Film Reviews from Two Guys in the Dark: May 2023

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Being Mary Tyler Moore plus Short Takes on The Mother and some other cinematic topics

“It’s you, girl, and you should know it”

(lyrics from CBS TV’s The Mary Tyler Moore Show song under opening credits)

Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke

I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the CCAL (Collective Critics at Large) if they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, though better options may be on the horizon.(Note: Anything in bold blue [some will look almost purple] is a link to something more in the review.)

Being Mary Tyler Moore (James Adolphus)

rated PG 121 min.

Here’s the trailer:

(Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size;

activate the same button or use “esc” keyboard key to return to normal.)

There are no plot spoilers here because it’s all public knowledge anyway.

Recently in these postings I’ve looked at streaming documentaries about celebrities I admire so I hope you’re not getting bored with such reviews, because here we go again, this time with a great presence on American TV (plus some successful movies), Mary Tyler Moore. This film gives us an active blend of clips from throughout her career, starting in the 1950s playing the Happy Hotpoint pixie dancing around kitchen appliances in commercials on ABC TV’s The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (“adventure” often no more than Ozzie going to the garage with his sons and their friends for a room-temperature-Coke) to much later years with such fare as TV movies of PBS’ The Gin Game (Arvin Brown, 2003 [with Dick Van Dyke]), and CBS’ The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited (Ken Whittengham, 2004), a few appearances on That ‘70s Show (2006) and Hot in Cleveland (2011-’13), with off-screen-life stretching from December 29, 1936 to January 25, 2017 (died of cardiopulmonary arrest resulting from pneumonia; struggled with diabetes, which nearly blinded her, ever since 1969).

Begins in a 1966 interview with David Susskind where she challenges his categorization of Laura Petrie as too fictionally-satisfied to be taken as a real woman (she gets likewise-flack in 1975 in a Gloria Steinem speech about her Mary Richards character and other women in popular media). Then concise details about growing up Irish Catholic in a Jewish Brooklyn neighborhood, distance from her alcoholic mother, her early love of dancing in an attempt to impress her father, family’s move to Hollywood, her slow start to an entertainment career (didn’t get older daughter role on ABC/CBS TV’s The Danny Thomas Show [said her nose was too small to be his relative], cast as the receptionist on CBS/NBC TV’s Richard Diamond, Private Detective [1957-’59] but in addition to her voice only parts of her body were shown, resulting in pay of $85 per episode; she wanted a raise, got fired). Things got better when she took a chance on an audition for Carl Reiner to be Laura Petrie on CBS TV’s The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-‘66), where she honed her comic skills with help from Reiner and Lucille Ball, owner of production company Desilu (Moore won Primetime Emmys in 1964, 1966 for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Series). After that show ended, she signed for a 5-picture-deal with Universal Studios, soon had a conflict when she wanted to be on Broadway in Thoroughly Modern Millie, got her release by dropping control over the films so she ended up in a cluster of bombs (she was in a cinematic version of … Millie [George Roy Hill, 1967] which got good reviews; also supposed to be in a stage musical revamp of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but when Edward Albee was brought in to direct, the show didn't open after terrible notices in previews).

Things picked up for her soon after with being the lead in CBS TV’s The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-‘77), which was produced by her company, MTM Enterprises, run by Mary and her second husband, Grant Tinker (previous marriage to Richard Meeker Jr. right after high school ended in 1962). This huge success got her 3 more of those Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Emmys (1973, ’74, ’76) plus an Actress of the Year – Series Emmy also in 1974, as well as providing an alternative (despite Steinem’s opinion) to TV women either married or frantically looking for a mate, with TV Mary pursuing a career at a fictional TV station in Minneapolis (although in the original pilot she was supposed to be divorced, a clear taboo in those days). After the show’s run, she and Tinker divorced, Moore back to NYC stage for the lead in Whose Life Is It, Anyway? which got great reviews, but she began to drink too much for years, finally went to the Betty Ford Center to dry out. Next up was the role of the troubled mother in the film Ordinary People (Robert Redford, 1980) which got a cluster of Oscars: Best Picture, Redford as director, Timothy Hutton as Best Supporting Actor, Alvin Sargent as Best Adapted Screenplay writer, with Moore nominated as the Best Actress.*

