By Kyle Osborne
No, I’m not intentionally trolling and, no, I don’t think my opinion is better than yours. But this past month I’ve seen three movies that, while pretty solid, fell short of my hopes. And what were my hopes based on? They were based on the high praise that my colleagues heaped upon the movies in question.
One film has been called a “Masterpiece.” Another has already been seen twice by a critic friend who admits to crying his eyes out during it, that’s how moved he is—and it’s probably not the one you think.
So, how does one say, “I get it…but I don’t get it?” I’ll try my best:
Call Me by Your Name 2 ½ out of 4 Stars
With a current positive rating of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes it’s one of the most lauded films of the year and for some of my friends it is hands-down the best movie they’ve seen in 2017. Not for me.
Oh, it’s good, but it never reached the top shelf for me because of its ordinariness. Set in 1983 Italy, the story concerns a 17-year-old son of academicians who have invited a 24-year-old American to be a live-in intern for the summer. Elio (Timothee Chalamet) is a sophisticated kid in many ways—a classically trained pianist and voracious reader, but he’s still learning his way in the romance department.
He is intrigued immediately by Oliver (Armie Hammer) and the two engage in something of a love/hate mating dance before Elio finds himself seriously crushing and headed for, perhaps, his first love.
The setting is gorgeous, the 80’s soundtrack is fun, and the cast is memorable (especially Michael Stuhlbarg as Elio’s father, who I’ll come to presently), but the movie is slow to lift off and mostly treads a path that’s been well-worn by many summer romance stories preceding it. The only difference, and it’s admittedly a big one for some viewers, is that here we have a gay relationship instead of a straight one. Obviously, this does make for more tension and more potential peril than the average “teen’s first love” kind of story, but I felt like I wasn’t getting something.
We all bring our own personal experiences and baggage to every film we see–I’ve been wondering if my being straight made me miss some of the subtleties that would have otherwise made this a deeper viewing experience for me? Would I have felt the sad bits more deeply? It’s not that I didn’t empathize with the characters—of course, I did, and love is love and it’s universal. But I didn’t connect as strongly as many of my friends have, and I’m not sure why.
And now a head-jerking left turn to throw everything I’ve said off balance:
Call Me by Your Name has one of the best scenes of any movie I’ve seen this year. Without giving away any spoilers, I’ll just say that near the end of the film, actor Michael Stuhlbarg creates something so understated and naturalistic and real, that I actually was moved, nearly to tears. It’s a father giving a wise, world-weary, knowing bit of wisdom to his son and it is perfectly written and executed. The odds may not be in Stuhlbarg’s favor, but it would be cool to see him get a Best Supporting Actor nod, just based on this scene. Same goes for screenwriter James Ivory.
And the ending is perfect. The credits roll to the side of the screen as we watch Chalamet’s face and listen to the haunting melancholy song by Sufjan Stevens called Visions of Gideon
Good, not great. Liked, didn’t love.
The Greatest Showman 2 ½ out of 4 Stars
I had purchased two of the songs in this new musical before the credits were finished—I actually used my Shazam app to find and buy them-that’s how great some of the tunes are (Tony-winning composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul from Dear Evan Hansen) and I can’t wait to hear them sung when the inevitable Broadway version of this comes out. A great song like This Is Me will have audiences standing to cheer. I wanted to stand up and holler for the great Keala Settle right then and there.
But making movie musicals is tricky—there’s no applause (well, not among the 4 or 5 of us who were in the theater) the sound is too clean, the ambience too closed off. For every Funny Girl, there’s a…, well, the road is littered with musicals that didn’t click. And I love musicals.
There are many positives to count: Hugh Jackman is great, as ever. The costumes are bright and colorful, the production design is artful and eye-catching. I think this story, loosely based on P.T. Barnum and his founding of The Greatest Show on Earth, skims along the surface and never gets its feet wet. Onstage, an episodic structure would be just fine. On the big screen, it feels like a dozen train cars that are connected only by hitch, with no doors to let you walk through from one to another.
From about mid-point on, it’s a more lively outing and we become more invested in some of the characters than we’d have first thought—and, hey, who knew that Zac Efron could nail a beautiful romantic ballad like Rewrite the Stars, sung as a duet with Zendaya?
But…good, not great.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi 2 ½ out of 4 Stars
Finally, at my advanced age and in not-so-great health, I can admit it. I could never get into the Star Wars films. Saw the original in a movie theater with my Mom—it was cool, but I couldn’t read the opening scroll fast enough to know everything that was happening.
And I’ve still never caught up since that day in 1977, though I’ve seen them all.
The Last Jedi was better than I’d expected, I think I know who all the characters are now, and I never fell asleep for a second (unlike last year’s edition).
That said, there were at least 4 or 5 natural endings…that were ignored as the film took a quick breath and headed to the next false ending.
Who the hell am I going to convince one way or the other? No one. I am happy for the folks who shed tears at the sight of the characters. I always—always just want everyone to be happy and to like what they’re watching.
But for me—just good. Not great.
Kyle Osborne