"The Bear," Year Five

I was under the mistaken impression that the fourth season was the final season of "The Bear."  So imagine my surprise when eight new episodes were dropped a few weeks ago, plus an extra episode titled "Gary" that is about Richie and Michael taking a fateful day trip to Gary, Indiana.  It was probably meant to be a flashback at some point in this season, but it doesn't really fit into the flow of this batch of episodes anywhere, so I'm glad that they released it separately.  

 

Anyway, the fifth and final season of "The Bear" is required viewing if you enjoyed any of the previous parts of this show.  If you lost interest during the increasingly meandering and indulgent (but still very good) third and fourth seasons, it's time to get back in the kitchen.  Season five wraps up the whole series and pays off all the various character arcs, resolves some longstanding problems, and answers most of the big questions too.  The pacing issues are largely gone, with the show's creators taking a page from "The Pitt," and having seven of the eight episodes take place during one tense, nail-biting, stormy night at the The Bear where everything goes wrong, but the staff still has to pull off a miracle and keep the restaurant running through a full meal service.  The last episode serves as a coda that surveys the aftermath and lets everyone say goodbye.

What's great about this last season is that it shows us the characters at their best and working as a team at last.  After so many seasons of everyone being at odds, fighting their own personal demons, and only making progress in fits and starts, this final run of episodes lets them all succeed together.  There are still plenty of clashes and setbacks, and the writers engineer crisis upon crisis in the final push, but the characters get to rise to the occasion, showing all the ways that they've grown.  For those viewers who like "The Bear" because it lets them watch professionals work at the top of their game, this will be catnip.  I especially like the way that all these different, interlocking subplots develop involving the crew in the kitchen, the staff in the front of the house, and even Oliver Platt's Uncle Cicero, who gets to trudge around Chicago with a misfit crew on his own mission.    

I love that everything in this season feels like it's been taken back to basics.  There are still an array of impressive guest stars, but the show doesn't draw much attention to them.  The only major new character is the Computer's niece Cheese (Elsie Fisher), who tags along with Cicero's crew for the evening.  Some episodes run significantly longer than others, but not in a way that feels excessive or indulgent.  One of the longest episodes, "Caramel," is also the most tense and nerve-wracking, where we go through the process of creating every single course of the final dinner service, almost in real time.  The running time is close to a full hour, but it's an hour that flies by.  The humor worked for me throughout - even the Faks, who are deployed exactly as much as they need to be.  Also, the show backing off from being so singularly focused on Carmy helps it immensely.  You could absolutely make another season or two of "The Bear" with Sydney or Richie taking over at this point.  I don't really want that though - I feel like the show is already pushing its luck, and it would be a shame to undercut the finale.

Frankly, I'm a sucker for a happy ending, and that's exactly what "The Bear" gives us here.  Nearly every major character gets a win, even if it's coming to the decision that they need to throw in the towel. Best of all, the wins feel earned, never coming too easy and never feeling too telegraphed.  Sure, some loose ends don't get tied up, and I know there will be complaints about the resolution of Carmy's character arc, but I came away from "The Bear" thoroughly satisfied with the last course and inclined to leave a big tip.  

Check please. 

---

So, About "Secretary"

I've spent a lot of this month clearing out my "To Watch" list.  One title that I've been eyeing for what feels like forever has been "Secretary," which has been pitched to me as the one good movie about a very verboten subject, sadomasochism.  "Secretary" was said to be the rare feature film that took the underlying relationship dynamics seriously, and dared to portray sadomasochistic behavior in a positive light.  This attitude was especially prevalent when "Fifty Shades of Grey" was popular, and I will disclose now that I've never read or watched anything from that franchise.  I have no particular issue with the content.  I just haven't gotten around to it.

Still, this means I built up "Secretary" in my mind to be something that it clearly isn't.  It is not a movie that depicts a sadomasochistic relationship realistically, with a clear-eyed, unbiased look at all the day-to-day give and take of making this dynamic work.  It's not an especially sexually explicit or prurient film, with most of the sensitive physical acts taking place just offscreen.  I can imagine the calls with the MPAA discussing shot lengths and camera angles.  The movie was released in 2002, mind you, which feels like a lifetime ago when it comes to content standards.  I'm pretty sure I've seen more nudity in random episodes of "Girls."  Oddly, there's not much direct acknowledgement of the sadomasochism in "Secretary" until almost the end, with no discussion of consent or boundaries before the leads get kinky - which I know that "Fifty Shades" at least made an attempt to talk about up front.

"Secretary" is pretty down-to-earth, and features characters who aren't fabulously rich or look like Dakota Johnson, but it's still operating in the realm of romantic fantasy.  Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Lee, a meek young woman who just got out of a mental institution after a botched round of self-harm was mistaken for a suicide attempt.  She gets a job as a secretary to a demanding attorney, E. Edward Grey, played by James Spader of course.  The two gradually discover that their sternly authoritarian employer/employee work dynamic is something that they both enjoy, and as the relationship moves from professional to romantic, their workplace activities go from flirtatious to provocative to extreme.  However, while Lee finds masochism empowering, enjoying sadism seems to spook Edward, and neither of them are sure how far their new unorthodox relationship can go. 

Directed by Stephen Shainberg and written by Erin Cressida Wilson, "Secretary" doesn't push too many obvious boundaries or take any big risks, aside from the way it frames its subject matter as a love story instead of a freak show.  I want to emphasize that it is a very low-budget affair.  On the sign for E. Edward Grey's law office, there's a "Secretary Wanted" panel that lights up like a motel vacancy indicator.  This signalled to me that "Secretary" would have used more fanciful filmmaking elements and fantasy signifiers if it had the money for them.  Instead, it mostly looks like a typical indie romance from the early 2000s, with a couple of throwback elements like typewriters instead of computers, and dated women's fashions.  There's one brief, vaguely surreal dream sequence that looks like it was made with consumer video software, and probably wasn't anything close to what the filmmakers had in mind.   

Almost all of the film's effectiveness is due to the performances.  Maggie Gyllenhaal is fantastic, and the smartest thing that the filmmakers do is to put her front and center the majority of the time.  "Secretary" is very one-sided in its portrayal of the sadomasochistic relationship, showing us nearly everything from Lee's perspective as a masochist, and spending considerable effort to show us what she gets out of her interactions with Edward.  It's an old adage that the MPAA is terrified of showing female sexual pleasure onscreen, and "Secretary" must have been a nightmare for them, because so much of it is built around Lee's uninhibited reaction shots to what would be abusive behavior in a different context.

James Spader, by contrast, is clearly in a supporting role.  Though we get plenty of voyeuristic views of Lee in various BDSM scenarios, E. Edward Grey is a very closed off character.  More is suggested than outright stated about what's going on in his head, but Spader hasn't been in a ridiculously high number of erotic thrillers for nothing, and has no trouble getting across E. Edward Grey's conflicted feelings, shame spiral, and eventual self-acceptance. Spader and Gyllenhaal also pair very well, with plenty of screen chemistry.  I cheered for them to get together and continue their deviant antics, despite not being convinced that the sadomasochistic part of their relationship was actually healthy for either of them.  

But I don't think that was the point of "Secretary" in the first place.      

—

"Crime 101" and "Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice"

Two quick reviews of some interesting genre films today, which I don't want to see fall through the cracks.

