I’ve been away from the cinema for a couple of weeks as I worked on my roller skating. Time to get back to the movies.

Anatomy Of A Fall is thriller devoid of thrills

The film begins at a secluded home in the French Alps where a man falls out of an attic window and dies.  Was he pushed by his wife or was it simply an accident?  If this were a Dateline Mystery we would cue Keith Morrison’s iconic voice and he would expertly guide us through every intricacy of the case.  The twist and turns would have us on the edge of our seat for two hours.  Sadly, this isn’t a Dateline (or even a thriller,) and that is where this movie fails for me.  The thriller genre implies that a movie has suspense, surprise and intensity, all of which are lacking from this film.  The detective work has no clever deduction and mystery while the courtroom scenes add little drama and intensity to plot.  The movie drags the viewer through a monotonous journey without a Primal Fear ending that would have least given the story the payoff it sorely needed.  Granted Anatomy Of A Fall won the Palme d’Or for Director Justine Triet and Sandra Huller gave the performance of the year as both grieving wife and suspect No 1.  Nevertheless, regardless of the accolades this film is simply boring.

Maestro hit all the wrong notes

Upon seeing the commercial for Bradly Copper’s latest directorial endeavour I expected an epic biography encapsulated within a romantic story.  I’ll be honest, I know virtually nothing about conductor/composer Leonard Bernstein.  After viewing Maestro I found I still know nothing about conductor/composer Leonard Bernstein.  I am not sure what story Cooper was trying to tell.  Cooper fails to focus on Bernstein’s rise to fame while instead choosing to repeatedly show us what an awful man he was.  Maestro is not a love story regardless of the ads and Cooper is not able to convince us that Leonard Bernstein and his wife, played by Carey Mulligan, have any tenderness for one another.  For the entire film Bernstein has multiple affairs, flaunts his boyfriends in front of his wife and children and is a complete cad.  We never learn about Bernstein’s genius and true insights.  Moreover, the only brilliance in this movie is Carey Mulligans’ performance, which will assuredly garner her an Academy Award nomination.  The way in which her carefree spirit and hopefulness is destroyed is a heartbreaking odyssey that must be witnessed firsthand.  Save yourself the price of admission at the TIFF Lightbox and wait for Maestro’s release on Netflix.   

Next Week: Silent Night and my Classic Holiday Movie Picks