Tag: Ben Affleck

Deep Water

Post author By Mark
Post date March 21, 2022

Hailing from the man who all but perfected the erotic thriller genre with films like Fatal Attraction, Indecent Proposal and 9½ Weeks, director Adrian Lyne’s return to the genre after 20 years, Deep Water, carries with it some lofty expectations. And while the star power of Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas (not to mention their real-life relationship) helps bring pedigree (and one would assume chemistry) to the project, it does little else for this unromantic, stilted drama that twists and turns in ways that may seem interesting at first but which never fail to unravel into a sloppy, disjointed mess.

Affleck plays all-around weird dude Vic Van Allen – a morally ambiguous retired millionaire thanks to the sale of a computer chip to the military – who plays at being a doting dad to daughter Trixie (Grace Jenkins) while his wife Melinda (Ana de Armas) sets tongues wagging in the neighbourhood, indulging in the company of men who aren’t her husband in a very public way. Vic doesn’t seem to mind too much, however, as he and his wife have an agreement that allows her to flirt with these men as long as she stays within the confines of her marriage. As Melinda’s actions become more and more lewd and neighbours begin to question Vic’s role in the mysterious disappearance of one of her “friends”, Vic’s mask of indifference begins to slip as jealousy rears its ugly head, prompting him down a dark path in order to put an end to his wife’s antics once and for all.

First and foremost, yes, the film would cease to exist if the couple took the obvious course of action and got a divorce. Situations like this are literally what the concept was made for but if that happened then hey, we wouldn’t have a movie. I don’t bring it up to nitpick, but rather to point out that things don’t make sense abound here and the easiest way to enjoy the film is to switch your brain off early. Yes, we’re supposed to believe that Affleck adores his wife as he so frequently reminds her, whilst giving her nothing but filthy looks the entire film. Yes, Vic spends a portion of his riches cultivating snails in a garden shed in his backyard and no one thinks anything of it, except for one smart cookie who wisely realises this as serial killer behaviour. Neither Melinda or Vic seem particularly happy to be in each other’s company and that really is the hardest aspect to ignore. It’s almost impossible to invest in anything either character is doing to spite or save the other if the central relationship is this wooden and uncaring.

The film also seems unsure of who exactly it wants us to side with as our protagonist. We spend the most amount of time with Vic, viewing Melinda’s indiscretions through a lens that seems designed to draw rage from the viewer – grinding away on strangers ten feet away from her husband and shooting him flirtatious looks while she does it – always feeling as if he is teetering on the edge of doing something terrible. When he does, it isn’t a massive relief or shock but just an event that happens. From here there are attempts to shift our view of both Melinda and Vic but they are both such rapid and significant changes to the behaviours we have seen for the last hour that the result is a complete emotional detachment entirely. You can argue both parties are wrong and deserve some sort of retribution, but the film’s real victim is their young child, who gets strangely little development or involvement in the plot, content to be used as little more than window dressing than the central pillar of the relationship that she obviously is. She also exhibits some severely unsettling behaviour for a child that somebody should look into immediately.

Admittedly there is some fun to be had in the tension of Vic stalking Melinda’s lovers, often inviting them to awkward group dinners where Affleck is free to belittle and intimidate them before the inevitable. It’s a performance strangely – and uncomfortably – similar to his Bruce Wayne and while it works to create that tense atmosphere it falls apart in the romantic element at the film’s core. For an erotic thriller, Deep Water feels strangely limp, telling us about the obsession Vic displays while never showing it. There are scenes that attempt to spice things up, sure, but they are always shot in a painfully uninteresting way or feel strangely timed – your child is asleep in the back seat, this is not the time for that Melinda. It all culminates in one of the most unintentionally hilarious final acts that offers no conclusion, raising more questions about character motivations than it answers as we fade to black.

Adrian Lyne has made some fantastic films in his storied career: Deep Water is not one of them. From the jump nothing about it makes a whole lot of sense; as character motivations constantly shift and the very premise strains credibility at every turn. Ben Affleck commits to a performance that is often bad but strangely watchable, alternating between complete psycho and a total schmuck on a dime as Ana de Armas does what she can with a terrible role. As a proof-of-concept for divorce, Deep Water is a textbook example of an extreme case for it, but as an erotic thriller, it feels strangely impotent.

Deep Water stars Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas, Grace Jenkins, Jacob Elordi, Rachel Blanchard, Tracey Letts, Dash Mihok, Kristen Connolly, Brendan Miller & Lil Real Howery – Streaming on Hulu in the US and on Prime Video in Australia now.

4/10

Tags Adrian Lyne, Ana de Armas, Ben Affleck, Deep Water, Grace Jenkins, Jacob Elordi, Lil Rel Howery, Tracey Letts

Movie Reviews

The Last Duel

Post author By Mark
Post date October 24, 2021

It’s been 24 years since Matt Damon and Ben Affleck last wrote together, with their efforts resulting in an Oscar win for the classic that is Good Will Hunting. Since that time the pair have gone on to find individual success in everything from acting in big budget blockbusters to directing academy award winning films. Their return to writing (alongside Nicole Holofcener) then, comes with big expectations – a medieval #metoo story doesn’t sound like an easy premise to crack – and who better to call upon to direct than Ridley Scott. The Last Duel might not be as impactful as Good Will Hunting – bloated at times with some questionable accents and prosthetics – but it is still an incredibly enthralling tale of a woman who struggled against an oppressive system in order to tell her truth; a premise which sadly still resonates today.

Told in three parts, each representing one of the central trio’s “truths”, the main conflict revolves around French knights Jean de Carrouges (Damon) and Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), friends through military service who grow distant upon their return from war. Carrouges’ temper has long held him in bad esteem with his overlord Count Pierre d’Alençon (Affleck) – cousin of King Charles VI (Alex Lawther) – who finds his behaviour ill befitting of the courts, seizing land and preventing Carrouges from assuming an entitled captaincy to spite him. Le Gris, on the other hand, found favour with the Count through his financial skills and diplomacy, landing him a prized position of counsel as well as all the knightly benefits denied to Carrouges.

When Le Gris forces himself on Carrouges’ wife Marguerite (Jodie Comer), violently raping her, she appeals to her husband to substantiate her claim in the courts; an embarrassing and shameful ordeal that ultimately results in the two men duelling to the death to determine the truth; conveniently ignorant to the fact that Marguerite will suffer more than either man should her husband fail to defeat his foe.

As a film about perspective, The Last Duel is largely successful. The overlap between the three individual’s stories means that the film spends a lot of its runtime revisiting moments, usually in order to present a new insight or – in some cases – an entirely new interpretation of a conversation or event. Through this, Scott is able to dig deep into the lies men tell themselves in order to retain their honour; regardless of the people it may hurt. The objectification of Marguerite by Le Gris and Carrouges draws obvious parallels with the recent #metoo movement within Hollywood, with the road to telling her truth paved with hardship and embarrassment. It isn’t the most deep examination, particularly given the largely male creative team behind the production, but it is effective in drawing outraged gasps and knowing groans at the injustices Marguerite suffers.

Where that repetition becomes tiresome is in the scenes that are replayed entirely to remind audiences that they occurred, without adding any new dimensions to the event or characters within. It doesn’t happen so much that you feel like you are watching the film in triplicate but it is enough to make the already gargantuanly long film feel bloated. That problem is somewhat compounded when you consider the film’s intent to give voice to the woman at the centre of this male conflict, yet we spend the vast majority of proceedings focused on these two men and their proverbial pissing contest. A well made depiction of the injustices women suffered at the time, no doubt, but one that offers little commentary on the strides made since or the sad lack thereof.

Key to the film not succumbing to the repetition is the casting, with stellar performances across the board keeping you engaged, particularly Driver and Comer. Driver is equal parts gentleman and sleaze bag as the cocksure Le Gris, who has bought into the status associated with his position to the point where you start to question whether he genuinely believes the lies he spews out to defend himself from Marguerite’s accusations. It’s is a performance that can turn on a dime from disarmingly charming to scum of the earth at the drop of a hat, further proving Driver as one of the finest, most under-appreciated actors of his generation.

Comer continues her rise following a completely different role in this year’s Free Guy with a quiet, measured and emotionally devastating performance as Marguerite. Largely silent in the presence of her husband or other men, majority of the character building during these scenes comes from facial expressions and small glances. When the time comes for Marguerite’s truth to be told, Comer capitalises on all of that pent up emotion, with a fiery performance that should land her in this year’s Oscar race.

Speaking of awards, The Last Duel absolutely deserves to be in the conversation for sound editing and mixing, with the terrifyingly loud clangs of swords against armour and squelches of flesh rending under sword sticking with you long after the scene has ended. The film isn’t particularly action-heavy until the titular duel, but the flashes of battles that are shown are brutally effective in their brevity, full of frenetic flashes of gore and quick cuts that disorientate the viewer in the same way as the combatants. Costuming is another area that shines with elaborate dresses and armour showing meticulous care and craftsmanship, but the less said about Damon and Affleck’s hair pieces and prosthetics, the better.

The Last Duel might not have the lasting legacy of Good Will Hunting but it is nonetheless an impressive sophomore effort from Damon and Affleck that effectively captures the brutality of medieval France, both on and off the battlefield. Bloated at times but more often deeply enthralling thanks to the efforts of a star studded cast and immersive costuming and sound design, Ridley Scott’s latest might not hit the level of commentary it aims for, but it still manages to leave you thinking even if it doesn’t offer much in the way of solutions going forward. Marguerite’s struggle might have resulted in the last duel at the time, but the problems she brought to light are far from over.

The Last Duel stars Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, Ben Affleck, Harriet Walter, Nathaniel Parker, Alex Lawther & Martin Csokas – In cinemas now.

7/10

Tags Adam Driver, Ben Affleck, Harriet Walter, Jodie Comer, Matt Damon, Ridley Scott, The Last Duel

Movie Reviews

Zack Snyder’s Justice League

Post author By Mark
Post date March 22, 2021

Director’s cuts are not an uncommon occurrence in the movie industry. We’ve seen classics like Blade Runner and Apocalypse Now improve upon the already iconic finished products and some not as successful attempts (sorry George Lucas). Zack Snyder’s Justice League may be the most deserving of all for its director to be given a second chance, with the original 2017 film caught in a storm of personal grievances and restrictive studio mandates which eventually led to his replacement by Avengers director Joss Whedon. The resulting product was a surface level fight-fest, with nary a full character arc in sight, that attempted to please studio executives rather than the fan base rampant to see out Snyder’s vision, which began with 2013’s excellent Man of Steel. Finally, after years of vehement online support, Warner Bros acquiesced, allowing Snyder to present his full, gigantic 4 hour vision of the ultimate DC super-hero team-up on streaming services around the world. Does it live up to the hype? Yes and no. Let’s get into it.

For the uninitiated, the broad strokes of Justice League centre around Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) attempting to recruit a team of super-powered individuals to fight against the oncoming threat of Steppenwolf (Ciarán Hinds), an intergalactic being hell-bent on destroying the Earth and cultivating it into an apocalyptic wasteland for big bad Darkseid (Ray Porter). In order to do this, he must collect the DC equivalent of the Infinity Stones, the Mother Boxes; three cubes scattered across the globe which, when combined, create an unstoppable force to change the planet to the user’s will. As the newly formed Justice League – now including Aquaman (Jason Momoa), Flash (Ezra Miller) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) – clash with Steppenwolf, they begin to realise that their only way to achieve victory may be through some less than ethical means and a recently deceased Kryptonian.

Simply put, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is the vastly superior version of the film, feeling like far more of a thematically and tonally consistent sequel to Man of Steel and Batman v Superman than Whedon’s cut. Narratively it is a very similar beast, with majority of the big action set-pieces remaining intact, but where Whedon’s version threw away character development and story in favour of quippy one-liners and mindless filler scuffles, Snyder restores these aspects, with a particular focus placed on the characters of Cyborg and Steppenwolf, two of the most underserved and generic characters from the 2017 film. Cyborg’s origin and relationship with his father is the emotional centre of the film, leaving the baffling question as to why Whedon chose to remove the only fully fledged character arc from his movie. Fisher is wonderful as the troubled half-man half-machine, conflicted over his feelings towards his father’s work that left him alive but cost him his mother and any semblance of a normal life. No longer does Cyborg simply become a hero after a pep-talk from Wonder Woman, but from some serious soul-searching and forgiveness, a theme Ben Affleck’s caped crusader learnt the hard way in Batman v Superman.

