“Whiplash” (Drama: 1 hour, 46 minutes)

Starring: Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, and Paul Reiser

Director: Damien Chazelle

Rated: R (Profanity, sexual references and violence)

Movie Review: This Oscar-nominated film is a fine drama with music as its backdrop.

It features a talented Miles Teller as Andrew Neiman. He is a first-year jazz student at the prestigious Shaffer Conservatory. A drum player, Neiman becomes the lead drummer for an ensemble under Conductor Terence Fletcher (Simmons), who is an abusive, filthy-mouthed person. As the group trains for an upcoming competition, Neiman becomes stressed trying to play the group’s signature piece, “Whiplash.”

Simmons (“Spider-Man,” 2002; “Juno,” 2007) won the Academy Award for his performance. He was very worthy. He is dynamic. He plays Terence Fletcher with an energetic zeal. He makes you hate his character and simultaneously makes the man likable. This takes a special charm as an actor known for being a character actor until now.

Teller (“The Spectacular Now,” 2013; “21 & Over,” 2013) joins Simmons as part of a great duo. Teller is superb here and deserving of an Oscar in his own accord. His character endures pain and Teller shows that pain as an actor. You care for his character and his character’s goal to be a notable drummer.

These two men challenge each other in an engaging manner that works as a good drama. They push each other to their limits. They also push others in their life to the limit. Melissa Benoist plays Nicole, Teller’s onscreen love interest. Her scenes are few, but she is more than adequate. And, Reiser plays Teller’s father, Jim, with a certain quiet appeal that works for a parent concerned about his son.    

The story and its strong cast also push audiences to a certain limit. This is an important part of this drama. One must become actively involved like listening to music on any given day. Good music moves a listener. The same is true of a good movie like this one.  

Simmons is superb. Teller exemplifies a youthful actor at his best. Director-Writer Damien Chazelle helms this film, his second full-length production as director. Chazelle uses his cast beautifully. He also applies music in a manner that draws audiences into a competitive world where two musicians execute personal battles to achieve perfection.

The results are gratifying cinema with good jazz. Hats off to Chazelle, Simmons and Teller for this fine music-driven drama. The conductor and the ensemble are fine talents.

Grade: A- (A good form of whiplash)

 

“Still Alice” (Drama: 1 hour, 41 minutes)

Starring: Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart

Directors: Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland

Rated: PG-13 (Profanity, thematic material including sexual reference)

Movie Review: “Still Alice” is a good drama based on Lisa Genova’s novel.

It is a story about Dr. Alice Howland. She is a distinguished professor of linguistics at Columbia University. She is an expert on word usage but finds she is forgetting words. She is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. As she begins to forget words, people and places, she tries to hold to core memories involving her family, as her husband, John (Baldwin), and their children watch helplessly.

On the surface, one might think this film is a depressing one, but it is just the opposite. It is an inspiring piece that does not let its depressing topic become the core. It shows people overcoming a challenge.

The person facing the main challenge is Alice, played superbly by Julianne Moore who won the Oscar for Actress in a Leading Role. Alice’s life is coming undone one memory at a time, and Moore plays her in an affable manner.

Moore’s task is not an easy one. She plays a character in many non-talkative moments. Here, the art of acting becomes a subtle display of actions via facial expressions and body movements. Moore shows her skills nicely.

Baldwin, Stewart, Hunter Parrish and Kate Bosworth are great supporting members. They offer insight regarding Alice as they witness their wife and mother slipping away daily. Their struggle is different but no less important. Alice is the heart of their family. She took care of everyone. Now, she needs care.   

Again, Moore is the indispensable part of this story. Her character’s loss of mental integrity is one many families share worldly. Alzheimer’s is widespread, and this photoplay displays this disease in a candid dramatic sense that appears very authentic.     

Grade: B+ (Still impressive)

 

“Foxcatcher”

(Biography/Drama: 2 hours, 14 minutes)

Starring: Channing Tatum, Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Vanessa Redgrave

Director: Bennett Miller

Rated: R (Drug usage and violence)

Movie Review: Based on true events, an absorbing “Foxcatcher” details the relationship between Olympic gold medal-winning wrestlers Mark and Dave Schultz (Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo) and eccentric multimillionaire John E. du Pont (Steve Carell).

Du Pont invites the brothers to the du Pont estate to train for the 1988 Seoul Olympics at his state-of-the-art training facility and become part of Team Foxcatcher. Mark likes this opportunity, as he thinks it will allow him a chance to move out of his brother’s shadow.

