Movie Muser

Nicolas Cage may be an Oscar-winning actor, but in recent years he’s largely become synonymous with an endless string of not particularly great movies where he gives one of his interchangeable extreme wild-man performances, where restraint is regarded as an alien concept.

Joe gives us something a little different, with Cage playing title character Joe Ransom, a character who spends much of the movie trying to keep a lid on the fiery, violent temper that lies underneath. It was an extremely smart move to cast the actor, as you can genuinely feel Cage pulling in the tics and extreme tendencies he has shown in endless movies in the last few years.

Joe is a man with a past but now he’s got a job leading a crew of men who go around killing trees, as that’s the way timber companies get around a law that says they can only chop down dead wood. He’s still extremely rough around the edges but he’s doing his best to keep his explosive temper under control so that he doesn’t end up back in prison once again.

Then he meet young Gary (Tye Sheridan), who comes to him desperately wanting a job. Joe takes a chance on the young man, who comes from an extremely difficult background, with a violent, alcoholic drifter father who sees Gary as a burden even though he’s pretty much dependent on his son.

Through a series of difficulties, both with Gary’s dad and a shady local who decides he wants revenge on both Gary and Joe for slights he thinks he’s suffered, Joe becomes an unexpected mentor to the young man, who may possibly offer him a route to redemption.

Joe is a hard-nosed film full of rough, grimy characters who are living out in the middle of nowhere because nowhere else would have them. It doesn’t pull its punches, particularly with the title character, who really is a brute even if he’s trying not to be – in fact there’s one scene in particular where animal lovers may find it difficult to forgive him.

The mixture of the fact that he really wants to be a better person – even if he doesn’t know how to do that – and Gary’s honesty and general goodness in a sea of violence and depravity certainly make you root for them. Sheridan, who’s best known for playing a fairly similar character in Mud, is extremely good as Gary, giving the boy a raw honesty and simple desire for a decent life that’s very affecting.

There’s also a powerhouse performance from Gary Poulter as Gary’s father. Pouler was a real-life drifter who director David Gordon Green found during an open audition. He’s not always easy to understand but boy does he feel like the real-deal; at turns unbearably sad and at others a horrifically appalling human being whose amorality literally knows no bounds. Tragically though, not long after Joe was filmed, Gary died and so he never saw the performance that was almost certain to have opened doors for him.

There are a few issues, not least that as with many other redneck/Southern Gothic movies, the fact nearly every character is pretty foul – even the ‘good’ ones – tips it towards hyperbole at times (perhaps the people who do live in the backwoods of the US South needs to set up organisation that’s devoted to telling the world they’re not all that bad). There are also a few plot points that are a little too convenient for their own good, but none of that detracts from the central power of what is a very good movie.

For the last few years David Gordon Green has been in Hollywood making studio comedies such as Pineapple Express and Your Highness, but before that he was fast becoming one of the most interesting voices on the indie scene with the likes of George Washington and All The Real Girls. He also made the excellent Undertow, a film that shares a lot in common with Joe and which showed that Green had vast amounts of promise as a serious and very human director. It’s good to know that his time in Hollywood hasn’t dulled the spirit of what he achieved with his early movies.

Overall Verdict: You may end up thinking that surely not everyone in the backwoods of the US south can be as dreadful as most of the characters here, but Joe is a powerful and surprisingly moving tale, with Cage showing that a bit of restraint can work wonders for his performance.

Special Features:
‘Making Of’ Featurette
Trailer

Reviewer: Tim Isaac

Sometimes in life there are things that should just never happen, senseless events and tragedies which are just horrible. These events are generally well publicised by the news and bring people together in questioning the actions of other in collective grief.

And then someone makes a film out of the story, which often tugs too hard on the emotional heartstrings or is tailored in such a way that it is so far from the truth that the story loses its soul.

Fruitvale Station (2013) is based on the true story of Oscar Grant III (Jordan) who was shot by BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport) Police on New Year’s Day and died a few hours later. This event was captured by many passengers on their phones and the film opens with the shocking real life footage of the event but cuts to black when the shot is fired.

The film then goes back 24 hours and we get a ‘day in the life film’, which is thankfully well done and not as preachy in its storytelling compared to other ‘based on a true story’ films.

The film plays out very well and in its short runtime we get the story of Oscar, a former convict who is genuinely trying to get his life on track, patch things up with his girlfriend Sophina (Diaz) after being caught cheating, and to spend some time with his mother Wanda (Spencer) on her birthday, December 31st 2008.

I read up on the real events after watching this film and the subtle differences between the fact and fiction shouldn’t distract you. Although you know how it ends, it’s all about the story and the character of Oscar, played brilliantly by Michael B Jordan. Throughout the day we see a lot of people who are connected to him through his kindness. He helps a stranger who’s never fried fish before, is warm to his kid, nephews, nieces and his mother and others along his way.

At first we get a picture of a cheating ‘gangster’ who sells weed, has a young daughter and can barely provide. He visits his brother at a deli and with the knowledge that he’s a cheater fresh in the audience’s minds; he is seen helping an attractive woman at the store. Most people would think that he has an ulterior motive and it is revealed that he was fired from the deli for coming in late.

