Secrets & Lies (1996)

Mike Leigh is a master at dissecting the dysfunctional family. He fills a cauldron with sadness, regret and shame. He gives it a swirl, adds a man as peace-keeping patriarch among three women seeking solace but with simmering recriminations. He serves it up, introducing us to the Purley family.

Factory worker Cynthia Purley (Brenda Blethyn) and her nearly 21-year-old daughter Roxanne Purley (Claire Rushbrook) bicker as Cynthia tries to forge a closer relationship. Roxanne pulls away, horrified her mother wants to meet her boyfriend and talk about birth control. Cynthia is estranged from her brother Maurice Purley (Timothy Spall) because his wife Monica Purley (Phyllis Logan—you’ll recognize her as Mrs. Hughes of Downton Abbey) isn’t fond of Cynthia. Monica suffers cutting disappointment at not being able to conceive while Cynthia has been fertile under less-than-ideal circumstances.

When photographer Maurice drops by unexpectedly after nearly a year to see Cynthia, they snap back into their relationship and we learn about the deep familial wounds and strong connection they share. Maurice decides to throw Roxanne a 21st birthday party.

Add to this already volatile mix a young African-American woman Hortense Cumberbatch (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) who comes calling for Cynthia, claiming to be the child she gave up for adoption when Cynthia was 15 years old—a secret that will be unleashed and create upheaval in the Purley households.

Secrets & Lies is a classic that holds up 17 years later. The dialogue is rich with characters deflecting questions and offering more in non-answers. The movie rolls like a play. It beckons the viewer to join the characters in their sadness, anger, frustration and humor. The viewer readily obliges because it’s a well-made movie.

Writer/Director: Mike Leigh

Country: UK

Genre: Drama

Run time: 140 minutes

Scale: 4

Daniel & Ana (2009)

The high after Searching for Sugar Man didn’t last long because of Daniel & Ana, a disturbing movie that left a part of me dead.

Ana (Marimar Vega) and Daniel (Dario Yazbek Bernal) are siblings in a tight-knit family. They share an ease that shows the viewer they are good friends outside sharing DNA. Ana is in her early 20s planning her upcoming nuptials. The only snag she’s facing is that her husband-to-be Rafa (José María Torre) would love to relocate to Madrid for a job. Ana won’t leave Mexico nor her family.

Daniel is 16 and exploring his budding sexuality with girlfriend Mariana (Jéssica Castelán). They haven’t gone far but “doing it” is on the horizon. He takes every chance to drive the family car and is angling for his parents to get him his own automobile.

One day, Ana asks Daniel to accompany her on an errand. As they drive there, Daniel misses the turn. In circling the block to return to the street, two armed men jump into the back seat and instruct them to remain calm and follow directions.

(Spoiler Alert: Read at Your Own Risk!)

Daniel and Ana are addressed by name by the men and are forced into the trunk. They are taken to a house where they are made to strip and presented with a choice: either engage in sex with one another or be shot and killed. No explanation is given for how they were known to these men or why they were chosen. After great reluctance and mental anguish, the two are filmed as they have sex. Afterwards, they are dropped off. The two return home. They don’t tell their parents. They don’t discuss what happened. They isolate themselves in the emotional fallout of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Ana tells her fiancé she has doubts and ceases further wedding planning. She avoids Daniel. Daniel skips school, stops talking to his girlfriend and spends a lot of time in bed. As Ana tries to re-gain her life, Daniel spirals. His concerned parents keep removing privileges to get through to him but nothing impact him. He’s catatonic, cares about nothing and gets through his days like a zombie, until the day he loses it with an act of savage consequences.

Daniel & Ana brutalizes you. At the start, the viewer is told that this is a true story, that only the names have been changed. The movie doesn’t explain what the kidnappers/video makers had to gain by making the video, outside of black-market porn profits. Neither victim nor their parents are threatened with exposure. The movie takes a horrific what-if situation, exploits it, shocks the viewer but doesn’t provide any resolution. Reminiscent of a less-artful Michael Haneke film taking similar risks, Daniel & Ana proves less satisfying.

Writer/Director: Michel Franco

Country: Mexico

Genre: Drama

Run time: 88 minutes

Scale: 3

Cold Weather (2010)

Protagonist Doug (Cris Lankenau) drops out of college where he studied criminal justice and forensic science. He’s back in Portland, Oregon, and moved in with his gainfully employed (though you never learn what she does) sister Gail (Trieste Kelly Dunn). Unsure what he’ll do next, Doug secures a job at an ice packing factory and befriends Carlos (Raúl Castillo), my favorite character.

When Doug’s ex-girlfriend Rachel (Robyn Rikoon) visits Portland, the foursome become fast friends. When she disappears, Doug leads the investigation. I liked tagging along as they search for clues and make discoveries in Portland, but the way they determine Rachel is missing is far-fetched.