However, du Pont, whom Mark comes to think of as a father figure, wants Dave there too. This causes a rift between the brothers. Even more, du Pont sees this as a chance to coach a team with a chance of winning a gold medal and a chance to convince his mother, Jean du Pont (Redgrave), that wrestling is a noble sport. The Schultz and du Pont team delivers results, but their union ends in an unlikely, tragic manner.  

Bennett Miller is known for good movies such as “Capote” (2005) and “Moneyball” (2011). He scores again with “Foxcatcher,” a biographical screenplay that is as engaging as it is strange. Miller and writers E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman just let the story unfold, telling it in a smartly produced.

Each scene delivers plenty, despite the nature of the characters’ relationships being eccentric. This does not interfere with an intriguing tale or the fine performances delivered by the cast, and it is thought-provoking.

Carell is intelligently dynamite as du Pont. He manages to emote plenty under heavy makeup. Carell shows he is just as good at dramatic roles as he is in comedies. He received an Oscar nomination for his turn as an eccentric millionaire.

Ruffalo takes time away from his superhero role in “The Avengers.” He is a family man and Olympian. He plays his role genuinely.    

Redgrave is quietly sublime as Carell’s mother. She delivers plenty with few words. She easily shows disgust in a calming manner that registers mightily.

A major star who received no Oscar nomination unlike Carell and Ruffalo, Tatum proves he has acting chops. He is the lead in this film really. He easily carries scenes and keeps the film from going into the deep end of strange by the realism he portrays. Tatum is solid.

The cast does a good job portraying actual people. They manage to hold their composure in a real, odd story. They make their portrayals convincing. In addition, Miller conducts this story and cast perfectly to make all an intriguing story. All is compelling enough to make one want to know more about these people.  

Grade: B+ (Join Team Foxcatcher.)

“Focus”

(Crime/Drama: 1 hour, 44 minutes)

Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Rodrigo Santoro and Gerald McRaney         

Directors: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

Rated: R (Sexual content, profanity and violence)

Movie Review: “Focus” is a slick movie that entertains despite its convoluted story.

Will Smith plays seasoned con man Nicky Spurgeon. He allows inexperienced pickpocket thief, Jess Barrett (Robbie) to become his apprentice. After a few scams in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, Spurgeon and Barrett part ways under less than desirable circumstances.

Three years later, they meet again in Buenos Aires. Spurgeon works for billionaire motorsport team owner Rafael Garriga (Rodrigo Santoro), and Barrett is now dating Garriga. All looks well, but is this part of a scheme.

 An exotic setting, a swell cast and neat concept are present, but the plot’s execution is messy. Plot twists dominate the film tremendously. Such moments are annoyingly misplaced and too plentiful.

A plot twist can make a screenplay’s apex interesting, but not when that highpoint is marred with one plot twist after the other. These twists appear too many, happening simultaneously.

Smith, Robbie, Santoro, BD Wong and especially Adrian Martinez and McRaney are affable people. They perform well together. They provide laughs and good dramatic moments that shine. Too bad, this likable cast can’t rescue the terrible plot points that ruin the story.

Glenn Ficarra and John Requa direct and write something unique only to trash it with moments that are an overkill. Their plot is not complicated. It just has too many character behavior inconsistencies, which accumulate into a few unconvincing plot twists.

Grade: C+ (It is entertaining but needs a better focus.)

 

“The Lazarus Effect”

(Horror: 1 hour, 25 minutes)

Starring: Olivia Wilde, Mark Duplass and Evan Peters           

Director: David Gelb

Rated: PG-13 (Violence, thematic elements and profanity)

Movie Review: The good part of this movie is that it is short, about an hour and 20 minutes minus the beginning and end credits. The bad part is it is too short to make anything of substance.

A group of medical students’ research is revolutionary. The young medical scientists uncover a means to bring dead animals back to life. After a terrible accident, they realize they can also bring back a human.

Their patient is their friend and colleague, Dr. Zoe McConnell (Wilde). She returns, but she is different and sinister.

This is not a science-fiction production. It is a supernatural horror film directed by David Gelb (“Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” 2011) and poorly written by Luke Dawson and Jeremy Slater.

The story has a nice premise, but it quickly goes into la-la land as it moves from science to a woman who comes back with telekinesis. At this point, the film becomes a stereotypical horror with lackluster acting. It is all flash and nothing of material value.

Even more, the film leaves itself open for a sequel while leaving a mystery unsolved. What did Zoe become? Where was she while her body was dead? Plenty of questions with no answers. Sad part is who cares when the movie is this terrible.  

Grade: D- (The effect does not affect.)