Biopic

Man on the Moon

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  • Title: Man on the Moon
  • IMDb: link

Director Milos Foreman‘s 1999 biopic of Andy Kaufman (played by Jim Carrey) is most notable for Carrey’s performance of the unusual celebrity that took himself too seriously but nothing else all that seriously at all. The film highlights the big moments of Kaufman’s career including his inter-gender wrestling, his reluctance to accept a role on Taxi, his chaotic appearances on Late Night with David Letterman and Fridays and the creation of his grating alter-ego Tony Clifton.

While Carrey is the backbone of the film, the script by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski never really explores the reasoning behind Kaufman’s various antics or hold him responsible for those that fell flat in what is very much a celebration of the unique performer’s career.

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The Eyes of Tammy Faye

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  • Title: The Eyes of Tammy Faye
  • IMDb: link

We get the rise and fall of Tammy Faye (Jessica Chastain) and Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield) in this examination of the televangelist couple. While recreating moments of the pair’s life, there’s no real point or perspective offered to the events. The Eyes of Tammy Faye isn’t a character study. It isn’t commentary of events. Nor is it a satire.

The film is simply a shallow collection of events that never digs beneath the surface to provide anything of much interest. While we see the odd pair begin their their time as televangelists, the movie isn’t concerned with the rise of the PTL Satellite Network nor the good or ills of the The PTL Club, nor really the fall of grace of the Bakker’s which makes up only a small percentage of the film.

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King Richard

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  • Title: King Richard
  • IMDb: link

King Richard offers a different type of sports biopic with the focus not on the athlete, coach, or team, but on the father of a pair of promising young tennis players. The fairly conventional film showcases the unconventional path to tennis stardom Richard Williams (Will Smith) led his daughters Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena (Demi Singleton) to while pissing off pretty much everyone in the tennis world.

Because of how early the film is set, ending on Venus’ professional debut (which doesn’t paint a flattering picture of her opponent Arantxa Sánchez Vicario played by Marcela Zacarias), and how little the Williams sisters played in junior tennis, the younger Serena draws the short straw here and we don’t get as much tennis as you may expect. What King Richard does offers is a character study of the often rigid Richard Williams and the environment that raised two tennis stars who would change the sport.

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The Glorias

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  • Title: The Glorias
  • IMDb: link

The Glorias movie reviewAdapted largely from Gloria Steinem‘s autobiography My Life on the Road, the latest from director Julie Taymor offers a look at the life and travels of Steinem through the performances of four different actresses. Following the film’s initial look at Gloria’s unorthodox childhood, where she is played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong and Lulu Wilson, Alicia Vikander then carries the role for the next hour exploring Gloria’s travels and development both as a writer and activist before handing over the role to Julianne Moore for the film’s final hour.

The structure of the film does allow the actresses to appear on-screen together at times as Gloria talks over decisions and regrets with both older and young versions of herself. This isn’t the only unusual technique Traymor uses of the course of the film, but it is by far the most effective. Otherwise, The Glorias plays much like a standard biopic, albeit with several scenes shown out of order.

Given the times, especially following the recent death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the film, and it’s subject matter, is certainly timely.

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Just Mercy

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  • Title: Just Mercy
  • IMDb: link

Just Mercy movie reviewBased on true experiences of defense attorney Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan), writer/director Destin Daniel Cretton delivers a straightforward biopic that is more about one lawyer’s struggle against a broken legal system than the legal maneuverings of a crafty lawyer. After a brief introduction to the character, the film begins in earnest with Stevenson taking his Harvard education to Alabama to defend those on death row who never received a fair trial.

The film primarily deals with Stevenson’s attempts to earn a new trial for Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx) who was convicted of murder on the testimony of one unreliable witness (Tim Blake Nelson) and no physical evidence thanks in large part to the pressure and intimidation of a local sheriff (Michael Harding) whose motives the film never really examines.

Just Mercy is a solid film filled with actors who have given more memorable roles in other movies. Along with Foxx and Jordan we also get Brie Larson as another member of the defense team who helped Stevenson set-up the Equal Justice Initiative offices in Montgomery, Alabama.

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