Greetings again from the darkness. We’ve seen just about every kind of con on the big screen. Heck, we’ve even seen a wide variety of cons play out in real life through politicians and corporate types. The fictional cons provide some entertainment value, as we get to use our sleuthing and deductive skills in an attempt to figure out what’s happening before it actually does. Solving the mystery is often one of the fun pleasures of cinema; however, sometimes, the filmmaker manages to weave such a tangled web that we are better off just sitting back and letting things unfold.
Director Benjamin Caron is known mostly for his TV work on shows like “The Crown” and “Andor”, and here he is working from a script by frequent comedy collaborators Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka (the writing team behind THE SITTER, 2011, and “Animal Practice”). The film serves as a departure from the norm for all three, and it opens with a definition of the film’s title used as a noun: “one who lives by their wits.” And while there may be very little comical wit on display here, there is plenty of intellectual wit and strategy used by all of the characters. Even the chapters are divided into the character names so that we see things develop through their perspective. It really feels like we are assembling an ever-evolving jigsaw puzzle as the shape of pieces shift in our hand.
Tom (Justice Smith, JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM, 2018) runs a bookstore in the city and seems to be a really nice guy. We first see him reading Poe, and he stops when the lovely Sandra (Brianna Middleton, THE TENDER BAR, 2021) steps into the store in search of a specific book for her PhD studies. The two hit it off, and this relationship becomes the foundation of the film, even though we rarely see the two together. Max (Sebastian Stan who plays Bucky Barnes in the Avengers movies) is our next chapter. He’s a slick conman who also plays a vital role in the elusive jigsaw puzzle being worked. Mr. Stan proved he could play a creepy dude in last year’s FRESH, and his best work here comes in scenes with Oscar winner Julianne Moore (STILL ALICE, 2014), whose name, Madeline, graces the next chapter. She’s in a relationship with a billionaire (John Lithgow) whose health is fading, and who has a tie to another character in this roster of tricksters.
Who is playing whom? Everyone can’t be the smartest person in the room, right? We are told you can’t cheat an honest man, but I’m not sure if the phrase is incorrect or if there are just no honest people. One thing for sure, in this movie, there are multiple webs of deceit overlapping each other, and the challenge is for viewers to make sense of all the swindling. It’s not really double-crossing when you lose count of how many crosses there have been. For psychological misdirection, it’s tough to beat David Mamet’s 1987 HOUSE OF GAMES. In 1990, THE GRIFTERS was a fun one for small time con artists, but more recently, the two NOW YOU SEE ME movies are just pretending to play in this pool, as they are missing the cleverness required. Director Caron’s film may waver a bit in the final act, and perhaps doesn’t quite earn the ending (a good one that takes us back to THE USUAL SUSPECTS). It seems most will be entertained by the shenanigans of these characters, and these days, that’s a win.
Opens in theaters on February 10, 2023 and then moves to AppleTV+ on February 17
Posted by David Ferguson 
Greetings again from the darkness. As consistently as January brings horror films, we can count on February to deliver Romantic Comedies released around Valentine’s Day. Although, these days, even rom-coms tend to arrive carrying the weight of social messaging wrapped in inclusion, with a concerted effort to avoid ruffling feathers and hurting feelings. The husband and wife writing team of Dave Franco and Alison Brie, with Franco directing and Brie in a lead role, have managed to play by the new rules and still deliver a watchable film – albeit one that I found more sad than comedic.
Greetings again from the darkness. Horror films and religion are a match made in heaven … so to speak. The linking of demonic possession and religious artifacts pre-dates cinema, and yet has long been a key element on the big screen. The effect of the cross on Dracula is one example, and of course, the priest visiting young Regan in THE EXORCIST is one for the ages. So many other examples exist that entire books have been written on the topic. It’s because of this history that we quickly accept the setting and groundwork of this latest from writer-director Christopher Smith (TRIANGLE, 2009) and co-writer Laurie Cook.
Yes, I finally got around to compiling my best of 2022, and you can find the page at this link:
Greetings again from the darkness. That uneasy feeling will likely never fade for me … the anxiety when one of the classic movies of yesteryear gets a remake from a contemporary filmmaker with their own vision. Sometimes the new version is a respected tribute to the original, while other times, the director believes they can improve on the classic. In this case, director Oliver Hermanus and screenwriter Kazuo Ishiguro (THE REMAINS OF THE DAY, 1993) clearly have love for Akira Kurosawa’s IKIRU (1952), one of the true classics of cinema. Moving the setting from Japan to 1953 England proves an easy transition thanks to a remarkable lead performance.
Greetings again from the darkness. There are two reasons I was excited to see Paul Mescal nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in this film. First, he deserved it. Secondly, it offers hope that more people will seek out this terrific, albeit heartbreaking, debut feature film from writer-director Charlotte Wells.
Greetings again from the darkness. Coming of age stories are immensely popular in literature and cinema. And why not? We all go through the stages (some more effectively than others). Writer-director Lukas Dhont is no stranger to backlash and criticism after his 2018 feature film debut, GIRL, and the approach he took on transgender issues. This time the topic is different, yet his approach still opens him up to additional criticism. However, if the viewer isn’t on a quest for controversy, this story from Dhont and co-writer Angelo Tissens is quite touching.
Greetings again from the darkness. When watching and reviewing films, I strive to be objective and observant, while putting some thought into what the creator(s) hoped to achieve with the project. However, this is my upfront disclosure that it’s January 2023 and I seem to have had my fill of ‘Pandemic movies.’
Greetings again from the darkness. Writer-director Florian Zeller floored me a couple of years ago with his film, THE FATHER (2021). Adapted from Zeller’s own play by screenwriter Christopher Hampton (DANGEROUS LIAISONS, 1988), the film starred Anthony Hopkins who gave a searing performance that provided painful insight into what living with dementia must be like – both for the sufferer and for loved ones. Zeller, Hampton, and Hopkins all won Oscars for that film, and they return for this follow-up … a film that doesn’t hold a candle to its predecessor, despite begging us to think otherwise.
Greetings again from the darkness. There are multiple ways one can interpret the first feature film from writer-director Aleem Khan; however for me, this worked best as a study of identity – how we define ourselves and our life. It’s an unusual start to a story. A woman is going about her normal kitchen duties, preparing tea for her husband who is relaxing in the other room after an event. Before the opening credits roll, the man suddenly and unexpectedly passes away. This sends the wife into grief and shock … although an even bigger shock awaits her.
Movie Reviews from the Dark 