20th Century Women

Review by Pamela Zoslov

In his 2010 film BEGINNERS, writer-director Mike Mills reflected on the life of his father, who came out as gay at the age of 75. With 20th CENTURY WOMEN, he turns his attention to his mother, Jan, a strong, independent woman with a pilot's license and a bohemian sense of style. In the movie she is called Dorothea, and she is played by Annette Bening, with a cigarette — Salem, “because it's healthier” — perennially balanced between her fingers.

The film is set in Santa Barbara, California in 1979, when Jamie (Lucas Jade Zuman), Dorothea's only child and the director's alter ego, is 15. The movie opens with a gambit similar to the one in Beginners, where Mills compiles vintage photos and stock footage and re-creations of the period in which his mother grew up. These are accompanied by narration about Dorothea's life as a child of the Depression, along these lines: “Dorothea Fields was born in 1924. People drove sad cars to sad homes. But the people were real.”

Mistress America (opens in Cleveland September 4th at the Cedar Lee Theatre)

[MISTRESS AMERICA opens in Cleveland on Friday September 4th exclusively at the Cedar Lee Theatre.]

Review by Pamela Zoslov

Noah Baumbach has a penchant for writing irritating, difficult leading characters. He followed up his acclaimed, semi-autobiographical THE SQUID AND THE WHALE (2005) with darker pieces like MARGOT AT THE WEDDING (2007) and GREENBERG (2010), centering on neurotic, narcissistic personalities: Nicole Kidman's Margot, a short-story writer who wreaks havoc at her sister's wedding, and Ben Stiller as Greenberg, a damaged, volatile 40-year-old ne'er-do-well.

Repost: Frances Ha (September 26th and 27th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[FRANCES HA screens Thursday September 26th at 6:45 pm and Friday September 27th at 9:35 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Bob Ignizio

A meandering and nearly plotless comedy/character study, FRANCES HA focuses on 27 year-old apprentice dancer Frances (Greta Gerwig) as she struggles to find love, keep a roof over her head, and maybe grow up a little while living in New York City. As such it either sinks or swims on the strength of its main character. If you don't like and relate to Frances or at least find her interesting, there isn't much here to keep you watching.

Personally I was teetering on the edge. The film's saving grace is Gerwig, who co-wrote the screenplay with director Noah Baumbach. Her performance manages to imbue Frances with enough humanity and likability to make up for the fact that, as written, the character is little more than a directionless self-absorbed bundle of quirks and cluelessness.

Frances Ha (opens May 24th in Cleveland exclusively at the Cedar Lee Theatre)

FRANCES HA opens in Cleveland on Friday May 24th exclusively at the Cedar Lee Theatre.]

Bob Ignizio

A meandering and nearly plotless comedy/character study, FRANCES HA focuses on 27 year-old apprentice dancer Frances (Greta Gerwig) as she struggles to find love, keep a roof over her head, and maybe grow up a little while living in New York City. As such it either sinks or swims on the strength of its main character. If you don't like and relate to Frances or at least find her interesting, there isn't much here to keep you watching.

Personally I was teetering on the edge. The film's saving grace is Gerwig, who co-wrote the screenplay with director Noah Baumbach. Her performance manages to imbue Frances with enough humanity and likability to make up for the fact that, as written, the character is little more than a directionless self-absorbed bundle of quirks and cluelessness.

To Rome With Love

Review by Pamela Zoslov

Woody Allen, who has just released his 43rd film, TO ROME WITH LOVE, has become like that aged uncle you remember from your childhood for his brilliant sense of humor, but whose increasingly feeble jokes you now laugh at out of polite nostalgia. He remains a formidable filmmaker — last year's MIDNIGHT IN PARIS was a thoroughgoing success — but his insistence on making a film every year means that lately there are more misses than hits, and the misses are all the more disappointing.

TO ROME WITH LOVE, set in the colorful Italian capital because backers put up the money for it to be shot there, is based on a collection of half-developed ideas Allen had tucked away in his desk drawer. The randomness (and mustiness) of the stories is evident.

Arthur

Review by Bob Ignizio

I know I saw the original 1981 ARTHUR starring Dudley Moore in the title role around the time it was originally released. I'm also pretty sure I thought it was funny at the time, but I was eleven, so who can say for sure. Such nostalgic memories of my youth tend to be suspect as I recently learned the hard way watching LOVE AT FIRST BITE for the first time in decades. I'll probably ignore this lesson and watch the original ARTHUR again sooner or later, but for now, my poor memory allows me to assess this 2011 remake strictly on its own merits.

Arthur (Russell Brand) is the completely irresponsible and terminally sloshed heir to the Bach family fortune. To what degree he can, he squanders his wealth doing things like buying the Batmobile and giving money to strangers. It's his way of getting back at his mother Vivienne (Geraldine James) for never being a true parent to her son. The closest thing Arthur has to real friends and family are his driver Bitterman (Luis Guzman) and his nanny Hobson (Helen Mirren).