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Review by Cole Groth  With only moderate critical praise and an unfortunately timed release at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020’s Becky receiving a sequel is certainly a surprise. With more laughs, gore, and an even shorter runtime than its predecessor, fans of the original will adore The Wrath of Becky, but for those who didn’t like the original, this one won’t win over many new fans. The Wrath of Becky picks up several years after Becky. Since the titular heroine (Lulu Wilson) killed a gang of Nazis in revenge for the killing of her father, she’s been placed in multiple foster homes but escapes every time to live in the wilderness with an older woman (Denise Burse). Her life is interrupted after a group of dickish alt-right shitheads break into her house and wreak havoc, forcing her to resort to the bloody revenge she took in the previous film. Lulu Wilson’s performance as Becky is undermined by a somewhat unbearable script. She’s menacing, funny, and awe-inspiring as a young spirit with a knack for hunting. She’s perfectly opposed by incredibly annoying performances from Seann William Scott, Michael Sirow, and Aaron Dalla Willa as the pricks she has to kill. You will despise their characters by the film’s end, a testament to their excellent acting ability.  As mentioned before, the biggest weakness of the film is the screenplay. Every character is unlikable — even our protagonist being a grating presence in an already frustrating film. She operates with a bothersome teenage angst that’s annoyingly unrealistic and has an eye-rolling amount of edge. The bad guys this time around are so irredeemable that it seems like their dialogue was written by a very smug writer who wanted to live out a fantasy of killing a bunch of neo-Nazis. That's not to say that the fantasy is a bad thing — it just limits the characters to caricatures.
Where the script is lacking, the production department makes up for it with some killer gore. The deaths are more shocking than last time and are a fun combination between Home Alone and Saw. The intense fun of Becky hunting down the villains is rewarded with glorious action. Fans of horror will have much more fun with the sequel because of how much grander it is than the previous installment, and the kills are much better. While plenty of other, much better, films could’ve received sequels, it’s nice to know that even smaller projects can get started on a franchise. If this is as successful as the ending wants it to be, we might be watching the beginning of a Becky franchise. The Wrath of Becky is a bit of a failure as a screenplay but isn’t a bad way to kill 83 minutes. Revenge fantasies like this operate on their satisfying conclusions, and though it’s a messy adventure, Becky racks up a few great kills in a somewhat overindulgent yet entertaining film. The Wrath of Becky releases in theaters on May 26. Rating: 3/5
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Review by Sean Boelman
A few actors and actresses have become such Cannes mainstays that their name being attached to a project is often enough to make it one of the highest-profile titles of the festival. Benedetta star Virginie Efira’s newest vehicle All to Play For is premiering in the Un Certain Regard section of this year’s Cannes, and Efira manages to breathe life into the otherwise uneven picture.
The film follows a family who, after an accident while the mother is not home, finds themselves torn apart when the child is taken away by protective services and placed in a foster home. This is a premise that feels like it is going to be an exaggerated melodrama, but the approach it takes is much more grounded — if not remotely quiet. With a runtime of over an hour and fifty minutes, the movie manages to get its point across relatively early and spends most of the rest of its length reiterating itself. Although what we see is often nothing short of devastating, it also feels like overkill. It’s clear that the film wants us to know that this is an important issue — it’s just a tad on the aggressive side. There are certainly some interesting questions asked by the movie, particularly when it comes to parenting and what exactly makes a good parent. Unfortunately, as many of us will know, the answer is far from black-and-white. Still, the film seems much more preoccupied with pointing fingers than providing an actual solution. 
Virginie Efira plays the lead role in the movie, and as is usually the case with everything she does, she manages to elevate the material. The role is complex — equal parts frustrating and compelling — but Efira manages to capture all the nuance of the character in an utterly heartbreaking and captivating way.
Perhaps the most frustrating thing about All to Play For — and it is an issue that tends to plague films with these themes — is that it fails to give an adequate voice to the people who matter most in this situation: the children. This story is, first and foremost, about the mother and the pain she suffers. The movie would have been much more effective had it taken a moment to stop and truly dive into what the kids are feeling. The film is very simplistic in its approach, with an emphasis on the performances over technicality. Delphine Deloget’s narrative feature debut is unflashy by design, and this grounded, realism-based approach works well in making the message resonate more deeply and avoid the pitfalls of melodrama. All to Play For makes its point, and if that is the only metric for success, it knocks it out of the park. Unfortunately, the movie otherwise ends up feeling a bit heavy-handed and overlong. Still, Efira’s performance saves it and makes it worth the watch. All to Play For is screening at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. Rating: 3/5
Review by Sean Boelman
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Luke Brunner in episode 101 of Fubar. Credit: Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix © 2023.
