“The Post” (Drama: 1 hour, 56 minutes)

Starring: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks and Bob Odenkirk

Director: Steven Spielberg

Rated: PG-13 (Profanity and violence)

 

Movie Review: The government is always at odds with the media, especially corrupt governments. Still, that relationship is a check of governmental power. 

People like the media when it reports what they like and dislike the media when it reports information that does not acquiesce to their thinking. The discourse serves a vital purpose of democracy. 

Based on actual events, “The Post” brilliantly indicates why the media is needed. A cover-up that spanned from President Truman to President Nixon, The Pentagon Papers revealed a story detailing the failures of the Vietnam war. 

The Washington Post, along with the New York Times, begins publishing those government documents in 1971. Katharine “Kay” Graham (Streep), who no one thought was tough enough as a woman to lead the newspaper, had to make the decision to publish classified documents that may lead to her arrest and the destruction of her family’s newspaper. 

Benjamin Bradlee (Hanks), executive editor of The Washington Post, is determined the newspaper is taking the correct action. Graham and Bradlee push forward with publishing documents despite threats from the Nixon Administration.

The Pentagon Papers showed the deceptions of several U.S. presidential administrations. Governments are always trying to hide their doings, sometimes reasonably and other times not honorably. The media’s job is to report and often expose the unknown. This movie, like The Washington Post’s efforts, is to show the media is a necessity. This drama drives home this point. 

“The Post” does this with a good screenplay by Liz Hannah and Josh Singer and agreeably directed by Steven Spielberg. First-rate acting from the always-impressive Streep and the continuously superb Hanks create a superior movie. They and others such as Bob Odenkirk (television’s “Breaking Bad”) are engaging as the story. 

“The Post” works as thought-provoking entertainment. It is not as dramatic as it could be, but it provides plenty of mental floss.

Grade: B+ (Press on …)

“The Commuter” (Action/Crime: 1 hour, 45 minutes)

Starring: Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Rated: PG-13 (Violence and profanity)

 

Movie Review: “The Commuter” has some implausible moments, but it works as satisfying entertainment. 

It features Liam Neeson as Michael MacCauley, a former police officer now a businessman. He is a commuter on a train every day. He and other regulars have gotten to know each other. 

One day, a secretive, refined woman, Joanna (Farmiga) approaches MacCauley with a proposition. Joanna tells MacCauley that she will give him $100,000 if he can find who does not belong on the train. Matters become more interesting when Joanna threatens MacCauley’s family if he does not acquiesce 

A mystery exists with this screenplay that is alluringly inviting. A man desperately tries to find who does not belong. He must find this person as he investigates why this person is wanted. The better moments of this movie exist with the mystery it creates. 

Instead, Director Jaume Collet-Serra and writers concentrate on the action moments. The scenes are lesser; they feel like they belong in a different movie. In this sense, “The Commuter” plays similarly to a 1990s photoplay. The story does not fully jive, but it is an enjoyable popcorn flick. 

Grade: B- (Violence and profanity)

“Paddington 2” (Adventure/Comedy: 1 hour, 43 minutes)

Starring: Ben Whishaw, Hugh Grant, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins and Julie Walters

Director: Paul King

Rated: PG (Violence and mild rude humor)

 

Movie Review: “Paddington 2” keeps the momentum of the bear named Paddington going after his 2014 movie debut. Both movies are good for families wanting something decent for young moviegoers. The current movie is engaging because of the adventurous nature it offers.

Paddington (Whisham) and the Browns live happily in Windsor Gardens, London. The bear has become a popular member of the community. During the process to find the perfect gift for his beloved Aunt Lucy’s 100th birthday, Paddington is accused of stealing the unique pop-up book in Mr. Gruber’s antique shop. Paddington, the Browns and a few of their friends work to clear the bear’s name.

Michael Bond, creator of Paddington Bear died at the age of 91 last year. The movie is a fitting end to the bear he created. This version of Paddington’s adventurers is appealingly entertaining, although some elements are not persuasive. Paddington is still adventurous for the young at heart.

Grade: B- (Spreading fun and marmalade.)

“Proud Mary” (Action: 1 hour, 29 minutes)

Starring: Taraji P. Henson, Billy Brown, Jahi Di’Allo Winston, Margaret Avery and Danny Glover

Director: Babak Najafi

Rated: R (Violence and strong language)

 

Movie Review: “Proud Mary” appears a good reason to play Tina Turner’s version of the song of the same title, but the song does not start the movie as one would expect. It does not appear until the latter half. That song’s misplacement is similar to the lackluster of three writers’ script and the direction of Babak Najafi (“London Has Fallen,” 2016).

Mary (Henson) is a hit woman, killing for the man every night and day. She works for a Bostonian organized crime family led by Benny (Glover) and his son, Tom (Brown). Mary’s life changes when she shelters a boy, Danny (Winston); she feels responsible for his life. Mary must keep Danny safe while caught in the middle of two warring syndicate families.

Henson has typecast herself playing Cookie Lyon in “Empire.” She tries to break away from that portrayal with this action movie. The problem is the movie feels incomplete and does not do it for her. The characters’ relationships feel forced. The connections are either unexplained or haphazardly portrayed.

“Proud Mary” is similar Pam Grier’s “Foxy Brown” (1974) and “Jackie Brown” (1997). “Proud Mary,” like those movies, features a strong black woman as the lead. The problem is Mary works hard for the money, but everything around her is lacking.

Grade: C+ (Mary keeps on rolling, but her entourage is not as appealing.)

“I, Tonya” (Biography/Comedy/Drama: 2 hours)

Starring: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan and Allison Janney

Director: Craig Gillespie

Rated: R (Violence, profanity, sexuality and nudity)

 

Movie Review: Many people during the1990s despised Tonya Harding, but “I, Tonya” brilliantly spotlights her in a different manner. 

While noting her version of her life is speculative during the opening scene, the narrative offers another way to see Harding. The very loose biography almost makes one have sympathy for her. 

Ice-skater Tonya Harding (Robbie) rises through the ranks of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, yet she is constantly upstaged by Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver). Enter Jeff Gillooly (Stan), Harding’s abusive husband. 

Harding and Gillooly have an on-again-off-again relationship that could give one whiplash. Trying to aid Harding’s efforts during the competition, Gillooly and his good friend, Shawn (comically well played by Paul Walter Hauser), intervene. They believe they can intimidate Kerrigan, a measure that goes to an extreme.

Margot Robbie is as talented as she is beautiful. She really obtained the moviegoer’s attention with “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013), and she was one of the better parts of “Suicide Squad” (2016) as Harley Quinn. She is dynamic. She makes Harding likable.

Sebastian Stan plays Robbie’s husband. He is cunning as Gillooly. His scenes with Robbie are noteworthy.

However, the scene-stealer is Allison Janney. She plays Harding’s mother, LaVona Golden. She is a potty-mouthed woman who audiences later see on an oxygen tank with a pet bird on her shoulder. She gives audiences a reason to like Tonya Harding. Janney plays the mother in crude but exactingly potent manner. She scores. 

Australian director Craig Gillespie (“Lars and the Real Girl,” 2007; “The Finest Hours,” 2016) and writer Steven Rogers offer audiences a different view of Harding and those in her life via a pseudo-documentary-style production. They provide dramatic and comical moments; each is gratifying, even when pushing the ridiculous. They are not alleging Harding was innocent. Instead, they are offering an alternative view, and it is superior entertainment.

Grade: B+ (Tonya provides a worthy distraction.)