Film Critic Tony Toscano joined us with movie reviews for the weekend.

After being delayed by the actor’s strike and writer’s strike, “Billy the Kid ” returns to MGM+. The series focuses on Billy the Kid and his early days as a cowboy and gunslinger in the American frontier, to his pivotal role in the Lincoln County War and beyond. Tony says, “Billy the Kid is a western that shares the legend and is not about historical accuracy, it’s simply a love letter to the old fashioned TV western. He gives it a B and it’s rated TV-MA.

In selected theaters is the biographical drama “Sight”. The inspiring true story of Ming Wang, an impoverished Chinese prodigy who flees Communist China to become a pioneering eye surgeon in America. When tasked with restoring the sight of an orphan who was blinded by her step mother, he must confront the trauma of his own violent youth. Tony says, “One of the most inspiring films this year, “Sight” offers a story of overcoming odds, commitment and victory.” He gives it an “A” and it’s rated PG-13.

Also in theaters is the comedy / drama “Ezra.” “Ezra” follows Max and Jenna struggling to co-parent their autistic son Ezra. When forced to confront difficult decisions about his future, Max takes Ezra on a cross-country road trip that changes both their lives. Tony says, “Ezra is a must see film that offers a comedic and tenderhearted approach to the subject of autism. The film is poignantly funny all the while showing us the struggles of parenting a child on the spectrum.” He gives it an A and it’s rated R.

You can learn more at screenchatter.com.

After distance swimmer Trudy Ederle swam the English Channel in 1926, she had the biggest parade for an athlete in New York City — ever. As the first woman to swim the channel, she effectively paved the way for the future of women’s sports. So why isn’t she more of a household name? The new biopic “Young Woman and the Sea” seeks to change that, re-establishing Ederle as a world-changing icon.

This rousing sports biopic is a throwback to the kinds of inspiring underdog stories we love, like “Rudy” but with a girl-power feminist bent and a woman-against-nature theme. Daisy Ridley plays the sunnily determined Trudy, and the film is filled with a supporting cast of charming characters who offer pops of humor and heart. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, it’s a triumphant, emotional sports movie akin to his “Remember the Titans” and “Glory Road.”

Norwegian director Joachim Rønning tackles Trudy’s life story with a script by Jeff Nathanson, adapted from the 2009 account “Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World” by Glenn Stout. (Rønning and co-director Espen Sandberg also made the oceanic adventure film “Kon-Tiki,” which could have been titled “Young Men and the Sea.”) These filmmakers clearly have a knack for capturing nautical adventure and the delusional yet undeniably human desire to conquer the seas.

But plunge below the surface, and there’s so much more to this story than just that of a strong young woman who completed an incredibly dangerous and challenging feat of athleticism and mental fortitude against all odds. While she’s stroking across the channel, there’s an ingenious subplot that speaks to larger ideas and movements that are animated by Trudy’s story. Boats filled with reporters chase after her, tossing back bottles filled with their missives written on slips of paper, which are fished out of the water and attached to messenger pigeons that deliver them to a French hotel in Cap Gris-Nez and read aloud, then reported via telegram to radio stations around the world, who broadcast the news all the way back to Trudy’s anxious family in New York City. This isn’t just the story of a young woman doing the seemingly impossible — it’s a mass media story taking place in a newly globalized world that’s collectively listening with bated breath.

That representational burden is a continually simmering undercurrent in “Young Woman and the Sea.” Trudy knows it’s her visibility that will change the world, not just the simple act of swimming the channel. Her coach, Jabez Wolffe (Christopher Eccleston), pushed upon her by her sponsor, James Sullivan (Glenn Fleshler), forces her to diet, concerned with how she’ll look in photographs; her two-piece swimsuit, redesigned for comfort, causes a sensation among the French press. But it’s her stardom that makes her a hero to the young girls who ask for her autograph among the crowds of journalists, and has the potential to change the trajectory of women’s sports.

Trudy’s swim inspires the whole world, including her hometown of New York City, the tenement buildings filled with immigrants listening to her journey on the radio. It’s a reminder of how we are compelled by narratives of human striving and triumph. From Sunday football to the Olympic Games, collectively watching and sharing these stories knits us together. The Paris Olympics this summer are, in fact, the centennial anniversary of the Games in which Trudy competed in 1924.

The broad storytelling calls back to a kind of retro filmmaking based on pure sensation and emotion, in which we cheer for the heroes and jeer for the villains. There isn’t a whole lot of nuance in some of the characterizations. Eccleston and Fleshler essentially play dastardly mustache-twirling Snidely Whiplash types, their characters’ nakedly evil motivations for sabotaging Trudy unexplored. But not all men who are threatened by her endeavor. She wins over other swimmers with her moxie, including iconic channel swimmer Bill Burgess (a standout Stephen Graham), who eventually coaches her.

Among the terrific supporting characters are Trudy’s German immigrant parents, with Danish actor Kim Bodnia playing Trudy’s father, a gruff, protective but ultimately supportive butcher, and German actor Jeanette Hain, who nearly steals the whole movie as Trudy’s steely, ethereal mother Gertrud. She insists that her girls, Trudy and her sister, Meg (Tilda Cobham-Hervey), learn to swim in the wake of a steamboat tragedy in which hundreds of women died, saying that her daughters will never “stand on a burning ship.” But Gertrud also discovers that empowering them leads to glories — and dangers — she never imagined.

