2015 is wrapping up and looking back on the year there have been a fair amount of films that have been emotionally provoking, but The Big Short is in many ways at least equal to Mad Max in blood-pressure-raising cogency. The nearness of so recent a catastrophe combined with Adam McKay’s blended fact-driven drama and absurd-because-it’s-true comedy, ensures a righteous resentment. The film moves quickly introducing a lot of people and breaking the fourth wall often to explain terminology and provide a high level of self-awareness as characters explain when the film is being truthful and when it’s taking liberties for the sake of moviemaking. This candid storytelling builds a level of trust that feels akin to watching a documentary. The roller coaster ride of not being sure when to laugh at the preposterousness and scope of the events unfolding, or when to cry whenever the realization of their truthfulness sinks in, by far makes for one of the most peerless filmgoing experiences of the year.

Based on Michael Lewis’s bestselling nonfiction book of the same name, the focus of this expose is on the unlikely people who not only predicted the collapse (or bursting, if you will) of the credit and housing bubble that led to the crisis of 2008 and contributed greatly to the longest recession in U.S. history, but who also profited greatly when it happened. There’s the awkward Asperger’s-savant hedge fund investor, Dr. Michael Burry played by Christian Bale, who crunches the numbers and predicts the future, pretty much to the month the collapse will happen. He starts investing his clients’ money, betting against the banks, who happily take it thinking such a thing could never happen. His clients are understandably unhappy with the risk.

Word spreads of his crazy actions and soon Wall Street banker Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling doing what he does best, faking a New York accent and being as shmarmy as can be) catches wind and wants in on the potentially huge earnings involved, he manages to enlist outspoken hedge fund manager Mark Baum (Steve Carell) and his team. Baum operates under the umbrella of Morgan Stanley but actively despises the practices of big banks. After doing his research—part of which hilariously involves interviewing strippers on their financial practices in Florida—Baum realizes the truth of the housing bubble and invests. The remaining morally ambiguous underdogs are small timers Jamie Shipley (Finn Wittrock) and Charlie Geller (John Magaro) who started an investment firm out of their garage and are looking to get into the big leagues, without any clout they have to get retired investor Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt) to do the deals for them. He also agrees out of spite for corporate America and the rest of the film is watching the wool unravel as the banking world parties and denies that anything bad—at least, related to mortgages—could ever happen to them.

It would be easy to focus on the moral ambiguity of the individual men who gained from America’s huge downfall, but the spotlight of The Big Short can’t help but fall on the banks and governmental entities who tried (and in almost every way succeeded) to deny their fraud and negligence. McKay highlights the deceptive nature of the industry even as he pokes fun at it. For instance, the complicated lingo of the banking industry, while possibly useful to those on the inside, is beyond confusing to the layperson, especially when reduced to acronyms. McKay brings in celebrities playing themselves to break down these terms and provide visual explanations. Anthony Bourdain, Selena Gomez, and a naked Margot Robbie explaining terms like “CDO” and “subprime mortgage rates” is as entertaining as it is informative. That said, a film like this would require multiple viewings to fully grasp the full extent of the economic and fiscal theory playing out and the sheer mathematics that explain all that happened. But this isn’t a documentary, and it’s not meant to be viewed as such.

McKay seems to respect that viewers know how this story ends and that as wrapped up as we get in the characters’ schemes to make it rich off of the evil banks, rooting for them is, in fact, rooting for the failure, financial ruin and catastrophic misfortune of the American people. Any criticism of the film would have to be that very little time is spent focusing on what that misfortune looked like for people. Only one shot depicts a family, met earlier in the film, now homeless and living out of a van. But this seems a smart move as the point isn’t to focus on the sadness invoked by such imagery, but instead to hang on to the infuriation that bubbles up as the full extent of awareness and collusion of the banks and the government is revealed. It’s an unprecedented circumstance in American history and the film spells out just how few consequences there were for those responsible.

The star power of the film is overwhelming, even with Pitt providing the least amount of screen time. Carell is the most impressive, proving once again he has depths barely yet tapped. He brings to Baum all the social disregard of The Office’s Michael Scott with the intensity of Foxcatcher’s John du Pont and adding a moral anger that ties it all together amazingly. Christian Bale—never one to go halfway on any character—combines aloofness with the burden of genius to make his detached character perhaps the most sympathy-inspiring. But the real star is by far the director, who almost retroactively makes his comedies like Talladega Nights and Step Brothers seem even more astute now that we’ve been given such a clear example of how deftly he can comically reflect on true-life drama.

It’s easy to dismiss the complicated mess of the housing crises and collapse, shaking our heads at the math and economic intricacy, and McKay seems to know that his film isn’t going to incite retroactive punishment or propel a revolution. The significance of a film like The Big Short isn’t just a much-needed reminder that we the people should always take the time to understand and reflect on how hardships like this occur, but that comedy is a sharp weapon in shaming those who deserve to be called out.

In a drastic, surprisingly smooth departure from his typical work directing major studio comedies, Adam McKay tackles the dense subject matter of The Big Short, a screen adaptation of Michael Lewis‘ best-selling book about the devastating financial collapse of the mid-aughts. A heavy drama boasting an all-star ensemble (including Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, and more) playing men who watch the world burn to ashes around them from a credit and housing disaster only they saw coming, the film operates in a dark world of complex real estate jargon and impending Wall Street doom. Nevertheless, the film is imbued with a crackling, unpredictable energy a filmmaker with McKay’s comedic and improvisational background naturally brings to the table.

We spoke to McKay in a roundtable interview about the film, which opens this Friday in select cities and expands wide on December 23rd.

As a filmmaker, how hard or easy was it to maintain the balance of making sure your audience understands all of the Wall Street terminology while also being entertaining?
I think what we did with breaking the fourth wall was inspired by Lewis’ book. If you look at his book, he does a lot of footnotes where he says, “You’re still keeping up with what I’m saying. You deserve a gold star.” He kind of talks to the reader a little bit. That inspired us doing that in the movie. I just felt like the movies had to be inclusive. One of the ways the banks get away with ripping us off is by making us feel stupid or bored by financial talk. I wanted to open it up in a fun way because, once you get it, it’s a really energetic, exciting world. I figure if a college dropout who directed Step Brothers can understand it, the rest of the audience can. That was my operating premise. This isn’t that hard—it’s just moving dead money around and giving it weird names.

The balance is a different question. Ultimately I felt like this movie had to be driven by those characters. That’s what drove me through the book—Dr. Michael Burry, Mark Baum, Jared Vennett, the young guys. That’s the meat of this story. They’re us. They’re the people that the rest of the banking world doesn’t respect—they’re obnoxious, they’re weird. There’s also the big question of why they saw [the crisis] when no one else saw it. In the edit room, that was a big thing we looked at, balancing, trying to get the audience to have enough information so that you can go for the ride. But sometimes I’d have to stop the movie and go, “What the fuck is a synthetic CDO?” For the most part, the audiences really love it and feel like it pulls them into the movie more. The only people who have been bitching about it have been super stodgy film formalists.

