The Fall Guy

Last night I went to see The Fall Guy looking for a fun summer blockbuster and that is exactly what I got!  After an accident on set Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling), the stunt double for action star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), walks away from the movie business and his camerawoman girlfriend Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt).  Eighteen months later producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham) convinces him to return to Tom's latest movie because it is being directed by Jody and she has requested him.  When he gets to set he discovers that Jody is not over their break-up and that Gail really summoned him to locate Tom because he has mysteriously disappeared.  Soon he is being blown up, shot at, and set on fire both on set and in real life as he tries to find Tom.  Eventually, he becomes the fall guy in more ways than one and it takes the stunt coordinator Dan Tucker (Winston Duke), Jody, and the entire crew to help him clear his name in an epic stunt.  The story is an absolute mess (I think they should have spent more time developing the central romance rather than the mystery) but the action sequences, and the accompanying adrenaline-fueled soundtrack, are so much fun.  It is definitely an homage to stunt work, and filmmaking in general, and I enjoyed seeing glimpses of what it takes to create the stunts we see on the screen as well as all of the nods to recognizable stunts from other movies.  Gosling, especially, and Blunt are charismatic as the leads and they have sizzling chemistry with each other (as previously mentioned they should have had more interactions together).  Some of the humor doesn't quite land but I laughed out loud during a relationship montage to "All Too Well" by Taylor Swift and several scenes involving a French speaking stunt dog named Jean-Claude.  There are flaws but it is wildly entertaining and the perfect start to the summer blockbuster season.

The Hello Girls at HCTO

My great-grandfather John Johnston emigrated to Canada in his late teens but, when war was declared between England and Germany, he returned home to Scotland and enlisted in the Gordon Highlanders.  He was wounded at the First Battle of Ypres and was left on the battlefield for dead.  His brother returned later hoping to retrieve his body and discovered that he was still alive.  I loved hearing all of these stories when I was a child and, consequently, World War I has always held a particular fascination for me.  Many of my favorite books, movies, and theatre productions deal with the subject and now I can add the musical The Hello Girls to that list.  I had the chance to see it at HCTO last night and it is one of the best shows I've seen this year!  After the U.S. enters World War I in 1917, General Pershing (Reese Phillip Purser) is frustrated because the male telephone operators in the Signal Corps do not know French and are much slower than the women who work for Bell Telephone back home.  He tasks Captain Joseph Riser (Dallin Bradford) with recruiting a unit of bilingual women to join the American Expeditionary Forces in France.  Grace Banker (Megan Heaps), a no-nonsense supervisor at Bell, Suzanne Prevot (Kennedy Bradford), Grace's adventurous best friend, Helen Hill (Emily Paxman), an inexperienced farm girl from Idaho, Bertha Hunt (Shannon Eden), the wife of a soldier already serving overseas, and Louise LeBreton (Makenna Ashby), an underage French woman who has lived in the U.S. for several years, are among those selected for the first group stationed at the AEF headquarters in Chaumont.  These operators overcome many hardships and ultimately help turn the tide of the war.  What I loved most about this story is how inspiring it is.  These women had to fight just to be allowed to join the Army ("We Aren't in the Army"), they had to work harder than their male counterparts to prove themselves to their commanding officer ("Riser's Reprimand"), they had to fight to be allowed to go to the front ("Twenty"), and then they had to fight for over sixty years to receive the benefits they deserved as veterans ("Making History").  The music is incredibly stirring and my favorite songs were the big anthems "Answer the Call," "Hello Girls," "Lives on the Line," and "Making History."  The backdrop features wooden panels set with rows of lights to represent the switchboards used by the women (upon which period photos and videos are projected) and the set includes multi-level wooden platforms connected by wooden ramps to represent various locations.  The dynamic choreography uses this space very well.  I especially loved a sequence when the soldiers at the front reach their hands towards the women at their switchboards during a dramatic battle to show how much of a lifeline they are.  It gave me goosebumps. I also loved the authenticity and attention to detail in the uniforms worn by both the soldiers and the women, especially the puttees, the helmets, and the haversacks carrying the gas masks (I am such a nerd for knowing World War I uniforms).  Finally, the cast is superb and they do a brilliant job in bring these forgotten historical characters to life.  Heaps, one of my favorite local actors, was the standout for me because she brings so much emotion to the role, particularly in her scenes with Bradford as she fights for more opportunities.  I always really appreciate it when a theatre company programs something new, especially when it is based on a subject of interest to me, and I loved everything about this production.  I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) during it run through June 1.

