Crime

I CARE A LOT (2021)

February 20, 2021

(Netflix) I CARE A LOT is an overstuffed marvel; part huckster film, part heist film, part crime thriller, part courtroom drama, but all confidently shouldered by Rosamund Pike. Pike is Marla Grayson, a woman who preys on the elderly via an elaborate scheme in which she pays off a doctor to state in court that the elderly person is unable to take care of themselves and require a legal ward, then they suggest Marla. Marla then scuttles them off to a nursing home, sells off all of their belongings, milks their bank account until the person dies, then look for the next mark.

She’s a monster, and Pike revels in it. Just that premise alone could have carried the film but, it turns out that Pike and professional and personal partner Fran (Eiza González) end up abducting the mother of a crime boss, played with relish by Dianne Wiest (HANNAH AND HER SISTERS) and Peter Dinklage. Matters escalate, then culminate to what feels like a very unsatisfying Hays code-ish ending, but you can’t argue that you don’t see it coming.

While I could talk about the performances all day, director J Blakeson (THE 5TH WAVE) and cinematographer Doug Emmett (SORRY TO BOTHER YOU) also spend a refreshing amount of time with color theming, riffing off of Pike’s blond hair and ice blue eyes, to the point where there’s a shot where the color swatches are practically painted on someone’s tremendous heels. It’s a welcome change in this age of dull-sheen films.

HOTEL ARTEMIS (2018)

February 16, 2021

(hoopla/VOD) HOTEL ARTEMIS is about a hospital for criminals masquerading as a hotel. Sure, that may make you think about JOHN WICK. Doesn’t make me think about JOHN WICK, but I’ve only seen the first so far, and the design, style, and intent of HOTEL ARTEMIS seems completely different than JOHN WICK.

While it’s centered around a criminal-centric hospital, HOTEL ARTEMIS also takes place in the ‘not-too-distant future’ where folks are rioting about water allocation in LA and, well, really, the only way you can tell this is in the future is because all of the criminals have cool toys. The titular hotel is a gilded age throwback (inspired by LA’s Hotel Alexandria) featuring plenty of art deco flourishes and vintage wallpaper, resulting in an extremely attractive feat of production design, and again, the only way you can tell the hotel exists in the future is because of all of the cool toys The Nurse (Jodie Foster) has to help heal her patients.

I’d still recommend HOTEL ARTEMIS for the production design and all of its plot and character machinations, but they also wrangled a hell of a cast clearly loving their time at the hotel. Not only does the film have Foster adopting an awkward running gait (and donning surprisingly decent age makeup), Dave Bautista is the stern-but-kind-eyed orderly glue that holds the hotel — and the film — together, Sterling K. Brown is the sympathetic bank robber, Jeff Goldblum is a cheshire-grinning mobster, Sophia Boutella is the stylish assassin, and other surprises.

The ensemble, as well as the use of throwback needle drops, certainly gives off a whiff of Tarantino fetishism, but HOTEL ARTEMIS is more concerned with escalating tension, as opposed to luxuriating in its mood and dialogue.

The film doesn’t completely hold together — really, how many of the great heist films do? — and it ends on a whimper — how many of the great heist films don’t? — but the well-honed action, atmosphere, and charming performances made me forget those shortcomings.

“This is America. 85 percent of what I fix is bullet holes.”

BLOOD ON HER NAME (2020)

January 6, 2021

(hoopla/Prime/tubi/VOD) This is one hell of a neo-noir thriller. In the wrong hands, this story of mother accidentally murdering a man could have been Lifetime movie, but director/writer Matthew Pope, along with lead Bethany Anne Lind, shape it into a wickedly ruthless tale, then punctuate it with a gut-punch of an ending.

I’M YOUR WOMAN (2020)

January 5, 2021

(Prime) There’s a moment early on in Julia Hart’s (FAST COLOR) I’M YOUR WOMAN where Jean (THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL’s Rachel Brosnahan), while making breakfast for her husband as their baby cries, cracks an egg into a frying pan and you can see how her nail punctures the shell, resulting in a broken egg yolk. I noticed and muttered to myself: ‘I wonder how intentional that was.’

As you might suspect, it was very intentional and turned out to lack subtlety — hell, it’s in the trailer I failed to watch beforehand — but it’s a brisk character detail.

I’M YOUR WOMAN is a 70s period piece about Jean, a young wife who has a baby literally handed off to her by her charismatic, but criminally-minded, husband. Before she’s even had time to acclimate to the baby, one of her husband’s friends rings her doorbell, tells her she has to leave her home right now, and passes her off to Cal — played by Arinzé Kene (HOW TO BUILD A GIRL) who he says will watch over her. Matters spiral from there as Jean attempts to shine light on the underworld events that fractured her life.

The film moves quickly and swiftly establishes just enough about the characters involved to keep you wanting to know more, while managing to tease you through to the end without being needlessly frustrating. That said, at times certain events can be off-putting and needlessly bleak and, for such a character-centric movie, the supporting personalities often outshine Jean and her ‘newly independent’ arc.

I hadn’t planned on recommending it upon watching it a month ago, but its smaller moments have lingered in my mind. While it I’M YOUR WOMAN doesn’t always balance its character and genre work, it’s still a noteworthy attempt in a year full of similarly high-minded crime thrillers.

BLOW THE MAN DOWN (2020)

December 29, 2020

(Prime) A taut crime thriller about the women who run a small fishing town in New England, the secrets that they keep, and the two teen girls caught up in the middle after killing a man.

Writers/directors Bridget Savage Cole & Danielle Krudy (who recently co-directed two episodes of the latest THE STAND adaptation together) do wonders with their whip-smart script. They shape their words into some amazingly considered camerawork (often leaning on an array of close-ups for context instead of expository long shots), ruthless editing, and a prickly score that features a viola, piano, oddly punctuating percussion, and occasionally a few interjected shanties.

More importantly, it’s a film about community, and family, especially sisters, sisters that butt heads. It’s a raw tale and town that feels so lived in that it might as well be an re-enactment.

Oh, and the cast! Morgan Saylor (HOMELAND) plays the fuckup, closes-out-the-bar daughter Zee, while Sophie Lowe (THE RETURNED UK, ONCE UPON A TIME IN WONDERLAND) plays the responsible daughter trying to keep everything together. Classic character actor Annette O’Toole (CAT PEOPLE (1982), SMALLVILLE, HALT & CATCH FIRE) is a voice of reason, and Margo Martindale oversees matters, all while putting a slight twist on her matriarchal JUSTIFIED presence.

As small town crime genre work goes, it doesn’t get much better than this.

“Fucking coleslaw.”

THIEF (2006)

November 17, 2020

(N/A) For some ridiculous reason, this amazing prestige mini-series has been unavailable to legally watch for thirteen years — it was never available to stream, and was never available via DVD. Finally, FX made it available when they brought their entire back-catalogue to Hulu earlier this year, but sadly, it’s disappeared again so find it however you can. I still covet my postage-stamp-sized torrent files because, for years, that was the only way I could re-watch the show.

THIEF aired during the apex of FX’s hyper-masculine antihero period — THE SHIELD was midway through its run and RESCUE ME was in its third season, but THIEF was very much its own beast. While THIEF is essentially a ‘height goes sideways, so how is this asshole going to get out of this jam?’ tale, it had an occasional emotional vulnerability to it that I’ve always appreciated. However, due to the fact that no one could watch it, I couldn’t recommend until now.

It also helps that the lead is Andre Braugher, giving it his all. I mean really, come on, you -aren’t- going to watch a show helmed by Andre Braugher?

KAREN SISCO (2003-2004)

November 13, 2020

(N/A) In 1998, OUT OF SIGHT was released, directed by Steven Soderbergh and based on Elmore Leonard’s (RIP) novel of the same name, and featured Jennifer Lopez as detective Karen Sisco hunting down escaped bank robber George Clooney.

While OUT OF SIGHT is a fantastic film, perhaps one of the best film adaptations of an Elmore Leonard novel, ABC decided to pull the trigger on a Karen Sisco TV series five years later which, as you might guess, plays as an early version of JUSTIFIED, which itself was adapted from a collection of Leonard’s short stories, including FIRE IN THE HOLE. (In fact, Michael Dinner, the director of KAREN SISCO’s pilot also directed JUSTIFIED’s pilot, and he executive produced both shows.)

KAREN SISCO is extraordinarily pulpy and Carla Gugino is fantastic as Sisco, Robert Forrester (RIP) is her father, and yes, it’s basically JUSTIFIED but with a woman lead, but don’t we deserve a woman-led JUSTIFIED and all of the smartass quips and cooky cast of criminal characters that entails?

I’ll be repeating this phrase all month, but it’s a crime that this series is practically impossible to find. Only seven of the ten filmed episodes were aired on ABC. (The final ep was directed by Katheryn Bigelow!). It was never released on physical media, and isn’t available to stream anywhere — I imagine because of music rights — so get it whichever way you can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KERCjmJyUC4

PAPER MOON (1973)

August 20, 2020

(Prime/VOD) Winsome depression-era period piece about a con man and his hanger-on. Sparkling dialogue, great chase sequences in a film that doesn’t need them, and surprisingly touching performances from Ryan O’Neil and his daughter. Peter Bogdanovich was on one hell of a roll.