THE ZONE OF INTEREST (2023)

December 15, 2023

Greetings again from the darkness. I’ve always had an issue with movies that portray the human or “normal” side of Nazis. Of course, we understand these were human beings – many caught in a no-win situation of self-preservation; however, we just find it so difficult to accept that decent people could carry out these orders of atrocities. Writer-director Jonathan Glazer (UNDER THE SKIN, 2013, SEXY BEAST, 2000, and numerous music videos) has loosely adapted the screenplay from the 2014 novel by Martin Amis, who passed away the same day the movie premiered at Cannes.

Glazer opens the film with a totally black screen. It lasts 2-3 minutes, and feels longer. He purposefully sets us up to fine tune our listening skills for his film that is every bit as much about sound as it is visuals. As the picture comes into focus, we find a family enjoying a day of sun and swimming at a river. When the dad stumbles on something, he immediately gathers up the kids and everyone heads home to bathe.

The man is Rudolph Hoss (played by Christian Friedel), the commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland during WWII. He and his wife, Hedwig “Heddy” Hoss (Sandra Huller, who also stars in ANATOMY OF A FALL, another outstanding film this year) are raising their kids in a beautiful home with a backyard that borders the wall of Auschwitz. While their servants clean and cook, Hedwig tends to her lush garden while the kids play in and out of the house. Once I realized this family was living an ordinary life in this extraordinary setting, a knot formed in my stomach … a knot that took a couple of days to subside, and has returned as I write this review.

Background sounds include periodic screams of terror and pain, as well as distant gun shots blending with the sounds of kids chirping and women chatting. When cinematographer Lukasz Zal (IDA, 2014) shoots a certain angle, we see the smokestacks rising above the wall, though we don’t venture inside the camp gates, even for Rudolph’s birthday when the other Nazi soldiers pay their respects to him. Hedwig is seen picking through items seized from those slaughtered mere feet from her front door. She takes pride in her nickname, “the Queen of Auschwitz”, even as she readily nabs a luxury coat.

Plot and drama are not big players here. We briefly see Rudolph in meetings with Nazi officials as they brainstorm on methods of improving efficiencies of mass extermination. The closest thing to family drama occurs when Rudolph is promoted to Berlin, and Hedwig refuses to go, claiming “This is our home.” It’s an incredible statement highlighting the mental block (or acceptance?) she has of the proximity to horrific actions, and the fact that evil and cruelty is the family business.

The sound design from Johnnie Burn (NOPE, 2021) and score from Mica Levi (JACKIE, 2016) play vital roles in setting and maintaining the atmosphere in a movie that rarely shifts tone and is never in a rush. By offering a different perspective, director Glazer provides a haunting film that will stick with you. He ends things with a glimpse inside the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum where we see piles of shoes, suitcases, etc. The whole film is chilling, and painfully contemporary despite its WWII setting.

Opens in theaters on December 15, 2023

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Posted by David Ferguson

A FATHER’S PROMISE (2023, doc)

December 15, 2023

Greetings again from the darkness. For viewers who value unlimited gun rights over the safety of children, this documentary will probably not convince you otherwise. For everyone else, it’s a gut-wrenching story. Mark Barden and his wife Jacqueline have experienced two devastating events in their lives. On December 14, 2012, their young son Daniel was one of twenty first-graders and six teachers shot to death while at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Barden then dedicated his life to getting legislation passed that would help prevent such tragedies in the future. He and his family were in Washington DC when the Manchen-Toomey Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act failed to pass.

Imagine the pain of losing a young son in a school shooting, and then have lawmakers at the federal government level tell you that they place more value on the shooter’s rights than your own kid’s safety. If it weren’t true, it would be unthinkable.

Documentarian Rick Korn’s previous project, HARRY CHAPIN: WHEN IN DOUBT, DO SOMETHING (2020), chronicled the singer’s life story, and this time out, he discovers music plays a key role in Mark Barden’s life. We get a brief background on Mark’s childhood and how he became a rising musician in the Nashville scene as an enormously talented guitarist. It’s where he met his wife, Jacqueline, and they ultimately moved to Newtown to raise their three children (Daniel was the youngest).

