An inspirational drama and an Oscar nominee from Italy for best international feature top our list of what to watch this week. And if you’re in the mood for ridiculousness, how about a B&W silent film with actors in beaver costumes running about in the snow?
Yes, you read that right.
Here’s our roundup.
“Ordinary Angels”: Jon Gunn’s faith-based soul quencher feels almost heaven-sent, gracing us — just when we need it — with an uplifting, truth-based story that promotes compassion and encourages us to extend a helping hand to strangers in need. A message that is indeed worth heeding.
Set in 1994 Louisville, Kentucky, the dollop of inspiration succeeds because of its sterling screenplay by actor Meg Tilly and Kelly Fremon Craig (writer and director of “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret”) and because of its casting.
From the instant Oscar winner Hilary Swank appears and starts to hammer down shot after shot in a bar, she becomes flamboyant mess Sharon, an alcoholic in dire need of treatment. For the most part, the tenacious hairdresser shrugs off AA and settles on leading an aimless life. Then she reads a newspaper article about the plight of taciturn hunk Ed (“Reacher’s” Alan Ritchson, who will break your heart), a low-wage roofer and widower whose daughter is critically ill and needs a liver transplant. Plucky Sharon puts on her flashy high heels and then hoofs it all over town to raise funds.
In a lesser, more reductive Hollywood exercise, these two very different characters would eventually surrender, cooing, into each other’s arms and live happily after. Not so here. “Ordinary Angels” avoids getting stuck in an obvious spin cycle, even if it is too long. It’s dedicated instead to telling a do-good story about two lost souls who learn to understand and appreciate each other while the community around them comes together to achieve something that goes beyond their individual needs. This one earns its wings. Details: 3 stars out of 4; in theaters Feb. 23.
“Io Capitano”: Italy’s 2024 Oscar entry for best international feature made the Top 5 cut, and it’s easy to see why. Director Matteo Garrone’s award winner (it nabbed best director and best actor honors at the Venice Film Festival) is a tough but rewarding watch and unites stark realism with magical storytelling to chart the perilous journey of two Senegalese cousins – 16-year-old Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall). Possessed with overly optimistic notions of what will await them in Europe along with a minimal but decent amount of cash, the duo become easy targets for opportunists, and barely survive a horrific stint in a North African prison after their arduous trek through the Sahara desert. Garrone is one of Italy’s finest if not one of its bleakest filmmakers (2008’s “Gomorrah,” 2018’s “Dogman” prove it) but he tempers his bummer nature this time with shards of hope and humanity. It’s certain to move you to tears and make you wonder why Sarr, who’s making his acting debut, never got brought up in the Oscar race. It’s an incredible performance that sweats with the desperation of a refugee thrust into unfathomable situations, including being responsible for a boat filled with refugees. Details: 3½ stars; in theaters Feb. 23.
“Drive-Away Dolls”: There’s a very funny film hiding inside of Ethan Coen’s slapstick road pic, a raunchy homage to B movies. But that desirous result eludes screenwriters Coen and Tricia Cooke. The culprit is a half-baked screenplay that plays it too loose and falls short of being consistently funny. Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan portray odd-couple besties, both lesbians, who hit the road to Tallahassee, Florida, for a family visit. Little do they know that a two-pack of stooge-like heavies — overseen by The Chief (Colman Domingo) — are after what’s stored in their car’s trunk. That would be a case with a secret stash (when revealed what’s inside, it is funny). The leads work overtime to make this concept fly and sometimes overstrain themselves (Qualley’s accent gets grating). Beanie Feldstein swoops in to steal the film, playing a cop and jilted lover of Qualley’s character Jamie, but even her presence isn’t capitalized upon. A more on-point screenplay would have helped, so would have a commitment to give the actors, including Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal, who appear briefly, more to do. Details: 1½ stars; in theaters Feb. 23.
“Hundreds of Beavers”: There’s an art to playing it carefree and silly, and to sustaining that rampant goofiness for an entire film. This second collaboration from co-screenwriter, director/editor Mike Cheslik and hilarious star/cowriter Ryland Brickson Cole Tews (their first was 2018’s “Lake Michigan Monster”) consistently sticks its madcap comedic landing. The duo have created another midnight movie in the making, a B&W silent effort loaded with laughs and which feels like it’s on a sugar high. The screenwriting duo combine the slapstick comedy of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplain with the zany antics of Road Runner and Bugs Bunny cartoons in a 19th-century cracked fable about a cider entrepreneur turned furrier trying to outsmart a pack of much brighter beavers and rabbits. Shot in Wisconsin and Michigan and featuring actors dressed up like beavers and other critters who chase around through the snow, “Hundreds of Beavers” is fueled by a delirious spirit that reminded me sometimes of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” and that’s a high compliment indeed. Details: 3 stars; opens Feb. 23 at the Balboa Theater in San Francisco.
“Lovely, Dark, and Deep”: A John Muir quote — “And into the forest I go. To lose my mind and find my soul” — sets the ominous tone for writer/director Tessa Sutherland’s surreal outdoor horror film, an effective chiller that never overstays its welcome and gets a bit viscous at times. A sense of unease broadens into outright horror when park ranger Lennon (Georgina Campbell of “Barbarian”) ventures to the backcountry on an assignment to track down missing hikers — an abnormally high number of vanishings. Of course, something evil and unnatural is going down in those creepy but beautiful woods, a discovery that Lennon makes in and around her lone tent camp. Sutherland’s blood-chiller repurposes not only Muir’s words but the woods themselves. By its final third, this dark story will have sunk its gnarled roots deep into your psyche and settled into your nightmares. Details: 3 stars; available on Video on Demand Feb. 22.
Find of the Week
“Lie With Me”: Anyone who’s read Philippe Besson’s elegant 2019 award-winning novel will know it’s best to bring hankies to see Olivier Peyon’s cinematic adaptation. As transcendent as it is passionate, this gorgeous adaptation flips between two different time periods — the ‘80s and the present: The former when successful novelist Stéphane Belcourt (Guillaume de Tonquédec) returns after more than two decades away to his French hometown where he connects with a younger man (Victor Belmondo) tied to his past. Stéphane’s arrival flashes him back to a more exuberant, younger self (Jérémy Gillet) who is falling hopelessly in love with farm-boy Thomas (Julien de Saint Jean). Reflective, sensual and filled with tender performances, particularly from de Saint Jean, it tells a powerful story of longing and loss. Details: 3 stars; available to rent now on multiple platforms.
Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.
