Tiny Reviews Department: "The Holdovers", "Thanksgiving" and "A Thousand and One"

THE HOLDOVERS

A movie that took its time in order to take over to emotional heights. The first half might feel a bit dry overall, with nothing much quite happening and no big details about Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), Angus (Dominic Sessa) or Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph). Still, I started to feel the movie's beating heart right before the events that took place in the Christmas' Eve - that's when the relationship between Paul and Angus starts to develop with the complexity it requires, making for an exquisite character study of these two unloved solitary souls wandering the Barton's room during Holiday season. It features Paul Giamatti's best performance of his career (one he balances his comedy chops with an ability to generate empathy as a grinchy and lonely teacher who has never been happy) and an impressive acting debut from the young Dominic Sessa. As for Randolph... she gets an underwritten character the director only uses to give a glimpse of a grieving process - she got an unthankless part and you feel she tries to give you enough insight about Mary's internal war, but I felt a lack of authenticity in the actress embracing the character due to the lack of scenes to explore it. A 70's visual look evokes a sense of nostalgia of some classic dramedies, but The Holdovers is not poised to be a classic for me - it's sweet, warm and often funny, a very good Christmas movie that I enjoyed a lot. Not a brilliant cinematic gem but a movie with the heart in the right place! Better than most of Alexander Payne's work, but still no superior to Sideways!

RATING: 7/10

THANKSGIVING

Nothing truly negative about Thanksgiving, but not truly exceptional about it either. It works better as a whodunnit movie with very specific slasher elements than as a slasher horror film itself. Never scary, but it overcomes the lack of shivers with some campy death scenes and an effort to make a social comment on consumerism - but it approaches those elements in such a careless and unfocused way that the message feels ineffective for most audiences. Nell Verlaque lacks the screen-magnetism in order to land this movie to a safe place in terms of quality - and we all know the importance of having an engaging lead in this genre - but Patrick Dempsey (a supporting actor here) has that "on-screen X factor" and he ignites the screen during his scenes! Still... it's not enough! It has features some really good scenes, like the making of the "turkey" or the trampoline murder scene (which combines an horrific to watch killing with an extremely erotic subcontext). Unfocused cinematography work, average sound work and a bland ensemble cast of teens can't elevate this film above the director's vision (or maybe they fail because of the directing). So, Thanksgiving is inconsistent and that's why it doesn't reach a positive ground for me, but it's watchable... but not worth the admission's price.

RATING: 4,5/10

A THOUSAND AND ONE

It was a re-watch, but then I realised I never reviewed this movie. A soaring drama about motherhood that defies social conventions led by an amazing Teyana Taylor. It's a terrific breakthrough performance that I consider to be one of the best (and most powerful) acting turns of the year by far. Her Inez is a complex character, but Taylor and director A.V. Rockwell manage to navigate the many layers of that character. In fact, the director creates the movie around her magnetic presence and better than loving or hating Inez, audiences understand her acts. A sharp screenplay also explores the sides of a woman behind her motherhood - that's where William Catlett enters to deliver a tremendous supporting performance. His Lucky might look like ice on the surface, but he shows a fiery (and explosive) side as Inez's partner and Terry's (Inez's son) father figure. Great cinematography (Eric K. Yue) and an energetic editing work (Sabine Hoffman & Kristan Sprague) manage to keep the pace while offering some beautiful on-screen images. A Thousand and One is a winner - profound and meditative.

RATING: 8,5/10