To All The Boys I've Loved Before (2018) --- “The Letters Are Out.”

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A teen romance is fun to see, the ups and downs entertain me. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before does all that and includes much more.  Love letters sent and read at last, Five secret crushes of the past. The writer did not send them out, So how did this deed come about? Facing her problem is Lara Jean, a teen not ready to come clean.  Still, she deals with each teenage boy. Might one of them bring her great joy? Twists and surprises happen here. Yes, you will laugh -- and shed a tear. 

~ Jenny Han

~~~~

     Directed by Susan Johnson (Carrie Pillby), written by Sofia Alvarez (To All The Boys: P.S I Still Love You), To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018) is a teen romance film based off the popular Young Adult novel of the same name by New York Times Bestselling Author Jenny Han. Lara Jean Covey (Lana Condor) is a normal teen living a normal life but instead of writing in a diary-like most girls she writes love letters. Five to be exact, one for every boy she’s ever loved and keeps them safely hidden in a box, never intending to send them out. But when all five letters are mysteriously mailed out to her previous crushes, Lara Jean’s life goes from imaginary to out of control when her foregoing loves confront her one by one.

     Although the screenplay writer Sofia Alvarez and the book’s author Jenny Han have never met before, the pair were able to bring to life a tender, lighthearted, and comical teen romance that will leave you feeling good. Han stated that when she wrote the book she went in hoping to write a modern, classic love story that felt warm and cozy, and Alvarez made sure to honor that conception in her adaptation of the screenplay by using voice-overs and internal monologue to get us into the head of Lara Jean and help to bridge the gap between the book’s narrative and the film. As a result of their combined styles of writing, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is a simple, relatable, and hopeful film without all the cliche and unrealistic nonsense. 

     The cast performances were great. Lana Condor’s (X-Men: Apocalypse, To All The Boys 2) sweet and earnest performance as the film’s female protagonist, Lara Jean, does an incredible job at carrying the story to the end. Although she is tasked with portraying Lara Jean as a sweet and hopeless romantic, Condor is also given the liberty to display a great deal of depth to her character. Opposite of Condor is Noah Centino (The Perfect Date) as the charming and sometimes vulnerable Peter Kavinsky. His performance as Peter is incredibly realistic and his chemistry with Condor is strong enough to give the film a strong anchor to its rom-com storyline. The rest of the supporting cast - Janel Parrish (PLL: Perfectionists), Anna Cathcart (Descendants 3),  John Corbett (47 Meters Down Uncaged), Israel Broussard (Happy Death Day 2U), Emilija Baranac (Riverdale, To All The Boys 2), Andrew Bachelor (Rim of the World), Trezzo Mahoro (To All The Boys 2), and Madeleine Arthur (The Magicians) - round out the cast with good and sometimes hilarious standout performances. 

     Overall, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is a simple, relatable, and hopeful film without all the cliche and unrealistic nonsense. Writer Sofia Alvarez honors Jenny Han’s conception while also creating a screenplay that can connect with audiences the same way the book did. The cast performances were great and the actors were perfectly suited for their respective characters but it is clear that Lana Condo carries most of the film. This, of course, is mostly due to the fact that she is the character the audience must connect with the most since she is the main protagonist and narrator in the story. If you're looking for a good rom-com that will leave you feeling cozy and warm then I highly recommend that you check out this film.

Final Vote --- 7.8 of 10 stars

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Dark Waters (2019) --- “Based On The New York Times Exposé.”

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     Robert Bilott (Mark Ruffalo) is climbing the ladder as a corporate attorney and just as he gets promoted to partner, Wilbur Tennant arrives with a box of evidence and a troubling case: DuPont Chemicals has been slowly poisoning every living thing in its shadow. As he starts to connect a growing number of birth defects and unexplained deaths to DuPont Chemicals, he soon learns that the company's far-reaching influence makes finding the evidence even more difficult and that he’s risking far more than just his career - his life, his family’s lives, and his marriage are also on the line. Directed by Todd Haynes (Carol, Wonderstruck), screenplay by Mario Correa and Matthew Michael Carnahan (21 Bridges, Deepwater Horizon), and based on the 2016 NYT article "The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare" by Nathaniel Rich, Dark Waters (2019) is an entertaining and tension-filled legal thriller that follows a tenacious attorney who risks it all in his 20-year legal battle to punish one of the world’s largest corporations for its inhumane method for dumping toxic waste and its corresponding deathly effects on living things.

     Through the expert direction of Todd Haynes, Dark Waters embraces and follows the theme of a lone-crusader-against-the-corrupt-system by giving viewers a feel for what a long, tedious, spiritually and emotionally draining process a lawsuit of this magnitude can be. Haynes takes it a step further by letting the most charismatic actors look as if they are also inhabiting the same exhausting reality as their characters. The story and tone of this film is more closely associated with films such as Spotlight (2015), The Big Short (2015), The Post (2017), and Official Secrets (2019) because they all illustrate their own convoluted and complicated stories of corruption enough for the average person to understand the injustice the corporations has exacted upon the public.

