Skip to main content

Rapid Reviews: Arrival and The Edge of Seventeen





Denis Villeneuve has rapidly emerged as one of Hollywood's most notable filmmakers. Elevating his craft from the ranks of indie filmmaking to mainstream motion pictures, Villeneuve's most recent works include Prisoners and Sicario. This year, however, the director is angling for a clever and artistic entry with his newest endeavor, Arrival, in hopes of capturing some awards season glamour.

Five-time Academy Award Nominee Amy Adams (now, let that sink in for a bit) stars as Louise, a linguistics expert summoned by the United States Military following the arrival of unidentified spacecrafts across 12 different areas of the world. Tasked with making contact and learning the intentions of these aliens, Louise and mathematician Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) try to unlock the secrets of their foreign language before a global catastrophe unravels.

Make no mistake about it, Arrival represents an artsy and cerebral effort merely using its sci-fi backdrop as a portal to its mind-bending story. Eric Heisserer's adapted screenplay delivers second level thinking that highlights a beautiful complexity within the framework of the plot. Yet, unlike ambiguous and open-ended tales of a similar style, Arrival reveals its entire hand well enough to allow the viewer to piece together every inch of its impressive story. Both leading lady Amy Adams and supporting star Jeremy Renner deliver fine performances, and I anticipate Adams being in line for her 6th trip to the Oscar finals.

Despite the film's exceptional cast and wonderfully original story, Arrival struggles to entertain. A sluggish opening struggles to gain momentum as the feature crawls to its powerful third act. Rather than engaging its audience with typical other worldly sci-fi elements, Villeneuve obsesses with a poetic vision that unquestionably looks amazing, yet fails to grab the general viewer's attention. There are plenty of aspects surrounding Arrival that are worth marveling at. However, just be warned that the film is more of a cerebral and tame drama piece than an upbeat sci-fi adventure.


Stars: 3 stars out of 4

Grade: B





The 25th annual Philadelphia Film Festival found a commonality among many of its Centerpieces and Spotlight selections, they featured heavy themes and darker stories. Thankfully, one of the festival's late entries, the coming-of-age comedy, The Edge of Seventeen, helped lighten the mood with its witty situational humor and strong collection of characters.

Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld) struggles to socialize with anyone at her school other than her best friend from 2nd grade, Krista (Haley Lu Richardson), and an awkward classmate named Erwin (Hayden Szeto). Yet, when Nadine finds her biggest confidant in bed with her older brother (Blake Jenner), their unlikely romantic spark leaves her friendless and unable to handle life on her own.

The Edge of Seventeen represents a refreshing coming-of-age film that's carried quite well True Grit star, Hailee Steinfeld. She creates a realistic, albeit flawed, character that resonates well with the audience. Teenage years are a time for self-loathing and expanding beyond your comfort zone, both of which are evident in Kelly Fremon Craig's winning directorial debut. A strong script comprising of raw emotion, genuine laughs and everything in between helps support a long list of stellar performances. The most notable of which comes from veteran actor Woody Harrelson who stars as Nadine's favorite teacher. Harrelson dominates the film with striking one-liners and a comedic comfort zone that we've come to appreciate over his storied career. The Edge of Seventeen isn't the most groundbreaking film of its kind, but it's a worthwhile watch that entertains with remarkable ease.


Stars: 3 stars out of 4

Grade: B

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rapid Reviews: Despicable Me 3 and The House

If there's one current animated franchise I always look forward to, it's the Despicable Me films. Credited directors Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin and Eric Guillon (co-director) bring to theaters the third installment of this series. Yet, with each subsequent journey into the hilarious and complicated life of former-super-villain Gru (voice of Steve Carell), the Despicable Me franchise seems to take a step backwards. After foiling an attempt at capturing the disgruntled former child star and 80s retro villain, Balthazar Bratt (voiced by South Park creator Trey Parker), Gru and Lucy (Kristen Wiig) are fired from the Anti-Villain League (AVL). And just as Gru breaks the unfortunate news to his trio of adopted daughters, he's visited by a man who reveals that Gru has a twin brother named Dru (also Steve Carell) who happens to possess a taste for villainy himself. The estranged siblings engage in some mischievous behavior behind Lucy's back and it leads on a path back to Bal...

The Best Amy Adams Performances

Amy Adams has become somewhat of an awards season staple with Oscar Nominations in 4 of the last 8 years. She makes a huge return in 2016 with a pair of vastly different films in the sci-fi drama, Arrival , and the mind-bending psychological thriller, Nocturnal Animals . Therefore, since Adams could be primed for another Oscar run for her role in this month's science fiction release, November's Movie List of the Month examines the finest work of her career ( October's list ). Honorable Mention:   Big Eyes , Doubt ,  Enchanted , and The Muppets #5. Junebug (2005) Phil Morrison's original indie drama, Junebug , proved to be a catalyst for Amy Adams' career. The film follows an art dealer (Embeth Davidtz) and her new husband (Alessandro Nivola) as they travel back to his home southern town where she meets his family and pregnant sister-in-law (Adams). Amy Adams knocks her southern accent out of the park and shines in her wholesome, albeit it talkative, role. The film ...

The Snowman and The Disaster Artist Trailers

From the acclaimed Best Selling Novel comes Tomas Alfredson's (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Let the Right One In) October murder-mystery, The Snowman . Michael Fassbender stars as Harry Hole, a detective determined to find a killer who taunts the police with snowmen at his crime scenes. Readers were enthralled by the novel and if the film can be anywhere near as good, then we may have the year's most gripping crime-thriller on our hands. Check out the debut trailer for The Snowman which just dropped this morning. Tommy Wiseau's 2003 indie film, The Room , has been labeled as one of the worst films ever made, but that hasn't stopped it from earning an impressive cult following. And after debuting a "work in progress" screening at this year's SXSW Film Festival, James Franco's behind-the-scenes darkly comic, albeit respectful, dramatization, The Disaster Artist , became the talk of the town. Franco's brother, Dave, and regular partner in crime, Set...