French Exit

Is there anything better than going to a movie in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday?  I submit that there is not so I went to see French Exit yesterday and, while this comedy of the absurd is a bit depressing, I found it to be strangely entertaining.  Frances Price (Michelle Pfeiffer), an aging Manhattan socialite, learns that all of the money she inherited from her late husband is gone which brings about an existential crisis for her and her son Malcolm (Lucas Hedges) who is finding it difficult to commit to his girlfriend Susan (Imogen Poots).  She decides to sell everything and move to a friend's empty apartment in Paris with Malcolm and a cat that may or may not be the reincarnation of her late husband (Tracy Letts).  As she and Malcolm try to find redemption, they accumulate an eccentric group of people around them including a lonely American expat (Valerie Mahaffey), a clairvoyant that they meet on the crossing to France (Danielle Macdonald), the private investigator they hire to find her (Isaach de Bankole), Susan and her new boyfriend (Daniel di Tomasso), and, eventually, the owner of the apartment who comes to check up on them (Susan Coyne).  This might be a bit too quirky for some people but I found it to be hilarious.  In fact, I laughed out loud multiple times but I was the only one in my screening who did.  The plot is a bit thin and the supporting cast doesn't have much to work with (although Mahaffey steals every scene she is in) but it doesn't matter because the movie belongs to Pfeiffer and she gives a brilliant performance.  She is icy and imperious as she delivers the sharp and witty dialogue but there is also just enough vulnerability under the surface to make an unsympathetic character into a compelling one.  Hedges gives an understated performance that sometimes pales next to Pfeiffer's but the two of them have great chemistry as a mother and son searching for a real connection.  This is the type of movie that I would usually see at my favorite art house theater (which I hope opens soon) and it really appealed to me because it features my particular brand of humor but, as previously mentioned, it might not be for everyone.

Voyagers

I thought the trailer for Voyagers looked really intriguing so I went to see it last night.  In the near future the Earth has become uninhabitable because of climate change and disease and, while a planet capable of sustaining life has been found, the journey there will take 86 years.  Scientists decide to create a bio-engineered group of children who will grow up on board the spaceship as it travels to the new planet and serve as the crew for the mission while producing children and grandchildren to eventually colonize it.  They are raised by a scientist named Richard (Colin Farrell) in complete isolation so they won't miss anyone or anything on Earth and their emotions and impulses are controlled by a chemical put in a drink administered daily known as the blue.  An inquisitive crew member named Christopher (Tye Sheridan) discovers that they are being controlled by the blue and he convinces Zac (Fionn Whitehead), and then the whole crew, to stop taking it with him.  At first this causes an exciting awakening of their senses but soon they start to give in to their darker instincts.  When an accident leaves a leadership void, Christopher and Zac fight for control and for the affections of Sela (Lily-Rose Depp) which compromises the mission.  This movie has an interesting premise but, unfortunately, the execution of it is rather bland.  Most of the characters are so thinly drawn that I couldn't recognize any of their names when they appeared in the end credits and, aside from Whitehead (who is becoming quite good at portraying psychopaths), the performances are incredibly stilted.  The message about the breakdown of order and its consequences (which is stolen from reminiscent of Lord of the Flies) is very heavy-handed and obvious while the scenes of teenagers running amok are surprisingly tame (the poster is more titillating than the movie).  Many of the deeper psychological questions, such as nature vs. nurture, freewill, and sacrificing oneself for a greater cause, are briefly introduced and then quickly abandoned.  I did enjoy the sleek and stylish design of the spaceship (with endless corridors for the characters to run through) but not enough to recommend this lackluster movie to anyone other than fans of the young actors.

The Hunting Wives

My Book of the Month selection for April was The Hunting Wives by May Cobb (the other options were What Comes After by Joanne Tompkins, Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala, Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge, and People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry) and this murder mystery involving bored housewives behaving badly is wildly entertaining! Sophie O'Neill has left behind a dysfunctional childhood and a high profile job as a magazine editor in Chicago to live a quiet life in the small town of Mapleton, Texas with her husband Graham and young son Jack. She fills her days with running the trails near her home, gardening, and writing a lifestyle blog but she quickly finds herself bored with the slower pace. She connects with an old high school friend who introduces her to a popular group of wealthy society women. She obsessively stalks them on social media and longs to join them in their exploits so she is thrilled when she is invited to one of their weekly skeet shooting parties. They call themselves the Hunting Wives and Sophie soon learns that these evenings also involve copious amounts of alcohol and excursions to nightclubs to hunt for a different sort of prey. Sophie eventually becomes enamored with Margot, the leader of the group, and engages in some questionable behavior which threatens her relationship with Graham. When a young woman is found murdered where the group practices their skeet shooting, Sophie begins to suspect that the group is involved somehow. This is a quick and easy read full of scandal and gossip that I enjoyed much more than I thought I would. The first person narration follows Sophie as she makes one bad decision after another, some of which will make you want to scream with frustration when you are not howling with laughter. Almost all of the characters are incredibly unsympathetic but they were compelling enough to keep me reading at every opportunity because I had to know what happens to them and I found the twist at the end to be very original and satisfying (I figured it out right before it was revealed). This is not usually the kind of book that I would pick if left to my own devices (it is quite salacious and over the top) but it is a lot of fun. I recommend it to anyone looking for a bit of escapism.

