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Tag: Richard Jenkins

  • ‘The Humans’ is the next great NYC drama | TIFF movie review

    ‘The Humans’ is the next great NYC drama | TIFF movie review

    The Humans takes place over a single night as a family gathers in a lower Manhattan apartment for Thanksgiving — and that’s a horror.

    The Humans is a terrifically acted New York City-set family drama that plays like a horror movie about existential dread and the figurative, and literal, claustrophobia of life… so the most East Coast movie I’ve ever seen. I want to watch it 100 times

    The Humans, along with Florian Zeller’s The Father, might be one of the most exciting play-to-movie adaptations for its pure embrace of the cinematic language. Throughout the film, which is set in a two-floor New York City apartment in Chinatown, the bulbs in each of the rooms progressively go out. The space the characters inhabit is literally shrinking and they’re forced to face the darkness — and each other. The tension builds until the final bulb finally burns out and all that they’re left to see is what’s in their heads — existential dread, worry, regret. So, basically, the most New York movie ever made. 

    If that sounds like horror to you, then you’re right. Though the premise of the film, which Stephen Karam adapted from his play of the same name, isn’t one that lends itself to the genre it very much is. And it oddly inhabits a new subgenre of family drama horror along with films like Krisha or the recent Shiva Baby. It makes sense, though. What is more horrifying than facing the truth in front of people that you’ve known your whole life. 

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    Forgoing family tradition, the Blake family spends Thanksgiving in younger daughter Brigid (Beanie Feldstein) and her boyfriend Richard’s (Steven Yeun fresh off his Oscar nomination for Minari) new apartment in Lower Manhattan. For anyone who grew up outside New York — like yours truly (Jersey!) — and moved into the city, having your parents come to your apartment is a stressful experience.

    Yes, this is a family drama and quasi horror, but it’s also a dark comedy that hilariously understands the intricacies of the family dynamic. Mom talks about the latest odd death that she heard about on Facebook (“Mom, you don’t have to tell me every time a lesbian kills herself,” says Amy Schumer as eldest daughter Aimee), Dad walks around the apartment finding things to fix and chastises Brigid for not telling the super. All the while, their grandmother Momo (June Squibb), who suffers from dementia, babbles on.

    The camera lingers on the artifacts of New York City apartments that are so familiar — the odd water stains on the wall, clanking radiators, shoddy light fixtures. And of course, Brigid’s parents Deidre and Erik (Jayne Houdyshell and Richard Jenkins) notice every single detail. These artifacts are a part of the horror of the film. Like a hidden totem of the unspoken trauma occurring outside of the walls of the apartment. For people that live in the city, those things fade away. For everyone else, they’re all too apparent.

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    There are other horror tropes that Karam uses to make you uneasy about what’s happening in The Humans. The camera creeps from around corners and frames characters with plenty of negative space around them. He tracks characters walking down the narrow halls and sometimes even includes a jump scare. 

    When stage plays are adapted to film you can often tell. There’s a certain cadence to the dialogue that feels just next to normal. And typically directors focus too closely on the dialogue. The Humans does the exact opposite. Dialogue happens in the background just out of the frame. Conversations are happening around the characters. We’ll focus on one of them and slowly close in. We see their reactions — or lack thereof — to what is going on around them. 

    But why is The Humans a horror? Why not just make it a family drama? I haven’t said much about the plot yet, but that’s because there really isn’t one. Each of the members of the family is dealing with their own issues — Aimee is dealing with a breakup, Erik is worried about finances — and the relationship dynamics that existed way before the movie began — how many of us could be a little nicer to our moms. But real life can be horrifying in that way. There’s nothing more horrifying than facing your own failures and the existential dread of life.

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    As the night trudges on, revelations are made, arguments are had, and, of course, there are moments of familial bliss. In particular, Richard’s attempt to assimilate into the family is particularly hilarious, as anyone that has brought a significant other home could attest to. The movie maintains this tone dancing around drama and dark comedy as it explores the intricacies of the family dynamic and of being alive. It’d make a perfect companion piece to fellow New York City-set dramedy The Daytrippers. 