Cold Weather takes its time (which isn’t a bad thing) but the mystery they solve is underwhelming. It’s not clear much was solved. It ends abruptly and has a feel-good sibling-bonding moment. Gail and Doug relate to each other more like a couple rather than siblings. I enjoyed Carlos and Doug’s friendship. Rachel was the least compelling; consequently, so was her disappearance. They should have explored something at the Star Trek convention instead.

Co-writer/Director: Aaron Katz

Country: USA

Genre: Mystery

Run time: 96 minutes

Scale: 2.75

TiMER (2009)

TiMER explores the technology of implanting a wrist timer that counts down to the exact moment you will meet your “one,” but only if your one has also been implanted. Otherwise, your timer will be blank (until your one gets a timer). Some don’t believe in timers; others like the idea of no struggle, no guessing, no chance of spending years with the wrong person and no divorce.

Determined, organized and goal-oriented Oona (Emma Caufield) doesn’t waste time; early into relationships, she coaxes her boyfriends into getting timers because, as she puts it, “we’re not getting any younger.” Her step-sister and best friend Steph (Michelle Borth), age 30, same as Oona finds out she won’t meet her one for 13 more years. The irony is that their 14-year-old brother gets a timer and learns he’ll meet his one within the week.

When Oona meets younger Mikey (John Patrick Amedori), a delicious cashier whose timer has him meeting his one in four months, she rethinks her strident view. Steph meets someone who has her pulling the plug on her one-night-stands. Both are in store for a big mess.

TiMER has an open-ended conclusion. Just like in real life, it feels like it will be problematic before it gets better. The details make this film—the social commentary diagrams the obsession behind finding the one. Characters re-wear clothing, engage in genuine-sounding dialogue and deal with relatable conditions and throw in some humor.

Writer/Director: Jac Schaeffer

Country: USA

Genre: Romantic dramedy

Run time: 99 minutes

Scale: 4.5

The Descendants (2011)

George Clooney will likely be crowned for his performance here. Despite not belonging to the diehard Clooney Fan Club, he deserves recognition. In the past, he’s struck me as beautiful but with little range. In The Descendants, he finds emotional range beyond what he gave in Up in the Air (which was good). His conflicts, his frustrations and his I’ve-no-clue-what-the-hell-to-do moments show us the black, the white and the greys.

Matt King (George Clooney) is a thrifty lawyer entrusted with pristine Hawaiian land that’s been in his family for decades and will soon be sold for development. His wife Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie) is on life support following a boating accident. Having been disconnected with the family (presumably working), he has little relationship with his two troubled daughters. Younger Scottie (Amara Miller) is a bully; Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) at boarding school is getting drunk and hitting golf balls (allegedly, she’s more troubled in the book).

The Descendants was adapted from the Kaui Hart Hemmings novel. I have it on good word that the movie was thinned way down. This is a story about a daughter and a father finding each other in the fallout of a failed marriage and the hard truths they uncover. The trust backstory isn’t as interesting as the dynamics between Matt and Alexandra and their sleuthing. (The magnificent Woodley steals the screen). It’s tragic. It’s funny. It’s also a wee predictable with a good dose of feel good. Scottie and Alexandra’s friend Sid (Nick Krause) are extraneous characters who contribute little to moving along the plot.

Co-writer/Director: Alexander Payne

Country: USA

Genre: Drama

Run time: 115 minutes

Scale: 4

Entre nos (Between Us) (2009)

Entre nos is a character development film about immigration gone wrong. Based on a true story about a mother and her two children newly landed (presumably illegally) in New York from Colombia. They have reunited with husband and father Antonio (Andres Munar).

Mariana (Paola Mendoza) is devastated when Antonio abandons her and their children—10-year-old Gabriel (Sebastian Villada) and six-year-old Andrea (Laura Montana). Their lives downward spiral. They lose their apartment and must scavenge for food and money.

This uncomplicated story is poignant and positive. Despite not speaking English and despite the loss of stability, Mariana and her children navigate their impossible situation. They survive each crossroad with the help of several strangers. The movie postscript provides details on what happened to the real-live characters. (You don’t, however, learn what happened to Antonio and whether or not any of them ever saw him again.)

I loved the Colombian angle: the familiar accent, the Spanish lexicon and the food. In the bonus materials on the DVD, the directors detail the step-by-step instructions for on making empanadas. Yum-yum.

Co-writers/Co-directors: Gloria La Morte and Paola Mendoza

Country: USA

Genre: Drama

Run time: 80 minutes

Scale: 3.5

Fish Tank (2009)

Fish Tank is celluloid rawness. Fifteen-year-old Mia (Katie Jarvis) busts onto the screen gulping alcohol from any bottle she can get her hands on, head-butting a former friend for no apparent reason and trying to liberate a neglected horse. The moment her party-girl mom’s one-night stand catches her dancing in her council estate kitchen, Mia’s life changes.