*In writing my review of Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie I noted Ordinary People because Fox lost that role to Hutton, but I mistakenly said Moore won for Best Actress (I’ve since corrected that posting). Interestingly, she lost to Sissy Spacek in Coal Miner’s Daughter (Michael Apted), the only movie I’ve ever attended a critics’ press junket/preview screening of (in L.A.’s Century City) where I got to interview Spacek, Loretta Lynn, Apted, Tommy Lee Jones, Levon Helm, Beverly D’Angelo, and others; it was an amazing experience, topped off with a private concert by Lynn, Spacek, Helm at a Sunset Strip nightclub (lots of free food and booze as well). Nice work if you can get it. (Fortunately, I liked the movie, truthfully gave it a good review in my stint as a critic on a Dallas FM radio station.)

It wasn’t all sunshine, lollipops, and roses for Moore, though, as along with those divorces she also lost her younger sister, Elizabeth, at 21 from overdoses, her younger brother John at 47 from kidney cancer, then her son Richard, 24, died in 1980 due to an accident with a gun (just after Ordinary People debuted, playing a woman whose son died), but things got better for her personally in 1982 when she returned to NYC from a trip to Rome with her mother. Mom got sick, was cared for by Dr. Robert Levine who, despite being 18 years younger than Mary, started a relationship with her, leading to marriage in 1983. Brief mentions are made of her life and career (including philanthropic work) up to the present of her departure from us, with a focus on her later illnesses, eventual death.

No, she couldn’t always turn her own world “on with a smile” like she did for her major TV characters, but she certainly gave a lot of happiness to those who saw her on various screens and stages (she also picked up a final Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special for Lifetime cable TV’s movie Stolen Babies [Eric Laneuville,1993]). If you’re a fan of Ms. Moore you should easily be pleased with this doc as it contains so many notable clips from her career, many interviews with her over the years, tributes from those who knew and worked with her. Even if you’re young enough to not be all that familiar with her many accomplishments I think this film will still appeal as it demonstrates why her public self was so beloved, why her private self was much more complex, why through her determination she was destined to “make it after all.” The CCAC generally agrees, with Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews at 96% (however, just based on 20 of them) while the Metacritic average score is 66% (never overestimate those grumps); you can catch it in cablecast on HBO or stream on their renamed Max platform for free if you’re a subscriber or pay as low as $10 for a month for access (gets you everything else they offer also; no kickback to Two Guys). For my usual review-wrap-up of a Musical Metaphor I’ll use the Mary Tyler Moore Show opening credits song at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s8qWXqm2bI as it speaks so well to Moore’s life and career, with the latter emphasized by changes made from the unsuccessful pilot version of the song (“You might just make it after all”; damn, show more confidence in her, please!)—the whole pilot was properly retooled also—although it does metaphorically represent the former aspect of her complicated life. Still, a 2-hr.-doc can only cover so much so if you want more you can consult this link (there's a good bit of info on her much-more-conservative-sociopolitical-stances than what I'd prefer, but what difference does that make?) as well as this mini-essay about the film.

(somewhat) SHORT TAKES (relatively speaking)

The Mother (Niki Caro) rated R 117 min.

Here’s the trailer:

If you can abide plot spoilers read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ (as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy). To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows:

⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.

What Happens: (Now I’m back to the usual format I use with fictional presentations, unlike documentaries where these arbitrary subsections don’t work so well in my ramblings.) There’s a hell of a lot of plot crammed into this movie, so if I don’t cover enough of it for your needs, you can go to this site for considerably more details. Basically, it’s about a former U.S. military woman, only known as “The Mother” (Jennifer Lopez), who arranges an arms smuggling deal between 2 of her lovers, ex-member of the British Army’s Special Air Service, Capt. Adrian Lovell (Joseph Fiennes) and arms dealer Hector Alvarez (Gael Garcia Bernal)—one of them’s the father of the fetus she’s carrying, but we never learn who; she's pulled in by the FBI, but during the interrogation led by Agent William Cruise (Omari Hardwick), Lovell and his thugs attack, kill all but Cruise and The Mother (although Lovell wounds her), Mother manages to use her skills to save Cruise’s life, then sets off a homemade-bomb killing Lovell’s men as he escapes. Cruise gets the woman to a hospital where the baby’s delivered but taken away from her for the child’s safety (knowing Lovell will surely be back), put into secret foster care, then Mother heads to a remote cabin in Alaska where she stays in hiding for 12 years, getting only the demanded annual photo of her daughter, Zoe (Lucy Paez as a tween).