After the shooting, Mark admits he was “re-wired as a person”. Music was something he had shared with Daniel and now was not something he could pursue. Instead, he committed to activism … even as additional mass shootings occurred around the country. His calm, yet passionate demeanor, and ability to articulate pain and a reasonable and worthy path forward, made him a welcome speaker as he pursued legislation for background checks.

It took some time before Mark was able to let music back into his life. Some in the music community joined in to show that ‘music can transcend the spoken word’. Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Karen Fairchild, Sheryl Crow, and Bernie Williams (former NY Yankee), all joined Mark on his mission … as did many others. As Mark played guitar, it motivated his daughter Natalie to join in singing, as well as taking up the torch for activism.

We learn about the 26 new playgrounds named in honor of the Sandy Hook victims, and we learn of the work of Sandy Hook Promise, an organization formed to drive awareness and change. Director Korn covers much of what’s happened since 2012 in regard to mass shootings and the citizen push for some gun control measures. This includes the 2022 Uvalde, Texas shooting and the ensuing impassioned “What are we doing?” plea from Senator Chris Murphy. This is also likely the first time John Lennon’s “Bed-in for Peace” has been mentioned so closely to the name of Alex Jones, someone whose story is so disgusting, we can assume you already know. The film solidifies a couple of thoughts for us: Mark Barden is a man to respect, and we can continue to hope that the lobby for rational thought will someday be as strong as the lobby for unlimited gun rights.

The film had its world premiere and opened theatrically on Friday, December 8th in Manhattan. Additional cities to follow. 

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Posted by David Ferguson

MAESTRO (2023)

December 8, 2023

Greetings again from the darkness. A creative genius must deal with the constant demands, both internal and external, of new and better projects. That last one was great, now what’s next? The art is never enough, and it’s never done. As if that pressure to create is not enough, there is also the personal side. A connection is presumed by fans and customers and critics. We like your art, so we feel like we know you. How does one even find their true self, much less hold on to it, while being adored and showered with accolades? Well, many don’t, and the aftermath is usually not pretty.

Bradley Cooper has received nine previous Oscar nominations in various categories: Actor, Supporting Actor, Producer, and Writer (many from A STAR IS BORN, 2018). He has yet to win, but with this latest (co-written with Josh Singer, an Oscar winner for SPOTLIGHT), Cooper is likely to nab multiple nominations yet again. “Oscar bait” was how a movie like this would have once been described, simply because it’s well made and appeals to a wide audience. While the description seems a bit unfair, this film is in fact, well made and appeals to a wide audience. On top of that, the two lead performances are both noteworthy. Cooper stars as Leonard Bernstein, and Carey Mulligan co-stars Felicia Montealegre, the actress Bernstein married.

Leonard Bernstein was a generational talent as a world-renowned conductor, He was also a bi-sexual philanderer who felt he never received due credit for his compositions. Felicia was a long-loyal and long-sacrificing spouse who raised their kids and supported her enigmatic husband, who frequently used his musical genius as an escape clause. The film spans the 1940’s, when Bernstein made his accidental (no rehearsal) debut as Assistant Conductor filling in for the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, to the 1980’s when Bernstein is giving an interview at his Fairfield, Connecticut estate and discussing how he misses Felicia.

This is clearly a labor of love for Cooper as director-star-writer-producer, and yet it’s Mulligan who has the most complex role … one she excels in. Certainly, Cooper shines in a tender moment scene with daughter Jamie (Maya Hawke) where he lies about the rumors she’s heard, and he relishes the highlight of reenacting the London Symphony Orchestra at Ely Cathedral in 1976 for Mahler’s second symphony. The latter is a scene itself worthy of a theater picket price for the picture and sound. Despite the flamboyant nature of Lenny, it’s Mulligan who is the heart of this story, and she excels in every scene … especially the Thanksgiving Day argument as Snoopy floats by their Central Park apartment window.

