Wake Up Dead Man

Word of warning: don’t watch this movie if you’re sleepy. I did, and wound up dozing off about 45 minutes in. Is that a commentary on the quality of the film, or just a product of circumstance? Maybe a bit of both. For sure, this story takes its time getting to the heart of the proceedings. That leisurely pace gives the movie a sense of being—somewhat appropriate for a murder mystery—rather lifeless. The film does eventually get going, and in doing so presents an interesting aspect of the script: some intriguing ruminations on faith and the church and their value and meaning. Plus you get to watch more of Daniel Craig inhabiting the character of Benoit Blanc, which is good entertainment. Still, I can’t help but think that this entry in Rian Johnson’s series is a touch below the previous outings. Whether that marks a death knell for the franchise or represents just a momentary dip remains at this point a question still to be answered. Not dead yet, perhaps, but in need of a little more energy—something you can say about your correspondent as well. 

Glass Onion

A few years ago, it seemed like Daniel Craig was certain to be remembered as a guy who played James Bond. Maybe that still holds, but a couple more of these films—we're at three as of this writing—and it may no longer be a sure thing. His Benoit Blanc is arguably a more memorable character, and you can’t deny that it is a persona that is truly Craig’s own, rather than a borrowed or inherited legacy. It helps, too, that these Knives Out movies are good, entertaining, fun and funny, and blessed with a lot of current (at least) cultural currency. In this edition, the story works well, and the cast and setting have plenty of interesting facets (though here the collected characters border on caricature). The fly in this ointment lies in the focus on—and critique of—the ultra rich and their natures. The view has merit and the parody pulls few punches, but it means spending a lot of time with some really unpleasant characters, even if just representations thereof. That aspect of the story does get a bit distracting, one might say…though one can argue the critique is not so much a distraction as the point of the presentation in the first place. I guess it depends on how much you care about the mystery aspect of a mystery, versus character, setting and mood. Me, I’m not so much on the whodunnit angle, so my viewing mind tends to shift towards the other story elements. It works here, though I’m not sure it would in every story. As it is, you can just focus on Craig and let him be your guide to a decent way to kill a couple of hours. I guess this movie doesn’t exactly shatter any expectations, but the fact that it works overall is crystal clear. 

Knives Out

So this is what qualifies as reinvention these days? That’s a bit harsh, because I don’t want to imply that this is anything but a solid, entertaining bit of cinema. It is that. I’m simply noting that this work is not the world-changing item that some of the hype says it is. The movie really doesn’t need that hard sell; it stands on its own merits well enough. A large quantity of the credit for that accomplishment rests with the two principal performers: a sly, quirky and ultimately deep performance by Daniel Craig, who continues to fashion a low-key argument that he’s among the best actors working today; and a surprisingly powerful and dominant performance from Ana de Armas, who is the true star of this show and carries a great deal of the film’s weight with her. The rest of the ensemble offers quality supporting work with rarely a misstep, but it’s the efforts of the primary two who make this a movie over and above the ordinary. As I’ve stated previously, I’ve never been a particular mystery fan, so the machinations of the whodunnit plot really meant little to this viewer (though it didn’t seem to me that the solution to the puzzle was really anything all that clever). Mostly, the main contribution to the flick's quality—on top of the leads’ efforts—comes from the director’s sense of style, so score one for Rian Johnson, too. You don’t need to effuse into the ridiculous in order to find this a satisfying piece of cinema—and that shouldn’t be a mystery to anyone.

Looper

The cleverness here comes from a conscious decision not to be clever. Writer and director Rian Johnson declares early on (through the Bruce Willis character) that he’s not interested in getting bogged down in time travel paradox puzzles (although the film’s denouement arguably does rely on just such a puzzle). The key decision allows both the filmmakers and the audience to focus on the business at hand: a well-made, stylish thriller that keeps you entertained all the way to its mobius knot ending. The only sour note: Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s distractingly bad makeup job; suspension of disbelief could have been achieved without the odd look. Otherwise, this flick’s a good one, and worth a look.