Review #1,272: 'A Ghost Story' (2017)

The premise of David Lowery's A Ghost Story is very simple indeed. A man (played by Casey Affleck) dies in a car crash, only for his spirit to remain in the land of the living to watch over his grieving widow (played by Rooney Mara). He stays with her in the home they made together - a home, we will come to learn, that she wanted to leave, despite his wish to remain in the quiet, isolated area he felt so comfortable in. It sounds like the stuff of emotionally manipulative Hollywood schmaltz, but Lowery's interests stretch much, much further than themes of sorrow and the search for closure. It reaches way into the cosmos, seeking to understand our place in the universe and within the infinity of time itself.

One of the most striking aspects of A Ghost Story is the appearance of the ghost itself. Draped in a white sheet complete with cut-out eye holes, Affleck drifts through the film with slow steps, longing stares and brief fits of rage. As his lifeless body lies on the mortuary table, the camera lingers for what seems like an eternity, as we wait for the jump-shock that horror movies have taught us to expect. However, when he sits up slowly, sheet still draped over his face, and begins to study his surroundings like a lost animal, the effect is miraculous. It's certainly chilling, but also oddly beautiful. I don't know if much thought went into the design and weight of the white sheet, but Affleck manages to express himself astonishingly well without the benefit of being visible. Things start to get weirder and more ambitious as Mara's character moves out of the house to move on with her life.

We witness the passing of time from the ghost's perspective. In the blink of an eye, a Hispanic family has moved in. This enrages him, and the family experience poltergeist activity. Then, some party-goers inhabit the house, before it is eventually knocked down and replaced by office buildings. Still the ghost stalks the corridors waiting for... something, occasionally conversing with the ghost next door. Time passes like half-remembered memories, and we eventually come full circle. Made quickly and cheaply shortly after post-production for Pete's Dragon had been completed and reuniting Lowery with his Ain't Them Bodies Saints stars, the slow and deliberate pace of A Ghost Story will likely put many viewers off, especially those seeking out a traditional spook tale. But patience is a virtue, and the effects are long-standing, resonating far deeper than most movies could ever dream of. 


Directed by: David Lowery
Starring: Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,160: 'Manchester by the Sea' (2016)

Writer/director Kenneth Lonergan hadn't made a movie for 11 years before Manchester by the Sea, a sombre drama that began to draw attention during a critically successful festival run. Receiving acclaim for You Can Count On Me back in 2000 before moving on to Margaret in 2005, the latter film spent five years in post-development hell due to a lack of budget and multiple lawsuits before limping into theatres in 2011. Such a frustrating experience would normally cause a director to fade into obscurity, but Lonergan has returned with a bang with one of the finest films of the year to prove that he is a film-maker of unfathomable potential.

The withdrawn Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is a janitor working in Quincy, Massachusetts, spending his days fixing leaky pipes, taking out the garbage, shovelling snow, and generally taking whatever shit the tenants of the apartment block he works in dishes out. Living in a tiny, one-bed room, Lee is quiet but prone to violent outbursts, spending most nights drinking away whatever sorrows rest on his shoulders and starting fights with anybody who looks at him the wrong way. One day, he receives a phone call and is informed that his brother Joe (Kyle Chandler, coincidentally sharing the same surname as his character) has suffered a heart attack. By the time he arrives in his hometown of Manchester-by-the-Sea, Joe has passed away, and Lee is tasked with arranging the funeral and putting his brother's affairs in place.

I've admired Casey Affleck ever since I saw Good Will Hunting (1997) and later in his brother Ben's thrilling Gone Baby Gone (2007). But his performance in Andrew Dominik's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford ultimately convinced me that he is one of the finest actors of his generation, and I felt that he deserved to beat the lauded Javier Bardem to the Oscar that year. Deservedly, he won Best Actor for his work here. It's a rare skill for an actor to be able to portray such a range of emotions when massively underplaying the part. Lee is as bottled-up as one can get, clearly reaching the point of just not giving a fuck anymore. When he returns to town, people whisper his name with both anger and sympathy. Something has happened to turn him into a socially-awkward, sullen shadow of a man, but Lonergan chooses to reveal the past slowly through flashbacks.

