The Public Image

FAHRENHEIT 11/9 (B+) - Michael Moore somehow maintains his equilibrium for his strongest polemic in years, this time taking on both sides of the political system that collapsed in 2016. He makes powerful lucid points about where we are as a country and how democracy gets thwarted in so many ways. (Follow the money.)

He embeds with the Parkland students, and he listens to them instead of lecturing to them. Oddly, he spends nearly half the film talking about Flint, Mich., the hometown that launched his career (in "Roger and Me"). The water crisis there was a metaphor for corporate rule and the blueprint for Trumpism. Moore is still not above cheap gimmicks, like spewing Flint water from a firehose onto the lawn of Gov. Rick Snyder. He hasn't lost his playful sense of humor.

Moore hammers President Obama and the Democrats nearly as often as he rails against his true enemy, the Republican establishment. He still could use a healthy dose of fact-checking. He famously issued a wake-up call in early 2016, warning that Trump was likely to win Michigan and even the national vote. His blue-collar spidey-sense was depressingly accurate. We didn't listen to him then; will we listen to him going forward?

THE PUBLIC IMAGE IS ROTTEN (B) - This is a surprisingly tender and thoughtful biography of John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, who surveys his irascible career with the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd. The documentary is essentially a reunion of grouchy middle-age men who somehow harbor little bitterness toward each other.

Bassist Jah Wobble is on hand to explain how he stole PIL master tapes to make his own solo album in the '80s. Drummer Martin Atkins (PIL, Ministry, Pigface) is stoner hilarious as the most insightful talking head. Lydon, a lifelong contrarian, returns repeatedly to his rough childhood as an explanation for his fussy public behavior (including being famously petulant on the old Tom Snyder talk show) and his strict oversight of the band.

The music is a true delight. From the band's thumping eponymous anthem to the many howls of outrage from Lydon, now thick around the middle but still passionate. We see him mellowed by the duty of raising grandchildren and proud to have carried out his career on his own terms.

BONUS TRACK
The title track from "Rotten":


 

Daddy, Bright and Dark

LEAVE NO TRACE (B) - Sluggish but affecting. A man takes his daughter off the grid, and it's clear that he's got some serious mental health issues, requiring his daughter to step up. This is from Debra Granik, still finding her voice after "Down to the Bone," "Winter's Bone" and the palate-cleansing documentary "Stray Dog." Ben Foster is positively chilling as the father who gets caught by authorities and relocated to civilization with his daughter (a solid Thomasin McKenzie) before he quickly starts plotting another escape to the wilderness.

This might not need to be 1 hour 46 minutes, but Granik builds toward a positively heart-breaking conclusion, and the familial bond that shifts in power dynamics is fascinating. Patience pays off here.

THE WEEK OF (B) - Mock me if you will, but there's a place every once in a while for Adam Sandler. Whether he's somehow plumbing dramatic depths with top-notch directors in films like "Punch Drunk Love," "Reign Over Me" and "Funny People," or just yukking it up with his comic pals, as he does here, he can be entertaining. Here, Robert Smigel ("SNL," "Conan") writes and directs this cute and funny take on a Billy-Joel-loving Long Island schmo cheaping out on his daughter's wedding to the son of a doctor. Disaster is inevitable.

Chris Rock is the doctor, who could write a check for everything and not even notice the rounding error. Rock just mostly wanders through this in a state of exasperation. Rachel Dratch is the secret weapon here as the always-on mother of the bride, and her shouting matches with Sandler heard from behind closed doors are a true highlight. Steve Buscemi has a lot of fun playing broad as Sandler's cousin, who sends ahead a surprise -- Uncle Seymour (Jim Barone) who now has two amputated legs.

It's all a made-for-Netflix mess, but Smigel packs it with sight-gags and amusing caricature. Sandler finds the seam between silliness and actual emotion. This one pushes two hours, so consider breaking it into two episodes.

New to the Queue

Keep hope alive ...

A drama about a blossoming romance complicated by a cancer diagnosis, "After Everything."

A South By Southwest favorite, the offbeat debut dramedy about a cop struggling to express his feelings, "Thunder Road."

A harrowing documentary about a teenage gymnast berated by her coach, "Over the Limit."

A documentary about the influential bluesman from the 1960s, "Horn From the Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story."

From Denmark, a suspense film about a cop on desk duty who gets wrapped up in a kidnapping, "The Guilty."

Documentary legend Frederick Wiseman ("Ex Libris," "In Jackson Heights") goes rural for "Monrovia, Indiana."
  

Follow the Money

DARK MONEY (B+) - A smart move to focus this on Montana politics drives this powerful polemic about the flood of untraceable contributions to political campaigns in the wake of the Supreme Court's landmark Citzens United decision of 2010. The filmmakers also luck out by latching on to John Adams, a dogged reporter for the Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune who faithfully "follows the money," as Woodward and Bernstein (and Deep Throat) taught us two generations ago.

Director Kimberly Reed (producer/editor of "Paul Goodman Changed My Life") maintains her footing and perspective over the course of 99 riveting minutes. Reed and co-writer Jay Arthur Sterrenberg do their homework, delving into the history of Montana politics and Montanans' century-long fight against the corrupting influence of money in its local politics. All of that history (mainly the longtime influence of the copper mines) -- and the state's constitution -- suffers repeated body blows from the right-wing zealots pushing a corporate-friendly that includes "right to work" bills and other anti-worker provisions.

Reed at one point, her frustration evident, bursts into a back-room bill-writing session at the legislature, where fat-cat politicians are literally allowing corporate lobbyists to draft legislation. Elsewhere she focuses on local and state-wide political races -- including that of incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Tester -- inundated with racy mailings paid for by right-wing billionaires.  Reed follows the money and lays out the process by which non-profits hide behind shell entities and slither around reporting requirements.