    This is one of those films that I have difficulty talking about because the reason it works is so personal. You can pick out moments of relatability — both positive and negative — throughout the film and with every character. It’s an incredibly humane film that begs for empathy for its characters. You feel like you get to know them as well as your own family. If I could say one thing to convince you to watch this movie it is this: by the end, you’ll be sad you can’t hang out in that apartment anymore. 

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    Hey! I’m Karl. You can find me on Twitter and Letterboxd. I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic.

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  • 2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Supporting Actor

    2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Supporting Actor

    Best Supporting Actor typically goes to an overdue industry veteran, which in this case is looking to be Willem Dafoe for The Florida Project. 

    Best Supporting Actor is a packed category at the Oscars this year and filled with industry favorite actors that all have narratives to break into the race. However, it seems like Willam Dafoe (The Florida Project) is going to be the one to beat. His subtle but heartfelt performance has won over raves from critics that astonish over the fact that he’s only been nominated twice at the Oscars in this category — Platoon and Shadow of the Vampire. And he’s the perfect fit for a winner of this category, which usually goes to a hard-working veteran character actor. He’s the one to beat.

    Another veteran character actor in the running is Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri). Though Frances McDormand is getting a lot of praise for her steely performance, Rockwell has become a standout from the cast. His bigoted cop role is the kind of villain that is often nominated in Best Supporting Actor, but more importantly, his character has an arc. And that’s one of redemption — though, the controversy around that redemption may work against him. Rockwell is well-regarded in the industry and a nomination could be seen as a career achievement award. Plus, his surprise win at the Golden Globes will certainly help raise his profile.

    There are two supporting actors from Call Me By Your Name in contention, which is always a difficult call to make. It’s rare to get more than one nomination in an acting category at the Oscars and it hasn’t happened in this category since 1991 when Bugsy got two noms. However, the more likely candidate from Call Me By Your Name is Armie Hammer. He nabbed a Golden Globe nomination and has more screen time than his co-star Michael Stuhlbarg, who has arguably received more acclaim — mostly for his ending monologue — but has less screen time. It is troublesome that neither actor was nominated at the Golden Globes — neither was the cast. I think Hammer has enough buzz to push him through to an Oscar nomination, but the prospects of having both actors nominated is pretty much gone.

    Check out our 2018 Oscar Predictions!

    Current Predictions:

    1. Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
    2. Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
    3. Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water
    4. Armie Hammer, Call Me By Your Name
    5. Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

    Other Contenders (in alphabetical order):

    • Mark Rylance, Dunkirk
    • Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
    • Michael Stuhlberg, Call Me By Your Name
    • Ben Mendohlson, Darkest Hour
    • Jason Mitchell, Mudbound
    • Ray Romano, The Big Sick
  • The Shape of Water review — Sally Hawkins gives the performance of a lifetime

    The Shape of Water review — Sally Hawkins gives the performance of a lifetime

    The Shape of Water is a beautifully crafted story by master filmmaker Guierrmo Del Toro, but lacks the emotional depth to make it great.

    Love is love, even if it’s between a human woman and an amphibian man. That’s the message that Guierrmo Del Toro seems to be trying to get across with his newest movie The Shape of Water, a modern fantasy romance during the height of the Cold War. Like his last film Crimson Peak, The Shape of Water is presented as a fairy tale and is stylistically told as such. There are even moments where it seems like the image on screen could be a page in a picture book. However, like a fairy tale, his delivery of this message is a bit on the nose. But that isn’t anything new for Del Toro.




