If you want to witness an exercise in hopelessness, take a gander at “Crisis,” an early frontrunner for 2021’s Feel-Bad Movie of the Year. A strong cast (Armie Hammer, Evangeline Lilly, Greg Kinnear, Gary Oldman) examines the opioid issue from multiple angles – junkies, overdosers, recoverers, dealers, law enforcement, researchers and Big Pharma. It’s not pretty. There’s suspense, however, as you see various storylines careening toward each other and you’re trying to guess which ones are going to make it to the intersection, which ones are (literally) going to die trying, and if it’s possible for anybody to get away clean.
Archives for posts with tag: Gary Oldman
The whole time I’m watching “Killers Anonymous” (2019), I’m thinking, surely this is based on a comic book series and creepy, twentynothing fanboys are reveling in all this dialog that is passing over my head like so many poorly aimed knives and bullets. Alas, this film comes by its obtuseness honestly, another concept and actor (Gary Oldman is some kind of spy handler who maintains a network of killers through self-help groups) gone to waste for no good reason. No good reason to watch this film, either, unless you like occasional graphic violence and a bunch of group therapy chatter.
Remember when we used to debate who was the better Batman? Clooney? Keaton? Ummm, Kilmer? And then, in 2005, came the Dark Knight trilogy, with “Batman Begins.” Bankable, big-name stars can make for good box office, but it’s the story that makes for a great movie. When Christopher Nolan rebooted the Caped Crusader, he made the story less like the cartoonish 1960s TV series and more like the brooding comic books. And he surrounded a relative B-lister, Christian Bale, with stellar cast of character actors. Because if the story’s good enough, Batman is the only bankable big name you need.
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