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“Suburbicon”: Another Quirky Coen/Clooney piece

The seemingly infatigable team of the Coen Brothers and George Clooney are at it again with this parody/action mystery movie about life in the suburbs. It’s the 1950s and Matt Damon and Julianne Moore are a little off around the edges, hiding a sickening violence that the filmmakers clearly ascribe to the tightly-wound suburbanites they are rallying. The backdrop, as a boiling pot of water, is racial tensions that erupt when a black family moves into the all-white neighborhood. One begins to see hints of contemporary commentary in shades of Confederate flags and other small little droplets sprinkled through cinema as the Trump era goes into full swing.

But it is really the machinations of Clooney and Moore that occupy the heart of the film, which ultimately collapses upon itself as it fails to come up with a satisfactory outcome that does not devolve into the demonic and depraved.

Oscar potential: Best Screenplay, Best Score, Best Costumes, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography

“Victoria & Abdul”: Golden Globe Comedy Nod, at Best

Dame Judi Dench returns to that grand old British monarch, Queen Victoria, once more, in the touching friendship comedy Victoria & Abdul, about the improbable relationship that the queen develops with a Muslim Indian servant who is plucked from home to present a gift to Her Majesty on account of her jubilee. Dealing with issues of race, class, and religion, the film focuses on how the court, politicians, and royal family all do their worst to torpedo the growing intellectual and emotional intimacy between the titular characters, even though the film never bothers to fully explain just exactly why the friendship grew in the first place.

But it does not much matter, because the film has a big heart, packs a number of laughs with the stiff-upper-lipped Brits scandalized by the goings on of their regent, and ultimately provides insight into a previously unknown episode in history. I doubt it makes any move at all in the Oscars race beyond the obvious tech fields, and probably not even those.

Oscar potential: Best Score, Best Costumes, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction

“I, Tonya”: Could Get In If Distributed

Before there was O.J., there was Tonya. Before there was Anna Nicole, there were Nancy and Tonya’s husband Jeff. In the as-of-yet-not up for distribution film I, Tonya, Margot Robbie dazzles as the much-maligned, controversial figure skater who came most prominently to fame when her chief rival Nancy Kerrigan was attacked before the 1994 Olympics.

But in this at times outrageous new film, Margo plays a more complex side to Tonya’s story, one decidedly sympathetic to her (not always an easy feat given that we believe her to be the bad guy), by showing her troubled childhood, particularly at the hand of her abusive mother, played by a stunning Allison Janney. The film makes you laugh and it also makes you cry at times, and is a still-relevant commentary not only on classism in our nation but also on the persistent obsession with media and celebrity. It played very well at TIFF and could be headed for a slew of nominations if it’s distributed in time - which I believe it imminently will be.

Oscar potential: Best Picture, Best Actress (Robbie), Best Supporting Actress (Janney), Best Screenplay, Best Editing

“Molly’s Game”: Jessica’s Chance?

Meanwhile, in somewhat of a companion piece to the “white trash” I, Tonya, there is another sophisticated, kick-butt woman in the conversation, this one played by Jessica Chastain in Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut, Molly’s Game. Like Tonya, Molly is much-maligned and misunderstood, particularly because she thinks she can hang with the big boys, and does. She runs a clandestine Poker game and eventually ends up on the wrong side of the law, even though she believes she is innocent.

Chastain plays her brilliantly and is a shoo-in for a nomination - and maybe even an overdue win?! - while Sorkin delivers his usual, insightful invective, what we have grown to be used to from him. The film has elements of The Social Network and Moneyball and, impressively, treats Molly with the same respect as Mark Zuckerberg or Billy Beane are treated - and with the same sort of pity, too. It’s a wonder to see Chastain acting next to Idris Elba, who also delivers a scene-stealing performance in one particular place.

Oscar potential: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Chastain), Best Supporting Actor (Elba), Best Screenplay, Best Score, Best Editing

Still to Come

There is a lot more to see in Toronto in the next few days, and we will check back in next week for who is a real contender and who is a pretender.

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