A crisis arises when Cruise informs Mother that Alvarez’s men are about to kidnap the kid in the Midwest, so they go there to protect the girl. They manage to kill several of the kidnappers, but Zoe’s captured anyway, so Mother and Cruise head to Havana looking for answers, locate the girl at Alvarez’s home where they rescue her after killing all of the guards, Mother kills Alvarez. Zoe become convinced Mother is her biological Mom, but the woman won’t admit it (yet), lets Cruise take her back to the adoptive parents; however, Lovell intercepts them. Mother and Zoe escape, angered Lovell kills Cruise. ⇒Mother takes Zoe to the Alaska cabin, teaches her some survival skills, but Mother learns Lovell and thugs are on the way. Mother manages to kill all the thugs, then faces off with Lovell, Zoe with a rifle high above them; she fires, they fall over a small, snow-covered cliff, Mother’s knocked out, Zoe runs to her but Lovell grabs the kid, starts to drive off, Mother comes to, shoots and misses with her first shot, kills Lovell with her second. Mother takes Zoe back to her adoptive home, continues to watch her somewhat indirectly, but they’re now aware of each other.⇐

So What? I suppose if Mary Richards could appropriate the standard mid-20^th-century male media (as well as social, for the most part) role of pursuing a career rather than a spouse and children then it’s only appropriate that Jennifer Lopez’s character in the early-21^st-centurey can appropriate the role so well established by Liam Neeson in his Taken series (Pierre Morel, 2008; Olivier Megaton, 2012, 2014) where a man with a “very particular set of skills” goes about rescuing abducted family members or salvaging his own reputation. If that’s what you want to see in a dose of escapist entertainment (as well as many people getting killed, but, at least, not in a gruesome fashion [mostly they just get shot and fall down—I just saw worse on an old episode of PBS TV’s Midsomer Murders {1997-present} where one [!] of the killers in this episode beats another guy to a bloody pulp with some large instrument {shovel, sledge hammer, I forget} with the victim already poking around inside an empty grave]), then you get all you’ve asked for with The Mother. Given the OCCU dismissal (more on that just below), I wasn’t all that anxious to see it anyway, but the previous work of the more-known-members of the cast intrigued me, it’s recently been the most-watched-movie on Netflix streaming (says Variety), and—with my beloved-but-horribly-understaffed/under-supported Oakland Athletics baseballers in the midst last weekend of what became an 0-11 losing skid (part of their 12-46 awful record so far this miserable season)—I was in the mood for seeing some kind of revenge, no matter how fictional. (The A's finally bounced back this week, winning 2 of 3 from the National League’s Eastern Division leader Atlanta Braves [who now have a couple of the A’s former top players due to tightwad-management’s teardown of the home team as they continue to pursue relocation to Las Vegas], but the long-range-likelihood for this A's season is pretty dismal.)

Just from the standpoint of an outnumbered (yet, apparently rarely outmatched) hero taking on a deadly challenge, surviving by sheer determination, this movie was mildly entertaining enough but certainly no more. (My more-discerning-wife, Nina, was utterly-disgusted with it, complaining it’s all about death scenes with no character development [I certainly can’t disagree, but then she centers herself with meditation and yoga; I clean cat boxes and keep my local Beverages and More in steady business.]) But, if you can be satisfied with a bunch of violent (but predetermined-outcome) action scenes along with just seeing the noted stars acting consistently within their roles, you might find The Mother to be an acceptable dose of distracted entertainment; if not, I think you’d actually find more substance in the sitcom world of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, available to stream for free for subscribers (or 1-month-free-curiosity-seekers) to those Amazon Prime Video and Hulu platforms.

