November movie reviews

In Theaters:

ANORA

One of the year's awards frontrunners, and I think it would be very deserving of it. Billed as a darker Pretty Woman, the film kind of fits that but is way better, starting out as a wild fever dream romance before turning into a farcical comedy for a while and then hitting you with a gut punch ending you don't see coming. Throughout, the film rests on the shoulders of the absolutely ravishing and vibrant Mikey Madison, who might even walk home with the best actress Oscar in a few months. 

YOUR MONSTER

Look, Melissa Barrera possibly CAN do wrong, but I have yet to see it. Once again, she is impossibly cute (she even gets adorable socks) and captivating in this silly little romcom where a woman gets dumped and then falls for the monster that used to live in her closet. That old yarn. It's not a great movie, but Barrera makes it a fun watch. 

HERE

Robert Zemeckis' gimmicky film in which the camera is fixated on a single space in time, spanning hundreds of years (even more in a dinosaur scene). The film jumps around in time, showing various people who lived in the house that occupies the location (including a couple played by an often de-aged Tom Hanks and Robin Wright). The film never gets past just being an experiment, but it does manage a few pretty affecting scenes. 

HERETIC

I LOVE this career arc Hugh Grant has been on the last several years, taking on supporting and often villainous roles. This is his best yet, as a seemingly innocuous guy who entraps a couple of young missionaries (one played by the scrumptious Sophie Thatcher). The film presents as a horror, and it does have those elements, but it's driven (particularly in its near perfect opening half) by some rich dialogue and conversations. Grant is magnificent, and very awards worthy, not that it'll happen. The film loses steam in the back half once it gets more into horror, but this is a really good film. 

ELEVATION

A rip off of A Quiet Place, only this time the hook is that the creatures that wiped out most of humanity cannot go above a certain elevation, so the survivors (including Anthony Mackie and Morena Baccarin) mostly live way up in the mountains. This is pretty standard post-apocalyptic stuff, and the low budget basically means the usual 3rd act is barely starting as the film ends. And it sequel baits, which is humorous. 

JUROR #2

Rumored to be Clint Eastwood's final film as a director. If true, he goes out strong, crafting a rich old-fashioned courtroom drama, in which one of the jurors (Nicholas Hoult) realizes he is the guilty party in the case he is hearing. I genuinely did not know how this was going to turn out, and even the final shot leaves things a little up in the air. Strong ensemble, including J.K. Simmons and Zoey Deutch. 

CONCLAVE

Buzz is that this one will be a big awards movie for the year. It's all about the choosing of a new pope, with all the infighting and backstabbing that you would get from a political election. I wasn't that into it, but it is well made, and has some outstanding performances led by Ralph Fiennes, who may have a chance at his long deserved first Oscar. 

A REAL PAIN

Jesse Eisenberg (who directed) and Kieran Culkin travel to Poland to honor their late grandmother. This dramedy is carried by the excellent performances. Eisenberg can be great when he has a good fit of a role like this, and Culkin (who has emerged as quite the actor largely through TV) is fantastic. 

GLADIATOR 2

Ridley Scott's long in the making sequel to his nearly 25 year old classic is another mighty masculine action drama, one way too indebted to the original that it almost constantly references in dialogue and plot structure. Taking place several decades later, this one has Paul Mescal as the main gladiator, and while a good actor, he cannot lend the film the gravitas Russell Crowe did. He also gets the film completely stolen from him by Denzel Washington, in a wildly entertaining performance as a businessman with his own schemes. It's a solid film, and Scott can still stage a big battle sequence as well as anybody (the sharks were too much, though). It won't endure like the original, though. 

RED ONE

The most middling Christmas-themed action comedy that a reported $250 million can buy (Studios are ridiculous with these budgets). Santa (a ripped J.K. Simmons) gets kidnapped, and it's up to Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans to save him. There is an enormous amount of world building in this, which seriously bloats the run time. Kiernan Shipka makes for a hot witch villain. Johnson and Evans mostly just go through the motions. The fx work is largely dark and ugly. I didn't hate this, but it certainly will not become a holiday classic. 

Everything else:

THE LISTENER

Tessa Thompson mans a crisis hotline from her home. There really isn't any plot, just her taking a series of calls. But Tessa has one of the most soothing voices out there, so I liked just having the movie on. 

TUESDAY 

Another A24 oddity, this one with Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the mother of a terminally ill daughter, who gets visited by death in the form of a macaw. Sure. There's some dark humor, and a couple very affecting scenes. It doesn't come together, though.