Category: Film Reviews

Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square (TV-PG)

Dolly Parton, Christine Baranski.

Dolly Parton is an angel and Christine Baranski is a lady-Scrooge in this Netflix Christmas movie that isn’t nearly as fun as that description would indicate. Regina (Baranski) is a rich lady who somehow owns the entirety of her hometown. Shortly before Christmas, she evicts everybody because she’s selling the town to the Cheatum corporation so they can build the giant Cheatum Mall (which, ha). Nuts to this town, Baranski sings, which she left behind to move to the Big City years earlier. Why? Secrets! (Although, once you hear what the secret is, “nuts to this town” is probably a reasonable response.)

At one point in this movie, Regina is drinking a whiskey and talking about life’s trials with the bartender who has just served her — Violet (Selah Kimbro Jones), who is an elementary-school-aged child. This scene is kinda great, as is one where Regina thinks Angel Dolly Parton is a rhinestoned hallucination as a result of a brain tumor. Parton, Baranski, Jenifer Lewis as Regina’s childhood buddy, even Jeanine Mason as Regina’s put upon assistant are all sorta kooky and fun in this Christmas cheese ball, but way too much of this movie is taken up by the drippy town and its assorted drippy denizens. The movie is all over the place, not really picking a plot lane — but ends with Baranski wearing a simple but lovely white shift dress. Add that to Parton’s white jean jacket-y blouse thing with I think a feather hem and you understand why I can’t recommend this movie and yet I also can’t bring myself to give it the blah grade it deserves. How about a C+, emphasis on the +? Available on Netflix

Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special (TV-G)

Mariah Carey and…

Billy Eichner, Tiffany Haddish, Jennifer Hudson, Misty Copeland, Snoop Dogg and also Snoopy the Dog and Charlie Brown and Linus and Woodstock, because, I guess, corporate synergy as this appears on Apple TV+, which is also the current home of Peanuts content. The year 2020 has got the whole world down, so Mariah Carey is tasked with Saving Christmas by raising holiday spirits, which will help to light the way for Santa Claus. Mariah is thusly whisked from her stylish apartment to the North Pole for a series of costume changes and musical numbers. At 43 minutes, this is definitely more network Christmas special than plot-driven movie but who cares, it’s great! And by “great” I mean fun, silly, self-aware about its silliness, full of good cameos and whole-family appropriate. Also, of course, it contains The Song, which is teased throughout before we finally get an all-singing, all-dancing version of Carey’s big Christmas hit. This is the perfect thing to have on while you’re cooking holiday fare or wrapping holiday fare or immobilized by exhaustion on the couch after all the holiday cheer. B+ Available on Apple TV+.

Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone (R)

Al Pacino, Andy Garcia.

Nothing says “holiday season” like some cable station somewhere running The Godfather movies on a loop for a couple of days. You can add to that this Christmas season by checking out Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, a slightly reedited version of what was previously known as The Godfather Part III. Released in 1990, some 16 years after The Godfather Part II, “Three,” as characters on The Sopranos called it, is stuck in my memory as being full of “hoo-aah!” Al Pacino acting and a derided performance by Sofia Coppola. But 1990 is nearly twice as long ago from today as it was from the series’ original heyday (I saw it a while after 1990, when it was already universally understood to be an embarrassment). After checking out this updated version, I feel like we just didn’t know what it was back then. This movie is that most 21st-century thing: a continuation of a franchise in an established cinematic universe. It’s basically The Godfather: The Force Awakens — some old characters and some new characters and some stuff about regret.

This version is a clearer presentation of the story from what I dimly remember: An ailing Michael Corleone’s ambitions for a family legacy that leaves crime behind (and that gains wealth and respect on an international scale) are the central driver of the movie. Vincent Mancini (Garcia), his nephew who is hungry to be a part of the Corleone family’s old business, and Vincent’s affair with his first cousin, Michael’s daughter Mary (Coppola), are less important to the story than I remember. And Coppola’s very green performance fits with the Meadow-Soprano-but-even-more-naive character as presented here. Pacino is more nuanced than I thought (and than the movie’s famous “just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in” line reading suggests). Talia Shire also returns as Michael’s sister Connie. I feel like if this movie was being made now, that character would have a bigger role; Shire and Connie clearly have more than they can do here.

