Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

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This movie definitely was not what I expected.  I thought it was going to be a biopic about Fred Rogers.  Instead, it is the story of journalist Tom Junod (LLoyd Vogel in the movie) and how just meeting Fred Rogers changed his outlook on life, and in the end made him a better person.  That approach might have even made this a more interesting movie.  Lloyd Vogel, who is played by Matthew Rhys, is a jaded journalist whose reputation is so tarnished by his angry approach, that he is having a hard time getting interviews.  Esquire magazine is doing a spread about American heroes and asks Vogel to write an article about TV’s Fred Rogers.  They figure it would be hard to mess this assignment up.  And Rogers is the only person who agrees to let Vogel  interview him anyway.   Vogel is sure he will uncover the dirt on this way too nice appearing guy, but he doesn’t.  There apparently isn’t any dirt, he’s the real thing!  The Fred Rogers you see on the screen is the Fred Rogers you get in real life too.  Vogel and Rogers forge an unlikely friendship in which Fred shares some of his problems in life; like his boys’ troubled teenage years trying to cope with a famous father or the fact that he was teased when he was a kid for being chubby.  Rogers helps Vogel deal with his absent, philandering father (played by Chris Cooper) and his mother’s death many years ago, which still haunts him.  This is such a sweet movie, I don’t see how anyone could leave feeling sad.  Because Mr. Rogers was such a nice man, there are all kinds of rumors about him, he hated kids, swore like a sailor, or was a Navy Seal.  Not so! This movie does an excellent job of showing you what made this man tick and how he was able to touch the individuals he met and how they touched him.  Also, Mrs. Rogers gives this movie two thumbs up and apppears in a brief cameo in a Chinese restaurant.  If you don’t want to miss her, look for pictures on the internet so you know what to expect.

Judy

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Have you ever wondered what life was like for Frances Gumm?  Probably not, I imagine.  What if I told you that Frances Gumm was in actuality Judy Garland, the iconic singer from the golden days of Hollywood – whose girl-next-door innocence and powerful and sweet voice graced so many great movies, including “The Wizard of Oz” and “Meet Me in St. Louis”?  Now would you be curious? The movie “Judy” documents the last 6 months or so of her life. And wow, was it sad.  This is not a life affirming or even uplifting story – her life was a depressing series of unfortunate events. As the movie opens, Judy is penniless and is reduced to singing anywhere she can for as little as $150 a night.  She tries to make a semblance of family with two of her children (Lorna and Joey Luft), keeping them with her as she is thrown out of hotels for not paying the bills and having to virtually rely on the kindness of friends to keep going. She is very difficult to work with and is considered unreliable and uninsurable.  However, the English people still love her and she is offered a lucritive deal to spend the Christmas holidays performing in London.  This ultimately results in her fifth marriage to, yet again, a man who is out to exploit Judy.  Her time in England is heart-breaking. Her kids remain at home, and she battles insecurity and alcohol and drug abuse, teetering on the edge of personal disaster. The movie intersperses scenes of Judy as a young girl making ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ showing how studio head Louis B. Mayer mentally and physically abused and demeaned her (his sexual abuse are not addressed), calling her fat and unattractive and putting her on a cycle of pills to pep her up for 18 hour days, then to take her down so she could sleep. She has no support from friends or family, and any hopeful thought is taken from her. No wonder she is insecure and difficult! Renee Zellweger is the shining core of this movie though.  She wonderfully creates the misplaced hope and infinite sadness and self destructive behaviors of this flawed yet incredible musical talent. I see an Oscar nomination coming!  Ultimately though, this movie will leave you feeling sorry for the girl who dreamed of a rainbow that she never found in life.

Rocketman

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Well let me start out by saying that I thought before I even got to the theatre that I was not going to like this movie.  For some reason, I don’t care for the lead actor, Taron Egerton.  I don’t know why, I just don’t like him.  That being said, I did enjoy “Rocketman.”  First of all, how can you go wrong with a movie full of music written by Elton John and lyrics by Bernie Taupin?  Many of my favorites were here, including “Crocodile Rock,” “Tiny Dancer,” “Saturday Night’s Alright” and “Your Song.”  What I found compelling was the story of how shy, pudgy, Reginald Dwight evolved into the flamboyant and oh so talented Elton John.  There are some quite good performances in this movie, including an almost unrecognizeable Bryce Dallas Howard as Elton’s unhappy philandering mom.  Taron Egerton might not have had the shear brillance of Rami Malik as Freddie Mercury, but he did give a believable performance.  I also enjoyed Jamie Bell as Bernie Taupin, the writing partner who enjoyed the trappings of being a rock star without actually having to get on a stage. I was fascinated with the creative process the duo used when they first started writing songs, after both answered ads for songwriters.  Bernie wrote lyrcs, mailed them to Elton, who would create the music without any direct contact and input from Bernie.  There is one thing I didn’t care for though, and that was the musical numbers.  I felt they were forced and didn’t really add to the plot. In fact, they were like an Academy Awards show production number and I found them distracting.  Elton and Bernie’s songs were the most enjoyable when they were being sung on stage, or when we saw the evolution of how the song was created.  All in all, this movie much better than I thought it would be and I think you would probably enjoy it.  Unless you hate Elton John songs.  Then I would stay home.