May We All at HCT

Last night I had a chance to see May We All, a new jukebox musical featuring songs by Brooks & Dunn, Chris Stapleton, Dolly Parton, Florida Georgia Line, Johnny Cash, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Little Big Town, Loretta Lynn, Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, Sara Evans, Tim McGraw, and Zac Brown Band, and, despite a really cheesy story, some exaggerated performances that feel more like caricatures than real people, and a genre of music that I usually dislike, I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would (I almost didn't go because I thought I would hate it). Jenna Coates (Dawn Deitlein) returns to her hometown of Harmony, Tennessee after struggling to pursue her dream of becoming a country music star in Nashville for two years.  However, going home again is not as easy as she expected because Harmony is facing a hard economic future, her parents Crystal (Adrien Swenson) and Harley (Brock Harris) and her sister Kylie (Savannah Carrasco) are hurt that she has seemingly abandoned them for fame and fortune, her best friend Liz (Libby Ferguson) is struggling with the loss of her brother, and her ex-boyfriend Dustin (Nathan Bowser) is seeing someone new (Teaira Burge) who just happens to want to bring a big box store to Harmony. She eventually realizes how important her friends and family, and Dustin, are to her and that the best way to help Harmony is to bring the music back. However, what will happen when her biggest Nashville dream suddenly comes true? The story follows the plot of every Hallmark movie ever made (which is not necessarily a bad thing but I am not a fan) so I didn't find it very compelling. I also didn't like the portrayal of some of the characters because the performances (especially those of Swenson and Harris), the costumes, and the hair really lean into stereotypes (to be fair I don't really know many people from this area of the country but it seemed a bit overdone for laughs to me). I am not a big fan of country music but, to my surprise, the musical performances are what I enjoyed the most. An insanely talented band, including Kelly DeHaan on keyboards, Eric Noyes on keyboards, Memphis Hennesy on guitar, Bryan Hague on guitar, Davin Tayler on bass guitar, Julie Beistline on fiddle, and Todd Mitchell on drums, are located on stage in the wings and they sound great! The female leads are also outstanding, particularly Deitlein and Ferguson. I loved Deitlein's performance of "Born to Fly," "Play Something Country" with Ferguson, "Can't Go Back" with Bowser, "Rainbow" with Carrasco, and "Back to My Boots" (an original song by Florida Georgia Line's Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard) with the company.  As always, the set is phenomenal and I loved the use of large wooden panels suspended from the rafters for projections and live feeds during the musical numbers. This wasn't really my cup of tea but I'm glad I saw it and I'm sure fans of country music will absolutely love it! This runs on the Young Living Centre Stage through June 8 with lots of tickets (go here) available.

Come From Away at the Eccles

I was able to see Come From Away the last time the Broadway touring company made a stop in SLC and I loved it so much!  The only time I stopped crying was when I was laughing out loud!  I was so happy for the chance to see it again last night and my response was pretty much the same because not only is it a touching and entertaining true story about the power of community and the indomitable human spirit but it is also makes me feel incredibly nostalgic for Canada (all of the pop culture references made me smile).  After the 9/11 attacks, U.S. airspace is restricted and 38 international flights have to be diverted to the airport in the tiny town of Gander, Newfoundland, Canada.  The nearly 7,000 stranded passengers almost double the population of Gander but the townspeople willingly do everything they can to provide them with food, clothing, shelter, and comfort.  This show features an outstanding ensemble cast of twelve who seamlessly, with just the addition of a article of clothing or a prop, play multiple roles to tell the stories of both the townspeople and the stranded passengers and crew.  My favorites involve a local woman named Beulah (Kristin Litzenberg) comforting a passenger named Hannah (Candace Alyssa Rhodes) when she cannot locate her firefighter son in New York, two lonely passengers, Diane (Molly Samson) from Texas and and Nick (Stanton Morales) from England, who begin a relationship after being thrown together, and a member of the local ASPCA (Kathleen Cameron) who sneaks on board the empty planes to care for the animals left behind (including a pregnant bonobo chimpanzee).  I love all of the music in this show but my favorite songs are "Prayer" because it incorporates elements of multiple religions into a beautiful message of comfort, "Screech In" because it is a hilarious ceremony to become an honorary Newfoundlander involving copious amounts of alcohol and a codfish, and "Something's Missing" because it perfectly captures that hollow feeling I remember in the days after the attacks (I also have to give a shout-out to a rendition of "My Heart Will Go On" during an impromptu karaoke session).  The set is very minimal but it is impressive how just a few tables and chairs are quickly configured to represent the airport, buses, planes, the legion hall, and emergency shelters and I loved how the lighting design portrays the fear and confusion of the passengers as they arrive in Gander in "Wherever We Are" and "Darkness and Trees."  This is a show that will restore your faith in humanity and I highly recommend it (just bring tissues because everyone around me was also crying).  There are four more performances at the Eccles Theatre through Sunday, April 28 (go here for tickets).

Challengers

I have been anticipating seeing Challengers for a very long time and I was really excited to finally have the chance last night.  I loved it even more than I was expecting to!  Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) is a champion tennis player who is in a slump after recovering from an injury.  His wife and coach Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), herself a former prodigy, suggests that he play as a wild card in a lower level challenger event to boost his confidence before the U.S. Open.  Patrick Zweig (Josh O'Connor) is a down-on-his-luck former prodigy who sleeps in his car and plays in challenger events for the meager prize money.  Art and Patrick end up facing each other in the final of this challenger event and, through flashbacks as they play in this heated match, the audience learns that they have a complicated past with each other and with Tashi and that the stakes are even higher than they realize but not what they imagine.  Zendaya gives an absolutely riveting performance and both O'Connor and Faist match her in intensity.  The three of them have absolutely insane chemistry with each other and I honestly cannot decide what was sexier: a scene in a sauna or a scene involving a churro.  The use of tennis as a metaphor is very clever with all of the back and forth that happens between the characters and I loved the exploration of power and what happens to relationships when the power dynamic shifts.  Having a nonlinear timeline, which can sometimes disrupt the pacing, is very effective in this movie because the flashbacks slowly reveal events that directly inform what is happening on the court in the final match and the tension is palpable (I laughed out loud when I realized how Patrick was going to serve the ball and what it meant within the context of the past).  I don't follow tennis or understand much about the game but the way in which the tennis scenes were filmed is incredibly dynamic and exciting.  I especially loved the scenes from the POV of the ball!  Finally, the techno score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is amazing and really amps up the energy in every scene ("Compress/ Repress" is basically a NIN song and I loved it).  I am sure that this is going to be one of my top movies of 2024 and I highly recommend it!