Jan Vokes (Toni Collette) , a small town Welsh bartender, Comes up with a crazy idea to breed a race horse. With help from Howard Davies (Damian Lewis) who has some experience with horse, and cash from from the townsfolk they all become owners of Drean Alliance.
How can you not like this true story. Collette gives a wonderful performance along with Owen Teale who plays her supportive husband.
Danian Lewis as Jan right hand man is good if not a little stiff in this role. He has a back story of family strife
The towns people who become co-owners of Dream Alliance give the film some love and humor.
As for the races, the look is very realistic, Director Euros Lyn does a wonderful job putting the viewer right in the middle of the race and showing us the risks of these types of races.
Well lets face it we all know where this film is going. The film takes its time, with character development. The underdog rising up. It is very enjoyable, to a point in my screening, people were cheering and clapping....welcome back to the communal experience of movie theaters!!!!!
3 1/2 stars out of 5 for Dream Horse. Yes we have seen this movie before however Collette and Director Lyn sucks you...it works.
From the shadows as always from the shadows as always .
Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway musical come to the big screen!! The story of a dreamer, Bodega owner Usnavi (Anthony Ramos) as he saves his money in hopes of a better life.
Well..going in I heard a strong buzz on this one. I will just say...I went in a bit hesitant.
Is In The Heights good? No. It is very good. Not great....but very good.
I think you have to reaaaalllly like musicals to enjoy this film. I mean this is one of these musicals that have people singing a small conversation, when many musicals would have them speaking those lines. So it is one of those musicals. Trust me on this, before you read on, I love a good musical. I like entertainment. Entertain me and I am happy. In fact I would say WICKED is the best written piece of entertainment covering all genres in decades. So...I am in.
Let me get my negatives out of the way:
-It is odd, it is just a story. What I mean is there is no real conflict other than inner turmoil within the leads. Most good musicals have that conflict which keeps you watching to see the resolution. Think Wicked; Hamilton; West Side..and so on they have conflict. Then it brings me to the next Negative.....
-2 hours and 30 minutes. Its long. In the theater you have an intermission,not here. So I go back to the conflict point, Endgame was 2 hours 30 minutes, however it did not feel that way because a conflict pushed the movie forward. In The Heights felt a bit long.
-The ending. I thought it was kinda of bullshit. No spoilers...but the viewer was mislead through the whole movie, then a big reveal you are suppose to be happy for Usnavi, not me I felt kind of sad for him lol. Wait you cant leave your life you loved in a neighborhood without taking a piece of that life with you? A person cannot start a fashion boutique somewhere else? Times change. Places change. Faces change. You still have memories.
Plus you can still love where you came from, and visit. Your neighborhood is a part of you whereever you go.
-Small issue; Subtitles would help. You may say...Well then learn Spanish. Well I can go the other way with that...but I will not. I will say...when at the theater or an art house they will subtitle the films so we understand...the characters..that's all.
Well I liked this movie a lot so lets get to the positives:
-The lead Anthony Ramos has become the front runner for male lead at the Oscars. All I can say his performance...his singing..his dancing..is all on another level.
-Costars:
Leslie Grace as Nina
Melissa Barrera asVanessa
Corey Hawkins as Benny
Jimmy Smits as Kevin Rosario
I mean...Come On!!!!!!! Everyone of them are so talented acting; singing; and dancing.
-The behind the scenes group who I am sure you will see Oscar night:
Cinematographer....Alice Brooks
Set Decorator ........Andrew Baseman
Costumes..............Mitchell Travers
Choreographer ....Christopher Scott
Put them all together and they plop you in The Heights. Time and place for this film is everything and it all these talented individuals made it work. I mean the pool scene!!! Wow!!!
So I come to the end of this review but I want to note to you...STAY THROUGH THE CREDITS...there is a cute funny scene at the end.
4 out of 5 stars for In The Heights. Other recent musicals..Lala Land..The Greatest Showman...I like those films a little bit better. Only a half star better lol. This was very good. If you like musicals go, see it on the big screen!
A violinist, Finley (Katherine McNamara), is on a bit of a down slide. She takes a few weeks abroad in Ireland to reset her life. On the trip over she meets Beckett (Jedidiah Goodacre), a famous cocky young actor.
Cathleen Sweeney (Vanessa Redgrave), lives in a nursing home. Finley, as part of her summer project becomes her companion. There we learn Cathleen has a past that still haunts her to this day.
There is also mystery involving a picture and Finley's brother.
As you can tell there is a lot going on here.
Positives:
Katherine McNamara is just wonderful. McNamara is a newcomer to me on the big screen and is in almost every scene. She is a joy to watch.
Of course Vanessa Redgrave is great as Cathleen.
There is a couple really good small parts with:
Patrick Bergin (Where Have you been?) as Seamus
Saoirse-Monica Jackson as Emma Callaghan
Both I wanted to see more of.
So we have some good performances..
How about the script?
It is a sweet story, like I noted before its a Hallmark film which is not a bad thing.
However.....
Negatives:
The script:
Again, like noted before, there is a lot going on here with Brian Baugh's script. Old woman looking for redemption. Young girl feeling invisible to her peers. Fiddle player who is the wise mentor. Actor who has issues with dad. Inn owners struggling to run said Inn. Mystery picture from Finley's brother. (This story should have been left on the floor for sure) Then there is Finley trying to get her confidence back and falling in love. All these stories make the film feel choppy, leaving less character development and too many open endings. Then throw in this part of the script....Wait, you cannot be an actor and go to school? Huh? You are a star, put in for the time off for the series in your contract! Just odd.
Jedidiah Goodacre who plays Beckett Rush .I cannot tell if he is a bad actor or his character is suppose to be a bad actor. Either way I know for sure he has no chemistry with the wonderful lead McNamara. Often I heard people in the theater laugh at parts of the film that were not suppose to be funny when he spoke. This is never good. He is the weakest part of this film.
For all the negatives....I have to be honest...I kind of liked it. In fact I watched it twice in the theaters. It is nice to go see a film that is sweet and kind of soft and not a "Franchise".
For people who want to take the time to watch this film, it does deliver the love story and humor and sweet ending they want. I would give it 3 out of 5 stars because of that. It is better than average because of the lead and Vanessa Redgrave.