Adams is the hero of the story. He won't quit even when Lee Enterprises downsizes him and others from their capitol bureau; instead, Adams downsizes his own life and launches a underdog watchdog blog that hounds a Republican legislator out of office. Reed also focuses on an un-retired prosecutor to dramatize that key corruption trial. She plods year by year from 2010 to 2017 until her story reaches a natural conclusion. The fight is not over, she suggests, but it can be won. 

"Dark Money" is streaming on "POV" at PBS.org. 
  

Urban Warriors

EN EL SEPTIMO DIA (A-minus) - Jose is a hard-working bike delivery man for a chi-chi Brooklyn restaurant and is the star of his local soccer team. The team has a big game coming up next Sunday, but the boss tells Jose on Monday morning that he'll need Jose for a big event on Sunday. Jose is struggling to establish himself in America, hoping to bring his pregnant girlfriend over someday. Does he endanger his job or will he let his close friends and teammates down by skipping the big match?

This sharply observed film never overreaches and quietly oozes charm, thanks mostly to the earnest performance by Fernando Cardona and the attention to detail by writer/director Jim McKay, a TV veteran. The Anglos here can be a bit clueless about the struggles of immigrants, but they are never rendered as cartoonish. Jose and his compadres have a natural bond (they all seem to be non-actors who might actually play soccer together in real life), and Jose never tips over into a trope of the nobel worker.

This is just a keen slice of life and a thoroughly entertaining and heartfelt film, gracing us with the tale of life among the under-class. And just when you think you're in for a sappy ending, McKay offers a slight twist that swerves past yet another potential cliche.

THE RAT FILM (B) - This documentary about the rat population in Baltimore is pretty bizarre, and not in a good way. There is a point made here about rat infestations being viewed as a metaphor for the treatment of blacks in Baltimore for the past century. "There's never been a rat problem in Baltimore, it's always been a people problem," we are told by Harold, the grizzled ratcatcher who is undeniably the magnetic star of the film. Newcomer Theo Anthony throws a lot of info and images at us, but his experimentalism undermines his attempt to tell a story and drive home his thesis, given the 82 minutes that he squeezes this into.

Anthony uses robotic narration and antiseptic lab images to try to create a clinical approach to his subject. It's a distraction. He might have wanted to stand out as avant-garde, but too often he seems to be getting in his own way. Images of a pair of Baltimore residents fly-fishing for rats in an alley speak for themselves. But such moments don't get enough of a chance to breathe. Still, this is, at times, fascinating.
 

New to the Queue

Slipping through ...

A documentary about the talented and influential hip-hop artist and provocateur, “Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.” 

Another entry in the Real People category of documentaries, two grandsons conduct an archeological dig into their grandmother's cluttered home after her death, "306 Hollywood."

God help me, but maybe ... "A Star Is Born."

Tamara Jenkins ("The Savages," "Slums of Beverly Hills") recruits Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti for a tale of 40-something child-bearing angst, "Private Life."

A documentary about the debauchery of the iconic coke-fueled club of New York's disco era, "Studio 54."
  

Personality Types

THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS (B+) - This is a fantastic subject, and filmmaker works his ass off telling the story of three identical triplets separated at birth when put up for adoption and who improbably found each other at age 19, having grown up within 100 miles of each other. There are layers to this story, and we won't ruin the twists and turns. But you can tell early on that something wasn't right with the adoption agency involved in the placement of Jewish children in the 1960s.

Two of the brothers appear in present day to help unravel the tale. Wardle walks a fine line between delving deep and beating a dead horse. He repeats key visuals (the rhymes among the triplets), straining for effect and threatening to wear out his welcome (though the film, at 96 minutes, is never sluggish). This plays like an old-fashioned whodunit, and the boys have personality to burn, both in their giddy youth and now in their slump-shouldered and baggy-eyed middle age.

Many interesting characters pass through, and it's often a hoot, even if, by the end, you're troubled by the picture of humanity you are left with. The movie normally would have rated a bit higher, but points off for overuse of dramatic re-enactments.

BAD REPUTATION (B) - A fun but fawning trip back to the '70s with Ur-Riot Grrl Joan Jett, whose tenacity helped her break through the male-dominated world of rock 'n' roll and set her up as a mentor for future generations of alt-rockers. Don't expect big revelations or a deep dive into what makes her tick. This covers the greatest hits, starting with the Runaways, the groundbreaking all-girl rock group in the '70s. But don't expect an expose into the antics of creepy manager Kim Fowley; here he's just a colorful character, not a predator.

The best parts feature younger musicians like Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna and Minor Threat's Ian MacKaye praising her and thanking her for her inspiration. We also get plenty of cute scenes between Jett and Kenny Laguna, the masterful bubblegum popmeister whose songwriter helped propel her most fertile period and who now serves as her nagging housemate. (There's no mention of Jett's private life or romantic partners, though she and Laguna bicker like an old married couple.)

This is a fun romp, and homage is paid, but we never get to get more than skin deep with this swaggering legend.

THE WORKSHOP (C) - Chatter and menace mix poorly in this French study of disaffected youth. In particular, it's an alt-right young man peeing in the punch at a gathering of students at a writing workshop. The kid is overly sullen and deliberately provocative. For some reason, this appeals to his teacher, who indulges him at the expense of his diverse classmates. The talk is endless, yielding diminishing returns. If this were an American movie from the last century, teacher and student would have banged by the end of the first act. But this is a French film, so they chit-chat instead. I've said it before, but young men are not interesting; young women have far more to offer the plot of a movie. This one spins its wheels.

BONUS TRACK
Joan Jett with her cover of the Replacements' "Androgynous":