Movies, Films & Flix

Quick Thoughts

• Grade – B+
• Director Laura Piani has crafted an unabashed romantic comedy that features all the familiar tropes (dancing, karaoke, love triangles, writing, lies, sex, bookstores, meet cutes), but still manages to feel fresh and likable
• Camille Rutherford is perfection
• The 98 minutes fly by
• Between Rye Lane, Anyone But You, Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, Palm Springs, The Half of It, I Want You Back, and Fire Island, rom-coms are in a good place.

The neat thing about Jane Austen Wrecked My Life is that it knows it’s a rom-com and doesn’t shy away from genre tropes or characteristics. Director/writer Laura Piani set out to make an unabashed rom-com and the result is a warm, funny and literate experience. I’ve always been a fan of rom-coms and I love when they lean into the genre and manage to make familiar tropes feel fresh. Last year I got tasked with the enviable job of analyzing 86 R-rated romantic comedies to figure out the perfect R-rated rom-com. During the research, I created a list of 11 tropes and characteristics that appear in most of the films (lies, sex, love triangles, singing, dancing, books) – and learned that on average, each of the 86 films features eight of the tropes/characteristics. This means that no matter how great (Rye Lane, Grosse Pointe Blank), or terrible (Good Luck Chuck, My Best Friend’s Girlfriend), rom-coms mostly stick to a playbook. 

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life is an example of a rom-com that leans into tropes successfully to create a fresh and familiar experience. The film revolves around a bookseller named Agathe Robinson (Camille Rutherford) who gets herself invited to a Jane Austin writers’ residency after a wildly successful drunken writing session. After years of conceiving and abandoning book ideas, the self-described “Palme d’Or of losers” finds the courage to leave her home in France and travel to a sprawling English estate where she’ll hopefully find inspiration on the grounds that Jane Austen once walked on. Since it’s a rom-com, she doesn’t write much and instead, she gets drunk, sings karaoke, and pukes on the shoes of a handsome man named Oliver (Charlie Anson). Agathe is an interesting character in that she’s quick-witted and kind but also considers herself to be a genuine imposter (with imposter syndrome) and she compares herself to Anne Elliot, the “spinster” character from Persuasion. Agathe is haunted by a car accident that killed both her parents and refuses to drive or leave her town. This is why her best friend Félix (Pablo Pauly) drives her to the France to England ferry, and before she leaves, they share a kiss. What’s great about Jane Austen Wrecked My Life is that minutes after Agathe and Félix kiss she comes across the handsome Oliver, and the love triangle commences! I won’t spoil the rest, just know that a lot of rom-com shenanigans happen on the estate. 

In an interview with IndieWire, Piani stated “I wanted to make a comedy about writing and the absurdity and the difficulty of what it means to write when everything in life pushes you to not do that and to do something else, because it’s the hardest thing in the world.” I’ve never sold a screenplay or published a book (working on it though! – it’s taking a while), but I completely understand what Piani is saying. Writing is tough, but it’s films like this that motivate me to find my “ruins.” Oddly enough, a viewing of the rom-com Forgetting Sarah Marshall motivated me to start writing in 2008, and it led me on an interesting 17-year journey.

Final thoughts – Jane Austen Wrecked My Life is wonderful. Watch it!

Quick thoughts

1. Check out the Dogma website to learn more about the tour and where to watch it.
2. Grade – A 
3. It holds up. The comedy, ideas and performances still feel fresh and hilarious.
4. Linda Fiorentino is wonderful.
5. Jason Mewes and Alan Rickman are the MVPS. 
6. Affleck and Damon are great together.
7. For a wildly profane film, it’s loaded with excellent ideas.

