In 2021, excellent films were few and far between. Here are four mini-movie reviews.
Spencer — Kristin Stewart is amazing as Princess Diana in an otherwise laborious, stuffy, and excessively solemn movie. It is full of details which I did not need or want to know. This is not a biopic; the action is concentrated over three tortuous days leading up to Diana’s momentous decision. The Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth roles are dreadful. Watch it in its entirely only if the affairs of the British royal family fascinates you. Short of that, catch trailers, previews, and tidbits.
June Again — an Australian flick with one of the most predictable plots you’ll ever encounter. A woman suffering from dementia has a remission and suddenly becomes completely lucid. She sneaks out of her care facility, returns to her old neighborhood, catches up with her children and friends, revisits her business, and then, you know what’s coming. Easily skippable.
Belfast — a childhood memoir by writer/producer Kenneth Branagh that reveals the experiences of one family and one little boy in particular. Helps us to understand the vagaries and difficulties of living in Belfast in 1969. The story works, we are drawn in. Not a must-see movie, but certainly worthwhile.
The Tragedy of Macbeth — the release of this movie is a tragedy. You have to suspend disbelief considerably to accept the overweight, Denzel Washington, age 67, as an up-in-coming Scottish lord, and Francis McDormand, age 64, as the bold, conniving Lady Macbeth. This black and white film, a rather funky version, cold and ponderous, shot in a surreal setting, might intermittently capture your attention but the dialogue comes off as a simple reciting of lines.
As opposed to the characters connecting with one another, they’re simply phoning it in. If you want to see how Macbeth ought to be acted, look for the 2015 version with Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard.
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