Movie Review Logan

Logan (2017) 

Directed by James Mangold

Written by Scott Frank, James Mangold, Michael Green 

Starring Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, Hal Holbrook, Stephen Merchant 

Release Date March 3rd, 2017 

When I first saw Logan, the latest spin-off of the X-Men franchise, I was not impressed. There was so much hype, so much discussion about how the R-Rating would finally allow Wolverine to be Wolverine. Then I saw the film and found it to be as conventional as any of the other X-Men movies with a little bit of gore tacked on for fan service. So, what’s changed for me since March of this year? Why was watching Logan at home on a DVD screener from the studio so different from watching the film in theaters earlier this year?

Logan once again stars Hugh Jackman in the role of Logan aka Wolverine. When we see him, he’s sleeping in the back of a fancy stretch limousine and gang members are trying to steal the tires. Logan tries to convince the men to leave peacefully but they prefer to attack him. In defense of his expensive vehicle, and with little care for his own well-being, Logan launches into a grisly battle and leaves several of the thieves’ dead.

From there we travel across the border to Mexico where Logan is hiding the debilitated Professor X (Patrick Stewart). With the help of another mutant named Kaliban (Stephen Merchant), Logan cares for Professor X by doping him up with medication to keep his powers neutralized and to keep him from remembering that he was responsible for killing a lot of people when he suffered a seizure several years ago that led the government to consider his mind a weapon of mass destruction.

The tiny, insular world that Logan has built for himself is upended when he meets Gabriella (Elizabeth Rodriguez). Gabriella wants to hire Logan to drive her and a girl she claims is her daughter, Laura, (Daphne Keen) to North Dakota where a group of fellow mutants is expected to help them cross the border to a place they call Eden. Unfortunately, Gabriella is being hunted by Donald Pierce (Boyd Holbrook), the low-life leader of a group called The Reavers. It’s Pierce’s job to eradicate mutants that won’t fight for the evil Transigen corporation.

The plotting of Logan is simple and straight forward and I failed to give the film credit for that simplicity in my original review. Keeping things clear and easy to follow in the complex and desperately crowded super-hero genre is surely something to be praised. Logan has a clear and simple goal, get out of the country alive at all costs and if unable, make sure you die, and take as many Reavers with you as possible. The motivation is clear, and all the action is linked strongly to that motivation.

Find my full length revie in the Geeks Community on Vocal 

Movie Review Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny

Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny (2023) 

Directed by James Mangold 

Written by Jez Butterworth, John Henry Butterworth, David Koepp, James Mangold 

Starring Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Boyd Holbrook 

Release Date June 30th, 2023 

Published June 29th, 2023 

The thing that bugs me about our microwaved nostalgia culture is how often I fall for that nostalgia. Take my reaction to The Flash. I did like that movie, I stand by my positive review, problematic star aside, but the reality is that my judgment was clouded by nostalgia for my childhood. Seeing Michael Keaton in the Batsuit again, playing the role that was so important to my childhood, made me very emotional. Was I emotional because the presentation was artful and meaningful? Sort of, but I can't deny how much nostalgia for my own childhood colored that reaction. 

Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny is that moment in The Flash as an entire movie and the effect didn't last nearly as long. In the first few minutes, the legendary John Williams score played and my breath caught for a moment as I was transported back in time to being a very little kid seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time. I was transported back to the even more significant impact, for me, of seeing Temple of Doom in a movie theater with my mother. That John Williams score is an emotional trigger for me and for millions of other Gen-X movie nerds. 

Then a ragged and grumpy Harrison Ford came on screen and the adventure began and my mind began trying to rationalize what I was seeing. Instead of actually enjoying the action of Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny, most of my mental energy was dedicated to convincing myself that I was enjoying this rehash of greatest hits from an aging action star and a character well past his relevance. Even as I was falling in love with Phoebe Waller Bridge, who joins the franchises as Dr. Jones' heretofore unknown Goddaughter, Helena, I could not escape the mental gymnastics I was having to perform to will myself to enjoy something familiar and formerly beloved. 

