The Legend of Tarzan

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: David Yates/Starring: Alexander Skarsgard, Margot Robbie, Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz, Djimon Hounsou, Jim Broadbent and Ben Chaplain

If you're like me, you might be wondering why the world needs another Tarzan flick but after seeing director David Yates' The Legend of Tarzan I wondered: why does the world need another Tarzan flick? I still have yet to see versions superior to the Johnny Weismuller films though I kind of liked Christopher Lambert's Tarzan in the early 80s'. I think a 50 year moratorium on Tarzan films is in order.
I thought a fine cast might make for a fun time but no, not even Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz or Jim Broadbent could make this CGI snooz-er-roo watchable. Yes, it is a bore though maybe those who find the sight of a ripped Alexander Skarsgard a sight to ogle will get a charge out of watching Yates' pointless dud. I wish I could say Margot Robbie's comely form compensated me but her erotic potential was sadly neutralized. It's understandable. After-all, this is family entertainment but I can't recall a Jane ever looking (and sounding) so plain and un-erotic.

In order for the story to be relevant in the 21st century, the film is heavily politicized, as it rails against the evils of 19th century colonialism in Africa and pushes a subtle message about nature.

We learn in the beginning of the film about how Africa was being carved up by the European powers in the 1880s'. Congo was claimed by Belgium for its mineral wealth and diamonds but King Leopold discovered exploiting the country's resources to be a drain on his own country's coffers.

John Clayton (Alexander Skarsgard); who we come to know as Tarzan in a series of formative-year flashbacks, has since returned to England and been re-assimilated as a gentleman. Clayton is asked by King Leopold to lead an expedition into the Congo. Though his identity as Tarzan is unbeknownst to the general public, his American friend George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson) is well aware of his alter-ego. Williams urges his reluctant friend to go. Joining him is wife Jane (Margot Robbie) and Williams himself. Throughout the film, we learn how Clayton's parents perished in an African jungle while their infant son was adopted by an ape. The film backtracks intermittently to show us Clayton/Tarzan at different periods in his life as he grows strong and ape-like in his former jungle home.

Meanwhile, King Leopold's unsavory envoy to the Congo; Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz) leads his own expedition into the country's heart to plunder its natural wealth. He and his troops are set upon by a tribe and its Chief; Mbonga (Djimon Hounsou), who are very aware of what Rom and his men are after. Rather than slaughtering the Europeans, the chief makes a deal: he will shower Rom with diamonds if he will capture Tarzan, who was responsible for Mbonga's son's death. Rom accepts Mbonga's offer and sets out to capture his prey.

As Tarzan reacquaints himself with his former arboreal life and home, he re-establishes his relationship with the animals and his environment while Williams keeps to his side and tries to keep up. Jane is ultimately captured to lure Tarzan into Rom's clutches when the envoy learns his target is conducting his own expedition.

As we might expect from any Tarzan film, the action scenes consist of swinging about the jungle, fighting Rom's soldiers and calling on his animal friends to help him in his battles. In a scene where our heroes are hopelessly outnumbered by Leopold's troops, a stampeding crush of wildebeest serve as Tarzan's army. We also expect a confrontation between Tarzan and his Mangani (great apes) brother, who proves to be the stronger during their brutal melee. True to Tarzan lore, Jane is a helpless captive who continually warns Rom about her husband's wrath. I expected a bad-ass, Jane-for-the-21st-century but no dice. The final confrontation between Rom and Tarzan is a ho-hum affair. We know the muscular jungle dude just can't lose.

I was actually looking forward to this movie because I thought Skarsgard might make a fascinating Tarzan. Skarsgard can be very interesting if given substantial material but in a role that demands him to look like a surfer-god, grunt occasionally and speak in flat diction, he registers as only slightly more real than the CGI animals. Waltz is a seasoned villain and always fun to have around while Jackson makes for an effective sidekick to Skarsgard, who so badly needs a comic personality to offset his forgivable woodenness. Like Robie's almost brainless depiction of Jane, Jim Broadbent is saddled with a ridiculous, bewildering voice that serves no dramatic purpose.

