I join CP24 anchor Andrew Brennan to have a look at the high school the musical “Mean Girls,” the buzzy “The Beekeeper,” the divine “The Book of Clarence” and the drama “Freud’s Last Session.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I join CTV NewsChannel anchor Renee Rogers to talk about the high school the musical “Mean Girls,” the buzzy “The Beekeeper,” the divine “The Book of Clarence” and the drama “Freud’s Last Session.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
I sit in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to theatres including the high school the musical “Mean Girls,” the buzzy “The Beekeeper,” the divine “The Book of Clarence” and the drama “Freud’s Last Session.”
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
“Freud’s Last Session,” a new drama starring Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Goode, documents imagined conversations between two of the most engaged minds of the twentieth century as they grapple with the greatest mystery of all time, the existence of God.
Set in 1939 England, Hopkins is the Father of Psychoanalysis, living in London after fleeing his Vienna birthplace as the Nazis marched in. A religious skeptic, he says, “I’m a passionate disbeliever who’s obsessed with belief.”
Goode plays Oxford don and author C.S. Lewis, a troubled World War I vet who reclaimed his lapsed belief in Christianity after facing the horrors of war. As he is diagnosed with terminal cancer, the atheist Freud invites Lewis in for a conversation regarding what happens after you die.
As Freud faces mortality, he is unbowed in his dismissal of Lewis’s “fairy tale of faith.” Lewis, who came to religion through trauma, literature and study, uses their time together to prove that true believers are not, as Freud labels them, imbeciles.
As their philosophical joust heats up–“Have you ever considered how terrifying it would be if you’re wrong?” asks Lewis—the story splinters to include subplots involving the codependent relationship between Freud and his devoted daughter Anna (Liv Lisa Fries), her closeted relationship with Dorothy Tiffany Burlingham (Jodi Balfour) and Lewis’s involvement with Janie (Orla Brady), his late best friend’s mother. These story shards and the odd flashback, open up the story, taking us outside Freud’s booklined study.
This war of words, set against a backdrop of the rise of war in Europe, is more contemplative than confrontational. It’s provocative material, expertly delivered by Hopkins and Goode, that recalls Hopkins’s back-and-forth with Jonathan Pryce in “The Two Popes.” Their verbal sparring reveals more about their personalities than the flashbacks, which often interrupt the story’s rhythm, rather than embellishment it.
“Freud’s Last Session” is based on the stage play of the same name by Mark St. Germain, and is the rare movie that doesn’t feel served by opening up the story. When it moves away from its two leads, it wanders, lessening the impact of their interaction.
Still, watching these two terrific actors bring these two titans to life on screen, even though they likely never met in real life, is time well spent.
Richard speaks to “CTV News at 11:30” anchor Andria Case about television and movies to watch during the pandemic including the reality show “World of Dance,” the family drama “The Rest of Us” with Heather Graham and “Mr. Jones,” a story of journalism in a fraught time.
Watch the whole thing HERE! (Starts at 23:54)
Richard sits in on the CFRA Ottawa morning show with host Bill Carroll to talk the new movies coming to VOD and streaming services including the new Kevin Bacon psychological thriller “You Should Have Left,” the Heather Graham family drama “The Rest of Us,” the “Showgirls” rethink “You Don’t Nomi” and “Mr. Jones,” the true-life story of one journalist’s journey to tell the truth.
Listen to the whole thing HERE!
Blended families can be complicated, messy ecosystems particularly when tragedy is involved. There are a ton of movies about divided loyalties in the face of divorce or death but “The Rest of Us,” the new Heather Graham film, now on VOD, is different. Rather than milking the relationship between first and second wives for heightened drama, it focusses on empathy and compassion.
Graham plays illustrator and author Cami, mother to Aster (Sophie Nélisse) and ex-spouse to Craig. Ten years previously he cheated on her with Rachel (Jodi Balfour), leaving his first family behind to start again with the younger woman. “She’s almost young enough to be your daughter,” says Aster. When he dies in the tub the two women have a chilly reunion at the funeral reception, which happens to be in the house Cami shared with Craig.
Days later the two women meet again and some shocking truths about Craig’s financial state arise. “He hasn’t paid the mortgage for six months,” Rachel tells Cami. “It’ll all go up for auction. The furniture, the house, everything. We can keep a few clothes and things.” Moved, Cami offers Rachel and daughter Talulah (Abigail Pniowsky) a temporary place to stay while she waits for the insurance money to come in. Rachel declines but when the house is foreclosed on, her hand is forced.
With the four living on Cami’s property secrets are revealed, tensions vented and grief and anger over the passing of the man who connects them is shared.
“The Rest of Us” has plenty of reveals. Truths are uncovered at an astounding rate but there are never fireworks, just well calibrated moments that expose the complicated dynamics of interpersonal relationships. Director Aisling Chin-Lee never overplays or rushes those moments even though the film has a scant eighty-minute running time. Instead she allows the strong performances from each of the players—particularly from Nélisse—to do the heavy emotional lifting.
Sharp writing keeps “The Rest of Us’” unusual premise from becoming too pat, even if one of the big reveals is telegraphed early on. Still, it’s a lovely testament to the power of empathy and forgiveness.