Mia lives in a den of hostility with her younger sister Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths) and their critical mother Joanne (Kierston Wareing). The three are foul-mouthed and rage-filled. When Joanne’s new boyfriend Connor (Michael Fassbender) starts giving Mia the attention she’s starved for and encourages her dreams of being a hip-hop dancer, she puts her fury aside. She lessens her missions to chaos and destruction in lieu of the dancing, especially when a big audition comes her way. Just as it appears she’s getting on track a huge betrayal derails her. You don’t cross Mia Williams unless you are ready for her wrath. The dance scene shared by the three ladies at the end is priceless. A great movie without this scene but their connection utters the feeling they don’t state.

Brutal, cutting, unsanded—Mia is an animal I didn’t want to release. Get comfortable on the edge of your sofa for the maelstrom from which you won’t be able to turn. In the end, I was upset with Mia’s choice; I wanted her to return to school and expand upon her awakening. She’s a fighter but where will she end up? This is a genuine ending but I’m still mad at her for leaving.

Andrea Arnold also directed the brilliant Red Road (which was meant to be the first in a trilogy using the same actors).

Writer/Director: Andrea Arnold

Country: UK

Genre: Drama

Run time: 122 minutes

Scale: 5

The Kids Are All Right (2010)

I’m surprised there aren’t more movies about kids looking up their sperm donors. The best part of watching The Kids Are All Right is that I avoided reading or hearing anything about it beforehand so everything—from the secondary actors to the plot points to the ending were a surprise.

In a nutshell, siblings 18-year-old Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and 15-year-old Laser (Josh Hutcherson) seek out and meet Paul (Mark Ruffalo)the man behind the sperm that created them. When their moms Jules (Julianne Moore) and Nic (Annette Bening) find out, they are threatened by Paul and worried about the kids.

(Spoiler Alert: Read at Your Own Risk!)

Pros
It’s funny: Great use of humor—quips, one-liners and verbal sparring.

Insightful details and characterizations: Joni and Laser are confident. They have real teenage moments and through these we learn what drives them. Their relationship with one another is strong and they are self-assured. The relationship between their moms Jules (Julianne Moore) and Nic (Annette Bening) is portrayed with its blemishes and struggles. Paul (Mark Ruffalo) is affected by his relationship with Joni and Laser and he grows up.

Cons:
The ending: The way Paul is cut off from the Laser and Joni at the end was sloppy and offered no resolution. If this movie were longer, Laser and Paul would get likely be in touch again. They shared a connection but it would be difficult for the entire family to forgive Paul’s perceived “interloping.” I loved the idea of this blended family working out somehow.

Was Jules definitely gay? No way! I had difficulty believing that Jules was gay after her sex scenes with Paul. She was really into it MANY times over. At the very least, maybe she’s bisexual?

Co-writer/Director: Lisa Cholodenko

Country: USA

Genre: Dramedy

Run time: 106 minutes

Scale: 3.5

Blue Car (2002)

Meg (Agnes Bruckner) discovers her blossoming talent as a poet in AP English. It gives her respite from her duties as stand-in mom at home to her mentally ill younger sister as her single mom works to make ends meet since Meg’s father abandoned them.

The pressure gets to neglected Meg as her sister Lily (Regan Arnold) cuts herself, won’t eat and obsesses about morbidity. Meg finds solace in the attention of her English teacher, Mr. Auster (David Strathairn). She wins a contest and a chance to go to the regionals. As he mentors her writing, she develops feelings for him. I hoped that Blue Car wouldn’t go “there” to the realm of the student-teacher affair. You see it coming but for a long time, it looks as though it will be averted until it comes crashing.

The distance between the two girls and their mother grows. Meg hides more as tragedy strikes the family. She is determined to get to the regionals which leads to the movie’s crescendo. Meg’s brooding and sadness saturate the screen. I loved the process where how she writes her poem Blue Car. The way we are there with Meg’s emotions and reality is the strongest aspect of Blue Car. In need of attention and love, Meg she puts all her hopes and dreams in her teacher’s basket. He takes advantage of this, but she is metamorphosing. She has become a writer but Auster isn’t who she believed him to be. The ending brings her to a new understanding of how she fits in the world and what she needs to stand on her own.

Writer/Director: Karen Moncrieff

Country: USA

Genre: Drama

Run time: 96 minutes

Scale: 3

28 Days (2000)

I’m guilty of saying bad things about Sandy. Things like, makes lame movies, bad actress, annoying. I liked Speed but didn’t love what seemed like the same shtick (a la Aniston) over and over. It took The Proposal for me to come around. Once this happened, I watched (at PIC’s urging) and enjoyed Practical Magic, rewatched Speed and saw 28 Days.