Bottom Line Final Comments: In a somewhat-perverse-marketing decision this movie was released on Netflix streaming (even if you’re not a subscriber you can sign up for just 1 month for their lowest price of $6.99, watch whatever else they have) on the Mother’s Day weekend, May 12-14, 2023, so I guess if there are any well-trained-killer-mothers out there they might have enjoyed it immensely, others of more passive tastes probably not so much. As noted above, the OCCU was not supportive: RT positive reviews at a mere 42%, the MC average score is, surprisingly, a bit higher at 45%, with neither of them offering much encouragement to seek out this movie, but maybe it would have somewhat better appeal for some of you. On a lark, due to this guy being named Austin Burke (so he could be me, as I was born, lived for years in Austin, TX) I watched his video review (6:39) where he acknowledges some value but basically sees many reasons to dismiss most aspects of the movie so you might find his explorations to be interesting insights. As for someone who can manage to find truly supportive comments about The Mother, you can turn to Noel Murray of the Los Angeles Times, who says: “[…] from scene to scene, Lopez and Caro do fill these broad outlines with real feeling, bringing a personal touch to old pulp stereotypes.” Really, do they?

Then, if I turn to some critics I’ve been aware of for years, though, what I find is silly-support from TIME’s Stephanie Zacharek: “Lopez can get away with things that other mere mortals can’t, and if you approach it in the right spirit, The Mother could be ridiculously good fun. It needs to be watched with the largest group of J.Lo fans you can assemble, ideally people who know artfully applied highlighter when they see it in the wild. Forget automatic weapons; it’s the Beauty Blender that gets the job done.” Less supportive is Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times: “I’m not going to spoil the epilogue in the slick but trashy and quite dumb Jennifer Lopez action movie ‘The Mother,’ but I will say it’s so insanely off the rails, so bat-bleep crazy that I almost want you to watch 'The Mother' just so you’ll know what I’m talking about. [¶] Almost.” Well, by now I think you get the idea about this movie so pursue it—or not—as you see fit. What I saw fit to finish with in my Musical Metaphor is Paul Simon’s “Mother and Child Reunion” (on his 1972 Paul Simon album) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_52QR3TptY where lyrics such as “No, I would not give you false hope / On this strange and mournful day / But the mother and child reunion / Is only a motion away” speak directly to me about what transpires in such a constantly-moving-motion picture.

Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:

(1) A summer movie guide of 40 titles; (2) Martin Scorsese visits Pope Francis, announces a new Jesus film (I doubt he said much about his previous one, The Last Temptation of Christ [1988], although this Pope seems largely open-minded); Last week's streaming champs, TV and movies.

We encourage you to visit the Summary of Two Guys Reviews for our past posts* (scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list). Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our Two Guys in the Dark homepage. If you’d like to Like us on Facebook (yes?) please visit our Facebook page. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account (which you can easily get at https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount if you need to sign up) or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us at that site in order to do it (most FB procedures are still a perplexing mystery to us old farts).

*Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that all postings since July 11, 2013 now have the proper functioning link.

If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please

use my email address of kenburke409@gmail.com—type it directly if the link doesn’t work.

OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER (although Google Chrome usually is decent also); OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.

Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were 12,753 (as always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with our hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers); below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week (with appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site):

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Moving On plus Short Takes on Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind, some other cinematic topics, and a fond farewell to "the Two Guys other Guy," Pat Craig

“The answer’s in the forest / Carved upon a tree / 'John loves Mary / Does anyone love me?' ”

(lyric from Gordon Lightfoot’s "Sit Down Young Stranger")

Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke

First—and most important—I must pass on the very sad news that my founding-partner on this blog, Pat Craig, passed away on Monday May 22, 2023; in respect for his family I won’t say anything further about his death. He’s the one on the left in the above photo, taken in 2015 when I last saw him on a visit to his then-home in northern Washington state (I was a guest on a weekly NPR radio show he hosted; we talked about movie musicals). The irony about this blog being called Film Reviews from Two Guys in the Dark is that Pat never got around to writing anything for our postings (early on I did pass on his Oscar-winner-opinions based on my talks with him); however, I’ve always tried to refer to what’s here in the plural in respect to him, along with noting that everything said comes from me. Pat was a great friend, he’ll be sorely missed, and will always be noted as part of this blog because in spirit he was always with me. RIP, old buddy! Now, onward to the usual chatter.