Is Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny bad? No, not really. The film is directed by James Mangold who is a perfectly solid, professional director. Jez and John Henry Butterworth are solid screenwriters with a solid track record and David Koepp, co-credited on this screenplay, is among the most successful screenwriters in Hollywood. The pieces are there to make a perfectly satisfying action movie. So why don't I like this movie? Why am I having to convince myself that this is good? It starts with a half-baked and convoluted plot that lacks the energy and invention of the first two Indiana Jones movies. 

Aside from Phoebe Waller Bridge, Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny appears tired and lurching toward adventure as opposed to the excitement and vigor of its youthful beginnings 42 years ago. The original adventures weren't bullet proof in terms of plotting but they made up for plot holes with energy, excitement and adventure. Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny however, feels obligatory and that feeling works reveal more about the poorly thought out, too many cooks in the kitchen, plot holes. Three screenwriters and director James Mangold have clearly cobbled together pieces into the whole of Dial of Destiny and the patchwork is all too clear. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media

Movie Review Knight and Day

Knight and Day (2010) 

Directed by James Mangold

Written by Patrick O'Neill 

Starring Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgard, Viola Davis, Paul Dano 

Release Date June 23rd, 2010 

Published June 22nd, 2010

Despite repeated bashings in the media, Tom Cruise remains one of the biggest stars in the world. While his image took hits due to what some called bizarre behavior (couch jumping) his appeal to audiences hasn't seen much of an effect. It would be easy to point to his time as an United Artists movie executive and the modest flop Lions For Lambs as symbols of Cruise's slipping star power.

For that narrative to fit however you have to ignore his next film Valkyrie, a real dog of a movie that Cruised past 200 million dollars at the worldwide box office. The fact is, as much as so many in the media seem to want to write him off, Tom Cruise remains one of the last true movie stars and his new movie Knight and Day co-starring Cameron Diaz and directed by James Mangold is ready to prove it once again.

In Knight and Day Tom Cruise plays Ray Miller a super spy on the run with a much sought after item. What this item is doesn't really matter. What matters is that he has it and others want it. Ray needs to catch a flight for Boston and aware that he's being followed he takes advantage of a fellow Boston traveler, June Havens. Stashing this hidden item in her bags and then recollecting it after slipping through security, Ray had hoped he'd seen the last of this beautiful but innocent woman.

No such luck however. The bad guys assume she's with Roy and soon she too must go on the run with Ray and the McGuffin. For the uninitiated, the McGuffin is a Hitchcock creation; it's a plot device motivating characters from one scene to the next with their desire to capture the coveted McGuffin. In Knight and Day it's some all-powerful battery, in Casablanca it was letters of transit, in Pulp Fiction a suitcase filled with gold. You get the point the McGuffin doesn't really matter.

What does matter? Setting up two clever, charming, attractive characters and allowing them to be clever charming and attractive as stuff blows up real good all around them. Director James Mangold is well aware of the formula and sets about staging massive chase scenes and explosions while relying on Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz to charm the audience into not caring about the obvious lack of originality and invention.

Knight and Day is nothing more than a very typical summer action movie but it gets past the been there, done that factor thanks to a pair of leads who know how to push an audiences buttons. Cruise is all smiles and splendid, comical calm amidst the chaos of Knight and Day while Cameron Diaz is gorgeously goofy delivering her magical combination beauty and gangly slapstick.

Both Cruise and Diaz are all charm and Knight and Day succeeds as both an action movie and a comedy because of the clever ways each star holds the screen by reminding us how much we've always liked them. Who cares about how much of Knight and Day is derivative of other action comedies; those movies didn't have Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. Haters be damned, Tom Cruise remains one of the biggest stars in the world and Knight and Day is only the latest example.

