Posts Tagged ‘Corey Hawkins’

Crime 101

Director: Bart Layton

Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Barry Keoghan, Halle Berry, Monica Barbaro, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Corey Hawkins, Tate Donovan

Running time: 2 hours and 20 minutes

Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10

American Animals director Bart Layton reunites with Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin) along with Oscar nominee Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher, Spotlight, Poor Things) and Oscar winner Halle Berry (Monsters Ball) in the twisty crime thriller Crime 101 set entirely in Los Angeles.

Layton makes the Los Angeles urban landscape with its infinite freeways, it’s glittering skyscrapers, it’s homeless and its fascinating characters almost another character in Crime 101.

Chris Hemsworth stars as the elusive jewel thief Mike who is trying to score a big heist and grab some walk away money as he reluctantly takes orders from his boss Money played by Oscar nominee Nick Nolte (The Prince of Tides, Affliction, Warrior).

Mike soon has competition in the form of the crazy bike riding violent criminal Omon who rips off a high end jewellery store in Santa Barbara. While Mike is trying to figure out his next move, he targets the 53 year old insurance executive Sharon brilliantly played with bitterness and grit by Halle Berry.

The reluctant hero Mike also falls in love with the down to earth Maya, a radiant performance by Oscar nominee Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown) whose presence lights up the screen in contrast to the surliness of Mike’s character.

Mark Ruffalo is excellent as the well weathered LAPD detective Lou who is trying to identify the perpetrator behind the crime capers along the extensive 101 freeway.

With flashy film noir overtones, Crime 101 is a story about greed, desperation and redemption as writer and director Bart Layton creates a tapestry of morally dubious characters that all converge in a thrilling scene on the 10^th floor penthouse suite of the plush Beverly Wilshire Hotel in L. A.

The best scenes are between Halle Berry and Mark Ruffalo whose experience and skill as screen actors shine through.

Crime 101 is a clever and gripping crime drama set along the 101 freeway about thieves, dodgy policeman, ruthless billionaires and an insurance executive desperate to escape corporate misogyny while having access to valuable diamonds.

Director Bart Layton creates an adult thriller, stylish, sexy and intriguing expertly using a cast of multi-generational characters that are multifaceted, malicious and malleable.

Crime 101 gets a film rating of 7.5 out of 10 and is recommended viewing for those that enjoy a film noir contemporary thriller set in Los Angeles. Worth watching for the incredible cast.

In The Heights

Director: Jon M. Chu

Cast: Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Jimmy Smits, Melissa Barrera, Leslie Grace, Jimmy Smits, Gregory Dias IV, Daphine Rubin-Vega, Dascha Polanca, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Olga Merediz, Marc Anthony

Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu takes on the ambitious project of adapting a Broadway musical In the Heights into a film adaptation and unfortunately the finished product while dazzling and funky has limited appeal and should have been edited considerably.

In the Heights was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda who has a small cameo role as a cool drink seller and based upon the novel by Quiara Alegria Hudes, is set exclusively in the mainly Puerto Rican and Dominican neighbourhood of Washington Heights in Spanish Harlem, New York.

Last seen in a supporting role in the Oscar winning A Star is Born opposite Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, Anthony Ramos expertly takes on the main role of Usnavi as a young thirty something Bodega owner who runs a mom and pop store in the heights with the help of his naughty but sharp cousin Sonny wonderfully played by Gregory Dias IV. It’s refreshing to see the talented Anthony Ramos headlining a film.

Audiences should watch out for a cameo by Jennifer Lopez’s ex-husband Marc Anthony as Sonny’s drug fuelled deadbeat father.

Usnavi starts off the film by telling a story to his young children and their friends about the community of Washington Heights and soon the screen explodes into a dazzling dance sequence of exuberant characters and a community which is proud of its Latino roots even if their economic advancement is often stymied by the affluent New York establishment.

With the exception of Sonny and Usnavi’s Cuban grandmother Abuella Claudia played by the brilliant Olga Merediz, the rest of the characters are portrayed with flippant glamour and without much depth including the love interest between Benny played by Corey Hawkins (Kong: Skull Island, BlackKKlansman) and Nina Rosario played by Leslie Grace.