A third co-star here would be cigarettes, which seem to fill the screen with smoke regardless of the time period or location. Seriously, the supporting cast includes Matt Bomer and Sarah Silverman, and Bernstein’s compositions are heard throughout the film, including “West Side Story” in the most ominous moment. A particularly creative scene occurs as Bernstein becomes part of the “On the Town” sequence on stage, and we also see Lenny and Felicia interviewed on television by Edward R Murrow.

This is Cooper’s second outing with almost complete control of the project, and it’s a technical masterpiece from a movie-making perspective. If it falls a bit short on the emotional connectivity scale, that’s likely due to the true story of Lenny and Felicia. The cinematography from Matthew Libatique is gorgeous (both black & white and color), and the costumes from two-time Oscar winner Mark Bridges and prosthetics/makeup by two-time Oscar winner Kazu Hiro add to the smooth transitions from era to era. Rather than a traditional biopic, this is more a relationship story – one between an egotistical, absurdly talented man-child, and the loyal, selfless woman who allowed him to shine, even as she stood frustrated in shadow.

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Posted by David Ferguson

POOR THINGS (2023)

December 6, 2023

Greetings again from the darkness. Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos is possibly the most divisive director working today. Movie goers tend to either love his films like THE FAVOURITE (2018), THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER (2017), THE LOBSTER (2015), and DOGTOOTH (2009) or walk away baffled that any decent human being could enjoy such dark works of strangeness and oddity. Despite this, two of his films have received Oscar nominations, and this latest may be both his most accessible and most outrageous project yet. It’s also a rare outing where Lanthimos left the writing to others. His co-writer on THE FAVOURITE, Tony McNamara (“The Great”) has adapted the screenplay from the 1992 novel by renowned Scottish writer Alasdair Gray, whose tome was influenced by Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”.

Oscar winner Emma Stone delivers a truly remarkable (and physically demanding) performance as Bella Baxter. When we first meet Bella, she has the mind and coordination of a toddler in an adult woman’s body … the product of Dr. Godwin Baxter (you can call me God), played by Willem Dafoe. God is a surgeon-slash-mad scientist, his own scarred body the result of experiments conducted by his father. God is both doctor and monster. Although various animal blends (ducks, chickens, dogs, etc) roam the premises, it is Bella who is clearly God’s most treasured production. Her reanimation process and backstory are spelled out in the movie.

Bella develops daily, and when Godwin’s lawyer, Duncan Wedderbum (Mark Ruffalo) shows up to take care of some business, he is intrigued by Bella and offers to take her on an adventure … one that ultimately spans Lisbon to Paris, and a luxury cruise ship to a brothel. Duncan and Bella engage in “furious jumping” (her phrase for sex) and soon her libido is quite advanced, and her river of independence flows freely, turning Duncan into a whiny buffoon. This story, Bella’s story, is really about a woman finding her own way in a world where men try to control/manager her. It’s fascinating to see her hyper curiosity about the world and her surroundings. On top of that, Bella is often quite direct and unfiltered in her statements.

The humor here is frequent and unconventional as evidenced by Bella being described as “a beautiful retard”, and the stream of deadpan one-liners. Still, the message comes across loudly and clearly as we marvel at Bella and Emma Stone’s performance. I hesitate to use the word fearless (unless it’s Tom Cruise) since it’s just acting, but the word applies to Ms. Stone here. Supporting work comes from Christopher Abbott, Margaret Qualley, Ramy Yussef, Jarrod Carmichael, Hannah Schygulla, and Kathryn Hunter, while Mark Ruffalo revels in flashing his comedic chops.

Cinematographer Robbie Ryan interjects black and white for effect and makes good use of the fish-eye lens. Production Designers James Price and Shona Heath get creative with set pieces, especially the cruise ship and brothel, and Costume Designer Holly Waddington nearly steals the spotlight with Bella’s outfits, which are always a bit exaggerated. The music adds a specific element and works quite well, and there is a truly awesome dance scene. Yorgos Lanthimos again earns the title Master of Strangeness with this outlandish film with bits from Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, and Young Frankenstein (a common thread). The film is somehow both extremely funny and severely disturbing, and is an example of good people trying to come to grips with the realization that people often do bad things. My only complaint is the film features what are possibly the worst closing credits ever.