Movie Review: Ford vs Ferrari

Ford vs Ferrari (2019) 

Directed by James Mangold

Written by Jez Butterworth, John Henry Butterworth, Jason Keller 

Starring Christian Bale, Matt Damon, Jon Bernthal, Tracy Letts

Release Date November 15th, 2019

Published November 14th, 2019

Ford vs Ferrari is a triumph. This film about racing cars has the feel of a Hollywood, mainstream epic. The racing feels like a massive event and is filmed with urgency, suspense and excitement while also being based on actual events. I imagine even those who know about Carroll Shelby, Ken Miles and Ford will nevertheless find themselves at the end of their seat while watching this incredible action unfold. 

Ford vs Ferrari stars Matt Damon as legendary car engineer Carroll Shelby. While history views Shelby as a legendary success story, prior to his triumph with Ford and LeMans, Shelby was struggling, selling the same Shelby Cobra to three different buyers just to keep the lights while he schemed to make more money to race with. Shelby was rescued by Ford and a young, up and coming executive named Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal). 

Iacocca tapped Carroll Shelby to create the Ford racing team after Ford’s failed attempt at purchasing the legendary Ferrari company. The Ford racing team was born out of spite and Henry Ford Jr’s (Tracy Letts) desire to stick it to Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone). So, Ford hired Shelby to build him a car that can win at the legendary Grand Prix of LeMans, a 24 hour endurance race that Ferrari has dominated for years. 

For his part, Shelby sought out his old friend and go-to race driver, Ken Miles (Christian Bale). A mechanic and former soldier, Ken Miles has a unique, almost surreal ability to tune into what is missing from a race car. When Shelby approached Ken Miles, Ken was flat broke and retired from racing. Shelby entices him back behind the wheel despite Ken’s very reasonable mistrust of Ford executives he knows won’t be able to resist butting in. 

The lead butt is Ford Executive Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas), a composite character who stands in for the myopic Ford executives who were more concerned with image than with winning or building the best car. Beebe makes a big deal about how Ken Miles isn’t a ‘Ford Man,’ whatever that means and his pigheadedness costs Ford their first chance at LeMans, though he’s able to blame it on Shelby enough that he keeps his job.

Once Ken Miles is actually allowed behind the wheel, Ford vs Ferrari kicks into another sensational gear. Christian Bale is an electrifying presence in Ford vs Ferrari. Bale delivers a full-bodied performance as Miles, he lives this man’s life and makes you believe it through the sheer force of charisma and grit. Bale’s Ken Miles is relentless, hard headed, intuitive and funny. He’s wiry with a bad haircut but ingenious in so many other ways. This is one of Bale’s finest performances. 

Matt Damon’s performance has fewer fireworks than Bale’s but he’s just as effective in his way. Much as Carroll Shelby facilitated Ken Miles in getting him behind the wheel and a shot at winning LeMans, Damon’s performance is perfectly calibrated to give Bale the spotlight, to tee up his performance so Bale could knock it out of the park. Shelby appears to fade into the background slightly in the middle of the second act but it’s fully calculated, the intention is specifically to give us more time to invest in Miles and his status as an underdog against the massive Ford machine. 

One of my misgivings going into Ford vs Ferrari was whether or not the movie intended to play the Ford Motor Company as cheerful underdog, upstarts. I could not have accepted that Ford played the good guys who overcame the odds against those dastardly Italians from Ferrari. The title might lead you in that direction as well but the reality of Ford vs Ferrari is that is actually Shelby and Miles vs Ford vs Ferrari. 

Director James Mangold, working from a script by Jez Butterworth, John Henry Buttetworth and Jason Keller, brings a singular vision to Ford vs Ferrari that helps the movie transcend its mainstream, Hollywood roots. Don’t misunderstand, this is still the mainstream, Hollywood, blockbuster, sports movie you think it is, but Mangold is unquestionably the captain of this ship and he demonstrates masterly control over the pace and tone of Ford vs Ferrari.