Moving On (Paul Weitz) rated R 85 min.

Here’s the trailer:

(Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size;

activate the same button or use “esc” keyboard key to return to normal.)

⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.

What Happens: We begin in Ohio as elderly Claire (Jane Fonda)—not a value judgment, Don Lemon (who's now looking for another job after CNN fired him); I’m 75 (Fonda's 85), admit to being old—just not decrepit (yet)—is off to California to attend the funeral of Joyce, her college-chum from decades ago. Once she’s at the funeral home, however, she quietly confronts widower Howard (Malcolm McDowell), tells him now Joyce is gone she’s going to kill him this weekend, no joke. Then we get into his eulogy for Joyce when Evelyn (Lily Tomlin)—who also lives in this unnamed community—interrupts by barging in through the wrong door, but she doesn’t have much respect for Howard either, although she was not only close with Joyce and Claire way back when she also was Joyce’s roommate (so she trumps Howard’s 51-year-marriage by having known Joyce for 60 years). After the burial, Claire and Evelyn catch up so we learn cellist Evelyn’s no long with an orchestra but says she plays with 2 ensembles, while Claire notes she’s been divorced twice. Claire tells Evelyn about her mission to send Howard to the afterlife, leading to them going to a gun shop where Claire’s about to buy a derringer but learns she can’t because she doesn’t have a California driver’s license (Evelyn has no intention of buying a gun for Claire), so she tries to think of another murder-method.

Meanwhile, back at her retirement community (not the house Claire assumes her friend still lives in) we see Evelyn with physical difficulties not really in command of her cello, so she’s keeping some truths from Claire, but she learns from a resident’s friendly grandson, James (Marcel Nahapetian), that the old man, Walter (not in cast list), has a gun; in return for this info, she gives the kid clip-on earrings to suit his open-gender-curiosity (later, Dad's [Eddie Martinez] horrified at this gift so his son has to give it back). Next, we’re at Joyce’s wake where Claire takes a butcher knife from the kitchen, ready to stab Howard in spite of what might befall her doing the deed in public (all we know at this point is somehow he defiled her years ago, with Evelyn the only other one who knows about it). Claire’s spontaneous homicide is interrupted, though, when her long-ago-ex-husband, Ralph (Richard Roundtree), shows up, so they meander outside for yet-another-catch-up-conversation, where we get the sense that the Howard assault led to Claire not being able to maintain her marriage (or the next one, apparently), so Howard also remarried with his second wife dying 4 years ago, but Claire still won’t tell him why they broke up (we later get the explicit clarification Howard raped her, but he insists it was drunken-consensual; she never told Joyce in what she understood to be respect for her friend because it seems Joyce implied her marriage to Howard was a stable one).

