mother! (2017) review

Director Darren Aronofsky has become well-known for his work on psychological dramas that delve into the psyches of their main protagonists. However, while several of his films have done excellently with critics, they’ve also attracted tons of controversy for various reasons, usually because of how insane some of them get. His sophomore directorial effort, 2000’s Requiem for a Dream, was deemed too intense for audiences, thus initially earning an NC-17 rating from the MPAA. Aronofsky refuted the decision, but his appeal was denied and the film was instead released unrated by its distributor. While his 2010 effort, Black Swan, did earn Natalie Portman an Oscar for Best Actress, it also led to some debate over how much of the ballet dancing in the film was done by Portman herself. And as for his most recent film, 2014’s Noah, it ended up being banned in several countries due to Aronofsky’s radical take on the story of Noah’s Ark, while also turning out to be his most commercially successful film to date. And from the looks of it, this trend of Aronofsky’s polarizing output continues with his latest film, Mother. Headlined by the ensemble of Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, and Michelle Pfeiffer, Mother is a psychological ‘horror’ film that’s steeped in biblical allegories. However, that hasn’t stopped the film from attracting an extremely polarizing response from critics, and given that it was handed the worst rating possible from the marketing research firm CinemaScore, an F, it’s also proven to be quite divisive amongst audiences as well. As for me? Well, unfortunately, I find that I lean heavily towards the side that gave this film an ‘F’.

In a quaint, little-secluded area, a young woman (Jennifer Lawrence) lives with her husband (Javier Bardem), who’s a poet, in their newly renovated home. The young woman has spent much of her time working on the remodeling so that they can have a perfect home, even though it becomes clear that this isolation has had a negative effect on her husband’s work. However, their idyllic home life is soon threatened by the arrival of some unwanted guests. First, a doctor (Ed Harris) arrives at the house, having been led to assume that it was a bed and breakfast. He also mentions that he’s a big fan of the husband’s work. Later, the doctor’s wife (Michelle Pfeiffer) arrives as well, and while there, she begins to question the young woman about why she and her husband have yet to have kids. This, obviously, begins to freak the young woman out but, to both her surprise and dismay, her husband is extremely welcoming of their new guests. And soon enough, more people start to arrive on the premises just so that they can meet with the husband. Thus, as the young woman begins to become more and more stressed due to all the unwelcome guests in her home, it also starts to have quite an effect on her relationship with her husband, especially after she does indeed become pregnant.

As noted in the intro (and without giving anything major away from the plot), this film’s story is basically one big biblical allegory. If you’re familiar with some of the most famous stories from the bible, then you’ll probably recognize them here by way of how they’re represented in the film’s characters. This includes everyone from the older couple that comes to visit the main characters’ home to their two sons (played by real-life brothers Domhnall and Brian Gleeson) and, of course, the titular ‘mother’ and her husband. And to this film’s credit, I do think that it’s an interesting way in going about telling a Bible-influenced story in a modern context. However, the way in which Aronofsky goes about it is what ultimately ruins it. Part of this is due to the often-temperamental cinematography by Aronofsky regular Matthew Libatique. Said cinematography involves tons of close-up shots and quite a bit of erratic/shaky camera movement, the latter of which becomes a huge problem when things get nuts in this film. And believe me, this film gets nuts, mainly during its second half where to be perfectly frank, it goes off the frigging wall… which, as you might have guessed, is not a good thing in this case. This film also utilizes Aronofsky’s quick-cut style of editing that was apparent in Requiem for a Dream, though it mostly comes into play during the more chaotic moments of the narrative. So, in other words, pair rapidly cutting editing with erratic cinematography and you have a film that can make you feel quite nauseous at times because it’s moving around so much, thereby giving you barely any time to try and grasp just what the heck is happening onscreen. 

It’s a shame, really, that this film is the disaster that it is because everyone in the cast is solid in their respective roles. At the very least, they all do a fine enough job at conveying the traits of the biblical characters that they’re meant to be representing. While not necessarily the best performance of her career, Jennifer Lawrence does do a fine job in the ‘title role’. She holds her own for sure, especially given that the film mainly revolves around her, but she’s also quite good whenever she’s working off one of her co-stars, like the always charismatic Javier Bardem. With that said, though, prior to its release, there was some controversy over the fact that Lawrence’s main romantic lead in this film is 21 years her senior. However, if anything, the film does sort of address this and, again, without giving anything away, it ends up making a bit more sense once you realize who Bardem’s character is meant to be. The other couple in this film, played by Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer, provide an interesting contrast to the main couple given their overall characterizations. Harris’ character is more of a charming stranger while Pfeiffer’s character is far colder, the latter of which is seen whenever Pfeiffer interacts with Lawrence. Both Harris and Pfeiffer are great in their respective roles, with Harris providing some nice charisma while Pfeiffer is great at conveying an incredibly uncomfortable, steely persona. Ultimately, though, these solid performances aren’t enough to save this dreadful material.