Before I nitpick, Sandy cannot help but be funny but she also has dramatic range.

28 Days is a drama that cannot make up its mind whether or not it’s a comedy. Drunk party girl Gwen (Sandra Bullock) ruins her sister’s Lily’s (Elizabeth Perkins) wedding. She must enter rehab or be imprisoned. She reluctantly goes to rehab and of course acts out, insistent she doesn’t have an addiction.

This rehab isn’t portrayed particularly well—it’s lax, naïve, no hold barred—drunks come and go for visits, drugs enter, no one is searched after leaving the grounds, people fall out of windows. Yet, there are some good parts. The flashback scenes showing Gwen and Lily’s childhood are hard to watch as is the wedding scene fiasco. I recoiled many times. Gerhardt (Alan Tudyk) another rehab client is hilarious. He brings comedic lightness as does Gwen’s roommate Andrea (Azura Skye) and her love of the Santa Cruz soap opera.

This isn’t a great movie, but I enjoyed it for Gwen’s turn as she starts to come out of her haze, reassess her relationship with alcoholic boyfriend Jasper (Dominic West) and begins rebuilding her relationship with Lily. It’s also got a fantastic cast: Viggo Mortenson, Steve Buscemi, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Reni Santoni (Poppie from Seinfeld), Diane Ladd and Margo Martindale.

Director: Betty Thomas

Country: USA

Genre: Dramedy

Run time: 102 minutes

Scale: 3

Our Idiot Brother (2011)

The problem with Our Idiot Brother is its title. It gives a false impression that what you are in store for is a 1-D farcical romp. Not that there’s anything wrong with that—in the right mood, we can benefit from a frolic in that type of comedy. Ned (Paul Rudd) has hippy sensibilities and poor logical reasoning. This unfortunate marriage lands him in the pokey. Fast forward eight months. He’s released and learns that his girlfriend Janet (Kathryn Hahn) has taken up with Billy (TJ Miller, also the concierge/drug dealer from Get Him to the Greek). This means Ned is homeless and has lost custody of his adored dog, Willie Nelson. He moves in with his mother and, consequently, with each of his three sisters todisastrous results—one by one, they blame him for ruining their lives. Steve Coogan as Dylan, Liz’s pretentious and arrogant husband, will make you cringe (in genuine Coogan style). Rashida Jones as Cindy takes a turn with a quirky turn. Adam Scott as Jeremy is underused and not that different from his Parks and Recreation shtick.

The character development and clever writing explore the sisters’ festering relationship issues. You may not like all of the characters but Ned brings you around. We come full circle for a satisfying conclusion. You may even leave the theater smiling as I did. Stay put for the extras during the final credits.

Director: Jesse Peretz

Country: USA

Genre: Comedy with bits of drama

Run time: 90 minutes

Scale: 4

Vozvrashchenie (The Return) (2003)

An appropriate subtitle for this cheerless film would be ‘road trip to nowhere with a militant father you haven’t seen in 12 years.’

Andrei (Vladimir Garin) and younger brother Ivan (Ivan Dobronravov) are surprised by the sudden reappearance of their father (Konstantin Lavronenko). He says little, and has no affect. The boys’ mother (Natalya Vdovina) and grandmother (Galina Petrova) pay him quiet deference but look worried. Just as suddenly, he announces the boys will accompany him on a road trip. They are elated at the prospect to create memories with a father they don’t know and for Ivan, a chance to go fishing. The boys have a picture of him. They use it to compare and determine if this stranger is indeed their dad. As they set off, it’s clear: The Father expects certain behavior from them; when they don’t satisfy his expectation, he reacts with force. Their ages aren’t stated—Andrei looks in his early teens. He’s under the spell of The Father and the idea of having him back. Young Ivan (12 or 13) is not so easily swayed and becomes his father’s antagonist. The Father is a dark version of McGuyver—rugged and able to take on the land and the elements with an eerie calm, ripe for an explosion.

The pessimistic landscape coupled with frequent downpours match the tension inside the car. When daddy’s sadism begins to escalate, so does Ivan’s anger. As the days press on, they camp, fish and drive deeper and deeper into the wilderness. Soon, a canoe replaces the car and they are on their way to a remote island. Their mental and physical stamina is taxed. Contempt has replaced Ivan’s trust.

The rain, the woods, the beaches and the expansive water become character. If the boys can survive their father, they still have the elements to challenge. There are unusual cinematic moments when Ivan looks directly at camera. It’s as if he’s connecting with the viewer, anyone who can provide him a reality check.

Some questions are never answered. Why was The Father gone for so long? Why does he take them on this voyage? You can formulate your own answers with clues provided. The foreshadowing tells you what’s coming but it’s a long disturbing road to the tragic end.

Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev

Country: Russia

Genre: Drama

Run time:  101 minutes

Scale: 3.5