Acrimony shows you what UNHINGED looks like

Movie Title:      Tyler Perry's Acrimony

Grade:  C

Rating: R, 2 hours

In a Nutshell:  This is a Tyler Perry drama that’s being touted as a psychological thriller.  What they mean is that it features a total psycho.  

The movie trailer is misleading, probably intentionally, to make you think the film is going to go in one direction, but there’s a little switcheroo.

For what it’s worth, the more I thought about the movie, the more I liked it.  There’s a huge paradigm shift that’s pretty clever.  Maybe I’m giving Tyler Perry more credit than he deserves.  Maybe that’s just how I interpreted his intention for the movie.  Either way, it’s not that great of a movie, but it’s an interesting journey.

                            

Tips for parents: 

• Lots of profanity, including MANY F-bombs.
• You see the naked rear of a man several times.
• Sex scene with some skin.   
• You’ll read the definitions of words like acrimony, bewail, deranged, and nexorable.  The best word to describe what you see is UNHINGED.
• Infidelity, adultery, pre-marital relations.
• Serious anger management issues.                                                  

Uplifting theme: 

• Love and infidelity
• Revenge
• Forgiveness, Trust
• Persistence in reaching your dream.

Things I liked:

• Music of Nina Simone Her Greatest Hits.  Robert (Antonio Madison) says, “Her music is like going to church.”
• I like that you don’t know exactly what happens after the movie ends.
• A lot of reviewers on IMDB loved this movie.  A lot of YouTubers hated it.  It goes to show you that movie critics only give THEIR opinion and it should only be taken with a grain a salt.
• I really like Taraji P. Henson.  Unfortunately, she could only do so much with the material she was given in this movie, but she still did a great job.
  
• The film was shot in only 8 days.  Wow, that's impressive.
• Ajiona Alexus played the younger version of Taraji's character, just like in the TV show "Empire."  If you missed it, click here to see the Pilot of that award-winning TV drama.
• Maybe this movie will help young people look for the red flags that often show up in relationships.  When you see them, RUN!

Things I didn’t like:

• I didn’t like either of the main characters.  They both lacked integrity and had anger management issues.
• The acting was over-the-top and mediocre at the same time.
• Lots of screaming, fighting, and profanity.  It was like watching crazy people on Jerry Springer.  I can’t stand that.
• There were some really dumb things that happened.
• The dialogue is often completely ridiculous.
• Sometimes outdoor scenes are filmed on an obvious green screen.  Why wouldn’t the director just film outside?  
• Below is another version of the movie poster.  It came out first and was later replaced by the one above of Taraji Henson.  Maybe Tyler Perry thought it would give away the story too much?

                              

Interesting lines:

• “Have you ever asked me what I wanted?” – Melinda (Taraji P. Henson)
• “You cannot negotiate with crazy.” –  Diana (Crystle Stewart)  Ain't that the truth?!

                                   

              

                                            @trinaboice

Red Sparrow takes spy thriller to a Rated X level

Movie Title:    
        Red Sparrow

Grade:  C-

Rating: R, 
2 hours 19 minutes

In a Nutshell:   This sex filled spy thriller features psychological manipulation and LOTS of undressing and naked bodies.  Even Jennifer Lawrence shows us full frontal nudity. Why isn’t this movie Rated X?

It feels more like a tale of prostitution than super spy.  It's like saying Fifty Shades of Grey is a romantic love story.

Tips for parents: 

• Full frontal male and female nudity.
• Two completely naked people having sex.
• Bloody beatings and violent deaths
• A woman undresses down to her underwear.  Another gets completely naked.
• Homosexuality
• Attempted rape
• Crude language, profanity, F-bombs
• Someone gets run over by a car.  Yuck.
• Some family-friendly spy movies without all of the graphic violence and nudity that’s found in Red Sparrow are Spy Kids and Agent Cody Banks.
• If you’re intrigued by psychological manipulation, but want your teens to be able to watch something that’s not Rated R, check out the interesting social experiment in the TV show “The Push” found on Netflix right now.

                                           

Uplifting theme: 

• Sacrifice for a higher purpose
• Extreme patriotism

Things I liked:

• The talented cast includes Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Irons, Joel Edgerton, Charlotte Rampling, and Mary-Louise Parker.
• To enforce the title of the movie and the Russian setting, the color red plays a dominant role, from the movie poster, to the clothing that people wear to the bloody scenes.  
• Jennifer Lawrence trained in ballet for 4 months, although Isabella Boylston was her lovely body double who did the more difficult choreography.       
• Directed by Francis Lawrence, this movie is his first film since he directed The Hunger Games movies.  Clearly, Jennifer Lawrence trusts him completely. She would have to in order to strip and do the things she does in this movie.  She's in fantastic shape, by the way.
• You don't know who is telling the truth, which makes it intriguing and suspenseful.  
• The movie is based on the book by Jason Matthews who was a former CIA operative.  Cool. 
• The opening sequence is a bit confusing, but mesmerizing.            