Now, to be fair, I can at least see why some have reacted positively towards this film. I can see why they’ve found it to be an artistically fascinating and refreshingly original film in today’s current market. Ultimately, though, I did not see ‘exactly’ what they saw with this film. Now, to be clear, this wasn’t a situation where I just didn’t get what was going on (for the most part…). I did, at least, understand all the biblical references that this film was conveying. However, it’s ultimately the overall execution of it all that just makes this an incredibly frustrating film to watch. Because while the cast does do a good job with what they’re given, Aronofsky’s direction and the erratic cinematography end up turning this film into a chaotic mess. I mean, for the record, I do think that this is an interesting way to do a modern take on a story that’s heavily influenced by the bible. However, as much as I hate to say it, this probably would’ve worked a hell of a lot better under a different director; say, David Fincher or someone similar. Because as is, this is just an incoherent and all-around ugly film that’s way too surreal for its own good to the point where it comes off as being extremely pretentious. Now, again, if you liked this film, then all the power to you. But as for me, though, this ended up being one of the most emotionally-draining films that I’ve ever had to sit through because of everything that I’ve covered in this review… ugh, thank god this comes out this Friday.

Rating: 0.5/5

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017) review

Would you believe that it has been almost 15 years since the original Pirates of the Caribbean film, The Curse of the Black Pearl, hit theaters in the summer of 2003? Back then, it seemed like a major gamble for Disney given that it was a film based off one of the company’s most iconic ‘dark rides’. However, to the surprise of many, it became one of the biggest hits of the year. It fared greatly with both critics and audiences and, thus, launched one of the biggest film franchises in recent years. It would see three sequels released from 2006 to 2011 and while all three of these films did not fare as well as the first did in terms of critical reception, they were still monster hits at the box-office, with films 2 and 4 both grossing over $1 billion worldwide. And now, 6 years after the release of On Stranger Tides, this long-running franchise is back with a new installment, complete with a fitting subtitle that pays homage to one of the classic lines of dialogue from the ride; Dead Men Tell No Tales. While many of the primary cast and crew members from the previous films are back again, not the least of which being Johnny Depp in the lead role of Captain Jack Sparrow, there are also plenty of new faces as well, including those behind the camera. The film is directed by the duo of Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, a pair of Norwegian filmmakers who are best known for their 2012 historical drama Kon-Tiki, which earned them a nomination for Best Foreign Film at that year’s Academy Awards. And together, they manage to bring some new life into this iconic franchise. Sure, some of its perennial flaws are still apparent but, through it all, the fun spirit that the series has been known for is still there in spades.

During his youth, Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) had a notable run-in with Armando Salazar (Javier Bardem), a Spanish Naval Captain who hunted pirates all over the world. After taking command of the ship that he was on, Jack managed to evade Salazar, whose ship, the Silent Mary, was destroyed when it ventured into a perilous region known as the Devil’s Triangle. However, instead of this incident resulting in their deaths, Salazar and his crew were resurrected as ghostly pirates unable to step foot on land. Thus, years later, when he and his crew finally find themselves able to escape from the Devil’s Triangle, Salazar begins his quest for vengeance against the man who ruined his life. This forces Jack, who has recently been struggling to find a ship and maintain a loyal crew, to head off on an expedition to find the only thing that can possibly stop Salazar; the mystical relic known as the Trident of Poseidon, capable of lifting any curse that has befallen a sailor on the open seas. To do so, Jack ends up in an unlikely alliance with two young adventurers who are also looking for the Trident; an eager astronomer named Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario), who is the only one capable of deciphering the map that can lead them there, and Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites), the son of Jack’s old friends Will (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) Turner who seeks to use the Trident to free his father from the curse that has forever bound him to be the captain of the Flying Dutchman after the events of At World’s End.

