THE NEST Review

As a huge fan of writer/director Sean Durkin's 2011 breakout feature, Martha Marcy May Marlene, I was very much looking forward to his follow-up which unfortunately has taken nine years to craft and unfortunately feels like it should have taken less than half that time. It's not difficult to see where folks who enjoy the art form that is the motion picture will derive pleasure and satisfaction from Durkin's The Nest for, despite watching hundreds of films a year, I still consider myself very much a novice when it comes to movies of bygone eras-especially those prior to the turn of the millennium. This could certainly have influenced my perception of The Nest as not only is the film set during, but very much feels like a film born of the late seventies to early eighties. That said, it's not difficult to see what Durkin is going for here with this assessment of preserving one's own identity within a marriage while simultaneously preserving the illusion of a unified union to the world at large as everyday actions threaten to tear it apart, but even that summarization makes the proceedings sound more exciting than they actually are and furthermore, lends me no idea as to how well Durkin is achieving his goal. To this untrained eye at least, the writer/director takes far longer to build the basis on which we will see the cracks that come to divide this family unit than he does on actually exploring those crevices. The Nest is the type of movie most modern moviegoers wouldn't consider a story-or more appropriately, a study-that necessarily needs or deserves to be told on the big screen. Of course, this is also the type of movie that the parents of modern moviegoers watched in droves in the seventies as this feels akin to the kind of work I expect Mike Nichols and the like were doing at the time. These smaller, character-driven pieces analyzing the fractured American dream and how the layers of such a facade easily fall apart when that's all it was to begin with: a deceitful outward appearance meant to conceal a less pleasant reality. Though Durkin's seeming objective of depicting an unpleasant reality is an unequivocal success, whether the film as whole is equally successful is more up for debate as what The Nest achieves is far easier to appreciate than it is to experience.

MR. HOLMES Review

There have been countless iterations of Sherlock Holmes over the years, but prior to this films release I'd not heard of Mitch Cullins interpretation of the world's greatest detective. At first glance, Mr. Holmes seems like one of those ideas that is better left as an idea rather than the likely failure to meet expectations result that would come from trying to make it a reality. What might actually be so fascinating about an older detective who can hardly remember his glory days let alone how he made his reputation? The possibilities are certainly intriguing, but the execution could be questionable given what one takes from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works to inform the state of an elderly Holmes. Having not read Cullins book on which this is based, I don't know how much credit to give director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls), but by not simply telling another story revolving around a mystery the film starts off on the right foot. As the film plays out we see a mystery element incorporated in the form of flashbacks to Holmes' final case with which he is having trouble completely recalling. These flashbacks are more or less used to both create reason for why Holmes chose the course he did for his later years while also reminding him of a throughline theme by which he intended to live out the rest of his years. Solving the mystery of his forgotten case also incorporates the only way Holmes truly knows how to live and how to deal with getting older and facing death. By both incorporating these aspects, but keeping the film more focused on the man rather than the mystery the film seems to capture the only possibility that could make this type of story appealing without being completely depressing. There are themes of regret throughout that I can only imagine will be more resonant with a second viewing, but on a first pass still strike one as heartbreakingly honest. I say this because Mr. Holmes is as much about preserving the thoughts and correct legacy of one's life as it is making amends for the mistakes in one's life by passing on what they've learned to a younger generation so that they may not encounter the same regrets. The strong conveyance of these ideas are made largely possible through two wonderful lead performances in Ian McKellen and newcomer Milo Parker.

MORTDECAI Review

Remember that one time when Johnny Depp was going to star in Wes Anderson's (now Oscar nominated) The Grand Budapest Hotel? Can you guess what role Depp might have likely ended up playing? Given the headlines that went out shortly after Moonrise Kingdom became a bigger hit than expected in the summer of 2012 I would venture to assume it would have been the lead of M. Gustave. A role that, thankfully, ended up going to Ralph Fiennes. Fiennes is brilliant in a way and to an extent we've never seen him before in that role, but if you're still upset that we haven't seen the fruition of an Anderson and Depp collaboration, or more specifically, what it might have been like had Depp taken on the lead role in The Grand Budapest you might now be in luck as Captain Jack himself has presented us with Mortdecai. With a screenplay from Eric Aronson whose only other credit includes 2001's On the Line (and if you're not of my generation and don't immediately recognize that title, it's the romantic comedy that starred Lance Bass from Nsync) and based on the first novel in the Mortdecai series by novelist Kyril Bonfiglioli titled Don't Point that Thing at Me, Depp has essentially brought what his interpretation of Gustave might have looked like in a film that feels like a Wes Anderson movie as it were directed by a more conventional filmmaker. This is nothing against Mortdecai director David Koepp who is known more for his screenwriting credits that include several Spielberg films and large property adaptations than his directing work. Still, Koepp has directed his fair share of features as well including the solid Stephen King adaptation and first, post-Pirates movie for Depp, Secret Window, as well as the likes of underrated little gems such as Ghost Town and Premium Rush that he also penned the scripts for. It's hard to tell if it's because Koepp doesn't seem to have had a hand in the development of the screenplay here that he isn't as passionate about the material, but there is definitely something lacking as far as the soul of this movie is concerned.