Evelyn arrives at the wake, shocks everyone by announcing Joyce was not only her roommate but also her lover (apparently Joyce denied her own sexuality by her long-term-connection with Howard; in a quick revelation later we learn Evelyn was married to another woman for some years). Howard laughs this off, saying Evelyn’s always been delusional, but it’s clear Howard’s daughter, Allie (Sarah Burns), is upset, tells Evelyn to leave. Later, Claire accepts Ralph’s invitation to dinner at his home where he lives with his daughter, Joie (Amber Chardae Robinson), and grandchildren (Jeremiah King, Isai Devine), ends up staying the night with him, leading to her chuckling a bit the next morning in the kitchen with Joie. Meanwhile Evelyn’s asked to meet with Allie who admits she found love letters between Evelyn and Joyce, so she’s apologetic for her earlier attitude. Back at Ralph’s, Claire cooks some bacon to use as trade with Walter for his weapon, which turns out to be a flare gun, but Evelyn assures her at close enough range the flare will still burn a hole through Howard. Next, Claire calls Howard, wants to meet with him, he suggests a public park so Evelyn comes along to keep Allie and her young kids distracted while Claire confronts Howard who angrily denies her accusations, then stress overcomes him as he collapses so Claire uses the flare gun to call for help, Howard's taken to the hospital. While he’s there Claire comes to his room, tries to smother him with a pillow, but Evelyn stops her. ⇒At Evelyn’s residence (she’s now come clean with Claire about her true circumstances), Claire’s arm’s been somewhat injured in all the prior chaos so Evelyn (who long ago gave up driving for bus riding) clumsily drives them back to the hospital, where Howard’s just been released. Before Allie can drive him home he insists on going back to the cafeteria for a latte (even as it’s not good for him), is almost hit by Evelyn and Claire so he starts berating them again. As he turns to leave a guy in a van is speeding through the parking garage, slams into Howard, kills him, with the horrified driver running away. At Howard’s funeral, Claire connects again with Ralph.⇐

So What? This has already been a good year for seeing Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in a movie (although you may have already watched plenty of them in their well-received Netflix streamer, Grace and Frankie [2015-‘22]), although I passed on their teamwork with Rita Moreno and Sally Field in 80 for Brady (Kyle Marvin) when it was in theaters and haven’t taken my second chance with streaming nor have I found reason to be interested in Book Club: The Next Chapter (Bill Holderman) where Fonda shares the screen with Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen, and Candice Bergen whenever it migrates over to the small screen, yet now that Moving On’s available to stream I was intrigued enough to watch Fonda and Tomlin together (on their own from their recent mature co-stars) in what sounded like an intriguing premise (although, given that in the next review below I state my intention to avoid further focus on 2022 releases, yet that’s how this one’s consistently noted; but, I disagree, in that it didn’t receive a domestic [U.S.-Canada] debut until this 2023 spring).

Overall, I was pleasantly entertained by it, although (if I paid proper attention; however, watching it after a filling dinner might have provided somewhat of a distraction) there are some plot points I think could have been better addressed, although I admit there’s only so much you can cram into such a concise running time (which I think works well overall for this story), so maybe others wouldn’t find my quibbles to be such a big deal. To some degree I’d have liked to know just a bit more about Claire’s second marriage (which must have produced the adult daughter, then teenage grandson we see briefly in the opening scene), Evelyn’s marriage, Ralph’s marriage, or—if all of that becomes too cluttered to fit into the tight running time here—maybe we could at least get a sense of why Claire doesn’t seem to have been in contact with Evelyn for years, what connection (or maybe none, I guess) Evelyn would have had with Joyce during that time as they all (except Claire) seemed to live in the same community. So, you have to take a lot of what you see here on faith that such details don’t matter, that we need to be focused on the intended killing and why it matters so much to Claire.

Ironically, even though this movie was made a year ago a crucial part of its plot mirrors what we’ve found reported in recent months about the rape accusations against former-President Donald Trump by E. Jean Carroll where he was convicted for sexual abuse (not rape, though) and defamation for claiming she was lying about the situation (ordered to pay her $5 million), which like with Claire and Howard took place years ago (in the 1990s according to Carroll in her lawsuit). When Carroll was confronted by the defense about why she didn’t scream at the time or call the police, she admitted that due to social conditioning (in our all-too-often-misogynist-culture) she felt shamed she’d allowed it to happen, she wasn’t comfortable she’d be believed, told only a few close friends about what happened (she’s willing to speak out now, asking for additional defamation damages due to more of the same condemnations from Trump at his recent CNN Town Hall). Unlike Howard, who apparently convinced himself Claire “wanted it,” despite how it damaged her life with 2 ex-husbands for decades, Trump claimed he doesn’t even know Carroll, although when shown a picture of her standing next to him at some social gathering he misidentified her as ex-wife Marla Maples (further undercutting Trump’s “rationale” that he wouldn’t have molested her because she’s not “his type” [!]).