Opening in theaters on December 8, 2023

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4 Comments | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by David Ferguson

THE BOY AND THE HERON (2023, Japan, animation)

December 6, 2023

Greetings again from the darkness. Fast approaching his 83rd birthday, legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki claims this is the final film of his illustrious career. In 2015, he was presented with an honorary Oscar, and he has had three films nominated for Best Animated Feature: THE WIND RISES (2013), HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE (2005), and Oscar winner SPIRITED AWAY (2002). His career in animation dates back to the early 1960’s and this latest, which took six-plus years to complete, proves he is still amongst the best.

A young boy’s mother dies in a hospital fire during WWII. Mahito arrives to witness her become part of the flames – the first example of Miyazaki’s method of creating occurrences that are outside the norm. Many of his films include childhood trauma, and a few years after the fire, Mahito and his father move to a new home where his mother’s younger sister, Nutsuko, is to become his stepmother, while expecting a new child. Dad’s factory, which produces fighter jet parts, is booming during the war, and Mahito rebels a bit due to grief and all the changes … and has no appreciation for the titular gray Heron that’s obsessed with him.

A mystical tower on the grounds leads Mahito to an alternate world delicately balanced between the living and the dead. The intrusive Heron follows him, seemingly offering bad advice at most every step. On this journey, Mahito meets Kiriko, a great adventurer who takes him under her wing as he crosses paths with large hungry parakeets who sharpen their giant knives, and the Warawara, who are funny little creatures headed to life in another dimension – at least those that escape the pelicans. We understand who Kiriko represents, but it takes Mahito a while to catch on.

Spirit animals and mysticism follow Mahito along the way, and the themes of life and death are mixed in throughout. Miyazaki offers a world teetering and with an uncertain future. The stories are inspired by his own life and the 1937 childhood book, “How Do You Live?” by Genzaburo Yoshino. Miyazaki co-founded Studio Ghibli, and he remains a true artist with his stunning and beautiful hand-drawn animation blended into a multi-faceted story. We learn Mahito means “sincere one”, and his lesson here is that life is worth living and fighting through.

Opening in theaters December 8, 2023

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2 Comments | Animation, Fantasy, World Cinema/Foreign | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by David Ferguson

CONCRETE UTOPIA (2023, S Korea)

December 6, 2023

Greetings again from the darkness. Dropping ordinary people into extraordinary circumstances is sure to generate some interesting cinematic results, and that’s what writer-director Tae-Hwa Eom and co-writer Lee Shin-ji do in South Korea’s official submission to this year’s Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. The film opens with a devastatingly powerful earthquake in 2020 Seoul.

When the dust settles, the Hwang Gung Apartment building is still standing. This is in stark contrast to the surrounding rubble as far as the eye can see. The city lies in ruins, at least in this section of the heart of town. Initially things go as you’d hope with neighbors helping neighbors and families re-grouping and embracing. However, with temperatures dropping and other shelter impossible to find, the residents of the Hwang Gung Apartments become concerned about the influx of ‘outsiders’. As everyone becomes anxious about resources and supplies, the building residents begin to organize, and have soon voted to evict the outsiders, while naming one man, Yeong-tak (Lee Byung-hun) as the Delegate (leader) of their cause. This, after he is seen courageously sacrificing his own safety to put out a fire in an apartment.

The initial neighborly courtesies transition to self-preservation and protection of family. Much of the story focuses on one young couple, Min-sung (Park Seo-jun) and his wife, altruistic nurse Myung-hwa (Park Bo-young), who shows concern about human nature exposing the dark side for many of the fellow tenants. The apocalyptic or dystopian environment brings out the worst of many who seem unwilling to consider the proverbial ‘shoe on the other foot’. The residents organize into factions: anti-crime, rations, medical, maintenance, and waste management. The organization provides not just a way to occupy minds and keep residents alive, but also an ‘us against them’ mentality.