Mangold directs with the confidence of a filmmaker who knows he has an epic story to tell even if everyone else might be skeptical of a racing movie. Racing movies haven’t exactly blown up the box office in recent years. Only Pixar has really ever managed to strike gold with a racing movie but even Cars has its detractors.Regardless, Mangold knows there is more here than just a racing story and his superb confidence radiates off the screen. 

Mangold is aided greatly by a sharp tongued script, brilliantly crisp cinematography by Academy Award nominee Phedon Papamichael, and to die for production design and costumes. The period detail is outstanding, especially in the costumes which are both of the time of the movie, the mid to late 1960’s, but also still look cool. The jackets alone in Ford vs Ferrari are worth the price of admission. 

Ford vs Ferrari is some of the most fun and excitement that I have experienced at the movies this year. Not only is it an entertaining blockbuster, Ford vs Ferrari has the gravitas, artistry and storytelling that earns Academy Awards. Ford vs Ferrari belongs in the Best Picture conversation and Christian Bale should be standing shoulder to shoulder with Adam Driver (Marriage Story) and Joaquin Phoenix (Joker) in the Best Actor race. 

Movie Review 3:10 to Yuma

3:10 to Yuma (2007)

Directed by James Mangold 

Written by Halstedt Welles, Michael Brandt, Derek Haas

Starring Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, Ben Foster, Gretchen Mol 

Release Date September 7th, 2007

Published Septembeer 6th, 2007 

Director James Mangold made a splashy directorial debut with the gritty crime drama Copland. Though most remembered for star Sylvester Stallone's weight gain for the lead role, Copland was in fact quite good. His next feature earned him even more acclaim. Girl Interrupted was nominated for multiple Oscars and won one for Angelina Jolie's tremendous supporting turn.

Then Mangold drifted toward the mainstream with a pair of forgettable studio efforts, the dull time travel romance Kate & Leopold and an oddball thriller called Identity. Both were pro level efforts but they lacked heart. Then in 2005 Mangold found himself again and delivered Walk The Line. The biography of Johnny Cash was everything one could ask for in a bio of the legendary man in black.

As great as Walk The Line was however, with 3:10 To Yuma James Mangold has crafted his first masterpiece. This moody, manly western, based on an Elmore Leonard short story, stars Russell Crowe as Ben Wade a badass outlaw whose gang is a group of mad dog killers who will follow him straight to hell if need be.

The plot of 3:10 To Yuma is as stripped down and straight forward as any classic western. One brave man must escort a murderer to the 3:10 train to Yuma prison. There the killer will be hanged for his many crimes. Complicating manners is the bad guys gang of badass killers who will ride through hell or high water to rescue their boss.

It's not the plot that matters, but rather the motivations, the actions and interplay between the exceptional characters. Russell Crowe inhabits the evil Ben Wade with snaky charm and a sharp tongue. Though admittedly a killer and an obvious menace, Crowe's Ben Wade has the kind of charm that few women could resist and few men can compete with.

Compared to Crowe's Wade, Christian Bale's stalwart good guy Dan Evans is a bit of a wet blanket, initially. Part of the story of 3:10 To Yuma is Bale's Evans earning the respect of Ben Wade and those of us in the audience harboring a secret affection for Wade's charms. This battle between good and evil, shaded with the gray of desperation, fear and greed, is played out with blood, guts and bullets but more than anything, great old school filmmaking.

James Mangold's direction of 3:10 To Yuma is nearly flawless. From his dusty western landscapes to the brilliant interplay between Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, Mangold manages a classic western that never feels stale. Though this is a remake, there is no retread vibe here. 3:10 To Yuma modernizes the western aesthetic without gimmicks like modern scoring or quick cuts but rather with the awesome star turns of Bale and Crowe.

