Bad Moms

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore/Starring: Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Christina Applegate, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jay Hernandez, Annie Mumolo, Clark Duke, David Walton, Oona Laurence and Emjay Anthony

Another distaff ensemble makes its way to the multiplex just a fortnight after the release of Ghostbusters with Jon Lucas and Scott Moore's Bad Moms. The preview and the premise seemed very promising; a group of mothers fed up with the taxing demands of parenting and running a household, as well as the fascistic PTA, rise up against the overwhelming rigors of motherhood. But Lucas and Moore's film becomes a bundle of hit and miss funny moments--mostly misses. Nevertheless, it succeeds as an enjoyable bauble and is a helluva lot more fun than most other summer comedies we've seen in 2016.

Set in a modern day suburb of Chicago, Bad Moms tells the story of Amy (Mila Kunis), a mother of two whose career and extracurricular life have severely bogged her down. Though she's young, Amy finds she isn't young enough for the gourmet coffee company for which she works part-time, which is staffed by young, hipster twenty-somethings who play ping-pong during work hours and are immune to the stresses of adult life. Her young, entrepreneurial boss; Dale Kipler (Clark Duke), undervalues her and can't understand why she won't side-step a heavy workload to watch the staff play ping-pong. But Amy's problems extend beyond her job, for she must contend with her husband Mike (David Walton); an unhelpful slob who works out of their home and two children; Jane (Oona Laurence), who stresses about making the school soccer team and her son Dylan (Emjay Anthony), who is failing science and can't complete a homework assignment without his mother's help. When Amy tells Mike that Dylan is failing science, the father shares a congratulatory fist-bump with his son.

Amy's life trials also involve the school PTA president Gwendolyn (a very inspired Christina Applegate); who wields great, intimidating power over the mothers and the school faculty. Gwendolyn and her two obsequious minions; Stacy (Jada Pinkett Smith) and the dim-witted Vicky (Annie Mumolo), say catty, mean things about the other mothers while they stand on the school steps every morning like two-faced sentinels. Gwendolyn and company offer Amy some venomous compliments about how she is able to work and raise her kids. Amy's response to Gwendolyn's question about why she doesn't devote more time to being a mother is quite funny: "because I work."

Over-burdened at home and weighed down by her job and the PTA, Amy's troubles begin to mount when she happens upon her husband watching a naked woman on his computer. Her husband admits to a cyber-affair, which prompts Amy to expel him from the house. Amy presses on, but finds herself coping with yet another problem. When Amy arrives at the PTA meeting, she finds Gwendolyn onstage, dictatorially addressing an audience of mothers. In one of the film's funniest scenes, an absurdly long list of forbidden bake sale ingredients plays on a large video screen behind Gwendolyn as Amy walks slowly down the aisle toward the stage, dumbstruck by what she sees. Gwendolyn proposes the formation of a bake sale police, which is accompanied by images of black clad policemen in jack boots on the screen. Funnier still is how Gwendolyn's idea is juxtaposed with an image of someone being beaten by a police officer with a baton on the screen behind her.
Having had enough, Amy voices her objections to Gwendolyn's agenda by explaining how difficult and exhausting her life is already. She turns her back on an angry Gwendolyn and walks out of the auditorium to the sounds of gasping mothers.

She retires to a local bar for a drink and is approached by a mother named Kiki (Kristen Bell), who expresses her admiration for Amy for defying Gwendolyn and the PTA. The two meet another mother who happens to be sitting next to Amy; Carla (Kathryn Hahn); a salty, sexually aggressive woman who has also become disgruntled with the pressures of motherhood. Commiserating, the three make drunken, spirited pledges to be bad moms. After leaving the bar, we see the three enter a supermarket in slo-mo. The montage that follows shows them drinking in the aisles, mixing alcohol with milk and generally making a spectacle of themselves.

In her new commitment to being a bad mom, Amy refuses to make her kids breakfast and as a symbol of her rebellion, she appropriates her husband's muscle car before speeding her kids to school. Ignoring Gwendolyn's dietary proscriptions, Amy shows up at the bake sale with store-bought glazed munchkins. Furious at the sight of her offerings, Gwendolyn accosts Amy at the table and after an unpleasant exchange, she violently clears the munchkins from the table. The hostile encounter prompts Amy to declare her intention to run against Gwendolyn in the next PTA election.

