The Father: Dementia is very difficult to portray on screen without heading into shamelessly melodramatic territory and despite the many opportunities to head down that tacky path, The Father never does. By choosing to tell its story from the perspective of the man (Anthony Hopkins in what could be his best performance since Silence of the Lambs) who is succumbing to the disease, writer/director Florian Zeller is able to convey the day-to-day experience of living with this awful disease in the most authentic way possible. The episodic narrative structure is an ideal vessel to explore the constant confusion, erratic behavior and occasional, almost surreal moments of heightened clarity that defines the existence of people who have completely succumbed to dementia while also detailing the varying responses this day-to-day emotional and cognitive roller coaster can illicit from loved ones (Olivia Coleman, Rufus Sewell, Imogen Poots). It's an exceptionally depressing watch-particularly for those who have seen the havoc dementia can wreak firsthand-that I personally have no desire to sit through again, but the honesty and compassion it shows for the struggle of both the individual who has to deal with the pain of losing the grasp of their own mind and their family members that have to watch the person they've known for their whole life slowly slip away makes The Father an important, impactful artistic accomplishment.
Grade: B+
Concrete Cowboy: This coming-of-age drama about a Detroit teenager (Stranger Things star Caleb McLaughlin in his first lead film role) that's been expelled from multiple high schools in a short period of time who gets sent to live with his estranged father (Idris Elba) in Philadelphia and their subsequent involvement with The Fletcher Street Horse Stables is a much more compelling fictionalized examination of a real life subculture than Nomadland. Concrete Cowboy has such reverence for the bond that develops between the riders, the hard work it takes to break/ride/maintain horses and the all but erased extensive history of black cowboys operating in urban areas that it basically becomes this warm-hearted modern western where the good outshines the bad no matter how dire the circumstances of the story are. While the later development of a conventional yet competent subplot surrounding McLaughlin's character being tempted by the flashy, drug pushing-funded lifestyle of his childhood best friend (Jhareel Jerome) has fallen into takes away from some of the uniqueness that the Fletcher Street material boasts, it remains a poignant and very well-acted reflection on both the unsung power of belonging to a community of people who truly care about each other and how committing to honesty can repair the trust that was lost in even the most fraught relationships between parent and child.
Grade: B+
Thunder Force: Maybe it's because I've watched so much depressing shit recently or the bar was so low from the previous Melissa McCarthy/Ben Falcone collaborations that the development of any positive feelings towards the material would result in a monumental net positive, but I found Thunder Force to be a perfectly respectable comedy. It felt good to watch a superhero story that was purposely silly after spending so much time being jerked around by the constant gimmicky cliffhangers, fan theory fodder and teasers for future movies that the Marvel Disney+ series have provided over the past few months. The charismatic cast (McCarthy, Octavia Spencer, Jason Bateman, Bobby Cannavale, Pom Klementiff) are clearly having a lot of fun with their roles on both sides of the hero/villain coin and their efforts mine enough laughs to keep things humming along at a strong enough clip to generate a respectful round of applause once it crosses the finish line in admirable enough fashion.
Grade: B-
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