CTV NEWSCHANNEL: ‘It feels like an infomercial’: Richard on ‘Melania’ doc
I join the CTV NewsChannel to have a look at the documentary “Melania,” the desert island drama of “Send Help” and the déjà vu of “Shelter.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Posts Tagged ‘Rachel McAdams’
CTV NEWSCHANNEL: RICHARD’s MOVIE REVIEWS FOR FRIDAY JANUARY 30, 2026!
I join the CTV NewsChanel to talk about the desert island drama of “Send Help,” the déjà vu of “Shelter” and the awesome animation of “ARCO.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
YOU TUBE: THREE MOVIES/THIRTY SECONDS! FAST REVIEWS FOR BUSY PEOPLE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make a smoothie! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the desert island drama of “Send Help,” the déjà vu of “Shelter” and the awesome animation of “ARCO.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SEND HELP: 3 ½ STARS. “a nasty piece of work but in a good way.”
SYNOPSIS: In “Send Help,” the new survival thriller starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien now playing in theatres, the power dynamic changes between a mousy office worker and her arrogant boss when they are stranded on a deserted island in a desperate fight for survival.
CAST: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Edyll Ismail, Dennis Haysbert, Xavier Samuel, Chris Pang, Thaneth Warakulnukroh, Emma Raimi. Directed by Sam Raimi.
REVIEW: “Send Help” has a jump scare or two, gallons of blood and some grisly moments but this isn’t Sam Raimi in full-on horror mode à la “Drag Me to Hell.” Instead, it’s kind of like a viciously humorous mash-up of “Survivor,” “Gilligan’s Island” and season four of “The Apprentice” with a side of “Misery.”
Rachel McAdams plays Linda Liddle, a genius with numbers, but socially awkward office worker in the Strategy & Planning department of a large company. After seven years of keeping her head down and doing the work, she is passed up for a promised promotion when the owner of the company dies, and his arrogant son Bradley (Dylan O’Brien) is put in charge. “I need someone who can charm a room, who can make a deal, somebody who golfs,” he sneers. “Does that make sense?”
When the company jet goes down during a work trip to Thailand, Linda and Bradley wash up on the shore of a deserted island, the lone survivors of the crash. As she uses lessons learned by watching the reality show “Survivor” to nurse him back to health, he takes every opportunity to remind her who’s boss. “Watch how you speak to me. You work for me. You got a problem with that?”
But when it becomes apparent the teachings of the boardroom don’t apply to life on a desert island, the power dynamic changes. “We’re not in the office anymore Bradley,” she says. “OK?”
“Send Help” is a nasty piece of work. In a good way. Director Raimi, working from a script by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, sets up a study in control dynamics that allows for maximum meanness and brutal betrayal all covered with a lush layer of uncomfortable laughs.
Essentially a two hander, the real success of the film relies on its leads.
As the gauche Linda, McAdams leaves behind the glamour of many of her most famous roles to embrace the character’s awkwardness and rage. The island situation offers Linda a sense of control she’s never experiences before and she is willing to go to extremes to maintain it. It’s a wacky, violent and unpredictable performance that allows McAdams to use the full arsenal of her talent. Behind the million dollar smile she’s funny, feral and furious, and it’s a blast to see her do something we’ve never seen her do before.
As toxic manchild Bradley, O’Brien isn’t as flashy as McAdams but manages several memorable moments. His chewing of food alone—which ranks on par with Denis Quaid’s mastication work in “The Substance”—could have earned this movie an R-rating for its unpleasantness. Misophoniacs beware.
“Send Help” is a twisted crowd-pleaser powered by frustration, empowerment and fun lead performances.
ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME MARGARET: 4 STARS. “curiosity and innocence.”
For several generations of young people “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” Judy Blume’s iconic coming-of-age novel, has been required reading. First released in 1970, when it wasn’t being banned by reactionaries upset by its frank talk about menstruation and religion, it was heralded as a realistic and relatable story of adolescent anxieties.
A new movie of the same name, now playing in theatres, hopes to uphold the book’s wholesome tone, while preserving the plain-spoken nature of “the poet laureate of puberty,” Blume’s prose.