There is an old-fashioned yet modern beauty and grandeur to Rønning’s style here, which is meticulously produced and costume-designed, and shot with sweeping, epic camera movements by Oscar Faura, yet edited with a swift narrative efficiency by Úna Ní Dhonghaíle. Set to a triumphal score by Amelia Warner, there’s a hint of Bruckheimer’s “Pirates of the Caribbean”-style jauntiness to the powerful orchestration that adds to the sense of melodrama at play.

Ultimately, this is a tale of one young woman and the sea, and it’s Trudy’s experience that Ridley capably inhabits. Take away all the reporters, the doubters, the concerned family members, the coaches, her beloved sister and everyone watching around the world. In the dark of night it’s just Trudy, alone in the ocean, and that story of determination is worth celebrating and remembering.

A still from ‘Garudan’ 
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

After a brilliant makeover from a comedian to a lead actor in Vetri Maaran’sViduthalai: Part 1, Soori’s sophomore outing as a protagonist, Garudan, proves that his transformation is not a flash in the pan. With a neatly woven script that has enough brawn to overcome its minor shortcomings, director RS Durai Senthilkumar makes a splendid comeback with this raw and intense rural drama.

In Garudan, Soori plays Sokkan, an orphan who finds solace in Karunakaran’s (Unni Mukundan) solidarity, turning him into a living embodiment of the word ‘loyalty’. Meanwhile, Aadhithya (Sasikumar) is Karuna’s best friend and the duo also professionally works in tandem. Akin to a marksman’s deafening gunshot disturbing the tranquillity of a peaceful forest where its inhabitants keep their animal instincts in check, trouble brews in multiple forms. The film catalogues the rift in these bonds down to the proverbial ‘mann, ponn, penn’ (greed for land, wealth and women). When these events rattle his perfect world, Sokkan is forced to take it upon himself to restore balance.

A cop wants to resign, a minister wants to swindle away a large piece of temple land, a character from a once-affluent family has a hard time making ends meet, a couple is distraught about their inability to conceive, a relationship leads to unplanned pregnancy, a cordial relationship between two people blooms into romance…. Garudan discloses all its cards with breakneck speed and introduces us to a plethora of characters. While it takes a while to settle within this world, the screenplay goes against its title to put us amidst the action instead of giving us a bird’s eye view of happenings.

Soori is arguably at the cusp of his career’s apogee. At a stage where a little ‘mass’ would do wonders amidst a lot of ’class’ (three of his films are having a dream run at film festivals), the actor could not have asked for something as bespoke and vivifying as Garudan. Not only does the film play to his strengths and does a brilliant job with the ‘rise of an underdog’ trope that we enjoyed in Viduthalai, but it also gives him enough space to showcase his talents across aspects like action, romance and even a little dance.

A still from ‘Garudan’ 
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

But Garudan does not break boundaries with its plot; it offers the usual tropes of brotherhood, deception and retribution that we have seen often, and scenes do remind us of its own actors and director’s films like Kidaari, Subramaniapuram and Kodi. In fact, if Maamannan can be interpreted as the perspective of Vadivelu’s character Isakki from Thevar Magan, Garudan is the equivalent of Isakki taking it upon himself to end the feud with those he considers his bosses. However, despite looming over familiar territory, Garudan manages to give us something fresh thanks to its treatment and performances.

Director Durai etches the three primary characters brilliantly and it starts right from their very names; Aadhi is the all-giving do-gooder and a ray of hope from the above, Karuna takes in a nobody under his wings and values fellowship more than anything, and Sokkan — keeping with the title of the film — is the bird that lives between these two entities. Soori is picture-perfect as Sokkan; the character is often called a dog because he is faithful and dependable, but the same man’s best friend can turn rabid when pushed into a corner.

A character elaborates on a dream she had featuring horses, elephants and men with weapons; a scene straight out of the Kurukshetra War. But in this game of chess, what’s often overlooked is how a simple pawn, when it reaches the other extreme end, can transform into something powerful and Soori aces that transformation. His distinct monologue of truth bombs that he delivers to Karuna, the humourous side that often comes out during his escapades with lady love Vinnarasi (Revathy Sarma), his show of allegiance to the families of Karuna and Aadhi, and the impressive action sequences featuring him make for some of the best scenes in the film. Sasikumar also fits perfectly in the role of Aadhi, a dignified character who is an extension of several lead roles he has previously played. A pleasant surprise comes in the form of Sshivada pulling off her limited but salient character with poise. But what feels like a miscast is Unni Mukundan whose dialect does not help with his rushed character arc.

The film has its fair share of issues ranging from painfully convenient twists to unnecessarily gory and violent action scenes. Still, they end up as mere speed-breakers in an otherwise enjoyable joy ride. Add to it an in-form Yuvan Shankar Raja whose scores elevate the mood of the film and Arthur A. Wilson’s well-crafted frames, the technical prowess successfully push the film over the finish line. It would not be a stretch to call Garudan as director Durai’s best work, and leave you wanting more of this metamorphosis of Parotta Soori to protagonist Soori!

Garudan is currently running in theatres