Displaying items by tag: Simon Rex

MACK & RITA

US, 2022, 94 minutes, Colour.

Diane Keaton, Elizabeth Lail, Taylour Paige, Loretta Devine, Dustin Milligan, Lois Smith, Simon Rex. Voice of Martin Short.

Directed by Katie Aselton.

This is very much a “Girls Night Out” movie. It features the central character as a young girl, as a young adult, and her 70-year old self. A night out for all the girl generations. (There are a couple of male characters, one romantic, the other something of a magician – and the voice of Martin Short as the heroine’s dog!).

The central character, Mack, seen as a little girl enjoying life with her grandmother, then thirtysomething, an author, a best friend, pestering agent, the friend next door. The main point of the story is one of those identity changes – this time not someone into someone else’s body but rather the central character ageing, from 30 to 70, and finishing up in the form of an exuberant Diane Keaton, channelling something of what Annie Hall might have been at 70!

Lots of misunderstandings, the 70-year-old pretending to be the 30 year old’s aunt Rita, nice encounters with the man next door, search for the magician who was able to transform Mack into Rita, some occasions with all the girlfriends for a wedding shower, and lots of friendly chats with the exuberant older ladies who include Lois Smith and Loretta Devine.

Reviews were not very kind to this film – and, of all things, a Razzie nomination for worst actress for Diane Keaton.

So, it could be said that potential audiences were warned or advised!

BLINK TWICE

US, 2024, 102 minutes, Colour.

Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Alia Shawkat, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Adriana Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Liz Caribel, Levon Hawke, Geena Davis, Kyle MacLachlan.

Directed by Zoe Kravitz.

We, the audience, are invited, whether we like it or not, to take a trip to a Fantasy Island, a horror Fantasy Island.

This is a first film cowritten and directed by actress, Zoe Kravitz. She has invested a great deal of imagination and ingenuity to creating it. It is very much a film of the #MeToo consciousness of the last 20 years or so. And, it brings to mind the criminal behaviour of predator, Jeffrey Epstein, and judgements on him and his behaviour.

But, it doesn’t quite start that way. We are introduced to function cocktail waitress, Frida (Naomi Mackie) rapt in photos on her phone, idolising the guest of honour, Slater King (Channing Tatum in what eventually becomes a demanding role). The function is in honour of Slater King, his regrets for his behaviour in his business career, now a champion of philanthropy.

With his charm, Frida and her roommate, Jess, find themselves, as the audience does, on a plane to Slater’s island. For the next half hour, the guests, half a dozen young women, with some men friends on the island, have what they call a good time, no, “great time”, eating, drinking, gourmet food and alcohol, lazing by the pool, for days on end, losing a sense of time… (Audiences who would envy such a great time,

they will enjoy this hedonistic holiday; those for whom there is more in life than idling it away, it seems a very long time before anything really happens.)

Obviously, there is a danger of spoilers when the action gets going. Perhaps best to say that a key issue is the role of memory. Is it important to go back into the past to remember, to help with explanations of events in life? Or is it better to let the memories go and to move into the future? And so, with this shift in the drama, some of the guests remembering, disturbed by memories, decide to go into action to save themselves and others…

Which means then that the great time turns into something of a messy time and mayhem.

Blink Twice has quite a strong supporting cast including Alia  Shawket and Adria Arjona as two of the young women, Christian Slater and Haley Joel Osment as two of the guests, Kyle MacLachlan as a psychiatrist, Geena Davis as something of the housekeeper of the island.

As might be expected, there is a challenging ending – and the audience having to go away to reflect on the #MeToo implications of what they have just seen.

1. A film from the Me-Too# era? Women and men? Misogyny and exploitation? The island and audience memories of Jeffrey Epstein and his crimes?
2. The film as reality and fantasy? Fantasy Island?
3. The title, the reference to gaze, to photography?
4. The introduction to Frida, the phone, the photos, swiping through, the photos of Slater King, the infatuation? Her friendship with Jess, roommates, shared experiences? The cocktail waitresses? At the annual event, memories of the previous year, the advice of their supervisor, to smile and mingle? Audience identification with the two young women? Younger audiences and identification? Older audiences observing?
5. The story of Slater King, played by Channing Tatum, his reputation, his companies, change of heart, his repeated apologies, the celebration, the host, the guests, the speeches, food and drink, the dancing?
6. Slater, the attraction to Frida, with her, her response, awkwardness, charm, the dancing, with Jess, the invitation to the island? Their leaving everything, the flight to the island?
7. The island, a fantasy Island, the plane, the beauty of the island, the isolation, the main buildings, the grounds, the terrain, giving up the phones? Slater as host, his continued attention to Frida?
8. The range of characters on the island, the young women, seeming friends, but not having met before, the response to Slater, their hopes? The men, Vic, older, his camera? Tom, short, baby-faced, indulgent? Cody, vain, pride in his cooking and announcements? Lucas, younger, thinner, hanger-on?
9. The first 40 minutes, sensual, the accommodation, the clothes, everything available, the food and meals, the lighting, the drink, the drugs, the pool? “A good time”, “a great time”, hedonism, self-indulgence, the effect on the guests, Slater as host?
10. The change in tone, the issue of Jess, her participation in the great time, but wanting her phone, wanting out, her cigarette lighter with her name, the disappearance, nobody remembering?
11. The theme of memory, Slater and Frida and the discussions about memory, not going back into the past, erasing memories, living in the present to the future? The discussions with the therapist, at the party, his visit to the island, collusion with Slater?
12. The mysterious local inhabitants, the old woman, Frida encountering her, not understanding her, the snake, the venom, the drinks? The local workmen? Those who served at the dinner?
13. Frida, uncomfortable, memories of Jess, the friendship with Sarah, Sarah and her memories of being on television, Survivor, their working together, understanding the drinks, the issue of memory, the role of Slater, the other men? Frida and her searching Slater’s room, the photos? Under suspicion?
14. The role of the other girls, caught up in the hedonism? The contrast with Frida and Sara, then manoeuvres, building to the set up, the mood to violence, the knives?
15. The role of Stacy, older, housekeeper, her ditzy manner, dropping things, the issue of the armchair and its place, sometimes sinister presence, with the young women, her death?
16. The uprising, the confrontation of the men, the stabbing of Cody, Tom in the pool, the attack on Vic, Lucas and his death?
17. The role of the therapist, the danger, working with Slater?
18. The unmasking of Slater, exploitation, his charm, his real character?
19. The irony of the ending, the annual show, Frida in charge, control, Slater and his subservient presence? The future?
20. A contemporary drama/horror/parable about men and women in the 21^st-century?