Late-Stage Capitalism

UNCUT GEMS (B) - Adam Sandler, believe it or not, is the main reason to watch this messy, overlong Safdie brothers rollercoaster ride through Manhattan's diamond district. Sandler is Howard Ratner, a jeweler with a gambling problem and whose juggling of grifts and debts threatens to unravel him, or worse.

This one is filled with a lot of macho posturing, long worn out by the likes of Tarantino and Scorsese. The hectic pace can be exhilarating at times, especially when Howard is chattering nonstop or frantically fiddling with his phone. But it can tedious at times, like when Howard and his young, beautiful mistress (because Adam Sandler is irresistible) quarrel angrily on the street. Too much is squeezed in here in a film that runs past two hours.

The plot involves a Howard's scheme to strike it rich at auction with an Ethiopian opal that happens to be coveted by NBA star Kevin Garnett (playing himself), whose playoff series is critical to Howard's complicated parlay of bets and gem deals. Howard is hounded by mob goons looking to collect on behalf, of all people, Howard's loan-shark brother-in-law, Arno (Eric Bogosian, in fine form). Sandler's manic performance holds things together until he simply can't anymore. A rushed, cop-out ending (with blood and gore cribbed from Tarantino) is a major disappointment, leaving you wondering why you let yourself get dragged into this would-be urban thriller.

DARK WATERS (B) - This environmental polemic has just enough powerful moments to help it rise above its general Movie of the Week cheesiness. It's a tried-and-true tale, albeit based in fact, of a corporate lawyer switching sides to fight for the little guy who for years has been poisoned in the name of obscene profits.

Mark Ruffalo ground this for more than two hours as attorney Robert Billot, who agrees to take on a case as a favor to a farmer in rural West Virginia who is an acquaintance of Billot's grandmother. Ruffalo the crusader, however, is surrounded by a few too many borderline-cliched characters. In the hands of the twee auteur Todd Haynes ("Carol," "I'm Not There"), the story has a suspicious odor of condescension hanging in the background.

Some of the characters that come with tremors of triteness include that determined farmer, Wilbur Tennant (Bill Camp), who, in Haynes' framing, comes across as that stock character the Nobel Rube; Victor Garber as the evil corporate monster from Dupont; Tim Robbins somehow bringing a fresh take to the role of the exasperated boss who's going to give the maverick one more chance; Bill Pullman having fun as the proverbial tart-tongued country lawyer; and Billot's long-suffering wife, Sarah (who gave up her career to gift him three boys and a clean house), a Christian scold played by Anne Hathaway, so unsure of her elevation to Mom status that you expect her to break into a Laura Petrie "Oh, Rob!" at any moment. Hathaway salvages the role toward the end when Sarah explains Billot's motivations to a stranger in a way that suggests she knows her husband inside and out.

It's during moments like that -- as opposed to hackneyed scenes of Ruffalo mimicking the signs of stroke-like symptoms -- where Haynes, echoing one of his early films, "Safe" with Julianne Moore, understands the toll that modern life takes on our physical and mental health. Impassioned monologues railing against corporate greed generally ring true here, although, again, there's the underlying fear that this will all trip over into banality. It never does. Haynes, coming off a run of elegant period pieces, crashes and skids a bit putting together this mainstream story for the masses, but he somehow makes it to the finish line leaving you feeling just enough outrage and inspiration to tip your hat and walk out satisfied.
  

Period Drama

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (A-minus) - This exquisite visual feast tells the delectable story of two young women surreptitiously falling in love in late 18th century Brittany. The story is told in one big flashback. Marianne (Noemie Merlant), an art teacher, has her memory sparked by her painting of a woman whose dress is on fire. That woman turns out to be Heloise (Adele Haenel), who has been promised to a Milanese man, though she objects and has refused to sit to have her portrait painted and sent to her betrothed.

Marianne is brought to the coastal town ostensibly as Heloise's companion, but she is to study Heloise and secretly paint the portrait. Thus, Marianne must keenly observe her subject, and soon their gazes deepen. Heloise agrees to sit for the portrait, as a torrid love affair ensues.

This is not just a story of forbidden love. It is a profound dissertation on the unique rush one gets in the early stages of infatuation. It is directed by Celine Sciamma, the pre-eminent auteur studying the female form and psyche, including "Water Lilies," "Tomboy" and "Girlhood." Here she fills every frame with beauty and style, love and lust. Merlant and Haenel are wholesome beauties who emit a slight vibe of Friday night premium-cable soft-core porn, but Sciamma's film rises above the tacky at every turn, producing a heart-swelling and heart-wrenching love story for the ages.

EMMA (C+) - I guess you're either into these Jane Austen romps or you're not. I'm not. So take this all with a grain of salt.

Every generation gets the "Emma" it deserves, and Millennials are gifted with this slightly sarcastic side-eye starring the wide-eyed Anya Taylor-Joy in a flippant but earnest performance. If you can keep track of all the characters, kudos to you. (If I read the book, it was 35 years ago.) In the end, it doesn't matter that much. Emma's meddling in the love lives of others creates surprisingly little tension -- dramatic or comedic. Taylor-Joy is not the nimblest of comic actors. A few ringers help perk up the proceedings, including Miranda Hart as Miss Bates, Mia Goth as Harriet, and the reliable Bill Nighy as Emma's father.

Video director Autumn de Wilde splashes in her feature debut with panache and a distinct color palette. This is her variation on Sofia Coppola's trendy "Marie Antoinnete." It's a visually interesting diversion.
 

