I enjoyed this movie much more than I thought I would. For what seemed like fairly generic Disney fare, this film really stood out, not only on the merits of its story, but also on the fine performances of a number of different actors, in particular both Jay Reeves, as Ray Ray McElrathbey, and Thaddeus J. Mixson, as his brother, Fahmarr McElrathbey. This film really highlighted what a stand-up individual Ray Ray McElrathbey was, a young man who risked everything to secure his family's future.
Watching this film, I couldn't help but think, as wonderful as sports could be, many of the most indelible stories were not of the greatest athletes nor of the greatest teams nor games; they were of those individuals who stood taller than the sport themselves, those who overcame the greatest obstacles to achieve goals of much greater value than a singular victory, those who learned life's greatest lessons and taught and inspired others in their journey. This was certainly one of those stories.
I thought that the film started off well enough, but it sort of lost the plot along the way. It seemed to be too much of a take on Training Day, and it wasn't overtly clear what was really going on, b/c what appeared to be the main storyline ended roughly 30 minutes before the film ended, and another storyline finished the film out. The aspect that really kept this film afloat was the stellar cast. If not for them, this would have been just another run-of-the-mill cop film, but as it stood, it was interesting enough to warrant a watch.
I wanted to like this movie more, but I couldn't justify giving it a higher score based on its views of how this group of supposed friends treated one another. Ultimately, it boiled down to a love story between Rachel and Dex, but the problem was, as was repeatedly indicated, Dex was just a coward, and he failed every single time to rise to the occasion. For Rachel to end up w/ him was pretty repulsive. The fact that she engaged in an affair w/ her best friend's fiancé is a whole other matter. And, Ethan's involvement in this story really made no sense. This movie was just a mess.
The two leads, Jessie Buckley and Johnny Flynn, both put in strong efforts in this film. However, Buckley is really becoming one of the finer actors of the moment, and she appears to have a long, storied career ahead of her, which will be much-deserved. As for this film, it keeps you guessing until the end, and given the solid writing, direction, and acting, it's an interesting watch.
This "film" in a word: Teriblé!
Hey, it's Nazi propaganda from that Adolf Hitler-worshipping, mass-murdering subhuman Stephen Bannon.
This is a tremendously empowering film for young women. Moana is the story of a teenage chief-to-be who braves the dangers of the open ocean in service to her people. She goes against her father's wishes, who wants her to remain safely on the island of her birth, and ventures out into the unknown guided only by her unfailing courage and her growing belief in herself.
I've just finished watching this season, and the problem I'm having w/ it is the problem I w/ all shows of this type: Whenever time-travel or magic is involved, anything can and will happen over the course of a season, but it can all be undone in 30 seconds by traveling back in time or using magic to sidestep the consequences. It makes the entire show hardly worth watching, as there's no real drama or suspense, b/c everything can be reverted back to the way it was or, at least, to a version prior to cataclysmic events having taken place. It just comes across as a really lazy way to write a show.
I can't believe that a movie was made about this absolute and utter failure of a human being. He worshipped at the altar of a murderer and human trafficker, then tried following in his footsteps. What a complete jackass. The world's an exponentially better place w/out him.
Warning: Spoilers ahead
This was a movie that didn't need to be made. It's designed to be a film about overcoming the odds and accomplishing something that everyone thought was nearly impossible. The problem is, there's no one to feel good for. Both the protagonists are more antagonistic and not in an anti-hero sort of way. They're just both incredibly unlikeable.
First, you have Sam Rockwell's character, who was wrongly convicted of having convicted a murder he didn't commit. The problem is, he's violent and wildly unpredictable. While witnesses against him may have lied about him having confessed to committing the crime at the behest of the district attorney and cops, it was evident that he was, at the very least, a domestic abuser. The movie also showed him assaulting a man in a bar. In other words, it was quite clear how he got caught up in all of this due to his previous interactions w/ the cops and his reputation around town. While that doesn't make what happened to him right, it also doesn't make him a decent human being worthy of having his story told.
The main character of the film is Hilary Swank's character, the sister of Sam Rockwell's character. She goes to law school specifically to be able to work on her brother's case. The problem here is that she is so single-minded, she essentially sacrifices her life and that of her family in order to see this through. And, anyone who offers a differing opinion than hers is met w/ an anger uncalled for given the precipitating factor. She operates on threats and intimidation, and while her end-goal might be admirable, her methodology leaves a lot to be desired.
There was one last thing that really struck me as odd and gave me an indication that even the filmmakers knew that they'd made a mistake in choosing this material. At the very end of the film, there's an epilogue that crawls the screen explaining a bit about the aftermath of the story. However, a glaring omission in this epilogue is the fact that the focus of this story, Sam Rockwell's character, died six months after being exonerated. By intentionally omitting this pertinent information, it leaves behind a feeling of disingenuousness. I have a feeling that had chosen to include it, viewers might have felt that the entire effort of Hilary Swank's character was all for naught, b/c he died so soon after being released from prison.
While the acting is really top-notch, it doesn't help the story in any meaningful way. There are a great number of real-life stories of wrongful incarceration that deserve attention more so than this particular story.
This is absolutely horrific. It's amazing that Craig Robinson was able to escape this dreck that drowned the careers of everyone else involved. I couldn't even make it through 90 seconds of this movie, before I started fast forwarding. t's just unwatchable.
The only bright spot in this film was Jamila Velazquez in her portrayal of Berta.