Domingo Hindoyan Conducts Roberto Sierra, Bartok & Mozart 41

Last night I found myself at Abravanel Hall once again for another wonderful Utah Symphony concert.  The orchestra was under the baton of guest conductor Domingo Hindoyan (making his Utah Symphony debut) and the evening began with Sinfonietta for String Orchestra by Roberto Sierra.  This contemporary piece recently had its world premiere with the Detroit Symphony conducted by Hindoyan and I really liked it because it is very percussive and filled with passion.  I especially enjoyed it when the bassists struck their instruments with their bows.  Next the orchestra played Divertimento for Strings by Bela Bartok.  The first and third movements of this piece are lighthearted and energetic with themes played by a small group of soloists and repeated by the rest of the orchestra.  The second movement, on the other hard, is very slow and quite dark so, of course, I loved it!  The concert concluded with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 41 or "Jupiter."  I really love Mozart and this piece (his final symphony which is widely regarded as one of the best in the classical repertoire) is one of my favorites!  I especially love the final movement because it is so exhilarating but the orchestra performed the entire piece beautifully with a lot of emotion and energy!  I wish that there had been more people in the audience (socially distanced seating is still in place as required by city and county guidelines) but, even though we were small in number, we certainly did try to show our appreciation for such an amazing performance with a standing ovation.  I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) for either the Friday or Saturday concert featuring this same program.

Note:  I have been trying to decide which concerts I want to include in my Design-a-Series subscription but I couldn't narrow it down!  I finally decided to subscribe to the entire Masterworks Series (for the first time) and I am beyond excited!  Go here for more information about the incredible 2021-2022 season!

Les Miserables at HCT

I don't think I will ever get tired of hearing the dramatic opening notes of the musical Les Miserables. They moved me to tears the first time I heard them performed live at the Palace Theatre in London on a study abroad trip in 1990 and they did once again as I heard them performed at Hale Theatre last night! I love the moving story of Jean Valjean's redemption, which is based on Victor Hugo's masterpiece, and I love the beautiful music by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg so I have seen Les Miserables at least 30 times (a conservative estimate) and I have to say that HCT's current version is a great production. The cast features Casey Elliott, Bradley Quinn Lever, and Brad Robins, whose meeting while performing in HCT's 2014 production of Les Miserables prompted them to form the popular trio Gentri, and I was really excited to see them reprise their roles as Jean Valjean, Enjolras, and Marius, respectively. Their performances were definitely a highlight of the show for me, particularly Elliott's version of "Bring Him Home," Lever's version of "Red and Black," and Robins's version of "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables."  I also really enjoyed Cecily Ellis Bills as Fantine, Clotile Bonner Farkas as Madame Thenardier, and Rebecca Burroughs-Kremin as Eponine (I judge every production by how Eponine sings "On My Own" and her version gave me goosebumps). However, my very favorite performance of the night was Adam Dietlein as Inspector Javert. He is absolutely brilliant in the role because he holds himself, in both his mannerisms and his facial expressions, so rigidly and this characterization is perfect for the unyielding Javert. His rendition of "Stars" is incredibly powerful and it elicited the most applause and cheering last night after "Bring Him Home" (they had to stop the show because the applause went on for so long after this number). The costumes and sets are similar to those in the original Broadway production but also feature just enough flourishes to keep the show fresh (I loved all of Cosette's dresses and Madame Thenardier's gown for "Beggars at the Feast"). I do wish that the barricade could have been on the turntable because the reveal of Enjolras hanging upside down while holding the red flag as it slowly rotates in the original production is one of the most dramatic moments of the show (I miss this moment in the new staging on Broadway as well) but I like that HCT's barricade allows the entire audience to see "A Little Fall of Rain" and "Drink With Me."  I think "Javert's Suicide" is staged particularly well because it really seems as if he is jumping from a bridge to his death and I also quite enjoyed the staging of "Master of the House" because even the young Eponine (Olivia Dietlein) steals from the guests. I love this show so much (it will always be a sentimental favorite) and seeing it at HCT last night made me very happy. I highly recommend getting a ticket but be aware that several secondary ticketing sites have been inflating prices significantly (go directly here for the best prices). It runs on the Young Living Stage through June 19.

Note:  I think I might need to see it again for the MWF cast because it features Kyle Olsen as Jean Valjean and he blew me away as Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities.