Factory’ by cheerfully citing the best-known phrase from Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels’s ‘Communist Manifesto.’”

“We believe that things will get better,” she said, “when the workers of the world unite.” And so do I.

Robert J. Cavanaugh, Jr.

www.robertjcavanaughjr.com

bobcavjr@gmail.com

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