Big Fish at CPT

Last night my sister and I went to a production of Big Fish at Centerpoint Theatre. I think this story about a son trying to understand his father and a father trying to make his son proud is very moving and CPT does a great job with a very complicated show. Will Bloom (Doug Wadley) has always been exasperated by all of the outlandish stories that his father Edward (Scott W. Butler) has told him all his life. These include having his fortune told by a witch (Claire Glaittli) in a swamp, learning how to swim from a mermaid (Samantha Millward), going on the road with a giant named Karl (William Maguire), joining a circus owned by a werewolf (Matthew Price), wooing his future wife Sandra (Tara Wardle) with daffodils, and thwarting an assassination by Red Fang (Josh Lee) during the war. As he is about to become a father himself, Will learns that Edward is dying of cancer and returns home to attempt a reconciliation with him. After a Wild West confrontation between the two of them, Will discovers that the truth about his father is more extraordinary than the stories. I really enjoy the songs in this show because they bring all of Edward's fantastical stories to life and the staging of these numbers is very well-done. The choreography is incredibly whimsical, especially in "I Know What You Want" with the witch, "Favorite Son" with the townspeople of Ashton, "Closer to Her" with the circus (I loved the use of the cannon), and "Red White and True" with the USO (I am always impressed when the ensemble tap dances). Both Butler and Wadley are outstanding as Edward and Will Bloom, respectively. Butler portrays Edward's zest for life with an enthusiasm that is palpable while Wadley portrays Will's journey from skepticism to appreciation of his father's stories with heartfelt emotion, particularly in the song "What's Next." The set consists of large moving panels upon which projections are used to denote the riverbank, the swamp, the town of Ashton, the circus, Auburn University, and a field of daffodils. This is very effective at creating an immersive experience for the audience, particularly when Ashton is flooded because it seems as if the entire theater is under water, but some of the projections are a bit blurry (this could be because of the angle of my seat). I was very impressed with the costumes in all of the big musical numbers, most notably the lights on the costumes worn by the creatures in the swamp, the vintage circus costumes, and the Wild West costumes. My favorite production of this show remains the one I saw at HCT several years ago but I thoroughly enjoyed CPT's version and I recommend it (go here for tickets).

Note:  My sister and I are subscribers but the show on our original night was canceled due to Covid.  We rescheduled for last night but we had to sit apart. During intermission several patrons moved seats so we could have moved to be together but we chose to stay where we were!

Thor: Love and Thunder

Yesterday afternoon I had the chance to see Thor: Love and Thunder and it is definitely very entertaining.  Gorr (Christian Bale) becomes disillusioned after losing his daughter so he begins wielding the Necrosword to take revenge against the gods for allowing it to happen and becomes known as the God Butcher.  Meanwhile, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is fighting along with the Guardians of the Galaxy and Korg (Taika Waititi) when he learns that New Asgard is Gorr's next target.  He returns with Stormbreaker to help King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) fight Gorr and his shadow creatures but is disconcerted to see his former girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) wielding a reconstructed Mjolnir after coming to New Asgard for reasons.  Thor, Valkyrie, Jane, and Korg are able to defeat Gorr but he escapes with all of New Asgard's children.  They appeal to Zeus (Russell Crowe) for help from the other gods but they must eventually travel to the Shadow Realm themselves to rescue the children and stop Gorr before he can reach Eternity to ask for the destruction of all of the gods at once.  This is very silly in tone (maybe a bit too silly in some places) but it has several powerful messages about choosing to love despite the possibility of loss and pain as well as the responsibility those in power have towards the people they are meant to serve.  I really enjoyed the beginning sequences recapping Thor's early history, his relationship with Jane, and his time with the Guardians of the Galaxy but the scenes with Zeus and the rest of the gods started to lose me.  Luckily, the third act is fantastic with great action and a resolution filled with more pathos than I was expecting.  Gorr is one of the best villains I've seen in the MCU (along with Killmonger from Black Panther) because, even though he is terrifying, Bale imbues him with a bit of humanity and I actually sympathized with him to some extent.  Hemsworth has great comedic timing but he also has quite a few moments that are quite touching and Portman does an outstanding job with her character's arc.  The visuals are dazzling and I loved the use of Guns N' Roses throughout, especially the guitar solo from "November Rain" during a climactic battle.  Despite the stumble in the second act, I had a lot of fun with this and, if you liked Thor: Ragnarok, I suspect you will like it, too!

Note:  The actors in the play all reprise their roles!  My favorite is still Loki but the addition of Hela made me laugh out loud!

