Movies like May December are one of the main reasons I fell in love with films. It is through this medium we can see and almost inspect different, uncomfortable topics with some distance whilst clearly seeing how damaging it can be for the people involved. And how that damage that pain can go months or even years without being felt until something happens and reminds you that what you went through isn’t “normal” or “fine”.

I rarely do this, but I need to include a plot summary, as I don’t think this movie is talked about enough and given its subject matter, the rest of my review would be as clear as mud if I didn’t, so:

Middle aged Gracie lives a happy, well settled life with her husband. Some years ago she was involved in an unsavory scandal but for her it is all in the past. Movie actress Elizabeth is on a visit to this home and she is on a mission. This visit is a part of her preparation to play the role of Gracie in a movie being made. As she goes about talking to the family members Gracie wonders whether Elizabeth will uncover some secrets from her past and will some skeletons be revealed.

Official plot summary, source IMDb.com

Reading through the summary now, it still keeps it vague, but I don’t think it’s a spoiler to write that the “unsavoury scandal” was a statutory rape. Gracie (portrayed by Julianne Moore) seduced her now husband (played by Charles Melton), who was 13 at the time. And if that “wasn’t enough”, she became pregnant with his child and gave birth to it (the first kid out of three). As it happens, this became a media sensation at the time, and now, 20+ years later, a high-profile actress (portrayed by Natalie Portman) comes to stay and spend some time with the family, as she is making a movie about that. And it quickly becomes apparent how everything is… just “a bit” off.

This is where May December started to slowly win me over as we explored this fucked up situation from multiple angles. From the “obvious” one as to how someone’s life looks like when they were raped by someone much older than him, why would someone stay with that person, to less obvious things like our (society’s) involvement by making this “couple” into almost stars? Portman’s character serves as this reminder of how you might have gone into something with good (?) intentions or the “it’s just another job” mindset, but it really is not. Her involvement and then the transformation into Gracie is unsettling. Both she and Julianne Moore were outstanding in this movie, but it is Charles Melton who stole this film from them.

This is weird, given Portman and Moore are two Oscar winners and would probably make TOP 10 of the best actresses we currently have working. But it’s Charles’s tender performance, full of nuance and heartbreaking moments, giving this movie its gravitas and showing you how damaging something like this would have been. Unfortunately, you still see this stereotype when things like this happen in real life; many don’t consider what happens to the boy, especially if the woman is considered “hot”. But if we swap genders, suddenly, everyone takes it more seriously. I am not saying it’s standard, but I think we all have seen the defence of: “Well, the boy might have been a bit young, but hey, she’s good-looking, so he probably didn’t protest too much.” And that’s so not the point. That is where this movie won me over because when it starts, you feel all kinds of icky. But the more you watch and spend time with his character, the more you understand his complexity. How he has this bottled-up anger and sadness, and there are moments when it seems like he wants to get away from Gracie, but her grip on him is just too powerful. What an outstanding performance by all, but mainly Charles Melton.

I also couldn’t help but think about Funny Games (1997) while I watched this movie. If you are not familiar, Funny Games is a very uncomfortable movie about home invasion. And something happens halfway through that movie that kind of shifts the blame onto us, the audience. Maybe I am reading too much into this, but I felt like May December does the same thing, albeit it doesn’t break the fourth wall; it does more indirectly. When you start this film, you will probably ask yourself: “Why does this movie exist?” And as you watch it, the movie almost tells you it’s because of us. When stuff like this happens in the real world, we track it, buy tabloids about it and follow the story as if it were just another soap opera. What we often forget is that there are real people behind those articles, and one of them didn’t consent to anything as they couldn’t because they were underage. It would be easy to say that it’s all the media’s fault and those pesky actors who choose to act in these movies (and this film definitely says that), but there wouldn’t be any movie if the general audience didn’t care enough about the story. It’s all kinda twisted, icky thing, and if I were to rewatch it again, I would appreciate it even more.

