[NoHo Arts District, CA] – Mike Peros reviews Jay Kelly, The Housemaid, and Is This Thing On?, three year-end film releases competing for attention as they head to theaters and streaming.
Every December, there is this flurry of releases, some good, some not-so-good, and all eventually heading for a home on a streamer—some sooner than later. These are just a few of the recent films vying for your attention, and I’m happy to say that they’re all worthwhile.
Jay Kelly
Noah Baumbach’s latest, Jay Kelly (with script by Baumbach and Emily Mortimer) stars George Clooney as your classic example of a big-time movie star who has the audience in the palm of his hands, but his loved ones, a little less so. Why, you may ask? Would it surprise you to learn that despite his immense personal charm, he can be a little needy, clueless, and insensitive? (If this surprises you…then I’m surprised). The plot has Jay first declining a lifetime award (to be given in Tuscany), then changing his mind in order to seek out his Europe-bound daughter. Interspersed with Jay’s journey (and long-suffering manager Adam Sandler’s attempts to rein Jay in—and not alienate his own family) are some flashbacks to some not-so-nice moments in Jay’s personal life—some involving friends and former friends, and one concerning his daughter. These flashbacks are well-integrated and lead to the saddest moment in the film, where we (and Jay) realize he has no one (besides his manager) who will attend his lifetime award ceremony. If I’m making this sound bleak—well, some of it is, but it’s also entertaining, with Clooney’s star power and willingness to play flawed characters serving him well, and both Laura Dern and Adam Sandler offer exceptional support as employees in various stages of trying to break away from themselves.
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The Housemaid
The Housemaid is a very good popcorn movie (worth a large popcorn, though I opted for the medium—AMC theaters doesn’t offer a “small). Director Paul Feig and screenwriter Rebecca Sonnenshine (from Frieda McFadden’s bestseller) have crafted a nifty little thriller in which a young woman who desperately needs a job (Sydney Sweeney) finds a seemingly great housekeeping/nanny gig with a rich, beautiful couple (Amanda Seyfried, Brandon Sklenar), and everything is perfect—until it isn’t. In fact, things start to go awry rather quickly (enough to make you ask why nanny Sweeney doesn’t seek an alternate gig—an explanation is offered, but let’s face it, if she quits, the movie is over). Luckily, events move swiftly so that the viewer (and Sydney) is left a little off-balance, and when the kickers come…you may be a tad surprised. In any case, both actresses do fine work, Brandon Sklenar is good as the husband (some critics have knocked him, but he does what he has to do), and there’s a satisfying wrap-up.
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Is This Thing On?
Is This Thing On? stars Will Arnett and Laura Dern as a couple whose marriage is going down the tubes (actually, as the movie begins, they’ve decided to separate). One night, in need of a drink, Arnett ventures into a Greenwich Village comedy club’s open mike night, where he finds he can get a free drink by putting his name on the list. After an extremely shaky start (having done stand-up for a short while, I can tell you, it ain’t as easy as you think), Arnett likes the chance to speak his mind (to an appreciative audience) and returns again and again. In the meantime, spouse Dern is navigating her own second act, one that might include her volleyball abilities (which she abandoned after settling into marriage). They also have a set of “couples” friends in various stages of contentment (among them Bradley Cooper, who also directed and co-wrote, along with Arnett and Mark Chappell), Andra Day, and Sean Hayes. Are those unions bound to continue? Might Dern and Arnett, more alive apart than they were together, find their way back to togetherness. You’ll probably figure out the resolution long before the characters do, but there is so much to like about this film. Director/writer Cooper captures the atmosphere and the friendly collegial competition/support among Arnett’s comedian friends (it helps that Amy Sedaris plays the booker at the Comedy Cellar, and there are other recognizable comedians as well). The cast is uniformly excellent, with the best moment belonging to Dern, and her beautifully modulated reaction to something she sees while out on a date (played by Peyton Manning). See Is This Thing On? in theaters; it’s well worth it.
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*****
Want more TV and movie reviews? Check out Mike Peros’ review on Hamnet, Train Dreams, Nouvelle Vague>>