Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

The Last Duel

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The Last Duel is based on the true story of the last trial by combat in medieval France. Matt Damon plays Jean De Carrouges, a respected knight who is brave and skillful in battle. Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) is a squire renowned for intelligence and wit. The two men start out as friends, Jean even saves Jacques’ life in battle; but it all quickly goes wrong. The Count d’Alencon (Ben Affleck) however, hates Jean and goes out of the way to deny him his rightful position and privilege; while giving Jacques the position and makes him his right hand man. Jacques is enamored of Marguerite, De Carrouge’s sweet, beautiful wife (Jodie Comer) and takes liberties with her while Jean is away fighting in Scotland. She accuses Le Gris of raping her, thus setting up the famous duel when Jean demands the King grant him trial by combat…to the death. Director Ridley Scott has decided to tell the main events of the story three different times through the eyes of each main character. Obviously each retelling is slightly different than the last one. There is a religious court and legal wrangling that shows how little rights and protections women, even noble women, had in that society. The duel is the last resort to clear Marguerite’s name. If Jean doesn’t win, she will be put to the stake! Will she be saved? Tune in to find out! I enjoyed this movie, but I can’t quite give it a Golden Apple. Repeating events (with slight differences) three times made the middle of the movie drag. However, there are the great, gritty action scenes you’d expect of Scott, and the world of Middle Ages France is recreated very well. If you like period pieces based on true events that you probably didn’t even know about, this is the movie for you.

A WHOLE LOTTA MOVIES

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It has been quite a summer! Even though I have been busy taking trips (one to Vermont and one to Disney World), I still found time to see movies. So here it goes, a whole bunch of reviews in the order that I liked the movies.

FREE GUY – This is my favorite movie in this group. It is mindless fun and I really enjoyed it. Ryan Reynolds (the Deadpool guy) stars as a wimpy bank teller who discovers he is actually a background character in a video game. His journey to rise above his coding and gain control of his own life is funny and entertaining. Reynold has a great supporting cast; including Jodie Comer, Taika Waititi and Lil Rel Howery (and Joe Keery from Stranger Things). Watch for couple of very funny short cameos!

STILLWATER: Now for something completely different. Matt Damon is a down on his luck oil rig worker who travels to Marseille, France to visit his daughter, who is serving time in prison for murder. She claims innocence and while he had been an indifferent failue as a dad, he supports her all the way. He spends a lot of time in Marseille proving her innocence, and connects with a single mom and her daughter. Things get rather complex. It’s a very different role for Damon, and he pulls it off well. The setting is in the seedier side of town, and gives an interesting perspective quite different from the more touristy environs of many movies. If you were expecting a Liam Neesem “Taken” story with a happy ending, this may not be the movie for you. However, if you want to see top level acting and something to make you think, you might want to check this out.

THE PROTEGE: This one reminded me a little bit of Atomic Blond. It stars Maggie Q as Anna and Samuel L. Jackson as Moody, a paid assassin. Anna is his protege. But they have no particular political or criminal agenda and only go after people who deserve it. You can plainly see in the trailors that Moody is murdered and Anna must bring the killers to justice. Ah ah ah, not so fast. Be ready for a few twists. And look for Michael Keaton in a role as a somewhat honorable, if unmerciful, professional of his own. If you love Samuel L. Jackson (and I do) you will not think you wasted your time watching this one.

SUICIDE SQUAD: I apologize ahead of time to all the Suicide Squad fans out there. The first movie was okay, but this one didn’t do a thing for me. I didn’t find it funny, thought the Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn tiresome, and the plot weak, confused even. We watched it on television, and felt we wasted a few hours (though at least we didn’t waste our money on movie tickets). I guess if you love the first one; you will enjoy this one, but honestly,there are other movies out there worth more of a view.

Ford Vs. Ferrari

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I know absolutely nothing about auto racing, and even less about the famous French 24 Hours of LeMans endurance race.  Did you know that the race is exactly what it says – a 24 hour auto race at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour?  I didn’t know that.  Did you know that a team of two racers take turns driving in four hour shifts?  I didn’t know that either.  This movie was quite an education for me, and it entertained me too!  Ford vs. Ferrari tells the true story of car designer (and one-time racer) Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and his friendship with driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale).  When Ferrari patriarch Enzo Ferrari rejects a deal for a merger with Henry Ford II in an insulting way, Ford decides he is going to win the next LeMans.  Shelby is hired to design and build the car, price is no object, as long as he is willing to listen to a committee of executives that include sympathetic Lee Iacocca (Jon Bernthal) and Leo Beebe (Josh Lucas), who doesn’t like the driver Shelby has hand picked.  Ken Miles is rebellious to say the least and is apt to do or say something that doesn’t reflect the image Ford wants to project (this is the 60’s).  The movie does a really good job of showing the ins and outs of the auto racing industry, as well as the excitement and hazards of racing itself. It also shows the deceit and venality that seem to continue to be a hallmark of how business men conduct themselves. There is some good acting on the parts of Matt Damon and Christian Bale, but all the supporting actors are excellent too.  After you see the movie, google Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles – the movie is really good but still doesn’t do either men full justice.

 

Suburbicon

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What’s not to love?  A script written by the Coen Brothers,  directed by  George Clooney, and a stellar cast that includes  Matt Damon, Julianne Moore (playing twins no less!) and Oscar Issac.  So, why did I not love this movie?  Well……the first half of Suburbicon is extremely boring.  It starts out in a perfect, stereotypical middle class, white 60’s neighborhood where everything looks perfect.  Matt Damon’s character is married to a disabled woman who has a twin sister.  He seems the typical, button down good father and husband. During a home invasion, his wife ‘accidentally’ dies.  Is it an accident? In a plot twist reminiscent of the far, far better Fargo, we find out that Matt Damon’s character may not be the perfect Mr. Cleaver father after all. Mayhem ensues.  Interspersed within this plot is an almost completely different movie that involves the first Black family to move into all white suburbia.  By the time you get to the end of the movie, you feel like you have been hit on the head with a not very subtle point.  As always, the Coen Brothers include some dark humor and a few surprises, but it is just not enough.  Instead of going to see Suburbicon, I would recommend looking for Fargo on Netflix and watching William H. Macy “fleeing the interview.”

The Great Wall

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The Great Wall finds Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal as European mercenaries who come to China in search of black powder.  They discover that the Great Wall was built, not as a defense against other people, but to protect the country from nasty monsters who attack every sixty years.  The special effects were excellent, and the visuals were impressive, but I  found the whole movie a little silly.  My apologies to Matt Damon, who I like as Jason Bourne,  but I felt he seemed too nice to be a mercenary.  Willem Defoe is also featured.  The movie was directed by the great Chinese director Yimou Zhang and I understand that it was his first English-language production and the largest film shot entirely in China.  I would be willing to give Zhang another try because the scope and breadth of the scenery was pretty amazing.  I just hope that next time he has a better script and  a main character portrayed by a more credible actor for that sort of role.