The Week That Was
Every once in a while, a viewing week comes along to keep reviewers humble. The recent run of riff-raff does, however, make one fortunate to have first-time feature director Michael Sarnoski’s Pig, though the extent to which one very good Nicolas Cage performance can prompt the critical industrial complex to equate it with the second coming is a bit mystifying.
While it’s encouraging to see the actor subtly convey complex emotions as opposed to going “full-tilt Cage” — as he did in Mandy, Colour Out of Space, and numerous debt-paying, direct-to-VOD titles over the past decade — the filmmaking surrounding the tale of his off-the-grid Oregon man on a quest to retrieve his stolen truffle pig is pedestrian at best. Supporting performances by Adam Arkin and Alex Wolff as competing father-son truffle agents are likewise forgettable, though Cage’s reserved turn and the intriguing John Wick Lite narrative are enough to sustain viewer engagement.
Grade: B-minus. Rated R. Now playing at Carolina Cinemark
(Photo: Neon)
Pig looks like Casablanca next to Space Jam: A New Legacy, an uninspired mashup of Looney Toons and Steven Spielberg’s Hook and Ready Player One, enacted by an NBA legend who can’t act (LeBron James, natch), and which was likely written and possibly even made by an algorithm — maybe even the one played by an overqualified Don Cheadle.
The “challenge” of a basketball game that this “villain” puts James through as revenge for the athlete “insulting” its accidentally (?) meta digitized content plan involving the widespread use of James’ likeness is apparently modeled on Calvinball from Calvin and Hobbes, where the rules keep changing and the stakes keep getting diluted.
But isn’t it just a critic-proof kids movie? If that’s the case, what’s the rationale for director Malcolm D. Lee and his team of six screenwriters (a number that seems low) prominently featuring characters from Warner Bros.’ R-rated film and TV-MA catalog? Children won’t recognize the nun from Ken Russell’s The Devils or the white walkers from Game of Thrones, and will be similarly lost when thrust into scenes from Mad Max: Fury Road and The Matrix.
Does that mean seeds are being planted for these young viewers to one day check out these mature offerings, or are the references here to entertain adults after all? If I thought Lee, James, and their accomplices gave a damn about the question, I might give a damn about their answer.
Grade: D-minus. Rated PG. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Biltmore Grande, and Carolina Cinemark, and available to stream via HBO Max through Aug. 15
(Photo: Warner Bros.)
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions employs a similar breakneck pace as the Space Jam sequel, tearing through its string of deadly obstacles as Zoey (Taylor Russell) and Ben (Logan Miller), survivors from director Adam Robitel’s series predecessor, attempt to live through the latest sequence of sadistic “breakout” scenarios, designed for the amusement of unseen, wealthy elites viewing at home.
(Like us! In a critique of violent movies? Maybe? Eh, not likely.)
This time, the new age gladiators are competing alongside four fellow past winners, all of whom wind up in the same booby-trapped NYC subway car for reasons that are never explained. While the experienced nature of these champions is a partial explanation for the ease with which they navigate (and narrate, in wildly confident detail) the challenges at hand, the training-wheels path significantly dampens what should be a terrifying set of circumstances.
The reason for this relative lack of resistance is meant to serve as the film’s “big twist” and hype up viewers for a third installment, but its implementation is just as rushed and bungled as the rest of the film. Still, for viewers who crave the manipulation of the Saw movies without the grisly violence, this Diet Saw is for you!
Grade: C-minus. Rated PG-13. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Biltmore Grande, and Carolina Cinemark
(Photo: Columbia Pictures)
Operating on its own special plane of awkwardness is Joe Bell, a fact-based, would-be emotional drama that negates a strong turn by Reid Miller as Jadin Bell — eldest son of the titular Oregon man (Mark Wahlberg) — who accompanies his father on a cross-country trek to raise awareness about the dangers of bullying.
The usually reliable screenwriting team of Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana (Brokeback Mountain) takes certain risks with the story that might have paid off in more imaginative hands than those of director Reinaldo Marcus Green (Monsters and Men). But with a poorly cast Wahlberg struggling to pull off working class relatability and a pair of jaw-dropping twists that land with horrible thuds, the Bell family is disrespected, as is McMurtry’s legacy.
Grade: D-plus. Rated R. Starts July 23 at Biltmore Grande
(Photo: Roadside Attractions)
After all those misfires, it was a pleasure to rebound with Val, a revealing and expertly crafted bio-doc that makes one appreciate Val Kilmer as an actor and, more importantly, a person. A dogged chronicler of his life, Kilmer gifts viewers — and directors Ting Poo and Leo Scott — with this wealth of video recordings, and the filmmakers make good on this trust, assembling the archives and mixing in recent footage to form a well-rounded portrait.
Just as fascinating is the extent to which Val resembles Steve James’ Life Itself, down to Kilmer’s and Roger Ebert’s similar facial appearances post-throat-cancer treatments. Unlike Ebert, Kilmer isn’t near death, and his attitude is far more positive and indicative of the years he likely has ahead, which grants the film a welcome optimism.
Though these remaining years won’t be spent as he once thought, Kilmer has found artistic purpose elsewhere in life in ways that harken back to his pre-Hollywood goals, which are presented alongside decades-old insights of famous productions, ranging from the thrills of Top Gun to the lack of fulfillment of Batman Forever to the mind-numbing frustrations of The Island of Dr. Moreau. It’s all tied together by poignant narration written by Kilmer and performed by his soundalike son Jack, whose own star is likely to rise after this lovely experience.
Grade: A-minus. Rated R. Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video starting Aug. 6
(Photo: Amazon Studios)