In smaller roles, Chandler, Michelle Williams and Gretchen Mol are also as impressive as expected, but, Affleck aside, the majority of the screen-time is given to Lucas Hedges as Joe's son Patrick, who is now placed into the care of a reluctant Lee. Patrick doesn't react to his father's passing as one would expect, and instead remains a chirpy, outgoing teenager proud to have two girlfriends on the go. It's a lively, highly charismatic performance, and the complete opposite to the mopey young adult I was expecting. Themes of grief and regret run throughout the film, but the relationship between Lee and Patrick provides many moments of warmth and much-needed humour. Most writers would opt for award-baiting, tear-jerking moments of emotional outpouring, but Lonergan understands that life is rarely like that, and some wounds simply do not heal. The power of Manchester by the Sea lies within this honesty, with the windy, snowy backdrop acting almost as a window into its characters' souls.


Directed by: Kenneth Lonergan
Starring: Casey Affleck, Lucas Hedges, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Gretchen Mol
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,035: 'Triple 9' (2016)

Boasting an enormously talented ensemble cast and a multi-layered story of corruption and greed set in the murky criminal world of the Russian mafia in Atlanta, John Hillcoat's Triple 9 has the ambition of Michael Mann's Heat (1995) but neither the scope or the running-time to convincingly pull it off. Telling the tale of a gang of hardened criminals and bent coppers coming together to pull of a heist, and then another, to save the skin of a brutal Russian mafia boss, it is hardly the most original entry into the crime genre, but manages to sneak a pass thanks to some splendid visuals and Hillcoat's signature brutality that gives the film a unique, raw edge.

Two cops - Marcus Belmont (Anthony Mackie) and Franco Rodriguez (Clifton Collins Jr.) - and three criminals - gang leader Michael Atwood (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and brothers Russell (Norman Reedus) and Gabe Welch (Aaron Paul) - come together to rob a bank in order to retrieve a security deposit box containing evidence against the husband of mafia boss Irina (Kate Winslet). After a narrow escape, they are refused payment and are ordered to pull off another job to again retrieve data on Irina's husband. The job is near-impossible, so the gang come up with an idea of triggering a 'triple 9' call, which involves all police responding to an 'officer down' and heading to the location of the incident, therefore diverting all attention away from them. Marcus's new partner Chris Allen (Casey Affleck), a bullheaded new recruit quickly making enemies with the Mexican gangs, is chosen as the ideal candidate.

There's an undeniable star power to Triple 9, and the film struggles to allow them all the chance to shine. Because of the lack of running time required to properly develop the many characters, they are either painted with incredibly broad strokes or so thinly that they are relegated to merely 'tough good guy' or 'tough bad guy'. Weaving in and out of the main set the central story is crack-snorting Detective Jeffrey Allen (Woody Harrelson), the hard-nosed yet likeable sergeant investigating the gang, who also happens to be Chris' uncle. Just in case his questionable drug habit isn't enough, the camera insists on showing us every bead of sweat running down his unwashed brow to reinforce the idea that this really is a tough guy who doesn't play by the rules. Triple 9 is sadly chocked full of tired genre cliches, right down to the tacky dress-sense of Winslet's Russian gangster, all big hair and garish outfits.

Despite the immense talent of its actors, lazy writing and too much time spent watching these characters flexing their muscles at each other means that none really make an impression. Ejiofor certainly tries, but he fails to make us sympathise with his character, who is supposed to be the conflicted emotional core of the film, and Paul repeats his Jesse Pinkman shtick without the benefit of 5 seasons worth of character development. Things lighten up when a few heated exchanges simmer with tension, as Hillcoat makes it clear from the outset that no character is safe. With his best films, The Proposition (2005) and The Road (2009), Hillcoat demonstrated a real talent forging an extremely dark mood, brimming with atmosphere and lurking threat, but here, he manages it only fleetingly, finding little time to do so amidst an overstuffed plot.


