Good Will Hunting (1997): One of those universally loved movies which pretty much everyone who watches movies has seen, GWH still plays as a fantastical story of genius boy who discovers therapy. I don’t imagine there is any other movie that has brought therapy so into the mainstream as this one, thanks in no small part to Robin Williams’ heart-tugging interpretation of the role. I very much enjoyed rewatching it, but if there’s one thing that stood out as irritating it’s this: why did Will have to be such an only-five-in-the-world-kind-of-genius? He could’ve just been clever smart to a reasonable degree and with the rest of the set-up, the thing would have still played in a similar way. But as a friend pointed out, I guess if you were to write such a character as a twenty year-old, you probably would make him the cleverest person on earth. 8
Hit Man (2024): To stay in this week’s Glen-zone, it was finally time for Linklater’s Hit Man. A seemingly simple story, about a professor working with the police only to have to unwittingly go undercover as a hit man – and realize he’s good at it – this is the definition of escapist romance. As mentioned in the previous review of Anyone But You, just because people are attractive doesn’t automatically mean they have chemistry, but here I’m-just-Glen and Adria Arjona (who starred in Blink Twice as well) are ga-ga. Sure, the framing helps, as two glaring red flags seem to make a right, and their energy, as well as how straight a lot of the movie plays, make this one a very digestible target. 8
Blink Twice (2024): I’m torn about this one. It’s Zoe Kravitz’s debut feature, which in itself deserves leniency, and it tells a story I have personally been interested in – the tech bros manipulating people into doing whatever they please. With Glass Onion aesthetics (and set on an island) and some interesting moves in the editing room, there were moments when the movie was very effective. The plot, however, is too familiar – Jordan Peele has done it better, even though not even his was fundamentally original. Channing Tatum is indeed interesting to see in this unusual part for him, but he isn’t offered that much time and space to explore it. Beyond that, some flimsy therapizing and one-dimensional revenge-rampage make Blink Twice less than the sum of its parts – but still kinda intriguing. 7
Anyone But You (2023): For reasons outside of my control, I rewatched this romcom – basically in honour of “just Glen”. The first watch was tolerable enough, with some moments of reward, but the second just felt terribly blasé. Without the shroud of, let’s say, curiosity about plot and gags, it all plays like a collection of set-pieces that have nowhere to go. I wasn’t taken about anyone’s chemistry, not even the two leads, especially since I could now contrast it with something considerably more workable that I saw in Twisters. Alas, this seems like a one-time-only kind of movie, unless you want to scratch the thin veneer of respectability. 5
A Family Affair (2024): I didn’t much like The Idea of You (2024), and this one gets even less right than the other one. Focused a lot on the perspective of a (bratty) twenty something year old, assistant to a famous actor who starts a relationship with her successful mother, this one puts the “charm” in charmless. I like Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman, but they have considerably less chemistry than Hathaway and Galitzine, and the writing doesn’t really help. There are a lot of speeches and some of the things said have a certain weight to them, but most of the time it is generic drivel. A sad family affair. 4
tributary stu 