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Month: March 2023

“Jesus Revolution” (*** out of four) was an inspired melodrama set in 1970’s Southern California in which a group of young hippies (Joel Courtney, Jonathan Roumie, Anna Grace Barlow) become involved in their own spiritual awakenings which causes waves and ripple effects within their community and the local adults and parents (Kelsey Grammar, Brian Shoop, and others). Filled with Christian themes of salvation and redemption but directors Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle infuse the movie with bounce and flair and plenty of great ’70’s soundtrack songs so this is not your typical earnest church religious drama. Film is loosely based on the life of American Evangelical Baptist priest Greg Laurie who also co-wrote the screenplay.

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“Luther: The Fallen Sun” (**1/2 out of four) was an initially taut adaptation of the BBC television series showing the disgraced detective John Luther (Idris Elba) in prison; when a vicious serial killer (Andy Serkis) begins terrorizing London, he realizes it is up to him to stop him and he breaks out of prison and evades the police and attempts to penetrate the London underworld to find him. Elba is commanding as usual in the title role and helps you overlook story flaws and contrivances but film loses its way before its improbable and silly conclusion. A good example of a television series that starts to show its cracks when expanded to feature-length film.

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“Driven To Murder” (** out of four) was a better-than-average suspense potboiler set in L.A. in which a young woman (Lucia Guerrero) is picked up by a Ryde driver (Adam Blake) who turns out to be a serious sicko and she realizes she’s in for a long night as she literally cannot escape his clutches. Ultimately done in by genre cliches and plot holes but effectively directed by Colin Everett on a low-budget and Blake is solidly creepy and scary as the killer. Reminiscent at times of Michael Mann’s “Collateral” but better than most killer Uber/Ryde trash.

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“Fluxx” (** out of four) was an overdone and overly cerebral melodrama about an isolated actress (Shelley Henning) in her Hollywood Hills mansion who begins to emotionally unravel and reflects back on her past memories with a celebrated talk-show host (Tyrese Gibson killing time between “Fast And Furious” entries) and others in her life (Shiloh Fernandez, Tanner Beard, and others) as means to regain her grip on reality and sanity. Opens with a sensational and stylish opening credits and has some interesting themes but goes so far afield into excess and mundane unpleasantness and never gets back on track. Gibson is solid as usual but based on this effort his career seems to be in “flux.”
“Weekend Getaway” (*1/2 out of four) was a tired suspense psychodrama about three happily married couples (Ashley Dennis, April Melody Rox Doillard, Dee Hill, and others) who go to a cabin in the woods for a weekend and dangerous secrets are revealed that force them to question their relationships and stability. Pretty photography by Conrad Craven is eye-catching but otherwise this is pretty much of a bore. Hill, Dennis, and Dillard are all knockouts but this mostly feels like reheated Tyler Perry.
“Play Dead” (** out of four) was a flamboyant but overly flimsy horror psychodrama about a young woman (Paula Brasca) who awakens injured in a basement surrounded by corpses; in order to survive, she pretends to be dead while grotesque rituals are ongoing around her involving others (Damian Castillo, Catalina Motto, and others) in the house. Directed with some style and flair by director Carlos Goitia and cinematographer Luciano Montes de Oca but becomes undeniably monotonous and unpleasant after a while because of lack of variation and story. Obviously influenced to some extent by “Cabin Fever” and also “Hostel”.
“The Travellers” (**1/2 out of four) was an agreeably done comedy about a stage designer (Luke Bracey) who returns to his native Australia to say goodbye to his dying mother (Susan Porter) but this trip soon devolves into chaos as he encounters his difficult father (Bryan Brown) and past lovers (Celia Massingham and Alison McGirr) as he struggles to keep himself together and coordinate his life. Pleasant outing from writer/director Bruce Beresford (“Driving Miss Daisy”) with a well-served cast although it stops just short of hitting the mark. Brown adds some suavity and style as usual with his effortless (and ageless) charisma.
“Home Education” (* out of four) was a languid psychodrama set in the England countryside about a young girl (Lydia Page) who starts to question the beliefs of her domineering and overbearing mother (Julia Ormond) as she ventures out on her own for the first time and encounters the horrors of real life. Both inept and inert; film is incredibly stuffy and blah but has no real story to tell. A particularly egregious waste of Ormond who in better days starred in “First Knight” a film with actual tension and verve.

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