Directed by: John Hillcoat
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Clifton Collins Jr., Kate Winslet, Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Gal Gadot
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,032: 'Ain't Them Bodies Saints' (2013)

David Lowery's strangely-titled Ain't Them Bodies Saints doesn't just tip its hat to a bygone era of film-making, but attempts to completely recreate the heavily visual but emotionally complex work that swept through cinemas during the 1970's, especially in America. The early work of Terrence Malick is a particular inspiration here, as vast Texas fields and looming thunderclouds play as the backdrop to the doomed love-story at its centre. On top of being a love-letter to one of finest ever decades for cinema, it manages to tell a compelling, if often isolating, little story in its own right.

Bob Muldoon (Casey Affleck) and Ruth Guthrie (Rooney Mara) are two reckless young lovers. We meet them in the midst of an argument that is quickly laughed off as Ruth announces she is with child, but it doesn't take long for their passionate romance to be cut short. When Bob drags Ruth into his world of petty crime, they find themselves locked in a shoot-out with the police that ends when Ruth wounds Deputy Wheeler (Ben Foster). Bob takes the blame and is incarcerated for 25 years to life, and the two attempt to maintain their relationship through written correspondence. A few years later, Ruth learns through the lonely Wheeler that Bob has escaped from prison and is no doubt coming for her.

The film moves into more predictable territory following Bob's escape, as we follow him on his slow-burning journey across state lines, employing the assistance of friend Sweetie (Nate Parker) to help him creep gradually closer to Ruth without being detected. As Ruth struggles between longing for her true love and the realisation that running off with a now-hardened criminal may not be the best thing for her daughter, Wheeler lets his affections known. A gentle, morally-upright man respected in the community, he offers her a safe passage and undoubtedly a better life, but Ruth still finds herself drawn to the dangerous outlaw lifestyle. Her father Skerritt (Keith Carradine), having watched over Bob as a child, has a somewhat resentful sympathy for their love, and warns Bob of a group of ne'er-do-wells who arrives in town in search of him.

The cast are excellent in their roles and compliment Lowery's desire to tell an emotionally complex story with fewer words than you would expect. Affleck is at his best when he is carefully treading the line between volatile and gentle, injecting Bob with a sympathy despite his characters occasional dark turn, and Mara perfectly captures Ruth's inward struggle between comfort and danger. Yet most impressive of all is Foster, toning down his usual wide-eyed shtick and showing a softer side perhaps not seen since Six Feet Under. For all its melancholic poetic narration and tormented gazes into the distance, the film tends to betray this approach when the dialogue comes, as the character spell out their predicaments when there's no call for it. More frustratingly, Lowery keeps the mysterious aspects of his movie a bit too close to the chest, as the reasons behind the appearance of the men hunting for Bob's head is teased but left infuriatingly unexplained. A bit like the title, it is alluring but seemingly hollow.


Directed by: David Lowery
Starring: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Keith Carradine, Nate Parker
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #851: 'Interstellar' (2014)

Christopher Nolan and his writing partner/brother Jonathan have made a career out of delivering cold, intelligent blockbusters that often work like a puzzle-box slowly unravelling in front of your face. For their next trick, the duo have tackled the great beyond, gazing in awe at the skies while ensuring the heavy layer of science makes sense. You may need a degree or a PhD to fully understand what is going on here, but the Nolan's respect their audience enough to allow their exposition-heavy story to unfold without spoon-feeding. Interstellar is their most ambitious, while not their best, project yet.

In the near-future, Earth is slowly succumbing to famine due to crop blight. History is being re-written in schools to drive home the importance of saving the planet, and ex-NASA pilot Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is one of many given the responsibility of growing a successful crop. When a mysterious force sends binary messages to him through a bookcase in the bedroom of his daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy), Cooper arrives at a secret NASA base, where Professor John Brand (Michael Caine) is planning to send a willing crew of astronauts through a wormhole in space to search for a new home for humanity. Their previous mission has uncovered three potential planets, but the astronauts have not been heard from since.