One of my favorite all-time movie-going experiences happened in 1999 at an AMC theater in St. Petersburg, Florida. Watching Dogma in a packed theater was electric because everyone was excited to see what Kevin Smith’s “blasphemous” film was all about. All we knew was that controversies delayed the film’s release for close to a year and it featured Matt Damon, Alan Rickman, Ben Affleck, Linda Fiorentino, Chris Rock, George Carlin, Salma Hayek, Jason Lee, and Alanis Morisette in various roles. Aside from a few movie critics, no one had watched Dogma, but the idea of it inspired people to picket the film and write hate mail to Disney, the parent company of Miramax — the company that planned on releasing it. While watching the movie I distinctly remember thinking that the conversations started by the 128-minute film could be really important (I also thought the ”Knocks strong odors out” bit was hilarious). Dogma is an intelligent movie that is deeply rooted in faith, but it also questions organized religion in ways nobody was expecting. For instance, I remember perking up when Rufus (Chris Rock) says (about Jesus) “He still digs humanity, but it bothers Him to see the sh** that gets carried out in His name — wars, bigotry, televangelism. But especially the factioning of all the religions. He said humanity took a good idea and, like always, built a belief structure on it.” The line is interesting and can be explored by Christians and non-Christians who are looking to talk about Christianity and its many branches. 

Dogma revolves around two exiled angels (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon) discovering a loophole (created by the Catholic Church) that will get them back into heaven — and out of Wisconsin. All they have to do is travel to New Jersey so they can enter a church and receive a plenary indulgence which will forgive their sins. On paper, the loophole is just a loophole, but if the two angels get back into heaven it will nullify all existence by disproving God’s omnipotence. Since God can’t be bothered to make the trip to New Jersey, her messenger Metatron (Alan Rickman) travels to Illinois and tasks an abortion clinic worker named Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) with the unenviable job of stopping the angels from destroying the world. In her quest to New Jersey, she meets two prophets (Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes), the 13th prophet (Chris Rock) and Serendipity (Salma Hayek), who help her avoid murderous poop monsters and hockey goons (with great shirts) sent to earth by Azrael (Jason Lee).

At its core, Dogma is a road trip comedy that blends heady themes with hundreds of swear words, countless sexual advances and mass murder. It’s a lot, and Smith admits that he could never replicate it because he was a “brave motherf***er” back in the 1990s. The reason Dogma works is that it’s an earnest exploration of religion created by a Catholic (Smith) who grew up in the church — but also had liberal-leaning views. The result is an intelligent piece of cinema that features an idiot named Jay (Jason Mewes) saying insane things like “We figure an abortion clinic is a good place to meet loose women. Why else would they be there unless they like to f***?”

I love that Smith was able to wrangle Dogma away from the Weinsteins, and I hope the 25th- anniversary tour and re-release are a success because it’s an excellent film that can still create conversations. The 4K restoration looks wonderful and the jokes are still as great as central air. Also, it’s fun watching Jason Mewes hold his own with Fiorentino, Rickman, Rock and Hayek. Since 1994, Mewes has impressed me with his ability to be likable while playing ultra-vulgar characters. It’s an unheralded skill that few can match and it’s super evident during his scenes with the legendary Alan Rickman. 

Final thoughts – Watch it in theaters!

Quick thoughts:

1. Grade – B
2. It’s a lot. 
3. There are two tremendous set pieces that are worth the price of admission. Cruise put an incredible amount of work into creating them and they need to be seen in theaters.
4. Shea Whigam’s hair…..
5. Katy O’Brian and Tramell Tillman steal their scenes.
6. Treadmill Cruise is now a thing (Oblivion, Top Gun: Maverick, Final Reckoning).
7. Seriously, the two huge set pieces are worth the price of admission.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a lot. Which is a good and bad thing. The good news is that there are two beautiful set pieces that are spectacular in scope, ambition, and technical ability. The bad news is that there are way too many characters and the self-seriousness of the 169-minute film drags it down deeper than the sunken submarine housing the MacGuffin (there’s always a MacGuffin in M:I films). Like every other action franchise in existence, the Mission: Impossible franchise has gotten grander in scope so it’s no surprise that the eighth entry is so gigantic. 

Two years ago, I researched and wrote a Mission: Impossible franchise episode for the Fandom show By the Numbers. For the assignment, I analyzed the seven films and learned a lot about them and I wanted to share them with you. 