The film was doing so well up to this point, but I was disappointed that Amy wasn't spurred on to something nastier than a PTA campaign. Just when the story needed more bite, it settled for timidity. But being that the PTA is everything for someone like Gwendolyn, Amy's response makes sense, story-wise.

As Amy kicks-off her campaign with Kiki and Carla's help, the three women form a close, commiserative bond. Subplots begin to take shape as the narrative progresses. Amy is courted by the stud single parent; Jessie Harkness (Jay Hernandez) before her husband returns home, hoping to fix their marriage. Never abandoning her motherly duties, Amy discovers Gwendolyn has bullied the school soccer coach into benching Jane, which necessitates personal intervention. Amy also tries to teach her son self-reliance, which requires her maternal patience and care.

Hoping to attract PTA mothers to her cause, Amy hosts a party, which initially is a dud. Amy, Carla and Kiki discover Gwendolyn chose the same night to host her party; a more successful gathering of wall-to-wall moms. Gwendolyn's party is so well-attended, even Martha Stewart turns up as a guest serving hors d'oeuvres, which makes for a very amusing cameo. While Amy, Carla and Kiki concede defeat, their fortunes suddenly turn when Gwendolyn begins bullying her guests and boring them with tedious campaign talk, which causes the gathering to abandon the party. The mothers show up at Amy's party, which subsequently becomes a raucous affair; one even Martha Stewart can't resist.

It is isn't difficult to see where the story will go. We know everything will come down to an election night showdown between Amy and Gwendolyn. We also know other plot-points, like Amy's troubles with her boss, her burgeoning relationship with Jessie and her troubles with her kids will be addressed in typically tidy, Hollywood narrative fashion. There is even enough narrative space for Kiki's problems with her uptight, Napoleonic husband and Carla's inability to relate to her jock son.

The movie has a point to make about how mothers are overworked and saddled with too many worries and tasks men typically ignore or avoid. It makes its case in a reasonably compelling and sometimes funny way.

Being a Hollywood production, it is unsurprising that the laughs drizzle instead of pour. Some moments that should be funny somehow fall flat, such as a scene where Kiki and Carla help Amy choose something sexy to wear for their night out. We expect the two women to make some witty and sharp comments about Amy's drab wardrobe but it doesn't happen. And the subsequent scene at the bar, where Amy finds her flirty banter with men is really repellent motherly advice could have been funny--or funnier.

But the film was cast well. Kathryn Hahn is amusing as the foul-mouthed mom, as is Kristen Bell though she should have had more comedic screen time. For me, Christina Appelgate's Gwendolyn was a juicy bit of comedic business. She plays the bitch well and she's very funny.

One of the film's most creative moments came during the end credits, when the female cast-member's mothers share their experiences of being moms.

Bad Moms is a coulda-been movie. If it had just sharpened its satirical edge a bit more, the laughs might have been more frequent but Amy is just too nice. If and when a sequel is conceived, the filmmakers might keep that criticism in mind. If you include the word bad in your title, then having the characters be bad becomes an imperative.

Lights Out

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: David F. Sandberg/Starring: Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Bateman, Alexander DiPersia, Maria Bello and Billy Burke

Based on a short film by David F. Sandberg, Lights Out is the director's first full-length feature. Judging by his ability to chill and scare an audience, it's safe to say Sandberg will enjoy a substantial career as a horror film director. Though the film sometimes suffers from logic-deprivation (to be fair, so do most other horror films), one can't be hard-nosed about plausibility and logic when a filmmaker can create something eminently watchable. Unlike many horror films that slowly build suspense, Lights Out gets to the point quickly; as it has little time to waste at 82 minutes. It's supernatural antagonist is downright frightening, as is the film.

In the opening scene, we meet a businessman named Paul (Billy Burke); whose office resides in what looks like a mannequin warehouse. The mannequins' inherent creepiness creates an atmosphere of dread as Paul's assistant sees what looks like the outline of someone lurking in the shadows. She notices the shadow vanishes whenever she turns on the light but reappears when the light is off. Frightened, she alerts Paul to what she's seen, only to be brushed off. After she leaves, Paul hears sounds in the warehouse and enters it shortly thereafter to investigate. He too sees the shadowy apparition; noticing its peculiar preference for the dark. In trying to flee its malevolent aggression, the thing swipes at him, leaving a bloody gash in his leg. He manages to lock himself in his well-lit office, but seconds later, the lights flicker then go out, leaving Paul gripped with fear. The apparition appears shortly thereafter and quickly lays hold of him before leaving him gruesomely sprawled on the warehouse floor, dead. It isn't often we see a horror film introduce its villain so early but being so prompt means the audience is left with questions. Who or what is the thing that seems so pissed and what did it have against Paul? All questions are addressed in time.

