A self-evidently Northern European film in its discussions of class, capitalism, socialism, gender, race and more class. Not that it’s particularly intellectual or probing. It is, in fact, quite crude and simplistic. And half-again too long, with many scenes that drag and others–such as a forced dip in the ocean by the staff–that could have […]
A portrait of the (superhero) artist as a young man, set in 1980 Queens instead of 1914 Dublin. Our hero is likable but not commendable, and the one we feel sympathy for is his Black friend, Johnny Davis. Paul’s family, notably Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong don’t mesh, but maybe that’s the way Paul saw […]
Three tremendous acting performances anchor this study of friendship, homophobia, team chemistry and baseball. Surprisingly, the baseball references didn’t bother a purist like me. As for the homophobia, it’s sad that there are no more openly gay Major Leaguers now than when the play was first performed twenty years ago. But most intriguing was the […]
My heart sank a bit when I realized I was to spend the next two hours with just these two men–losers, really–on one set where very little was going to happen. Their rapid-fire dialogue and three-card monte dexterity, the theatrical equivalent to the break dancers who had just entertained us in Times Square, made the […]
Everything we hope to find in the theater, as most commonly found Off-Broadway: thought-provoking subject, great ensemble acting, honest dialogue, gripping story and tragic, but not sad, ending. The subject was how the American justice system treats convicted sex offenders: it presented the raw deal they get, while acknowledging the pain they cause. But regardless […]
An effective and moving dramatization of the women’s collective in Chicago, 1968, that provided compassionate but illegal abortions pre-Roe v. Wade. Sigourney Weaver is Oscar-worthy as the group’s leader and Elizabeth Banks does almost as good a job filling the screen as the Betty Crocker housewife turned activist. In its setting, its politics and its […]
There is little in the way of dramatic arc or suspense in this documentary about the discovery of the last slave ship in Mobile Bay in 2020. Rather, the film should be seen as a portrait of the community of descendants from that ship’s cargo still living in the Africatown district of Mobile. The film […]
Why bother? The original film was memorable, and presumably is still available, and was sharper, more intelligent and, of course, more original. The actors in the musical are appealing, especially when viewed from our seats in the second row, center, but inevitably invite unfavorable comparisons with Billy Crudup, Kate Hudson and Philip Seymour Hoffman, not […]
A deeply personal play–and he wants you to know it–by Tom Stoppard, an apologia for not knowing until late in life that he is (100%) Jewish and most of his family died in and around the Holocaust. By honoring so many of his ancestors he assembles a cast of characters that challenges the audience’s understanding […]
A deft combination of the personal and political, pathos and humor, this historical drama was held together, above all, by Ricardo Darin’s remarkably human portrayal of Julio Strasseras, tasked with prosecuting the Argentine military junta for its decade of torture and disappearances. In composition and appeal his family echoed Tony Soprano’s, and the film was […]
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