Buzz Blog

Blueback **1/2
Writer/director Robert Connolly’s drama is such a thoughtful, low-key way of approaching the idea of budding environmentalism that it’s a shame it’s not at least a little bit more dramatically engaging. Mia Wasikowska plays marine biologist Abby Jackson, who’s called away from her research to her home on the coast of Australia when she learns that her mother has had a stroke, inspiring flashback recollections of free-diving with mom (Radha Mitchell) as a child (Ariel Donoghue) and teenager (Ilsa Fogg), and befriending a huge blue grouper she names Blueback. Connolly and underwater cinematographer Rick Rifici provide lovely, serene images of the Australian reef ecosystem, conveying how the simple act of engaging with nature nurtures a love for it. But the various subplots—including villainous but anonymous real-estate developers, an eccentric fisherman (Eric Bana) and Abby’s first romance with a local boy (Pedrea Jackson)—all just kind of lie there, partly because there’s a spark of energy missing from Fogg’s performance. Even the mother/daughter reunion feels oddly blunted of its possible emotional impact through Wasikowska’s gently nostalgic thousand-yard stares. I’m grateful for a family-friendly narrative about the value of activism that doesn’t feel the need to shout stridently, but it swings too far in the other emotional direction. Available March 17 in theaters.

Bono and The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming, with Dave Letterman **
I’d love to know specifically whose idea it was to combine all the stuff we get in this movie, because someone deserves to be held accountable. In part, it’s a retrospective of the 40-plus-year creative partnership and friendship between U2’s Bono and The Edge—including commentary from longtime collaborators like producer Jimmy Iovine and photographer/filmmaker Anton Corbijn—tracing their history as teenage schoolmates through the inevitable bumps in being in a band together for so long. Also in part, it’s a showcase for the new arrangements of classic U2 songs on their new release Songs of Surrender, in a kind of MTV Unuplugged-style performance at Dublin’s Ambassador Theatre, with guest performers including Glen Hansard. And also in part, it’s a walking tour of Dublin with first-time visitor David Letterman, who finds time between sit-down interviews with Bono and The Edge to see some of the sights and clown with the locals. As talented a director as Oscar-winner Morgan Neville (Twenty Feet from Stardom, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?) might be, these pieces just don’t work together, mixing weird attempts at comic relief with one of the most unfailingly earnest superstar music acts of all time—and that’s leaving aside whether you think the reworked songs are interesting or a huge creative mistake. By the time we end with a new Bono/Edge composition inspired by and dedicated specifically to Letterman, it’s hard not to wonder if the whole thing is an elaborate put-on. Available March 17 via Disney+. (NR)

Boston Strangler **
See feature review. Available March 17 via Hulu. (R)

Inside ***
It’s kind of a brilliant concept: a “survival thriller” set not on a deserted island, derelict ship or distant planet, but in the middle of an urban cityscape. And for any such undertaking depending on a single isolated performer, it helps to have as intense a presence as Willem Dafoe. He plays an art thief named Nemo, who’s in the process of burgling a luxury apartment when the security system seals him in, with no ability to contact anyone on the outside. The screenplay by Ben Hopkins, developed from a concept by director Vasilis Katsoupis, throws a few curve balls at Nemo over several subsequent days—malfunctioning HVAC that keeps raising the temperature, water that’s been shut off, etc.—then observes as he tries to MacGyver his way out of his dilemma. There’s not much else going on, despite giving Nemo a vague backstory suggesting he himself is a thwarted would-be artist, so it falls mostly on Dafoe to fill in the gaps by providing energy to Nemo’s slow descent into maybe-madness, and a growing infatuation with a cleaning woman he sees through security cameras. Katsoupis’s direction emphasizes how this opulent space is already a kind of tomb for the super-rich who live there, and maybe it requires less than 100 minutes to make its point about creators vs. takers. It still remains surprisingly watchable in its claustrophobic tension, anchored by an actor who’s mere physical presence can be engrossing to watch. Available March 17 in theaters. (R)