First we have "Crime 101,"written and directed by Bart Layton.  This is his first proper narrative film after making earlier features that were either documentaries or documentary/drama hybrids.  And it's an old fashioned kind of crime film that you don't see much of anymore, because these projects tend to get turned into prestige miniseries on Apple TV+ or HBO these days.  "Crime 101" follows the fortunes of four characters in Los Angeles.  There's Mike (Chris Hemsworth), a very successful and principled jewel thief whose heists tend to happen near the 101 freeway.  There's Detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo), a detective who is investigating Mike's robberies, but is hampered by a police department that is more concerned with their clearance rate than justice.  Finally, there's Sharon (Halle Berry), who sells insurance policies to very rich people, and sees an opportunity after crossing paths with both Mike and Lou.  Finally there's Ormon (Barry Keoghan), Mike's unhinged new rival, who regularly chooses violence.

With a running time of 140 minutes, a fairly leisurely pace for the first hour, and a downright introspective tone at times, "Crime 101" is going to be pure catnip for some cinephiles, but it might be a tough watch for the more casual viewer.  However, the filmmaking is solid, the performances are excellent, and the script offers some genuine surprises.  While "Crime 101" never reaches the heights of the classics of this genre, like "Heat" or "Thief," it belongs in the conversation.  The action and chase sequences aren't too flashy, but they're very good at building up real suspense and tension.  The characters embody a lot of old cliches, but inevitably draw you in.  It's been a long time since I've seen Halle Berry in a role this thoughtful and grounded, and it's a shame that it doesn't happen more often.  Ruffalo and Hemsworth are playing variations on other roles I've seen them in recently - notably Ruffalo in "TASK" - but they have some memorable moments.  If this is your genre, but you're been weary of films like "Den of Thieves" that are all flash and no substance, give this one a try. 

On to "Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice," written and directed by BenDavid Grabinski, which is a time-travel comedy where most of the main characters are gangsters.  Nick (Vince Vaugh) is unhappily married to Alice (Eiza Gonzalez), who is having an affair with Mike (James Marsden), Nick's partner in crime.  Mike is trying to leave the mob, but is enlisted to help Nick with a job one night - kidnapping a different Nick.  And that's about as much plot as I think I should reveal before we get into spoilers.  

I really like "Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice," but I think it's a movie that's easy to oversell.  At its heart, it's a silly comedy about silly, cartoonish versions of tough guy gangsters in a ridiculous situation.  None of the characters are very deep and the plot feels sort of thrown together, with a lot of "Gilmore Girls" references and a retro soundtrack.  However, the movie kept surprising me because it managed to constantly be a little better than I was expecting in every department.  The humor worked for me.  The action scenes are inventive and well-executed.  Every single actor is charming and funny and endearing, especially Vince Vaughn in loveable asshole mode.  The plot, though its full of holes, turns out to be built around a truly touching character transformation that I found unexpectedly heartwarming.  

However, you'll notice that a lot of this depends on going in with pretty low expectations.  "Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice" is a Hulu original, and while it's significantly above average for a straight-to-streaming feature, it's still got a pretty modest budget and I don't think the dry, idiosyncratic humor is going to work for everyone.  Like "Crime 101," I also suspect I responded to it because it feels like a throwback to a different era of filmmaking, when theatrical comedies were more robust, and Vince Vaughn was a leading man with significantly more star wattage.  However, it's nice to be reminded that Vaughn can still carry a high concept comedy, and carry it well.  I hope to see more like this from him in the future.          

---

My Top 25 of the Last 25: Girly Movies

I love girly movies.  And when I'm talking about girly movies, I don't necessarily mean films starring girls and women, or created by women.   I definitely don't mean romantic-comedies, though some of the movies below have romance and comedy in them.  I'm talking about the movies that are unapologetically, unabashedly, aimed at women.  These movies center on the female POV and treat the preferences, concerns, and tastes of women and girls seriously in a world that too often doesn't.  And though there are a few bittersweet entries, I find that the best girly movies focus on positivity and uplift, and are great for boosting my mood.

Legally Blonde - I resisted the charms of Elle Woods for a long time, but in the end it was impossible.  I love the character and I love this movie.  I love the notion of the ultra-feminine, bubbly blonde glam girl also being a whip-smart law student who uses her powers for good.  She can be a girly girl and do important, serious work.  She can reject the snobbery and privilege of the elites and choose sisterhood and solidarity, while still being her most fabulous self.  Is it a fantasy?  Yes.  Is it one we need?  Hell yes.

Catherine, Called Birdy - Easily the least popular film on this list, but it's such a great encapsulation of adolescent growing pains.  Catherine is growing up in an era where the rules of love and womanhood are completely out of step with how she wants to live her life, and her well-meaning father just doesn't understand.  And really, is that any different than how things are for some girls in every era?  And Bella Ramsay is perfect at embodying Birdy in all her rebellious, mischievous, stubborn impossibility.  

Pitch Perfect - It's "Glee" if it were from the creators of "30 Rock," which is more or less what happened here, because the main writer/producer of the series is Kay Cannon.  Honestly, the three "Pitch Perfect" movies have all blended together in my mind at this point, but I remember the first one being the funniest and it helped give Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson a significant boost in visibility.  And I appreciate that the comedy came first, inspiring other films like "Bottoms" to follow suit.  

One of Them Days - Let's hear it for the ones keeping it real.  Dreux and Alyssa, played by Keke Palmer and SZA, are just trying to come up with their overdue rent money and get through a bad day that keeps getting worse.  There are not enough theatrical comedies like this anymore - the right size and scope, aimed at the sorely underserved black audience, with the right combination of talent involved to give everybody the opportunity to shine.  A sequel is reportedly in the works, and I can't wait to see it.  

Bring it On - This has spawned six direct-to-video sequels so far.  Six!  Released in the year 2000, this barely made the cutoff date, and honestly this feels like a 90s movie more than a 2000s one culturally.  However, the impact of "Bring it On" is undeniable, a mixture of high energy sports movie, dance movie, and high school movie, with Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union showing that they could carry a movie as they were transitioning from teen roles to leading lady status.  It holds up better that you'd think.

Lady Bird - There's probably too much Greta Gerwig on this list, but I had to have some Saoirse Ronan representation, and the best Saoirse Ronan movie is "Lady Bird."  She's an exceptional young woman, but like so many exceptional young women, she's got all the same problems that everyone else does growing up.  As the movie explores Lady Bird's universe, it's also a love letter to Gerwig's hometown of Sacramento and the benefits of a Catholic school education - not something you see much of in the movies anymore.

The Devil Wears Prada - Yes, part of the impetus for me writing this list was the hype for the arrival of "The Devil Wears Prada 2."  Do you remember in the mid-2000s when there was all this media about the fashion industry like "Project Runway" and "Ugly Betty" and "America's Next Top Model"?  Meryl Streep in this movie may as well have been the queen of that universe - a nightmare boss, but a figure of consummate taste, talent and professionalism to be admired, feared, and never taken for granted.   

Barbie - Everything about the promotional campaign, and later the awards campaign was so positive and fun.  It injected a burst of color and shine into the pop culture when we really needed it.  And Gerwig and Baumbach clearly understood the assignment, making a film that loves, hates, subverts, and pays homage to the titular toy representation of American femininity.  I would have liked it to be a little deeper, but then again I suspect America Ferrera's monologue and Ryan Gosling learning that he was  Kenough via dream ballet was probably as much as the general audience could handle.

Bend it Like Beckham - There were lots of good contenders for girly sports movies like "Whip It!" and "Blue Crush," but "Bend it Like Beckham" ended up being the one I couldn't leave off.  It's such a great snapshot of growing up as an immigrant kid, trying to balance all the competing demands of different cultures, parental expectations, and new opportunities.  It has one of the most genuinely sweet lesbian panic situations ever.  Oh, and this is the movie where most of us first saw Keira Knightley.