Director Francis Ford Coppola could have been even more merciless with his cuts; this movie still weighs in at two hours and 38 minutes (only four minutes shorter than the original version). But, while not perfect, it’s also not terrible and there are worse things than a talented director revisiting popular characters. B Available for rent or purchase.

Let Them All Talk (R)

Meryl Streep, Candice Bergen.

Also starring Dianne Wiest, Gemma Chan and Lucas Hedges. Famous serious novelist Alice (Streep) heads to the U.K. to accept an important literary prize. Because she won’t fly, her eager-to-please new agent Karen (Chan) books her transatlantic passage on the Queen Mary 2, which this Steven Soderbergh-directed movie sometimes seems like a giant ad for. Alice brings along guests, including her nephew Tyler (Hedges) and two friends from college, Susan (Wiest) and Roberta (Bergen). Susan seems to have had a full life and matured into a normal adult who takes the trip as a fun getaway and a chance to see two people she hasn’t seen in three decades. Roberta is there to settle some old scores. Roberta is bitter about Alice’s most famous book, which she claims was taken from her life and led to the disastrous end to her marriage (and financial ruin). Roberta’s plan seems to be to either snag a wealthy man while on the ship or get Alice to pay up (or both).

By the end of the movie, I found myself mostly thinking about the ship — the nightly formal-wear requirements seem hellish but I do like the idea of fancy afternoon tea. It seems like it would be fun, for a little while at least, to wander around the Queen Mary 2, which was perhaps the thought that inspired this movie. At times it feels more like you’re wandering through a collection of scenes that are individually interesting and somewhat related but not entirely pulled together. Some of the scenes are funny, some feature nice acting moments from one of the performers and some just feel like a bit of filler. In the moment, though, the performances kind of carry you through this voyage. B Available on HBOMax.

The Prom (PG-13)

Meryl Streep, James Corden.

Other stars in this Ryan Murphy adaptation of a 2018 Broadway musical include Nicole Kidman, Kerry Washington, Keegan-Michael Key, Andrew Rannells, Mary Kay Place and Tracy Ullman.

When Dee Dee Allen (Streep) and Barry Glickman (Corden) see their newest play close on opening night after terrible reviews, they search for a good cause to align themselves with to improve their public images. They pick Emma (Jo Ellen Pellman), a high schooler whose school has canceled prom rather than let her attend with her girlfriend. Dee Dee and Barry travel to her Indiana town with fellow actors Angie (Kidman), who longs to step out of the chorus and play the lead, and Trent (Rannells), whose career is currently in a holding pattern. The school’s patient principal Hawkins (Key) is trying to convince the PTA, headed by Mrs. Greene (Washington), to be more inclusive but the sudden appearance of the Broadway people throws the situation into disarray. Though their goals are well-intentioned (if very self-serving), the actors’ big publicity-generating plans often overshadow Emma and her desire to just go to a dance with her girlfriend Alyssa Greene (Ariana DeBose), the not-out daughter of Mrs. Greene.

This movie, which started out feeling flat to me, improves as it moves through its two-hour-and-10-minute runtime time — or maybe it just sorta grew on me. Murphy is also the creator of Glee and this movie feels kind of Glee-ish in its staging. With a few exceptions, the musical numbers feel boxed in in a way that keeps them from dazzling you the way it seems like they might in a theater.

That said, Meryl Streep seems to be having a blast and is maybe even making a little fun of her own actorly self. Overall The Prom is a good time, with a delightfully hammy sensibility and occasional scenes (and songs) with sudden and genuine big, deep feelings. B Available on Netflix.