Moving On **1/2
After a combined career spanning more than a century of on-screen entertainment, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin have earned the right to decide when and with whom they work. So if they only want to work with one another—as it would seem over the past several years—at least this provides a more effective showcase than 80 for Brady did. Fonda and Tomlin play Claire and Evelyn, old college friends who reunite after many years for the funeral of their mutual friend Joyce, and potentially for a bit of score-settling: Joyce’s husband Howard (Malcolm McDowell) sexually assaulted Claire 45 years earlier, and Claire might just be up for a little light murder. Writer/director Paul Weitz isn’t exactly the ideal filmmaker for the kind of dark-tinged comedy required for this premise, but he does provide the right vibe for the more restrained character moments, including Claire’s reconnection with her ex-husband (Richard Roundtree). More significantly, he gives Fonda and Tomlin actual characters to work with, examining different shades of what it’s like to reach an age where you’re thinking about regrets and limitations. There’s a meandering quality to the screenplay—it’s not clear what precisely the point is of a subplot where Evelyn provides sympathy to a gender-questioning youngster—but it’s at least somewhat satisfying to spend time with these two actors, in roles that make the most of their long history together. Available March 17 in theaters. (R)

Shazam!: Fury of the Gods **1/2
When it comes to his unique superhero character in the Shazam! movies, I’m not convinced that Zachary Levi understands the assignment. This follow-up to the 2019 original finds Levi once again playing the magically-enhanced alter-ego of Billy Batson (Asher Angel), who fights alongside his foster siblings against ancient goddesses (including Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu) with a grievance against the wizard (Djimon Hounsou) who gave him the Shazam powers. Some now-familiar world-threatening CGI shenanigans ensue, which are simultaneously a bit more playful than other recent comic-book adventures and a bit more willing to introduce real, non-anonymous death. But the big problem here is that much of the narrative is still built around the idea of a teen-turned-titan in tights, and Levi’s interpretation of adolescent behavior feels less like a complement to Angel’s performance and more like a musclebound version of the Steve Buscemi “how do you do, fellow kids” meme. There’s considerably more charm in Jack Dylan Grazer’s performance as Billy’s foster-brother Freddy—a physically handicapped youth reveling in the idea of physical power and a possible first romance (with West Side Story’s Rachel Zegler)—and a stronger connection between him and Adam Brody’s work as the caped hero version of Freddy. While the whole package is engaging enough most of the time, it’s hard not to feel like we’re focusing on the wrong member of the Shazam-ily. Available March 17 in theaters. (PG-13)

Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb ***
Director Lizzie Gottlieb’s profile of two titans of the literary world proves to be fascinating, except for the fact that its title turns out to be slightly misleading. The subjects are Robert Caro and the filmmaker’s own father, Robert Gottlieb—the former a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and writer of the landmark, ongoing multi-volume biography of Lyndon B. Johnson; the latter Caro’s longtime editor, with credits that include classics like Catch-22, Beloved, Jurassic Park and more. Each man offers insight into the process of what they do, with fascinating details that address Caro’s immersive research and Gottlieb’s philosophy of providing “an intelligent and sympathetic reaction to the text.” It’s generally great stuff, with the caveat that the running time is ultimately weighted towards Caro’s work and the hidden facts he uncovered, and understandably so. But Lizzie Gottlieb also informs us early on that both men opted not to let her cameras record the entirety of how they work together, which does end up feeling like a bit of a bait-and-switch for a movie that seems to be promising a perspective on how they collaborate, how they argue over suggested changes, and how a great editor makes a great writer’s work even better. As much as we learn about the two subjects individually, the movie might more accurately have been subtitled The Adventures of Robert Caro and the Adventures of Robert Gottlieb. Available March 17 at Broadway Centre Cinemas. (PG)