Overall, May December is a movie that starts a bit slowly, but once you understand everything and get into the story, you are hooked. It’s a performance piece for three actors; it’s a complex movie about an uncomfortable topic, and I think and hope it’s a conversation starter. The film asks us very unpleasant questions, such as whether we should scandalize cases like these and (some) should really reconsider the “Well, a boy has to learn and was lucky she was good-looking.” defence that was never appropriate. This movie has a lot to say and will stay with you; I would 100% recommend it to everyone, despite its icky subject.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

I believe Air was the first “big” movie to have come out directly to a streaming platform in 2023, and I remember hearing great things about it. But since I don’t follow the NBA, neither have I own Air Nike, I wasn’t in a big rush to see this movie until now. As every movie lover knows, the end of a year is when you try to cram and see as much as possible to make your list, gather your thoughts and get some potential Oscar candidates watched, so I finally got around to watching the “shoe movie”. Not surprisingly, it’s much more than that.

This movie is a biopic through and through, so there isn’t much to be surprised by at this point, since we have had so many and keep getting more each year. The only real surprise for me was just how much I enjoyed it, as Air made me invested and almost worried whether or not Nike made it. It’s one of those rare biopics where literally everyone who watches it knows what happens; it’s impossible to find someone who has never heard of Nike or Michal Jordan. Even I, who isn’t into basketball and again never owned Nike shoes, have known about this combination and how successful they have been. But Air takes you back to the 80s so well that you are willing to forget about the juggernaut Nike had become since and gladly watch Nike, the almost underdog, trailing both to Converse and Adidas.

I think the main reason is Ben Affleck (one of the stars and director of Air) not only lived through the 80s, but for him, it was the formative decade, as he was born in 1972, so he matured throughout that decade and succeeded where other “nostalgia trip” movies didn’t. He didn’t try to emulate the 80s; he recreated the 80s. And not just with the constant music, hair, wardrobe etc. It was mainly the feel, the vibe of the 80s he managed to recreate that decade as he remembered it, and that helped massively.

Another thing that I wasn’t ready for was just how funny this movie is. Here is the thing; when you make a movie about how a shoe company signed a future megastar, it’s not as thrilling because we know how it ends. But if you take us back and make it funny without overdoing it, now you have something on your hands. There are many funny moments in this movie, but my favourite ones must be the phone conversations between Matt Damon and Chris Messina as they are not only hilarious but from the first phone call, you get their entire love-hate relationship.

Speaking of actors, I thought Damon did a great job; Affleck was clever to give himself a role where his character stood out but didn’t have many scenes. The two performers who stood out above the rest for me were Chris Tucker and Viola Davis. Writing “another great performance by Viola Davis” seems redundant at this point, as she is on the same level as Meryl Streep, in my eyes. No matter what she does, she is always the standout in pretty much every movie and has been for a while now. In Air, she plays Jordan’s mom (personally picked by Jordan himself!), and she plays her so well, you know from the first minute what she is about, but mainly, she is the mom everyone would want to have in their corner. It’s been almost a decade since Tucker was in anything, but damn, I missed him. I don’t think I have ever seen him as great as he was in this movie, but that might be because I usually think of him as the “funny, goofy guy”. Well, this Chris Tucker is more than that, and I am here for this part of his career.

I also liked the decision that we, the audience, never see Michael Jordan. Respectively, we never see his face. I know the official reason (Ben Affleck saying nobody could play Michael but Michael because he is that famous, so he didn’t want to cast anybody younger so we would not have to suspend our disbelief), but I would like to think it also fits thematically. The movie is about him, but in a way, it’s not. It’s about Nike and their rise and his family (mainly his mom) making the decision(s) for him because he wasn’t “the Michael Jordan”. He was still a young player like thousands before him, hoping to be the “next big thing”. So I liked how us not seeing his face works on that level, as he isn’t fully in control of his life yet, and he has got everything in front of him.

The only bad thing I can say against Air is that the ending lost a bit of steam. There were a few scenes where I thought the movie was about to end, and it kept going. I understand going against the biopic expectations and not ending your film on the “win”, which in this case is closing the deal (spoiler, but not really). But there is a reason movies and mainly biopics tend to end on that note, as everything that happens after, no matter how meaningful, is not as impactful. But that’s only a tiny criticism; I can’t say that the ending was bad or it spoiled my enjoyment of this movie; all I am saying is, maybe if it lingered less and managed to cut out about ten minutes, you would have a perfect biopic on your hands.

