The Florida Project (2017)

A film that reminds you what it was like to be a child, The Florida Project has quickly become one of my all-time favourites for so many reasons, least of which is the performances of the cast.

Six-year-old Moonee (Brooklynn Prince) lives with her single mother Halley (Bria Vinaite) in a motel right on the outskirts of Disney World in Florida. The two of them have a relatively simple life, with Moonee spending most of her time running amok around the local area with her best friend Scooty (Christopher Rivera), and Halley spending most of her time smoking in their room - despite the fact the rooms are supposed to be smoke-free.

Not long after the film begins, Moonee and Scooty meet another girl, Jancey (Valeria Cotto) who lives in the motel next door with her younger sister, and their grandmother (Josie Olivo).

The three of them become thick as thieves, and spend their summer break getting into all sorts of mischief, much to the chagrin of motel manager Bobby (Willem Dafoe).

L-R: Scooty (Christopher Rivera), Moonee (Brooklynn Prince) and Jancey (Valeria Cotto).

Moonee’s mother Halley is far from the perfect parent, but one thing is clear: the two of them love each other very much, and would do anything to be together, albeit against the odds, especially after Halley is reported to Child Services for her negligent and in many ways dangerous behaviour.

Bobby - the long-suffering manager - puts up with a lot, not just from Moonee and Halley, but from all his tenants, almost all of whom are long-term residents, trying to have a liveable life in an environment and facilities that were never meant for long-term living. His love for his job - and more importantly, for the people he finds himself at the mercy of - is ever evident.

But it is definitely the interactions between the three young children that make this film what it is: a beautiful, heartfelt portrait of what it is to be young, curious and adventurous. A lot of the scenes featuring the children have an somewhat improvised feel to them - in a good way - and all of them feel very naturalistic and virtually unscripted.

Halley (Bria Vinaite) and Moonee (Brooklynn Prince).

There is a script, however - as mentioned, I’m not sure how rigid it is in the scenes led by the three young performers - written by Sean Baker, who also directed the film & Chris Bergoch. It is a very clever screenplay, full of plenty of conflict, and plenty of twists and turns. Trust me, there are moments in this film you will never see coming, and an ending that will bring you to tears - guaranteed. I’ve said this occasionally before in earlier reviews, but only the most heartless viewer could come away from this film without shedding tears.

Alexis Zabe’s cinematography may not be particularly complex or distinctively different, but it suits the tone and the feel of the film perfectly. There are many moments when the main focus is the incredible landscape and environment in which the film is set; in many of these instances, the characters fade into the background, as they find themselves at the mercy of their surroundings.

I couldn’t finish this review without a mention of the production design - courtesy of Stephonik Youth - and the costume design by Fernando Rodriguez. Both of these elements also set the tone for the entire piece, grounding the audience in a very particular reality. The sets and locations are stunning - I don’t mean visually stunning necessarily, but stunning in the sense of how much is conveyed with so little - and the costumes powerful and perfect in their simplicity and naturalness.

Bobby (Willem Dafoe).

Nevertheless, it is the performances of the entire cast - without a single exception - that make this film what it is. Every performer brings so much to their own character, and none of them is afraid to go where they need to go as a performer - in the sense of emotional depth.

The two standouts, without a doubt, are Willem Dafoe and Brooklynn Prince. It should come as no surprise that Dafoe is superb - we’ve seen him in plenty of incredible roles before - but the natural acting ability of relative newcomer Prince leaves the rest of the cast behind. This young performer most assuredly has a long and prosperous career ahead of her, and is definitely one to keep an eye on (in fact, she appears in a brand new series on Apple TV+ entitled ‘Home Before Dark’, with all 10 episodes dropping this Friday).

Director Sean Baker has made an absolutely beautiful film here, one that I’m sure I will be watching many more times. This was one of the first films in a long time that I was happy to pay a second admission to see again at the cinema, it was just that good (I even named my cat Moonee, for goodness sake). If you haven’t seen it yet, you really must do so as soon as you can.

10 out of 10.

The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

Based on the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, this film tells the story of the life of Christ, but it's a very different story than the one you may be used to. I'd hazard a guess that you haven't seen many films about Jesus in which Jesus appears in a sex scene.

There is a disclaimer at the very beginning of the film, a title card which states "This film is not based on the Gospels", but rather the fictional narrative from the novel, a story which places much more emphasis on the humanity of Jesus.

Jesus (Willem Dafoe) lives in Nazareth, where he works as a carpenter, his primary line of work being making crosses for the occupying Romans. And it isn't long into the film before we see one of them being used to crucify a Jewish criminal, his naked body nailed up for all to see as a warning to all that the Romans must be obeyed.

His close friend, Judas Iscariot (Harvey Keitel) chastises Jesus in the strongest possible terms, calling him a traitor for working for the enemy and abandoning his people. Judas is keen to rebel against the Romans, and convinces Jesus that they should work together.

Jesus, however, is not so keen on the revolution idea. He does agree with Judas that something needs to be done, but doesn't agree that it needs to be a military-style rebellion. He has been plagued for as long as he can remember by visions and dreams, and is beginning to believe that there is something God strongly wants him to do.

Jesus (Willem Dafoe) and Mary Magdalene (Barbara Hershey), with Judas
(Harvey Keitel) and other disciples.

Eventually, Judas convinces him, and the two of them set out together, bound for Jerusalem. Along the way, they accrue many other followers, most of them agreeing with Judas's position that the only way to be free of the Romans is to overthrow them. Jesus, however, preaches a message of love, including love for one's enemies. These followers include people whose names you will have heard before, but of course, their characters are very different from those in the biblical narrative.