Tolkein

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If you are a fan of J.R.R. Tolkein and his Lord of the Rings trilogy, not to mention The Hobbit, then I have just the movie for you. This movie takes the budding Oxford Don and author from his family’s return to Lancashire from South Africa after his father and mother’s deaths, through life in a boarding house and public school through just after the First World War where he fought in the devestating and horrific Battle of the Somme, serving as an infantry officer. Along the way, he joins a  group of four comrades, fast friends until the war breaks their “fellowship.”  Nicholas Hoult plays Tolkien as a young student and adult, while Harry Gilby is him as a child.  The story takes him through his meeting with the woman he’d eventually marry, after some trevails, and his acceptance into Oxford where he eventually joins the languages department.  Sprinkled throughout the basic story are snippets of his experiences in the Somme and of his enduring public school  friendships that might have been the basis for many parts of the  Rings books.  The thing that fans of these stories will appreciate are the many Easter Eggs sprinkled throughout, all alluding to the works that he would write later in life.  One example had to do with his batman (a servant soldier) in the front lines  who helped Tolkein when he had trench fever.  At one point of the story, this many even carries the ailing Tolkein over his shoulder.  His name?  Sam, of course.  This movie also details how Tolkein courted and married his wife, Edith ( Lilly Collins).  I found this part of the story sweet, and very relatable. However, if you are not a fan of Tolkein’s books, I am not sure you will enjoy this movie as much as you might.  The story telling is a bit disjointed and there really isn’t any action to speak of except some brutal and realistic scenes from the war.  I learned a lot about the life of Tolkein that I didn’t know, and after doing some research, I discovered that the movie does a good job of presenting his life as accurately as possible.  If you are a fan, I recommend this story, if you are not a fan, may I suggest you read “The Hobbit” and then see the movie. It will be better than you might think (it really isn’t bad at all, but the back story will be clearer), and you will  find out for yourself why he has been called by some the Father of Fantasy.

Fighting With My Family

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I know absolutely nothing about the WWE except for the fact that Hulk Hogan and The Rock started there.  I have never been a fan, don’t ever watch it; and yet, I love this heart warming little movie.  It is a mainly true story about an English family who all wrestle.  Patriarch Patrick Knight spent time in prison and his wife Julia was  a homeless oddball, but they found each other – and wrestling.  The whole family participates in a low-level traveling wrestling show, as well as conducting wrestling lessons for local kids..  But the Knights have hopes that one of their children will someday make it into the WWE.  Daughter Saraya Knight  looks like Wednesday Adams, and while she has skill and grit, lacks the confidence and inner strength she really needs. Her brother Zack “Zodiac” has potential with physical presence.  Great performances by Nick Frost and Lena Headey make the oddball Knight family almost endearling.  The scenes of various family members wrestling were entertaining, especially a very brave blind boy who wants to be famous.  Jack Lowden and Florence Pugh are fine as the two sibling wrestlers: one whose dream comes true  as WWE superstar Paige and the other who has to deal with disappointment.  They get an invite to try out for a chance to appear in the WWE. Only one gets to go on, and to face a unique set of challenges to overcome.  Dwayne Johnson makes a funny cameo as himself (a real life friend of Paige).  Stephen Merchant and Vince Vaugh are also successfully  featured, Vaughn as the hard nosed ‘coach’ who is tasked with preparing all the candidates for the one chance to perform.  “Fighting With My Family” is the kind of movie only the English could make; sweet, quirky, and endearing.    Apparently the real life of WWE star Paige could not be portrayed accuratley in a family-friendly movie, so it is probably just as well that the movie concentrates on her life and her family’s life before she became famous.  The story will remind you of “Rocky” at times, and that is not a bad thing!