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Brett1545
Reviews
Plan B (2021)
This Film Has Something to Say
This film definitely has something to say, and it says it pretty early on. Two best friends, Sunny and Lupe, are 17 year old high school students raised in strict households. Sunny's south Asian mother plays this culture's archetypal overbearing parent who wants her daughter to be perfect at everything, and Sunny's personality and insecurities reflect her fear of falling short, as she complies with her mother's kind, but firm, commands to always be better and not take little mistakes for granted. Her best pal Lupe rebels against her strict Hispanic father, but the writing gently lays them both into the same space of feeling afraid and feeling brave, thus complementing each other as characters. Speaking of lays, as you know or probably guessed from the film's title, someone does get laid, and a journey to track down the morning after pill ensues.
If you're rolling your eyes right now because you hate Planned Parenthood or are pro life to the very end, then this review is not for you and I'm guessing the movie wasn't for you or will not be. But if that's not the case, then I suggest you watch this with an open mind and give the organic performances of the lead actresses a chance. Both are funny, raw, sentimental, and embody the countless vibrantly close female friendships that exist all over the country at that age. Sunny and Lupe depend on each other and love each other, and the sharp twists and turns of navigating teenage life as an almost adult female with reproductive organs and hormones is child's play compared with the bond they have as friends. The dialogue and chemistry of these talented actresses' performances captures this dichotomy extremely well.
This film has many jarring and emotional turns, and yet it does not take itself too seriously. It addresses what cannot be an uncommon problem: trying to find birth control options in the plains states without disturbing the small community or infringing upon its societal norms. And that does not even account for the laws that were likely generated based on these same communal, tightly-tied values. The fear of this is palpable as the characters realize the enormity of the predicament they are in, and yet the film does not overstate it. In this way, the story rings true, and it does not play like another teen movie.
For viewers with children, this film very much deserves its mature rating. There is casual underage drinking, as well as soft and hard drug use throughout. And then of course there is the "Prince Albert" nude sex scene. So, ironically, I wouldn't allow anyone under the age of 18 to watch this film about two 17 year olds. But everyone matures at different ages, so your call.
Long story short, this film is an enjoyable journey about friendship, distrust, insecurity, confusion, actions (with very real consequences), and unconditional love.
Writing: 9/10
Acting: 9/10
Soundtrack: 8/10
Cinematography: 8/10
Gut: 9/10
Overall: 8.6 rounded to 9.
Manhattan (1979)
I'm Glad There's Only One Chapter
Chapter One, I'm filming a love note to you, New York City. No, too endearing and subservient. Let me start this over.
Chapter One, I'm filming a story about you, New York City, the most beautiful town on earth. In fact I'll be in you throughout the filming. No, too erotic. Too sexual.
Chapter One, New York City, I'm filming a tapestry of your many complexities and nuances, leaving no stone unturned, no filth free of its objective natural decay, no natural beauty free of its subjective essence. No, too psycho-analytical.
Chapter One, I mean, what to say, really. New York City, I'm asking you to allow me to use you as a background character. Like anyone who wants to be in my films, whether good or bad, you'll pose stupidly, in black and white, a straight man to my self-indulgent rants. I'll star and chatter endlessly before, during, and after the lines delivered by the two dimensional, ridiculously unrealistic versions of human beings (and their analysts), beings who will become nothing more than foils to my massive ego disguised as a neurotic whine. At some point, I'll unwittingly or poignantly describe the noise I make as a trumpet sawed in half. I'll lecture characters and myself simultaneously as the cliched triangle-headed anti-hero in black frames, repeatedly questioning yet reaffirming the animal magnetism that somehow tractor beams a pretty girl in high school with homework and an allegedly insecure women who speaks her mind from the outset of the film but then crumbles before my domineering presence in bed. I'll have conquered other terrific beauties, one of which is raising my son with a lesbian partner I tried to run over (and writing a book about our relationship, probably mentioning what a dynamo I was in bed... perhaps? Yes?... Hopefully?... BUT I'M COMPLETELY AGAINST IT!). Speaking of triangles, my dry toast married best friend "Yale" will become the anti-hero to my anti-hero, as we both swing our way through the city having relations upon relations with these or other women. I'll struggle through the trials of multiple divorces, alimony, a young, over-sexed girl, and an insecure woman who both can and cannot live without me and the aforementioned married friend who is in love with her. I'll show off my virile athleticism, stumbling down a sidewalk as I dribble a basketball during visitation with my son, and later stumbling across a racquetball court during visitation with my best friend. I'll be built up into a god-like creature, before having to deal with the seemingly interminable fallout of too many women wanting to have sex with me at once. What a dilemma! Did I mention we'll talk about it this the whole film through, from scene to scene, and perhaps in between cuts?
Towards the end, I'll analyze myself on a couch, seeking answers to some very existential questions, asking what makes life worthwhile, not for a moment giving credence to the thought that audiences might for a second find this self-despair unbelievable. Then I'll pull out the mouth organ my 17 year old high school lover gave me because she thought I might like to play it (right before I broke up with her). I'll run across the city, showing off all of its vibrancy in shades of gray. Gershwin will pipe in and out. The audience will know that my love interest is now legal even though I'm not making love to her at this point. "Where are her parents and family (does anyone care?)" they'll ask, while I'm stammering and murmuring my final lines of dialogue. I'll then think "why didn't I use Meryl Streep more?" and "why did I shoot in black and white and an aspect ratio that makes no sense?" and "thank God for Annie Hall" and "will a relationship with an underaged girl come back to haunt me?"
I'll later want to burn the negatives on this film, offering to make two films in its place.
4/10 stars
The Young Stranger (1957)
An Underrated Gem
I watched this movie on a whim today on TCM. What I thought might be a typical story of over-privileged teenage angst and rebellion quickly became a nuanced, dramatic telling of 16-year-old boy's desire for truth and love from the man he admired most: his father. Both actors play their roles very well, as does the actress playing Hal's mother, who provides a middle ground of sensitivity and maternal strength in between the jostling of father and son, the former, well established in the world, the latter, still trying to find his place and lacing everything with sarcasm (which you'll see at times he gets from his father). The character arcs are extremely well executed. Double kudos to the director, who not only made a fine film, but also did so in the face of constant antagonism from his crew (as recounted by TCM, the director was new to movies, having transitioned from television, and therefore not warmly received by the old movie hands on the set. One camera man apparently even refused to film certain shots the director wanted. In the end, this talented director shot his was through what would be one of the worst film experiences of his life, and eventually became a film director success in the 1960s, making movies like The Manchurian Candidate. I highly recommend The Young Stranger to anyone who is interested in movies about truth, human nature, and the part both play in the dynamics of a family. 9/10.