The Skeleton Twins
(USA, 93 min.)
Dir. Craig Johnson, Writ. Mark Heyman, Craig Johnson
Starring: Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Luke
Wilson, Ty Burrell
Wiig and Hader are both excellent as the twins. The film is
a pleasant surprise for Hader, since he’s rarely had such a chance to show off
his dramatic chops, while Wiig impresses once again following her subtly
dramatic turn in last year’s Hateship,
Loveship, although The Skeleton Twins
offers an even more nuanced role that allows her to draw out a fuller, more
dynamic character. They’re equally matched in both their dramatic and comedic
chops, so The Skeleton Twins
showcases the versatility of both actors as they candidly dive into the
whirlwind of bipolar emotions that Maggie and Milo face as they confront the
disappointment of their lives. Take the film’s highlight sequence, for example,
in which Milo pulls Maggie out of the dumps with a funky rendition of
Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.” The actors shimmy with a familiar
groove—one can tell that Milo and Maggie have performed this one before—as
Hader struts while Wiig sits, pouts, and dampens the party. Then, with a
seamless poker face, Wiig mouths along to the words in tune and lets the
sunshine into the film. the epic lip sync is unabashedly fun--it's a winning moment and one of those scenes that
makes the film instantly likable and memorable. The Skeleton Twins is one of the year’s most pleasant surprises.
Rating: ★★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
The Skeleton Twins opens in Ottawa at the Rainbow on Dec. 5.
Nymphomaniac: Volume 2
(Denmark/Germany/Belgium/UK, 123 min.)
Written and directed by Lars von Trier
Starring: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgard, Stacy
Martin, Shia LaBeouf, Jamie Bell
[Film still censored by Google Ad Sense.]
Joe’s sexual escapades continue as Lars von Trier does
another round of directorial wanking with Nymphomaniac.
Volume 2 begins immediately where Volume
1 ends—they’re literally two films chopped in two—and Joe (Charlotte
Gainsbourg) offers more of her journey as a nymphomaniac to the eager-eared
Seligman (Stellan Skarsgard). von Trier ups the naughtiness this time as Joe
becomes more adventurous and goes to greater extremes to fill her insatiable
sexual appetite. She dabbles in bondage and hard core
sadomasochism—cringe-worthy Antichrist-level
pain—and the adventure of pure carnal communication. The latter fantasy plays
out hilariously well in a scene in which an adult Joe (now played by Gainsbourg
in both the past and present tense) indulges in a Mandingo fantasy with two
African men who speak nary a word of English. von Trier’s subversive humour
works best in this scene as Joe’s casual racism puts her in a bi-racial sandwich.
The men bicker about their plan of attack as von Trier frames Joe in the
crosshairs of two big black dicks and the nymphomaniac learns how communication
plays an unexpected role in satisfying her cravings.
Volume 2, like Volume 1, suffers from being two parts
of a whole, though, so Nymphomaniac overall
remains a handful of virtuous conquests amidst a bang book of forgettable
entries. It slugs as the Bridges of Madison County back-and-forth between Joe and Seligman wears thin as the film builds to the present stage of Joe's journey. The latter half might actually be the better of the two parts, but Nymphomaniac almost feels pointless once
it comes together.
Rating: ★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Nymphomaniac: Vol. 2 is now available on home video.
Whitey: The United States vs. James J. Bulger
(USA, 107 min.)
Dir. Joe Berliner
Joe Berliner tracks a fascinating case in Whitey: The United States vs. James J.
Bulger as he investigates a case against prolific career criminal Whitey
Bulger. Whitey presents a
convincingly exhaustive case that Bulger is responsible for the deaths of countless
Americans and has committed far more crimes than those for which he was
convicted. Berliner also shows that Bulger’s labyrinthine involvement in
organized crime is so convoluted that his far-reaching level of corruption
poses a daunting feat for any filmmaker to research let alone explain in less
than two hours. Whitey, however,
becomes extremely interesting when Berliner’s research shows the entanglement
of Bulger’s corruption snaring up the American legal system as the wires of the
Boston mafia become connected, crossed, and incomprehensibly entangled with
those of the FBI.
The case against Bulger becomes a case against the FBI and
vice versa as Bulger’s defense aims not so much to prove his innocence, but to
deny any claims that he is an FBI informant who long cooperated and snitched on
his peers. Whitey raises some serious
implications that the American government is the greatest and most
sophisticated crime syndicate of all, for compelling witnesses, both from
reputable sources and cold-blooded killers, and evidence such as redacted files,
audio recordings and more mount against both the feds and Whitey as equally
corrupt sources. One interviewee who speaks at the beginning of the film is
even bumped off when the time comes for him to testify. His absence from the
latter act of the film leaves audiences questioning who is really on trial in Whitey and whether the unseen criminal
is even worse than the monster who lends the film his name.
Rating: ★★★½ (out of ★★★★★)
Whitey: The United States vs. James J. Bulger is available on home
video.
More updates to come, including The Babadook, Finding Vivian Maier, and Unbroken!