Let It Roll

PHOENIX, OREGON (B-minus) - A fine cast and the sheer grit of a writer-director to tell a meaningful story save this middling comic melodrama for sliding into TV Movie of the Week fare. James LeGros sometimes searches for the right key as a mopey bartender and wannabe author of graphic novels who gets roped by a pal into investing a nest egg into renovating a bowling alley and upscale pizza parlor. LeGros has a fine rapport with TV veteran Jesse Borrego as their characters each pursue their dreams, Bobby with his art and writing (and glory days as a bowler) and Carlos, a purist as a cook.

Lisa Edelstein (TV's "House" and "The Kominskey Method") is on hand as a potential love interest for Bobby and the facilitator between the men and a sleazy financier. Diedrich Bader ("Office Space") finds a hook as Bobby and Carlos' former boss at a failing restaurant. And all hail Kevin Corrigan as Al, the rude technician restoring the lanes, pin-setters and ball return.

Journeyman writer-director Gary Lundgren didn't need 106 minutes to tell this story, especially if he wasn't going to develop it any better than acceptable. Some of the timelines and key plot points don't necessarily make sense, and Bobby's fixation with his mom's death and the breakup with an ex have surprisingly little detail or depth. But LeGros is charming, the cast is winning, and there's enough heart and humor to make this all work.

BONUS TRACK
The trailer:


 

Doc Watch: Rock Docs

MISS AMERICANA (B) - This is generally a quite sympathetic behind-the-scenes portrait of Taylor Swift, recounting her career year by year while hanging out with her as she crafts her 2019 release, "Lover." The true appeal here is watching her write songs and apparently catching real-time inspiration for catchy choruses for bubblegum pop like "Me" and "Only the Young."

Otherwise, we meet her mom, watch her have dinner with a childhood friend, and listen to her try to make sense of celebrity and sanity. The cameras capture her coming of age politically and taking a stance against the Republican Senate candidate from Tennessee in 2018. Sometimes you can catch glimpses of the innocent little country-music prodigy still lurking in the wizened 30-year-old megastar. In the end, this is an inspiring story of a talented musician trying to speak her truth.

ZZ TOP: THAT LITTLE OL' BAND FROM TEXAS (C+) - This is a pretty lazy profile of the Texas trio on their 50th anniversary -- the longest living band of original members in rock 'n' roll. It's fun to explore the band's origins, but the documentary essentially stops abruptly after the 1983 "Eliminator" album, featuring their breakthrough videos during the early days of MTV.

But mostly this one lies flat. Dusty Hill, Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard (the one without the beard) are pretty good interview subjects, and they provide a strong sense of their underdog status coming out of Texas in the early '70s. Beard reveals that it was his need for drug rehab that led to a two-year hiatus in the late '70s (Hill worked at an airport during that time) and a retooling of the band in 1979 with more of a pop-rock feel than a blues base. A fine coda places the men back in the studio for a blues jam.

BONUS TRACKS
Swift on NPR's "Tiny Desk" series:



ZZ Top with some live "Tush":

New to the Queue

Sun, sea, socialism ...

Teen cousins go on an adventure after one of them experiences an unwanted pregnancy in what is hopefully a comeback for Eliza Hittman ("It Felt Like Love," "Beach Rats"), "Never Rarely Sometimes Always."

American master Kelly Reichardt ("Certain Women," "Meek's Cutoff") returns with "First Cow."

A dark drama from Poland about a convict posing as a priest in a grieving town, "Corpus Christi."

We're going to trust Michael Winterbottom and his muse, Steve Coogan, to pull off the decadent tale of a billionaire throwing himself a 60th birthday party in "Greed."

It could go off the rails, but we're drawn to John Turturro's update of his "Big Lebowski" character, "The Jesus Rolls."
  

Wedding Crashers

Sense a theme?

RACHEL GETTING MARRIED (2008) (A) - Anne Hathaway explodes all over the screen and graduates from her earlier girly roles in Jonathan Demme's searing portrait of a family ravaged by grief. Hathaway stars as Kym, the recovering drug addict big-footing her sister's wedding, and struggling to come to grips with a family tragedy that haunts her.

Orbiting around her is an impressive ensemble cast, some of whom are musicians, not actors, led by Tunde Adebimpe ("7 Chinese Brothers") from TV on the Radio as the groom, betrothed to Rachel (the winning Rosemarie Dewitt), whose patience for sister Kym long ago wore thin. Bill Irwin is perfect as the agreeable dad, who tries too hard to appease Rachel on her wedding weekend and enable Kym. Debra Winger shows up as Rachel and Kym's icy estranged mother.

Demme has mostly focused on documentaries over the past 20 years, and this was sort of his narrative comeback (and it certainly has a documentary feel, with hand-held cameras and improvisation filmed in real time). The music of the band (endlessly rehearsing) is organic. The dialogue singes. (Kym asks at one critical point, "Who is it I'm supposed to be now?") The drama builds impeccably, and it feels like real life could just implode at any moment.

MARGOT AT THE WEDDING (2007) (A) - Again with the Noah Baumbach. Here is another searing family drama, this one pitting Nicole Kidman in the title role, crashing the impending marital bliss of her sister, Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh), and the loser fiance, Malcolm (Jack Black). Kidman does her typical cold-hearted slow burn as the arrogant writer with a compromised moral compass. Pauline is a bag of insecurities, and Margot loves to throw verbal punches that land below the belt.

Black is a joy as the emotionally unstable man-child. Zane Pais is surprisingly assured as Margot's adolescent son, Claude, a stand-in for Baumbach as a youth (like Jesse Eisenberg in "The Squid and the Whale").

Baumbach's ancestral turmoil is leavened with his trademark dry wit and dark sense of humor. He uses a giant ailing tree as an obvious symbol for the family history, but places it at the center of a feud with the creepy New England neighbors next door. Baumbach unpeels an onion here, exposing secrets, big and small. And his ending for Margot (and her hurting inner child) is an exquisite take on the best of American New Wave cinema of the early '70s.