When Hye-won (Park Ji-hu), a Hwang Gung resident who was not there when the quake hit, makes her way back home, the tone shifts and the organization is exposed. She brings information about the Delegate, implying that he may not be the hero they presume him to be. This segment brings some flashbacks to just before the quake hit, allowing context that helps us understand more. Her arrival makes the third act even more emotional and frantic.

The politics of South Korea living spaces is touched upon in the opening, but director Eom is much more focused on exploring human nature … those ordinary folks in an extraordinary situation. Desperation leads to irrational thought and survival mode overrides all logic. Normal people become more militant, more unforgiving, and less charitable. What the apartment residents did not consider is that those “outsiders” (or “roaches”, as they are called) become even more desperate and their aggressiveness is certain to rise along with their will to survive.

Those living in South Korea will surely have an appreciation for the political aspects of the film, and everyone will recognize the warning signs of human nature when things go sideways – as they seem to quite frequently these days. Whether it’s political commentary or a precautionary tale, filmmaker Eom makes the points effectively.

Opening in NYC and LA on December 8, 2023 and nationwide on December 15, 2023

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2 Comments | Thriller, World Cinema/Foreign | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by David Ferguson

PAST LIVES (2023)

December 5, 2023

Greetings again from the darkness. Circumstances being what they can be, I missed a couple of chances to see this one earlier in the year and have just recently been able to catch up. And such a treat it is. The first feature film from South Korean writer-director Celine Song is certainly one of the best movies of the year … and with a budget hundreds of millions below some of this year’s blockbusters.

Korean school kids Na Young (Moon Seung-ah) and Hae Sung (Leem Seung-min) are besties whose close friendship abruptly ends when Na Young emigrates to Canada with her parents. Twelve years pass with no communication between the two. Na Young, now going by Nora, moves to New York City to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a playwright. Hae Sung remains in Korea, takes a break from his engineering education to serve a stint in the military, before finishing up his studies. On a whim, Nora tracks down Hae Sung’s social media account, and it’s not long before the two have a Skype call and reminisce about their once strong bond, while also discussing how time has moved on.

Greta Lee (“The Morning Show”) plays adult Nora, while Teo Yoo is the grown Hae Sung. Twelve more years pass as Nora establishes herself as a NYC playwright and marries Arthur (John Magaro), while Hae Sung takes on a job in Korea. When Hae Sung decides to visit Nora in New York, he’s clearly hoping to rekindle the childhood bond. In many romantic movies, this reunion would end with the two lovers recapturing each other’s hearts, yet director Song ensures these characters stay grounded in reality, even as destiny and fate (described here as In-Yun) play a role.

The opening scene in a local bar bookends the film, and along the way, we are taught, “If you leave something behind, you gain something too.” There is a terrific pillow talk scene, and in fact, the dialogue throughout remains true to each character. This is a film about adulting, not fantasy, though the latter can have appeal at times. No matter how strong reality is, it never precludes us from wondering “what if?” … even if a sure sign of maturity is making decisions that keep us committed to our cause. This is a terrific film with characters whose story is remarkably relatable to just about any moviegoer.

Available on VOD

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Posted by David Ferguson

DREAM SCENARIO (2023)

November 30, 2023

Greetings again from the darkness. David Bowie’s 1975 song “Fame” has a line, “Fame … what you get is no tomorrow”, and that stuck with me during the second half of this terrific and wild film from Norwegian writer-director Kristoffer Borgli (SICK OF MYSELF, 2022). Borgli not only tackles the issue of sudden fame and the weight that goes with it, but he also comments on ego and today’s cancel culture. Subtext runs throughout a film that feels descended from the mind of Charlie Kaufman and/or Spike Jonze.

