‘Sacramento’ (2024)
The character actor Michael Angarano (“Oppenheimer”) directs and stars in this gentle comedy/drama, which he sets up as a fairly typical indie road trip movie, but then expands into something far more poignant and pointed. Michael Cera also stars as Glenn, an expectant father who is trying to “phase out” his wildly irresponsible longtime pal Rickey (Angarano). But Rickey talks him into an impromptu drive from Los Angeles to Sacramento, ostensibly to dispose of his recently departed father’s ashes; complications ensue, but they’re rooted less in the escapades of travel than in Glenn and Rickey’s own insecurities and anxieties. Cera is especially good in a role that peels away the lovable quirkiness of his early work to reveal the unsteadiness underneath; Kristen Stewart shines in the small but pivotal role of his pregnant partner, beautifully conveying the difficulty, stress and patience of managing someone else’s mental illness.
‘The Secret Scripture’ (2017)
Stream it on Amazon Prime Video.
Rooney Mara and Vanessa Redgrave are electrifying as the younger and older versions of a woman accused of murdering her newborn in this intelligent, staid, yet moving adaptation of the novel by Sebastian Barry from the director Jim Sheridan (“My Left Foot,” “In the Name of the Father”). The broad strokes aren’t exactly earthshaking: a love triangle, a forbidden romance, secrets buried and unearthed. But there’s much happening under the surface, and Sheridan’s explorations of trust, war, repression in the church and fear of femininity bear real fruit. The final turn is a bit of a stretch, but it’s executed with a grace and emotion equaling all that comes before.
‘Happy Christmas’ (2014)
Stream it on Netflix, Hulu or Paramount+.
The title aside, this is less a holiday celebration than a perceptive examination of how the holidays force us to come to terms with the flaws of our family members. In this case, that family member is Jenny (Anna Kendrick), who is reaching an age where her irresponsibility and insecurity has complicated her relationship with older brother, Jeff (Joe Swanberg, who also wrote and directed). Slowly but surely, over the course of an extended holiday visit, Jenny attempts to repair her relationship with Jeff and his wife, Kelly (Melanie Lynskey), a novelist with whom she embarks an a delightfully unlikely collaboration. Kendrick and Lynskey are two of the most likable performers in film and television today, and it’s a joy to simply watch them together, while Swanberg builds Jenny’s redemption arc so quietly and casually that you may not realize how affecting his film is until the end credits roll.
‘A United Kingdom’ (2017)
The director Amma Asante followed up her 2014 hit “Belle” with this true account of the romance between Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo), the future president of Botswana, and Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike), the British woman who would become his wife. Interracial romance was thorny enough when they met; the complicated political dynamics of their home countries would make theirs even trickier. Asante and the screenwriter Guy Hibbert meet the notable challenge of balancing such a story — they manage to center the personal relationship between their protagonists without waving off the political and historical elements. Much of that steadiness is accomplished via the fine performances; Oyelowo and Pike are well-matched actors, equal in onscreen gravitas, who play both the strength and sensitivity of their characters with matching intensity.
‘The Forgiven’ (2022)
Ralph Fiennes has become our most reliable player of men who are wealthy, witty, whip-smart and at least slightly broken, and he plays that type to the hilt in this adaptation of the Lawrence Osborne novel from the writer and director John Michael McDonagh (“Calvary”). As half (along with Jessica Chastain) of a miserable married couple who accidentally strike and kill a Moroccan teen while driving to a desert bacchanal, Fiennes adroitly conveys the character’s cynicism and privilege, and then his increasing awareness of both qualities. Matt Smith, Caleb Landry Jones and Saïd Taghmaoui are among the memorable supporting players.
‘The One and Only Dick Gregory’ (2021)
Dick Gregory was one of the most influential figures in the world of comedy, a Black stand-up who trafficked in fearless and candid social commentary, and crossed over to white clubs and mainstream television at a point in the early 1960s when such integration was just as rare in entertainment as it was in the world at large. Yet he’s largely forgotten today, even within the world of comedy, because he left the stage behind at the height of his fame to fully focus on his activist interests. Andre Gaines’s engaging documentary portrait attempts to rectify that collective memory lapse via interview tributes from the likes of Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock and Wanda Sykes. But Gaines also honors Gregory’s wishes to be known as more than an entertainer, revealing a man who spent his life admirably following the courage of his convictions.
‘Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop’ (2011)
Stream it on Amazon Prime Video.
Conan O’Brien is such a beloved pop-culture presence these days (podcaster, travel show subject, Oscar host) that it’s easy to forget how, not that long ago, he was publicly humiliated by the network where he’d spent two decades. Rodman Flender’s documentary follows O’Brien on his 32-city “Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour,” which O’Brien used as an outlet, during his contractual broadcasting blackout, for his creativity — and his rage. That’s the most surprising (and valuable) aspect of Flender’s film; O’Brien’s onscreen persona has always been a carefully calculated bundle of tics, insecurities and bravado, but here we get a sense of his capacity for genuine anger and bitterness, sometimes comically, sometimes not. It’s a fascinating snapshot of an affable entertainer at his most potentially off-putting.
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