The story begins when New York City preteen Margaret Simon’s (Abby Ryder Fortson) parents,
Barbara and Benny (Rachel McAdams and Benny Safdie), announce they are leaving the city. Benny has been given a promotion, and being in New Jersey makes more sense.
“It’s just on the other side of the river,“ he says, but even though It’s just the other side of the Hudson, but it might as well be the other side of the Earth to Margaret. She’s afraid she’ll never see friends again and doesn’t want to start at a new school. Grandmother Sylvia (Kathy Bates) doesn’t make things better when she moans, “I’m never going to see you again!“
Alone in her room, Margaret prays, “I’ve heard a lot of great things about you,” she says. “I don’t want to move. I’ve never lived anywhere but the city. If you can’t stop the move, please don’t let New Jersey be too miserable.“
As it turns out, the family’s new, leafy suburb isn’t that bad. There isn’t a pizzeria for miles around, but the neighbors are friendly, including the extroverted mean-girl-in-training Nancy Wheeler (Elle Graham), who pops by on moving day. “I live in the bigger house down the street,” she announces, before inviting Margaret to join her secret club.
Inside this new, small circle of friends, Margaret begins to figure out her place in the world. It’s a time of adjustments, of firsts—first bra, first crush, first kiss, first period, first betrayal—and of a spiritual quest. As the daughter of a Jewish father and Christian mother, who elected not to make her choose a religion until she got older, Margaret forms her own special relationship with God.
“It’s finally time to figure out who I am to be,” she says.
All the highlights from the book “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” including the famous “We must, we must, we must increase our bust” mantra and her famous prayers are present. Director Kelly Fremon Craig, who also wrote the screenplay, maintains the lack of pretence and sense of authenticity that set Blume’s book apart from the pack in this gentle realization of Margaret’s story.
The film perfectly captures Margaret’s tentative steps into adolescence and the life-changing power that comes along with each of her discoveries. It’s a trip into self-acceptance at a very complicated time in her life as she grapples with relationships—with her anti-religion parents, her new friends and Moose, the cute boy from down the street—and situations she struggles to understand. Like the book, which runs an economical 149 pages, the movie is a small story that tackles big issues.
Fortson delivers a natural performance, tinged with curiosity and innocence, that authentically delivers the good-natured humour and deeply felt emotions that color Margaret’s journey.
Set in the 1970s, “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” captures the nostalgia of the era, complete with McAdam’s feathered Farrah Fawcett hair, unironic TV dinners, fluorescent folding lawn chairs and shag carpets, but they all serve the movie’s themes, which are timeless.
DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS: 3 ½ STARS. “ridiculous and rad.”
The “Doctor Strange” movies are the trippiest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The mystical superhero’s introduction, 2016’s “Doctor Strange,” was a kaleidoscopic mix of images and ideas. The new film, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” starring Benedict Cumberbatch and now playing in theatres, kicks it up a notch. With a visual style that suggests M.C. Escher on an acid trip, it is a hallucinogenic ride that will make your eyeballs spin.
The action begins in Dr Stephen Strange’s (Cumberbatch) universe with the introduction of America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), a teenager with the ability to navigate the multiverse and access portals into alternate realities. In the search for her parents, she has explored 73 universes, each with their own, unique sets of rules, all the while pursued by a demon who wants to steal her powers.
This is not sorcery, Strange says. As old Blue Eyes once sang, it’s witchcraft, so who better to consult than Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), former Avenger and powerful practitioner of witchcraft?
He’s looking for advice that will help him save America, but instead is sent off on a wild and dangerous trip into a series of alternate realities to fight a power that threatens to subjugate the entire multiverse.
“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” begins with a bang. A loud and proud action scene kicks things off with an exaggerated H.P. Lovecraft creature terrorizing Chavez. It sets the wild and wacky tone that applies to most of the picture. A mix of action, horror and comic book comedy, it recalls the sweet spot that made director Sam Raimi’s “Evil Dead” movies such a blast. Raimi brings a kind of anarchy here that is missing from the carefully controlled Marvel films and when it is fun, it’s really fun. There’s even a battle of the bands, a musical showdown, that is equal parts ridiculous and rad.
