By Anne Brodie
The title suggests a comedy but My Dead Friend Zoe, while there are amusing, ironic moments, is a moving and powerful story of friendship between two US military women in a Middle East warzone. Not a comedy, but a heartfelt film in theatres across Canada on Feb 28. Gifted actor Sonequa Martin-Green puts in a dazzling performance as Merit with a “haunting” Natalie Morales as Zoe. Cutting between therapy sessions with Morgan Freeman, scenes in the desert and Merit’s family lake house in Oregon, the film seamlessly weaves together a harrowing, yet uplifting reality exploring post war trauma and death. Merit and Zoe built a solid working relationship and friendship while fighting the Taliban and when Merit’s finally sent home, Zoe is strangely there with her at all times. Merit refuses to participate in mandatory therapy; her counsellor (Morgan Freeman) warns her that is she’s non-compliant, she will be imprisoned for criminal negligence in a forklift accident. Merit’s mother (Gloria Reuben) asks her to go to her father (Ed Harris) in Oregon, sell his home and put him in a care facility – he has Alzheimer’s. Merit’s emotional loads are heavy and Zoe’s presence is comforting but sometimes just too much. She is always there, judging, teasing and upsetting her. The twist that’s coming is unsettling, and a salute to soldiers who battled through the US wars and came home, unable to cope, or didn’t. Kyle Hausmann-Stokes’s skilfully made film is well worth a look. Its produced by Legion M, the world’s first fan-funded film production company, and marks the production debut of Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce.
Canada’s own Simu Liu shot the true underwater thriller Last Breath in Malta, standing in for the frigid waters of Aberdeen Scotland. The nerve shredding true story of a trio of “saturation divers” who work 1000 feet down to maintain a 200 km network of pipelines that lies on the ocean floor is hard to watch. But thankfully its short at 93 minutes because it’s a real worrier. It takes a special kind of person, living in a bell on the ocean floor, under all the water pressure, risking life with every outing, every movement. Here are some stats: In Norway, the annual mortality rate for fully certified professional divers is 23 per 1,000, or 1.7 per 100,000 student divers. Heart disease is the main cause of death in career divers, with stressors like exercise, pressure, cold, and emotional stress increasing risk. Two veterans and a keener on his first mission (Simu Liu as Dave and Woody Harrelson as Duncan, with Chris Lemons as Finn) are lowered as a storm approaches. Dave is concerned that the untried newbie will compromise the dive. Heavy waves spin the boat above, snapping Finn’s oxygen and communiation cord; staff on the surface can see that Finn’s eyes closing. The countdown begins – the minutes and seconds without oxygen as the crew attempts to recover him. This is no spoiler as the story was told in a documentary but Finn’s recovery after 29 minutes without air is miraculous, and with no lasting mental or physical damage, perhaps due to the depth and cold water temperature. Still, there is no definitive reason why he is alive. Fascinating, frightening yet inspiring insights into the unknown heroes who put their lives on the line to make sure our modern systems function. Hats off to saturation divers around the world. In theatres today. Directed by Alex Parkinson.
Katharine Graham was a typical 1960s pre-feminist Washington D.C. homemaker, a self described “doormat wife” and deeply shy, who carried out the duties of her time and social rank, raising four young children while her husband Phil ran the influential Washington Post. She came from a family of financiers and industrialists but had little clue as to what they did. George and Teddy Kunhardt’s documentary Becoming Katharine Graham follows her “accidental” next life phase following the suicide of her husband; she became publisher of the Post, the first woman to hold a powerful corporate position in the US. “Kay” was ignored by the all-white male Board and didn’t speak in meetings for a year. In time she found her voice and will and became a warrior for freedom of the press and women. She published segments of the Pentagon Papers against warnings. They were an “encyclopedic history of the Vietnam War” detailing illegal US aggressions, the scope and barbarity of the US attack and lies and coverups by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. The publication inspired Nixon to send five “plumbers” into the Watergate Hotel to steal democratic election office documents and carried out “burglary, conspiracy, and wiretapping” to discredit Dems. They were caught and The Post covered it like a rug. Audio tapes were released of frantic calls between President Richard Nixon, Alexander Haig and others vowing to “break the bitch”, threatening Graham with physical harm for her bravery in publishing the truth. What a woman! What a story! Provocative and revealing archival interviews with Graham who died in 2001, and present-day interviews with Buffett, Gloria Steinem, Don Graham, daughter Lally Weymouth, David Remnick, reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, Richard Cohen, Lynn Povich, Susie Buffett, Sharon Osberg etc. make this an important film, but I wonder why it took so long for such a film to be made on this hero? Prime Video Feb. 27th.
