Love of Your Life

After Tragedy Other Difficulties Remain

Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke

I invite you to join me to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I will call 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 ongoing COVID-19 concerns on my part I’m focusing on streaming these days with limited visits to theaters.  (Note: Anything here in bold blue [or near purple] is a link to something in the above title or in the review.)  This blog’s been operational since mid-December 2011, often with ridiculously-long reviews from me, but other ongoing responsibilities now require me to be very brief in order to have time to post anything each week, although I’ll include links to informative sites for useful enhancement.

My reviews’ premise: “You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”

(from "Garden Party" by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the song’s name)

However, if you’d like to know more about rationale of my ratings visit this explanatory site.

                           Love of Your Life (Rachel Morrison)

                                          rated R    109 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.)

  Love of Your Life is a romantic drama, emphasis on that phrase’s first word in its early going followed by a shift to the second word as the plot unfolds.  We follow the life of current/then former Boston ER nurse Maya (Margaret Qualley) over 11 years as she happens upon Charlie (Gabriel Basso) with whom she has an instant connection (he also easily becomes a “best bud” with Jason [Patrick Schwarzenegger], Maya’s platonic friend from their college years) so they soon marry where Maya finds great comfort with her mother-in-law, Ruth (Catherine Keener).  Yet, in case you’d think all of this idyllic love will just continue for the near-2 hour-running time you’re suddenly slapped back to reality when Charlie contracts COVID-19 and dies (not truly a Spoiler because it comes so relatively early in this narrative).  Heartbroken Maya shuts herself from everything and everyone—including Ruth—as much as possible as her grief is enormously deep.  Three years later we find her in Lisbon, Portugal (a place she and Charlie often talked of visiting) where she supports herself with a telehealth job, attempts to drown her ongoing sorrows with lots of drinking and one-night stands until she once again happens upon a fulfilling encounter with Felix (Aaron Pierre), a divorcé from London.  They fall into a passionate romance with a seaside trip, then on to London for both of them.  At a restaurant one night, though, Felix happens upon them, wants to fully catch up with Maya, but she acts as if they’re just casual acquaintances which angers him greatly (later we learn she didn’t want to reveal a lot of her past to Felix which gives us reason to wonder what she truly hoped to share in a relationship with him).  There’s quite a bit more to Maya’s story; however, my arbitrary choice of space for these postings leads me to refer you to this site to find more (lots of useful details, Spoilers as well).  You might be hesitant to see it if you’ve had any bad COVID experience (I lost a long-time friend) or you might not support some of Maya’s decisions, but if you can get past such hindrances I think you’d find a lot to appreciate about all these human depictions.

 Love of Your Life was released to “select theaters” on October 7, 2026 (which means no report on box-office revenues) but is more easily found via streaming where it’s free on Amazon Prime Video (if you’re a subscriber or just want to take advantage of their 30-day no-charge policy, after which you could remain for $8.99 monthly),  I found this to be an engaging story as did the overall CCAL where Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews are at 81% while the Metacritic average score is lower (as usual) at 62%.  Among those who join me in recommending is my local guy in the San Francisco Bay Area, Randy Myers (3 of 4 stars), in The San Jose Mercury News: (scroll down to his third review here) “Romantic dramas that focus intricately and sensitively with weighty matters such as moving on from a tragic event don’t get produced as often as they once did. […] filmmaker Rachel Morrison successfully fills that void with a soulful character study […] Qualley and screenwriter Julia Cox (‘Nyad’) make Maya a brittle, fully realized character with brains and issues. […] this film succeeds because of Qualley’s mercurial and tone-rich performance, the gorgeous cinematography from Todd Banhazl and a nuanced protagonist confronting both exterior and interior hardships.”