FUBAR has been teased as action movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “long-awaited” first role in television. Although no one was likely clamoring for this before it was made, those who met its announcement with excitement should temper their expectations, as it’s a lame, only occasionally enjoyable outing that doesn’t take advantage of its stars’ talent.
The show follows a CIA operative who, on the eve of his retirement, discovers that his daughter has secretly been an operative herself and requires his help on what may end up being one of his biggest missions yet. It’s a mix of action-comedy and family comedy, and while this should be a formula for fun, it ends up being shockingly unpleasant. Early on in the series, there are some writing decisions made that range from questionable to downright baffling. Of the more head-scratching variety are lines like one that seems to casually assert Schwarzenegger is a decade younger than he actually is. On the more annoying end are countless puns related to iconic quotes from the action star, like numerous shoehorned-in exclamations of “CHOPPA!” If FUBAR were a two-hour feature length film, it would have likely been pretty enjoyable. Unfortunately, at eight episodes — most of which are pushing an hour in length each — the story stretches itself thin very quickly. The international espionage plot is simply too basic and formulaic, and it can’t sustain such a bloated length. 
(L to R) Monica Barbaro as Emma Brunner, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Luke Brunner in episode 103 of Fubar. Credit: Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix © 2023.
Schwarzenegger is absolutely eating up his role, which is part of what makes it so confusing that the series otherwise feels uninspired. Even when the one-liners he is being asked to deliver are completely cringe-worthy, the Governator brings 100% authenticity to the role and manages to get a laugh most of the time.
As for the rest of the ensemble, they end up being almost as enjoyable as the A-lister lead. Milan Carter is the biggest breakout as the man in the chair to Schwarzenegger’s superspy, but Fortune Feimster and Travis Van Winkle also have some funny moments as sidekicks. Gabriel Luna also gives an enjoyable villainous turn as the (admittedly generic) international arms dealer. Only Monica Barbaro and Jay Baruchel feel completely underused, although Barbaro does have pretty great chemistry with Schwarzenegger. While one would hope that the series offers Schwarzenegger plenty of action sequences harkening back to his good ol’ days of the height of his career, there’s really only one or two of these in the entire series. He’s gotten old — there’s no way around that — but an unnecessarily CGI-filled spectacle like this is *not* the way to prove that he’s still got it. Ultimately, Schwarzenegger has remained a cultural icon for many years at this point — there’s absolutely no reason that he should have to resort to lame nostalgia bait like this chasing relevancy that he (however unexpectedly) still has. There has certainly been worse content on Netflix than FUBAR, but what makes it disappointing is how fun it could (and should) have been. FUBAR is now streaming on Netflix. Rating: 2.5/5 Review by Dan Skip Allen  Sebastian Maniscalco as Sebastian and Robert De Niro as Salvo in About My Father. Photo Credit: Dan Anderson/Lionsgate. Sebastian Maniscalco may not be a household name, but he is a renowned stand-up comedian from Chicago. He released 6 stand-up specials, and he's had a few supporting roles in films such as Martin Scorsese's The Irishman as Joe Gallo and Peter Farrelly's Green Book. About My Father is the semi-autobiographical story of a hilarious moment in his life, where he introduces his father to his in-laws to interesting results. Maniscalco wrote the screenplay with Austen Earl. It's a story he's clearly passionate about. It's somewhat of a fish-out-of-water tale. This man and his father have lived different lives than his wife (played by Leslie Bibb) and her eccentric family. To get his father's approval to marry her, he must bring him to their nice ritzy house in Virginia. His cheap and old ways clash with their posh, rich ways. Maniscalco and fledgling director Laura Terruso worked well together to craft his story into something relatable for audiences of all backgrounds. The various parental figures in the movie represent two different sides of the same coin in a way. You have one group that lets their children do what they want and support them, while another parent is staunch and stricter with his son regarding finances and how to handle himself. These two opposing sides of this group of people create a fun dichotomy throughout the film. Robert De Niro is known for his serious roles in The Godfather Part II, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas, but in the late ‘90s, he started branching out into more comedic roles. He starred in such films as Analyze This and Analyze That, as well as the Meet the Parents franchise. He has transitioned nicely into these comedic roles because he tends to play the straight man, while everybody else does the comedic stuff around him. He made the occasional ad lib, though, which can be beneficial to some scenes, and proves a particularly useful skill here.  Sebastian Maniscalco as Sebastian and Robert De Niro as Salvo in About My Father. Photo Credit: Dan Anderson/Lionsgate. Maniscalco and De Niro are a good father-son team in this movie. They have good chemistry with one another. That being said, it sometimes seems they are on an island by themselves. The rest of the cast, from Leslie Bibb to David Rasche, and even Kim Cattrall, are always one step behind them. In one scene, for instance, the family is taking a Christmas card photo, and both Maniscalco and De Niro go for it during this scene, wearing outlandish costumes to get the cheap laugh. When the others do or say stuff, it's not as funny. I just didn't buy them as these characters apart from an occasional laugh.
