REVIEW: PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN (2020)

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN (2020)

Film finds thirty-something Cassie (Carey Mulligan) working in a coffee shop and still living with her parents (Clancy Brown and Jennifer Coolidge). Cassie was a med student seven years ago, but the date rape and resulting suicide of her best friend Nina caused her to drop out. Now the emotionally troubled Cassie plots to get back at the man responsible and those who covered for and defended him. She also goes to bars at night, pretends to be drunk and teaches a lesson to anyone who try to take advantage of her. Her nocturnal activities and the path to payback for Nina hit a bit of a snag, though, when she meets a charming and handsome pediatrician (Bo Burnham).

Powerful flick is written and directed by Emerald Fennell and is an extremely impressive feature film debut. It tackles the subjects of date rape, sexual misconduct at schools and the effects on the victims, through the vengeful Cassie, but not without an undercurrent of dark humor. Through Cassie and her confronting those involved, we learn of how Nina was taken advantage of at a party, raped and then having to watch the perpetrator Al Monroe (Chris Lowell) defended and covered for by the school administration and other students, such as classmate Madison (Alison Brie). It turned Nina into an emotional wreck who we safely assume finally took her own life. The film boldly faces down how the perpetrators of such acts become the defendants and the victims the villains, in this society of boys will be boys. It illustrates how more concern is shown for not ruining the accused’s life than for the victim’s trauma and pain. Cassie also confronts like individuals by going to bars, playing drunk and then confronting these guys as they plan to take advantage of her. The film is unflinching, yet the underlying dark humor helps keep these timely subjects from bludgeoning you. Fennell deftly keeps you attentive, receptive and sensitive to the subject matter, as it’s cleverly woven into the story and thus better received and the points better made. As we watch the tale unfold, we get what writer/director is trying to say, slyly, but not too subtly as to miss those points. Emerald Fennell takes the gloves off and through Cassie calls out the frat boy, wolf pack mentality that protects the guilty and leaves victims humiliated and ostracized. She also directs with a lethal sarcasm and a hip and colorful style, as we follow Cassie along her path to retribution that culminates in a riveting and disturbing last act at Al Monroe’s bachelor party. A film with an important message for the #metoo generation, told with a lethal wit by Fennell. A viciously witty indictment of all too common behavior and the lack of consequences for that behavior.

The cast is strong with Carey Mulligan giving a brilliant performance as the young woman who beneath her sarcastic, slacker exterior is seething with anger and rage. A woman who’s pain and frustration, at how her friend was treated, has been focused into an intelligent and borderline sinister plan for payback. Until she reaches her target, she vents her anger out on lecherous bar patrons, she lures in by playing the naive drunk girl. It is also a direct statement on the mentality of far too many men when we witness just how often her trap works. Bo Burnham is charming and funny as Cassie’s unexpected love interest, Ryan. Is his interest in her and her growing feelings for him enough to make her put aside her inner turmoil and rage? This film is worth watching to find out. Clancy Brown and Jennifer Coolidge are good as her disappointed, frustrated and somewhat clueless parents and Chris Lowell is appropriately slimy as eternal frat boy and party rapist Al Monroe. In smaller, but effective parts are Adam Brody and Christopher Mintz-Plasse as men who Cassie vents her anger at…with good reason…along with Alison Brie and Connie Britton as the student and school dean, respectively, who covered for Monroe and dismissed Nina’s accusations.

Overall, this was an intense flick with a powerful message told with a very dark and sarcastic sense of humor. A smashing directorial debut from Emerald Fennell with a powerhouse performance by lead Carey Mulligan. It takes on it’s subject of sexual abuse and how society protects the accused and vilifies the victim with gloves off and head on. It has a lethal wit and a very hip style and comes to a climax that will stay with you for some time. Bravo to Emerald Fennell on a borderline masterpiece film debut and very, very highly recommended!

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 4 (out of 4) sexy nurse hats!

 

 

 

 

 

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BARE BONES: ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL and THE NIGHTMARE

ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL (2015)

Offbeat comedy/drama tells the story of teen Greg (Thomas Mann) who has little ambition other than to make movie parodies with his friend…or ‘co-worker’ as he likes to refer to him…Earl (RJ Cyler). Greg’s parents (Connie Britton and Nick Offerman) force him to spend time with classmate Rachel (Olivia Cooke) who has been diagnosed with leukemia. Soon a special bond forms between them that changes Greg’s life as her condition worsens and his feelings for her deepen.

Written by Jesse Andrews and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (The Town That Dreaded Sundown), this is a charming and sometimes very poignant story of love and friendship formed under unusual circumstances. As in most indie films like this, there are some very eclectic characters who are nonetheless appealing and Gomez-Rejon gets good performances out of our leads and support…though Offerman seems to be playing the same oddball he plays in everything he appears in. It’s sentimental at times and funny at others and obviously, there is a degree of sadness given it’s title. If the film stumbles somewhat, it’s in that, at times, it is a little too weird or too quirky for it’s own indie good. Random model animation sequences and Greg’s overly weird parents are sometimes distracting more than accomplishing anything to serve the narrative. Otherwise this is a sweet, sad and sometimes very funny movie.