But there is much more to the story than interdimensional shenanigans.
At its heart “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” isn’t a story about magic, it’s a tale about the things we do for love. Whether it is Wanda’s search for family, ably brought to life by Olsen’s poignant performance, or Strange’s attraction to Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), this story has a strongly beating heart.
Unfortunately, it also has a bumpy, uneven script. As it careens toward the Marvel friendly climax it loses steam as the action becomes muddied and the script begins to sew up any loose ends left dangling across then universes.
“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” doesn’t have the weight of “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” another recent examination of the multiverse, but despite its unevenness, it’s a good, and sometimes gory, time at the movies.
EUROVISION SONG CONTEST: THE STORY OF FIRE SAGA: 2 STARS. “not satirical enough.”
Will Ferrell is a wonderfully weird and committed actor. Like a dog with a bone when he latches onto a part he doesn’t let go, come hell or high water. When it works, it really works, and the result is an indelible comedic creation like the deluded Ron Burgundy that not only makes us laugh but also reveals the character’s humanity. When it doesn’t work, as in “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga,” now streaming on Netflix, it is all commitment and little humanity.
Ferrell plays Lars, a middle-aged Icelander whose love for the Eurovision Song Contest began in 1974 when he dancing in front of the TV, much to his father’s (Pierce Brosnan) chagrin, to ABBA’s winning performance of “Waterloo.” No one believes in his musical dreams except for his childhood friend Sigrit (Rachel McAdams), who loves him even though her affections don’t seem to be reciprocated. She believes in elves and drops little pearls of wisdom like, “Anger cannot churn butter.”
Together they are Fire Saga, a synth-pop duo who play to crowds at the local pub who only want to hear songs like “Ja Ja Ding Dong,” and not the “real music” Lars writes. Through a series of unlikely events they stumble into a spot on the Eurovision show. Lars’ father doesn’t want them to go. “All of Iceland will laugh at you,” he says. Undeterred, Lars soldiers on. “I have to become an international star to prove to my very handsome father and all of Iceland that I have not wasted my life.”
Lars and Sigrit’s experiences in their tiny fishing village of Húsav´ík do not prepared them for the cutthroat world of Eurovision. Will predatory singers, like Russian superstar Alexander Lemtov (Dan Stevens with a George Michael frosted-tip bouffant), and stage mishaps dampen Lars’ dreams of Eurovision fame?
“Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” should be a lot funnier than it is. It’s a little too loving of Eurovision’s kitschy spectacle to be a satire; a little too sincere to be truly silly, despite Ferrell’s ridiculous hair and even more outlandish sweaters. The comedy is further blunted by the film’s main conceit, that Lars and Sigrit are talentless wannabees. “We all know they are awful,” says the local Húsav´ík cop, “but they are our awful.” Thing is, in context, they fit like a puzzle piece next to the other over-the-top acts the movie showcases.
Ferrell brings the usual commitment to his trademarked arrogant man-child character but never pushes the characterization much beyond the way the townsfolk see him. “Lars is weird,” they all say, and Ferrell obliges, playing the character as the result of a damaged psyche—he feels unwanted by his father—and just a little too much confidence. It’s familiar ground for him and us.
McAdams feels like an odd choice to play opposite Ferrell’s exaggerated character. She’s good, but her more natural performance feels like it belongs in another movie.
The real Eurovision Song Contest won’t be happening this year, another victim of COVID-19, so perhaps “The Story of Fire Saga” will fill that gap for fans. If you tune in expect some scattered good moments. Ferrell delivers a few laughs and Stevens has fun but Lars and Sigrit’s protracted love story pushes the movie to an unwieldy 123 minutes with not quite enough laughs to justify the running time.
DISOBEDIENCE: 3 ½ STARS. “slow-burning character-driven study of passion.”
While “Disobedience” asks the same kind of questions that many romantic dramas have asked. Can love survive over years? Is any love forbidden? Does love change everything? The new Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams film, simply asks them in a different way.
