[NoHo Arts District, CA] – In this week’s Movie and TV review blog,Mike Peros reviews Send Help and Wuthering Heights.
Send Help
Director Sam Raimi’s latest, Send Help, is proof indeed that terrific films can be released in January (albeit the end of January). Bolstered by terrific performances from Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien (front and center for most of the film), and a witty, inventive script from Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, Raimi’s film is a fast-paced, funny, altogether entertaining thrill ride. McAdams is Linda, an essential member of a corporate team who has just been bypassed for a promotion after putting off the new CEO, the slimy, sleazy Bradley (O’Brien) with an ill-timed welcome and a persistent sliver of tuna fish. Though he wants to keep Linda far away from him, Bradley is persuaded to use her (and her knowledge) on a business trip to Thailand, and wouldn’t you know, the plane goes down (both a harrowing and amusing sequence), leaving Bradley and Linda the sole survivors, stranded on a remote, deserted island.
It is on this island where Linda, a Survivor devotee, quickly shows Bradley who’s the boss, though he’s not initially receptive—despite her having saved his life, and keeping him fed and sheltered. And where Send Help really works is how it keeps you guessing as to where it’s going to go, in terms of the contentious, evolving relationship and power dynamics between Linda and Bradley, the prospects of rescue (and their differing attitudes toward this), and with whom does your sympathy lie? Suffice to say, there are secrets revealed, some bad behavior on both sides, and a series of (for the most part) credible twists, leading to a surprising, satisfying climax and denouement. Both McAdams and O’Brien are superb, each supplying humor and a level of complexity to their characterizations, and the film is both suspenseful and occasionally shocking. Best to see it in a theater, along with other folks who want to be entertained, in the best possible way.
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Wuthering Heights
Writer/director Emerald Fennell has delivered a new version of Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as that star-crossed pair, Cathy and Heathcliff, and…I wasn’t bored. In fact, it even has one or two moments, some of them supplied by Martin Clunes (of Doc Martin fame), devouring his role as Cathy’s father/Heathcliff’s erstwhile tormentor. However, if you’re looking for a faithful adaptation of Emily Bronte’s classic novel—or one that is faithful to the spirit of the book—look elsewhere. This is a streamlined, slimmed-down, stripped-down version of the book’s first half that takes considerable liberties with characters’ actions and motivations. (Without spoiling things, I give you the characters of Cathy’s confidant Nellie, and Isabella, Edgar’s “ward”—though Hong Chau and Alison Oliver acquit themselves well, many of their characters’ actions have been created for this film.) Cathy and Heathcliff are still selfish, spiteful (as adults), and obsessed with each other, and their actions still have the effect of conferring dismay and doom to each other and to all who come their way. (They do receive some assistance in that regard—you’ll see, or maybe you won’t.) I will say this, though—there is a montage of Cathy and Heathcliff’s assignations that had me thinking of Seinfeld, and Elaine and Puddy’s repeated hook-ups after she has bet Jerry that she is done with Puddy. And I don’t think that was the intended impact. Wuthering Heights is currently in theaters—but no need to hurry, as it withers more than it wuthers.
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****
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