RHODY LIFE

At the Movies with Joyce and Don

Posted 3/24/21

At the Avon

THE FATHER

****

(Joyce)***½

(Don) It can be a bit disconcerting, two 80-somethings watching a film about an octogenarian dealing with dementia.

Co-writer and …

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RHODY LIFE

At the Movies with Joyce and Don

Posted

At the Avon

THE FATHER

****

(Joyce)***½

(Don) It can be a bit disconcerting, two 80-somethings watching a film about an octogenarian dealing with dementia.

Co-writer and director Florian Zeller tells the story from Anthony’s perspective, as he moves in and out of the fuzziness of the disease.

Anthony Hopkins is brilliant as Anthony, as is Olivia Colman (“The Crown”) as his caring daughter.

This is a story about coping with dementia by both the person trying to deal with what is happening to him and the loved one who is seeking answers.

Things seem clear one moment and unclear the next. Is he in his own flat or is he in his daughter and son-in-law’s? Not only is he confused, but the audience is as well.

We feel for Anthony as he searches for his watch, tries to recall events in his past, and wonders what is happening to him … and what WILL happen to him.

While the film can be a bit depressing, it will also tug at your heartstrings and cause much sympathy for the two main characters.

Hopkins shows off the depth of his acting through the rage and confusion of a person suffering from one of life’s cruelest blows.

Colman shows her own vulnerability in dealing with a problem that she can’t solve.

At times, the audience shares Anthony’s dilemma of what is real and what is not.

The final scene is one of the most poignant and realistic we have ever seen.

Rated PG-13 with some profanity.

At the Showcase

THE CURRIER

****

Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Greville Wynne, the English businessman who is reluctantly recruited as a spy during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Loosely based on actual events, “The Currier” will hold your interest, largely because of the performance of Cumberbatch, who goes from a dapper Englishman to an emaciated prisoner of war.

We have been watching him on the Netflix “Sherlock Holmes” series, and you would not recognize him.

The scenes between the Russian whistleblower and Wynne gain in intensity when the fear of being caught becomes a reality. It is interesting to watch their cultural differences melt as they discover that they have much in common.

It all comes together in a gut-wrenching finale.

Rated PG-13 with some violence, nudity, profanity and – remembering it was the ’60s – lots of drinking and smoking.

On Netflix

CRIMINAL

This 2019 series features three 45-minute episodes, each from the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and France.

The action takes place inside a police interrogation room, with each episode having a clever twist.

There’s an autistic sister drowned in a bathtub; a drug dealer turned informant; a stepfather accused of rape and murder; a death by rat poisoning; a truck driver bringing illegal aliens in to country.

While an interesting concept, the series has a very confining aura to it.

THE TWELVE

This German series shows us a different perspective on another country’s justice system. Twelve people and two alternates are selected for jury duty, and a trial commences for a woman accused of killing her best friend and then, 20 years later, her own daughter.

The series drags a bit as we get to know intimate secrets about some of the jurors and the complex story about Frie, the accused, all coming together – finally – at the end.

THE ONE

This series plays out like a sci-fi soap opera, with murder thrown in to spice it up a bit.

Rebecca Webb has become a millionaire by developing The One, a corporation that through DNA testing can determine which two people are the perfect undeniable match.

Ten million people sign up for the match as Rebecca lectures to the world, selling her concept.

The series goes off in a number of directions as problems with the matches, including her own, occur.

What about the happily married couple when one of them discovers his real match?

What about the detective whose match has lied to her?

Where will this all end?

movies, entertainment

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