By Anne Brodie
The superior drama His Father’s Son reinvents the way we see families in cinema; this is a whole new animal, shot in Toronto by Meelad Moaphi whose rich cinematic vision is a treat. We meet Amir (Alireza Shojaeia) a talented, aspiring chef who loses his job at a fine dining establishment when he talks back to the chef, then flits from one restaurant to another. He decides to take charge of his career as a YouTuber. He lives with his disapproving mother Arezou (Mitra Lohrasb) and father Farhad (Gus Tayari) and younger brother Mahyar (Parham Rownaghi) They immigrated from Iran when the boys were little and with no wish to return to Iran, established a good life here. Nice, wordless moments, like the parents sitting on the grass on a summer’s day in a park, as the boys play soccer. All is well until someone they knew in Iran, their family doctor and friend Parviz, leaves them $1.2M. The parents give it all to the boys. Mahar wants a red Ferrari and Amir is cautious. His parents won’t say much about Parviz so Amir seeks out a relative in Niagara who is also wary. Meanwhile both boys face romantic challenges – Amir’s dating a married woman and Mahyar, a woman who works with Amir. There’s a world of hurt inside each family member, revealed with delicacy, authentically and without sentimentality. Can a parent prefer one child over another? Can Amir’s illicit relationship survive? And who was Parviz? Why won’t anyone say? A well crafted, impressive, fresh and moving film that spans a spectrum of emotions. In Toronto theatres June 20, Vancouver the 27 with a national roll out to follow.
British period series fans, I have your new obsession! Outrageous, a six parter based on Mary Lovell’s biography The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family tells the incredible story of the six English Mitford sisters in the 30’s and beyond. Their unapologetic, free-spirited family was aristocratic but poor as a church mouse. Their stunts, love affairs, the books they wrote, prison time and for two – obsessive fascism was constant fodder for the papers. Chronologically they were Nancy (Bess Carter), Diana (Joanna Vanderham), Unity (Shannon Watson), Jessica (Zoe Brough), Deborah (Orla Hill) and Pamela (Isobel Jesper Jones). One journalist described them as “Diana the Fascist, Jessica, the Communist, Unity, the Hitler -lover; Nancy the Novelist; Deborah the Duchess and Pamela the unobtrusive poultry connoisseur”. The British public judged, gaped and followed their antics. Their sole brother Tom (Toby Rego), was also a fascist. The women are keen to marry, as its unseemly to be 30 and a spinster! Their mother tells them they are neither pretty nor smart and must start thinking not like rebels but as women. Some marry, some don’t, Nancy assumes her beau is about to propose one night but instead terlls her he’s moving to America without her. Diana leaves her husband, a Guinness, for British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, and Unity’s obsession with Adolf Hitler came at a huge cost. So many stories, so many twists and turns, and World War II, all given a keen, modern sensibility. Its fast and snappy, ambitious and speaks of their time and ours and its political edge is tres today. You can’t make this stuff up! Streaming now on BritBox.
We remember the late Rob Ford and his time as that polarising Mayor of Toronto – we loved or hated him. He was colourful, and a bit loopy and memorable. Shianne Brown’s documentary Trainwreck: Mayor of Mayhem is releasing GLOBALLY on Netflix. Globally? That’s because Ford was colourful enough to warrant international media attention in some of the worst ways. He was a city councillor representing Ward 2 Etobicoke North and ran for the 2010 Toronto mayoralty race; he was a populist clown, beloved by many, and he won. It didn’t take long for chaos to burst forth; he lied outright, denying cocaine use, despite video to the contrary. The US outlet Gawker purchased and posted the video when Canadians refused to pay for it, and Toronto Police took note. Another video surfaced of him mocking the Jamaican patois. He lost credibility, made disgusting, lewd remarks, appeared drunk in public, swore and like Trump, told a fellow politician he would “destroy” him if he didn’t fall in line. The Toronto Star’s Robyn Doolittle covered him honestly, and he turned on the media. And then a second video of Ford smoking crack! He’d repeatedly refused rehab but eventually submitted then went on a confessional tour. By now he was an international punchline, his reputation – and sometimes he – was a fixture on late night US TV. Still, he always reached out to help his constituents, so his is a strange, mixed legacy. Trainwreck is the second in a weekly series of Netflix docs including Poop Cruise, June 24, The Cult of American Apparel, July 1, The Real Project X July 8, Balloon Boy July 15, P.I. Moms July 22, and Storm Area 51 July 29.
Rarely have I seen a community drama series as unpleasant as The Waterfront, on Netflix June 19. It concerns Havenport a fishing town on the North Carolina coast dominated by the Buckley family in business and in social terms. They’re wealthy and use that power to advance their causes, make money but find themselves in major debt. Patriarch Harlan Buckley (Holt McCallany), ill with heart problems, his wife in their open marriage, Belle (Maria Bello) and son Cane (Jake Weary) have hit the wall. Behind the scenes they are drug smugglers but tens of millions of dollars in their cocaine goes missing. Two employees transported it at sea one stormy night when thugs showed up, killed them and threw the bodies overboard. But no cargo. Cane sets out to find it, believing its hidden, on land, stolen by the dead sailors. He forces a friend to change the date stamp on the sale of the sunken boat for insurance purposes , his daughter, addict Bree (Melissa Benoist) loses custody of her son and steps into a relationship that leads to major trouble for the family. On this pathetically mean-spirited basis hangs the eight parter. The people are vile, amoral, rotten to the core and it never lets up. If you’re looking for some Feel Bad content this is it. And get this, its inspired by true events. June 19th.