Oscar winner Nicolas Cage is perfectly cast as Paul Matthews, a bland Evolutionary Biology professor, living a satisfactory life with his wife Janet (the always strong Julianne Nicholson) and their two daughters Sophie (Lily Bird) and Hannah (Jessica Clement). As for his career, Paul, always dressed in a sweater and green jacket, is frumpy and awkward and an undistinguished faculty member who speaks frequently of writing a book, though he never actually writes anything.

Things change quickly for Paul as he begins showing up in people’s dreams. As in his life, Dream-Paul doesn’t do much other than ‘be there’, but as the number of people who experience this grows exponentially, Paul becomes a celebrity … leading to the publicity machine we’ve witnessed many times in real life. Basically, Paul goes viral. Cage masters the delivery of this line: “Have you been dreaming about me?”, and it’s the point where we recognize he is delivering an outstanding performance. When do-nothing dream-Paul turns aggressive and violent in folk’s dreams (now nightmares), his experience shifts dramatically. Cancel culture kicks in and Paul becomes an outcast or pariah. Filmmaker Borgli could draw from numerous real-life situations where teachers have been dismissed for absurd reasons … OK, maybe not as absurd as actions in a dream, yet the concept is the same.

Borgli was surely inspired by Spike Jonze’s excellent ADAPTATION (2002), which featured Nic Cage in a dual role (as Kaufman and his fictional brother). Although this isn’t technically a dual role, Cage certainly gets to carve a wide swath through the film and through dreams … and he appears to be having a great time doing so. Supporting work is provided by Dylan Baker, Tim Meadows, Dylan Gelula, and Kate Berlant. Michael Cera has a humorous sequence as a PR agent at a marketing firm that is trying to cash in on Paul’s newfound fame as a “dream influencer”. We even see capitalism at work in a further attempt to create an industry out of this flukey situation.

The brilliance of the film stems from Borgli presenting this as an entertaining comedy-horror film with ‘everyman’ Paul at the center. It’s a clever idea that is not-so-subtle in its willingness to show us how easily cancel culture can spin out of control and how monetizing our addiction to attention can go wrong. One specific thing that I admired in Borgli’s approach was how he made Paul a normal guy, and yet, he’s one of those who always believes someone has wronged him or stolen his work – despite the fact that he never actually produces any work or takes his own risk. There is so much to like about this film, not the least of which is one of Nicolas Cage’s best ever performances (even in David Byrne’s oversized suit).

Opens in theaters on December 1, 2023

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Posted by David Ferguson

FALLEN LEAVES (2023, Finland)

November 30, 2023

Greetings again from the darkness. Finland is often listed as the country having the happiest people, and this latest from writer-director Aki Kaurismaki (Oscar nominated THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST, 2002) arrives to make sure we never again believe this. It’s not that the film is oppressively sad, but it does focus on loneliness … especially that of the two main characters.

These two leads are Alma Poysti as Ansa and Jussi Vatanen as Holappa. The timeline of their relationship goes something like this: They notice each other on karaoke night at the local tavern, but they don’t speak to each other. They cross paths at a bus stop, again not speaking. When they finally do meet, they go for coffee and a movie (Jim Jarmusch’s zombie flick, THE DEAD DON’T DIE). He then loses her phone number. They almost meet a couple of times outside the cinema (where a Bardot poster is displayed), but just miss each other. When they do meet again, they part ways over a ‘deal-breaker’. She adopts a stray dog she initially names “dog”. When they meet again, they don’t speak.

Some may call this progression dry, but with filmmaker Kaurismaki at the helm, a better description is wry. Ansa expertly sports a forlorn look most of the time. The only exception is when she flashes subtle signs of hopefulness when she looks at Holappa. On the other hand, he spends most every day and evening guzzling from a glass, a bottle, or a flask … a habit that costs him various jobs. His circular reasoning is explained as: “I’m depressed because I drink and I drink because I’m depressed.”  Adding to the tone are reports of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine every time Ansa clicks on her kitchen radio.

