It is time for a round up of new films that I have seen on Netflix this month.
Ballad of a Small Player
Colin Farrell stars as Lord Doyle, hiding out in Macau, spending his time in casinos drinking and gambling using his dwindling funds. He is offered a lifeline by the mysterious casino employee Dao Ming (Fala Chen). However, in hot pursuit is private investigator Cynthia Blithe (Tilda Swinton). Edward Berger’s previous two movies have been Oscar nominated but that’s not happening here. I liked the depiction of seedy Macau but when the story moves elsewhere it loses all momentum. Both Farrell and Swinton are good, but way too much time is spent on the burgeoning relationship between Doyle and Ming.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
She Walks in Darkness
Amaia (Susana Abaitua), a Spanish Guardia Civil agent, goes undercover for years within the ETA ranks seeking to crack the location of the group’s multiple weapons caches scattered in southern France. Whilst the story is fiction, writer/director Agustin Diaz Yanes cleverly weaves in real characters and events, sometimes using archive footage. It is a well plotted, thrilling story and I found the last quarter very tense. Abaitua is able to convey a mix of confidence and fear very well and Andres Gertrudix is excellent as her superior.
Rating: 8 out of 10
Train Dreams
Logger Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton) works to develop the railroad across the United States causing him to spend vast times away from his wife (Felicity Jones) and daughter, and is struggling with his place in a changing world. Director Clint Bentley’s movie is a quietly beautiful affair. It moves quite slowly but as Robert’s life unfolds, I was completely drawn in. Edgerton gives a career best performance, a bit naïve, resolutely decent but touched by tragedy, he conveys so much in a role that does not have a huge amount of dialogue, and it feels like he hesitates every time before he speaks. William H. Macy is the best he has been for years as a veteran logger and Kerry Condon is fantastic in a brief appearance as a widow who has a small connection with Robert. Bentley also wrote the screenplay, with Greg Kwedar, and does a terrific job, though I understand it smooths off some of the rougher edges of Denis Johnson’s novella. I am not usually keen on the use of a voiceover but it works really well here and Adolpho Veloso’s cinematography is stunning.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10