Summer Reading: The Alice Network

The next selection on my summer reading list was The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. It is 1915 and Evelyn Gardiner longs to do more for the war effort than just file in an office in London. Eventually she is recruited as a spy and sent to France to work in a restaurant run by Rene Bourdelon, a collaborator who caters to German officers. She passes information through a real-life espionage ring of women known as the Alice Network to help the Allies. In 1947, in the aftermath of another war, American heiress Charlie St. Clair is in London searching for her cousin Rose who disappeared in occupied France. She follows a lead which brings her to Eve, now a drunk and disillusioned woman haunted by a betrayal. Their stories converge when Charlie learns that Rose worked for the Resistance in another restaurant owned by Rene. Eve travels through France once again to help Charlie find Rose but also to face her greatest enemy, Rene Bourdelon. The perspective alternates between that of Eve and of Charlie and one of these perspectives worked more for me than the other. Eve's story is absolutely fascinating and she is a strong and courageous character who faces truly harrowing conditions that kept me reading well into the night. Lili (based on real-life spy Louise de Bettignies), the leader of the spy ring, and Violette, another spy, are also intriguing characters. Charlie's story is not as compelling and I found her to be a weak and whiny character without the stakes that Eve has throughout the story. I found myself skimming through the pages of Charlie's narrative to get back to Eve and her journey of redemption. Had this novel been just about Eve and the other brave spies who put their lives in danger during the first world war, I would have enjoyed it so much more. However, I would recommend this novel (just skim through Charlie's story).

Note:  Have you read The Alice Network?  What did you think?

Crazy For You at CPT

Since moving to Bountiful three years ago I have become a huge fan of CenterPoint Theatre. Last night I had the chance to see their production of Crazy For You, a wonderful musical featuring the music of George and Ira Gershwin and lots of tap dancing! Who could ask for anything more? Bobby Child (Fred Lee) just wants to dance for the Zangler Follies but he has a fiance, Irene (Hailey Weeks), who has been waiting five years to get married and a mother who wants him to work at the family bank. He is sent by the bank to Deadrock Nevada to foreclose on a theatre owned by Polly Baker (Landry Thomas) and her father Everett (Shane Casteel). Instead, he immediately falls in love with Polly and comes up with a plan to save her theatre by producing a show. Polly doesn't want anything to do with him so he decides to impersonate Bela Zangler (Adam West) and brings the Zangler Follies to Deadrock. The show comes together until both Irene and the real Bela Zangler come to town! I loved all of the classic Gershwin songs: "Shall We Dance," "Someone to Watch Over Me," "Embraceable You," "I Got Rhythm," "They Can't Take That Away From Me," and "But Not For Me." The choreography is spectacular, especially in "I Can't Be Bothered Now," "Slap That Bass," and "Nice Work If You Can Get It." I also loved all of the physical comedy in "What Causes That." All of the ensemble are great dancers and perform with a lot of energy. The leads, Lee and Thomas, are both incredibly talented with strong voices and impressive tap dancing skills. Lee, especially, is very charismatic and the two of them have a lot of chemistry. I am always really blown away by the costumes and sets for CenterPoint Theatre and this show is no exception! I highly recommend this fun and energetic show which runs through July 14 (tickets may be purchased here).

Note:  One of my former students was in the ensemble and he was fantastic! I didn't know that he could tap!

Hearts Beat Loud

Believe it or not, I actually saw a few films at the Sundance Film Festival this year that were not dark and gritty!  One such film was Hearts Beat Loud which is absolutely charming and I enjoyed it so much I decided to see it again now that it is in wide release.  It is a heartwarming story about Frank Fisher (Nick Offerman), a single father who is facing many changes including having to close his record shop, a mother (Blythe Danner) with dementia, and a daughter (Kiersey Clemons) about to leave for college.  Frank and his daughter Sam write and record a song during one of their weekly jam sessions and, when Frank uploads it to Spotify, it goes viral.  Frank begins to fantasize about recording an album and going on tour with Sam but, ultimately, he realizes that he needs to let her go to pursue her own dream.  There is a tremendous amount of humor in this film, especially when Frank hears their song playing in a coffee shop for the first time and when he begins thinking about their potential costumes.  Both Frank and Sam are incredibly sympathetic characters and the father-daughter relationship is very affecting.  Offerman, more known for his comedic roles, give a heartfelt performance as a father afraid to lose his daughter and there are moments when he looks at Sam that are so poignant.  Even more impressive is the fact that both Offerman and Clemons perform several original songs.  Clemons has an amazing voice and I really loved the song "Hearts Beat Loud."  I highly recommend this feel good movie.  It will put a smile on your face!

Hotel Artemis

Yesterday I saw the noir thriller Hotel Artemis and, despite negative reviews from the critics, I actually really enjoyed it.  In a dystopian future, a nurse (Jodie Foster) runs the Hotel Artemis, a members-only hospital for criminals, in an Art Deco building located in Los Angeles.  An orderly (Dave Bautista), who also serves as a bouncer when the need arises, assists her.  The nurse is an alcoholic agoraphobic who lost her licence to practice medicine when her son died.  The current residents include an arms dealer (Charlie Day) and an assassin (Sofia Boutella) but they are soon joined by a bank robber (Sterling K. Brown) whose brother (Brian Tyree Henry) was injured in a botched job and an underworld crime boss (Jeff Goldblum).  Everyone must follow the rules:  no guns, no cops, and no killing the other patients.  In the course of one night every one of the rules are broken because everyone in the Hotel Artemis has something to hide.  The narrative is a bit derivative and it does meander a bit with some characters and subplots that serve no purpose.  I also found some of the dialogue to be very clunky.  However, the action sequences are fantastic, especially when Boutella's character fights a group of bodyguards by herself, and I loved the aesthetic of the hotel itself.  In my opinion, what makes this film work is the character arc of the nurse (I love when a really flawed character is able to find some redemption) and Jodie Foster gives an incredible performance.  This film won't be for everyone but I do recommend it to fans of action thrillers.

American Animals

When I saw the trailer for American Animals last week I thought it looked highly amusing and immediately wanted to see it.  I took in a screening on Saturday afternoon and I really enjoyed it.  Spencer Reinhard (Barry Keoghan) is finding college life to be less exciting than he imagined and, as an aspiring artist, longs for a transformative experience to give his paintings more interest.  On a typical college tour of the library he notices that the special collections library has several volumes of Audubon's The Birds of America valued at over $12 million.  He fantasizes about stealing them and mentions this to his ne'er-do-well friend Warren Lipka (Evan Peters) who is on the verge of losing his athletic scholarship and longs for adventure. They spend all their time planning an elaborate heist and, when they realize that it could actually be done, they recruit Eric Borsuk (Jared Abrahamson) and Chas Allen (Blake Jenner).  As the narrative plays out, the real Spencer Reinhard, Warren Lipka, Eric Borsuk, and Chas Allen give documentary-style interviews about the goings-on and this is both incredibly successful and a bit detrimental in the final resolution.  Their commentary is often hilarious but their remorse at what they did feels a bit self-serving.  At the end of the movie the librarian of the special collection, Betty Jean Gooch (played in the narrative by Ann Dowd), condemns the boys as selfish thrill-seekers.  This feels a little bit out of place, as if this movie doesn't know if it is a light-hearted caper or a cautionary tale about the amorality of affluent young men.  However, I found it to be wildly entertaining despite the weighty conclusion and would recommend it.