 

 Of course, those critic-compilation totals include negative responses as with Jourdain Searles (MC 40) of The Hollywood Reporter:  “Maya insists that Charlie was the special one, the one who made life easy and fun. But she seems to float through the world as a beautiful damsel who tries to disappear but can’t seem to avoid being the center of attention. […] Maya’s fear of commitment mirrors the film’s fear of showing us anything truly ugly or grappling with the idea that our heroine is one of many, many people who lost someone during a society-shattering number of years.”  Obviously, I'm more with the supporters (even as the story’s resolution evokes ambiguity), but I’ll leave the watching choice to you.  My choice for a closing Musical Metaphor focuses on Maya’s situation of somehow remaining connected to Charlie so I give you Bob Dylan’s early tune "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" (dates from 1963; found on Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol. II [1971]) where she’d also say “But none of these and nothing else can touch the beauty / That I remember in my true love’s eyes” (even as you must change gender references in the song from female to male).

 (In this photo Pat on left, Ken on right.)  If you’d like to know more about the Two Guys “wisdom” in this blog you can go here for links to our past reviews, our homepage, our Facebook page, sign-up for a Google account to reply to us, & Ken Burke’s email address if you want direct correspondence.

       

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 (not our fault).

           

Finally, Google says that over the past month the total unique hits at our  Film Reviews from Two Guys in the Dark site were 87,411.  (We thank all of you for your support with hopes you’ll continue as or become regular readers.)  Below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week (appreciation too for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site):

Coyote vs. Acme

Corporate Malfeasance in a Looney Tunes World

Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke

I invite you to join me to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I will call 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 ongoing COVID-19 concerns on my part I’m focusing on streaming these days with limited visits to theaters.  (Note: Anything here in bold blue [or near purple] is a link to something in the above title or in the review.)  This blog’s been operational since mid-December 2011, often with ridiculously-long reviews from me, but other ongoing responsibilities now require me to be very brief in order to have time to post anything each week, although I’ll include links to informative sites for useful enhancement.

My reviews’ premise: “You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”

(from "Garden Party" by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the song’s name)

However, if you’d like to know more about rationale of my ratings visit this explanatory site.

  Coyote vs. Acme (Dave Green)  rated PG  103 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.)

 Coyote vs. Acme is somewhat adapted from Ian Frazier’s New Yorker parody of the same name (1990) which Warner Bros. Entertainment brought to an adaptation set to debut in summer of 2023, then they decided to go with Barbie (Greta Gerwig) instead, planning to use the roughly $70 million Coyote … production expenses as a tax write-off, but when word got around about that there was a lot of negative outcry so eventually WB Discovery (before they were recently bought by Skydance Paramount) sold the movie to Ketchup Entertainment for $50 million in 2025, guaranteeing nothing but a financial loss for the original project.  Fortunately, for us fans of this delightful enterprise we know from the start we’re in for parody laughs as the graphic noting this is a product from Warner Bros. Discovery is followed by another graphic noting that company is “a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Acme Corporation.”  A bit later we find Coyote’s attorney is from the firm of Avery, Jones & Maltese, slyly referencing noted WB cartoonists masters Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, and Michael Maltese.  Essentially, this intentionally-goofy story involves how long-frustrated (and dead for decades if he weren’t a cartoon character) Wile E. Coyote has bought innumerable devices from Acme in an attempt to make a meal of the clever, fabulously-fast Road Runner, only for all of those gadgets to backfire leading this canine to smash into walls, drop great distances to brutal landings.  

 

 Tired of all this failure, Coyote seeks out lawyer Kevin Avery (Will Forte), intending to sue Acme for their consistently ineffective products, only to find Avery’s more-or-less an ambulance chaser whose career is based on small-amount settlements with big companies eager to avoid the nuisance of a trial they’d probably win anyway, with much more commanding lawyers—such as Acme’s Buddy Crane (John Cena)—than way-under-the-radar Avery.  I’ll leave the rest of the plot details for your perusal at this site along with assuring you that along with the comedy there’s plenty of Looney Tunes cartoon violence (where no one actually gets hurt) and appearances by WB stars such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, the Tasmanian Devil, Granny, Tweety, and Sylvester (probably others who escape me now), all providing some effective nostalgia.