I found myself quite bored with the movie. It was a task staying awake; even in the most action-packed moments and I found I didn't give a damn what happened to Tarzan or Jane. Had they had their butts devoured by crocodiles or hippopotami, that would have been fine with me.

As with most mega-budget movies, the film comes off more as a product than an inspired action/thriller/romance. How a director can have almost unlimited access to visual effects and still induce drowsiness in a theater audience is mystifying. I guarantee you the early Weismuller iterations didn't have $180 million dollar budgets. They didn't need to.

I haven't seen any commercial tie-ins for The Legend of Tarzan, which is too bad. The movie itself would make an excellent commercial for a Tarzan-theme park in Orlando, if one should ever be conceived. But as a movie, it just seems endless.

The Lady in the Van

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Nicholas Hytner/Starring: Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Jim Broadbent, Dominic Cooper, Gwen Taylor and Frances de la Tour

Adapted from the stage play of the same name, The Lady in the Van tells what the opening subtitles refers to as a mostly true story. Famed British playwright Alan Bennett was a character in his own play and is now again in director Nicholas Hytner's film adaptation. The film version is a confluence of considerable talents; Bennett, filmmaker Nicholas Hytner (The Madness of King George, The Crucible) and Dame Maggie Smith, who always seems to be brilliant in whatever she's cast.

The play is based on Bennett's own experiences; as he became a kind of host to a homeless woman named Margaret Shepherd (Maggie Smith); who parked her shabby van in various street locations in Camden Town, London until it came to rest in the playwright's driveway during the 70s' and 80s'.

When the film begins, we see Margaret eluding a police officer on a rural road after we hear what sounds like a terrible accident. We never see the accident itself nor do we know any specifics; we only see Margaret elude the police car that gives chase to her van. The accident, and the fact that Margaret takes flight, assume a greater significance as the story unfolds.

Later, we see Margaret living in the same van in a street in Camden. Her shabby, unwashed appearance and her van's ragged condition rapidly become an eyesore for the residents of the street; particularly for playwright Alan Bennett (Alex Jennings), who has just purchased a house. Warned about Margaret's vexing tendency to squat her van where she will, Bennett becomes well-acquainted with the old woman after she imposes on him to use his restroom. The disgust Bennett feels is made manifest in the following scene when we see him give his toilet a thorough scrub-down.

Who is this woman who is curt, ill-mannered and thinks nothing of venting her hostility on the residents of the street? Bennett's story gives us some idea and in doing so, shows us a troubled woman with a fascinating past whose life is one of self-imposed squalor. But as talented a writer Bennett may be, his story--and Margaret--fail to hold my attention or sympathy. Though Smith plays the dickens out of the character and though certain aspects of Margaret's life are interesting, the character nevertheless remains a noxious pest who demands everyone accommodate her whims and overlook her accumulated filth. I found my patience sorely tried as I watched Margaret rage at her neighbors and everyone who dared to approach her van.

Equally annoying is Bennett's doppelganger, who he talks to incessantly. As it becomes clear Bennett intends to make Margaret the subject of a play, his other begins to express his qualms.

As the story moves along; Bennett writes and tends to his plays on London's West End while also enduring Margaret's difficult personality and habits. But he also begins to learn about her past. He discovers she once drove an ambulance in World War II and was an accomplished pianist who studied under a world class musician in Paris. The darker part of her past comes to light when he also learns Margaret was a nun in a convent, where her musical abilities were sternly suppressed by intolerant nuns.

But the film isn't only about Margaret but Bennett himself. We see the difficulties in his own life as he is forced to commit his aging mother to a nursing home when she becomes ill and stricken with dementia. One of the film's bitter ironies is Bennett becoming Margaret's caretaker while his mother suffers from want of her son's attention.
Bennett's romantic status becomes an minor issue as it becomes abundantly clear that Bennett seeks a man to fill an emotional void. Male colleagues from the theater and strange men become a common sight at his home. The men sometimes peer into Margaret's van, only to be given an angry brush-off.

What was supposed to be a temporary stay in Bennett's driveway becomes a long-term, residential nesting as months stretch to years. As a result, Bennett becomes to understand if not condone Margaret's bad behavior; including her slovenly ways, which become increasingly vile as time goes by. Bennett is appalled to find feces in his driveway, an indignity he bears with superhuman equanimity. He also puts up with frequent visits by a social worker, who brings Margaret supplies and chides Bennett for not being more charitable.

The accident we hear but do not see at the beginning of the film becomes a source of almost crippling guilt as Margaret's frequent visits to confession fail to offer assuage her conscience. The guilt is compounded by frequent visits of the officer (Jim Broadbent) who witnessed Margaret flee the scene of the crime and who also shakes her down for hush money. What actually occurred during the so-called accident is finally revealed near the film's latter half.

In getting to know Margaret, Bennett also becomes aware of other aspects of her life, including her brother, who has had difficulties of his own dealing with his troublesome sister.

Bennett manages to bring Margaret's story-and a significant part of his own-to a neat conclusion and in the end we see that, in spite of the the problems she visited on Bennett, he acknowledges her impact on his life, which is more significant than he imagined.

I can understand why Bennett was inspired to write about Margaret but I have to admit, I found the film--and her--irritating. I give credit to Bennett and his neighbors for their ability to tolerate her presence but I found her insufferable beyond endurance. I spent most of the film feeling impatient with Margaret. There are charming pests and ne'er do wells in cinema; people who aren't necessarily likable but are nevertheless stimulating company but Margaret ain't one of them. Bennett wants us to find this homeless woman, with her complicated past, compelling. But even Maggie Smith's terrific performance couldn't rescue Margaret from being an irritant. The fact that she seeks absolution from a church that for all intents and purposes squelched her musical talents does make for more interesting irony but there is little else about Margaret I would want to know about. But though I found the film to be tiresome, I might recommend it to someone if for nothing more than to see Maggie Smith.
I didn't care--as stated earlier--for his eccentric use of a Bennett-double, which didn't really help illuminate his interior life.

The Lady in the Van probably plays better onstage than on a movie screen. After all, Bennett's dramatic medium is the theater, not the cinema, and plays seldom make a successful transition to the big screen. Some stories can only be told in live theater; Hytner's is one of them.

Brooklyn

**Spoiler Alert**
Director: John Crowley/Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson, Emory Cohen, Jim Broadbent, Nora-Jane Noone and Julie Walters

Brooklyn tells a story so seemingly uncomplicated, one might overlook its steady narrative, its sense of time and place and its touching simplicity. One might also overlook the understated yet compelling performance of its star; Saoirse Ronan, whose luminous, expressive eyes are a character unto themselves. Based on the novel of the same name by Irish writer Colm Toibin and adapted by Nick Hornby, Director John Crowley's film tells a very American story, which is to say it also tells an immigrant's story.

Saoirse Ronan plays Ellis Lacey, a young Irish woman in mid-20th century Ireland who reluctantly leaves her home for the land of opportunity. Leaving behind her heartbroken mother and her sister Rose (Fiona Glasscott), the unseasoned Ellis boards a ship bound for New York. On board, a savvy woman helps Ellis with her seasickness and serves as as sympathetic guide for the duration of the voyage.

In Brooklyn, Ellis is further aided by an Irish priest named Father Flood (Jim Broadbent), who is able to secure her lodgings at a boarding house for women (mostly Irish immigrants, like herself) and a job at an upscale department store.

As Ellis copes with homesickness, she also contends with more immediate problems, like fighting listlessness at her job; a condition which can be partly attributed to a longing for home. She is also troubled by her fellow boarders; whose busybody, gossipy behavior is difficult for Ellis to avoid and overcome. Ellis finds the boarding house madame, Mrs. Kehoe (a terrific Julie Walters) and fellow-boarder Sheila (Nora-Jane Noone, from The Magadalene Sisters) to be a sympathetic allies against the cattiness that prevails. Ellis also finds Mrs. Kenoe to be a supportive, motherly figure in her life.

A turning point for Ellis comes by way of a young, Italian-American man named Tony, whose genial, gentlemanly manner disarms her. As Tony courts Ellis, she receives dating tips from her fellow boarders and Mrs. Kehoe, who are titillated by her burgeoning romance.

Ellis also takes steps to improve her wage-earning power when Father Flood enrolls her in a bookkeeping class.

And as Ellis settles into her new life, gaining confidence and falling in love, her life takes a tragic turn when she learns of the death of her sister. Aware her mother will be alone and bereft of her sister's company, Ellis tells Tony she must return home for a short while. The development makes him anxious; knowing she might not return. Fearing for their relationship, Tony convinces Ellis to marry him before she returns to Ireland; a secret they both vow to keep.

Back in Ireland, Ellis finds her mother heartbroken and lonely while her best friend Nancy (Eileen O'Higgins), who is unaware of her friend's marital status, sets her up on a double date with an old acquaintance named Jim Farrell (Domhnall Gleeson). Seeing her mother's diminished, emotional state and called upon to fill in as a bookkeeper at her sister's old job, Ellis begins to warm to the idea of being home. In a heartbreaking scene, we see her place one of Tony's unread letters in a drawer where other unopened correspondence rests. And though she resists Jim at first, she begins to fall for him, which places herself not only in a perilous position with her family and friends but with a community where gossip holds ruinous potential.

Ellis finds herself in an impossible situation, where she must decide between returning to her husband and her life in Brooklyn and remaining in Ireland with her mother and Jim, who slowly charms her with his warmth, kindness and solid social position.

A meeting with her former boss, who learns of Ellis' marriage; forces her hand, which leads to a definitive, life-shaping decision.

What is astonishing about Brooklyn is its straightforward story, which manages to be both involving and poignant. Eschewing sensational and gimmicky plotting, the film relies on stellar performances and real situations to tell its story. The story could almost be categorized as high-concept if not for Hornby's sensitive adaptation and Crowley's light touch with the material, which lay the groundwork for Ronan's exceptional performance.

The parallels between Ellis's life in Brooklyn and Ireland are numerous, as are the contrasts. Mrs. Kehoe serves as her mother figure in New York while her best friend Nancy's New York counterpart is Sheila. While she works toward a bookkeeping career in America, she occupies her sister's bookkeeping job in Ireland. The gossip at the boardinghouse table is mirrored by the much more corrosive gossip in her hometown. The crucial difference between the two worlds is America and what it means for Ellis and many like her. Self-determination, life in a multi-cultural community and upward mobility are the American hallmarks, while the old world appears more static, with its more parochial view of life.

A scene I found particularly powerful takes place in a Brooklyn community center where Ellis volunteers to serve Thanksgiving meals to elderly Irish men. Father Flood explains to her that the men who sit at the tables are the same men who helped build America's tunnels, buildings and railroads. During the meal, one man rises to sing a beautiful song in Gaelic to the rapt gathering. It is sad and moving and Flood's words reminds us of the Irish immigrant's contribution to America, which has largely been forgotten.

Crowley's film is well-rounded and has an unassuming charm. It might appear frail in this season of more conspicuous fare, like The Martian, Steve Jobs and Bridge of Spies but it also serves as quieter ballast to those emotionally-charged films.

Whether Brooklyn gets lost in the Fall shuffle remains to be seen. It isn't high achievement but it is engaging and well worth the time.