You come from a theater/improv background where addressing the audience is quite common. Why do you think it’s considered such a radical idea in movies?
There’s definitely a snobbery about it that I’ve noticed. It’s a film school thing. In film school they teach you “show, don’t tell.” They literally do exercises with it. Friends of mine who were in film school talk about how you’d get in trouble if you’d tell and not show. I think it’s become this sort of unspoken rule. But some of my favorite movies of all time involve breaking the fourth wall or using narrators, like 24 Hour Party People. That’s a movie that I love. There’s such an energy to it. American Splendor. Scorsese’s done a bunch—Goodfellas, Casino. You freeze the frame, you talk. That new show, Narcos, does it a lot. I think it’s kind of changing. Early on, there was a power to film in the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s where they’re showing. They’re showing a lot. I think now, because there are so many mediums going on, we can blur it a little more. I’m less precious about it. I find it really exciting to [break the fourth wall].

You worked with four A-list actors on this movie. How much direction does each of them require, and are there different techniques you have to use with each of them?
You kind of dial into each actor and what they need. In the case of Bale, he comes to set and he is the character by the time he arrives. But he’s sort of internalized all of the guy’s physical tics and emotional outlook, but we’re trying to find the right pace for it and how much [he] lets out. Do you want to see a full tour de force of what the guy is in every scene? He and I worked a lot on when to use different aspects of the character. We were constantly having a discussion about that. Occasionally, the real Michael Burry’s voice will just get loud for no reason when he’s talking to you, so we talked about when to use that. It’s a constant checking-in with Christian. He’s completely grounded in the guy, but you try to find the right times and places and make sure it feels real.

Carell is very different. Carell almost hunts down the truthful moment like he’s got a pack of dogs. When he doesn’t have it, he gets very pissed at himself. He’s just chasing it and chasing it. When I do comedies with him, it’s not like that, but with this I realized my job was to be like his hunt-master. The two of us would just chase it down. You’re just nudging it and pushing it. When you get there, it’s very cool because he’ll never say “we got it,” but then suddenly, he’s silent. I’ll say “we got it,” and he won’t say anything and we’ll move on. He’s really, really hard on himself in a great way.

Gosling had an odd role in this movie. He’s both inside the movie and outside the movie. He can talk to the camera. So he was closer to a writer-director. The way we’d talk was closer to the way Will Ferrell and I talk. He’s a super collaborative, funny guy. Brad Pitt just came in with this fully formed character. He had the hair, the beard, the look. He knew exactly who this guy is. I was like, “Hey, I want to do this scene in the kitchen.” He was like, “Yup. I want to talk about saving seeds in Monsanto.” Melissa Leo lands, gets off the plane, smokes the scene in fourteen takes, says goodbye, gets on the plane and leaves. It’s like, “Where did that come from?!”

Coming from the world of making really big studio comedies, how easy or difficult was it to pitch yourself to take on a very different project?
You’re one hundred percent right. I’ve tried to make other movies. I tried to make Garth Ennis’ The Boys at one point, and I couldn’t get anyone to make it. That was a case where I went to all the studios in town and I could feel when I was pitching it [them thinking,] “Oh, he’s a comedy guy.” It was a tricky, ambitious project, but it didn’t help that I was a comedy guy in their eyes. In this case, I got very, very lucky. The company that I went to, Plan B, are the coolest people in the world. Really open-minded. The second I pitched my take they were like, “Why didn’t we think of this? This is perfect.” They were one hundred percent behind me from the beginning. And at that point, you have to put up or shut up about the script. When Paramount got the script, they actually liked it. Then we got this incredible cast, so we were good to go. I give all the credit in the world to Plan B for being open enough to talk to me about this. Not only open, but excited to talk about it.

How deeply involved were you with Michael Lewis in translating his book to screen?
Basically, I had lunch with him before we were going to get going. He said to me, “The book was my baby. You take the baby to college now.” He really loved the script. The greatest moment was when he saw our third-to-last screening and just went on and on about it and effusively loved it. Of course, we all reacted like giant geeks!

As a moviegoer, Steve Carell continues to surprise me as his career goes on. He’s always revealing new layers to his gifts. You’ve known him for years—has he always had these dimensions to him or is he really evolving with every project?
I think he’s definitely evolving. He’s got a little bit of Peter Sellers to him in the sense that he’s very meticulous and mathematical in the way he goes about comedy. It’s all very small, precise choices. I always knew he was a very detailed technician. But I don’t think I started thinking, “Oh, wait a minute—he can play these other ranges!” until Little Miss Sunshine. He was pretty frickin’ good in that, but then I thought, “Alright, he’s a good actor, but I’ve always known he was a good actor.” But then he did The Way Way Back. That was the first time I thought, holy shit—this guy’s really good. There’s this anger there and all these emotions. And then, of course, Foxcatcher blew me away. That’s how I ended up casting him in this role. I thought, son of a bitch, I think he can do this. He’s got the anger, he can transform enough. I was knocked over by what he does in this [movie].

What’s it like not working with Will Ferrell?
I can say this: Life is twenty percent less enjoyable. He came and visited us for, like, three or four days on set just because he wanted to hang. We had the best time with him. I always miss him. He’s the best! But I think it was good that we did something separate, you know? I actually was talking to him about doing a cameo, and he was like, “McKay, go do one without me!”

Talk about the pressure cooker of working with Paul Rudd on Ant-Man to craft what that movie became.
I gotta tell you—it didn’t feel like a pressure cooker. It felt like I was in heaven. I grew up on Marvel comics. I met with Kevin Feige and I could tell, “This guy gets it.” Sometimes you meet with these executives and it’s like, “They kind of get it…” The bummer of that is when you write something really cool and they don’t get it. It was so much fun knowing that, if we wrote something cool, Feige was going to get excited about it. We just had the best time, man. It was Rudd and I holed up in a room for two straight months, writing giant action sequences. Everyone assumed I was just doing the comedy, but we rewrote huge parts of that movie. [We got to write] the whole Falcon fight at the Avengers [base]. It was so much fun. I told Feige afterwards, “Any time you need me, give me a call. That was a blast.”

It’s a very special episode this week as Bernard presents Sound Conversations, a collection of interviews with directors, documentarians, actors, festival programmers and, most importantly, sound designers, about the art of sound in film. Technique, philosophy, tradition, experimentation—all angles of sound design are covered as we explore one of the most underappreciated aspects of filmmaking with some of the most talented people in the biz. Joining the show are the sound-obsessed artists behind Love & Mercy, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, 10,000 km, Gett: The Trial of Vivianne Amsalem, Foxcatcher and many more. Listen in and listen close—it’s Sound Conversations!

