Danny Collins

Posted on March 19, 2015 at 5:50 pm

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for language, drug use and some nudity
Profanity:	Very strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking and drugs
Violence/ Scariness:	Tense family confrontations, illness
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	March 20, 2015
Date Released to DVD:	June 29, 2015
Amazon.com ASIN:	B00UZJO7UA

Movie stories often begin with the hero or heroine having everything and then losing it or having nothing and then finding it. But some of the best combine them both, as Writer/director Dan Fogelman (“Cars,” “Tangled,” “Crazy Stupid Love”) has with “Danny Collins,” a heartwarming story of a one time rock star (Al Pacino) who can fill a stadium with his baby boomer fans but has an empty life that even a hot young fiancee and constant partying cannot hide.

And then he discovers that 40 years ago, when he admitted in an interview that he was afraid of becoming successful because it might impair his integrity as an artist, John Lennon sent him a letter saying that it did not have to happen that way and encouraging him to call. The letter never reached him until four decades later, when Collins’ longtime manager and best friend (Christopher Plummer) found it from a collector and bought it as a surprise birthday gift. (This part of the story is inspired by a real-life musician in the UK who did find out 34 years after it was written that John Lennon had sent him a letter almost identical to the one in the film, as we see in the closing credits.)

The letter serves as a wake-up call, instantly connecting Danny to the musician he once was. He cancels his tour, breaks up with the fiancee, and orders his private plane to New Jersey, where he moves into a suburban hotel managed by Mary (a deliciously crisp Annette Bening). He buys a new piano and has it delivered to his hotel room so he can start composing. And he reaches out to the son he has never met (Bobby Cannavale), who lives in New Jersey with his pregnant wife (Jennifer Garner) and young daughter (the delightful Giselle Eisenberg).

It is a treat to see the flamboyant rock star being checked into the numbingly generic hotel by an agog college student (Melissa Benoist of “Whiplash” and the Supergirl TV series) as stunning a transition for him as if he was Alice through the Looking Glass. Pacino is not entirely convincing as a rock star on stage but his genially raffish charm is as endearing to us as it is to the civilians he charms along the way. The highlight of the film is what he calls his “patter” with Mary, a sparkling throwback to the kind of romantic banter that might have been tossed back and forth by Tracy and Hepburn.

Immune to his charm, at least at first, is his son, even after Danny performs some rock star magic to help the family. But that’s what movies are for — to let us see Danny overcome his son’s efforts not to give in, all to the tune of some of Lennon’s most moving songs. And to wonder what we might do differently if we got a long-lost letter from Lennon.

Note: Danny’s catchy song, “Hey Baby Doll” was written by INXS replacement frontman Ciaran Gribbin, selected in a competition with top Hollywood songwriters for a tune that could sound like a real hit from the 60’s.

Parents should know that this film includes rock star behavior including sexual references and nudity, drinking and drug use, and very strong language, as well as family issues including abandonment and illness.

Family discussion: Who would you most like to get a letter from and what would you want it to say? Why did getting the letter make Danny decide to change his life? How often do get to enjoy patter?

If you like this, try: “One Trick Pony” and “The Last Waltz”

Trailer: A Royal Night Out

Posted on March 2, 2015 at 6:30 pm

It’s like a real-life “Roman Holiday.” According to this film, on the night victory was declared in WWII, Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II) and her sister, Princess Margaret were given permission by their father (the “King’s Speech” guy) for an incognito night of celebration. It looks like a lot of fun.

Black or White

Posted on January 29, 2015 at 5:58 pm

Writer-director Mike Binder sure likes to get Kevin Costner drunk. As in his uneven but impressive “The Upside of Anger,” Binder once again has Costner playing a man who is a little lost and usually shnockered, a role well suited for Costner’s loose-limbed, naturalist wryness. Binder’s strengths are evident here. He creates complex, unhappy characters who are articulate without being artificially quippy. He casts superb actors and gets outstanding performances (“The Upside of Anger,” flawed as it was, is worth seeing just to watch Joan Allen work through so many variations on ferocity, loss, and doubt). And in this film, he takes a highly charged situation that could easily be overly melodramatic, formulaic, or polemical and gives it nuance and dignity. No matter what your inclination on the custody dispute over a biracial child at the center of the film, you will rethink it.

