My take on more of what I have seen on screens large and small lately. (Titles are hyperlinked to their trailers.)
PEAK SEASON offers a soft slice of reality as two wildly different people who are either unavailable or unlikely to commit to a romantic relationship– connect. It happens unexpectedly but for the conventions of filmmaking which throw them together. Amy (Claudia Restrepo) and Max (Ben Coleman) an upwardly mobile, engaged New York couple, are on vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. When work suddenly calls Max back to the city, Amy is left to vacation alone and keeps an appointment to meet up with Loren (Derrick Joseph DeBlasis) a fishing and wilderness guide. Together they plunge into the wild and end up fishing for things neither one thought they were looking for.
It all unfolds rather quietly but spectacularly against a simply gorgeous landscape. Smoldering sparks slowly ignite lines of dialogue remarkable for their naturalness. This is how real people talk and behave. We are charmed by their subtle interaction which broaches life’s everyday complexities: who we are, what we want, how to reconcile wanting two different things at once. It all sneaks up on them and us until the end when we are left wondering where the trail leads next? Great conversation starter– or ender– if you’re on a date. Now Streaming.
HIS THREE DAUGHTERS features two (out of three )excellent performances, is too stagey by half, but succeeds in its close observation of three distinct characters on different branches of the same family tree. Purportedly a gloss on King Lear, the movie features three daughters played by Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, and Elizabeth Olsen who sit at the bedside of their adored dying father, trying to resurrect their dormant sibling relationship. The action takes place in a tight NYC apartment and one park bench where we and one of the sisters go out to smoke away the tension.
Coon overacts as controlling eldest sister Katie, sniping relentlessly at youngest sister Rachel who’s been at home watching over dad before the other two swoop in to save the day. Natasha Lyonne’s Rachel is red-haired and wild-eyed, never without a joint, and whose eyebrows twitch at the barest whiff of BS. Her line readings and facial expressions are off the charts hysterical. Elizabeth Olsen as middle sister Christina is the even-tempered peacemaker, a sweet soul who’s just blown in from California on a yoga mat and a smile. The dynamics are fraught and funny, painful and wisely observed as the thee wade into a thicket of anger, resentment, and hurt trying to repair decades old fissures that lead to earthquakes large and small.
The last scene–a forced and sentimental denouement with its labored blocking – didn’t work for me. But overall the movie tells it like it is about families; they’re all unique and messy, requiring vigilance and care if we are to survive. Now Streaming on Netflix.
DINDIN which was shot during the pandemic in Stow, Mass, has just been released on demand. The movie is based on a play by Brenda Withers who co-stars with Cape Cod’s Harbor Stage Company co-founders Jonathan Fielding, Stacy Fischer, and producer/director Robert Knopf. A play is a play, and a movie is a movie; sometimes never the twain shall meet. Here they are like estranged cousins at a dinner party on a stormy night. Tension rise out of the gate, subtext instantly becomes text, and all hell breaks loose between the main course and dessert.
I love the premise and so wanted to like this local effort. I have sat through the occasional dinner party where someone either stormed out, got stupid drunk, or said something that landed like a turd on the table. I confess I find this entertaining and hilarious, usually in hindsight, and especially if it takes me by surprise.
“Dindin”offers no such delectable surprises or believable moments, though it promises a mystery and even murder. There is no mystery and every frame is claustrophobic. Who are these people? I had no idea except that they are all unlikeable from the get go. The acting is stagey, pacing and direction sluggish, the lighting dreary. It might have been fun to watch these characters gradually drop their social masks and reveal themselves, but they have brought no masks to the table. Dramatically inert, the film slogs to a predictable, awkwardly-staged, and damp conclusion. On Amazon Prime and Apple TV+