But by the end of the film he is portrayed by his peers and his actions as a genuinely nice and caring human being who life is senselessly ended. The film develops this gradually through warm interactions, although to be honest there were a few too many moments of foreshadowing made up of what ifs and broken plans. It begins to feel like a guilt trip, especially as we know Oscar’s fate. I personally didn’t need the scene where his mother blames herself for what has happened.

We do get the right amount of backstory to develop the characters, such as a prison flashback of his mother visiting, which is poignant and helps show the strained relationship between Oscar and his mother.

The relationships portrayed in this film all seem natural and none of the performances seem fake or over indulgent given the source material. Well cast and realistic.

As with a lot of modern films based on true stories we have a lot of long shots, out of focus shaky cam and diegetic soundtrack which is well done and all adds to the realism.

We also have bursts of soundtrack which adds weight to certain scenes and all in all improves the atmosphere in the right places.

This film was a hit in the festival circuit and rightly deserved its awards. First time director Ryan Coogler has created a warm family drama which although it ends tragically, is handled with care, heart and some genuine moments of kindness. The one standout moment being when and how they bring in the New Year.

Thrown in we have a few moments of racism and poverty, which like most of this film isn’t too preachy. And with such difficult subject matter the ending is thankfully well done.

I like films that show a day in the life of an interesting character, but also ones that are based on a true story: if handled well with an emotional punch, such as this or City of God (2002).

This film sets out to, and succeeds, in hitting home what a senseless and terrible event this was. Unfortunately things like this happen all the time but the main message I got from this film is one of kindness to your friends and family and that it’s never too late to change for the better.

Overall Verdict: A delicately handled, moving and captivating film. Great performances, editing and direction make an excellent film and one of the best films I’ve seen that’s based on a true story. Devastating and well worth a watch.

Reviewer: George Elcombe

Space Station 76 is an odd but interesting idea. It’s a movie set in the future, but the 1970s version of the future, complete with bell bottoms, big hair and attitudes to sexuality and gender that haven’t fully gotten to grips with the sexual revolution.

Jessica (Liv Tyler) comes aboard Space Station 76 and is immediately faced with suspicion due to the fact she’s a woman, and so people wonder why she isn’t at home making dinner and raising children. However that’s soon the least of her problems as she’s been dumped in the middle of a melting pot of fractured relationships, simmering resentment, and tortured sexuality.

Ted (Matt Bomer) and Misty (Marissa Coughlan) are a couple where it’s clear they only stay with each other for their child, although they’re keen to suggest to the world that everything’s perfect. However Misty’s claws come out when Ted develops a friendship with her daughter. Hubby Ted meanwhile has also noticed the beautiful new arrival – that’s when he’s not smoking pot and gazing at a beautiful naked woman who’s randomly floating in space (I did say the film was a little odd).

Captain Glenn meanwhile is a cauldron of anger, frustration and suicidal thoughts, desperately trying to keep control and hide the fact that the man Jessica is replacing wasn’t just a good friend.

There’s no doubt the whole setup is peculiar but it has a lot of promise and a great cast to bring it together. However there’s a constant feeling that everyone knows a film set in a 1970s-style future is a great idea, but they’re not sure what to do with it. For the first half it’s essentially a series of skits, some more successful than others, which don’t appear to be leading anywhere.

The problem is largely a lack of clarity. For example it’s not always clear what it’s trying to spoof. While presumably it’s challenging 70s attitude to gender, for example, that’s not always clear. Likewise there’s a tendency for the movie to undermine any point it appears to be trying to make for a joke, which results in a film that doesn’t quite seem to know whether it’s up or down.

Things do improve though in the second half, where it finds its narrative thrust and fully embraces its characters. While it still wants to be funny, it also shows great sympathy for what’s going on, and allows the dark side to come through. It seems to realise that actually it’s a modern tragedy and as soon as it does it becomes a much better movie and a funnier one.

It is unfortunately a case of being too little too late though, as even at the end the whole thing comes across as slightly pointless. That’s a great shame as there is a huge amount of potential and the last 20 minutes are actually really good, involving a wonderfully funny and tense scene where all the characters come together and secrets are revealed.

The film is based on a play, and you can see how this would have been fun as a camp, over the top stage piece, which didn’t need a huge amount of structure and drama as long as it brought the laughs. However the transfer to the screen hasn’t brought the cohesion and core the film needed.

That said, out actor turned director Jack Plotnick shows great promise with his debut and if he can find the right script he could have an excellent career behind the camera. And if he wants to make a movie that’s just about Space Station 76’s inspired and absolutely hilarious robotic psychologist, Dr. Bot, I’d be more than happy to watch that.

Overall Verdict: There’s a decent amount of fun in this futuristic take on the 70s, but the film’s tendency towards randomness and the fact it leaves it too late to finds its narrative core means it’s not an entertaining as it might have been.

Special Features:
Outtakes
Deleted Scenes
‘Zero Gravity: Making Space Station 76′ Featurette

Reviewer: Tim Isaac