Costner plays Elliot, a lawyer who learns in the first moments of the film that his wife Carol (Jennifer Ehle) has been killed in a car accident. She has had most of the responsibility of caring for their granddaughter Eloise (Jillian Estell), who has lived with them since she was born, because her mother, then just 17 years old, died in childbirth.

Elliot is so overwhelmed by loss that the next morning he takes Eloise to school without telling her what happened. He has no idea of what the morning routine is, how to fix Eloise’s hair, or even where exactly the school is located.

That afternoon, with some bolstering of his courage via alcohol and his law partner, Elliot finally tells Eloise that her grandmother has died. He is committed to continuing to care for her. But her other grandmother, Rowena (a terrific Octavia Spencer) wants to have a bigger role in Eloise’s life. She files for joint custody. Her brother Jeremiah (Anthony Mackie), a successful litigator, tells her that if she wants to succeed, she will have to have a more powerful argument than her rights as the child’s grandmother. She will have to claim that Elliot is not a suitable guardian for a black child. “Do you want what is best for the child?” asked Jeremiah. “Then has a problem with black people.” Elliot’s counsel urges him to be aggressive. “Are you okay getting ugly?”

Rowena and Elliot respect, even have some affection for one another. Each knows the other is far more than the extremes alleged in the court filings. But the system is not set up for anything but extremes. Jeremiah is successful in getting the case before a black woman judge (the excellent Paula Newsome), and both sides think she will be inclined to give Eloise to her black relatives.

But both sides are vulnerable, and, as the judge has warned them, once a child is in the system it is within her power to decide that neither grandparent should have custody. Elliot and Rowena both understand that the litigation will bring them to the brink of mutually assured destruction. But things heat up. Rowena brings in her son Reggie (André Holland), Eloise’s father and amends the suit to call for full custody, saying Elliot is not fit to raise Eloise because he drinks. While his legal claim is stronger on paper because he is her parent, his claim is also weaker because he has a record of drug use and criminal behavior and has never cared for or even spent time with his daughter. We see the contrast between Elliot’s big, luxurious, but empty house and Rowena’s crowded, chaotic, but loving home. Elliot is white and male. Can he understand Eloise? Both of Eloise’s grandparents are still struggling with their failures as parents the first time around as well.

Binder continues to be better with the small moments than the big ones, and there are affecting one-on-one moments with Reggie and his mother and uncle, and with Elliot and Rowena. But he still has trouble with finding a good way to end a story, and he has no idea of how to write for a child. Estell has a likeable screen presence, but is asked to deliver some unforgivable lines that are far too idealized and age-inappropriate for her character. It is too bad that a film that shows exceptional sensitivity to its adult characters so badly fails the girl on whose behalf they are fighting.

Parents should know that this film includes some strong language, including racist epithets, drug and alcohol abuse, and sad offscreen deaths. The family issues and custody battle may be upsetting to some viewers.

Family discussion: If you were the judge, where would you put Eloise? Why does Duvon write so many papers? Why does he learn so many languages?

If you like this, try: Clover and “Losing Isaiah”

Featurette: “The Good Lie” the Faith of the Lost Boys of Sudan

Posted on October 7, 2014 at 11:37 am

“The Good Lie” is a moving, inspiring story of Lost Boys (and a girl) from Sudan to immigrate to the US, a must-see for middle and high schoolers and their families. This featurette takes us behind the scenes and focuses on the role that faith plays in the lives of these courageous survivors.