Even well-known actor Jimmy Smits (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) as Nina’s father Kevin Rosario who is desperate to uplift himself out of the Latino community he is born into, does not get enough screen time or suitable characterization. The conflict between Nina and her father is deepened by her terrible experience at Stanford, an Ivy League University in California.  

The dance numbers in In the Heights are uneven, some of them are excellent especially the sequence with Claudia on a subway train channelling her Cuban immigrant roots while others are terrible including the rap number in the communal swimming pool.

As the story unfolds, the film does not find its feet until the second half when New York is plunged into a three day blackout during a summer heatwave. When the blackout occurs, the real depth of In the Heights ironically shines through.

In the Heights is an enjoyable musical about a section of the Latino community which seldom gets a spotlight shone on them. Despite some good performances, In the Heights at 2 hours and 23 minutes could have been drastically edited.

If viewers love fun musicals then watch In the Heights which gets a film rating 7 out of 10, but this area specific musical has limited appeal.

Kong: Skull Island

Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts

Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, John C. Reilly, John Goodman, John Ortiz, Shea Whigham, Corey Hawkins, Tian Jing, Toby Kebbell, Jason Mitchell, Richard Jenkins, Thomas Mann

The allusions to Apocalypse Now and Joseph Conrad’s novel The Heart of Darkness are rife in newcomer director Jordan Vogt-Roberts action packed seventies set adventure film Kong: Skull Island.

Featuring an international cast including British actor Tom Hiddleston, Oscar winner Brie Larson (Room), John Goodman, Samuel L. Jackson, John C. Reilly and Tian Jing (The Great Wall), Kong: Skull Island wastes no time on characterization or dramatic build up but rushes straight into an adrenaline filled action film set at the end of the Vietnam war in 1973.

With a retro seventies soundtrack to match, Bill Randa played by John Goodman and Houston Brooks played by 24: Legacy’s Corey Hawkins get the go ahead from Senator Willis briefly played by Richard Jenkins (Eat, Pray, Love) to assemble a  military team and journey to a mysterious storm ridden island in the South Pacific on an exploratory mission.

The team consists of soldiers hanging for some more action after the American withdrawal from Vietnam including Preston Packard played by Samuel L. Jackson and Cole played by Shea Whigham (American Hustle) along with anti-war photographer Mason Weaver played by Larson and golden boy James Conrad, played by Hiddleston (Thor: The Dark World).

As they approach Skull Island and drop seismic charges on the lush and malignant landscape, the team soon discover that a massive beast is guarding the island from vicious lizards. That beast is King Kong, that giant gorilla last seen on top of the Empire State building with a blond in his palm. Reference Peter Jackson’s 2005 epic King Kong.

Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts cleverly wastes no time in cutting straight to the action as various teams on the island are separated only to be individually preyed upon by a variety of nefarious creatures including giant spiders. While Packard and his band of mercenary soldiers are keen on annihilating Kong, Mason and James stumble upon Hank Marlow, a crazed but good natured World War II pilot who accidentally landed on Skull Island back in 1944 and never left, even befriending the silent locals who worship Kong as their sole protector.

Marlow is superbly played by character actor John C. Reilly, a role clearly referencing Dennis Hopper’s frenetic photojournalist in Apocalypse Now without the looming intensity of a Mister Kurtz watching over his horrific empire. Reilly brings empathy to the role of Marlow, another clear reference to The Heart of Darkness and advises the more sympathetic team that Kong is not that bad. A fact which is vividly illustrated by Mason Weaver’s wonderful encounter with the gigantic beast.

Brie Larson gives a resilient performance as the only strong female lead in a basically all male film and has the best screen time with Kong, realizing that much like those brave soldiers hunting Kong, they are all as confused about this rapid reversal in the environmental food chain.

Kong: Skull Island is unadulterated adventure, punctuated with cool photographic stills of exotic ethnography to capture a unique and terrifying experience where myth and science meet.

With the help of a groovy seventies soundtrack and a stand out performance by John C. Reilly, Kong Skull Island gets a film rating of 7.5 out of 10. Highly recommended viewing.