After a pretty desperate January, movies are finally getting back into the groove this week, ringing in Valentine’s Day with plenty of offers. Seems Valentine’s Day falling on a weekend (and right before a national holiday) opens the flood gates for new releases of blockbuster and indie films. While we don’t have the variety and diversity we should, we’re getting a pretty wide selection of genres and styles, so if you are looking at something besides Zoolander 2 or Deadpool, here’s a handy guide to some of the choices opening this weekend:
How to Be Single (3 out of 5 stars)
The other big studio release this week is How to Be Single, starring Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Alison Brie, Leslie Mann, Nicholas Braun, Jason Mantzoukas, Damon Wayans Jr., Jake Lacy, and Anders Holm. Ironically, this is the second year in a row that Johnson has headlined the big Valentine’s Day release, and fortunately, this is pretty far in the other direction of the mess that was Fifty Shades of Grey, and closer to her Ben and Kate personality.
Still low-key, she finally gets to show that charisma and sense of humor missing in Grey, and she’s especially funny with Leslie Mann, who plays her sister, and Rebel Wilson, who plays her closest friend. In fact, all the scenes about friendship and female bonding in the movie work surprisingly well, but there just isn’t enough focus on that element (they should have turned to Broad City for direction). It seems that the heart of the movie is about enjoying being single in different ways (Rebel’s the extroverted, Johnson the introvert), but when it focuses too much on relationships, it loses its momentum and feels more like a sitcom (not helped by their impossibly nice apartments in New York City).
All the coupling is a bit predictable if inoffensive (Lacy is still playing the puppy dog boyfriend in movies, which is getting a little repetitive), and I would have been fine with Anders Holm (a really funny actor) just being Johnson’s friend with benefits, but his storyline with Alison Brie and Jason Mantzoukas should have been cut entirely from this movie. Brie has no connection to Johnson, Wilson, and Mann, so including her feels forced and awkward. The movie has some problematic elements and feels directionless, but buried not so deep is a nice message about embracing single life with the same passion we pursue relationships. Basically, the movie is shockingly better than its trailer suggested.
Nina Forever (5 out of 5 stars)
Clearly meant to appeal to the darker sensibilities of horror fans, this isn’t another My Bloody Valentine. For one, it’s really good. Second, it’s never trying to be scary. There are a few visual surprises, and the vision of bloody sheets and bathtubs will remind you of other films, but Nina Forever is more of a romantic comedy fairy tale in the best dark and twisty sense. The Blaine brothers, who wrote and directed the film, tell the story of mourning Rob (Clan Barry), who lost the love of his life Nina (Fiona O’Shaughnessy), but has just met Holly (Abigail Hardingham) and wants to move past his grief and start a relationship with her.
However, every time they start things up, Nina reappears to re-ignite Rob’s grief and stand in Holly’s way. The movie sounds like a campy horror film, but it’s definitely a surprise in all the good ways. All three actors are wonderful, the movie is visually stunning, and the ending is a genuine surprise (while still making complete sense). Gentle, funny, and touching, it shares DNA closer to Truly, Madly, Deeply (a high quality comparison) and last year’s Spring. Horror and non-horror fans will probably like this movie, but expect more laughs and tears than screams.
Portrait of a Serial Monogamist (4 1/2 out of 5 stars)
Unfortunately, this movie is only getting an on-demand release, which is too bad, because it provides a nice counter to How to Be Single. Think of it as a Toronto-based High Fidelity or Annie Hall, with a 40-something lesbian standing in for the traditionally heterosexual male character. It should be said that Diane Flacks couldn’t be any better as the titular serial monogamist, Elsie. She’s funny, confident, and endears audiences to her almost immediately. Even when you think she’s sabotaging herself and potential relationships, you will have empathy for her and might try willing her to figure things out. The movie also does an excellent job with the non-romantic connections, her group of friends, her work relationships, and her mother. Despite having a pretty loose narrative structure, the truly funny dialogue and Flacks make the movie definitely worth a look.