The main thing about this film I liked also works against it, and that's the fact that we've seen this story done to death before. I like this sort of story, but couldn't these guys and gals come up with something original? Sure, there is a montage showing the backstory of where these people come from, which was narrated by Maniscalco himself. And the narration was enjoyable to listen to during the entire film, but the rest was a cookie-cutter story the audience had seen before. About My Father has some moments that had me laughing out loud and other bits that didn't land with me or others watching the movie. Maniscalco and De Niro had great chemistry that I'm sure they developed over working on The Irishman and this film. I loved their characters’ relationship in this movie. I felt some of the humor fell flat, though, and those two were on an island by themselves at the time. Still, all said and done, this was a mostly enjoyable in-laws comedy. It'll be good counter-programming for people who want something different this Memorial Day weekend. About My Father hits theaters on May 26. Rating: 3/5 Reviewed by Jonathan Berk  The worst thing that happened to director Ric Roman Waugh’s new film Kandahar is that it comes a month after Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant. Both films feature a soldier who feels a sense of obligation to help get their translator out of Afghanistan. While that’s a bit of an oversimplification, the two films coming out so close together is clearly a result of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and the immediate return of the Taliban’s rise to power. Even more particular is the treatment of the many enlisted translators, and the promises made to them, and how many were left to fend for themselves. The difference is that Ritchie’s film tells its story better and has much more compelling action. However, Kandahar isn’t bad, but noticeably lacking by comparison. Kandahar focuses — which is giving the film too much credit, as it is a little convoluted — on Tom Harris (Gerard Butler), an undercover CIA agent, who finds himself the target of pretty much everybody from the Iranian government to the Taliban, ISIS, and ISI after his cover is blown. Tom had recently been given a new mission and a new translator, played by Navid Negahban, who had previously escaped Afghanistan and returned with a mission of his own. However, both must give up their current goals in order to try to flee to an extraction point in Kandahar…or die trying. There are several moments in the film that feel extremely clunky. David Mamet mentions in his book On Directing Film that Hollywood has a fixation on backstory. We are told early on that Tom is about to leave to see his daughter graduate. Has he been a good dad or a good husband? Nope. Will he do the right thing and leave right away to make sure he makes it on time? Or will he take another mission that’ll inevitably put a ticking clock in the story? This blatant attempt to flesh out the character feels cliché and unnecessary. A soldier doing his job is now in jeopardy, which is enough of a situation to make the audience want him to get out safely. The way this information is delivered slows the momentum of the story down and doesn’t pay off or add much to the film.  Then there are all the various story lines and characters. There is the journalist investigating something in Iran that leads to Tom’s cover being blown. Each member of the various organizations invested in catching Tom for one reason or another, Tom’s handler in Afghanistan and the suits back home, plus the second main character of the translator, all attempt to grapple for time on screen and stakes. The impact is uneven and complicated for the audience to understand why we spend so much time with all these various players who do nothing more than complicate things for the sake of complication.
It may sound like Kandahar isn’t a good movie, but that wouldn’t be accurate. There are some decent action set pieces — including a car chase with night vision goggles — that will definitely get invested audiences gripping their armrests. The two lead performances are solid, and you can’t help but worry for their safety. This movie finds its rhythm when it’s just Butler and Negahban trying to escape from terrifying situations. Even some of their clunky exposition dumps are tolerable, because the two feel committed. These moments are only weaker because The Covenant’s similar moments feel more impactful. Kandahar is in theaters on May 26. Rating: 3/5 |