Overall, Air is a great movie that manages the impossible. It makes you care whether or not a shoe company signs a future superstar. And not just any shoe company and not any superstar. Air puts you back in time before Nike was the giant it is, and Michael Jordan’s career was about to begin and, therefore, blow up. And when you make an almost two-hour movie out of that, and it manages to make you laugh, care and hold your attention for the majority of its runtime, something is right. Air is definitely worth watching.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

One of the most fascinating things for me is when a movie gets only one Oscar nomination. And it’s not as rare as one might think, as a quick Google search gives me at least 40+ different films (and they range from Grease (1978), Full Metal Jacket (1987), and The Mummy (1999)) to this movie. My silly and unachievable goal is to watch every film ever made. But my second, much more achievable goal is to watch every Oscar-nominated movie for every feature-length category. And Pieces of a Woman earned its only Oscar nomination for Vanessa Kirby. After watching this film, I concur and will say that the 2021 Oscars was a packed year (Frances McDormand got her third Oscar, but Carey Mulligan, Andra Day and Viola Davis were all nominated alongside Vanessa). I still haven’t seen Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020), but it’s on my list, so I can’t judge it properly, but honestly… I am not sure whether I would choose Frances over Vanessa or Carey.

And that’s not to say that Pieces of a Woman only relies on Vanessa. There are many different aspects and performers that make this movie unforgettable, but… Vanessa Kirby is exquisite in this movie. Her character and performance hover over everyone in this film, and that is saying something. Her character is complex and, at times, can feel detached, but Vanessa makes these tiny decisions and has such expressive eyes that you can see the pain, the heartbreak, the way she hasn’t processed her grief properly… Pieces of a Woman is not a cheery film, but I will recommend it, if for nothing else, than for you to see Vanessa’s performance.

The movie opens with a disastrous home birth, and that opening scene lasts 20 minutes. It is seemingly shot with no cuts, putting you directly into the “action”. And as everything starts to get uncomfortable, the movie never lets go, making you part of it, so from the very beginning, you are in it. You feel uncomfortable and probably shook a bit, but that scene is a masterpiece. I strongly suspect that 10/15 years from now, it will be shown in film schools, as it’s a great example of how to establish everything – the story, stakes, characters… Everything is set from that scene and is done masterfully.

The rest of the movie is a fascinating story about how losing a baby (if you didn’t get it by my “disastrous home birth sentence” sentence) can and will shake up everything and everyone. This film felt authentic by showing us how different people deal with loss. Some want to blame somebody else (like Ellen Burstyn‘s character), others try to process it but don’t know how (Shia LaBeouf‘s character) and then there are people like Vanessa, who needs her time and space and shuts down. And by doing this, alienating everyone. And again, if you decide to watch this movie, brace yourself for characters who can be really hard to root for. But here is why that opening scene had to be shot like that, for maximum impact – to make you part of the story, for you to feel like this just happened to you. The movie effectively forces you to ponder this uncomfortable question: “How would I react if this was me? Would I want to sue? Would I rage?” Pieces of a Woman is a movie that’s not afraid to “go there”, and I respect that.

Since I have already mentioned them, it’s worth noting that both Ellen Burstyn and Shia give superb performances. I will repeat what I wrote in my review for The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019, my review here) – it’s a shame that Shia, by all accounts, isn’t the “best person”, to put it mildly, because he’s got the talent. He goes toe-to-toe in this movie with Vanessa and is probably the closest person who can match her incredible performance. In another reality, he would have been one of the most sought-after actors with at least one or two Oscars to his name. It’s a shame that, in this reality, he seems to have temper and ego issues, and I hope he can change.

The film itself loses just a bit of steam in the middle. Maybe it’s the fact that the opening scene is such a strong one the rest of the movie fades, albeit only a tiny bit, in comparison, but the moment we found ourselves in the court, that is where this film cemented itself for me. And that was where Vanessa underlined her performance, where she is forced, under oath, to come to terms with everything… It’s a heartbreaking scene. And the “apple” reveal (without spoiling anything) will crush you. Surprisingly though, the movie ends on a hopeful note, and the metaphor comes a full circle, but that doesn’t negate the fact that Pieces of a Woman will be one of those films you might never want to rewatch again.

Overall, Pieces of a Woman is a near-perfect drama with one exquisite performance by Vanessa Kirby. If you (like me) know her mainly from the Mission: Impossible franchise, do yourself a favour and watch this film to see just how talented she is and why she should be one of the busiest actresses around. The rest of the movie is this almost quiet meditation about grief and different (un)healthy ways of dealing with it, whilst the movie asks you what you would have done. And that’s a question nobody wants to answer, let alone think about. If you like challenging, draining movies, this one is for you.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke