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Reviews
Fleishman Is in Trouble (2022)
So many reviews on IMDb by teenage boys.
Great performances by Jesse Eisenberg, Lizzie Caplan, Claire Danes and the child actors. Let's confront the modern reality: in a story where nobody gets shot (at least through Episode 4) the cognosenti infantili will have fit of pique. There's no action! The pacing is slow! The characters are flat! Adult stories, infantili, often unspool at a languid pace. Run along and play, this one's not for you.
So many complaints about the narration by Libby (Lizzie Caplan), because, well, it's out of the ordinary! So drown it in the bathtub! Or, maybe, notice that there's a chemistry between between Toby and Libby. They have a thing, though they don't know it yet -- well Toby doesn't -- which makes Libby's perspective all the more interesting.
OK, one complaint. I didn't buy Toby's tears in Episode 4. It's not Eisenberg's fault -- tears are inconsistent with Toby's character.
Licorice Pizza (2021)
What's with all the hit job reviews?
More and more reading IMDB reviews I suspect something is amiss. No film is immune from critique, but Paul Thomas Anderson -- Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood, The Master -- at least deserves a fair hearing. He does not get one from the front-listed reviewers. Are they novice film critics sharpening their teeth (or maybe slandering for pay)? This is a great debut for both Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman. Hoffman plays a convincing junior hustler. Haim conveys a wide range of emotions with her facial expressions throughout. Lots of dreck about Alana Kane and Gary Valentine not being likeable characters. They're mismatched in age, which leads them to second guess -- mostly Alana but Gary too. That's the conflict in the relationship that plots the film. One reviewer fretted that Gary was smitten with Alana, but then strayed with Sue Pomerantz. Alana and Gary are complex characters. How many fifteen-year-olds have opened their own retail store? Young people are fickle -- I was. The charm of the film is Alana and Gary's dawning realization that they really care about each other. Some saw the age difference as implausible. But she's a late bloomer and he's precocious. Are they really so far apart? Long term, it probably can't work, but we're not worried about that just now. We're living in the moment. And in this moment, they have something.
The Bear (2022)
My Thanks to the Cast
The cast was wonderful. My thanks to Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Liza Colón-Zayas and Lionel Boyce for a moving show. The cast has such great chemistry. Carmy, Syd, Richie, Marcus and Tina are all strong characters. Richie proves the maxim that flawed characters are easiest to identify with. Marcus' labor of love as he tries to bake the perfect donuts is compelling. Who hasn't put their whole heart into something. Syd and Carmy are terrrific complements for one another. I don't think the show could work without their dynamic. I loved watching Tina's initial anger and resistance to change and then how she came around. I have an English professor friend who likes submarine movies, because of the tension wrought by confining characters in a small space. This show, with characters cramped in the small kitchen, has that same dynamic. No violence (OK a little), no criminals, no automatic weapons or cops (OK one), or super heroes -- just a story. Imagine that.
Station Eleven (2021)
The teenage boys have had their say
All the teenage boys have had their say and they, wow, REALLY don't like it. Grrrr! Trust me, that's a good sign. Some people peak in junior high. Station Eleven is not perfect. It has flaws. Most good dramas do. It's easier to punch a direct hit when your ambitions don't rise above the Marvel universe -- you've got nothing to say. I'll stick with this Shakespeare troupe that "never leaves the wheel".