Topics

• Bel Powley & Marielle Heller (2:23)
• Carlos Marques-Marcet (5:17)
• Shlomi Elkabetz (11:57)
• Chris Strachwitz, Chris Simon, Maureen Gosling (35:39)
• Bill Pohlad (21:45)
• Oren Moverman (25:57)
• Anita Monga (33:06)
• Paul Hsu (38:31)

Articles Referenced

The Diary of a Teenage Girl Interview
10,000 km Interview
Gett: The Trial of Vivianne Amsalem Interview
Love & Mercy Interview
Anita Monga Interview
Time Out of Mind Interview
This Ain’t No Mouse Music Interview

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There’s no surer sign that awards season has begun than the arrival of a tearjerker like Freeheld. Based on a true story, the film depicts the final years of New Jersey police detective Laurel Hester’s life (she’s played by Julianne Moore), in which she falls in love with Stacie Andree (Ellen Page), is diagnosed with late-stage cancer, and is prohibited by the Ocean County, New Jersey county court to pass along her earned pension to Stacie, her legal domestic partner. Laurel’s battle for equal rights made national news, but she and Stacie remained each others’ top priority until the end.

More than anything, what Freeheld gets right is that it’s a love story from beginning to end. It’s about a remarkable relationship that held strong in the face of death and injustice, not the injustice itself. The movie is very romantic and more adorable than you’d expect. Its primary goal is to pay tribute to Laurel and Stacie rather than galvanize people to make change (though it does that too).

One criticism the film can’t avoid is that its structure is formulaic, which it absolutely is. The script, written by Philadelphia screenwriter Ron Nyswaner, doesn’t take any chances and presents the story without stylistic inflection. Director Peter Sollett doesn’t get very inventive with his visuals either, but that doesn’t mean the film is artless. The filmmaking and plot do just enough to support the performances of Moore and Page, both of which are monumental and powerful enough to make the movie a solid success.

The lead actors’ chemistry takes off immediately when Laurel and Stacie meet at a friendly volleyball game. Their attraction is obvious though Laurel is still in the closet as her high-standing position at the police station would surely be under threat should her narrow-minded brethren learn about her sex life (this all takes place in 2005, a much less LGBT-friendly time than 2015). Laurel and Stacie fall hard for one another despite the difficult, secretive nature of their romance and decide to apply for domestic partnership.

They move into a fixer-upper and are immediately visited by Laurel’s longtime police partner, Dane Wells (Michael Shannon), who sees Stacie working in the front yard and takes her for the gardener. Too much of the movie spends time using Shannon as a proxy for the LGBT uninformed though Wells’ arc is nevertheless true to life. With Laurel on the verge of getting the promotion of her life and the handy Stacie landing the perfect gig at an autoshop, life couldn’t be grander.

Tragedy strikes when Laurel gets cancer and is told she doesn’t have much time left. Naturally, she wants to arrange for her pension to be rightfully passed on to Stacie so that she won’t lose their dream house. Her wishes aren’t granted, however, by the county’s Board of Freeholders, who deny Laurel’s request. A courtroom battle turns into a gay rights demonstration when a loudmouth gay rights activist (Steve Carell) stages a takeover, filling the courtroom with fellow activists, essentially hijacking Laurel’s case in the name of gay marriage (Laurel’s compliant, but would rather the fight be in the name of equality). Dane valiantly protects the couple as well, but Stacie is laser focused on Laurel throughout, as their time left together is slim.

The movie, smartly, feels in the spirit of Stacie and her struggle to stay single-minded. This could have been an underdog courtroom drama or a plasticky prestige piece, and it does veer into those territories several times. But ultimately Freeheld is a soul-stirring romance. Page and Moore don’t just look madly in love with one another; they look super-duper cute together, and that’s the difference-maker that makes this story feel genuine. Stacie is a soft-spoken, repressed person, so when she learns that a full recovery for Laurel is an impossibility, she sinks deep into hopelessness. Page is a heartbreaker, crying in helpless disbelief rather than wailing at the top of her lungs. Moore’s tasteful as well, and she and Page ebb and flow nicely as Laurel and Stacie support each other.

Unlike the atrocious Stonewall from a few weeks back (which took a big ol’ ignorant dump on one of the biggest moments in gay rights history), Freeheld plays to both gay and straight audiences. Moore and Page are given free reign to act their asses off and do the true story justice, and while Sollett and Nyswaner won’t win any awards for their contributions, their two leads are shoe-ins for Oscar noms.

We’ve been hearing a lot about 2014 as a blah year for movies, a notion seemingly supported by a lack of gut-wrenching and heartrending heavy hitters like last year’s 12 Years a Slave, Dallas Buyers Club, and Gravity. And the performances from those films were just so much more obviously weighty, it wasn’t hard to pick out the ones that gripped us, because, well, they gripped us pretty hard.

But that’s why this year has been so wonderful. Instead of somber dramas, some of 2014’s best films have been comedic (Birdman), scary (The Babadook), and filled with unlikeable characters (Whiplash, Nightcrawler). And this is where the fun of nuancing and parsing out the best performances of this year begins. Because this year we felt different emotions than we did last year, but oh boy did we feel them, and that has all to do with some seriously good acting.

Our list of 2014’s best performances considers all actors as equals regardless of lead or supporting role and with no division of male or female actors. Listed in no particular order is our list of the performances Way Too Indie staff found most compelling this year.

Way Too Indie’s 15 Best Performances of 2014

Dan Stevens – The Guest

The role Stevens plays in Adam Wingard’s The Guest is much more difficult than is usually required for this type of flashy genre film. In the film, “David” must appeal to every character he is trying to dupe in different ways. When he springs himself on the family of a fallen comrade, he has to be a sensitive young man to Laura, an ultra cool badass to Luke, a beer-drinking everyman with Spencer and a hunky protector to Anna. He also, though, has to be all of that (and more) to the viewer, even when we know something is up. The characters in the film may take a while to figure him out (indeed, some of them too late), the nature of this genre throwback sets up the viewer from the start to know “David” isn’t who he says he is, though we may not know the extent of his capabilities. The Guest is one of the funnest movie-going experiences of the year because we love seeing “David” fit all of these roles. We revel in his lie, cheering him on as he beats up high school kids and somehow survives an intense shootout with special forces. But we also genuinely like him. Deep down, he tricks us, too. [Aaron]

Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

Regardless of your stance on James Marsh’s Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything, one thing almost everyone can agree on is Eddie Redmayne’s outstanding performance. The film begins during the early stages of Stephen’s declining physical abilities, the occasional coffee spilling and pen fumbling are chalked up to general clumsiness. While this foreshadows the tragedy ahead, it more importantly allows viewers to witness the famous physicist before the disease takes away his ability to walk and communicate. What’s impressive to watch is the transformation into this physically demanding role, which required limiting all of his body movements while still containing his charming personality. The fundamental testament to Redmayne’s work occurs near the end when he emerges from his wheelchair in a dream sequence. It’s a stunning moment, watching him actually walk and then be subsequently reminded that Redmayne is indeed acting, which speaks volumes to his extraordinary performance. He’s sure to gather notice during this award season. [Dustin]