The Forgiven

The trailer for The Forgiven looked really interesting to me and, since I am a fan of Ralph Fiennes, I decided to see it last night.  David Henninger (Fiennes) and his wife Jo (Jessica Chastain) are traveling from London to attend a house party at a lavish villa in Morocco owned by an old school friend named Richard Galloway (Matt Smith) and his lover Dally Margolis (Caleb Landry Jones).  David is cynical and Jo is bored (which is established in the first shot before they speak a word of dialogue) and they can barely conceal their contempt for each other as they travel through the desert.  While arguing over which direction to go they hit and kill a Muslim boy who steps into the road to sell them a souvenir.  They cover up the details and, once they reach the villa, Richard bribes the police to rule it an accident so as not to ruin the weekend.  David seems unconcerned because he believes that the boy is just a nobody from nowhere but Jo is genuinely upset.  The next morning Abdellah (Ismael Kanater), the boy's father, arrives at the villa and demands that David accompany him to his remote village to attend the burial of his son.  David initially refuses but Richard convinces him to go because he does not want trouble with the locals.  The narrative then alternates between David's journey to redemption and Jo's descent into debauchery with Richard's guests, including a British aristocrat (Alex Jennings), a French journalist (Marie-Josee Croze), an Australian model (Abbey Lee), and an American financier (Christopher Abbott), at the house party.  This is a fascinating commentary on classism and racism because all of the guests, who are truly despicable people, view the Muslim servants at the villa as lowly and primitive as they stoically serve them and clean up all of their messes.  I felt uncomfortable watching certain scenes but I couldn't look away.  I found the juxtaposition between David and Jo to be incredibly compelling because I despised David and sympathized with Jo during the first act but my opinion about them slowly reversed.  I especially loved a powerful moment between David and his interpreter Anouar (Said Taghmaoui) and another one with a servant named Hamid (Mourad Zaoui) near the end.  Chastain is fantastic (a certain scene where she says that the accident should remain in the past gave me chills) but Fiennes gives a brilliant performance because you can literally see his transformation happening in his eyes.  This is a slow burn that is more character driven than plot driven but I found it to be very thought-provoking (although I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending).

Mr. Malcolm's List

Last night I went with my sisters and my niece to see Mr. Malcolm's List and we had a great time watching it together!  Lady Julia Thistlewaite (Zawe Ashton) sets her sights on the wealthy Jeremiah Malcolm (Sope Dirisu) but he rejects her publicly.  Feeling hurt and humiliated, she sends her cousin Lord Cassidy (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) to investigate and he discovers that Mr. Malcolm has a list of requirements for a bride and that she has been found wanting.  She devises a plan for revenge which involves having her old school friend Selina Dalton (Freida Pinto) portray all of the qualities he is looking for and, when he falls in love with her, ruthlessly reject him with her own list.  Complications arise!  This is a very lighthearted Regency romance that had me (and my sisters) laughing from beginning to end.  However, having said that, I really enjoyed the journey that Julia takes because, even though she is vindictive in her desire to make Mr. Malcolm suffer, she realizes that she has been just as dismissive of her own suitors, especially where a certain Captain Henry Ossory (Theo James) is concerned.  Ashton is fantastic in the role and her reactions to the goings-on provide much of the comedy but also a few tender moments. Pinto and Dirisu have tremendous chemistry, particularly during a dance at a masquerade ball (dancing is often the turning point in Regency romances), and, even though you know how their story will end after their very first scene together, it is so entertaining watching them realize it.  As much as I loved the main cast, Divian Ladwa steals the show as a footman in the Thistlewaite household because his facial expressions are hilarious. Finally, I really enjoyed the colorblind casting (as I did in The Personal History of David Copperfield) and I hope this trend continues. The gorgeous Regency-era costumes, lavish interiors (my favorite is the opera house), bucolic outdoor settings, sweeping score, and witty banter all provide a bit of escapist fun.  The four of us loved it and I recommend it as a delightful way to spend an evening with a group of friends.

Official Competition

The trailer for Official Competition made me laugh out loud and that was enough to convince me to see it last night at the Broadway.  Humberto Suarez (Jose Luis Gomez) is a wealthy businessman contemplating his legacy after turning  80.  He briefly considers building a bridge so that it can be named after him but then decides to finance a prestigious art house film.  He acquires the rights to a Pulitzer Prize winning novel at great expense, which he admits he has not read, and hires a brilliant but eccentric auteur named Lola Cuevas (Penelope Cruz) to adapt and direct it.  She chooses Ivan Torres (Oscar Martinez), a pretentious legend of the stage known for his extreme method acting, and Felix Rivero (Antonio Banderas), a vain but insecure action movie star, to play two estranged brothers and requires them to join her for several weeks of rehearsal where she subjects them to several increasingly bizarre and seemingly irrelevant exercises to help them discover their characters' motivation.  Both Ivan and Felix let their egos interfere with their performance as they compete with each other over whose acting technique is most effective and chaos ensues. This is a biting satire about the creative processes involved in making a film and it is absolutely hilarious because it totally rings true.  Lola reminded me of many of my favorite directors, especially when she spends seven hours picking out fabric for a sofa to be used in the movie (Wes Anderson), when she reacts with hostility to a question posed at a film festival press conference (Ridley Scott), and when she has the actors read a line of dialogue over and over until she is satisfied for no discernible reason (Noah Baumbach).  It also calls to mind the ridiculous lengths to which some actors will go in preparing for a role (Daniel Day-Lewis) and the outrageous demands big stars make on set via their personal assistants (Tom Cruise).  Cruz, Bandaras, and Martinez give pitch-perfect performances and watching the three of them spar with each other is so much fun.  I can't remember when I have laughed so much during a movie and, if it weren't for a few pacing issues and a somewhat underwhelming ending, this would definitely be one of my year-end favorites!  I recommend it to all fans of independent film.