I join the CTV NewsChanel to talk about the Lucy Liu heartbreaker “Rosemead,” the historical drama “The Choral” and the family dynamics of “Father Mother Sister Brother” and the feelgood divorce movie “Is This Thing On?”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Fast reviews for busy people! Watch as I review three movies in less time than it takes to make the bed! Have a look as I race against the clock to tell you about the Lucy Liu heartbreaker “Rosemead,” the historical drama “The Choral” and the family dynamics of “Father Mother Sister Brother.”
Watch the whole thing HERE!
SYNOPSIS: “Father Mother Sister Brother,” a new anthology film directed by Jim Jarmusch starring Adam Driver and Cate Blanchett, and now playing in theatres, is a tryptic of stories about awkward family relationships in the United States, Ireland and France.
CAST: Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Sarah Greene, Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat. Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch.
REVIEW: Three stories united by the theme of family dynamics, “Father Mother Sister Brother” is a quiet, well-observed portmanteau centered around the mysterious nature of the connection between parent and child and family secrets.
In the film’s opening segment, “Father,” siblings Jeff (Adam Driver) and Emily (Mayim Bialik) travel to the rural Northeast U.S. to visit their estranged father (Tom Waits). Concerned about his finances since the death of their mother, Jeff brings along an expensive box of groceries, but unanswered questions arise when Emily notices her father is wearing an expensive Rolex watch. “You’ve always been my favorite son,” father says to Jeff. “Well, I’m you’re only son.”
In “Mother,” the film’s second story, sisters Lilith (Vicky Krieps) and Timothea (Cate Blanchett) make their annual pilgrimage to spend an afternoon with their secretive novelist mother (Charlotte Rampling). An undercurrent of tension silently hangs over their visit as the sisters compete for their mother’s attention as many secrets are left unsaid. “I’m very happy to see you on one hand,” says mother, “ but I have to keep you from stirring things up.”
The movie wraps with the Paris-set “Sister Brother.” Adult twins Skye (Indya Moore) and Billy (Luka Sabbat) confront the fragility of life when they return to their parent’s apartment in the aftermath of a family tragedy. “Each moment is each moment,” says Billy.
Quiet, melancholy and tinged with a bittersweet quality, “Father Mother Sister Brother” is a film where the things left unsaid are as important as the things the characters say.
It isn’t conventional drama. Conflicts exist but are put on simmer as writer and director Jim Jarmusch leaves space around the characters and situations, so the stories breathe. It allows the audience to be present, to catch the nuances of the terrific performances from Driver, Waits, Blanchett, and Rampling. The subtle slights, the gentle comedy and embrace of the mundane are seemingly unassuming but sharpened to a fine point in the hands of these actors who understand the exceptional ordinariness of the film’s situations.
What “Father Mother Sister Brother” lacks in fireworks, it makes up for in introspection. It may be too slow for viewers expecting family drama writ large, but the various awkward interactions on display will certainly ring bells for many theatre goers.
Roddy Doyle is best known for writing “The Commitments,” a comedy-drama with a toe tapping score. His film,“Rosie,” on VOD this week, is a much different movie. It won’t make anyone hum “Mustang Sally” on the way out of the theatre but should inspire conversation about homelessness.
Sarah Greene is Rosie, mother of four, partner to restaurant cook John Paul (Moe Dunford). The happy north Dublin family lived in a rented home until the landlord sold the house leaving them stranded. Hopscotching from one hotel to another, they desperately search for new accommodation while trying to camouflage their circumstances from family, friends and their children’s teachers. Increased rents and well-meaning but Kafkaesque assistance bureaucracy leave this family on the edge of having to live in their car.
“Rosie” is a cautionary tale. A gritty, empathic and timely look at the challenges families face when life takes an unexpected left turn. Doyle’s script (his first original screenplay in over 18 years) never sensationalizes the situation or asks for pity, it simply compassionately presents one family’s story of woe.
Director Paddy Breathnach’s background in documentary film lends “Rosie” a neo-realist feel that provides an up-close-and-personal portrait of growing desperation. Long, intimate takes bring an uninterrupted sense of the tragedy affecting the family, a feeling that builds throughout the film’s scant 85 minute running time. Top its benefit it is definitely not a feel-good movie. Doyle and Breathnach offer up no easy answers to Rosie’s plight, just pure naturalistic drama with a social consciousness.
