ECHO VALLEY (2025)

June 13, 2025

Greetings again from the darkness. We should all be so fortunate to have a friend as loyal as Leslie, and we should strive to be wiser than Kate so that we don’t ever have the need to test that friend’s loyalty. Director Michael Pearce (ENCOUNTER, 2021) is working with a script from screenwriter Brad Ingelsby (the excellent “Mare of Easttown”, OUT OF THE FURNACE, 2018), and a superb cast to deliver a thriller that offers both familiar territory and twists and turns in a film that is ultimately relatively entertaining to watch.

The film opens with a stunning overhead shot of a lifeless body floating in the middle of a tree-lined lake. We don’t know who it is or the story of how it got there. Oscar winner Julianne Moore plays Kate, still in a grieving funk nine months after a tragic accident killed her wife Patty (Kristina Valada-Viars, “Chicago Med”), who is seen only in flashbacks and heard on saved voicemails. Kate manages to crawl from bed each morning and do just enough to keep her horses alive on the farm where her business is giving riding lessons. Since she’s cancelled most of those lessons, she must grovel to her ex-husband (Kyle MacLachlan) so she can fix the sagging roof on her barn. The two argue about money, her state of mind, and their daughter … whom dad describes as “sick”.

It doesn’t take long for us to understand how all the pieces of their argument fit together because daughter Claire (Sydney Sweeney, “The White Lotus”, “Euphoria”) shows up at the farm, and we learn that her mother Kate is the ultimate example of an enabler. Claire has a long-standing drug problem as well as the corresponding mental issues. She knows her mother can be manipulated into doing just about anything for her. It doesn’t take long for a couple of other players to enter. Ryan (Edmund Duncan) is Claire’s drug-addled boyfriend, and Jackie (the ubiquitous Domhnall Gleeson) is their compelling drug dealer … one who is out about ten grand due to the idiocy of Claire and Ryan.

Once the dynamics are in place, the twists and turns begin – none of which will be detailed here. You should know that it’s all pretty suspenseful provided you are able to overlook a bit of creative stretching from a storytelling perspective. Fiona Shaw plays Kate’s bestie Leslie (as mentioned in the opening paragraph), and what comes across clearly here is that this group of actors definitely elevate the material to the point where we actually care what happens to Kate, Claire, and Leslie. Ms. Moore excels in her grief, in her role as (overly) dedicated mother, and as a shrewd independent. Ms. Sweeney goes against her usual glam role and flashes some pretty impressive emotional range, while Mr. Gleeson nails the opportunistic drug dealer. It’s kind of hard not to notice that the males in the story are all various shades of scumbags, save for the detective near the end.

Cinematographer Benjamin Kracun (PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, 2020) manages to capture both the beauty of the setting and the intensity and emotion of the personal interactions. Composer Jed Kurzel (SLOW WEST, 2015; THE BABDOOK, 2014) takes a unique approach to the score, preventing it from sounding like most suspense films. It seems probable that Mr. Ingelsby writing and Mr. Pearce’s directing would have been better served in a limited series … although this outstanding cast might not have happened. I found the film’s ending somewhat less than satisfying, yet overall the entertainment value was fine.

The film will premiere globally on AppleTV+ on June 13, 2025

WATCH THE TRAILER

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Posted by David Ferguson

THE WAY BACK (2020)

March 5, 2020

 Greetings again from the darkness. So much beer and booze. It would be easy to classify this latest from writer-director Gavin O’Connor as a sports movie. After all, he has given us two excellent ones in MIRACLE (2004) and WARRIOR (2011). However, as with those two films, there is much more going on here. This is about grief and addiction, and the difficulties in mending a life in tatters.

Jack Cunningham likes his morning shower. It helps get him prepared for a day of construction work and get over a late night of drinking. What’s unusual about his morning routine is that he drinks a beer while taking his morning shower, and then fills his Yeti with gin as he takes his post at the building site. Jack is played by Ben Affleck, who has returned to the screen with a serious acting gig after his fling as Batman. Of course, anyone who even casually keeps up with Hollywood gossip knows Mr. Affleck and his character here have in common a drinking problem. In fact, the actor filmed this immediately after his latest rehab stint. It’s quite possible that the collision of real life and fiction explain why this is Affleck’s best performance in many years (at least since HOLLYWOODLAND in 2006). He re-teams here with O’Connor, who directed him in THE ACCOUNTANT (2016).

As a former high school basketball star, Jack’s life has turned out much differently than expected. His construction job is beating him down, alcohol abuse is slowly destroying him, and he recently split with his wife Angela (Janina Gavankar) after a tragedy. Has he hit rock bottom? It’s likely he thinks so. As happens so often in life, an opportunity presents itself. The head Priest at his former catholic high school asks him to step in as basketball coach after the current coach has a heart attack. The team is terrible, and has been that way since Jack graduated 25 years ago. After a painful-to-watch evening of decision-making, Jack accepts the job.

As you would expect, it’s a team of misfits who have little concept of teamwork. Affleck excels as a coach who evaluates the talent he has and devises a strategy to not only improve individual player performance, but also inject the philosophies of teamwork and cohesion and commitment. He does this with the help of Algebra teacher slash Assistant Coach Dan (Al Madrigal, “I’m Dying Up Here”), who appreciates what Jack brings to the position, but is also protective of the boys and the school mission.

Jack manages to stay sober while coaching, but we see how fine that line is for an addict. Life suddenly rears up and plops down an emotional situation that is simply too much form him to handle. It’s here when we realize that while it appeared coaching the team gave Jack a glimmer of hope for a better life, it also allowed him to ignore the personal issues and relationships that had driven him to the bottle. The basketball scenes are the most fun to watch, but it’s the realistic life elements that elevate the story. It’s excruciating to watch Jack re-telling glory days stories to his ‘buddies’ at the local neighborhood bar, only to be helped home by the same old man who used to carry his father home from the same bar. The perpetuation of misery is a story that is all too relatable for many.

Jack’s good qualities are evident when he’s prodding ultra-quiet point guard Brandon (Brandon Wilson) into taking on a leadership role and thinking of his future, but that’s contrasted with his inconsiderate treatment of his sister Beth (Michaela Watkins) and Father Mark (Jeremy Radin), the team/school Chaplain. It’s the two sides of Jack that so clearly resonate with those who have experienced addiction. This is a guy who botched his college/basketball opportunity, but managed to build a new life, only to have it snatched away in the cruelest way possible. It’s imperative that he come to grips with all of that in some place other than the bottom of a beer mug.

The outstanding screenplay comes from Brad Ingelsby (OUT OF THE FURNACE, 2013), and with director O’Connor and the cast, the film has a throwback to the 70’s feel … gritty and realistic. This is not the smirking, strutting stud we are accustomed to seeing with Affleck. He seems immersed in the role and brings an understanding to the struggles, the rehab, and the importance of a support system. Redemption played a huge part in the classic HOOSIERS (1986) and most every other rag-tag sports team in movies, and THE WAY BACK shows us there really is no going back … instead, we must deal with life in order to move on.

watch the trailer:

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Posted by David Ferguson