Essie Davis – The Babadook

There’s a level of fatigue only parents know; it comes with raising a child and it is calculated using the denominators 24, 7, and 365. Still, most parents wouldn’t trade it for all the Sandman’s sand. There are a few who might, though, if given the chance, and one of those parents can be found in Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook. Her name is Amelia, and how Essie Davis gasps life into this desperate single mother is staggering. Long before Mr. Babadook wreaks the havoc that spirals Amelia into near-madness, her son Samuel brings a little terror of his own. He is six years’ worth of boundless energy with a volume that Spinal Tap would envy, all complicated by an obsession with a monster that doesn’t (yet) exist. This first half of the film is where Davis mesmerizes. She’s not just the tired single mom with the full-time job and the hyper kid. She’s that woman, plus the one whose husband was killed while taking her to give birth to Samuel six years prior. This background introduces resentment into a mother/child relationship that shouldn’t have such a thing. Davis keeps that resentment one slivery layer below the surface, which puts normal parental fatigue deep in her rearview mirror and has her speeding down the road of emotional exhaustion. With every tired sigh a defeated cry for mercy and with every momentary slouch a little less resistance against the weight of regret, Davis portrays defeated like no one before her. And then the Babadook shows up. [Michael]

J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

Irredeemable. That’s Terence Fletcher in a nutshell. He’s the meanest, nastiest, most abusive jazz instructor on earth in Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, and he will never, ever apologize for calling his students “limp-dick fucks” or giving them valuable performance tips like, “That’s not your boyfriend’s dick; don’t come too early.” Playing Fletcher is the incomparable J.K. Simmons, who’s an absolute force of nature in the drummer drama, the veins on his bald head pulsing as he berates his poor students, muscles bulging under his tight black shirt. He calls them faggots, too. Again, no apologies.

What Simmons brings to the role that lesser actors wouldn’t is utter remorselessness: this is who Fletcher is, and you either take it up the ass or he’ll kick you the fuck out. That’s the deal. He’ll make you tremble and weep because he’s not human; he’s evil incarnate, and he doesn’t care about redemption or the happiness of himself or others. He exists for a single purpose, letting nothing stand in his way, least of all sympathy or morality. It’s an unflattering role, and Simmons embraces it without ego. No one could have done better. [Bernard]

Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler

It’s not entirely surprising that Nightcrawler received comparisons to Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. Despite the differences between those two movies, the hard to resist likability of both films’ psychotic leads makes it hard to root against them completely even as they commit their most vile acts. What makes Gyllenhaal’s Lou Bloom even more frightening than De Niro’s Travis Bickle is Bloom’s ability to exist within the system. He embodies many of the characteristics of a model employee in a modern, competitive, capitalist climate. His ghostly pale complexion serves to accentuate the dark shadows created on Bloom’s emaciated face (Gyllenhaal lost 20 pounds to help give Bloom that hollowed-out appearance) and make his presence even more unsettling. As Bloom, Gyllenhaal exploits people’s ugliest indulgences to get ahead in the world of freelance crime journalism and is rewarded for his lack of empathy, particularly in people’s darkest moments. The actor brings Bloom to life through an unhinged, masterful performance. Delivering lines of dialog with an unnaturally chipper tone, Gyllenhaal gives Bloom the social acumen of an alien that’s slipped on human clothing. The actor has never been better and the character is hauntingly familiar. [Zachary]

Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night

As Sandra, the worker desperately fighting for her job over the course of one weekend, Marion Cotillard pulls off her best performance to date. After taking time off work due to severe depression, Sandra finds out her bosses have given her the boot through a borderline sadistic method: by letting her coworkers vote on either letting Sandra keep her job or receiving their yearly bonus. After convincing her superiors to hold a re-vote after the weekend, Sandra visits each one of her 16 coworkers to ask them to give up their bonus in order to save her job. Cotillard, whose face could act as the definition of sympathy, fully embodies Sandra, and her raw emotions put the viewer right with her when she goes from hopelessly despondent to joyously optimistic. As clichéd as it sounds, Cotillard simply is Sandra. Sometimes it’s hard to watch an A-list star on-screen and separate the performance from the celebrity; that’s never the case with Cotillard, who does it with so much ease it’s no wonder why she’s considered one of the greatest actors working today. [C.J.]

Michael Keaton – Birdman

Acting within the constraints of Birdman’s captivating long-takes would be a challenge for any actor, but as Riggan Thomson, Michael Keaton bears the brunt of the film’s heavy lifting. Without the benefits of traditional film editing pulling together the best parts from several takes, Birdman’s stars are required to be at their best for the duration of every long-take scene they’re in. This is doubly true of Keaton as the film’s lead, guiding the audience and the camera through claustrophobic Broadway backstage hallways during quick-tongued Sorkin-esque walk-and-talks. Riggan teeters on the brink of sanity, and in Keaton’s embodiment of the character you can almost see the threads coming loose. When the tone abruptly shifts, Keaton demonstrates an enviable flexibility as an actor, turning a belly laugh into an unexpectedly poignant confession within only a few lines. As the character facing a series of obstacles that threaten to prematurely end his self-mounted comeback before it can begin, Keaton clutches to whatever empathetic strings are left for Riggan, while also allowing the character to slip further away from lucidity. His performance is simultaneously among the funniest and most heartfelt of 2014. [Zachary]

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood

While Ellar Coltrane grows up in front of our eyes as Mason, the boy in Richard Linklater’s everyday-epic Boyhood, sitting on the periphery throughout the coming of age journey is Patricia Arquette, as the boy’s mom. Mason’s moral makeup is shaped as he watches his single mom face stiff adversity (“a parade of drunken assholes” he once calls it), endure and adapt. We always see her from a distance, the same distance most boys keep from their mom.

She’s his anchor, but what’s special about the character is that she isn’t anchored to the ground herself; she’s on her own life journey, parallel to young Mason’s, and grows as much as he does. Over the colossal 12-year production, Arquette managed to form the most beautiful character arc in the film. Her performance is so rounded, so natural, so cogent, that at times Boyhood feels more like a home movie than a marketable Oscar contender. [Bernard]

Reese Witherspoon – Wild

We all have that friend, the one we watch go through life making incomprehensible decisions and reaping the obvious and inevitable consequences. In Wild, Reese Witherspoon is that friend, walking us through the steps that led to one woman’s particularly devastating life choices. And walking the literal steps that lead to her redemption. Witherspoon evokes our compassion, compelling us not to leave this woman for dead, to sleep in the bed she’s made. Perhaps it is how well Witherspoon helps us identify with Cheryl in the little things: her simple humanity in wrestling with her monster of a hiking bag, the fear in her eyes running into mostly men alone on the trail, her rage-filled meltdown when she loses a boot in the opening scene. All of our interactions with Witherspoon throughout the film are intimate and raw; showing us the heart of Cheryl open and vulnerable. Even her thoughts and muttered curses echo what ours might. Despite the depths that her darkness had reached, Witherspoon has us cheering for her to climb out. Her achievement in this is quite incredible: showing us the humanity in the hopeless. [Scarlet]

Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl

Rosamund Pike’s maliciously delicious turn as Amy Dunne in David Fincher’s Gone Girl stands at the very top of the breakthrough 2014 performance pile for me, precisely because it comes from an actor who’s been around for years. Though making a noticeable presence in every role, Pike has always been in the background. For what feels like her entire career, she’s been playing second fiddle to the likes of Pierce Brosnan (Die Another Day), Tom Cruise (Jack Reacher), Keira Knightley (Pride and Prejudice) and Edgar Wright’s Cornetto boys (The World’s End). But all of those roles were worth their trials and errors because they led her to Amy, the part of a lifetime and one that will assuredly change Pike’s career (she’s looking pretty locked for a deserved Oscar nomination at this point). Amy Dunne is the kind of character that takes the fiddle and in an act of magic, snaps it in half and turns it into a saxophone with enough gusto to lead an entire orchestra. Thanks to the story’s structure, Amy is a bundle of multiple personalities (the charmed girlfriend, the doting daughter, the victim, the victor, the bitch, the cool girl, the wife from a modern nightmare), which Pike unpacks like a pro. “There is before Fincher, and after Fincher,” Pike has said on the Gone Girl campaign trail, so it’s pretty clear where the inspiration comes from, but the talent is hers and hers alone. She captures every complex facet of this satirized monster with such precision, charm, and presence; it’s impossible to root against her even when recoiling from her actions and certain personality traits. She’s a revelation, and here’s hoping strong female roles are written with her in mind from now on. [Nik]

Scarlett Johansson – Under the Skin

Johansson has already had a slew of breakout performances that have put her in the current acting elite (Vicky Christina Barcelona, Her, etc.) but none have been as commanding as her nameless character in Under the Skin. She dons a more-than-passable British accent and often dons no clothing. She has to be realistically enticing without overplaying sexuality. The film is borderline incomprehensible, but it doesn’t matter with the strong force at its center. And the more that has been revealed about the film’s strange production, the more interesting and incredible her performance seems. Many of her nameless invader’s conversations and confrontations happen with non-actors who don’t know they are being filmed. Improvisation is a difficult skill for any actor, but usually improvisation in film is done in a fairly controlled setting – everyone knows their general part and are working together to get the heart of the scene right. Here, though, the environment is unpredictable and Johansson proves she’s always ready for what may come. Not to mention pulling off being one of the world’s most recognizable movie stars slipping about incognito. [Aaron]

Stacy Martin – Nymphomaniac

There are a lot of stars that adorn the sensual confines of Lars Von Trier’s newest controversial film, Nymphomaniac. Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgard, Christen Slater, Shia LaBeouf, Uma Thurman and Willem Dafoe are just some of the names that headline. But surprisingly none of them take the spotlight (Thurman comes close) away from film debutant Stacy Martin who makes a big statement as an actress with her role here. It’s been years since we’ve seen a début from a young actress like the one that’s on display here (at the moment, I can’t recall one). Martin is fearless as she portrays a teenage version of Joe (Gainsbourg) who goes from one sexual escapade to another. Von Trier puts her in all sorts of scenes that require contrasting emotional levels. Sometimes she needs to be vulnerable. Sometimes weak, other times powerful. Sometimes even shameless. Sometimes she needs to be more than one at once and never does she shy away. The role would be demanding enough in the hands of any filmmaker but the fact that it’s helmed by Von Trier (who is known for being tough on his leading ladies) only amplifies how impressive her performance is. Mark my words, Martin is going to be a star. [Blake]

Steve Carell – Foxcatcher

When Steve Carell first appears in Bennet Miller’s Foxcatcher, his based-in reality character, John du Pont, invites Channing Tatum’s Mark Schultz into an extravagant trophy room to talk about the business proposal he has. And at first its hard to focus much on what he says because his nose and teeth are so obviously not Carell’s. And then it becomes clear nothing of what we see on that screen is Carell. His slow manner of speech and the strange way he looks down his nose at people and sometimes doesn’t bother to look at them at all. The way he speaks with a pompous pretense, always trying to throw in some tidbit or fact of little circumstance in a weak attempt to prove his superiority. His stiffness, both arrogant and insecure simultaneously. And under it all a boiling tension, an internal battle of psychosis. Carell gives us this in every single scene he’s in. As the spoiled and unloved heir to a massive fortune, his misguided attempts to build love out of the sportsman around him are more than pathetic, they are disturbing. Carell provides layers upon layers to what could easily have been a simple story of mental breakdown and murder. It’s the sort of performance that stays in your head and demands you go home and watch a few episodes of The Office to calm down. [Ananda]

Tilda Swinton – Snowpiercer

To quote Amy Schumer at this year’s Gotham Awards: “Tilda. Fucking. Swinton.” It’s been an amazing year for the Scottish actress, who played three truly memorable roles. It’s just as easy to talk about her amazing turns in Only Lovers Left Alive and The Grand Budapest Hotel, but for us it’s her role as Minister Mason in Snowpiercer that left the biggest impression. Originally written for a man, Swinton came on board and turned the character from a sinister, mild-mannered character to a garish, over the top figure. The absurdity of her character, from the giant glasses to the fake teeth and Yorkshire accent, also gives the film’s gritty first act a bit of levity, while hinting at the bizarre, distorted moments to come as the characters make their way to the front of the train. This is why Tilda Swinton is one of the best; it’s a showy, distinctive role, but it singlehandedly supports and elevates the film to an even better place. [C.J.]

Timothy Spall – Mr. Turner

Mike Leigh has always been something of an ‘actor’s ’ director, often giving his leads opportunities to improvise and find their characters, and in Mr. Turner this approach has been rewarded by a superb performance by Timothy Spall. There are few actors who can inhabit a role quite like Timothy Spall. Spall channels the vivid life of Turner’s paintings into the character, injecting Turner with boundless energy, enthusiasm and a lust for life. Yet Spall also delicately reveals Turner’s flaws; his stubbornness, his lack of empathy for his estranged family and, as he reaches the end of his life, his frustration at his own fragility. What is particularly impressive about Spall’s performance is the sheer array of emotions he conveys non-verbally throughout the film, often saying a thousand words with a simple grunt. Despite being surrounded by a talented cast Spall outshines them all and bears the weight of the film on his shoulders. It is a role that has already earned him the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival and there is a strong chance that he could be in the running for Best Actor at next year’s Oscars. [Eddy]

We Can’t Help But Mention:

We could never include everyone we’d like, but some honorable mentions include: Uma Thurman (Nymphomaniac), John Lithgow (Love is Strange), Jonathan Pryce (Listen Up Philip), Rene Russo (Nightcrawler), David Oyelowo (Selma), Sheila Vand (A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night), Julianne Moore (Still Alice), Jessica Chastain (Miss Julie), Laura Dern (Wild), the cast of Winter Sleep, the cast of We Are The Best!, the cast of Leviathan, cast of Fury, cast of Interstellar, and Agata Kulesza and Agata Trzebuchowska of Ida.