1. People stand around and talk about the logistics of an impossible mission. Then, they accomplish the impossible mission. This is nice because audiences can enjoy the mission without being bombarded with too much expository dialogue. 
2. Tom Cruise loves problems on top of problems. Nothing is easy.
3. Each film introduces new characters. Some characters stick around (Luther, Benji), but expect new faces.
4. The MacGuffins get mentioned many times (Where’s the Rabbit Foot?…etc…)
5. The first three films had the personality of their directors (DePalma, Woo, Abrams). However, since Ghost Protocol, they’ve had the same vibe (which isn’t a bad thing). 
6. Ethan always goes rogue. The only time he doesn’t is in M:I2.
7. Ethan is saved by a cool lady in six of the eight films.
8. The scope has gotten out of hand. Ethan has always traveled around the globe for his adventures, but The Final Reckoning really goes for it.
9. Characters always remind Ethan that the mission is impossible.
10. Ethan gets the job done
11. Villains are almost always the weakest aspect (except for M:I3 and Fallout)

Quick Note – I’ve also figured out how far Cruise has sprinted since 1981 (here’s a ranking of all his running scenes). On top of his running, Fandom paid me to figure out Cruise’s average height across his films. The assignment was a bit insane, but it allowed me to watch his movies again. I’ve spent a lot of time watching Tom Cruise movies since 2018. 

It’s because of these assignments that I was prepared for the bloated theatrics of The Final Reckoning. The Mission: Impossible franchise has a limited playbook (like all other franchises), but it excels at running its plays at an optimal and admirable level. The film revolves around Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) attempting to literally save the world from the AI antagonist dubbed “The Entity.” The all-powerful villain plans on taking control of the world’s nuclear arsenal and using it to blow up the world. To prevent the world from ending, Hunt needs to find a Russian nuclear submarine somewhere on the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, so he can grab the Entity’s source code and use it against the sentient malware. Since the Mission: Impossible franchise loves problems on top of problems, Hunt has to deal with his nemesis Gabriel (Esai Morales), while staying ahead of agent Jasper Briggs (Shea Whigham and his giant hair) – who wants Ethan in jail. To defeat the Entity, Hunt and his makeshift team made up of Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg), Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), Grace (Hayley Atwell), Paris (Pom Klementieff) and Degas (Greg Tarzan David), have to travel around the world and accomplish impossible tasks that require perfect timing and terrible odds.

I expected the theatrics but I wasn’t prepared for the amount of dialogue used to explain how impossible all the tasks are. The weight of the expository dialogue drags down the experience and makes the first hour feel like a slog. That being said, the experience is still thoroughly enjoyable and the second half features two incredible set pieces built around a sunken submarine and an airplane chase that features at least 43 jaw-dropping moments. The almost $300 million budget can be seen on screen and the new characters played by Hannah Waddingham, Katy O’Brian, Lucy Tulugarjuk, Nick Offerman, Tramell Tillman (his line delivery is wonderful), and Holt McCallany (same) all pop on screen. Toss in returning characters played by Angela Bassett, Janet McTeer, Charles Parnell and Mark Gatiss – and you have a lot of movie. 

I don’t want to spoil anything, just know that despite all the bloat you should watch this film on the biggest screen possible. The Mission: Impossible movies have always built their stories around action scenes, and the two featured in The Final Reckoning are bananas. Cinematographer Fraser Taggart (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning) has a long history of filming second-unit action scenes for movies such as Edge of Tomorrow, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Kingsman: The Secret Service – so he knows how to capture action in thrilling ways. The production design from Gary Freeman (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Everest, Tomb Raider) is fantastic and the highlight of his work is the massive submerged submarine that must’ve needed a tremendous amount of gimbals to work. During production, the gigantic submarine (which cost 23 million Euros to make) got wedged into its 8.5 million litres tank. This delayed the production for several weeks, as the crew attempted to figure out how to make the giant scene work. I love how big Cruise goes to make his movies enjoyable. 

Director Christopher McQuarrie and Cruise have worked closely together since 2008’s Valkyrie (McQuarrie wrote the film), and they’ve become wildly successful collaborators. However, their successful partnership has seemingly created unchecked creative control which could explain why the M:I Reckoning films are jam-packed with so many ideas and characters. They’ve earned the right to guide the franchise wherever they want, but it would’ve been nice if someone told them to tighten the film up a bit. 

Final Thoughts – Watch it on the biggest screen possible.