The mystery of Paul's death becomes clearer in the following scenes when Rebecca (Teresa Palmer), Paul's step-daughter; visits her mother Sophie (Maria Bello). Sophie grieves over her husband's death but faces more immediate problems. Sophie resists her daughter's passionate pleas to take her medication, which prevent her precipitous fall into an emotional, depressive abyss. Meanwhile, Rebecca's half-brother Martin (Gabriel Bateman), finds himself contending with the phantasm that dispatched his father. As it threatens him nightly, keeping him awake, his school nurse notices he falls asleep in class. Rebecca becomes apprised of the problem, which leads her to proactively remove her brother from school; due to her lack of confidence in her mentally-frail mother. Realizing he needs rest but reluctant to have him stay at apartment, she and her boyfriend Bret (Alexander DiPersia) take him in after she has her own encounter with the entity at her mother's house. To her dismay, she finds the entity has invaded her own apartment.

After the entity mounts an attack in Rebecca's apartment, she discovers--after combing through files she filched from her mother--that Sophie was friends with a young girl named Diana during her stay in a mental hospital in her youth. We learn Diana was committed to the hospital after having been abused by her father. A significant indignity she suffered involved being locked in the basement, in the dark. Rebecca also learns Diana had a hideous skin condition when she arrived at the hospital. Fearing abandonment, Diana attached herself to Rebecca's mother, thereby becoming dependent on Sophie. In trying to keep Sophie from leaving the hospital, Diana tried to sabotage Sophie's therapy; her abandonment issues being quite acute.

As we find in the film, the theme of abandonment is quite strong. Most, if not all the characters, experience or feel some form of abandonment. After Diana's death, Rebecca discovers her attachment to her mother continued beyond the grave; hence her presence in the family's life. Paul's death was the result of Diana's jealousy and fear of Sophie's affections being directed elsewhere.

Child Care Services eventually shows up at Rebecca's apartment to return Martin to his mother. Having no legal alternative, Rebecca relents. Having already encountered Diana in his mother's home, the viewer may wonder why Martin accepts the case worker's demand without protest. More puzzling is his veritable calm when he's at home with his mother, who never seems to notice anything is amiss with her son (I guess her shaky mental state is a good narrative alibi). And knowing Diana is a threat to her brother, why doesn't Rebecca spend the night at her mother's place?

Diana's war against everyone not-Sophie continues and her antagonistic campaign of terror leads to a showdown with Rebecca, Martin and Bret. While staying at Sophie's house, the three are attacked individually. Bret takes flight after narrowly escaping Diana's clutches (his escape is rather cleverly executed with his car keys). Though his act seems wildly craven, Rebecca reassures Martin of his return--though she (and we) can't be sure. Diana manages to trap Rebecca and Martin in the basement. While Rebecca feeds a basement stove fire to provide crucial light, Martin finds a black light tube, which they immediately activate. The black light allows Sandberg a terrific visual opportunity, which he exploits beautifully. The light casts an eerie glow, which adds atmospheric drama to the visuals. Unfortunately for Martin and Rebecca, the black light doesn't keep Diana at bay; allowing her to grasp and lunge at the two from behind shelves. Question: if the black-light doesn't have any effect on Diana, why doesn't she just attack them directly rather than reach for them from behind a shelf?

We see Bret return with police (hooray, the cavalry!) but they are ill-prepared to deal with Diana and are dealt with themselves, forthwith. It is almost comical how long it takes for Sophie to respond to Diana's murderous mayhem but she does eventually; begging her "friend" not to harm her kids.
I won't give away the end but a tragic sacrifice is made as we learn Diana only exists because of her disturbing attachment to Sophie (geez, talk about a co-dependent!).

One could spend an hour or so pointing out the film's flaws and inconsistencies or the bewildering behavior of the characters but its strengths allow us to happily overlook its shortcomings. Sandberg shows he has a veteran horror director's touch with mood and atmosphere. For a film that is so short, exposition isn't hurried along or overlooked. He is quite comfortable with is material (as well he should be).

I was pleased the film didn't set up an obvious sequel but given Hollywood's franchise mania, I wouldn't rule it out. The film is doing well enough to keep that option open but I hope it doesn't happen. I wouldn't mind seeing Sandberg tackle something different. We'll see what they allow him to make.

Lights Out won't astonish but it will definitely entertain. It's chilling and the performances are sound, so it has nothing to be ashamed of. I found it more enjoyable than both Ghostbusters and Star Trek: Beyond, which isn't saying much but it doesn't surprise me that the film's $5 million budget pales next to two films that cost $140 and $185 million respectively. Give a hungry, talented director a small budget and more often than not he or she will never abandon your expectations.
Oh, there's that abandonment thing again.

Captain Fantastic

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Matt Ross/Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Frank Langella, Kathryn Hahn, Steve Zahn, and George MacKay

I came to Captain Fantastic; director Matt Ross' second feature film, expecting an annoying contribution to the insufferable quirky-family genre. Though I can't stomach the genre I found Ross' film to be touching at times and surprisingly engaging though the characters and situations are neatly conceived and executed. The film wraps everything in a digestible, easy-on-the-palate denouement that keeps real-life adversity at bay.

Set somewhere in present day Pacific Northwest, Captain Fantastic tells the story of a family living off the grid in their presumably edenic forest home. Ben (Viggo Morntensen), the father of six, rears his kids in an environment where food is grown and meat hunted and prepared. Reveille-like morning alarms rouse the kids for arduous, pre-meal exercise in the woods. Self-defense instruction and rock climbing round out the physical instruction while a sophisticated home-schooling system allows the kids to discuss Marx and Nabokov's Lolita. We also see the family meditating outdoors. Ben is no doomsday survivalist but more of a hippy with a curriculum whose focus is self-reliance and vigorous self-improvement. Though Ben's parenting seems unorthodox, we also see how his tough love makes the family a close knit group. During an evening around the campfire, Ben's impromptu guitar strumming inspires the others to pick up instruments, which leads to a spirited family jam.

We learn early on the mother was committed to a psychiatric hospital. We also learn Bo (George MacKay), Ben's oldest; has been hiding acceptance letters from his father from various Ivy League schools. We know his secret will only lead to discord later on, which it does.

After a trip into town aboard the family bus, Ben learns from his father-in-law Jack (Frank Langella) that his wife killed herself in the hospital. Blaming Ben for his daughter's death, he also forbids him to attend the funeral in New Mexico under the threat of arrest. He also doesn't hesitate to express his direct and forceful disdain for the way Ben raises his children.

Never sparing his children stark truths, Ben tells them that same night as they sit around the campfire that their mother is dead. Sobbing, the children ask to see their mother, only to be told they can't attend the funeral due to their grandfather's threat. Angry at their father, their pleas to see their mother's body are rebuffed until Ben defies his father-in-law's threat by setting out on the road to attend the funeral. Along the way (and throughout the film), Ben has vivid visions and dreams and memories of his wife.

While on the road, the sight of shopping malls and the endless sprawl of stores elicits Ben's critical comments about capitalism and rampant consumerism, which his kids digest and sometimes echo. We get some sense at how far removed the family is from mainstream culture during a stop at a diner. When the kids mention hot dogs, hamburgers and soda, Ben promptly leaves the diner with the family to go shopping for "real food" at a grocery store. But the shopping trip becomes a mock-military shoplifting operation that Ben refers to euphemistically as "liberating food." Why a father would allow their kids to steal food is explained later.

A sequence in the film where the family's oddball life is brought into sharp relief takes place during Ben's stop at his brother Dave's home. During a dinner with Dave (Steve Zahn), his wife Harper (Kathryn Hahn) and their two sons, Ben's youngest asks Harper if she killed the chicken she is serving. Her awkward, slightly embarrassed response later turns to indignation when Ben shares details about his wife's death. After she excuses herself from the table, Ben surprises his brother when he serves each of his kids wine. Justifying his action to his brother, Ben refers to its accepted practice in other countries.

Dave's two sons express disbelief when the Ben's children's ignorance of pop culture is made embarrassingly manifest. Later, Dave and Harper confront Ben about what they see as excessive permissiveness in his parenting. In one of the film's most startling scenes, Ben proves a point about his sophisticated parenting when he quizzes Dave and Harper's sons about the Bill of Rights (they are woefully ignorant) before doing the same with his youngest (his grasp is exceptional). Whatever value judgement the viewer assigns Ben's parenting, the scene makes a case for rigorous education.

Though the family is highly educated, the limits of Ben's instruction becomes apparent during a stop at a RV site. A young, sexy girl takes to Bo, only to discover he is appallingly ignorant about boy/girl romantic interaction. His embarrassment and humiliation prompts a confrontation with his dad, when he admits not knowing anything about things that aren't in books.

The family's arrival in New Mexico predictably leads to a confrontation between Ben and Jack about how the kids are being raised. The touchy subject of Ben's wife's will, which details her Buddhist-inspired wish to be cremated and flushed down a toilet, also becomes a heated bone of contention. Exacerbating the problem is Jack's threat of custody. But just when we think Ben's concession to his father-in-law's demand is definitive, we find the children have their own agenda.

As mentioned earlier, the ending is emotionally and narratively tidy but somehow it works, though barely. The subplot dealing with Ben discovering Bo and his wife submitted applications to universities, is also dealt with neatly. What becomes of Bo? Given Ben's parenting, his life choice is hardly surprising.

A movie like Captain Fantastic succeeds because the offbeat, unpredictable moments outweigh the sentimental and predictable. Buttressing the drama are the fine performances by Viggo Mortensen, Frank Langella, Steve Zahn and Kathryn Hahn, who give the film much needed gravitas.

Where the family ends up seems like a nod to pragmatism, which makes sense in our 21st century world. I like that the film neither condemns nor extols Ben's parenting. The seemingly irresponsible things he teaches his kids are weighed equally against the amazing lessons and skills he imparts.

Taken as a whole, the movie is quite enjoyable. Its shortcomings are minor and can be easily overlooked. It doesn't establish any great truths but its numerous quirks are appealing. Just don't think of it as a parenting Bible.

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Mandie Fletcher/Starring: Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Jane Horrocks and Julia Sawalha

Absolutely excremental.

Cafe Society

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Woody Allen/Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carell, Blake Lively, Corey Stoll, Sari Lennick, Ken Stott, Parker Posey and Jeannie Berlin

These days, I'm always prepared to write Woody off, particularly after his last two forgettable efforts; Magic in the Moonlight and Irrational Man. But with Woody, consigning him to oblivion is always a mistake, for he can still surprise, as with Blue Jasmine. I'm happy to say he has done so again with Cafe Society; his new story about ideal love and its emotional pitfalls. Though some scenes and plot points resemble moments from his cinematic past, he shows he can still write terrific dialogue and give his characters dimension and depth. In his latest, we see his characteristic charm, wit and his romantic pessimism about love but also present is his irrepressible romanticism, particularly for the city he loves most. Cafe Society is fun, funny and is irresistibly charming.

Set in 1930s', Woody narrates his own story about a young man; Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg), who leaves Brooklyn for the sunny coast of southern California. Hoping to find a job with his wildly successful Uncle; Phil Stern (a terrific Steve Carell) in his casting agency, he stakes out temporary digs in a hotel and waits for a meeting. Lonely and hungry for female companionship, Bobby arranges for a call girl to visit his hotel room, but finds he is her very first customer. The failed encounter yields funny results.

In another scene, we see Phil hosting a swank Hollywood party in his home. Sitting poolside, Phil talks with all manner of movie industry people, dropping names of stars in nearly all his conversations.

As the story moves forward, Woody's narration remains steady, embellishing the story and providing insightful comments about the characters. We meet others, like Bobby's older brother Ben (excellent Corey Stoll), whose life in organized crime troubles his mother Rose (Jeannie Berlin). Though Rose's relationship with her husband Marty (Ken Stott) is contentious; their arguments contain some of the film's funniest lines. Another character is Bobby and Ben's sister, Evelyn (Sari Lennick), who stays in touch with her little brother via letters, which, when read; provide the film supplementary narration.

Bobby is finally granted a few minutes with his Uncle and after a what-are-you-doing-out-here probing overture, he explains his want of a change of scenery and a job in the agency. Although Phil initially mentions the mail-room, he suggests Bobby run errands for him. He then introduces Bobby to one of his secretaries; an lovely young woman named Veronica (a luminous Kristen Stewart, made more so by soft focus), or Vonnie. As Vonnie shows Bobby around, sparks crackle and glow between them. Before long, Vonnie and Bobby enjoy lunches and drinks together until one day he feels confident enough to ask her out. She tells him she is seeing someone but enjoys his friendship, which continues in spite of his rejection. Bobby (and we) learn Vonnie is one of the many young women who migrated to Tinseltown hoping to make it in the movies before becoming disillusioned.
The conversations between Vonnie and Bobby are often magical. Woody shows he can still craft intelligent dialogue that is also pleasing to the ear. Some of the best moments in the film are Bobby and Vonnie's tete a tetes.

In time, Bobby finds himself meeting his Uncle's big name associates, who bandy the names of stars and starlets about, which becomes a source of annoyance to both he and Vonnie. But life in Hollywood has a way of working on those most resistant to its charms. Vonnie herself shares an anecdote about Samuel Goldwyn and his peculiar voice.

The visuals in the Hollywood party scenes are particularly intriguing. In nearly every scene featuring an industry soiree, we see the guests dressed uniformly in khaki-color clothes. Woody's cinematographer; the famed Vittorio Storaro, casts everything in soft, golden light, as if to compete with the soft hues of khaki. The effect leaves us with something fairy-talish; a heady foray into the unreal.
Hollywood's seductive but shallow charms begin to wear on Bobby. He finds the beautiful women, stars and the lush mansions to be a fascinating curiosity but they eventually lose their charm. He begins to miss New York. Before long, he plans his return home. But complicating his idea is his relationship with Vonnie, which takes a dramatic leap from the platonic to romantic. In love and happy, Bobby plans for their marriage and their move to New York, where his brother Ben has offered him a job running his nightclub. But before Bobby's plans are consummated, the plot takes a startling twist when Bobby discovers the man Vonnie has been seeing is none other than Phil, who plans to leave his wife for her. Phil later tells her he is unable to walk away from his 25-year marriage, only to experience yet another change of heart. The situation becomes stickier when Phil and Bobby become aware of the other's interest in Vonnie. Faced with a painful decision, Vonnie chooses Phil, leaving Bobby to return to New York, alone and crestfallen.

Bobby's east-coast homecoming serves as a transition to Part II, as he leaves his Los Angeles experiences behind for his brother's nightclub, which he helps christen The Cafe Society. Bobby becomes popular with the nightclub set, which is a colorful mix of the city's upper crust society and members of New York's active social scene. Excelling at his job and taking to the club's giddy atmosphere, Bobby is able to put Los Angeles behind him.

One evening, he meets a beautiful blonde, whose name also happens to be Veronica (Blake Lively, who was kicking shark butt the last time we saw her onscreen). I found this contrivance to be a little too convenient but oh well. The two quickly fall in love, which leads to a happy courtship and marriage; helped along with a surprise pregnancy.

Of course Woody won't let us forget Vonnie, who happens to drop back into his life one evening when she and Phil appear at the nightclub. The scene where Bobby stands before their table; staring dumbstruck at Vonnie, may remind one of the scene in Crimes and Misdemeanors where Woody's character happens upon Mia Farrow's at a wedding where she is embraced by his rival. Dismayed at seeing Phil and Vonnie together, Bobby reluctantly sits down to chat but excuses himself after she tries to regale the table with a long-winded, gossipy Hollywood story; the type he and she once loathed. It isn't long before the two meet for coffee, which reawakens their latent love for one another. One knows how it will play out if one has seen enough Woody Allen films. The key word is melancholy.
A significant subplot unfolds; involving Ben and his violent, criminal past, which has a grim but almost inevitable outcome.

Woody manages his multi-character story with aplomb and like his best work, makes us care about them. He has helped create one of the movie industry's emerging great couples in Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart, whose onscreen romance marks their third together. How and why such an offbeat pairing works so well can be chalked up to the mysteries of chemistry but they are magical together; particularly in a scene where the two share an intimate moment on a Central Park bridge; the skyline a romantic tableau. Woody's other characters are wonderful, particularly Corey Stoll as Bobby's thuggish brother and Jeannie Berlin, who is quite amusing as Bobby's mother.

Woody still has it. He is still capable of making good films. Everything that characterizes his best films is conspicuous here. Terrific camera work, beautiful cinematography and brilliant performances. Let's not forget witty dialogue and great lines. My favorite: live every day as if it were the last and one day it will be true.

Cafe Society isn't a Woody masterpiece but it redeems his last two efforts and it is done well. It might not set the world of cinema alight but it is a mild intoxicant. In summers, bad Hollywood is the occupying force, but films like Woody's always come along to give us respite from the drek. Let's hope he has more of these films in his bag.

Under the Sun

Director: Vitaliy Manskiy

It's not often we see footage of life in North Korea, which makes director Vitaliy Manskiy's Under the Sun something unique in cinema. The first question one might ask is: how did Manskiy secure permission to film a North Korean family's life and how much latitude was he granted as an artist to pursue his subject? Given that the film was shot behind North Korea's iron curtain, the answers to both questions are probably less mysterious than they appear. Manskiy and his crew were never alone during filming and based on what we see, it's axiomatic that the North Korean government will probably find little about the film that is objectionable. But though government monitors followed the director closely, we still manage to see what citizens endure on a daily and yearly basis as citizens of an oppressive state and unsurprisingly, it's pretty dismal.

We see a family of three; what is maybe a typical Pyongyang, father-mother-child unit. The daughter has been chosen to participate in what is called Spartakiads; which; from what I gather, are a series of celebratory events honoring North Korean history and its leaders; past and present. Choreographed events featuring singing and dancing, musical plays and miscellaneous pageantry are among the seemingly colorful but utterly monotonous activities the country's youth must stomach to aggrandize leader Kim Jong-Un and his familial forebears.

We see scenes of the family being directed in propaganda film. In one segment, the family sits at their kitchen table while the mother exhorts the daughter to eat her kimchi as a way to extol the virtues of enjoying a national delicacy. In other segments, we see factory workers taking part in other propaganda films celebrating productivity and the virtues of collective effort.

The daughter's role in a play commemorating a war hero and a ceremony marking the children's transition to citizenship are attended by elderly government officials in military uniforms. Adults are hardly spared participation in state-choreographed spectacles, which like those for children, are conceived for the sole purpose of deifying the country's communist leaders from the last half century.

In case one thinks the children participate merrily in the state's never-ending worship of its communist past (and present), Manskiy offers us footage of a classroom of kids listening to a war veteran recount his exploits. While he blathers on, Manskiy's camera focuses on a child who struggles to keep her eyes open.

What is particularly interesting (but hardly surprising) about Manskiy's film is its lack of access to the family's private world. A country that goes to herculean lengths to protect its own image would surely never risk unsupervised filming.

What we finally see is hardly surprising, for North Korea isn't much different than its communist neighbor to the north and the Soviet Union during the last century. Everything is gray in color and in spirit and all personal expression has been purged from the culture. What's left is personified in Manskiy's shots of the massive bronze colossi representing Kim Jong il and Kim il Sung; Kim Jong-un's predecessors. It is particularly disconcerting to watch citizens disperse from the foot of said statues; looking like insects before the towering buffoons.

Manskiy's film gets as close as a documentary can to North Korean life. It is fascinating, nevertheless; for we see what ordinary citizens must endure.

Under the Sun provides us images of things we don't normally see in the media. Manskiy shows us humanity under authoritarian rule; moments even the formidable North Korean can't censor. That alone is one of its greatest attributes.

The Infiltrator

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Brad Furman/Starring: Bryan Cranston, John Leguizamo, Diane Kruger, Juliet Aubrey, Amy Ryan, Olympia Dukakis and Benjamin Bratt

Brad Furman's The Infiltrator seems like something we might have seen back in the 90s' when films about federal agents bringing down South American drug lords were all the rage. If Furman's film feels like an anachronism in that respect, it also makes us overlook that shortcoming by being a taut thriller with excellent performances. It's in very limited release, which is a shame because unlike other films on the same subject, it makes a statement about the banking institutions and shady financiers who enabled kingpins like Pablo Escobar to flourish. I may have neglected to mention the film is based on a true story.

Set in 1980s' Miami, Bryan Cranston plays Customs official Robert Mazur, who devises a plan to cripple Escobar's operations by focusing solely on the money transactions involved in Escobar's business rather than the cocaine traffic between South America and America. Taking on a dangerous case means selecting a suitable partner for undercover operations, which brings Mazur and a colleague named Emir Abreu (an excellent John Leguizamo) together. It also means endangering his happy, stable home life and the lives of his wife Evelyn (Juliet Aubrey) and two children.

The early scenes with Mazur and Abreu are amusing for the humorous banter. One such moment takes place in a cemetery, where the two men select names from tombstones for their undercover aliases. Selecting the name Robert Musella, Mazur and Abreu begin work.

With Abreu's street connections, Mazur is able to make contact with Escobar's low level, Miami-based father and son team Gonzalo Mora senior and junior. Adopting the persona of a wealthy business man with a successful aviation business, Mazur makes a business proposal to the Moras, which entails washing vast sums of money generated by Escobar's cocaine trafficking. Wary of the offer, the Moras suggest Mazur first handle a small sum to prove his competence.

Required to join the Moras in after vice, Mazur finds himself in a stripper bar. When Mora junior buys him a sexy stripper to enjoy, Mazur balks, loathe to cheat on his wife. Puzzled, Mora asks him why he doesn't partake. Mazur tells Mora he is engaged to be married and doesn't care to jeopardize his relationship. Mazur manages to narrowly extricate himself from the sticky situation, though the mention of a fiancee adds a wrinkle to his Robert Musella charade.

Annoyed that the mention of a fiancee necessitates actually finding a female agent willing to join the operation, Mazur's no-nonsense boss, Bonni Tischler (Amy Ryan) introduces a young, beautiful woman named Kathy Ertz (Diane Kruger) as his bride to be. Abreu's reaction to seeing Ertz enter the room is priceless. After Abreu quizzes Mazur and Ertz about marital details to keep the agent's stories mutually consistent, the investigation continues.

Fitted with a lavish home and the trappings of luxurious lifestyle, Mazur and Ertz go to work following the trail of money laundering. Along the way, they meet bankers and money men from several nations; all willing to accommodate Mazur and his money laundering schemes. Mazur and Ertz also come into contact with another of Escobar's key personnel; Javier Ospina (Yul Vazquez); a sexually carnivorous dandy who makes a pass at Mazur, only to be aggressively rebuffed.

Seeking higher-ups in the Escobar organization, Mazur pursues Escobar's top money man Roberto Alcaino (Benjamin Bratt). Mazur undergoes a harrowing ordeal, which includes watching a man get shot by Escobar's men, to gain access to Alcaino. Upon making Alcaino's acquaintance, Ertz proves herself to be a convincing fiancee when she charms both Alcaino and his wife Gloria (Elena Anaya). Growing ever closer to the Alcainos; the deception begins to take on a life of its own as Ertz and Mazur begin socializing with the couple and forming a friendship. To make matters worse, Mazur and Ertz's faux-marriage becomes a little confusing as the stresses of the operation bring them closer together.

Mazur's undercover work begins take its toll on his marriage and family life as his wife suspects an affair. Evelyn is subjected to a ignominious experience when she and her husband step out for their anniversary dinner, only to run into Mora Sr. at the restaurant. In danger of blowing his cover, Mazur pretends his wife is actually his secretary and the dinner her birthday celebration. When the anniversary cake is delivered to the table, Mazur subjects the waiter to a humiliating divo exhibition that leaves Mora grinning and his wife silently aghast. His wife's dismayed reaction on the ride home is one of the more memorable moments in the film.

Everything comes to a head during Mazur and Ertz's faux wedding; where several of Escobar's associates, including Alcaino and his wife, as well as international bankers and money men, are lured into a bust. For Mazur and Ertz, watching the mass arrest go down is only a partially satisfying. The arrest leaves the Alcainos feeling betrayed while Mazur and Ertz can't help feeling treacherous.

Though the film is based on fact, elements reminded me of Donnie Brasco, including the scene where Mazur tees off on the waiter to deflect suspicion and the final scene, where the hero betrays his nemesis. But the film manages to succeed on its own terms.

I can't say enough about the exceptional performances. Cranston is especially good at capturing Mazur's conflicted feelings toward his job and his wife and the inherent fear that comes with risking his life. Bratt makes an intimidating underworld figure charming and worthy of the audience's sympathy. Leguizamo may not have Cranston's screentime but he is every bit as good while Kruger more than holds her own against the leading man.

Furman does well managing tension and drama and more than makes up for his earlier works; Lincoln Lawyer and Runner, Runner

Furman's film is unfortunate enough to open the same week as Ghostbusters so it will wander about the few theaters in which it is currently playing until it is assigned oblivion. For those who care to see it, fear not; nothing truly fades if streaming has a say.