Kpop Demon Hunters - Finally, this is an unlikely charmer that I didn't see coming.  I've never really understood the appeal of K-pop.  However, the soundtrack is such an important part of why this movie works, delivering earworm after earworm to help enliven a familiar story about forbidden love and being a secret half-demon warrior.  The snazzy animation, wild humor, and some gentle ribbing of the music industry don't hurt either.  Thus, "Josie and the Pussycats" got edged out of the Top Ten.  

Ahem.

Josie and the Pussycats

Little Women

Whip It

Turning Red

The Princess Diaries

Romy and Michele's High School Reunion

Booksmart

Mean Girls

Polite Society

Eighth Grade

Bridesmaids

Frances Ha

Wicked

Miss Congeniality

Easy A

---

My Favorite Jim Jarmusch Film

Jim Jarmusch is one of the undisputed stars of American independent cinema, who came out of the film school ecosystem in the early 1980s making these cool, sparse, almost experimental films, without much plot and even less action.  Forty years later, he's still making them, and his style hasn't changed much.  And it's taken me nearly that long to finally vibe with what he's doing.  I use vibe deliberately, because I think the key to Jarmusch is that he's an accomplished musician, and his filmmaking is an extension of his musical tastes and impulses.

Jim Jarmusch films don't tell stories in the traditional sense.  They have characters and settings.  They have moods and themes.  There are sometimes very precise patterns and rhythms of actions to be followed.  However, the most vital parts of Jarmusch movies are the ones where nothing in particular seems to be happening - the lulls in conversation, the pauses in activity, or the moments where a character seems lost in contemplation, thinking or weighing options.  Many of his films are collections of vignettes, where characters meet in various configurations, talk, and then separate.  And it's only at the end, after having witnessed all these seemingly incidental moments and encounters, or having followed along on an aimless journey to nowhere in particular, that it becomes clear that something has been gained from the experience.  

My favorite Jarmusch film is probably his most ambitious, filmed in five different cities, in four different primary languages, with a new cast and crew in each place.  It's essentially five short films with nothing to tie them together except for a basic premise - a taxi driver picks up a passenger or passengers one night, and they converse to pass the time during the trip.  The drivers and passengers are always strangers, often from very different walks of life, to keep things interesting.   The idea is that all of these stories are happening on the same night, at the same time, in different places across the globe.  This is "Night on Earth," where we start with a 7PM pickup at LAX airport in Los Angeles, and end in the suburbs of Helsinki roughly around 5:30 AM.       

Initially the premise feels like a fussy gimmick, but what's so fun about "Night on Earth" is that each of the segments is completely distinct, and feels very loose, improvisational, and unconstrained.  The direction taken by each of these stories feels largely driven by the performances, and there are some priceless ones here.  My favorite segment is the one set in New York, where an immigrant cab driver named Helmut, who is new to the job and can barely operate his vehicle, picks up the profane, fast-talking Yo Yo, who decides to drive the cab himself from Manhattan to Brooklyn, with Helmut as his passenger.  Yo Yo and Helmut are played by Giancarlo Esposito and Armin Mueller-Stahl, two performers with completely different energies and performance styles, who nonetheless play off each other wonderfully, especially when you throw Rosie Perez into the mix as Yo Yo's combative sister-in-law.  

Then there's the sexier, more mysterious Paris segment, where Isaach de Bankole's cab driver picks up a fiercely independent blind woman played by Beatrice Dalle as his fare, and the color barrier means nothing, but the difference in life experience means everything.  There's the awkwardness of the Los Angeles segment with Winona Ryder and Gena Rowlands, where the artifice is laid on thick, but it's hard not to get invested in the characters anyway.  And there's the Roman segment, the most blatantly comedic part of the movie, where a motormouthed driver played by Roberto Benigni takes a poor priest on the wildest  ride of his life.  And for a final note of existential melancholy, to help put everything into perspective, naturally we head to the frozen climes of Helsinki for a very sober Matti Pellonpaa to ferry home a trio of drunks as the sun comes up.  