-MonsterZero NJ

THE NIGHTMARE (2015)

Documentary tackles the subject of sleep paralysis, a state where individuals are stuck in-between being asleep and being awake, can’t move their bodies and suffer from extreme hallucinations such as shadow-like intruders. Director Rodney Ascher talks to eight different subjects gathering there stories of extreme cases of this state which has been often mistaken for paranormal, even extraterrestrial activity…and some believe it is.

While the subject in itself is interesting, the documentary stumbles a bit which keeps it from being really compelling. First off, the re-enactments of the hallucinations/events all look the same and utilize the same imagery and techniques so repetitiveness sets in quick when dealing with eight subjects with multiple stories. Another thing is that the subjects chosen all tell similar stories, so despite how intriguing it is, the stories themselves also start to get repetitive quickly. By the third story, from the same person, tedium starts to set in. The documentary also doesn’t seem to arrive at any real conclusions as those interviewed have varied results as to dealing with this phenomena. Some of the subjects seemed to have solved the problem by themselves, commanding the ‘intruders’ away, or by interpreting it as the presence of a dead loved one. Other subjects seem to have their own issues apart from sleep paralysis, so one must wonder if it is something caused by emotional stresses. Still other subjects truly believe that in this state they can see and be seen, by other dimensions, so there is that. We also never talk to any professionals on the subject, so we never get any other side to the story than those telling their own tales. A counterpoint or professional opinion would have added some nice contrast and given us some kind of scientific analysis to consider along with the testimony of Ascher’s subjects.

As the actual phenomena has not been fully explained, there are different points of view and while it is fine that Ascher let’s us decide for ourselves, it also leaves us feeling a bit unsatisfied and like not much was accomplished. Interesting at times, but wears out it’s welcome about an hour in and the lack of professional opinions/diagnosis leaves a void in the storytelling.

-MonsterZero NJ

HORROR YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (2010)

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (2010)

(Clicking the highlighted links brings you to corresponding reviews and articles here at The Movie Madhouse!)

2010’s remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street isn’t really a bad movie, it’s just a very unremarkable movie that doesn’t bring enough new to the franchise to justify it’s existence. To a degree it’s just another sequel with a new Freddy and new characters, including a new Nancy in name only.

The story follows that of the original film very closely with a group of teens having nightmares of a horribly scarred man with a gloved hand fitted with knives. He is murdering them in their dreams and they are all now afraid to sleep as their numbers dwindle. The man is Freddy Krueger (now played by Jackie Earle Hayley) and he is a child molester that their parents hunted down and burned alive…and he has returned to exact his revenge against the teens he preyed upon as children.

The film is actually directed fairly well by Samuel Bayer from a script by Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer and does have a few effective sequences. One of the main problems here is the fact that it just comes across as another series entry with very little new, other than a new actor as Freddy and a brief period of time where they try…but don’t succeed…in making us have doubts surrounding Freddy’s guilt. It’s obvious from the get-go how horrible he is and that this is not a nice guy done wrong. The dream sequences are well filmed, but again, offer nothing really new and it wouldn’t seem like a remake at all if it weren’t for a couple of sequences lifted from the original, a heroine named Nancy (Rooney Mara) and rehashing Freddy’s origin, adding little new to that. Why not just make this another series entry and keep Robert Englund as Freddy? There lies another big problem, despite a strong turn in Watchmen as Rorschach, Haley does not impress or scare as Freddy. He comes across as someone’s sleazy, perv of an uncle and he is never as threatening as Englund in the early installments and certainly not as charismatic as Englund was in the later installments, when Freddy became more of a wise-cracking gremlin. Haley is just a generic boogie man and that legendary persona is all but gone. He’s bland and the film is neutered without a strong villain. The make-up and visual FX are top notch, as is most of the production, but it’s kinda hollow without a stronger story and more fearsome villain.

Aside from Hayley not living up to the challenge as Freddy, there at least is a strong lead from Rooney Mara as Nancy. She makes a strong heroine with her own inner turmoil and pain and it’s too bad she’s not in a better film to play her character in. Her character is so different from Langenkamp’s Nancy, that she could had been re-named and it would have had no effect on the story. Kyle Gallner is good as Nancy’s friend Quentin. He helps her uncover the truth behind who this dream specter is who is hunting them and killing their friends. As those friends, we have Katie Cassidy as Kris, Kellan Lutz as Dean and Thomas Dekker as Jesse and they all do a suitable job as Freddy fodder. We also have good performances by Connie Britton as Nancy’s mom and Clancy Brown as Quentin’s dad. A decent cast, but wasted in a ho-hum reboot attempt.

I’ll admit this mediocre attempt to restart the series is still better than the worst of the original series (2 & 6 in my opinion), but far from the best of the bunch and can’t hold a candle to the original. The film is well enough directed by Samuel Bayer, who has a nice visual eye, but doesn’t deviate nearly far enough from what has come before it to justify it being made. It plays it safe and gives us little new except recast Freddy unsuccessfully. I didn’t hate this flick, but it is unremarkable and quite forgettable and certainly nothing worthy of building a new franchise over. It lacks the kind of intensity that made the familiar yet, entertaining Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake one of the better of this remake trend. Not the worst, but far from the best and makes you appreciate the great Robert Englund even more.

Rated 2 and 1/2 (out of 4) Freddys…and the real one, might I add.

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