All this is just coincidental, of course, yet it does add another level of intrigue to what’s largely intended/presented as a comedy (although the ongoing-effects of a rape aren’t funny, so the whole premise of this as enjoyable entertainment may become harder to justify for some viewers) with some great sarcastic delivery from Tomlin at times along with the somewhat-debatable-conviction that a heinous crime should never go unpunished even if the victim has to become a criminal herself to gain her long-desired-revenge. Maybe I’m just not easy enough to offend to be put off by what I watched here, but overall I found the content enjoyable enough (not with happened between Howard and Claire long ago, of course), with a fast ending providing enough of a sense of ironic satisfaction.

Bottom Line Final Comments: The CCAC has some concerns about Moving On also, with Rotten Tomatoes reviews at 74% positive, the Metacritic average score at 60%. AP’s Lindsey Bahr is among those with a few reservations who still finds laudable aspects of this movie: “This is one of those rare films that balances a darkly comedic conceit with authentic, emotional resonance, allowing Fonda, Tomlin and co-stars Malcolm McDowell and Richard Roundtree to actually act rather than be demeaned by cheap caricatures of senior citizens. […] ‘Moving On’ is certainly not perfect, but it’s sincerely trying to be something more than your standard octogenarian farce. You might even be surprised by your own emotional investment in this rather trim film. […] Hopefully performances like these will remind screenwriters, directors and those who make the decision about what gets made to give our living legends good roles while we still have them. The actors are still game, and hopefully audiences are too.” You'll find many similar statements like this.

But if you want a more dismissive look, here’s A.O. Scott of The New York Times: “Let me say right up front that I would happily watch Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda in anything — except for maybe that one about the football player. […] It becomes clear fairly early on that ‘Moving On’ is operating in strange and risky genre territory. If the phrase ‘rape-revenge comedy’ sounds like an oxymoron, this movie won’t convince you otherwise. And even though you can’t help but root for the would-be killers to deliver a much-deserved comeuppance, this vengeance is oversweetened and served lukewarm. […] Something else is missing here — a farcical energy or satirical audacity that might shock the premise to unsettling life, or else a deeper, darker core of feeling. ‘Moving On’ takes refuge in pleasantness, and in the easy charm of its stars.” You’re unlikely to read gushingly-supportive-reviews of this endeavor, but I certainly agree it’s almost always a pleasure to once again encounter Fonda and/or Tomlin (McDowell and Roundtree also display a fine command of their roles, McDowell easy to hate from practically the first moment we've met him, Roundtree just the pleasant opposite).

Moving On opened in theaters back on March 17, 2023, but has long since moved on from the big screen (if it was even intended to stick around very long anyway, as it pulled in only $2.1 million on domestic screens, nothing further worldwide; just barely still playing last week in only 5 venues); now it’s available for a $5.99 streaming rental from Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, other platforms if you’re interested. Even if you’re not, you might enjoy my usual review-wrap-up-tactic of a Musical Metaphor, attempting to offer a final perspective on what’s been under critical consideration. As you’ll see by the time you finish reading this posting I’d gotten all my other music this time from Gordon Lightfoot so it seems only right to do the same with this Metaphor, “Ribbon of Darkness” (on his 1966 debut Lightfoot! album [Marty Robbins had a big hit with it first, in 1965]) at https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS6F1JNJL0A, though I have to stress the metaphor aspect because I see these lyrics mostly from Claire’s perspective about her long-endured-miserable-life due to Howard’s assault, yet she’s the one who “walked out the door” in her marriages, never really wanted “To forget” Ralph, though she assumed he was done with her. Otherwise, however, I think it fits the “Clouds a-gatherin’ o’er [her] head” underlying sense of discomfort that’s haunted Claire throughout her life, despite the comic tone that keeps emerging in this movie above that grim, underlying sorrow.

SHORT TAKES

Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind

(Martha Kehoe and Joan Tosoni, 2019)

Not Rated 90 min.

Here’s the trailer:

I've added no plot spoilers on this one because it’s all public record by now.

