A Fail For Me: Bond, Duel & Nightmare
Article by Ray Schillaci
Some of the most anticipated films of this year left me wondering…why? Why did I waste my time? No Time To Die, The Last Duel, and Nightmare Alley are all well crafted. That goes without saying. But, none made me care. I looked forward to all three that had very capable directors. But, they failed to move me.
No Time To Die
I was most excited about the Bond film only to discover that Ian Fleming’s 007 turned into something I did not recognize. Daniel Craig’s original outing was the closest to the dangerous secret agent since Sean Connery. So, what the hell happened on the way to No Time To Die?
The script is probably the biggest problem, as if someone had insisted on check marking all the new “woke” items they felt needed to be included. Need to make someone gay – check. Do not sexualize the women and make them as powerful as Bond – check. Let’s make an African-American woman as 007 – check. Make Bond far more sensitive and yearn for a normal life – check. But, could they have at least had a reason for it all?
Q is suddenly revealed as gay, but it’s only worth a mention. The announcement never plays into the story itself as with all the other checkmarks. Nothing felt organic. It felt like tokens to appeal to a wider audience rather than naturally well placed in the story. There are lots of movies that do not sexualize and deliver strong female roles: Kill Bill 1 & 2, Charlies Angels, Black Widow. All those work. But, the strong female presence in this last Bond outing felt like it was an afterthought. That was not the only problem with Bond’s Time To Die.
Director Cary Joji Fukunaga proved himself as a maverick with the first season of True Detective, Beasts of No Nation and Sin Nombre. But, it’s obvious he was out to make a “best of” Bond with Daniel Craig exiting the iconic role. Rather than giving us an original all out spy thriller, he made a homage to other Bond films right down to the horribly designed villain’s lair lifted right out of Dr. No. There are nods to Thunderball, Goldfinger, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service even an obvious bow to the opening of every James Bond film. But, the film itself along with this incarnation of 007 is lackluster at best.
Worst of all, the forced tie-ins to all the Daniel Craig Bond films and the introduction of the weakest villain of any 007 movie. Rami Malek as Lyutsifer Safin is as menacing as limp spaghetti. Were we really supposed to equate Malek’s character with the devil, Lucifer? The film sinks to the worst of Bond films every time he’s on screen. Sadly, Daniel Craig goes out with a whimper rather than a bang.
The Last Duel
Sir Ridley Scott stands by all of his films, never seeing fault with his terrible missteps: Prometheus, Exodus: Gods and Kings, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, G.I. Jane. The Last Duel has to be one of the lowest points of his career. He even went as far as to blame millennials and cell phones for the poor box office. That’s nearly as bad as Martin Scorsese blaming his poor box office returns on Marvel. It feels like two old men screaming at kids.
What it really comes down to is Scott’s medieval melodrama was just too stiff and uninteresting for the general public. It’s a story that could have been told much better and writers Nicole Holofcener, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are probably to blame for the mediocrity of it all. Combine that with the director’s focus more on the cinematography, production and costume design rather than his actors and you get a film that is cold, distant and uncaring.
Matt Damon plays a brute of a man, Knight Jean de Carrouges, that relishes the battle. During the Caroline War, de Carrouges saves the life of squire Jacques Le Gris played by Adam Driver in one of his most dislikable roles (actually, he does a good job). Both men swear loyalty to Count Pierre d’Alencon, Ben Affleck, who has been named de Carrouges’ overlord by his cousin King Charles VI.
After several battles, Jean finds himself devastated financially. He lacks the funds to pay war levies, but Pierre allows leniency since he has served so well. Seeking to bolster his finances, Jean marries Marguerite de Thibouville, played by the engaging Jodi Comer, and receives a large dowry and some valuable estates including one that will be contested eventually by Pierre and the Count who stands by his side.
Ridley Scott and his writers set the story in a Rashomon style with three chapters, three points of view: Jean de Carrouges, Jacques Le Gris and Marguerite de Thibouville. The Last Duel refers to a feud of egos, power, and manhood that builds between de Carrouges and Le Gris and culminates when Jean returns from another battle only to find his wife accusing Jaques of raping her. He denies the accusation and the story unfolds to a final brutal battle.
It all sounds interesting enough, but is far too stagey, melodramatic and stuffy. Damon scowls throughout the whole movie. Ben Affleck works with one note – flippant. Driver and Comer are the only ones unscathed, but their characters are not given enough to care about. In the end, you cannot help wonder why you wasted 2 hours and 32 minutes with these characters when you could at least watched the far better The Green Knight.
Nightmare Alley
Yet another movie over two hours long. This time it’s flash and trash. What I mean by that, another director displays his strength with the look of a film far more than his characters or story. The original Nightmare Alley was a nice little piece of film noir starring Tyrone Power and Joan Blondell. It had the trashy setting and some despicable characters, but it also had redeeming ones as well that buffered the undesirables.
Guillermo del Toro is an accomplished director that tends to take one on unusual journeys of the heart and monsters. This time, the monsters are human ones and what the original movie did not show you, del Toro has no qualms about displaying it before our eyes. Production wise the film is a treasure trove of the era.
But, the writer/director has taken a simple story and made it more complicated with characters we could care less about and an ending that is nearly telegraphed from the start. The film plays more like an overly long version of a Twilight Zone episode. He’s also overstuffed it with a big name cast which feels more like a way to get the audience’s attention if the subject matter does not grab them.
Bradley Cooper is Stanton Carlisle, a drifter with a haunted past that stumbles into a traveling carnival in the 1940s. Once there, he gains people’s confidence and works his way into stealing the secrets of a once successful stage show medium. When he gets the chance to display his prowess as a showman, Stanton leaves the carnival life with a young attractive performer. The two begin successfully playing to nightclubs frequented by the wealthy elite.
During one of Stanton’s shows, a prominent psychologist, Dr. Lilith Ritter, Cate Blanchett, attempts to reveal the code that Stanton and his assistant use. But, Stanton is a bit too clever for her. The two meet up and hatch a plan to fleece the wealthy with Stanton’s act. This leads to Stanton meeting with a Judge Kimball who tests the man’s skills and ends up believing that Stanton could get him in touch with his dead son.
Once again, here is a picture that is pretty to look at, but with no redeeming qualities. We discover that nearly all these characters from the carnies to the elite are all on the same slimy playing field. Perhaps Rooney Mara’s Molly is the one character that we may like, but it’s so underwritten that we search for a redeeming quality rather than just accepting her as a victim.
Sadly, all of the movies mentioned are over two hours long when they could have easily made their point in far less time. Production values appear to be far more important than story, dialogue or characters. Watching these movies for me was like eating a bad Chinese dinner with a terrible aftertaste and eventually hungry for something better soon after.
Two of these movies have already made it to Redbox with The Last Duel only available on DVD. Maybe Redbox is trying to tell us something? Only del Toro’s Nightmare is currently playing in theaters and since Christmas has only made $5.4 million at the box office. The film cost was $60M. Not a good sign. Although, box office means little in the way of quality. The latest Bond movie that I’ve lamented over has cashed in $774M, but that is probably because of the Bond franchise and it being Daniel Craig’s last film.
Yet, I still hold out hope for the moviegoing experience with films such as Last Night in Soho, Pig, Blue Bayou and the “amazing” Spider-Man: No Way Home. Inventive, engaging and thrilling on both the big and small screens. Films like these give me a reason to go back to the movies.
Visit Ray’s blog at themonsterinmyhead.com