Running Point stars Kate Hudson as Isla Gordon, the only daughter of the just-deceased owner of the Los Angeles Waves star basketball team. She’s faced misogenist disrespect in her family of men and is surprised to learn that she is replacing the CEO (Andy Favreau) who has an extended date with rehab. More surprised are her brothers, the angry Sandy (Drew Tarver) and softie pushover Ness (Scott MacArthur). Dominant Sandy tries to have her fired but Ness won’t hear of it. Isla’s a wee bit intimidated by them and the players’ reactions but finds her groove with help from street smart colleague and friend Brenda (Ali Lee). She takes player Travis (Chet Hanks – son of Rita Wlson and Tom Hanks) to dinner to make peace but things go explosively rogue and a hint of an affair becomes news. She’s infuriated, and orders Travis to apologise publicly. Meanwhile her bros try to assign her to the Waves’ Charitable Endeavors office – oh btw, she’s a “neppo crone”. All this in-yer-face insult comedy hurts until Isla has a meaningful exchange with Jackie, a young meat carver (Fabrizio Guido) during a business banquet. The series’ first authentic moment. Their convo moves her and when things get weird in the office, she hires him as her executive assistant. And wham! Family drama! The series is more interesting than expected after the first episode, painting a telling family portrait. Created by, story by and produced by Mindy Kaling, it’s a light feminist outing in which our heroine finds her way. Now on Netflix.
Douglas Is Cancelled, a chilling newsroom comedy/drama miniseries, takes the idea of political correctness to dramatic extremes, potential existential threats against the non-compliant in the most real ways. Hugh Bonneville is national news anchor Douglas Bellowes; above reproach, admired and his station’s biggest asset. He anchors alongside the young and beautiful Madeline (Karen Gillan) who is smart, intuitive, and has great chemistry with Bellowes. Madeline has dreamed of anchoring news since she was a child and here she is. Series creator Steven Moffat, who wrote Sherlock, brings the same modernity, wit, and twists as relatable characters dealing with problems of the age. Bellowes is accused on social media of telling a misogynist joke at a wedding; the post blows up and they come for him. He corrects them – “I’m sexist, not misogynist”. His boss tells him to use “that voice to death” better, to be balanced, boring and bland. Seems odd that a news anchor wouldn’t be aware of what to say and what not to say out loud, but he is willfully defiant and says he was very drunk at the time. Madeline supports him fully and comforts him, and reposts the offending tweet saying he wouldn’t do such a thing, and encourages him to repost her tweet in solidarity. But as their producer says, “truth is only part of the story”. As Bellowes faces glares in the streets, and goes home to wife shrewish wife (Alex Kingston) who accuses him of having an affair with Madeline. Meanwhile Madeline remembers a horrifying encounter with their producer, her job interview in his hotel room when Bellowes happened to show up. A heart pounding, long sequence of manipulation and resistance; uncomfortable and evil. Dirty tricks abound. So, what was the joke, story, line? A deliciously uncomfortable 4-parter you’ll get through in one sitting. BritBox March 6.
BritBox again folks! The true crime four-parter A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story starring Lucy Boynton is the thirteenth outing – play, film, opera, TV series – to focus on the sordid story of the British escort who shot her abusive boyfriend dead in 1955. Ellis was the last woman to be hung in the UK. Boynton’s Ellis is hardly sympathetic, she’s a predator, seeking love, sex and money and never having enough. She was a prostitute from a young age and plied her trade while managing a Soho nightclub, with many private lovers as well. Ellis’ sad childhood was dominated by her father’s sexual and physical abuse; her mother did nothing. She learned to live with it and became a master manipulator. While married and stringing along various boyfriends, she began romances with race car driver David Blakely (Toby Stevens) and Desmond Cussen (Mark Stanley) an RAF pilot. Its no spoiler to say that she shot Blakely four times outside the pub and immediately confessed. The courts had to decide if she was guilty of murder or manslaughter and whether the abuse she endured was a mitigating factor. Was she to blame for her terrible childhood and a lifetime of beatings at men’s hands? The legal teams on both sides seemed unwilling to stand up for her. Cussen tried to protect her, but she wasn’t interested in being protected or defended and resisted all personal and legal efforts. Off she went to Holloway Prison for Women and execution. But the series isn’t all straightforward – oh, no – its loaded with remarkable twists and turns that beggar the imagination and complete the circle of betrayal of Ellis’ sad life. The series is dark, sad and sobering. Streaming now.
Two veteran Canadian actresses we’ve known and loved forever team up combining their formidable comic and dramatic skills in the edgy comedy Auld Lang Syne. Filmmaker Joan Carr-Wiggin fashions an uncomfortably hilarious picture of middle age in its wacky glory. Mimi Kuzyk is Nell and Linda Kash is Millie; they are thrown together on a film set in a house rented out to a production company. It’s Christmas Eve and folks want to get home, but Millie, a background player’s incessant chatter delays them. Nell, the props person is fed up- she and Millie were actors and besties a long time ago; she reckons Millie stole her boyfriend and acting career. Millie can’t help but try to wriggle her way back into Nell’s good books, and tortures her with endless chit chat. Production wraps and everyone goes home, except them, unbeknownst to one another, to spend Christmas in a nice house. Stuck with her least favourite person, Nell rips her for her past deeds while Millie deflects and gaslights; they discuss a shared boyfriend from long ago, a painful subject, and Nell catches Millie on the phone with him. Millie is a despicable, thoughtless person but she’s about to get schooled. And then someone shows up – a security guard? A thief? No, it’s Donald (Ryan Allen) a wannabe actor who aims to shoot a demo reel on the camera the crew left behind. The fun begins as all three trespassers share their dreams. The give and take, perfect timing, twists and turns, scripting and solid, nimble performances bring the humour, the wonder and irony of their shared situation into full flower. Streaming now on APPLE, BELL VOD, SHAW VOD, VIMEO VOD.