The story is informative about the events that took place and demonstrates how one farmer’s plight opened the door for a wider discussion on PFOA, a by-product of Teflon - one of DuPont's most lucrative postwar products. This leads to a much wider discussion and looks at how toxic chemicals that are spread through the water supply enter the human body and usually remain there forever, leaving a grime and almost hopeless undertone to the film. On top of this, the amount of corruption is shocking especially the rampant corruption within the government that allows big & powerful corporations like DuPont get away with everything at the expense of public safety, and all so that they can fill their pockets. As more and more truth is exposed the viewers will start to question: why fight if the bad guys have already won? But the story’s message provides an answer: you should fight because it's the right thing to do and it’s a public service to show people how broken the system is. It is strong, involving, angry, and understated film that resonates with present-day feelings of hopelessness at the blatant corruption displayed by companies we are supposed to trust.

     The cinematography by Edward Lachman (Carol, Wonderstruck) is remarkable because he manages to infuse every scene with its own sense of neglect, decay, and sunless atmosphere that gives the illusion that the film is rotting from the inside out. This is an inspired and effective choice considering the story’s subject matter of dangerous ‘forever chemicals seeping into a rural population’s water supply. Regardless of the fact that the story asks us to root for a crusading attorney fighting for justice against multinational capitalism, the cinematography suggests that his quest might be all for naught within a fallen world. It is a plain and simpleness that helps drive the story home.

     The cast performances were outstanding. I have always been a fan of Mark Ruffalo from 13 Going on 30 (2004) to the Now You See Me series to Spotlight (2015) to  Avengers: Endgame (2019) and demonstrating a wide range of emotions and characters. In Dark Waters as Robert Bilott, Ruffalo delivers one of my favorite performances yet. Ruffalo has played a similar role to this one in the 2015 film Spotlight but here he tones down the smugness and instead emphasized a kind of weary bewilderment that compliments his self-willed pariah status. His nervous and timid body language demonstrates that this smart and ethical man is financially, politically, and scientifically outgunned when it comes to going against a big corporation like DuPont. In addition to dealing with the cold and implacable hostility from DuPont’s honchos and legal team - as well as doubts from himself, his wife (Anne Hathaway), co-workers, and his boss (Tim Robbins) - Robert must also contend with the resentment of the community he’s working for because they have been conditioned for years to believe that DuPont has their community’s best interests at heart. Ruffalo conveyed the stress of his character’s position and the anxiety he must have felt throughout the process. The supporting cast - Anne Hathaway (The Witches, Modern Love) as Sarah Bilott, Tim Robbins (Hear and Now) as Tom Terp, Bill Camp (Jokes, The Kitchen) as Wilbur Tennant, Victor Garber (The Orville) as Phil Donnelly, Mare Winningham (The Outsiders) as Darlene Kiger, Bill Pullman (The Sinner, The Equalizer 2) as Harry Deitzler, William Jackson Harper (The Underground Railroad) as James Ross, and Louisa Krause (Ray Donavan) as Karla - all deliver pretty solid performances that help build character, playoff Ruffalo’s character nicely, and add depth to the story as a whole.

     Overall, Dark Waters (2019) is an entertaining and thought-provoking film about corporate corruption and the power of perseverance, specifically for justice. The story tells that no matter what the truth always comes out and fighting for what’s right might be hard and seem impossible at times but it is the right thing to do. The cinematography by Lachman is incredible in setting the film’s tone by giving every scene a sense of neglect, decay, and hopelessness. The cast performances were solid throughout, especially from Mark Ruffalo who delivers one of his best performances to date, possibly even surpassing his work in the MCU. All in all, Dark Waters is an angry film and rightfully so, and while it also deals with some heavy subject matter, I highly recommend that you check it out if and when you can.

Final Vote --- 8 of 10 stars

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6 Underground --- “They Say No One Can Save The World. Meet No One.”

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     Directed by Michael Bay (Transformers: The Last Knight) and written by Paul Wernick (Deadpool 2, Zombieland 2) and Rhett Reese (Deadpool 2, Zombieland 2), 6 Underground (2019) is a Netflix action thriller about a team of freelance mercenaries who have been declared dead and now ply their trade underground as ghosts. Billionaire Number One (Ryan Reynolds), super-sexy badass Number Two (Mélanie Laurent), tough guy Number Three (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), free-running parkour daredevil Number Four (Ben Hardy), sleek operator Number Five (Adria Arjona), and death-defying driver Number Six (Dave Franco). Their mission: target the corrupt ruler (Lior Raz) of the fictional Middle Eastern nation of Turgistan and replace him with his more level-headed younger brother (Peyman Maadi). 