One of the best things that I can say about this film is that it seems like the filmmakers did manage to succeed, for the most part, in their attempts to harken back to the first Pirates of the Caribbean film in terms of its overall tone and, perhaps most importantly, not succumbing to some of the major issues that critics have had with the sequels. Now, admittedly, if one were to really focus in on this film’s writing, they may indeed find some of those same issues that many say plagued the sequels. Sometimes, it does feel like the film is trying to juggle a lot of main characters at once, to the point where some don’t get much to do in the overall plot. And, sometimes, there are some plotlines that either come straight out of nowhere or just straight up don’t go anywhere (sometimes both). But, despite all this, the film still manages to not feel as bloated as something like the almost three-hour behemoth that was At World’s End. This is the shortest film in the series to date at just 129 minutes long, and that is very much a good thing. Heck, to the film’s credit, there are even a few genuinely effective emotional moments in this amidst all the wacky hi-jinx. And just like every other film in the series, this film’s technical merits are perhaps its biggest strength. Yes, a lot of the action is more CG-based this time around compared to previous films but there are still plenty of exciting action set-pieces to be found in this film that are backed by solid visuals and a fantastic production design. Say what you will about these films in terms of their writing, but for a series that’s become rather infamous for its expensive budgets (the previous two films had budgets of over $300 million each; this, thankfully, is only $230 million), they sure don’t waste that money on the screen when it comes to the technical stuff.

Obviously, Johnny Depp’s had a rough run as of late, whether it’s due to his recent (and highly scandalous) divorce or the several box office flops that he’s been in as of late. However, back in the role that earned him an Oscar nomination back in 2003, he still manages to be one heck of an entertaining screen presence. Now, to be frank, at this point you’re either still a fan of Jack Sparrow or you find him to be super annoying. As for me, I’ll admit that I am still a fan of the character, who’s still just as delightfully kooky as ever but never to the point where it personally got too annoying to me. Geoffrey Rush is also great, once again, as Jack’s old friend/foe, Hector Barbossa, while even managing to get a few subtle moments thrown in amongst some of his more exaggerated ones. This is due to one crucial plot-point, which I can’t mention here because that’s spoiler territory, that works mainly because of his overall presence in this series. As for Javier Bardem, he brings the right amount of creepiness to the role of the film’s main villain, Captain Salazar. Admittedly, though, he doesn’t really factor into the plot as much as some of the franchise’s other villains, meaning that, unfortunately, he doesn’t get much of a chance to stand out. But, on the bright side, the new protagonists in this film are welcome additions to the cast. Kaya Scodelario brings a great feistiness to the role of Carina while Brenton Thwaites gets to work with the solid emotional arc that is Henry trying to save his father, even though the film technically doesn’t focus on that plotline too much. And on that note, for those who are eager about the return of Will and Elizabeth Turner after a whole decade… you may want to temper your expectations because they really don’t factor into the plot that much. Orlando Bloom’s only in the film for three minutes or so and Keira Knightley isn’t given any lines in her brief cameo. They don’t even have a scene with Jack Sparrow, which I felt was rather disappointing.

All in all, I really enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. While I don’t think that it’s the best entry in the series (i.e. not as good as the first three installments), I do think that, at the very least, it’s an improvement over its predecessor, On Stranger Tides. I mean, to be perfectly blunt, this film probably isn’t going to win over all of those who lost interest in the franchise due to its polarizing sequels. At the end of the day, this film does still share some of the narrative hiccups that its predecessors had, like the occasional over-complication of the plot. Still, I cannot deny how entertaining the film still managed to be, which has really been the case of all the Pirates films even with their various flaws in mind. From a visual perspective, this film is just as well-made as its predecessors and, overall, I’d say that it did its job of attempting to return to the simpler affairs of the original Pirates film. Now, last time, during my Pirates of the Caribbean retrospective, I noted that this film’s primary trailer implied that it was going to be the ‘Final Adventure’; in other words, the last installment of this series that’s been around for nearly 2 decades. However, co-director Joachim Rønning suggested that this wouldn’t be the case and… yeah, the film does end on a post-credits scene that is intent on setting up a future installment. Thus, it looks like we’ll probably be getting another installment of this series sometime in the future, and if there is another Pirates film on the way, then you can bet that I’ll be there when it comes out. Because even though the overall hype for this franchise may not be what it used to be back when the original trilogy was released, I’d argue that these are still very much a series of ‘event films’ that are worth seeing in the theater.

Rating: 4/5