In the supporting cast I especially loved the inclusion of Peter Fonda as an old west lawman. Fonda has not been this good in awhile and his inclusion is yet another nod to the old school western, his dad Henry made a few pretty good westerns back in the day. The supporting performance that nearly steals the film however, belongs to young Ben Foster whose intensity almost exceeds Crowe and Christian Bale, two of our more ferocious leading men period.

As he showed in Alpha Dog and 2005's Hostage, Foster can play live wire with the best of them. In 3:10 To Yuma it's more of a controlled burn than a live wire but it's as fierce as those performances with a touch more maturity. Foster is developing into an excellent go to character actor and may have found a real niche with this performance.

My favorite scene in 3:10 To Yuma is one of the more quiet moments in the whole movie. Dan Evans and a small posse are hiding Ben Wade, preparing for the trip to Yuma, at Dan's farm. Wade joins the family for dinner and when Evans leaves the table to check in with the posse guarding the doors, Wade begins a conversation with Evans' wife played by Gretchen Mol, in her dowdiest school marm frocks. Mrs. Evans is fearful of Wade but its not long before you wonder if she'd be willing to run off with him if given the chance.

Crowe gets much of the attention in this scene but Ms. Mol's subtle changes in expression, her flushing cheeks and darting eyes are near perfect. The scene is perfectly captured by Mangold with tight close ups and framing that seem to draw the two actors into the same frame without them moving an inch. Though I noticed these subtle movements, I was watching for them, most audiences will experience them seamlessly and, I think, be as mesmerized by them as I was.

There are a number of similarly strong scenes in 3:10 To Yuma including much of the third act which takes place in a single hotel room as Evans waits to take Wade to the train even as the place is surrounded by Wade's gang. The original 3:10 To Yuma spent most of its runtime trapped in one hotel room under similar circumstances, these scenes in the new 3:10 To Yuma are as much a nice throwback nod to the older film as they are a necessary piece of plotting.

3:10 To Yuma is a masterpiece of style and substance. While some may fault the films logic of manhood and respect above all else, I dug the old school western values. I especially bought into the idea that Crowe and Bale's characters would hold these ideals above all else and be willing to give their lives for them.

When awards season rolls around in late December and early January expect to see 3:10 To Yuma on a number of lists. Especially keep an eye out for Russell Crowe who delivers a performance here that is arguably the best of his career.

You must see this movie!

Movie Review Kate and Leopold

Kate & Leopold 

Directed by James Mangold 

Written by James Mangold, Steven Rogers

Starring Hugh Jackman, Meg Ryan, Liev Schreiber, Breckin Meyer, Natasha Lyonne, Bradley Whitford

Release Date December 25th, 2001 

Published January 24th, 2002 

There has been talk that romantic comedy is a dying genre. The plots and conventions of the genre have become too familiar and many filmgoers are growing more pessimistic about on-screen romance. Kate & Leopold may not be the film to breathe new life into this struggling genre but for what it is, a light little cookie of a film, it's not bad.

You know your watching a romantic comedy when Meg Ryan comes on screen wrinkling her cute button nose that screams, “Love me.” In this film she is the titular Kate, who is more concerned about getting ahead at her job in advertising than finding a meaningful relationship. Her last relationship was with a quirky scientist played by Liev Schreiber. Schreiber is trying to solve the puzzle of time travel so that he can travel through time to meet his great-great uncle Leopold (Hugh Jackman), an inventor who may hold the key to Liev's scientific writer’s block.

After accomplishing time travel he accidentally brings Leopold back to the future with him. From there Kate meets Leopold who she assumes is some method actor. Leopold is immediately drawn to Kate but she at first just thinks he's weird. There is something odd about him, he's chivalrous and well mannered and well spoken. Very unusual for the modern male, but then as we already know he's not modern at all.

The love story develops well and director James Mangold doesn't let the film’s gimmicky premise get in the way of Ryan and Jackman's wonderful chemistry. All great romantic comedies are based on the chemistry of the lead actors, as Ryan has shown with Tom Hanks and Billy Crystal previously.