Based on the novel by Naomi Alderman, “Disobedience” is the story of two women at odds with their upbringing. Rachel Weisz is Ronit, a New York based photographer, notified of her rabbi father’s (Anton Lesser) death. Travelling to London and the Orthodox Jewish area of her birth, she is met by derision by her former community. Most shun her, seeing her abandonment of their way of life as
rejection of their traditions. Everyone, that is, except childhood friends Dovid (Alessandro Nivola), who will soon take over as rabbi, and his wife Esti (Rachel McAdams). As Ronit settles her father’s estate the reason for her self-imposed exile becomes clear as she and Esti revive their teenage romance.
Chilean director Sebastian Lelio sets the stage, expertly creating the insular world of the British Orthodox Jewish enclave. Drawing us into a world ruled by cultural and spiritual customs he provides the background we need to contextualize the patriarchal world Ronit re-enters. That rich portrait gives Weisz and McAdams a canvas on which to paint two very different but very effective performances.
Both are strong-willed people who have spent years suppressing their feelings. Weisz’s Ronit straddles two worlds, her new life in America versus her old life in Britain, and with that comes introspection. Revisiting her past brings up a wellspring of emotions not just for Esti but for the life she left behind. Weisz embodies that push and pull with an internal performance that speaks volumes.
McAdams approaches Esti as a person frustrated with, but not trapped in, her ordered life. Ronit offers a kind of freedom and connection she rarely feels. It’s tremendous work, overlapping Esti’s devotedness with her natural inclinations.
“Disobedience” made the festival rounds where it was noted for its sex scenes but it is so much more than that. It’s a slow-burning character-driven study of passion that avoids judging its characters or the traditions it depicts.
GAME NIGHT: 3 ½ STARS. “makes up in charm what it lacks in procedural thrills.”
“Game Night” is a new thriller comedy with Jason Bateman that is more comedy than actual thriller.
Bateman and Rachel McAdams are Max and Annie, two competitive people who meet at a trivia night, bond over obscure “Teletubbies” facts, fall in love and get married. They’re so into games they even play Just Dance at the wedding reception.
Cut to a couple of years later. They are comfortably tucked away in the suburbs and hosting weekly game nights with friends, the dimwitted Ryan (Billy Magnussen) and long time couple Kevin and Sarah (Lamorne Morris and Hamilton, Ontario-born Kylie Bunbury). They used to invite neighbours Debbie and Gary (Jesse Plemons), but since Debbie moved out they take great pains to ensure that Gary, a creepy cop, doesn’t find out about their get-togethers.
On a personal level they’re trying to have a baby, but it isn’t going well. Their doctor (Camille Chen) thinks stress is making it impossible for them to conceive. The source? Max’s brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler), a good looking, venture capitalist who loves to flaunt his wealth. “He’s like the Mark Wahlberg to Max’s Donnie,” says Ryan.
When Brooks rolls into town, driving Max’s dream car, a vintage Stingray, he throws a special game night at his new, rented mansion. With no Risk, Scrabble or Monopoly in sight, the regular gamers gather for a murder mystery party. The winner gets the Stingray. “This will be a game night to remember,” Brooks says.
When the murder mystery turns into a real kidnapping the game players are sucked into a world of intrigue as they have to solve the “game.“ Seems there’s more to Brooks than meets the eye. “I can’t believe your brother has been lying to us this whole time,” guffaws Ryan. “He’s even cooler than I thought.”
This isn’t a Hitchcock movie. There’s no real mystery in “Game Night,” just some twists and turns and engaging performances from a cast game to have fun. It’s more about spending time with the characters on their wild night out.
Much of the humour comes from the casual back-and-forth between Bateman and McAdams. They interact like an old married couple, not people in a bad situation. Bateman is a natural at this kind of deadpan comedy and McAdams, who generally features in dramas, keeps pace. Their chemistry is one of the reasons this slight comedy works as well as it does.
Magnussen, who plays a likable dim bulb, and Morris and Bunbury who work their way through a mystery of their own making aid the above-the-title stars. The biggest surprise and certainly the film’s oddest performance belongs to Plemons. Best known for his work on “Breaking Bad” and “Fargo,” he mixes deadpan delivery with a thousand-yard-stare that is as unnerving as it is funny.
“Game Night” isn’t slap your knee funny but it is an amiable enough comedy that makes up in charm what it lacks in procedural thrills.
