Year: 2023

‘Turn Every Page’ is a big-screen page-turner

Jeff Mitchell

“Turn Every Page – The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb” (2022) – “50 years.  5 books.  4,888 pages.” Robert Caro wrote five books, and Robert Gottlieb edited them, works that helped uncover the inner workings of American government, the invisible machinery to John and Jane Q. Citizen, and these legislative levers – constructed from backroom dealings and human ambition – forged massive changes to infrastructure and everyday ways of life for millions and millions of the aforementioned residents. Power is the throughline subject of Caro and Gottlieb’s labors…

‘The Son’ does not stand as tall as ‘The Father’

Jeff Mitchell

“The Son” (2022) – “No love is greater than that of a father for his son.” – Dan Brown Author and playwright Florian Zeller burst onto the cinematic scene, and the grandest worldwide stages embraced “The Father” (2020), his poignant and distressing debut feature film.  “The Father” garnered six Oscar nominations, and Anthony Hopkins and Zeller won the coveted, prized statues for Best Actor and Adapted Screenplay, respectively. (“The Father” was this critic’s #6 film of 2020.)   Zeller (along with screenwriter Christopher Hampton) adapted his 2012 play, “Le Pere”,…

‘Plane’ does not soar, but this action flick hovers, entertains, and sticks the landing

Jeff Mitchell

“Plane” (2023) – “These planes are pretty much indestructible.” – Flight commander Brodie Torrance (Gerald Butler) Oh, famous last words. Commander Torrance will pilot Trailblazer Flight 119 – a 6-hour 30-minute flight – from Singapore to Tokyo, and he delivers the above decree with the utmost confidence to a few of his passengers while standing in the aisle.  If you’ve ever experienced flying over an ocean, this fluttering thought has probably crossed your mind: “I hope this airplane is in tip-top, because there’s a whole lot of water between here…