In Kate & Leopold, Jackman shows himself a worthy replacement for Hanks. Jackman's best work is in his willingness to humiliate himself while holding on to his Victorian era dignity. Jackman becomes a star right in front of our eyes, breaking out of the action genre and proving he can do just about anything as an actor, as he would later demonstrate in a brilliant hosting gig on SNL.

Ryan is her natural cute self in Kate & Leopold, which isn't a bad thing. But there are moments where you can see she is beginning to tire of this kind of role. More than a couple times she looks outright bored by material that she has done more than a few times. Jackman and the very surprising comic turn by Schreiber save the film. He steals every scene he's in with a goofy energy we haven't seen from him before.

Kate & Leopold isn't anything you haven't seen before but as a Friday night rental to relax and watch with your girlfriend, it’s an enjoyable rent that will leave you smiling.

Movie Review Identity

Identity (2003) 

Directed by James Mangold 

Written by Michael Cooney

Starring John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, Alfred Molina, Clea Duvall 

Release Date April 25th, 2003 

Published April 24th, 2003 

I have harped on this issue many times in many reviews, and though I know many readers have tired of my constant ranting on the subject. Nevertheless, I must once again complain about a movie’s ad campaign. While many felt the trailer for Identity is one of the best of the year thus far, and I don't disagree necessarily, I must complain about how much of the mystery it gives away.

Now the most observant of viewers will not solve the film’s mystery from the trailer. However, once you’re sitting in the theater and applying what you learned from the film’s marketing campaign, it doesn't take long for the mystery to fall apart. That said, thanks to the clever script and another stellar performance by John Cusack, Identity neatly transcends its predictability.

So we have a dark and stormy night, a lonely motel with a creepy clerk (John Hawkes), and a group of strangers with something in common. The setup is familiar, and the various homages are sprinkled throughout. Cusack plays Ed, a former cop turned limo driver for a diva ex star (Rebecca De Mornay). As Ed is driving the star to LA through Nevada, he accidentally hits a woman (Leila Kenzle) as she waits for her husband (John C. McGinley) to change a flat tire. The injury is life threatening, and the woman needs immediate medical attention. 

Unfortunately, the roads were washed out by the storm. Ed takes everyone to a roadside motel where they are joined by a cop (Ray Liotta) who is transferring a prisoner (Jake Busey). Also on hand is a prostitute (Amanda Peet), giving up her profession to go to Florida and start over and a young married couple (William Lee Scott and Clea Duvall) to round out the group. As soon as everyone is assembled, people start dying.

In parallel to this story is a court hearing for a convicted murderer (Pruitt Taylor Vince) whose psychiatrist (Alfred Molina) attempts to convince an obstinate judge that his patient is too insane to execute. The two stories don't dovetail early on, but if you are observant it won't take long to figure out the connection.

I'm not going to give anything away because I don't have to, the trailer does enough. Thankfully, Michael Cooney's script is so crafty and interesting that it saves the film from itself. He takes elements of Agatha Christie, Hitchcock and classic horror and mixes it with subtle nods to Freud and even Sartre. Along those lines, an early scene of a book in Cusack's limo is a wonderful inside joke you won't get until after the movie is over.

Cusack is the most effective of the doomed cast, none of whom seems the most likely to survive. Amanda Peet turns in another effective performance that takes advantage of her sexy presence and innate ability to earn audience sympathy. Ray Liotta, another of my favorite actors, seems dialed down a little from his intense performance in Narc and that is likely because his character is the most underwritten of the group.

If only the trailer hadn't given so much away, Identity could have been a really fun shocker that would have people talking for weeks after seeing it. Unfortunately, the film overplayed its hand and its biggest surprise was ruined for me before the second act. As it is, it's a cleverly written and well-directed Saturday night rental. But oh, what might have been.