You have Mary Magdalene (Barbara Hershey), a prostitute (though the Bible never named her as such) who has had quite a long, chequered history with Jesus, and also lived in Nazareth. Then there is Peter (Victor Argo), whose character more closely resembles that of the real Peter.

On the way to Jerusalem, we meet many other characters who at first seem familiar, but whose involvement with Jesus and his followers is very different. One of these is John the Baptist (Andre Gregory), whom the team go to in order to learn about the Messiah. After all, if Jesus is to become the Messiah, they need to find out what or who the Messiah is supposed to be, right?

I won't go any further into the plot, I'll leave that for you to discover. The only thing I would say is, as the disclaimer implies, go into this with an open mind. It is a very well-structured film and, provided you aren't constantly comparing it to the biblical stories of Jesus, you may very well find a lot about this film to enjoy.

Jesus (Willem Dafoe) on his way to Golgotha.

The screenplay, written by Paul Schrader from Kazantzakis's novel, is incredibly well written. All of the characters are clearly defined, and there is certainly plenty of conflict. The internal struggles that Jesus faces are incredibly strong, pulling him in all sorts of directions, and his continued effort to stay on track provide plenty of opportunities for conflict, not only within himself but with those around him.

The quality of the adaptation is also excellent. Having read the novel, I can say that Schrader couldn't have done much better than he did in translating the book to the screen. Not much has been cut, then again, the film's running time is just short of three hours, so there is plenty of screen time to get everything in.

The score was composed by Peter Gabriel, of Genesis fame, and is well suited to the on-screen action, as well as the underlying emotions and conflicts of the story.

The cinematography - by Michael Ballhaus - is also fabulous, with plenty of contrast between light and dark moments used to again highlight the high and low points of the plot and on-screen action. There are numerous scenes in near-total darkness, and these are brilliantly executed.

I must take a moment to talk about some of the cast's performances. In particular, Willem Dafoe shines in his portrayal of Jesus. Despite the fact that the plot is very different from the biblical narrative, Dafoe's portrayal of Jesus is probably the most realistic and true of any I have seen. Unlike most other actors who have played Jesus in a film before, Dafoe does not play him as a mild-mannered weakling. He brings a strength - with integrity - to the character at a level which I have yet to see in other films.

An angel (Juliette Caton) appears to Jesus in his hour of need.

Keep your eyes open for a cameo by the late, great David Bowie as Pontius Pilate. Again, he brings a difference - but also truth - to the character that has not been seen in other films before.

Director Martin Scorsese has made quite a film, with plenty of talking points for viewers to discuss and debate. There was a lot of controversy surrounding this film's release, with Christians picketing and protesting outside cinemas - none of whom had actually watched the film or had any idea what it was they were really protesting. But given the fact this was never meant to be an accurate portrayal of the life of Christ, I think it is quite a good film.

I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who has not seen it before, and would welcome any further discussion on the film for those who are interested.

9 out of 10.

Finding Nemo (2003)

Undeniably one of Pixar’s best films, this picture shows the incredible lengths a father will go to to protect his son.

After a tragedy robs him of his wife and all but one of his offspring, clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks) is incredibly protective of his young son Nemo (Alexander Gould), in fact, he is incredibly overprotective of him, not really allowing him to do anything on his own.

When Nemo is taken one day by two men on a boat, Marlin – without a second thought – swims after the boat as fast as he can. But he is not fast enough, and now his son is gone.

While swimming after the boat, Marlin runs into a blue fish by the name of Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), who suffers from short term memory loss (at least, she thinks she does). The two of them head off on an adventure across the ocean to find Nemo and bring him home again.

Meanwhile, Nemo finds himself in a fish tank in a dentist’s surgery in Sydney. The other occupants of the tank have been trying to escape for some time, and Nemo’s arrival – and desire to be back in the ocean where he belongs – merely adds fuel to their fire.

Under the direction of Gill (Willem Dafoe), a fish who has injured himself on one of his many attempts at escape, the rest of the fish try one scheme after another to try and get out of their ‘prison’.

I think that’s enough plot description for now. Let’s get straight into the review itself.

The first thing I have to say is that computer animation capabilities have come a long way from Pixar’s first film, Toy Story, only 8 years before Finding Nemo was released. The oceanscape in the film is absolutely spectacular, full of colour and full of life. Also, the nuances that can be displayed with computer animation have vastly improved (look into Dory’s eyes when she says the line ‘I’m home’ towards the end of the film and you will see what I mean).

The casting of this film – as with many other Pixar films – is truly inspired. In particular, Ellen DeGeneres as Dory is fabulous. She brings so much to the character, and her performance is fantastic. (It was only going to be a matter of time before Dory became the star of her own film; stay tuned for a review of Finding Dory later this year).

Other notable cast members include Brad Garrett as a puffer fish (in the dentist’s aquarium) and Barry Humphries as a shark who has sworn off eating fish (remember, fish are friends, not food!).

Director Andrew Stanton (who co-wrote the screenplay with Bob Peterson & David Reynolds) and co-director Lee Unkrich have created – in my mind – a true masterpiece of cinema, a film that stands up on its own against the best live-action comedy or drama film.

For the longest time after seeing this film (initially in the cinema, later on DVD repeatedly) I would call it Pixar’s best film. In fact, every Pixar film I have seen since I have compared back to this ie. ‘the best Pixar film since Finding Nemo’. I think that’s just about the best recommendation I can make for this film.

Seriously, if you haven’t seen it yet, you need to do so immediately. You will thank me for it. And if you have seen it, check it out again; no harm can come from watching a film over again, especially one as brilliantly executed as this.

9 1/2 out of 10.