Director Bennet Miller gets that the complexity of true events and historical people make for the most engaging onscreen experiences. In Moneyball he managed to make the men behind baseball statistics be as compelling as the sport itself. And in Capote he showed that the ongoing relationship of a pair of murderers with the man who wanted to tell their story is every bit as complex and fascinating as the murders they committed. In Foxcatcher Miller melds the strengths of both these films by capturing the intrigue of competitive sportsmanship and the psychological study of one of the most disturbing men to have been in a place of a wealth and power in America. While the film has one of the year’s best performances (by Steve Carell) there isn’t a single person in this bleak but gripping film who doesn’t enthrall with their historical portrayal — shedding light on one of those strange stories that seem too impossible to be true, and showcasing the sort of rare personality that incites fear in all of us.

After having won Olympic gold in wrestling Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) is at a low point in his career, delivering speeches to restless kids at elementary schools. His elder brother David Schultz (Mark Ruffalo) has also won gold and continues to work as a coach, working with his brother to train for the world championships. Mark seems to have lived in the shadow of his brother’s accomplishments and good nature for much of his career, and having been mostly raised by his brother he is at odds with his desire to impress his father-figure and excel on his own. The spotlight seems to have finally made its way to him when he gets an unexpected phone call from John du Pont, heir to the du Pont fortune (the same family who hands out the prestigious science award) and a self-proclaimed sports-enthusiast and benefactor.

Du Pont flies Mark to his sprawling Pennsylvania estate, Foxcatcher Farms, and presents an irresistible offer: to come train at his facilities and help him build an award-winning wrestling team. From there Mark finds his motivation once again, training for the world championships and recruiting a team of wrestlers, always with encouragement from John to try to get his brother Dave to come be on the team. From their first encounter, John du Pont is painted as an awkward man, secure in his wealth and eccentric in his passion for ornithology (the study of birds) and philately (stamp collecting). His fascination for wrestling seems as much about raw — somewhat erotic — sportsmanship as it is a yearning for team brotherhood and the parent-like relationship of coach and player. Steve Carell’s every interaction on-screen is nail-biting. His prosthetic nose is at first a distraction and then becomes yet another way that Carell and du Pont seem to merge completely. He speaks with a slowness that at first seems to hint at his dim-wittedness but over time makes apparent his calculated way of getting what he wants. He’s the fascinating product of wealth, a single-child upbringing, and hard to please parents. His mental instability is so subtle it’s hard to tell if it’s always there, or if it wavers in and out.

Tatum continues to prove his range, for while he clearly has a believable body for a wrestler, it’s his portrayal of Mark’s immature devotion to whichever father figure is available to latch on to, and his twisted expectations for his own athletic performances (going so far as physical damage to himself), that show he’s capable of capturing a different sort of mental illness than the one du Pont manifests. Mark Ruffalo as David is the only real outlet for positivity in the film, and his representation of David as an ideal older brother and mentor is almost too sweet, causing confusion as to why Mark could be so easily led astray. But his pedestal-standing character only makes the film’s inevitable historic ending that much more heartbreaking.

For anyone who’s managed to avoid reading about the history of the Schultzes and John du Pont, I won’t spoil the story, but I will say that Miller has done an excellent job of focusing less on the scandal and more on the people involved. It’s a therapist’s psychoanalytical nightmare, having so many neuroses on hand. Miller did right in focusing the story on Mark and John, rather than David and John, despite where history inevitably led. With Mark and John he’s able to explore the bond between two men looking to fulfill impossible needs, each hoping their salvation lies in the other. In one of the film’s most fascinating scenes, Mark and John ride in a helicopter together to a benefit dinner and Mark practices his intro speech for John. John snorts cocaine out of a fancy leather pouch and makes Mark repeat the words “ornithologist, philanthropist, and philatelist” over and over until he can say them with confidence, reiterating his own ideology that given enough time and prodding, he can indoctrinate anyone into showing him respect and possibly love. It’s creepy and compelling all at once.

The true crime nature of the film is a draw, but the performances of the film are what solidify it as one of the year’s best, marking Bennett Miller as a nuanced and capable director. His aesthetic and understated work with cinematographer Grieg Fraser allow the characters to tell their own story and set the sort of realistic tone that adds no note of Hollywood sensationalism. Foxcatcher is chilling, sobering, and the sort of film that will cause audience members to question the people they meet on the street. It’s the sort of cold reminder that within us all lies the capability of strange and frightening behavior. A morbid sick reminder that almost no one can help but be drawn to.

Three of our most anticipated films at the Mill Valley Film Festival played on Day 9 in the 11-day stretch, and they didn’t disappoint. From Bill Murray’s performance as the grumpy titular character in St. Vincent; to Steve Carell’s long-awaited dramatic turn in Foxcatcher; to Marion Cotillard’s incredibly vulnerable performance in the Dardenne brothers’ Two Days, One Night, the festival is still going strong as we approach the final days. Stay with us through the weekend as we continue to bring you more coverage from Mill Valley!

Patron Saint of Despicability

[Ananda]

Opening today in New York and Los Angeles, Theodore Melfi’s St. Vincent is almost as quirky as the story behind its main star signing on. In a Q & A after the Mill Valley Film Festival screening, Melfi described what exactly is involved in getting Bill Murray to agree to do your movie. First you call his 800 number, leave a lot of messages, and hope he calls you back. Then you snail mail him a description of the film to a PO box provided by his attorney.  If you’re lucky, like Melfi, he might just call you out of the blue, tell you to meet him in an hour at LAX and proceed to drive you around for 6 hours into the desert to discuss the project, at the end of which a handshake seals the deal. And while Melfi has plenty of fun stories about Bill Murray — he demands avocados, chocolate, and Mexican coke in his trailer — anyone who has seen the movie will say whatever it took to get Murray, it was worth it.

Acting opposite Jaeden Lieberher as small-for-his-age Oliver, Murray plays Vincent, a curmudgeonly old alcoholic in Brooklyn with a load of debt, a gambling addiction, and a “professional” relationship with a pregnant Russian prostitute, Daka (Naomi Watts). Oliver and his mother Maggie (Melissa McCarthy) move in next door to Vincent, and due to her late working hours (necessary because of the custody battle she’s in) Maggie is forced to ask Vincent for help as Oliver’s babysitter. Only ever concerned with earning a spare buck, Vincent thinks very little of his duties, shlepping Oliver to bars, the race track, and to visit his alzheimer-consumed wife in the home she lives in. The film is funny, due in major part to Murray’s delivery, but much of the true cleverness is given to Lieberher, who holds his own with a skill much larger than his age. Somehow the film manages to avoid the typical conventions of the reverse parenting gimmick, focusing less on transformation and instead on forgiveness.

St. Vincent is warm and well-told, but it’s the excellent chemistry between Murray and Lieberher that makes it worth watching.

Gold Medal In Crazy

[Ananda]

We’ve seen some truly impressive performances this week. In fact our Oscar prediction list is getting so long that narrowing things down later in the year is going to be a serious challenge. But having seen many of our most anticipated films of the fall now, I think I can say with confidence one performance that will undoubtedly surpass any cut to that list is Steve Carell in Foxcatcher. Whether you know anything about the true story of Mark and David Schultz, the Olympic gold winning sibling wrestlers representing the U.S. in the ’80s, or whether you enter into a screening of Foxcatcher completely unaware of the history behind it, I guarantee the film will have you hanging onto every scene transition, wondering when it’s all going to cave in.

The Schultz brothers were two successful wrestlers in the ’80s, and after both winning gold in the ’84 olympics they went on to coach. In the film, Mark (Channing Tatum), the younger brother, was practically raised by his brother David (Mark Ruffalo), and, since David was the more sought after wrestler, Mark often interpreted his success as having some connection to his older brother. So when billionaire John E. du Pont (Steve Carell and a foreboding fake nose) reaches out to Mark wanting to hire him to help build an award winning wrestling team, Mark finally finds the attention he has been craving. Carell as du Pont is disturbing from the get go. While the transformation of his face is distracting at first, the perfect awkwardness of Carell’s delivery quickly becomes the focus. His shuffling gait, his too big smile, his lack of eye contact at times, all paint du Pont as a man whose subtle madness hovers just below his surface at all times. Whether by wealth, loneliness, bad parenting, or an innate mania, du Pont is a slow building volcanic eruption waiting to happen. And with the physicality of wrestling, it seems an obvious choice of obsession for a depraved and disconnected man. Just as compelling is the chemistry between Ruffalo and Tatum. As brothers, their connection is ever-present, driving the film forward, each each other’s motivation in life.

Bennett Miller seems to have followed a direct path from Capote to Moneyball to Foxcatcher. The first dealing in a murderous mind, the second in a competitive sport, and the third throwing the two together. While undoubtedly grim, Foxcatcher is historically-based filmmaking at its best. Providing a speculative insight into the lives and minds of people who have lived events so bizarre and tragic that no similar Hollywood fiction could be remotely plausible. It’s a hard watch, but the kind that reminds viewers that every person is a story unto themselves.

On Her Hands and Knees

[Bernard]

Like Vittorio de Sica’s Italian Neorealist classics Umberto D and Bicycle Theives, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s Two Days, One Night (one of my favorite films at Mill Valley) is so relevant, so aware of the socio-economic climate of its time that it’s hard not to surrender yourself to it completely. This is a film for those who struggle; it understands how money—or more specifically, the lack thereof—can trick us into becoming lesser people than we ought to be, forgetting that self-worth is the most invaluable treasure we own.

Marion Cotillard plays Sandra, a factory worker who’s been dismissed from work due to issues with depression. On a Friday, her 16 co-workers have voted to keep their bonuses rather than let Sandra keep her job. There will be a second vote on Monday, however, giving our heroine the weekend to convince her colleagues to forego their much-needed bonuses for the sake of she and her family. 

Cotillard is the biggest star the Dardennes have worked with yet, and she gifts them with one of the best performances of her career. She can be anything—glamorous, dangerous, sultry—but here, she bares her soul for all to see. Tremendously vulnerable and earnest, Cotillard has our vote from the beginning. As with the Dardenne’s other work, the plot and camerawork is elegant and simple, giving the actors all the room they need to tell their story. A bracingly truthful film.

Bennett Miller’s follow up to Moneyball, the Brad Pitt-starring baseball-but-not-really-about-baseball movie, is Foxcatcher, the Channing Tatum-starring wrestling-but-not-really-about-wrestling movie. It’s undoubtedly one of the marquee films competing for the Palme D’Or; featuring an intriguing cast with Tatum in the lead, Mark Ruffalo in supporting, and Steve Carell overshadowing in his first villainous role, directed by one of America’s brightest emerging talents, and with an Oscar buzz that began before cameras rolled. Monday was officially Foxcatcher Day in the French Riviera. We here at Way Too Indie felt the itch with this one too, featuring it in our Top 10 most anticipated Cannes list. After missing the first screening at the ridiculous 8 a.m. time-slot, and reading the (mostly) rave first impressions, I knew there was no way Monday was ending without me catching this one. But, in large part, I am left with regret for not opting for one of my other picks.

The story follows Olympic gold medalist Mark Shultz (Tatum), a very determined young man whose solitary lifestyle revolves around training, eating microwaveable food, talking about wrestling, and… wrestling. It’s beyond passion; it’s his entire livelihood. Influenced, mentored and trained by his older brother Dave (Ruffalo) who is also an Olympic gold medalist, but whose life is much more balanced with a family and a sense for the business of the sport. One day, randomly, Mark gets a call from John Du Pont’s people and is invited for a visit and a chat with John Du Pont (Carell) himself. Du Pont, a billionaire with a family dynasty to preserve and upkeep, is a big wrestling fan and expresses his desire to become Mark’s coach and help him achieve his goal of becoming the best wrestler in the world and win gold at the next Olympics. He wants this for himself, for Mark, but most of all, for America. The characters and events in this film are based on a true story, and it’s a juicy one, but Miller – with everything at his disposal – found a way to make a forgettable film with it.

Let’s get the acting out of the way, because if anything will give this movie the strong legs it needs for Oscar season it’s that. Steve Carell will be hogging all the attention that’s only justifiable for Ruffalo and Tatum. The latter is especially impressive, as he uses his bulky fitness to create a truly sympathetic character, brimming with insecurity yet physically intimidating with every swing and stretch. Ruffalo doesn’t get much to do, but he’s one of the easiest actors to watch thanks to his natural talent to demand attention by never showboating, so he’s consistently great in the film. And Carell does bring the comedy here, the Eagle bit is for the highlight reel and his deliveries of “good” have rightly reminded people of Mr. Burns’ “excellent”. But, the make-up and the larger-than-life character do much to disguise what is ultimately a solid performance and not much else. The reason he will be a major Oscar contender is due to the novelty of having a comedian break bad, and not the actual performance itself; something many others with the same make-up could have pulled off.

The real troubles with Foxcatcher lie in the way the drama unfolds; every beat predicted (ah, he wants to step out of his brothers shadow; of course, he will start taking drugs now; oh right, he’s got mommy issues so now we know why he is the way he is) and when it’s not, like two crucial character shifts of attitude, it feels fumbled and graceless like handing a blade to a wrestler and telling him to fence. You don’t win gold medals like that. The cinematography and the editing are something of unexpected accomplishments here, but still don’t help this major fault in the storytelling.

