Dinner time: Rachel McAdams in ‘Send Help’.
SEND HELP *** (113 minutes) MA
The rapidly fading #metoo sub-genre gets a good kick along with Send Help, a fun, funny satirical revenge comedy with an acidic tongue that takes aim at male chauvinism and old-fashioned boy’s-club office politics.
Abused, bullied and lied to, timid corporate accountant Linda Liddle (an unconvincingly de-glammed Rachel McAdams) ends up on a remote island with her nasty, neglectful boss Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien) when their private jet slams into the ocean, Cast Away style.
A neat, comically rich role reversal snaps into place as Preston is laid up on the beach with an injured leg, leaving Linda in charge of building shelter, gathering food – including the acquisition of a wild boar – and resetting the rules about who is taking orders from whom.
The shenanigans are laced with a deliciously dark lining with the snarky interplay between the two spiced up with some top-notch twists and a very satisfying ending. Highly entertaining stuff.
For a while after the Harvey Weinstein affair, it looked like we were going to be blessed by a run of films pushing back against male entitlement and sexual misconduct. These included The Assistant, She Said, Tar, Bombshell and the eminently rewatchable Promising Young Woman.
Alas, the promising young genre ran out of puff in 2022, though you could count Christy as a #metoo film. Perhaps this B-grade gem might reignite interest. Fingers crossed.
BLUE MOON *** (100 minutes) M
The ever-reliable, too-cool-for-school Ethan Hawke takes a terrific left turn in Blue Moon, putting in some of his best work yet as legendary, albeit washed-up, Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart
Stooped and bearing a signature combover, Hawke – who insisted on shaving his head rather than wearing a bald cap – shines as a has-been desperate for signs that he might still have a handful of glory days ahead of him.
Sitting in a famous showbiz bar, Hart chews the fat with affable bartender Eddie (Bobby Cannavale) who is aware of his alcoholism. Hart is anxiously awaiting the high-powered party goers celebrating the opening night of Oklahoma!, which Hart’s former collaborator Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott) has created with Oscar Hammerstein (Simon Delaney), his new creative half.
Hart is a yap-happy raconteur, his charm and biting wit papering over his envy, anxiety, self-doubt and his abiding infatuation with actress Elizabeth Weiland (Margaret Qualley).
Working on an obviously low budget, director Richard Linklater (in his eighth film with Hawke) fills the single location with plenty of corners, books and side rooms, keeping the piece from ever feeling stagey.
HAMNET **1/2 (126 minutes) M
Time pressures and other assorted hindrances conspired to keep your humble reviewer from attending the previews of this widely acclaimed historical drama.
As every cinephile knows, Hamnet has attracted lots of high-level nominations from the Oscars and BAFTAs and all manner of critics’ awards. Good Lord, Hamnet even landed a couple of Golden Globes, which some people still take seriously.
Certainly, Hamnet brims with strong and heady emotions as the pre-famous William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and wife Agnes (Jessie Buckley) endure the ordeal of losing their son Hamnet (impressive child actor Jacobi Jupe).
Directed by Chloé Zhao, whose Oscars for the beautiful Nomadland were well-earned (catch it on Disney+), the film excavates the grief, heartache and recriminations that accompany a child’s death.
That said, and earnest as it is Hamnet, to be frank, turns out to be something of a downer.
While some might well be moved to tears, others will find the proceedings very heavy going, prompting them to check their watches during one of the film’s many howling sessions.
Dare one suggest the film is a tad overrated?
ADDITION * (91 minutes) M
In this dreadfully dull romantic dramedy, Teresa Palmer plays a mathematician with mental health issues (a la A Beautiful Mind) who tries having a normal relationship with a fellah (Joe Dempsie) who turns out to be one of the most boring movie beaus in recent memory.
It’s yet another Australian film with a weak narrative, no apparent target audience in mind and, of course, a microscopic marketing profile. Seriously, how are people supposed to care about a film they haven’t heard about? Even the trailer sucks.
With attractive production values and a host of wholly unengaging characters Addition is the latest in a long line of local films destined to come and go in a blink.
What a way to begin the year.