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The big movie this week could be Heretic because in it suave Hugh Grant steps out of character and plays a reclusive madman who rails against religion and terrorizes a couple of believers who arrive to spread the word. I don’t review it, the studio didn’t provide a preview. But there's much else including a wartime story that feels very resonant these days, a new and potentially-classic Christmas movie, Denzel Washington’s sons with the dreams and harsh history of Blacks in the US and a very rare event, a first unionizing success at Amazon.
Need more? Notice that CRAVE has just added 3 Despicable Me movies, the first Minions and Miracle on 34th Street. 1947 or 1994 version? I don’t know but Christmas does seem to be waving hello and from not that far away.
These are the new films this week.
Blitz: 3 stars
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: 4
The Piano Lesson: 3 ½
Union: 4
BLITZ: There’s been a considerable mythology built up over the bombing that Germany inflicted on England during the second world war. The Blitz, as it came to be known, lasted about nine months, killed thousands and turned buildings into rubble but also produced a spirit in the people that refused to be defeated. They came together to help each other and rail against the enemy, as movies and TV dramas have portrayed it. There’s been a reaction to that rosy view recently saying people did not pull together and here’s a compromise from Steve McQueen. As he wrote and directed it in this film, both good and bad happened. Some looked out for each other; some looted and stole. We see both as a boy and his mother, separated and searching for each other, travel through the wartime spots.
The mother (Saoirse Ronan) had sent her son to be evacuated while the bombing was going on. He (newcomer Elliott Heffernan) jumps off the train, sneaks onto busses and wanders the streets looking for her. His story becomes Dickensian when a woman who offers help actually lures him into stealing from bomb-damaged stores. He befriends a blackout warden (Benjamin Clementine), an immigrant from Africa and that furthers another change from how this era has been depicted in the movies. Britain wasn’t all-white. There were people of color. The boy here is of mixed-race and that causes him to fear how he’ll be treated and that shapes the story. It’s a common theme for McQueen as in his Oscar-winning film 12 Years a Slave. That, some good acting performances and the superb visual re-creation of the era, enrich the film despite its clichés, a scattered focus and a mild ending. (In select theaters now, on AppleTV in a couple of weeks). 3 out of 5
THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER: Well, Halloween is over so it’s time to do like the stores are doing. Think Christmas. This is a very good entry into that, an enjoyable and funny family comedy with a very good message, a variation actually on the required theme for these kinds of films: finding the real meaning of Christmas. It’s from the popular children’s book by Barbara Robinson published in 1972 and has already once been made into a TV movie. (Fun facts: it was made in Vancouver. This one was filmed in Winnipeg).
Crisis! For 74 years, a church has been putting on a Christmas pageant about Christ’s birth in a stable. This year the old lady who was to direct it is injured. One mother, played by Judy Greer, volunteers to take charge but has two problems. She doesn’t know how and because of a bit of misinformation spread by her son, has to deal with the terrible Herdman kids who show up wanting to be in it. As Beth (Lauren Graham) says in her narration “they are the worst kids in the history of the world.” They steal, smoke cigars and curse. The toughest of them, Imogene (Beatrice Schneider) demands to play “baby Jesus’s mom.” A brother asks if King Herod will be killed in the play. Another asks, “A baby in a stable? Where was child welfare?” The film is full of fun modernisms like that (“Yes, the angel of the Lord is kind of like a comic book hero”).
Watching these argumentative kids and bewildered adults will delight your kids. And the message is worth hearing. Don’t discriminate. These kids aren’t bad. They’re from the other side of the tracks, poor and unsupervised. They end up improving the pageant by asking wise-acre questions. The film is faith-based but only mildly, from director Dallas Jenkins, an old hand at the genre. (In theaters) 4 out of 5
THE PIANO LESSON: This is a real family affair. Denzel Washington produced it. His son Malcom directed it and another son, John David, plays a lead character. And the story is also about family, in this case a Black family having to deal with memories from their past. It's from a play by August Wilson, quite talky therefore, but also weighty and intelligent about the Black experience in America.
The story is set in the Black migration north that started many years ago and focuses on problems that came along with it. This family, settled in Pittsburgh in the 1930s, argues over a piano that's part unneeded relic and part family heirloom. Three brothers stole it from a white residence because it is carved with the faces of their ancestors. Now, years later, should they hold on to it? The sister, played by Danielle Deadwyler, insists yes. It's a reminder of her enslaved forerunners. John David's character, Boy Willie, argues no, sell it. His father was one of the three who stole it and then died in a revenge killing. So, getting rid of it would help him clear part of that history from his mind.
The play, and therefore the film, is full of symbolism to further its study of Black society. Willie has arrived with a truckload of melons. He wants to sell them to white people and along with money he has saved up and with the proceeds from the piano intends to buy land. How's that for a straight-forward statement of a desire to advance? By implication, by all Black society? With strong acting, especially from Deadwyler, and sharp direction by a Washington's son, holding on to the past vs moving up gets a very good debate here. (In theaters, coming soon to Netflix) 3 ½ out of 5
UNION: It's a rare subject in the movies: union organizing and shows a very rare event: a successful union drive at Amazon. The JFK8 Fulfillment Center on Staten Island, New York, is the first ever unionized site at the mega retailer. We see the organizers up close working on it and hear brief messages from the company on the public address system to discourage them. Union dues would come off your pay cheque. The leaders aren't necessarily honest. “Vote no.” The company insinuations don't work though and as we spend a lot of time with the leaders, usually in modest facilities, we see why.
Real complaints are cited. “Pay and working conditions are totally a nightmare,” one says in a zoom meeting. Breaks are too short; the hours are long. Women get lower pay and higher supervision. Job security is non-existant. Almost all the workers are replaced about every six months. They call that a 150% turnover. That means organizing is an extreme challenge and national unions aren't interested in helping. Union types will sympathize with the difficulties this film shows and probably even with the fervor of the guy who says: “Amazon is on a high and we want to punch them in the face.”
With proper legal methods, though, they won, under the leadership of Chris Smalls who had been fired over a safety issue. We spend a lot of time with him and the film shows how his people did the work. The cameras were everywhere it seems and we get very intimate views of meetings, debates and more. It's a very good film directed by Stephen Maing and Brett Story (who teaches cinema studies at the University of Toronto). (In theaters) 4 out of 5
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