David R. Walker

Posts Tagged ‘Dominic Sessa’

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Rosamund Pike, Isla Fisher, Dominic Sessa, Justice Smith, Morgan Freeman, Mark Ruffalo, Thabang Molaba, Ariana Goldblatt, Lizzy Caplan

Running Time: 1 hour 53 minutes

Film Rating: 7 out of 10

Nine years after the sequel, Now You See Me 2 in 2016, Gangster Squad director Ruben Fleischer reunites the four horseman of magic in the third instalment aptly titled Now You See Me: Now You Don’t starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco.

In the new film some bright young characters emerge, ambitious magicians that are trying to emulate the four horseman. These are June played by Ariana Goldblatt, Bosco brilliantly played by Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers) and Charlie played by Justice Smith.

J. Daniel Atlas eloquently played with enough charisma by Eisenberg recruits the young magicians to help him pull off a daring diamond heist in Antwerp, Belgium. Enter the villain.

Rosamund Pike is no stranger to playing the villain, after she played Miranda Frost in 2002’s James Bond film Die Another Day. This time the British Oscar nominee effortlessly takes on a strong South African accent to play diamond heiress Veronica Vanderberg who inherited her father’s South African diamond empire.

She has a sparkling very expensive diamond in which the magicians want to steal at a diamond auction in Antwerp. Many disappearing acts occur in which the diamond is snatched by the four horsemen and their young accomplices. They flee Belgium for a mysterious Chateau in France where they meet chief magician and illusionist Thaddeus Bradley played by Oscar winner Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby).

Things go south at the Chateau and soon Merritt McKinney played by Oscar nominee Woody Harrelson (The People vs Larry Flynt, The Messenger, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri) is kidnapped by the ruthless but vivacious Vanderberg.

Swiftly a fifth magician appears, Lizzy Caplan reprising her role as Luna and the entire gang head to Abu Dhabi to the Yas Marina Grand Prix circuit whereby Vanderberg Enterprises will be showcasing their new racing car. The magicians land up getting caught in a sandbox quickly filling with sand while Vanderberg seems to escape into the Arabian night.

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t has great entertainment value judging by how fill the cinema was when I saw it. It is a sleek and visually impressive film with a great ensemble cast and sufficient tricky to wow the viewers into being captivated by every sleight of hand and misdirection.

With multiple screenwriters contributing to the screenplay, the narrative is outlandish and pure escapism but that is what magic is all about.

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t gets a film rating of 7 out of 10 and is pure entertainment with no violence, lots of action and loads of magic helped by a truly talented ensemble cast. Recommended viewing.

The Holdovers

Director: Alexander Payne

Cast: Paul Giametti, Davine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa, Carrie Preston, Tate Donovan

Running Time: 2 hours and 13 minutes

Film Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Nebraska, The Descendants and Sideways director Alexander Payne delivers another Oscar gem in the thoroughly retro comedy drama The Holdovers set in a posh boy’s boarding school Barton in rural Massachusetts in December 1970.

Capturing the cinema aesthetic of the 1970’s, Alexander Payne skilfully crafts a decade appropriate feel for The Holdovers, paying tribute to such classic films as Milos Forman’s Oscar winning film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver.

With bespoke production design, The Holdovers really scores on the acting front with a suitably witty performance by Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti (The Cinderella Man) as washed out ancient history teacher Paul Hunham who is tasked with the responsibility of looking after The Holdover kids, boys whose parents have not collected them for the December break.

Whilst initially there are 5 boys of various ages, soon there is only the awkward and clever Angus Tully superbly played by Dominic Sessa in his first breakout onscreen role. Dominic Sessa is brilliant and should have been nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar.

To round off the trio and offset the mock father son dynamic between Tully and Hunham is the no-nonsense chain smoking kitchen cook Mary Lamb in a career turning performance by Davine Joy Randolph who was perfectly cast opposite Giamatti and Sessa.

Randolph’s performance rightly earned her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominations at the 2024 Academy Awards and she creates a fascinating character range of a tough woman who has to emotionally conceal the utter tragedy of her only son being killed in the Vietnam War. Mary Lamb has to contend with issues of class, privilege and racism at this prestigious boy’s school while forming an unlikely relationship with both the antiquated school teacher and the restless, irascible teenage boy during the Christmas of 1970 when momentous change was about to occur in America.

What keeps The Holdovers thoroughly entertaining is the erudite and suitably sarcastic original screenplay by David Hemingson and it’s this tightly woven dynamic between the three characters who grapple with being thrown together by circumstance but become stronger by assisting each other as they all experience an emotional revelation which releases them from their own individual trauma.

It is really Paul Giamatti who is a revelation as the grumpy ancient history teacher who has to constantly deal with these lazy, back chatting teenage boys who he collectively refers to as lazy and vulgar philistines. Giamatti’s performance is complimented by a wonderfully astute performance by Davine Joy Randolph who deserves some award recognition.

If you enjoy a retro American comedy drama set in the 1970’s, then The Holdovers is highly recommended viewing which gets a film rating of 8.5 out of 10. Phenomenal acting and a perfect script.