[NoHo Arts District, CA] – This month’s movie and TV reviews of Babygirl and Wicked: Part One.
A few weeks ago, I watched a few episodes of a one-season sitcom from the mid-1960s called My Living Doll. The premise is that lifelike robot Julie Newmar (Catwoman in the Batman series) has been left by her creator with bachelor Robert Cummings. At first Cummings is reluctant to keep her, until he decides he is going to turn this robot into the ‘ideal woman’: one who follows orders and keeps her mouth shut. Nicole Kidman’s current movie, Babygirl, is about a married CEO of a tech company who is dissatisfied with her sex life with husband Antonio Banderas. As a result (partially), she enters into a dangerous relationship with her intern (Harris Dickinson) who demands that she be submissive and docile (kind of like what Cummings expected of Newmar—only that was in a mediocre 60s sitcom and here the concept is being passed off as a daring work of art and…feminism?). The movie is being hailed as being funny, edgy, provocative—I felt like leaving around the time that Kidman’s character was willingly acting like a trained dog and licking milk from a saucer.
Apparently, I’m in the minority because Babygirl has been getting some decent reviews and the actress herself has been nominated for a few awards (the Academy nominations were not announced as of “press time”). Hallina Reijn wrote and directed, but the film subjects Kidman to so many improbable and demeaning situations that I wonder what the reviews would have been if the writer/director had been a man. There are some good supporting performances and moments (courtesy of Banderas as the affectionate and bewildered husband, and Sophie Wilde as Kidman’s observant, ambitious assistant). However, the character of Kidman’s intern (Harris Dickinson) is ill-drawn and unsympathetic, so much of the time is spent wondering why Kidman’s character consents to all this—particularly as both he and she know that once this relationship begins, the intern may “have all the power.” This is (literally) an unbelievable film that wants to be taken very seriously, but lacks gravitas and coherence.” The big takeaway is (spoiler alert) if you have a troubled marriage and get into a relationship with someone who treats you like a dog, all it takes is one confrontation among the wife, husband, and lover for everything to turn out well—including an improved sex life with the hubby.
I liked Wicked (or Wicked: Part One). I wasn’t planning to, especially since I had heard that the movie was going to consist of an elongated, protracted Act One of the stage hit, and I feared that more would be too much. However, I was pleasantly surprised: Wicked, directed by John Chu is a very entertaining adaptation. By now, you know the plot provides the backstory/prequel for The Wizard of Oz, with Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba (an outcast, especially because of her green skin) and Ariana Grande’s Glinda (lovely and calculating) vying for attention at Sorcery School—in a magical land where animals talk and interact with people until…There are lots of meanings and undercurrents here (some subtle, some not), and everyone wants to get to Oz to have an audience with the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum). And sure, some of the numbers are even more elaborate (and allow for cameos from the original Broadway cast members Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth), some backstories have been more fleshed out, and one or two songs have been added. But this Wicked, directed by John Chu is great to look at and listen to. The songs (by John Powell and Stephen Schwartz) are melodic and catchy, the screenplay is literate and funny—and the performances are top-notch. There has been a lot of (deserved) praise for Cynthia Erivo, and she is magnetic and powerful and funny—but Ariana Grande also deserves high praise, giving a lot of depth to someone who is presumably of shallow character. The scenes between the two are beautifully done, both the “straight” scenes and the musical performances. And though it was a trifle long, this viewer enjoyed the experience and will probably go back for Part Two (For Good) when it’s released this fall. (Although why they have to wait that long privately irks me, but thats another story.)