Choosing a February film is like walking in a cow pasture: Watch where you step.
Oscar nominated and winning films finally get mainstream release but bad ones sneak into the market with flashy trailers that outperform the finished product. Others slip into town without advance notice. You can pick a stinker this time of year if you aren’t careful–something bad like Kingsman or 50 Shades–so caveat emptor (buyer beware) when you buy a ticket.
I use a 5-finger (high-five) rating system where 5 is outstanding, 4 very good and worth seeing, 3 is mediocre, with 2 not worth paying to see. Since decency prevents a one-finger rating, a truly bad film scores a zero — the Dreaded Fist of Badness. We have two this month that barely escaped the Fist and made it to two but two others that are fantastic.
Feel free to share you thoughts. Everyone’s opinion matters equally, which is one the joys of film.
Here are my 8 one-sentence reviews for February:
Still Alice – 3 fingers. Always fearless Julianne Moore earned an Oscar as much for her titanic body of work as for her gripping performance in this disturbing drama about a respected intellect who is prematurely stricken with Alzheimers and forced to deal with a swift, harsh, and dramatic decline.
Two Days, One Night – 5 fingers. Marion Cotillard is extraordinary in this beautifully made French drama about a blue-collar worker whose job is threatened by a snake of a boss who teases her co-workers with a bonus if they vote to eliminate her position.
Kingsman: The Secret Service – 2 fingers. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a film with such a huge contrast between a very good first half and grimacingly bad back half but this comedic take on British spy films pulls that off and falls off a cliff—despite some fine work by titans Colin Firth and Michael Caine.
Son of A Gun – 3 fingers. An entertaining Aussie crime thriller, Ewan McGregor stars as a fabled convict who breaks out of jail with a young thug and is forced to deal with the kid while trying to score millions in a daring gold heist, and benefits from an excellent supporting performance by Alicia Vikander as Tasha, the young thug’s girlfriend.
Paddington – 5 fingers. This clean, wonderful, laugh-out-loud family film about a talking bear cub that sneaks out of Peru and ends up in London is a treasure that will entertain people around the world for decades.
50 Shades of Grey – 2 fingers, but just barely. Salmon spawning is more titillating, seventh grade classrooms have better chemistry, and Dakota Johnson should keep her clothes on.
Leviathan – 3 fingers. This grim Russian drama about a blue-collar drunkard’s fight to save his ramshackle rural home showcases defeatism, corruption, and alcoholism while viscerally capturing the essence of a have-not’s Putin-era reality.
Hollywood Map of the Stars – 2 fingers. Crass, ugly, mean-spirited, vile, and vulgar, this slam on Hollywood vanity and schizophrenia is tough to watch, despite another great effort by fearless superstar Julianne Moore.
February was a short month and March gives us 10 percent more days, so today is great for a double-feature. Support your favorite filmmakers and actors, as well as arthouses and indy. Film can take you around the world or beyond the planet in just a couple hours. Enjoy the ride.