Surprising ‘Pixie’ packs a real punch
Olivia Cooke steals the show in Irish dark comedy
An Irish surprise and an Oscar hopeful or two highlight our movie picks of the week. Note that movie theaters in several Bay Area counties have reopened.
Here’s the rundown of your new movie options.
“PIXIE” >> An appealing team of relative newcomers — Olivia Cooke, Ben Hardy and Daryl McCormack — upstage acting vets Alec Baldwin and Colm Meaney in this goofy love child of the classic “In Bruges.” The father-son filmmaking pair of Barnaby and Preston Thompson (dad directs, junior writes) can’t rival the wicked wit of Martin McDonagh’s 2008 bloody hitman comedy, but they come up with an energetic homage, one that dials back on the violence — to a point. (This is still not for very young viewers.) The story follows a bag of narcotics, rival drug-smuggling priests and bumbling dealers — and our three protagonists, each of whom has motivations and schemes of their own. Stunning (sometimes violent) plot twists and snappy one-liners (and some gorgeous scenery) make “Pixie” a quirky Ireland-set winner, ideal for the weekend while knocking back a Guinness. DETAILS >> \*\*\* out of 4; available on various platforms.
“THE MAURITANIAN” >> In this admirable but perfunctory adaptation of Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s bestselling memoir, we witness the torture that Slahi endured at Guantanamo Bay during his 14-year captivity there — all of it authorized by our government. Told in a very traditional manner, director Kevin Macdonald unspools a compelling true story that needed to have more fire in its belly. Golden Globe winner Jodie Foster is solid as defense attorney Nancy Hollander, who learns of the horrors her client experienced. Benedict Cumberbatch is also notable as Lt. Col. Stuart Couch, who represents the government and is eager to avenge a friend’s 9/11 death. The real star, though, is Tahar Rahim as Slahi, who never wavers in making his character an authentic person, not a mere symbol. DETAILS >> \*\*/*; in select theaters and available on various platforms.
“THE WORLD TO COME” >> Mona Fastvold’s solemn romance tells the tragic tale of two 19th-century frontier women (Katherine Waterston and Vanessa Kirby) who fall in love in the shadows of their blah marriages. To enjoy, you need to surrender to Fastvold’s gradual pacing and the poetic rhythm of the screenplay from Jim Shepard and Ron Hansen. Fastvold fastidiously pays attention to pioneer life, giving the film a realness that many period pieces lack. As the lovers, Waterston and Kirby give it their all, and their passion on screen is electrifying. Christopher Abbott and Casey Affleck co-star. DETAILS >> \*\*\*; available on various platforms.
“CHAOS WALKING” >> After getting hauled in and out of the studio repair shop, this muddled sci-fi bore arrives and it’s still a lemon. Based on a young adult series, Doug Liman’s film is annoying mainly due to its central conceit: In the year 2257 men’s innermost thoughts are always visible due to an affliction called “The Noise.” What results is conversation mayhem. Liman also wedges in two needless moments of disturbing animal violence. Tom Holland stars as dogooder Todd who befriends spacewoman Viola (Daisy Ridley), who has crashlanded on the rainforestlike planet where Todd lives. It’s a planet from which all women have disappeared. The bulk of “Chaos” has Viola and Todd running away from a bellowing Neanderthal-like macho man (Mads Mikkelsen in a fur get-up). There’s something worth exploring here, but the story is stuck in the gestating process.
DETAILS >> \*; in theaters and available on various platforms.
“NIGHT OF THE KINGS” >> Oscar nominations get unveiled Monday and in the international feature category, I’m rooting for this Ivory Coast entry from filmmaker Philippe Lacote to make the cut. It’s a transcendent love song to the magnificence of storytelling — how words can create a legend and also soothe, heal and, in some cases, save lives. That message becomes clear as a new inmate (Bakary Kone) arrives at Ivory Coast’s notorious La Maca prison and is assigned the role of “Roman” — a storyteller who must satisfy his audience, or else. Lacote’s film is imaginatively structured, intricately detailed and powered by creativity. DETAILS >> \*\*\*\* ; available to stream as part of the Smith Rafael Film Center’s “For Your Consideration” series; rafaelfilm.cafilm.org.
“SUN CHILDREN” >> Here’s another film on the shortlist of the international feature Oscar category. Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi’s latest is another chapter in his plaintive chronicles about the plight of the mostly young and unhoused people from his homeland. Again, he shows us a world viewed through their eyes, and what results is unforgettably sad. Majidi uses the worn-down device from children’s literature — the hunt for buried treasure — and brings more depth to the plot as a group of industrious boys are hired (more like exploited) to extract the goods from the bowels of a school. Majidi has a knack for finding young actors and giving them meaty roles to play. In this case, it’s Roohollah Zamani, playing the Oliver Twist-like leader who finds somewhat of a home at the school. DETAILS >> \*\*\*/*; available to stream as part of the Smith Rafael Film Center’s “For Your Consideration” series; rafaelfilm.cafilm.org.
“BOOGIE” >> Alameda native Taylor Takahashi makes a promising feature debut as Alfred “Boogie” Chin, a cocky Queens high school basketball player feeling the pressure from his feuding Chinese American parents (Pamelyn Chee and Perry Yung) to land a sports scholarship. Writer-director Eddie Huang’s flawed feature does have have flashes to recommend it, particularly in depicting matters of the heart between Boogie and a no-nonsense Black classmate (Taylour Paige). Too bad a big showdown with a basketball rival (played by the late rapper Bashar “Pop Smoke” Jackson) doesn’t engage us nearly as much. DETAILS >> \*\*/*; in select theaters.