FILM STARS DON'T DIE IN LIVERPOOL: 4 STARS
By the time actress Gloria Grahame passed away in 1981 at age 57 she was largely forgotten. A new film, 鈥淔ilm Stars Don鈥檛 Die in Liverpool,鈥� aims to remind of us of the Oscar winner鈥檚鈥攕he won the Best Supporting Actress award in 1952 for The Bad and the Beautiful鈥攍ife, legacy and love.
When we meet Grahame (Annette Bening) she鈥檚 in the 鈥渨hatever happened to鈥� phase of her career. Hollywood is a distant memory and she鈥檚 now trading on whatever cachet her name still holds, performing 鈥淭he Glass Menagerie鈥� in English regional theatres. Ailing, she calls on Peter Turner (Jamie Bell), a former lover and much younger man who once moved to New York to be with her. He鈥檚 now back at home in working-class Liverpool, struggling to make it as an actor.
As Grahame becomes sicker and sicker the movie moves along a fractured timeline to tell the story of their love affair and how sickness shattered their bliss and eventually brought them together again.
Director Paul McGuigan uses some slick camera tricks to jump around in time from the first blush of their relationship to the end and every point in between. Doors open in the present to reveal a scene in the past. It鈥檚 showy but dreamy, as though we are hopscotching through Peter鈥檚 memory.
Bell is a sweet, sensitive and thoughtful boy-toy who sparks with Bening. He鈥檚 very good but this is Bening鈥檚 movie. Her Grahame is a wonder, effervescently flirty one second, frail the next. She is the keeper of a heartbreaking secret agenda and a vain woman facing the abyss. It鈥檚 remarkable stuff that sits comfortably alongside her stellar recent work in 鈥淭he Face of Love,鈥� 鈥�20th Century Woman鈥� and 鈥淩ules Don鈥檛 Apply.鈥�
鈥淔ilm Stars Don鈥檛 Die in Liverpool鈥� is a three Kleenex film that will make you want to go back and check out Grahame鈥檚 real-life movies. If you haven鈥檛 already, check her out as the temptress with an eye for James Stewart in 鈥淚t's a Wonderful Life鈥� or as Ado Annie in Oklahoma! She was a great talent and Bening does her justice.
MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE: 1 STAR
You may be forgiven if you, like me, thought about going to see 鈥淭he Maze Runner: The Death Cure鈥� to catch up on what happened to Shailene Woodley鈥檚 character Tris Prior.
Please be advised you have the wrong franchise.
Back in the day of the young-adult-in-peril dystopian trilogies, screens were filled with good looking young actors fighting for survival in movies like 鈥淭he Maze Runner鈥� and 鈥淭he Divergent Series.鈥� Of the bunch of them, only 鈥淭he Hunger Games鈥� distinguished itself as a go-to movie. The others kind of blended together to form one long post apocalyptic action series that resembled an anti-utopian Guess ad with automatic weapons and artfully tousled hair.
Since the new film, 鈥淢aze Runner: The Death Cure,鈥� assumes you鈥檙e up to speed with the story I鈥檒l save you the trouble of having to binge watch the first two movies.
Here鈥檚 the catch-up:
Based on a series of wildly popular YA books, 2014's 鈥淭he Maze Runner鈥� sees Thomas, played by 鈥淭een Wolf鈥檚鈥� Dylan O鈥橞rien, plopped into a community of young men surrounded by a labyrinth. The rebellious Thomas wants to see if there is a way to navigate through the ever-changing maze that stands between the boys and whatever is happening in the outside world.
The following year 鈥淭he Scorch Trials鈥� saw the virtuous Thomas and his gang take on the worst people in the world, W.C.K.D., a group of evildoers that appear to use an Instagram acronym as their name.
After a three-year wait Thomas is back with his stylishly dishevelled hair and chiselled face to break into The Last City, a fortified town where doctors work to find a cure for a plague that turns people into snarling zombies. The good doctors, including Thomas鈥檚 former flame Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), are experimenting on the Maze Runners who are immune to the disease. In particular Thomas wants to rescue Minho (Ki Hong Lee), a pal being mercilessly poked with needles in search of a cure.
鈥淢aze Runner: The Death Cure鈥� features lots of ominous music, attractive stars in motion, dusty dystopian landscapes and something gets blown up or shot at every 10 minutes or so. What鈥檚 missing is the emotional content that might make you care about Thomas and company. The movie really wants you to love the characters. The camera endlessly caresses their determined and often tearstained faces but the ham fisted big emotional moments are as empty as the jars of gel thrown in the trash after being used to poof up the cast鈥檚 hair. The characters are mannequins mouthing generic dialogue鈥攕peeches begin with, 鈥淚 know you have no reason to trust me,鈥� and every few minutes someone says, 鈥淲e have to get out of here!鈥濃�攆or two hours and twenty minutes. Think what else you could do with that time!
HOLLOW IN THE LAND: 2 ½ STARS
Look the word hardscrabble up in the dictionary and you鈥檙e likely to find a picture of 鈥淗ollow in the Land鈥檚鈥� Alison Miller (Dianna Agron). She lives in the kind of backwater industrial town where everyone knows her business. And there鈥檚 a lot to talk about. Her father is locked up, jailed for an alcohol fuelled crime spree that ended in the death of the son of the local mill owner.
Mom is a long distant memory, having run off, leaving Alison to care for her teenage brother Brandon (Jared Abrahamson). He鈥檚 a handful. 鈥淵ou know one of these days you鈥檙e going to do some real damage, smart ass,鈥� a local cop (Michael Rogers) tells him when he鈥檚 picked up for fighting, 鈥渁nd you鈥檒l have bigger problems than some paperwork. You鈥檒l be sharing a cell with your old man in no time.鈥�
When the neighbours aren鈥檛 talking about the Miller鈥檚 troubled family history they鈥檙e gossiping about Alison and her girlfriend Charlene (Rachelle Lefevre).
Alison鈥檚 life is further scrutinized when Brandon lands in deep trouble. The day after his girlfriend Sophie鈥檚 violent, drunken father (John Sampson) walked in on them having sex, the old man winds up dead and Brandon is the chief suspect. Convinced of his innocence she launches her own investigation only to wind up under the microscope herself.
鈥淗ollow in the Land鈥� is more of a snapshot of life in a small town than it is a murder mystery. The procedural aspects of the story are less interesting than the characters, which are brought to vivid, scrappy life. Argon, best known as high school cheerleader Quinn Fabray on 鈥淕lee,鈥� brings grit to Alison, playing her as determined yet emotionally damaged.
鈥淗ollow in the Land鈥� will be compared to the equally grungy 鈥淲inter鈥檚 Bone.鈥� Like that movie, writer-director Scooter Corkle paints a drab picture of life in this town, creating a backwoods neo-noir with some nice details, but never really satisfies narratively.
