Given the amount of frustration most Americans have trying to function when they’ve lost a smartphone, it’s fascinating watching Matt Damon play an astronaut stranded on Mars having to go Full MacGyver, tapping into his brilliant scientific and survival skills to improvise in a world of limited food, oxygen, shelter, technology, human contact and rescue plans. In what is most certainly both Damon’s and director Ridley Scott’s best film in years, The Martian (A) excels as a saga of persistence and problem solving, including narrative flourishes to continually up the stakes in what could have otherwise felt like a long slog to resolution. Scott deftly marshals seamless effects and an impressive supporting cast of characters summoned to kick off global and interplanetary collaboration to bring the hero home. Some of the roles are cast too well given limited screen time (Do we really need Kristen Wiig as stern PR counsel or Sebastian Stan as a NASA scientist with collectively less than a dozen lines?) Damon brings effective swagger and likability to the central role, and the actor’s penchant for working with prestigious directors pays off big time here. Scott does both human drama and outer space adventures well, and this one is one of his best.
Related article: Learn PR tips inspired by Kristen Wiig’s character on the Cookerly PR blog.
Writer/director/actor Joel Edgerton pulls off the surprise of the summer with a psychological suspense film that gets at the heart of relationships, memories and truth. The Gift (B+) centers on a relationship between Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall as a couple relocating to the hills of Los Angeles, hoping to rekindle a spark dimmed by tragedies. Both actors are superb. A reunion with Edgerton’s creepy character propels a series of unexpected events and fuels a taut thriller. The Australian auteur creates sparks with his debut film, which folks should see before spoilers get out.
Poignant, inventive and altogether different from other summer movie offerings, Alfonzo Gomez-Rejon’s Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (A-) deserves to be the sleeper hit of the summer. Anchored by Thomas Mann’s impressive acting as an anxiety-struck and self-effacing teen, this coming of age dramedy is laced with clever animations, amusing parodies of foreign films and spry dialogue that takes you into the mind of outsider teens finding connection. Olivia Cooke and Ronald Cyler are enjoyable in their roles inhabiting high school characters that haven’t been rendered this way before. Plot parallels to Fault in Our Stars don’t hinder this story from forging its own path. Nick Offerman and Molly Shannon also shine in small comedic roles. Cinephiles will adore the preciousness of some of the film techniques which recall both Stanley Kubrick and Wes Anderson because that’s just the way this movie rolls. It’s a delight from start to finish with only one act of narrative trickery threatening to derail the momentum. The movie promises to reward multiple viewings and is likely to achieve a bit of cult status.