     With a $150 million budget and in typical Michael Bay fashion, 6 Underground (2019) features a lot of action and explosions but this time the action is delivered in a whole new way and it all starts in the opening moments. There are high-speed car chases, insanely big set scenes, blood and gore, helicopters, and most of all explosions. 6 Underground is one of those mindless action films that doesn’t care if you like it and doesn’t care if you love it, which helps and hurt the film. This is a long and frequently incomprehensible, self-indulgent film that allows Bay to feed every impulse by making an earnest effort to be one of the most exaggerated versions of a Bay & Ryan Reynolds film, much like Deadpool. Both the beginning and the end are comprised of big action scenes, while the rest of the film is filled with moments of dialogue and more big action scenes. What little dialogue we are given is almost entirely made up of sarcastic quips and small character build-ups that don’t actually go very far. Although director Bay is good at what he does, he’s one of those directors who shouldn’t have this much freedom because his baser tendencies tend to drown out whatever story the film is trying to say. But considering that this film establishes from the start exactly what kind of film it is, then you can’t fault it for staying true to its roots.

     The cast performances are great. Ryan Reynolds (Free Guy) is fun and gets all the best lines as Number One but he also plays the same type of character that we’ve seen from him a hundred times. I mean sure he is good at it but now it's becoming expected of him to the point that I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up doing B-rated action films in the near future. In short, I would like to see more range with him. Melanie Laurent (Operation Finale), Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (Widows, Greyhound), Ben Hardy (Bohemian Rhapsody), Adria Arjona (Triple Frontier, Morbius), Dave Franco (Easy), Corey Hawkins (In the Heights), and Payman Maadi (Camp X, A Separation, 13 Hours) are all great with their respective characters. 

Overall, 6 Underground (2019) is a mindless and action-packed Netflix film that has Michael Bay and Ryan Reynolds written all over it. The film is less concerned with answering plot questions and instead prefers to plunge into the next big and insane action scene. The cast performances were good all around but I do wish that I could see more range from Reynolds in the future. If your a fan of big and insane action sequences or if you're looking for some mindless entertainment then I highly recommend this film.

Final Vote --- 6.8 of 10 stars

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The Informer (2020) --- “Between Power, Corruption, And Vengeance, Every Moment Could Be His Last.”

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     After being honorably discharged Special Ops soldier Pete Koslow (Joel Kinnaman) is sent to jail when he gets into a fight to protect his wife (Ana de Armas). In order to get a second chance at an early release, Koslow becomes an informant for crooked FBI agents (Rosamund Pike and Clive Owen), using his covert skills in an operation to take down The General (Eugene Lipinski), the head of the Polish Mafia in New York. But when an op to take down The General goes sideways, both sides insist that Koslow takes the fall by going back to the one place he’s spent his whole life escaping, Bale Hill Prison. There his mission becomes a race against time to stay alive long enough to escape prison and save his family. 

     Directed by Andrea Di Stefano (Escobar: Paradise Lost), written by Rowan Joffe (Tin Star) and Matt Cook (Angel Has Fallen), and based off of the Swedish crime novel Three Seconds by Roslund/Hellström, The Informer (2019) is a tense, grim, and gritty crime thriller that features an international cast and attempts to cover a number of storylines, and despite its American setting, it is classified as a British production. The story follows the standard setup for a crime thriller and is a combination of a one-last job story and a forced obligation story for this film. Although the film tries to tell a broad story, it struggles to cast a wide net because it doesn’t try to bring something new to the genre. It’s more of the same old same old type of film that does exactly go beyond being entertaining. That being said the film doesn’t try to be something it’s not and only seeks to be entertaining and well constructed. The one thing that this film excels at is tension and violence. There is a lot of it throughout the film and the majority of it takes place in overcrowded situations and sets. There were also little details involving the characters that show that there is nothing glamorous or worthwhile about this world.

     The cast performances were exactly what you would expect from a film like this. There was nothing remarkable about the performances but they did manage to succeed in portraying the characters solidly. Joel Kinnaman (Hanna Amazon series) is good at playing characters like Pete Koslow, the rough and tough type of guy with covert skills who is always having some sort of inner character battle. He also handles himself very well in the action sequences. Rosamund Pike (Watership Down, The Wheel of Time) is fitting as Officer Wilcox but she also had two different personas that almost felt to be too believable. Clive Owen (Anon, Gemini Man), while normally a strong actor, as good as her boss Officer Montgomery but in a film already filled with a lot of aggressive characters, his felt to be a bit too much. Perhaps if some of the background characters were removed then perhaps his performance would have been better received. Common (The Kitchen) was good as NYPD Detective Grens but his subplot was underused and left to be unfinished. There was a moment when Grens and Pete could have formed a strong alliance to take down those that had betrayed Pete but instead, the writers dropped the ball and left things unfinished. Ana de Armas (No Time To Die) did good as Pete’s wife Sofia Hoffman but like Common, she was underused and also had a moment when she could have pulled a fast one on the bad guys and yet didn’t. Needless to say, the performances were good but the writing left things to be desired.

     Overall, The Informer (2020) is an entertaining and violent crime-thriller that gives a solid offering to the genre. However, there were certain writing decisions that left the film with a number of plot-holes and underused characters. Perhaps if the film chose to focus on just one story and build off of that rather than trying to create a broad crime-thriller then the film would have been met with more success. Regardless, this is still an entertaining film and if you enjoy watching violent crime-thrillers then I highly recommend that you check this one out.

Final Vote --- 6.8 of 10 stars

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