AND AWAY WE GO // A FILM REVIEW OF "FRENCH EXIT"

BY MATEO MORENO

(Editors note: This review was previously published on October 17th, 2020 as it played in the 2020 New York Film Festival. It is being reprinted here for the Theatrical release)

Tales of the rich are notoriously ripe for satire, especially on the stage and screen. In the 90's, no one brought the light the absurd lives of the wealthy while still getting us to care about some of them more than Wilt Stillman. Cross him with a dash of Wes Anderson and you'll start to get a feel for director Azazel Jacobs vision for FRENCH EXIT, a strange, odd and very funny riff on someone in that 1.0%. It's also a hell of a showcase for Michelle Pfeiffer, who turns in one of the best performances of her career. She plays Frances Price, a woman who has become filthy rich through a marriage that wasn't quite the fairy tale live. Though now, she's informed that she has exhausted her inheritance and has no money left. Her accountant suggests the only thing she can do is to sell her assets and take the cash. So that's exactly what she does, and tell her only son Malcolm (Lucas Hedges) that they're moving to Paris. Tomorrow.

Malcolm, for his part, seems stuck in an arrested development. At least in his relationship. His girlfriend Susan (Imogen Potts) is unsure why Malcolm won't tell his Mother about their relationship. He claims that she won't approve, but largely doesn't seem to have the nerve, or want the nerve, to tell her. Susan is confused why he would give up everything and just head to Paris for a woman who doesn't really care too much for her. But Malcolm doesn't quite know how to break the cycle of being a spectator of his own life and heads off with his mother to the city of lights. From there, things get stranger and stranger, from a French private eye's deadpan delivery, a medium who correctly predicts the death of a man while on a transatlantic boat ride, a "fan" of Frances in desperate need of a friend, and a talking cat, who may be the spirit of Frances' dead husband (voiced by Tracy Letts).

Based on his own novel, screenwriter Patrick DeWitt's script is almost magically witty. It's a peek inside the minds of some truly bizarre people, who spend beyond their means and, in Frances case, don't give a damn about anyone's rules. She is a fascinating character and Pfeiffer nails every moment. Her relationship with her son is central to the film, and Hedges supplies a quiet and assured performance, resentful of his mother but also joyful of the attention he know receives (something that didn't happen until his father had passed). They also are a joy to watch embrace the stranger elements of the film and seem to control every breath themselves. The rest of the ensemble cast bring wonderful moments to the proceedings as this strange bird of a film, with its assured direction by Jacobs and bitterly comic words by DeWitt, sweeps us up completely into its madness.

GRADE: A-

BASED ON THE NOVEL AND ADAPTED BY Patrick DeWitt DIRECTED BY Azazel Jacobs STARRING Michelle Pfeiffer, Lucas Hedges, Tracy Letts, Valerie Mahaffey, Susan Coyne, Imogen Poots, Danielle Macdonald, Isaach De Bankolé, Daniel di Tomasso. Now playing in Select Cinemas in NY and LA. Opens nationwide on April 2nd. For more info: http://tickets.frenchexitmovie.com/

WONDER AS I WANDER // A FILM REVIEW OF "KNIGHT OF CUPS"

BY MATEO MORENO

How you feel about a certain director can often either push you towards a film or shove you away. For example, Quentin Tarantino's films are famously bloody and talkative, pop culture references usually flying by. That might make your ears perk up or you could slink away and have none of it. Kevin Smith has a very particular (and dedicated) fan base. Same goes for Spike Lee. Lee's fans will flock to his films no matter if he's making a big budget crowd pleaser (Inside Man) or a well-crafted small film that hardly anyone sees (last year’s poignant Shi-Raq). Terrence Malick is most DEFINITELY a man who, if you know his name, you already have an opinion of the film going in. Which is both good and bad. Even when I haven't enjoyed his films, I find most of them to be fascinating, or at the very least, never dull. His latest film KNIGHT OF CUPS, is a wandering lush kaleidoscope of a mess. It's also beautiful and serene.

Christian Bale stars as Rick, a screenwriter whose work has made him very wealthy, and very lonely. There isn't much "plot" to speak of. Rick really just wanders from moment to moment, and we watch it as if it were a dream. Often if feels very much like a dream, a dream Rick is piecing together without searching for an answer. He wanders through back studio lots, though his flowing apartment, beaches, pools, Hollywood Parties (with many wordless cameos) and goes through several relationships that seem both romantic and pure and destructively bad (Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, and Imogen Potts fill in a few of them). His brother is played by Wes Bentley who seems to live for the moment and his father is played by Brian Dennehy, a disapproving figure to be sure.

The cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki (Gravity, The Revenant) is beautifully picturesque and it does have a sweeping beauty to it. And it does truly grab you in moments. And though Malik's scripts aren't usually the reason people head towards him, there doesn't seem to be one at all here, so it wanders forever, never finding ground to regroup or a character to emotionalize. Which could be his intention, but if it is, it leaves the entire thing feeling a bit soulless. It's a fever dream to both marvel at and long for more at the same time. If only Malik would have grounded himself in a rich plotline here to match his own delight of roaming. There is no doubt, however, of it's beauty of the scenery and its affect on the viewer. That being said, I can always hope for a richer dream someday.

MATEO'S GRADE: B

Written and Directed by Terrence Malick Starring: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, Brian Dennehy, Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto, Wes Bentley, Isabel Lucas, Teresa Palmer, Imogen Potts, Cherry Jones. Now playing in Limited Release.

MATEO MORENO is an actor, writer, and a playwright. His plays Happily After Tonight, Bohemian Valentine, & Within Our Walls have been produced in NY and beyond (TBG Theatre, NY International Fringe Festival, Planet Connections Festivity, Boomerang Theatre, and FOHS Theatre). He most recently co-stared in the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway play City of Glass at The New Ohio Theatre. Mateo is also part of Athena Theatre's 2016 Playwrighting Group. He lives in Brooklyn.