Month: July 2022

In 1982, somewhat incompetent engineer Dudley Moore is working on a targeting system to use for the United States Army tanks. Fast forward two years, Army lieutenant Eddie Murphy participates in a demonstration of the technology in Kuwait. A weird amalgam of a movie, it initially did not include Murphy at all. After the original tested poorly, his role was added even though he doesn’t interact with any of the other main cast members. There are probably many ways that that mixing could have worked and been a really funny movie. Though there are hints of its possible humor, this is not one of those ways which is a shame because it squandered a chance to bring together two great comedic actors at high points in their careers. Regardless, there is the small interesting bit of seeing the United States involvement in the Middle East much earlier than the first Gulf War.    

Demoted to a desk job for a friendly fire accident, Army lieutenant Denzel Washington is called in to investigate the worthiness of chopper commander Meg Ryan for the Medal of Honor. Inconsistencies in the stories of those who witnessed her allegedly heroic behavior makes him pause in signing off on the award despite pressures from his superiors to quickly wrap up the investigation. What follows is an intriguing blend of figuring out who to believe when stories conflict mixed with the gender politics of the United States military. With an inconsistently bad accent, it’s not Ryan’s best role, though she conveys a decent blend of strength and vulnerability. Denzel as always can carry a movie, but I was most impressed with Matt Damon as one of Ryan’s crew members. It’s one of the best acting jobs I’ve seen from him. 

Perpetually angry Robin Williams is told by his stressed and drugged out doctor Mila Kunis that he has ninety minutes to live, so he sets out trying to connect one last time with his family, including wife Melissa Leo and brother Peter Dinklage. Criminally underutilizing its entire cast, except for maybe James Earl Jones in a small role, I had completely forgotten I had already seen the film until the very ending that is memorable for its bizarre wrap-up. Because of the theme of death, it resonates as one of Williams’s last films. Fortunately there are much better choices in his filmography that both showcase his talent and touch on such themes that this one can just be skipped.

Fashion photographer Faye Dunaway begins seeing visions of gruesome murders being committed through the first person view of the killer. She learns from police lieutenant Tommy Lee Jones that many of her provocative photos bear a striking resemblance to those of unpublished crime scene photos. The photo setups, and the film in general, has a pretty cool disco aesthetic. Dunaway is strong in the lead as are the number of men surrounding her, such as Brad Dourif, Raúl Juliá, and René Auberjonois. The resolution is a bit far-fetched but not completely coming out of nowhere, still leading to a exciting climax.   

When the previously-owned android his family purchased to help their Chinese daughter learn about her birth culture malfunctions, Colin Farrell goes on a search to repair the robot, but instead learns more about relationships and what it means to exist. There’s some interesting world building in the film, set in an undated near-ish future in a place that doesn’t seem to be China but has connections to Chinese culture. I wish I could have learned more about the world, but that didn’t detract from the film. I just wanted more. What the film did give was a fascinating exploration of what it is to live.