Movies of the Week #52 (2023)

Un héros très discret (1996): This is the fifth Jacques Audiard movie I’ve watched and it’s the fifth one I’ve liked. Starring Mathieu Kassovitz, fresh off his La Haine success, it tells the story of Albert Dehousse, a not particularly bright fellow who has a chameleonic ability of blending and gradually develops a shrewdness that helps him navigate the aftermath of the second World War. The movie has a creative cvasi-documentarian, approach, with an older Albert framing his life alongside other characters, while the younger version infiltrates the French resistance circles and gains social standing, before starting to hunt down collaborators. The story itself touches on many things, in particular historical revisionism, but it is Kassovitz’s nuanced performance that bestows the aloof Albert with a likable charm in spite of his deception. Moreso, it transforms him into a person, safeguarding him from what could easily have been a caricature. 8

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023): What is to me an unexpected revival of a series that didn’t stick its landing at all, this Hunger Games prequel is a three stage affair. The first features the set-up to the 10th edition of the games and the introduction of a young Coriolanus Snow; the second is the games themselves; the third is the expected turn to the – spoiler for those who have not seen the original movies – Eminem side. The further we proceed through the affair, the less wind it has in its sails, with a finale that’s rushed and disappointing. There’s also a lot of in-your-face morality to go with an otherwise surprisingly serviceable movie, that also benefits from a good turn by Tom Blyth as Coriolanus. I didn’t feel Rachel Zegler’s musical turn as Lucy Gray was as solid, but that’s probably more personal taste than anything. 6

Thanksgiving (2023): It’s been a minute since Eli Roth last directed an enjoyable movie. Success came from this unlikely source, a 2007 spoof trailer with the same name, a story about a Black Friday/Thanksgiving retailer raid with fatalities and many a grudge-holders. The privileged have their work cut out to survive as an angry slasher enacts a gruesome revenge killing-spree. There’s really nothing more to this, the whodunnit is fairly phoned in, but there are some fun scenes, ripe with gore and satire. I won’t call it a comeback (does Roth really have something to comeback to?), but I kind of enjoyed this. 6

The Creator (2023): For whatever reason, when a rom-com uses formula with a chemistry infused pair of leads, I find that a good genre film. When a sci-fi does the same, I find it irksome. What’s important in the former isn’t as important in the latter, but if I were to find an equivalent of “chemistry” it would be to have some characters with personality and some good banter. The Creator benefits from JD Washington’s committed performance, but it’s a very dry and serious rehash with few fresh elements to make it stand out. It lacks nuance, a good antagonist and a satisfying finale. There are some inspired visual scenes, but otherwise, as many a reviewer has pointed out, the movie has the emotional weight of something put together by AI. Not my cuppa. 5

Next Goal Wins (2023): Taika Waititi goes all mushy cliches in this story inspired by American Samoa’s woeful football team. While it’s good to see Fassbender again away from his racing car, I didn’t feel the script gave him much to work with, as it ticks unimaginative storylines and goes for the lowest of humor bars. That said, it’s not an unlikable movie, has some inspired scenes and the occasional moment of self-irony hits the spot. A very lighthearted fare that adds to the very mediocre pantheon of football cinema. The true story is better. 5