 Coyote vs. Acme opened in domestic (U.S.-Canada) theaters on August 28, 2026, still playing in some venues, so far has grossed $60 million ($100.9 million worldwide), most likely most easily available through streaming where it rents for $19.99 from Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.  Compared to several other recent releases I’ve blogged about the CCAL is quite enthusiastic for this movie with the Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews at a whopping 96% (no phony numbers either, as this is based on 299 responses before I could even get to it), while the usually-more-reserved Metacritic average score is 77% (based on just 46 reviews, though).  Oft-cited-here evaluator Odie Henderson of The Boston Globe is a top supporter (MC 100): “And yet, here I am reviewing a movie that, like its hero, Wile E. Coyote, lives to fight another day despite being temporarily defeated by the deficient actions of a major corporation. The best part of all is that ‘Coyote vs, Acme’ is a superb piece of filmmaking, a loving tribute to the most hapless of all Looney Tunes characters and the many fans who love him. […] It’s one of the year’s best movies, and deserves to shame Warner Bros. by raking in boffo box office numbers. For once, an Acme product would work as intended.”  But, you can’t please all of the people all of time as evidenced by the Associated Press’ Mark Kennedy who was not amused (MC 25): “But not too long into this mess, you’ll start to sympathize with Warner Bros. They aren’t a ruthless corporation censoring a C-suite satire: They were protecting us from a poorly executed movie that misuses our cartoon favorites. […] What’s up, doc? No, really, we need a script doc. […] This is a film only personal injury attorneys could love.”  Well, maybe some others of us also, including my very positive recommendation.  Yet, if you need a refresher on the Wile E. Coyote-Road Runner cartoons (began in 1949 with “Fast and Furry-ous”) here’s a short compilation (24:00) of some of their antics (with longer and shorter options around that YouTube site); after looking at that you can conclude with my usual Musical Metaphor which is ultra-relevant this week, I wish I can use it every time because, literally, it says "That's All Folks".

 (In this photo Pat on left, Ken on right.)  If you’d like to know more about the Two Guys “wisdom” in this blog you can go here for links to our past reviews, our homepage, our Facebook page, sign-up for a Google account to reply to us, & Ken Burke’s email address if you want direct correspondence.

        

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 (not our fault).

              

Finally, Google says that over the past month the total unique hits at our  Film Reviews from Two Guys in the Dark site were 87,411.  (We thank all of you for your support with hopes you’ll continue as or become regular readers.)  Below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week (appreciation too for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site):

Animals

Crisis on the Campaign Trail

Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke

I invite you to join me to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I will call 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 ongoing COVID-19 concerns on my part I’m focusing on streaming these days with limited visits to theaters.  (Note: Anything here in bold blue [or near purple] is a link to something in the above title or in the review.)  This blog’s been operational since mid-December 2011, often with ridiculously-long reviews from me, but other ongoing responsibilities now require me to be very brief in order to have time to post anything each week, although I’ll include links to informative sites for useful enhancement.

My reviews’ premise: “You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”

(from "Garden Party" by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the song’s name)

However, if you’d like to know more about rationale of my ratings visit this explanatory site.

                Animals (Ben Affleck)   rated R    106 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.)