Much of the music in the film was composed and performed by Tom Waits, who is one of Jarmusch's most frequent collaborators and appears in several of his films as an actor.  And as in all of Jarmusch's films, the music is half of the experience, setting the tone and the rhythm of each scene, and helping to define the tenor of each interaction as much as each of the five taxicabs define the physical spaces the camera and characters inhabit.  The steady beats of the nocturnal base accompany each transition in space and time, one of the only constants in the film.  

"Night on Earth" is not a piece of media to explain, but to inhabit, where we have an opportunity to share in these chance encounters with the characters, and see how barriers are crossed and common ground is reached - or at least sought out -  in every circumstance.  I think I love this film because it's so optimistic about human beings and human nature - the way that it captures our ability to find connections in unlikely places.  

And I get to enjoy a good, long drive without actually having to do any driving. 

What I've Seen - Jim Jarmusch

Stranger Than Paradise (1984)

Down By Law (1986)

Mystery Train (1989)

Night on Earth (1991)

Dead Man (1995)

Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai (1999)

Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)

Broken Flowers (2005)

The Limits of Control (2009)

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

Paterson (2016)

The Dead Don't Die (2019)

Father Mother Sister Brother (2026)

—

"Hoppers" is a Delight

I got a little overhyped for "Hoppers," which is a pretty typical piece of children's entertainment when all is said and done, but it's definitely gutsier than most recent PIXAR films, and it's nice to see audiences responding so well to it.  I'll spoil the basic premise for this review, but will do my best not to get into the particulars of the plotting or give away any of the good jokes.  The less you know going into this one, the better.

Mabel Tanaka (Piper Curda) is a hotheaded college student who is staunchly devoted to protecting nature and animals.  She is especially keen on saving the glen and beaver pond where she spent much of her childhood with her beloved grandmother (Karen Huie), and where a new freeway extension is set to be built by the stubborn Mayor Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm).  One day, Mabel stumbles upon a secret project called "Hoppers" being carried out by her mentor, Dr. Sam (Kathy Najimy).  She and her team have built robot animals that peoples' conscious minds can "hop" into "like 'Avatar.'"  Mabel puts herself into a beaver robot and sets out in search of the glen's missing animals, eventually uncovering a dastardly plot.  Other characters include the beaver king, George (Bobby Moynihan), an antagonistic caterpillar, Titus (Dave Franco), an intimidating bear named Ellen (Melissa Villaseñor), and another beaver named Loaf (Eduardo Franco), who is maybe a little too chill.

Initial trailers for "Hoppers" made the film look very similar to "The Wild Robot," which was also about a robot and a community of woodland creatures in the Pacific Northwest.  "The Wild Robot" even felt like a PIXAR movie more than a Dreamworks one, featuring heartwarming found family connections and meditations on parenthood.  "Hoppers" has some of this too, with Piper struggling with the loss of her grandmother, and forging new friendships.  However, "Hoppers" also has a lot of comedy in it.  And not just comedy, but zany, off-the-wall, we're-in a-cartoon comedy that isn't what I've come to expect from recent PIXAR movies. I liked that "The Wild Robot" was willing to be pretty frank about the perils of the natural world and the life cycle without sugarcoating things too much for a younger audience.  "Hoppers" goes a step further than that, mostly just for the sake of getting some surprisingly dark laughs.  And it's super effective at keeping the movie entertaining while getting its messages across.

Despite the more zany style of the humor, this still feels like a PIXAR film, mostly due to little things like the thoughtful way that the visual storytelling is executed, and the way that the worldbuilding has a couple of fantastical elements, but not too many.  The animals' character designs change depending on whether the POV character in each scene can understand them or not.  Mabel's beaver robot form looks like an ordinary beaver from a human POV, but immediately looks like Mabel, with her personality and expressiveness, from an animal POV, or when a human is using Dr. Sam's communication interface with the robots.  There are some great jokes that play around with this concept.  The editing often sells some of the punchlikes too - look out for those smash cuts.  