After this year's first couple of months I made a decision to not explore any more 2022 cinematic experiences that I was catching up on via streaming so I could focus exclusively on 2023; then, master-musician (one of my all-time-favorites) Gordon Lightfoot died recently (my brief musical-eulogy to him in our May 3, 2023 posting), so when Amazon Prime informed me there’s a documentary about him from a few years ago, I decided to violate my own rule, watch and report on this biography made when he was still healthy enough to perform (oddly enough, this film makes no mention of some major health issues that almost cut his career [if not his life] short, although there is some mention of his increasing alcoholism as fame increased, though he finally quit), nor does it barely mention his marriages (the first to Brita Ingegard Olasisson, 1963-’73, the disintegration of which inspired his famous song that’s the subtitle of this film [more on that shortly]; then there was Elizabeth Moon 1989 to 2011, Kim Hasse 2014 until his death), although there’s brief interview footage with his early 1970s lover Cathy Smith, who admits in 1982 she gave John Belushi the heroin/cocaine concoction that killed him (she served 15 months in CA state prison), who inspired the song “Sundown” (for more extensive details on Lightfoot’s life than you’ll get on-screen here, this link provides lots of useful information). In the doc we begin with elder Lightfoot bemoaning his early hit "For Lovin' Me" (on his 1966 debut album, Lightfoot!) because it celebrates a vagabond serial monogamist (“I got a hundred more like you / So don’t be blue / I’ll have a thousand ‘fore I’m through”), written at a time when he was married, so he no longer was singing it (stopped 20 years ago) when these interviews were shot. The film is essentially a compression of his career, after moving from small-town Orilla, Ontario, Canada (for a short while to L.A., then back north) to Toronto where his songs were picked up by Ian and Sylvia, Peter, Paul and Mary, and many others (including Judy Collins, Neal Young, even Elvis Presley during the 1960s) while his performances in the folkie environs of his new home led to steadily-increasing-exposure/album sales in Canada and the U.S.A.

Rather than this doc being a penetrating exposé of triumphs and failures of his life (though you get a sense of the latter in those brutally-honest-older-life-comments delivered directly to the camera—one aspect of this film that makes it so watchable, I would think even to someone who’s not a dedicated fan [as I am], just like what you get so equally-successful in Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie [Davis Guggenheim; review in our May 17, 2023 posting]), it’s mostly a fine catalogue of him performing some of his most-well-known-music including “Song for a Winter’s Night,” “Beautiful,” “Steel Rail Blues,” “Did She Mention My Name,” “Canadian Railroad Trilogy,” “Don Quixote,” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” (along with testimonies from several admirers). Attention is also given to his fascination/friendship with Bob Dylan (“I can’t think of any Gordon Lightfoot song I don’t like.”) who inducted him into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986 (here’s years-later-Gordon, looking back on that moment). Like those awards clips, this film is mostly about celebrating a life of musical genius which was plenty for me, especially at a sad time when he's recently gone from us (fortunately, I got to see him perform 3 times, on both sides of our extensive American continent).

The CCAC‘s likewise supportive, with 89% RT positive reviews, 74% MC average score; if you’re a subscriber to Amazon Prime VIdeo you can stream it for free or it’s rentable for $3.99 from Apple TV+ and other platforms. Choosing a Musical Metaphor for a Gordon Lightfoot doc offers a wealth of options, but I’ll just go with the song that’s part of this film’s title at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=b35XdQxvVJ0 (on Lightfoot’s 1970 album originally called Sit Down Young Stranger, renamed to the If You Could Read My Mind single when it became a big hit; Gordon originally tried to challenge Reprise Records over that until they told him how much bigger the sales would be with the change; he easily agreed). The heartbreak that comes with “But stories always end / And if you read between the lines / You’ll know that I’m just tryin’ to understand” and the rest of these lyrics speak directly to how Lightfoot could eulogize the many failures in any of our lives, as we now eulogize him.

Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:

An option: Netflix Top 10 for last week, The Mother starring Jennifer Lopez still leads all films.

If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please

use my email address of kenburke409@gmail.com—type it directly if the link doesn’t work.