The Good Lie

Posted on October 2, 2014 at 5:55 pm

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, some violence, brief strong language and drug use
Profanity:	Brief strong language and some mild language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking, drug use
Violence/ Scariness:	Very disturbing violence including mass killings, guns, machetes, many characters injured and killed, some graphic images
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie

“The Good Lie” wisely casts Reese Witherspoon and Corey Stoll, who are outstanding as always, as sympathetic employment agency representatives helping refugees from Sudan find work in Kansas. And then it even more wisely keeps those characters in the background to allow the heroes of the story to be the refugees themselves and the real-life survivors of genocide in Africa who play the roles. Thankfully, this is one movie that is not about white people being spiritually enriched by saving people of color. And it is not about white people being spiritually enriched by learning important lessons from people of color. It is about people who have survived unimaginable loss who find a way to live with honor, strong connections, and resilience. Reese Witherspoon may be in it to reassure us that it is not a spinach movie, but even without her undeniably appealing role, the film would succeed because it is true-hearted, warm, wise, inspiring, and funny.

When their village is wiped out by genocidal marauders in the Sudanese Civil War of 1983-2005. More than two million were slaughtered and more than 20,000 surviving children, mostly boys, walked for hundreds of miles, many more dying along the way. Those who lived made it to refugee camps that were barely able to take care of them, and where they stayed for a decade or more. A small percentage immigrated to the United States. This story focuses on four survivors, the gentle Manerre (Arnold Oceng), the faithful Jeremiah (Ger Duany), and the angry Paul (Emmanuel Jal), who were sent to Kansas, and their efforts to be reunited with Manerre’s sister Abital (Kuoth Wiel), who was separated from the only family she had ever known because no home in Kansas would take her in.

Witherspoon plays the harried employment agency aide assigned to help them find jobs and has no interest in any further involvement with their lives. Cory Stoll plays her boss, who lives on a small farm, with cattle who give the Africans their first familiar sight since arriving in the United States.

Screenwriter Margaret Nagle and director Philippe Falardeau (who showed great sensitivity to cross-cultural issues faced by immigrants in “Monsieur Lazhar”) deftly avoid the too-easy feel-good conventions like romantic happy endings and the too-easy laughs of cultural differences. When a well-meaning but not very well-informed greeter welcomes them with a lime green jello mold, the refugees’ bewilderment is a reflection on America’s warmhearted intentions but cultural myopia. The same with Witherspoon’s character — her failure to learn the most fundamental basics about the skills and knowledge of the people she is trying to place is based on ignorance and lack of empathy in part, but also in a kind of imperishable optimism about the ability of all people to adapt. There is never a suggestion of making fun of the Africans for being provincial, even when one of them asks tentatively if he needs to be looking out for lions. They are never reduced to being cute or cuddly. And while they have strong cultural and familial ties, each is given the respect and dignity of his own temperament and priorities.

In the refugee camp, one of the men wears a donated “Just do it” t-shirt. When he finds out he is going to America, he says, “We can finally find out what this means.” It is always going to be fun to see outsiders respond to elements of American life we take for granted, from escalators to airplane food, from shelves with twelve kinds of Cheerios to dumpsters full of edible goods. The Africans give us a fresh look at our own lives, but what matters here is the way they hold onto what is most precious to them, their heritage, each other, while pursuing the opportunities this great, if imperfect country offers them so imperfectly.

Parents should know that this film includes genocidal violence with guns and knives, entire villages wiped out, many characters killed including parents, some disturbing images, some strong language, drinking, drug use, sexual references and a non-explicit situation.

Family discussion: How did the responses of each of the refugees to living in the US differ and why? What could the Americans have done to be more helpful and understanding? Why was it important for them to name their grandfathers? Why was courtesy so important?

If you like this, try: the documentaries “The Devil Came on Horseback” and “God Grew Tired of Us” and read more about the Lost Boys both in Africa and in the United States.