Cooper, leaving his devastated young daughter behind, and a small crew (consisting of Anne Hathaway, Wes Bentley, David Gyasi and a humorous robot) set off on the mission, while Brand stays on Earth to work out the formula that will solve the problem of transporting every man, woman and child on Earth millions of light years through space. One of the planets is so close to a black hole that it causes gravitational time dilation, meaning that every hour spent on its surface is seven years of time back home. After a disastrous mission, Coop finds that his children have aged 23 years (and becoming Jessica Chastain and Casey Affleck in the process), and Murph is now working for Professor Brand.

While this is a lot of plot to take in, and it really isn't the half of it, the Nolans' skill at storytelling and narrative mean that you feel that, no matter how insane the proceedings get, things are going to add up in the end. When the film often threatens to get muddled with heavy explanatory dialogue that doesn't really help and trying to help us understand the workings of black holes, gravity and space travel, Nolan ensures that he doesn't lose his focus. The big idea is that we are not meant to stay here. We are destined to leave, explore and discover. Nolan's passion for the subject is clear as day, and his sense of wonder is brought to life by cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema, who paints space as something wonderful, strange, and fucking terrifying.

Despite the film's often crazy ideas, it feels authentic. Nolan worked closely with theoretical physicist Kip Thorne on developing the film, so Interstellar is (ironically) grounded, and Nolan wisely doesn't try to replicate the philosophical approach of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). It's far from perfect - you could easily pick at plot-(black)holes, some explanatory scenes are heavy-handed and ridiculous, and the warm-up is far too long - but you have to admire the ambition, and be grateful that there's a film-maker out there who can repeatedly prove that the casual movie-goer isn't stupid. 2001's crown is comfortably safe, but Interstellar is a fascinating, engaging and one-of-a-kind experience. Even if you don't like it, I bet you'll be talking about it for days afterwards. Plus it has the most loveable astronaut's-best-friend robots since Silent Running (1972).


Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, David Gyasi, Michael Caine, Casey Affleck, Wes Bentley, John Lithgow, Topher Grace
Country: USA/UK/Canada

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #652: 'The Killer Inside Me' (2010)

The Killer Inside Me, a brutally violent neo-noir from British director Michael Winterbottom, raised hell at Sundance, sending audiences into frenzies of disbelief and light-headedness. Of course, as usual with premature festival outrage, the film is really not as appalling as the uproar would have led you to believe. There is one truly sickening scene - as gut-wrenching as any burst of violence I've seen on screen - but, the real tragedy is that this insistence on portraying it so graphically actually takes the focus away from what is a very stylish, if tonally uneven, pulp thriller. Although Winterbottom has juggled genres and styles with relative ease in his previous work, mainly to positive results, perhaps his inexperience with tackling a project so deeply rooted in Americana leads to the film's downfall.

Small-town deputy sheriff Lou Ford (Casey Affleck) is sent to warn off prostitute Joyce (Jessica Alba), who is having a dangerous affair with the son of construction tycoon Chester Conway (Ned Beatty). After realising they have the same violent sexual tastes, they begin a love affair and devise a plan to extort $10,000 from Conway, as Lou believes Conway to be responsible for the death of his brother. Unbeknownst to Joyce, Lou, despite his pleasant demeanour, is a violent sociopath, and after Lou beats Joyce to death with his bare hands and runs with the money, county attorney Howard Hendricks (Simon Baker) is called in to investigate. So Lou is forced to cover his tracks while he dotes on his fiancee Amy (Kate Hudson).

Pulp writer Jim Thompson was possibly the grimmest writer of his ilk, and The Killer Inside Me is widely thought of as his best work. I have not read the novel, so I am unaware as to how Lou Ford is written, but here he is a blank but undeniably fascinating character. He is a character that always seems in control, even when he seems surprised at just what he is capable of. Yet for someone seemingly so clinical at killing, he's not very good at it. His extortion plan is full of holes that could lead back to him, and it doesn't take long for Hendricks to figure him out. Often a glance or a word will make you wonder if he even understands himself or anything he is doing. Casey Affleck is a fine actor, and his Lou Ford is intimidating. Even though he's slightly built and his voice is a high-pitched drawl, he is a scary character to spend 90 minutes with, and he even surpasses his performance in The Assassination of Jessie James By the Coward Robert Ford (2007), of which I felt he was robbed of an Oscar.

Winterbottom wisely steers away from any psychological analysing of Ford, only hinting at childhood abuse (but not the way you would think), and glimpses of his intellect. Instead it makes you ponder this hideous character, and stay with him (but not necessarily root for) throughout the duration of the film. But it's Winterbottom's approach that is the problem here, blending a mixture of styles that causes the film to seem contrasting and haphazard. There are moments of pure noir - headlights approaching in the dust, characters sat in empty diners, cynical narration - and these scenes are at ease with the sleaze of the film's focus, but often it will kick in with some banjos at inappropriate moments that caused me to wonder whether I should be taking the film seriously. When it does take itself seriously, it's often inspired, but the final scene is so badly handled that I did wonder if a different director with more experience in the field would have made a much better film.


Directed by: Michael Winterbottom
Starring: Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, Ned Beatty, Elias Koteas, Tom Bower, Simon Baker, Bill Pullman
Country: USA/Sweden/UK/Canada

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #52: 'I'm Still Here' (2010)

In 2009, the movie world was confused and in uproar as Joaquin Phoenix announced that he would be retiring from acting, and that 2008’s Two Lovers would be his final appearance on screen. To add a touch more of the bizarre into the mix, Phoenix would also be pursuing his apparent lifelong dream of being a rapper. His good friend and brother-in-law Casey Affleck would film everything, and as the pounds piled onto Phoenix, and his beard grew even more ridiculous, it gradually became obvious that this in fact was a big joke.

So the film itself follows Phoenix from his initial announcement of retirement from acting, to his attempts at getting a meeting with rap mogul P. Diddy, in order for him to produce his album. In between this, we see him self-destruct as the realisation hits him that he is indeed a crap rapper, and that everyone considers him a joke, from celebrities (Ben Stiller, David Letterman), to his best friend who ends up betraying him. We also see Phoenix sniffing cocaine from the breast of a stripper, fall of a stage whilst doing a rap gig, and have someone shit on his face while he sleeps.

The big question is - what’s the point? Well, it’s quite an intelligent commentary of the nature of celebrity, and how people can buy into anything that they’re told. Phoenix and Affleck apparently came up with the idea when they discovered that audiences didn’t realise that ‘reality’ shows were scripted. The other important question is – does it work? Given Phoenix’s heroic commitment to the film and the physical and mental strain he must have endured for the cause, you would hope so. Disappointingly, the answer is a resounding no.

Don’t get me wrong, moments of this film I found bordered on absolute genius. Joaquin Phoenix’s performance, for example, is simply breathtaking. You have to admire the way he completely gives himself over to the performance. Certain scenes where he is ranting about the way he is being perceived in the press, or he bounces around excitedly snorting cocaine awaiting for the arrival of prostitutes, you would be forgiven for not thinking twice that this was indeed reality.

But I think that is the main problem - it is too convincing. While other mockumentary’s such as This Is Spinal Tap (1984) or Borat (2006), are extremely funny while always maintaining the edge of realism, this film is not funny. This of course would be fine if the film was dramatic or absorbing, but it’s neither of these things. It is at times very annoying, and often quite uncomfortable viewing, and the film has trouble maintaining a straight narrative.

After thinking about the film afterwards, I can’t deny that its initial idea is interesting. Before the film, I could take or leave Joaquin Phoenix as an actor. He had never really overly impressed me with any of his performances, and I felt his most celebrated performance as Johnny Cash in Walk The Line (2005), was only a great impression, not a great performance. But after this film, I’ll be intrigued to see where his career turns to next, and I’ll probably watch anything he does. It is disappointing, if not unsurprising, that he was overlooked an Oscar nomination for his performance here.


Directed by: Casey Affleck
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Anthony Langdon, Sean Combs, Casey Affleck, Edward James Olmos
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie