Mickey and the Bear

The obligatory uncomfortable car ride shot.

(2019) Drama (Utopia) Camila Morrone, James Badge Dale, Calvin Demba, Ben Rosenfield, Rebecca Henderson, Rob Grabow, Gabriel Vega, Katee Ferguson. Directed by Annabelle Attanasio

 

Recently, director Martin Scorsese stirred up an Internet hornet’s nest when he disparaged Marvel films (and their like). He spoke about the films he grew up watching and quite frankly, this one from first-time director Attanasio would be the sort of film that he would dig.

Mickey (Morrone) lives in the small Big Sky town of Anaconda, Montana. Her mother has recently passed away due to cancer; the toxic waste from mining operations there have decimated the population of the town. Mickey’s dad Hank (Dale) is an ex-Marine who came home with a drinking problem, a severe case of PTSD and wild mood swings that his medication isn’t really regulating anymore. Mickey is his sole caregiver and support; she works after school in a taxidermy shop and supplements his veterans benefits with the little income she can make. Hank is chronically unemployed, and an object of pity in the town; he is not only a vet but a widower. He is essentially given a pass for his bad behavior, which is growing steadily worse.

Mickey has a boyfriend, Aron (Rosenfield) who professes undying love for Mickey, but steals her father’s Oxycontin and seems most interested in her female parts than in any other part of her. Mickey is trapped in the small town, unable to leave because her father couldn’t survive without her, but sees any sort of hope for a life of her own slipping away from her.

But there are some bright spots. New kid at school, Wyatt (Demba) – a transfer from the UK – sees potential in her and encourages her to go out and seek it. VA psychiatrist Leslee Watkins (Henderson) takes an interest in her and sees that the situation she’s in is not likely to improve…ever. Mickey is beginning to take tentative steps out of her situation but then her father drags her right back into the nest.

Attanasio is one of the new breed of female directors who not only has something to say but knows how to say it in a compelling manner. It’s hard to believe this is her first feature; it’s even harder to believe that she was only 25 years old when she made this. It’s directed with such assurance that you would think that the person behind the camera had decades of experience in the director’s chair. I’m excited for the future of this young woman.

It doesn’t hurt that she has a pair of actors giving career-defining performances. Dale, a veteran character actor, has never been better. He walks a tightrope between portraying Hank as an utter bastard and an object of pity. Hank is neither; he is prideful and his mood swings can lead to violence. At the same time, there’s just enough charm to allow us to see what he must have been like before he went off to war. This isn’t a textbook PTSD performance; it’s more true to life.

The revelation, however, is Morrone. With a limited resume behind her, there was no reason to believe she had this kind of performance inside her but quite frankly, it’s Oscar-worthy. Mickey is strong and vulnerable; making a terrible decision one moment and standing up for herself the next. She is, in short, a young woman who has seen far too much of life for a girl her age; it has caused her to grow up way too fast, but she is still at the end of the day only 18 years old.

Most of the other performances are strong as well, although Demba looks way too old to be a high school student. The Montana landscape is shown off nicely while the town is basically the working-class kind of place that has been hit particularly hard by the economic hardships that have caused them to embrace outsiders in politics. There’s a quiet desperation in the town that is heartbreaking; elitist liberals would do well to take notice.

Attanasio keeps the mood tense; one never knows when Hank is going to erupt. It’s a slow burn rather than an explosive conclusion. At the end of the day, the only flaw here is that the ending feels a bit more cliché than the rest of the film. Even though the final image of Mickey is hopeful and inspiring, it doesn’t really jive with the tone of the film.

The movie is currently playing in New York and opening in Los Angeles later this week; at the end of the month, it will start playing nationwide. Keep an eye out for it; this is a very strong movie that cinephiles should want to experience for themselves.

REASONS TO SEE: While Badge does a good job, Morrone is incredible. Gritty Americana at its finest.
REASONS TO AVOID: The ending is a little too pat, too predictable.
FAMILY VALUES: There’s a good deal of profanity, scenes of drug abuse, some sexual situations and violence.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Attanasio is best known as an actress on the CBS drama Bull; she left the show following the third season in order to shoot this movie, her directorial debut.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 11/19/19: Rotten Tomatoes: 100% positive reviews: Metacritic: 76/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Princess of the Row
FINAL RATING: 7.5/10
NEXT: Jim and Andy: The Great Beyond

The Gift (2015)

Rebecca Hall investigates.

(2015) Thriller (STX) Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, Joel Edgerton, Allison Tolman, Tim Griffin, Busy Phillipps, Adam Lazarre-White, Beau Knapp, Wendell Pierce, Mirrah Foulkes, Nash Edgerton, David Denman, Kate Aselton, David Joseph Craig, Susan May Pratt, P.J. Byrne, Felicity Price, Melinda Allen, Jyothsna Venkatesh, Laura Drake Mancini, DaNae West, Stacey Bender, Beth Crudele. Directed by Joel Edgerton

The past has a way of rearing its head, ugly or not, when we least expect it. Sometimes it can be a song or a scent that brings it flooding back, or a chance meeting in a retail store. We are tied to our past as surely as we are tired to our choices.

Things are looking good for Simon (Bateman) and Robyn (Hall). They are happily married, Simon recently got a major promotion (and is closing in on another) and they’ve just purchased a beautiful home with amazing views from floor-to-ceiling glass windows. What those in thrillers fail to appreciate is that glass is two-way – you can look out of it sure, but so can others look in.

While shopping for furnishings the couple run into Gordo (Edgerton), a sad-sack sort that was a classmate of Simon’s in high school. Simon can barely remember him, and Robyn takes pity on him; he seems a nice enough guy if a bit socially awkward. She invites him to dinner.

When Gordo starts leaving little gifts; a bottle of wine, glass cleaner, Koi carp for their pond, at first it seems like a nice gesture but it begins to get a little creepy. Then there are intimations of some sort of incident in the past between Gordo and Simon that was less than savory. Robyn also has her own skeletons; a miscarriage sent her spiraling into depression and drug abuse. She has gotten better lately but Simon still worries about it.

Then again, Simon seems to have issues of his own. The more we get to know these people, the less we actually do, all of which descends to an inevitable confrontation which leads to a shocking revelation.

This is Edgerton’s first feature as a director and if this is any indication, he has a bright future ahead of him in that regard. The pacing here is damn near perfect, neither too hurried but definitely moves along at a good clip. The result is we’re constantly on the edge of our seats without feeling like we’re missing anything.

Edgerton as a writer is also amazing; all of the main characters are nicely developed and are allowed to be imperfect. The twist at the end is brilliant and shocking, a rare thing these days when we think we just can’t be shocked. This is proof that not only can we be, but we can be surprised as well. A good movie buff appreciates that more than you can imagine.

Bateman gets a rare serious role and plays it very nicely, never overplaying the dramatic aspects (which some comic actors tend to do) but not underplaying it either. He uses his nice guy persona as a bit of a tool, allowing us to settle in to a particular viewpoint of who the character is, then slowly tears down that viewpoint as the character turns out to be something different. It shows Bateman to be an actor of enormous range; I wouldn’t be surprised to see higher-profile dramatic roles coming his way because of his performance here.

Edgerton has long been someone that “everyone” knows can act, but hasn’t really ascended into the Hollywood elite yet. There’s a good chance he will now, showing himself to be a massive talent behind the camera, but a great one in front of the camera as well. Like Bateman, he uses his edgy persona to his advantage to create certain expectations for the audience and then slowly strips them away. I’ve always liked Edgerton as an actor; now I like him even more.

Hall’s character is more brittle and fragile, and in some ways more colorless. She is just beginning to get it together after essentially a breakdown but the goings on here put her back teetering on the edge. Hall doesn’t really hit it out of the park like her colleagues do, but she turns in a solid performance that is bound to get her some notice from casting agents.

The creepy factor is extra high here as we watch the events unfold. Certainly the tension through the last third of the movie is high, but this isn’t a roller coaster ride so much as a dark ride in a boat through some really terrible scenes. This movie has been pretty much universally praised and for good reason; don’t read that as being excessive however – this isn’t an essential movie, just a really well-crafted thriller that is well worth your while. And that is essential enough.

REASONS TO GO: Effectively creepy. Nice twist. Good casting.
REASONS TO STAY: The camera is a bit static. Hall’s character is a bit bland.
FAMILY VALUES: There’s a fair amount of foul language and some adult themes.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Because he wanted to focus on directing, Edgerton filmed all of his own scenes two weeks into shooting and had them completed in seven days.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 8/28/15: Rotten Tomatoes: 92% positive reviews. Metacritic: 77/100.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: Oldboy
FINAL RATING: 7/10
NEXT: Ricki and the Flash