Category: 2010s

Ripken baseball coach John C. McGinley recruits Garret Dillahunt to be his assistant coach after he mistakes the identity of Dillahunt’s stepson for a much more athletic player. The vast majority of the film is the two men talking and navigating their different philosophies on coaching and life. There’s not a whole lot of actual baseball, but for fans of either of the actors, and I have enjoyed works by both of them, it’s about as entertaining as anything else they’ve done. I spent an inordinate amount of time figuring out which park in Nashville had an elevated train in the background.  

After her granddaughter tricks her into signing over power of attorney and commits her to a senior home, Brenda Fricker’s long-time partner Olympia Dukakis sneaks her out of the home and they run off to Canada to get married. I hated the beginning and end of this film. The granddaughter’s activities in the first part are so over the top evil that it is next to impossible to understand why Fricker would have kept her in her life for long. The ending took an undeserved turn. But the middle part is so wonderful that I’d easily watch the film again. Dukakis and Fricker make a beautiful mismatched couple with love and mutual affection shining between them.  

When her drummer aunt was diagnosed with terminal cancer, artist Salli Richardson-Whitfield quit her job to care for her. With her aunt passed on, Salli is spending her last day in the home they shared, dealing with a cast of revolving characters who come to the house while also working through her fresh grief. Ava DuVernay’s first full-length feature film, it’s obviously a bit low budget, but that doesn’t detract from its exploration of grief and also a celebration of the two women’s creative lives.

Disgraced ex-cop John Hawkes spends most of his days in a bottle, but finds new energy when he’s hired as a private investigator by Robert Loggia to investigate the killing of Loggia’s granddaughter. I’ve been checking out Hawkes’s work since enjoying his performance in Deadwood, but rarely do the films actually provide substance worthy of his skill. It’s a gritty crime flick that, while not overly unique in story, manages a smooth blend of comedy and drama that really showcases Hawkes’s best qualities while also not giving short shrift to supporting players, Loggia, Octavia Spencer, Anthony Anderson, and Clifton Collins, Jr.    

Overwhelmed by her husband’s long absences, Riley Keough embarks on an impromptu road trip with her young daughter and her close friend Jena Malone. Though the two women haven’t seen each other in a long time, their love for each other never strayed and they reconnect as if it hasn’t been more than a day. Everything about this film is too subtle while trying to push big messages about love for me to fully enjoy it, but the lead performances and their chemistry remains touching to witness. The second half of the story features one of my newer movie pet peeves where a life event is simultaneously treated as both a huge planned occasion and a spur of the moment winging it. Here it’s a large semi-destination wedding where somehow the wedding dress hasn’t even been chosen yet.  

When her dead husband’s life insurance check is a hundred times larger than she expected, Shirley MacLaine and her best friend Jessica Lange hightail it to the Canary Islands with insurance investigators, scam artists, and adult children all on their tail. The chemistry between MacLaine and Lange is sweet and them re-learning how to live their best lives is fun and inspirational. Unfortunately the rest of the film is too silly and drags on too long which weighs down a lot of the good feelings. It’s funny for me to see Howard Hesseman and Billy Connolly in a film together since I forever associate both of them with their teacher roles in Head of the Class.

When she is warned that her next asthma attack may be her last, Whoopi Goldberg tries to heal the rifts in her extended family, which includes estranged husband Ving Rhames and adult children Mekhi Phifer, Kimberly Elise, Tichina Arnold, and Anika Noni Rose. What could be an excessive melodrama (this family goes through EVERY dramatic adult situation possible) is highly elevated by the cast. Led by Whoopi, they give strong performances across the board and create realistic behaviors and reactions to the over-the-top storytelling. It results in a heartfelt tale of family.