‘Solo’ flies too low

“Solo: A Star Wars Story” (Science-Fiction/Adventure: 2 hours, 15 minutes)

Starring: Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover and Joonas Suotamo

Director: Ron Howard

Rated: PG-13 (Violence and brief mild language)

 

Movie Review: “Solo” is like a modern retelling of Buck Rogers. Han Solo is a swashbuckling hero in outer space, in this case, a galaxy far, far away. 

He is a likable character. While Han Solo is one of the more fascinating characters of “Star Wars,” this movie is all action no substance and uneven character shifts.

The criminal underworld in another galaxy is the setting for “Solo.” A young Han Solo (Ehrenreich) meets a nearly 200-year-old Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and encounters Lando Calrissian (Glover) while working a heist with a gang of galactic smugglers led by Tobias Beckett (Harrelson). Solo has a reason to make plenty of money quickly; he left the love of his life, Qi’ra (Clarke), on a dreadful planet. Matters change when he encounters her some time later.

The casting for this tale is faultless. Alden Ehrenreich makes the perfect Han Solo. He has the arrogant smirk rendered by Harrison Ford, the original Han Solo. Ehrenreich plays Solo in a manner that fits what an older Solo becomes in the original trilogy.

An engaging Harrelson, an intriguing pretty Clarke and a superior Glover all play their roles well. However, the fault lies not within this photoplay’s stars but in the screenplay’s script. 

The attempt of Director Ron Howard (“Apollo 13,” 1995; “A Beautiful Mind, 2001”) is to capture the essence of the original trilogy. He accomplishes some of it via writing by Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote what is considered to be the best “Star Wars,” “Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back,” and his son, Jonathan Kasdan.

The story is supposed to create a backstory for Han Solo and a few others, but the movie does not make one care for this group in a major manner. The actors play their parts well, but the script creates uneven characters that do not inspire one to care about them. 

Even more, the double-crossing moments happen far too often. Each character has a motive, and those motives appear to switch frequently. This is especially true during the last 30 minutes.

“Solo” appears to be an opening to create more movies with Han Solo as the center. It is not a bad addition to the Star Wars franchise, but it is far from the best. It has plenty of issues. Certain character actions are unexplainable and relationships are poorly developed — they lack an emotive attachment. One could say the characters are all solo.

Grade: C+ (Han Solo is ‘the man,’ but his story is lackluster.)

“Disobedience” (Drama/Romance: 1 hour, 54 minutes)

Starring: Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams and Alessandro Nivola

Director: Sebastián Lelio

Rated: R (Strong sexual content)

 

Movie Review: Infidelity, a forbidden love, sexuality and Judaism and are all at the heart of this drama, an adaptation of the Naomi Alderman’s novel “Disobedience.”

The cast’s performances are dynamic; they make Alderman’s characters interesting, yet the story is choppy.

New York photographer Ronit Krushka (Weisz) returns home to an Orthodox Jewish community in London after the death of her influential rabbi father. The community is conservative socially with many rules and regulations according to Jewish religiosity. 

Ronit was shunned by the community years ago for her attraction to long-time friend Esti Kuperman (McAdams). Esti is now married to Rabbi Dovid Kuperman (Nivola), Ronit’s cousin. When desires of love resurface, Ronit and Esti must deal with fallout to their ever-present emotions for each other.

Social norms can be surmountable pressures. “Disobedience,” a screenplay by Sebastián Lelio and Rebecca Lenkiewicz, explores those pressures when a forbidden love happens. 

Ronit and Esti are torn between passion and social obligations. Their emotions would have them override the boundaries, but their duties and the intentions of their families, friends and their religious acquaintances complicate their love. This and well-acted roles are essential to the narrative.

Rachel Weisz, who serves as a producer, and Rachel McAdams are dedicated to these roles. They become their characters through superior acting. Alessandro Nivola joins in a love triangle.

Nivola is just phenomenal. His scenes are pivotal and thought-provoking. He steals scenes, especially those dealing with the inner workings of the Jewish faith.

Lelio and Lenkiewicz style of storytelling does interfere with the nice performances. The tale is jaggedly rendered at times. The end is perplexing as the story appears to omit what is totally happening.

One understands the complexity that duty and social norms appear to win over passionate love, but the story does not do an adequate job of conveying such. Audiences must mentally fill in some of the gaps.

Sebastián Lelio recently acquired an Oscar for the Best Foreign Language movie “A Fantastic Woman” (2017), a tale about a transgendered woman. He is apt at producing movies about sexuality and relationships. The relationship portrayed by Weisz and McAdams is good, but its story’s execution could be better.

Grade: B- (Noncompliance to social norms can create nice dramatic moments.)