Hacksaw Ridge: Mel Gibson is officially back. The controversial thespian's return to the director's chair is a heartfelt, narrative-driven antithesis to the flood of masturbatory, propaganda-filled Iraq/Afghanistan war films that have been released in the past several years. Hacksaw Ridge is every bit as focused on Desmond Doss (a phenomenal Andrew Garfield) the man as it is on his remarkable military accomplishments and that focus on character development allows the film to have the emotional backbone that the genre's recent entries have sorely lacked. The scenes detailing his upbringing in Virginia paint a vivid, powerful picture of the events that made him so staunchly oppose violence and get you firmly invested in what happens to him once he steps foot on the battlefield in Okinawa. While the scenes away from the carnage of Okinawa struck me the most, the combat sequences are undeniably impressive. Gibson makes sure the viewer feels the unrelenting terror that defined that The Battle of Okinawa with graphic, long-cut battle sequences that highlight the mass suffering and loss of life that both sides endured during this nearly three-month conflict. Hacksaw Ridge reinforces Gibson's talent as a filmmaker and is easily the best war film since Saving Private Ryan.
4/5 Stars
Bleed for This: Writer/director Ben Younger's (Boiler Room, Prime) return to the big screen after a decade-plus hiatus isn't exactly the runaway success many had hoped it would be. His dramatization of Rhode Island boxer's Vinny Paz's unlikely return to the ring after suffering a broken neck in a car accident is as formulaic and cliched as a fact-based sports dramas could possibly be. There's numerous inspirational training sequences set to '80's hair metal, at least a half-dozen of the obligatory "I'm not going to give up" monologues sprinkled throughout the film and of course, Paz's family is a bunch of self-absorbed, overbearing pricks that don't always have Vinny's best interest at heart. However, when a film is as well-acted and engaging as Bleed for This, the avalanche of cliches found in the script can be somewhat forgiven. Miles Teller and Aaron Eckhart are sensational as Paz and Kevin Rooney, Paz's washed-up, alcoholic trainer respectively and despite Younger's overly conventional narrative approach, the perseverance and unwavering mental toughness that are found in Paz's story is hard to not be impressed by. Bleed for This is a respectable albeit completely unessential entry into the endless mountain of sports biopics that is worth checking out if you're a fan of Paz or boxing films.
3.5/5 Stars
The Edge of Seventeen: The Edge of Seventeen is an A++ example of a film that has fallen victim to the cruelness of the hype train. While it has a handful of poignant scenes, features an impressive lead performance from Hailee Steinfeld and absolutely nails the painful awkwardness that plagues the actions and conversations of high school-age kids that feel like they don't fit in, there's nothing in this movie that hasn't been done better by countless other coming-of-age movies in recent years. Unlike other recent coming-of-age standouts (Dope, The Spectacular Now, The Kings of Summer), The Edge of Seventeen doesn't have the healthy amount of heart, laughs or insight needed to offset the lack of innovation present in its storytelling and become something really memorable. It may be a pleasant, entertaining movie with some solid acting and bursts of amusing dialogue, but it's not one that I see myself ever revisiting in the future.
3.5/5 Stars
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