    In early 1960s Baltimore, Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins) lives a routine life. When she wakes she changes over the calendar, puts eggs on the stove to boil, makes her lunch for the day, and of course masturbates in the bath. You know, routine. However, Elisa isn’t exactly a normal woman. She is mute. But she doesn’t let that fact crush her spirit. She’s a lively woman who enjoys conversation with her neighbor Giles, an advertisement artist who has let go from his company because of some type of addiction that we don’t quite learn of. Elisa is also special because she works nights cleaning at the Occam Aerospace Research Center, a top-secret government facility that recently acquired an asset that they believe may be the key to besting Russia at the space race.

    This asset is a mysterious creature that was found in the waters of South America. He is simply referred to as Amphibious Man (Doug Jones) in the credits, but that doesn’t quite cover what he is. What is clear is that Elisa is taken aback by him, especially when the head of the team researching the creature, Colonel Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon), is injured by him. As time goes on, Elisa begins sneaking into the room that contains the creature to feed him hard-boiled eggs and play him music off her portable record player. Over time, the creature and Elisa begin to bond. She begins to see the humanity in him, as does Dr. Robert Hoffstetler (Michael Stuhlbarg, he’s having a great year between this and Call Me By Your Name), who might have ulterior motives for the creature. As Strickland becomes more hostile towards the creature, Elisa decides to recruit the help of Giles and her friend and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer, as charming as ever) to help her break him out of the facility.

    Del Toro is one of the finest visual filmmakers working today and The Shape of Water is a perfect example of that. The movie is carefully designed to take place within the period, but also have a surreal quality to it with its costumes and sets splashed in a sea-foam green color tone. Del Toro knows how to heighten reality to fit the story he’s trying to tell by having every department fully committed to his vision. Credit also has to be given to cinematographer Dan Laustsen, who shot the film like a cold war movie, with a storybook flare.

    However, as engaging as the story is, I never felt truly immersed. Part of the problem with Crimson Peak was its general emotional coldness. None of the characters had strong arcs that you could become invested in. The same problem happens in The Shape of Water. There are glimpses of emotional undercurrents. Giles, a closeted gay man, has taken an interest in a waiter at a local diner and often drags Elisa along to see him. And while that storyline comes close to becoming an emotional arc, a pivotal scene is cut right before it really says anything and then the storyline is dropped.

    Sally Hawkins, though, delivers a lot of heart to the movie. She’s an emotional powerhouse without speaking a single word. In one scene, she forces Giles to repeat everything he’s saying to ensure he’s understanding. And though Jenkins pretty much deadpans the translations, the pain in Hawkins’ face is enough to carry the emotional heft of the scene. Her relationship with the creature isn’t exactly built up or earned. It feels like it’s rushed for the sake of the plot. But again, Hawkins makes me believe that she truly has fallen for him. She’s sensational. The same goes for Jenkins. He portrays his character’s loneliness with incredible restraint and though the script doesn’t give him the chance to build much of an emotional arc, he adds a lot of depth.




    And even though I was ultimately disappointed in my lack of emotional investment in the movie, Del Toro is a masterful storyteller. Elisa and Giles both bond over their love of old Hollywood musicals. And that imagery is often invoked with Giles and Elisa sitting on the couch mimicking the movie they’re watching on screen or when at one point Elisa imagines her and the creature performing a classic black-and-white musical number. Like all of his films, The Shape of Water has a quirky tone to everything, even when it drifts into the horrifying. That tone is also aided by Alexander Desplat’s playful score, which is certainly one of the most memorable elements of the film.

    For a movie about a creature of the deep, The Shape of Water keeps everything surprisingly surface level. It feels like what you get on screen is all that you are given. Still, Guierrmo Del Toro is such a masterful filmmaker that he is able to make the story and visuals interesting enough to keep audiences in their seats. However, the movie left me cold with nothing to attach to. It is the visual feast that his past projects were, certainly. But the emotional heft is put on the shoulders of its cast. In particular, Sally Hawkins and Richard Jenkins, who both deserve Oscar nominations for their work. The Shape of Water is definitely worth a watch for its story and filmmaking prowess.

    ★★★½ out of 5