I also appreciate that "Hoppers" has some nuance when it comes to its eco-fable.  It doesn't just argue for the importance of nature, but also points out how the wrong kind of overzealous advocacy can end up doing more harm than good.  It would have been very easy to make Mayor Jerry an evil, irredeemable bad guy, but he's not.  There are degrees of villainy, and Mabel has to learn not to see the world in black and white.  The movie is pitched toward older kids, with some of the intense sequences pushing that PG rating, so parents should plan accordingly.  

However, this is the first PIXAR film in a while that I feel comfortable recommending without any reservations.  Some of their recent offerings have felt awfully polished and prestigious, but haven't been as entertaining as what's been coming out of its competitors.  "Hoppers" seems intent on proving otherwise, and I'm all for it.     

---

"Send Help" is a Scream

Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) is an overacheiving corporate worker who has been promised a VP position at her company.  Unfortunately the new boss, an insufferable youngster named Bradley Preston (Dylan O'Brien), won't give her what she's due.  However, the tables are turned during an overseas work trip, when the two are stranded on an uninhabited tropical island together, after their flight crashes.  

It's been far too long since we had an original Sam Raimi film, and this one is a lot of fun.  It's got action, comedy, bloody gore, and pig snot being flung on the camera lens.  I love that it gives Rachel McAdams a really juicy leading role.  Linda Liddle is great at her job, but she's got terrible people skills and some hygiene issues that signal that she's not very self-aware, and probably deluded about her career prospects.  McAdams isn't afraid to get gross or come off as a weirdo.  She's stellar at juggling the movie's variety of different tones, from straight drama to wildly over-the-top genre nastiness.  Dylan O'Brien is also very good at being obnoxious and awful, but also just charismatic enough that he's not entirely unsympathetic.  And that's important, given where the movie goes.  

You could classify "Send Help" as part of the recent spate of media about the class-divide, similar to "Triangle of Sadness" and "The White Lotus."  Linda turns out to be a "Survivor" enthusiast who thrives in the wild, while Bradley is useless.  However, Raimi has little interest in social satire, and puts all his efforts into thrills and mayhem.  Linda and Bradley might represent the forces of the privileged and the exploited, but it's their decisions as individuals that make the movie so compelling to watch.  It's not clear cut who you're supposed to be rooting for, all the way up to the end, and the movie gleefully keeps subverting common genre conventions and keeps the audience guessing.  What kind of movie are we even watching?  Is this a revenge thriller?  Is this a "Misery" style psycho caretaker scenario?  Is this some kind of twisted romance?  Maybe a little of everything?

One thing that I've noticed about modern comedies is that there aren't many of them that have a good grasp of comedic film language anymore.  Sam Raimi has always been fantastic at it.  There's a montage sequence involving Bradley getting dehydrated that's just a long string of dissolves of Dylan O'Brien head shots, floating over the screen one after the other.  It stood out because it had been so long since I'd seen any other action comedy attempt something similar - with the exception of last year's "Naked Gun" reboot. I hope to see more comedies that follow suit.   Raimi also manages the shifting tone extremely well.  Here, he balances cartoonish gags and heightened imagery with pretty grounded characters.  Sure, they're broadly drawn and are prone to unhinged behavior, but they exist in a pretty believable emotional reality for most of the film, so you get more invested in their clashes.   

My only major criticism of "Send Help" is of the ending, which I found too abrupt.  I liked the ultimate outcome, just not how we got there.  Maybe I was looking for more closure and maybe I was hoping for more carnage, but it feels like Raimi could have gotten more out of the material.  Then again, "Send Help" already runs 113 minutes, and hits every element you want out of a Raimi film, so it feels greedy to want more.  I hope the film's success means that we can get Rachel McAdams in more starring roles, and that it won't be over a decade before they let Sam Raimi make something similar again.  There hasn't been nearly enough screen splatter in circulation lately.

---