Ansa has a friend named Tanya (Alina Tomnikov) and Holappa has a buddy named Huotari (Janne Hyytiainen). He is attracted to her and she admires his singing voice, yet deems him too old to date. These two characters could have been expanded, but Kaurismaki is so efficient at storytelling that the film barely lasts 80 minutes. Static shots and wordless exchanges fill much of the time, each scene with a definitive purpose that we fully understand. Personally, I’ve rarely been so filled with hope as watching Ansa purchase a single plate and corresponding utensils.

The film is spartan and quiet, yet the deadpan characters feel real and fully developed despite minimal dialogue. There is certainly a message about alcoholism and how outside forces can have such an impact, and yet the film seizes on Ansa’s hope for a better day. Kaurismaki’s film won a Jury Prize at Cannes, and is Finland’s submission for Best International Feature Film. For those who thrive on intimate cinema, it’s a gem … and for those who doubt that “happiest country” label for Finland, you now have your supporting documentation.

Opened in NYC and Los Angeles on November 22, 2023, other cities to follow

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2 Comments | Comedy, Drama, World Cinema/Foreign | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by David Ferguson

BILLION DOLLAR BABIES: THE TRUE STORY OF THE CABBAGE PATCH KIDS (2023, doc)

November 22, 2023

Greetings again from the darkness. While in protective mode attempting to avoid being trampled during Black Friday shopping, you may wonder how the frenzy all started. Well, documentarian Andrew Jenks is happy to inform you that it dates back to 1983 when the first battles in the retail aisles were over an odd-looking doll (only don’t call them dolls) called Cabbage Patch Kids. To get us in the mood for shopping combat, the film opens by blasting Alice Cooper’s 1973 hit, “Billion Dollar Babies”.

Neil Patrick Harris narrates as the history of the Cabbage Patch Kids is tracked. I’ll admit to expecting a ‘cute documentary’ on the popular toys-babies-kids (anything but dolls), and while the cuteness is discussed, what we really get is yet another lesson in cut-throat business practices. Xavier Roberts is the one who manufactured the CPK and signed the licensing rights to Roger Schlaifer, who in turn sold the marketing rights to Coleco’s executive, Al Kahn. To understand the era, one must know that this was the front end of the 1980’s consumerism spike, as well as new advertising rules from the FCC, which permitted direct-to-kids ads. All of these fell into place to create the demand for the one-of-a-kind CPK.

But were they really one-of-a-kind? The second half of the film details the multi-year legal battle of Martha Nelson Thomas, who had been selling her ‘doll babies’ in the craft shop managed by Xavier Roberts. Her handmade babies looked almost identical to his, and even came with adoption papers that became so vital to the CPK marketing efforts. We hear from her attorney and her two adult kids, as Ms. Thomas has since passed away. The lawyer explains the case and how they attempted to have Xavier Roberts held accountable for his ‘theft’.

To his credit, Mr. Roberts gives his first interview in 20+ years, and is joined by Della Tolhurst, the former President of his company. Roberts explains how he was inspired by Walt Disney, and we tour his Babyland in Georgia, which provided an all-encompassing background story for the Cabbage Patch Kids and an experience for his customers. Whether you fall on the side of Xavier Roberts or the side of Martha Nelson Thomas, the courts affirmed his rights to the CPK empire.

Journalist Connie Chung offers her recollection of the frenzy, and we hear from the Proseys, a couple of collectors who once owned more than 6000 Cabbage Patch Kids. They explain how the re-sell market for the kids was bonkers, and parents just had to have these for their kid’s Christmas. So, beyond the shady business practice, there is the whole Black Friday frenzy. Sure it started with Cabbage Patch Kids and rude people yanking packages right from the hands of kids, but did we learn our lesson? Evidence suggests it’s only gotten worse over the years thanks to items like Beanie Babies, Tickle Me Elmo, American Girls dolls, and others. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder for CPK, but our society tends to wash, rinse, repeat.

Coming to theaters beginning November 24, 2023

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1 Comment | Documentary | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by David Ferguson

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