With all the ingredients at his disposal Miller managed to make a film that’s barely compelling, helped mostly by the performances of Tatum and Ruffalo, and the mere presence of a sickly repugnant creature played with decent amount of slime by Carell. The symbolism of America as wrestling (Miller is becoming a pro in utilizing athletics in very thematically engaging ways at least) and the commentary on the debilitating effects of wealth on human spirit are enough to make good conversation pieces. But the execution is so lacking and the overall experience made so bland, that the subject of conversation will quickly change.

The first clip for Bennett Miller‘s Cannes Drama Foxcatcher has arrived. Based on true events, the film recalls the fascinating story of Olympic Wrestling Champion Mark Schultz (played by Channing Tatum) who befriends an eccentric multi-millionaire (Steve Carell) to train at his new state-of-the-art training facility, but the wealthy man is driven by selfish motives. Foxcatcher is ultimately a story about misguided loyalty and the corruption that comes with great power and wealth. Carell sports a prosthetic nose and tons of aging makeup, making him nearly unrecognizable.

Below is the teaser trailer for Foxcatcher as well as the first clip that shows the two characters meeting for the first time.

Foxcatcher teaser trailer

First Clip – “I Want To Win Gold”

From the Oscar winning minds behind the story of The Descendants, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash bring a similar family oriented film that aspires to be a charming crowd-pleaser, but ends up with the same underwhelming results. The Way Way Back features a coming-of-age story about a teenage boy who feels like an outsider wherever he goes, including his own house. There are some satisfying qualities and charm found in the film (mostly from Sam Rockwell) but The Way Way Back plays out just as you would expect, failing to break from its formulated structure.

For most people spending the entire summer at a beach house out in Cape Cod sounds delightful, but for 14-year-old Duncan (Liam James) that is not the case. That is because Duncan is an introverted teenager who is forced to put up with his mother’s (Toni Collette) overbearing boyfriend Trent (Steve Carell), a man who is constantly trying too hard to act like a father figure towards Duncan but ends up being much more condescending than affectionate. Duncan cannot catch a break even when an opportune situation presents itself as their neighbor just so happens to be a good looking girl his age, but his shy awkwardness still gets the best of him.

With seemingly nowhere else to go, Duncan manages to escape off to a nearby Water Wizz waterpark after running into the boisterous manager of the park, Owen (Sam Rockwell). Their friendship takes off with minimal effort (or much interest) from Duncan as Owen seems very eager to take him under his wing for no reason other than he is bored. This is where The Way Way Back begins to get good as Owen’s 100 mile-per-hour wise cracks energizes the picture and subsequently loosens up Duncan’s boarded up personality.

While Liam James plays the awkward side of his always-slouching and timid character spot-on, he is much less convincing when his role calls for him to show a bit of confidence. Though he is not totally to blame, the script has a few cringe-worthy moments such as a completely overengineered dance routine involving James that would even make Napoleon Dynamite shake his head. And there are multiple times where the film forces him to dance.

Meanwhile, Rockwell completely steals the show with his sarcastic lines and give-no-shit attitude. Even though he is supposed to be more of a supporting character, he is so good that he becomes the best asset of the film. In fact, all of the smaller roles were more redeeming than many of the leads. Faxon makes a hilarious appearance as a lifeguard who knows how take advantage of his powers at the park. And Rash channels his inner Kip (yes, another Napoleon Dynamite reference) which makes for an entertaining sidekick.

If there is one thing The Way Way Back does well it is making the story feel relatable, unfortunately it does so by sporting an all-too-familiar backdrop of characters, circumstances, and outcomes. Granted, this coming-of-age tale is not aiming to be wholly original, but in the end the film only plays to half of its strengths. The Way Way Back does generate a fair amount of laughs throughout the film, but misses on the emotional level because of the underplayed drama between mother and son—a shame because Collette’s character had real potential to be more than just a naïve mother who is content with looking the other way for everything in life.

The Way Way Back trailer:

For a film based upon a dysfunctional family’s struggle across America to enter their daughter into a beauty pageant – Little Miss Sunshine should go down in history as a modern classic; an absolutely wonderful cinematic release. With an outstanding cast, Little Miss Sunshine hit home with an original storyline that delivered humour, real emotions and heartfelt relationships between the characters. By the end of this film you will have laughed and cried, gotten emotionally involved and maybe a little confused – and it’s one of my favourite films.

At the very beginning of the film the family sit down for dinner, Olive (Abigail Breslin) finds out that she has been given a place in this year’s Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant – she lets out a scream of joy and runs around the house getting things together to take with her. Olive’s mom, Sheryl Hoover (Toni Colette) and her dad, Richard Hoover (Greg Kinnear) argue how they are to get there due to not being able to afford travel expenses. After a heated discussion they finally settle on driving the 1000 miles in their minivan.

During the course of the family’s road trip the family experiences are both laughable and heartfelt, being comedic yet sometimes sad, you begin to fall in love with each character and relate to them on different levels. Little Miss Sunshine focuses on pushing forth the idea of living the American Dream – with Richard trying hard to become a motivational speaker, but failing – ironically, since his speeches are about winning. Olive is striving to become a beauty queen with the help of her WWII veteran, heroin addicted grandfather. Olive’s brother Dwayne (Paul Dano) has taken a vow of silence until he achieves his dream of becoming a RAF pilot and their uncle, Frank (Steve Carell) is being forced to stay with them whilst he recovers having just attempted suicide.

The inspiration of the story came from an article Michael Ardnt (who wrote the film) read in a newspaper, where Arnold Schwarzenegger was quoted speaking to a group of high school students: “If there’s one thing in this world I hate, it’s losers. I despise them” – Ardnt then began to develop the story for Little Miss Sunshine on this principle: “I thought there’s something so wrong with that attitude…I wanted to…attack that idea that in life you’re going up or you’re going down. So to a degree a child beauty pageant is the epitome of the ultimate stupid meaningless competition people put themselves through”.

Dwayne towards the latter part of the film memorably says, “You know what? Fuck beauty contests. Life is one fucking beauty contest after another. School, then college, then work…fuck that. And fuck the Air Force Academy. If I want to fly, I’ll find a way to fly. You do what you love, and fuck the rest.” – a speech that Ardnt will have made sure, made its way into the script in order to emphasise the entire meaning behind the film in a very subtle but obvious way.

Little Miss Sunshine was nominated for several Academy Awards, and came home with Best Original Screenplay for Michael Ardnt and Best Supporting Actor for Alan Arkin. “Grandpa” played by Arkin was well deserving of this award, however all characters played a vital role in the films success, each character being so important to the story and understanding the different relationships between the family.

I love Little Miss Sunshine, it’s a fantastic independent epic that demonstrated not only a shocking realism to dysfunctional family relationships, behaviours and hardships, but demonstrated it in such a way that it wasn’t miserable, it wasn’t depressing – it was moving, smart and very funny.