BIRDS OF PREY (AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN): 3 ½ STARS
As 鈥淛oker鈥� sweeps through Awards Season, scooping up a motherlode of Best Actor gold for Joaquin Phoenix, along comes the standalone story of the Clown Prince of Crime鈥檚 former female sidekick.
鈥淏irds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)鈥� sees Margot Robbie revisit her unpredictable 鈥淪uicide Squad鈥� character in an R-rated film that is part action, part comedy and all attitude.
More in tune with the antics of 鈥淒eadpool鈥� than the serious tone of 鈥淛oker,鈥� 鈥淏irds of Prey鈥� is a fourth-wall-breaking story that doesn鈥檛 feel like other superhero movies.
Picking up after the events of 鈥淪uicide Squad,鈥� Gotham City has become a cesspool of crime. Batman has flown the coop leaving the city unprotected from the likes of crime lord Black Mask (Ewan McGregor). The baseball wielding Quinn has rid herself of her former 鈥減artner in madness,鈥� the Joker鈥�" I am so over clowns!鈥� she says鈥攁nd now travels with a new squad of vigilantes.
鈥淎s it turns out, I wasn鈥檛 the only dame in Gotham looking for emancipation,鈥� she says.
Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) come together to help Harley protect Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), a young pickpocket who had the bad luck of coming into possession of a diamond ebcoded with a valuable secret, a secret Black Mask desperately wants.
鈥淚鈥檓 back on my feet,鈥� Harley says, 鈥渞eady to embrace the fierce goddess within.鈥�
鈥淏irds of Prey鈥� is a story of survivors, of feminism, of tough women out on the town and it is the most fun DC has offered up at the movies. The stripped-down story sheds 鈥淪uicide Squad鈥檚鈥� nihilistic nonsense in favor of empowerment and general kick assery.
It gets off to a slow start, establishing the characters and situation, but erupts in the last third with bombastic action choreographed by director Cathy Yan and 鈥淛ohn Wick鈥� fight maestro Chad Stahelski. Forget the CGI finales of the Marvel Universe, this is blood-soaked up-close-and-personal stunt action with a wicked sense of humour.
Robbie has a gleeful, cheeky commitment to the character that sets the tone for the movie鈥檚 80s new wave kaleidoscopic aesthetic. With a habit of settling disputes with a baseball bat to the groin she isn鈥檛 a role model but is unpredictable, scrappy fun to watch on screen. Ditto McGregor who actually seems to be having fun wearing Black Mask鈥檚 hyped-up wardrobe after a series of movies that have left his charisma relegated to the backroom.
鈥淏irds of Prey鈥� is loads of fun but manages to weave some serious ideas about not needing men to survive into the chaos. Most of all, though, it feels like a welcome antidote to the monotony of so many comic book inspired films.
THE ASSISTANT: 3 ½ STARS
She is the invisible woman. The assistant to a high-flying New York movie mogul, Jane (Julia Garner) floats around the office, silently collating papers, cleaning up mysterious stains from her boss鈥檚 casting couch鈥斺�淣ever sit on the couch,鈥� her co-workers joke鈥攚ordlessly doing the jobs nobody else will do. An aspiring filmmaker with hopes of one day producing her own movies she sees the job, low level as it is, as a stepping stone.
When her boss flies in a young, pretty waitress (Kristine Froseth) he met at the Sundance Film Festival to work in his office Jane suspects it is a #MeToo situation in the making. Reporting her feelings to HR in hopes of protecting the new naive hire she is instead reminded of how power works.
鈥淚 can see you have what it takes to produce,鈥� says the appropriately named HR guy Wilcock (鈥淪uccession鈥檚鈥� Matthew Macfadyen). 鈥淲hy are you trying to throw it all away?鈥�
That harrowing scene lies at the heart of 鈥淭he Assistant.鈥� A timely study of the systemic mistreatment of vulnerable and defenceless women, Jane鈥檚 story is an account of the many slights and indignities suffered by subordinates to power.
鈥淭he Assistant鈥� is a quiet movie. Much of the dialogue comes from Jane鈥檚 conversations with unseen limo drivers or her boss. We see her limited interaction with co-workers, but mostly we see the day-to-day drudgery that fills her hours. She arrives before dawn, stays well into the night and is treated like she should feel lucky to be there.
Director Kitty Green keeps the focus tight, allowing the viewer to feel the soul-crushing drudgery of Jane鈥檚 job. She is invisible, a presence simply to absorb her boss鈥檚 bad temper and get lunch for the senor staffers.
Green never strays from Jane. We don鈥檛 meet the head honcho or learn about anyone鈥檚 backstory. It鈥檚 not that kind of movie. Instead it is a document of the degradations and power dynamic that are an accepted part of the job. The film鈥檚 chattiest scene, between Jane and HR鈥檚 Wilcock, is quiet but shattering in its impact. His smugness is the very attitude that enabled the very abuse that Harvey Weinstein is facing trial for today. The casual nature of Wilcock dismissiveness is chilling, punctuated by one last parting shot.
On her way out of their meeting he 鈥榬eassuringly鈥� adds, 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have anything to worry about. You鈥檙e not his type.鈥�
鈥淭he Assistant鈥� is anchored by a subtle yet devastating performance from Garner. The hard-edged bluster she brings to her character on 鈥淥zark鈥� is missing, replaced by anxiety as she realizes the extent of the exploitation happening around her. It鈥檚 quiet, restrained and heartbreaking to watch how she is beaten down.
Based on hundreds of interviews with real-life assistants, this is more than just a movie, it is a timely document of abuse of power and complicity.
COME TO DADDY: 2 ½ STARS
Family reunions are often fraught with tension. Old wounds are opened by familiarity bred by contempt but few reconciliation have turned as dark and twisted as the father and son get together in Elijah Wood鈥檚 new thriller 鈥淐ome to Daddy.鈥�
Wood is Norval, a self-described music industry big deal, raised by his single mother in Beverly Hills. After receiving a letter from his estranged father requesting a face-to-face meeting, he makes the trip to a remote California home to meet a man he barely knows. He鈥檚 met by Brian (Stephen McHattie), a flinty, drunken older man with a sharp tongue. When Brian tries to impress the older man by dropping Elton John鈥檚 name, Brian calls him out in an embarrassing and cruel way. The situation doesn鈥檛 improve with the introduction of alcohol and soon the situation becomes dangerous.
That鈥檚 it! No spoilers here. Trust me when I say that unless your family gatherings include torture and excrement dripped shivs, you haven鈥檛 experienced a father and son situation quite like this before.
Darkly humorous and disquieting, 鈥淐ome to Daddy鈥� is a gonzo thriller that revels in the off-kilter nature of the escalating intrigue of the story. As the running time clicks through to the end credits the stakes for Noval surge in increasingly outrageous ways.
It鈥檚 all good, gory fun that plays up the absurdity of the situation while still maintaining the complexity of the father-son relationship. It鈥檚 a mish mash of revenge, squeamish violence and surreal family drama that should please midnight madness fans but leave others reaching for a barf bag.