Touched With Fire (4 out of 5 stars)
Unquestionably one of the best new voices we’ve seen this year, Paul Dalio’s star-crossed romance about two young adults with bipolar disorder may divide audiences—even during the movie. Dalio, who struggled with bipolar disorder himself, draws from the scientific connection between a bipolar brain and artistic mind to anchor his movie. Two artist-poets (Katie Holmes and Luke Kirby) go off their medications at the same time, starting a manic episode worsened when around each other.
The material in the hospital is good, but the scenes of the two trying to build life together are far more interesting. They have to contend with objections from their parents (Christine Lahti, Griffin Dunne, and Bruce Altman are all great as concerned parents), doctors, and their own doubts that they may be a bad influence on one another. Dalio, who also edited and composed the music, creates a seamless visual, auditory, narrative experience for viewers, giving a visceral projection of manic and depressive episodes. Katie Holmes is better than she’s been on-screen since Pieces of April, and Luke Kirby (Take This Waltz/Rectify) is pretty remarkable in his performance as Marco.
Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong (4 out of 5 stars)
The Before Sunrise walking and talking film has literally become a subgenre all its own. Some have been very good takes on the style (In Search of a Midnight Kiss), and some have been not-so-good (Before We Go). Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong is one of the good (not great) ones.
Chinese American Rudy (Jamie Chung, finally getting a rom-com leading role) meets an American in Hong Kong, Josh (Bryan Greenberg), and the two spend two nights together over the course of a year. Sparks fly, but both seem on the verge of some life decisions that seem up in the air whenever they’re around each other. Emily Ting, a first time writer-director, finds the sweet spot between conversation dialogue (shared love of Seinfeld, work-life, & politically correct terminology) and deeper dialogue about their hard-to-define attraction to one another. The movie has good pacing and a beautiful color palette, although it takes time to get used to its digital look. But as is so important, Greenberg and Chung have great chemistry to move the film along, and its breezy tone is appropriately counter to offering easy resolutions to them.
Tumbledown (3 1/2 out of 5 stars)
Although not as good as Nina Forever, Tumbledown is another movie about dealing with overcoming the loss of a great love, and starting to find another. Jason Sudeikis is good in the movie, and Rebecca Hall’s sad but wonderful grieving widow, Hannah, a highlight. The trouble is, besides the usually good Dianna Argron’s one-note greedy fiancée, the mystery of Hannah’s husband is more captivating than the budding romance. As new friends with mutual respect and apprehension, Sudeikis and Hall are better than when turned into a romantic couple, and the discussion of how a biographer interprets another’s work and projects their own ideas onto their subject leads to some thought-provoking conversations.
Mountains May Depart (2 out of 5 Stars)
Somewhere between Jules and Jim and A Place Beyond the Pines, Zhanke Jia (A Touch of Sin) has created yet another epic film. Rather than four loosely connected stories, Mountains May Depart is the Chinese director’s epic story of love, family, and a changing China. Tao Zhao (Jia’s wife) plays Tao, a young woman who in 1999, is adored by two men: a mine worker (Jing Dong Liang) and a businessman (Yi Zhang).
The love triangle of the first part leads to 2014, with the characters now living family lives, Liang working at a different mine. The final section is set in Australia in the near future (2025), with Tao’s son Dollar (Zijian Dong) disconnected from his Chinese roots (he doesn’t even know the language) and attracted with his teacher (Sylivia Chang). Chang is one of the best actors of her generation (seriously, just watch her in The Red Violin and Eat Drink Man Woman), but it’s too bad she’s exclusively working opposite Dong, a less than convincing actor to anchor a movie. Zhao is charming as the quick-to-smile young girl, but it’s honestly hard to believe she or Liang would tolerate being around such an unlikable character as Zhang. He’s so unpleasant that it hurts Zhao’s character, and the movie’s attempt to be epic and important sometimes feels a bit ludicrous (lines like “you wish Google Translator were your son” are kind of stupid when it they’re meant to be profound). I have to agree that the movie is beautiful, but it’s easy to lose patience with Jia’s pretensions.
Lesley Coffin is a New York transplant from the midwest. She is the New York-based writer/podcast editor for Filmoria and film contributor at The Interrobang. When not doing that, she’s writing books on classic Hollywood, including Lew Ayres: Hollywood’s Conscientious Objector and her new book Hitchcock’s Stars: Alfred Hitchcock and the Hollywood Studio System.
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