In 2012, it was Les
Misérables and Django Unchained.
In 2013, it was The Wolf of Wall Street and
American Hustle. In 2014, it was Into the Woods and The Imitation Game. In 2015, there was The Hateful Eight and The Big
Short. And last year, 2016, we had Fences
and La La Land. Yes, folks, it is
that time of year again as I recently embarked on my annual Post-Christmas
double feature run with my good friend and fellow film critic Matthew Goudreau
of The Young Folks. This is something
that we’ve been doing for the past few years now as a way of seeing some of the
year’s biggest award contenders. As such, as I’ve done every year, I’ll be
doing a quick pair of short reviews for these two films instead of two standard
reviews so that I can have more time to start preparing for my annual ‘Top 12
Favorite Films of the Year’ list. But for these past few years, what originally
began as a ‘Double Feature’ post soon turned into a ‘Triple Feature’ post
because Matt and I often do this around the time of New Year’s Eve. And almost
every year on that day, my family and I have a tradition of going to see a film
as a nice way of closing out the year. Thus, today on Rhode Island Movie
Corner, I’m officially kicking off my 2018 slate of posts* (not counting the
second half of my ‘Worst of 2017’ list that was published a few days ago) by
delving into the last three new releases that I saw in 2017, beginning with the
two films that Matt and I saw on the day before New Year’s Eve.
THE SHAPE OF WATER
First up, we have the latest film from director Guillermo
Del Toro. Over the past few years, Del Toro has made quite a name for himself
in the film industry particularly thanks to his work in the fantasy genre. This
includes the likes of the original Hellboy
from 2004, its 2008 sequel Hellboy
II: The Golden Army, and 2006’s Pan’s Labyrinth, which ended up winning
three Oscars at that year’s ceremony. And now Del Toro returns to the fantasy
genre with another big awards contender, The
Shape of Water, which tells the story of a mute woman named Elisa who forms
a special bond with a humanoid-looking amphibious creature that’s being held
captive at the government facility that she works at. In the process, however,
she and the creature find themselves pursued by the vicious colonel who had
captured the creature in the first place. All in all, the film is a charming
fantasy flick that features some excellent cinematography and visual effects.
This is especially worth noting considering the fact that this film was made on
a modest budget of under $20 million. The film is also bolstered by a
collection of strong performances from its ensemble cast. Sally Hawkins is
incredibly charismatic as the mute Elisa while Michael Shannon is delightfully
sinister as the main antagonist, Colonel Strickland. Richard Jenkins is also a
major standout as Elisa’s closeted artist neighbor Giles as is Michael Stuhlbarg
as a Russian scientist who, like Elisa, is more sympathetic to the creature in
comparison to Strickland. And, of course, there’s Del Toro regular Doug Jones
once again doing a phenomenal job under heavy makeup as the incredibly
sympathetic ‘Asset’. With all this in mind, Guillermo Del Toro has very much
hit it out of the park with this visually beautiful tale of a Beauty and her
Beast.
Rating: 4.5/5
ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD
This is a film that has certainly attracted quite a lot of
media attention these past few months. As many of you know, director Ridley
Scott’s newest film, which delves into the true story of the infamous
kidnapping of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty’s grandson John Paul Getty III,
originally starred Kevin Spacey in the role of J. Paul Getty. That all changed,
however, when Spacey became just the latest figure in the film industry to be
hit with the ‘Weinstein effect’ and be accused of several incidents of sexual
assault. Thus, in what was easily one of the most unprecedented moves ever seen
in the entire industry, Scott straight-up recast the role and reshot major
sequences of the film just one month prior to its release. And so, Christopher
Plummer now stars in the role of J. Paul Getty; though, really, this change
doesn’t have that much of an effect over the final film (aside from it being a
different spin on the character) as Getty’s role in the film is minor at best.
Still, Plummer does do an excellent job in the role of the cold and distant
billionaire. Equally terrific in the film is Michelle Williams as Gail Harris,
Getty’s former daughter-in-law who becomes extremely devoted to the process of
finding her kidnapped son. These strong performances are easily the best part
of the film, and for the most part, they make up for its biggest shortcoming,
its sluggish pacing. Simply put, there are several instances where you can feel
the brunt of the film’s near two and a half hour runtime, especially during the
second act. That’s not to say, though, that the film doesn’t have its moments;
and of course, at the end of the day, Ridley Scott deserves a heck of a lot of
credit for managing to completely rework a sizable chunk of the film in such a
short amount of time. While it’s by no means the best film that he’s ever done,
All the Money in the World is still
worth checking out if mainly for the phenomenal performances from Williams and
Plummer.
Rating: 3/5
THE GREATEST SHOWMAN
And finally, we have the last new film release that I saw in
2017 on New Year’s Eve, The Greatest
Showman. This lavish period musical is based on the true story of the
origins of the iconic Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey circus… which
ironically closed for good this past May due to decreasing ticket sales. Despite
this, however, I was still very much looking forward to this film given the
fond memories that I have of going to see the circus when I was younger. With
that said, though, I should probably start this review by addressing the big
elephant in the room that is this film’s portrayal of the circus’ founder, P.T.
Barnum. While the film portrays Barnum as an endearing ‘nobody’ who managed to
defy all odds and make a name for himself in the world of entertainment thanks
to his circus, several people have pointed out that he was a far more ruthless entrepreneur
than the film lets on. But while I do recognize the fact that this film isn’t
exactly historically accurate, I still found it to be quite enjoyable thanks to
its excellent and well-choreographed musical numbers courtesy of La La Land songwriters Benj Pasek and
Justin Paul. Plus, the film also boasts a terrific ensemble cast highlighted by
Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum, Michelle Williams (in her second major appearance
in today’s post) as Barnum’s loving wife Charity, Zac Efron as a playwright who
ends up becoming Barnum’s business partner, and Zendaya as one of the circus’
trapeze artists who falls in love with Efron’s character. In short, it is
perfectly understandable if some may find this film’s messages of acceptance to
be rather phony given the context of the true story that it’s based on. Still,
if you’re just looking for a charming and original feel-good musical, then I
have the feeling that you’ll enjoy The
Greatest Showman regardless of how much it stretches the truth.
Rating: 5/5!
