by Nathaniel R
Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy are a dream together in "First Man"
Festival season is a relentless sprint. NYFF screenings are already underway and Middleburg is right after that so herewith a few quick notes on two TIFF movies whose directors are coming off of their most successful film yet two years ago and an Oscar year where they competed against each other quite famously though both left with Oscars (Barry Jenkins for writing Moonlight and Damien Chazelle for directing La La Land). I personally loved both of those movies but I think Barry Jenkins won the first round and Damien Chazelle takes the second . I realize they're not actually competing with each other. They're friends. Prizes for everyone! Yay for talent. We just like talking awards. It's a sickness. Okay, quick takes here we go...
First Man (Opens October 12th)
Damien Chazelle had a tall order in following up his hugely successful La La Land. If this new film, the true story about man's first trip to the moon isn't as unique as that melancholy musical, it's just as sensationally realized. Though we know the outcome of the moon journey Chazelle and his team somehow keep each sequence nail-biting. Technical merits aside (and there are plenty of them!), what rockets First Man past more earthbound biopics is Ryan Gosling's internal combustion as the very reserved Neil Armstrong, who has to be cajoled into speaking and keeps his emotions locked down. Just as strong is the authentic marriage chemistry between stars Gosling and Claire Foy as his wife. They paint portraits of two very different personalities, grieving and parenting in their own ways under the same roof. (The film begins with the death of their only daughter, and though the dead children as motivation in outerspace pictures is an exhausting trope at this point, First Man has an excuse as the Armstrong story is true.) Chazelle still has that 'talented supporting cast without much to do' problem (why does he remain so blind to the power of great ensembles to deepen and elevate movies?) Gosling and Foy are superstars with the heavy lifting. Their final scene together is astonishingly quiet confident stuff, movie magic minimalism to chase a maximalist dream. A-/B+
Oscar Chances: Across the board but especially Picture, Supporting Actress, and craft categories
Kiki Layne and Stephan James as the young lovers of "If Beale Street Could Talk"
If Beale Street Could Talk (Opens November 30th)
I wanted to love this picture so much as a huge Moonlight fan. My friends were rapturous about it -- Nick though it easily the best film of the festival. But I felt outside of it. Remember that complaint people *who were wrong* made about Carol (2015) "it's all happening behind glass" - well, that! My chief problem I suppose was Tish (Kiki Layne) didn't exhibit any range and we're always with her. She flips between besotted love and intense worrying as primary modes and that's about it. Furthermore the ferquent narration felt like a refusal to really grapple with turning a book into a screen experience... or maybe it was the inexpressive quality of the narration? All that said, I'm eager to try it a second time.One thing is certain: it's a stunner to look at and listen to with James Laxton (cinematographer), Nicholas Britell (composer) and Barry Jenkins (director) proving once again that they're a triple-match made in heaven. Regina King and Colman Domingo are the cast MVPs as Tish's resourceful loyal parents. Though the film is largely spent with Tish and her fiance Fonny (Stephan James), the standout sequence is one of only two scenes without either of them. Regina King, one of the nation's finest actresses, makes the most of the mother's desperate solo trip to Puerto Rico to find the woman who has accused Fonny of raping her. B
Oscar Chances: Across the board but especially Supporting Actress, Cinematography, and Score