 (This has been a busier week than usual so this posting will be quite brief, but I have provided some links to help get you much deeper into what’s happening in this movie.)  Mark Kimball (also Affleck, who as well is a co-screenwriter, co-producer), with a previous solid background in the military and public service, is running a struggling campaign to become mayor of Los Angeles, so he’s followed Sam Allison’s (Steven Yeun), his manager’s, advice to commit all his financial resources to the task without consulting with his wife, Abigail (Kerry Washington); she’s got her own secret, an affair with Ron Sperling (Ray Fisher), which has her on the verge of filing for divorce.  Everything gets worse on Halloween night when young son Danny (Christopher Woodley) goes Trick or Treating with Hector (Jacob Estrada), son of Mark and Abigail’s housekeeper Cecelia Trujillo (Adriana Paz) and her undocumented boyfriend Ramon Valle (Luis Gerardo Méndez).  As the night goes on the Kimballs get a voice-disguised phone call from some unidentified man angry with Mark, saying he’s got Danny, wants $7 million in ransom by dawn or the boy will die.  Frantic, Mark turns again to Sam who calls in a mysterious woman, Dayle Burton (Gillian Anderson), to provide the ransom which she’s willing to do but only for a 20% fee plus payback of the $7 million with further complications when Danny comes home which makes it clear that Hector’s the actual abductee so will Mark still pay up to save the other boy from threatened death?  That’s all I’ve got time for this week (just like a good mystery I’ve tried to leave you intrigued enough to see how this all turns out), but you can get extensive plot details (including Spoilers) at this site; then, if you wish to go deeper into Animals you can start here to get clarity on the narrative’s ending (which might take just a bit to figure out what you’re seeing on screen as it doesn’t match what you’ve just previously seen), then move on to this one for a lot of detail on Affleck’s intention to get into the culture of L.A., a place which has become almost as important to him as Boston.  Happy reading as there’s quite a bit to digest herein.

 Animals is a Netflix product so even though it was released in some “select theaters” last weekend there’s no info provided about any box-office results with the emphasis on its streaming presence where it’s free to Netflix subscribers (you can become one for $8.99 on a monthly basis [with ads], $19.99 [no ads]).  The OCCU would give you little reason to do so, though, as the Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews sink to a mere 32% while the Metacritic average score for once is a close match at 33%.  Yet, just to show that there are some who do like it (even a bit more than me) here’s someone I don’t know from a site I’m not familiar with, Jim Vejvoda (MC 80) of IGN, who’s quite supportive: “Affleck and Washington make their characters three-dimensional, flawed people. Both Mark and Abigail can be hypocritical and selfish at times, and have been unable to speak plainly about their problems with each other until this unthinkable crime happens. […] LA is used here as a microcosm of the US for a broader thematic and political commentary about the rich and the poor and American citizens and undocumented immigrants. All said, Animals gets pretty bleak and cynical in its depiction of human nature and the price of victory.”  (Probably will lose his OCCU credentials.)

 More typical, however (and back in territory and people I’m much more familiar with), is Jeannette Catsoulis (MC 30) of The New York Times: “Like an inedible gruel made with top-shelf ingredients, Ben Affleck’s ‘Animals’ whisks its high-value cast into an overwrought script (by Affleck, Connor O. McIntyre and Billy Ray) to produce an extraordinarily flat political thriller. […] Bedeviled by clumsy plotting and perplexing behavior — maybe think twice before issuing murder instructions to someone whose specialty is manipulating leverage — ‘Animals’ never achieves liftoff.”  So, decide for yourself even as I say I found it quite engaging and watchable (though I knew about it only because Netflix keeps telling me everytime they add something to their vast collection); what I couldn’t easily say is what to choose as a Musical Metaphor for this movie so I finally defaulted to Creedence Clearwater Revival’s "Bad Moon Rising" (1969 Green River album) even though that song’s more about climate dangers than kidnapping but it does address a dangerous night where people are warned “Hope you got your things together / Hope you are quite prepared to die / Looks like we’re in for nasty weather / One eye is taken for an eye.”  Anyway, it’s a good song (and, at least for me, a good movie), so I hope you’ll enjoy at least some of what I’m offering you in my rushed manner this week.

(In this photo Pat on left, Ken on right.)  If you’d like to know more about the Two Guys “wisdom” in this blog you can go here for links to our past reviews, our homepage, our Facebook page, sign-up for a Google account to reply to us, & Ken Burke’s email address if you want direct correspondence,

            

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 (not our fault).

             

Finally, Google says that over the past month the total unique hits at our  Film Reviews from Two Guys in the Dark site were 87,411.  (We thank all of you for your support with hopes you’ll continue as or become regular readers.)  Below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week (appreciation too for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site):