Ciarán Hinds’ incompetent villain Steppenwolf is also reworked into a more sympathetic character this time around, less concerned with collecting macguffins to destroy the world than he is to serve out a debt owed to Darkseid and win back his place as the right-hand man of DC’s answer to Thanos. Sure this may be shown in something of a clumsy and eerily relatable way, with Steppenwolf communicating with his boss via a series of magical Zoom calls, but using redemption as a motivator following an implied betrayal of Darkseid makes for a much more interesting character. Steppenwolf’s revamp extends to the visual side as well, marking a significant upgrade for the creature who has gone from a poorly rendered, gladiator armour wearing alien to a ferocious, spike clad minion of death, worthy of the threat Snyder insistently reminds us he is to the newly formed league of heroes. The scenes involving Steppenwolf also showcase a new feature of the Snyder Cut: the R rating. Gore features heavily as Steppenwolf slices and dices his way through scores of Amazonian and Atlantean soldiers, who explode in puffs of viscera at the blade of his lethal axe. It’s an unneeded touch for sure, likely to alienate the ever-present audience of young children who come to these films to see Superman and Wonder-Woman kick butt without any evidence of actual harm, but it certainly fits in with Snyders MO of throwing everything at his likely last outing in the DC universe.

That’s right, all the quirks that come with Zack Snyder’s style are present here on a scale larger than anything we have seen before. That includes some truly cringe inducing dialogue, a return to the gritty, grounded characters of before (gone is the giddily childish humour of Whedon) and as much slow-motion action that the human mind can physically endure before exploding. Seriously, at times it feels like a quarter of the film is just slow-motion shots of our heroes narrowly avoiding a bullet or pushing something out of the way of harm. The lack of a restriction on runtime allows for all sorts of overindulgence on Snyder’s part, from an extended scene of hymns to Aquaman sung by an Icelandic village to an almost Return of the King number of endings, including the much hyped “Knightmare” sequence, which serves as an intriguing, if unfulfilling look at where Snyder’s proposed trilogy of films would have gone. Jared Leto’s singular scene as the Joker here is better than the entirety of Suicide Squad, even if it is about a fraction of the length of that mess, but doesn’t elevate the film significantly or warrant a complete viewing on its own merits.

The continued narrative of Superman continues to be Snyder’s greatest contribution to this iteration of the DC universe, even if he doesn’t lean into the character’s moral compass as much as in Man of Steel, with his endlessly positive message of hope ringing louder now than ever. It is genuinely exciting to see him return to save the day, and the touches of Hans Zimmer’s Man of Steel score in Thomas Holkenborg’s completely re-recorded and otherwise rather generic score are goosebump inducing during the climactic fight scenes. Cavill’s performance is one for the ages and the fact that this may very well be the last time we see him don the blue and red (or black this time around) suit can’t help but feel bittersweet, especially given this film’s lack of importance to the overarching DC story going forward, with Warner Bros declaring Whedon’s cut the canonical entry in the franchise. There is some retribution in knowing that Cavill’s last appearance as the Man of Steel isn’t marred by a digitally removed moustache (Google it) but here’s hoping it isn’t the last time we see him on-screen.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a fascinating experiment of a film. Whilst it is an undoubtedly good thing that Snyder was allowed to see out his full creative vision, the fact remains that this version of the superhero epic – whilst superior to Whedon’s – is at times a bloated, directionless cluster bomb of a movie, with the director let loose to throw everything and the kitchen sink into the viewer’s eyeballs: the good, the bad and the godawful slow-motion (seriously stop doing that). As a continuation of his previous DC work, this feels like a satisfactory, suitably epic conclusion, even if the epilogue scene doesn’t convey that sense of finality. While it is easy to look at the Snyder Cut as a win, it also represents something of the toxic side of fandom, where “fan ownership” of characters leads to the bullying of studios and individuals into getting what they want. I’m more than curious to see what Zack Snyder would do with the sequels to this film and I genuinely hope they get made, but only if the creative team has genuine interest and supports the project, not as a result of a bunch of bullish, entitled fans. When part of the fandom turns as dark as Darkseid’s minions, no one wins.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League stars Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Willem Dafoe, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons, Connie Nielsen, J.K. Simmons, Ciarán Hinds, Amber Heard, Joe Morton and Henry Cavill – Streaming on HBO Max in the US and on Binge in Australia now.

Tags Amber Heard, Amy Adams, Ben Affleck, Ciarán Hinds, DC, Diane Lane, Ezra Miller, Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, J.K. Simmons, Jason Momoa, Jeremy Irons, Jesse Eisenberg, Justice League, Ray Fisher, Willem Dafoe, Zack Snyder, Zack Snyder's Justice League