Things I didn’t like:

• The telling is uneven.
• Way too much graphic nudity and sex.  There are so many awkward scenes.
• Women are used as tools in a one-dimensional portrayal.
• It's very dark and violent, which must have rubbed off on Jennifer Lawrence who, apparently, got into a bar fight in Budapest when she was filming the movie.
• Jennifer Lawrence has basically the same expression on her face the entire movie.  It's hard to see her character arc.
• The movie feels long and tiring.
• Disgusting torture.

  Interesting lines:

• “There’s no such thing as luck.” – Scumbag guy
• “Your body belongs to the State.  Since your birth, the State nourished it.  Now the State asks for something in return.” – Matron (Charlotte Rampling)
• “In my experience, the proud are the first to fall.” – Matron
• 
  

Funny lines:
*  "Why are all the Russian women so sexy?  All the men look like toads." - Stephanie Boucher (Mary-Louise Parker)

  

       

                                              @trinaboice

Split showcases a fantastic James McAvoy

Movie Title:  Split

Grade:  B+

Rating:  PG-13, 116 minutes

In a Nutshell: James McAvoy thrills in this psychological horror story by M. Night Shyamalan, a director who knows how to take his time unfolding a story.  

The camera work by cinematographer Michael Gioulakis adds to the intrigue.

Uplifting theme: 

• “We are what we believe we are.” – Patricia
• “Have these individuals, through their suffering, unlocked the mysteries of the brain?” – Dr. Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley)
• “The thrill is whether you can or can’t outsmart this animal.” – Casey's father (Sebastian Arcelus)

Things I liked:

• McAvoy delivers an amazing performance.  He displays 24 distinct characters, not with simple costume changes, but more with transforming accents, facial expressions, and impressive physicality.  The audience got a kick out of Hedwig and Patricia in particular. Watch them as if they are an amalgam of animals in a zoo...
• M. Night Shyamalan has been beaten up by movie critics for many years.  I’ve always enjoyed his work and appreciated his talents, so I’m happy that he has been receiving praise for this new film.  I love how he always puts himself in a scene in each of his movies.
• There is a fun surprise at the end that made the audience gasp.  Hint: You’ll want to watch the Shyamalan’s 2000 film Unbreakable as a refresher.  If the ending means what I think it means, then we're in for an extremely interesting sequel that takes us back in to the Unbreakable universe.  Mind blown.
• Some of the characters do really dumb things, so I loved it when the audience would yell, “No!”  ha ha
• Dissociative Identity Disorder is addressed.
• There are some fun Easter Eggs in the movie that point to other Shyamalan movies.  For example, did you notice Mr. Pritchard's name on the computer screen?  That's a character in the movie Signs, which I thought was brilliant.
• I thought Casey Cooke's character arc was really well done.  Anya Taylor-Joy did a great job and out-shined the other teen girls.
• Hedwig's dance scene was pretty awesome, etc.

Things I didn’t like:

• Bone-crunching sounds.  The entire audience groaned and squirmed in their seats.
• I hate it when victims sit around crying.  Stop crying and make a plan! Don’t be a victim.  Get out of the car and run! Everyone needs to learn how to pick locks.  Here’s a crazy tip: Look up from your cell phone to see what’s going on. Check out my son’s class called Spy Escape and Evasion.

Interesting lines:

• “Only through pain can you achieve your greatness.” – Beast
• “The broken are the more evolved.” - Beast
• “There must be limits to what a human being can become.” – Dr. Karen Fletcher  
• “You like to make fun of us, but we’re more powerful than you think.” – Dennis
• “I’m trying to be good.” – Barry
• There is an interesting discussion of the “light” that is used when characters emerge.  Patricia said, “In the sun, we will find our purpose.” 

Funny lines:

• “You guys lied to me.  You made me scared, etc.” – Hedwig (The audience laughed every time he said “etc.”)
• “You might be pregnant now.” - Hedwig after an awkward kiss

Tips for parents: 

• There are some dark themes that are not very family-friendly, such as bullying, child abuse, kidnapping.
• Blood, violence
• Profanity, including 1 F-bomb.
• Some of the girls are forced to take off their clothes, so you see them in their underwear.

@trinaboice