A movie shot in first person sounds like a gimmick. Part of the magic of filmed storytelling is accepting that something can be from someone’s point of view and yet also from a distance. Using the camera as a character’s actual eyes is the domain of university students and niche experimental filmmakers. In a commercial film, it’s to be deployed only in very limited doses.

And yet, with “Nickel Boys,” filmmaker RaMell Ross not only commits to the idea but delivers one of the most powerful films of the year in the process — a lyrical, heartbreaking and haunting journey into the darkness of a brutal reform school in the Jim Crow South.

Ross and co-writer Joslyn Barnes weren’t working from scratch, but Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-winning novel about two teenage boys, Elwood and Turner, who become friends while wards of a juvenile reform school in Florida. It’s called the Nickel Academy in the novel and the film, which is fiction, but based on the horrific abuses at the very real Dozier School for Boys, in the Florida panhandle, where boys were beaten, raped and killed. Some of the bodies were shipped back to their homes. Others were buried in unmarked graves that only have recently come to light.

The haunting truth of the broader picture, the all-too-recent displays of inhumanity and racism, looms over every frame. “Nickel Boys” is not exploitation porn, however. In fact, when one brutal beating does happen, Ross directs his gaze elsewhere: A wall, a shoe, a nervous hand, the corner of a bible. The sounds from the other room, the cracking of the whip and the grunts are undeniable. As in “The Zone of Interest,” we don’t need to see it to feel its impact.

This is more of a memory piece than anything else, a reconciling of unspeakable traumas and human resilience through the eyes of two boys. Elwood (Ethan Herisse) is our way in. We see his youth in Tallahassee, growing up with his grandmother Hattie (an especially impactful Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor ) who is as playful as she is protective of this young boy who has only her. He’s smart and attuned to the civil rights movement at large, listening in on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches and impressing his teachers, one of whom recommends him for classes at a technical college. He hitches a ride on his way with a man in a slick suit and car, not knowing that it was stolen. When the man is caught Elwood, the innocent, gets sent to Nickel.

“You’re lucky to be in Nickel,” a younger white employee ( Fred Hechinger ) says to Elwood early on. He’s just received his draft notice and might even really believe it. While he seems like perhaps he’s more friend than jailor, his truest nature will be revealed down the line. Others are more sniveling and obvious, like Hamish Linklater as the school’s administrator who is more than ready to dole out violent punishments with his own hands.

It’s not all Black kids in Nickel, but there’s a segregated hierarchy with the students, one that’s neatly tucked away when inspectors come to the grounds as the employees and administrators scurry to present a good face. Even they knew that their practices are something to be ashamed of.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the first-person camera is its attention to details. It’s not acting like a camera, but a person who doesn’t always see everything “important.” Sometimes it’s one’s own hand, sometimes shoes, tattered shirts, darkness, or a puff of smoke.

And while we’d gotten glimpses of Elwood before, in a camera booth with a girlfriend, the first time we really see him is through Turner (Brandon Wilson) one fateful day in the cafeteria. Turner is laid back and a little world weary, an orphan and a realist counterpart to Elwood’s hopeful idealism. Though opposite in sensibility, these two stick together, finding light and joy even in their hellish surroundings. The camera even starts to shift between them — when they’re looking at one another, they’re also looking through the lens, at us. There are also flashes forward to a man at a computer ( Daveed Diggs ), seen mostly from behind, reading about the discoveries of unmarked graves on the grounds.

The threads do come together, but it requires a bit of patience and giving yourself over to the film, which is both formally and emotionally eye-opening. Adapting great literature can sometimes send filmmakers running towards the conventional; Thank goodness Ross charted his own path instead.

“Nickel Boys,” an Amazon MGM release in limited theaters Friday, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for “violent content, some strong language, racial slurs, smoking, racism and thematic material.” Running time: 140 minutes. Four stars out of four.

When one thinks of Marvel Comics, a bunch of superheroes come to mind.  From Captain America to Iron Man and Black Widow to Thor, we think of strong, athletic, supernatural beings who look out for and help the little guy (a.k.a. humans).  However, where there are good guys, there are also bad guys…beings like Thanos, Hera, and The Sinister Six.  One member of the latter group, Kraven the Hunter, gained his animalistic-like powers through an accident and some mystical magic.   Stalking those he hunts, some think he is merely a myth, but Spider-Man would disagree (though some think he is also a myth).  Thanks to Sony Pictures, we now get to learn more about this superhuman when Kraven the Hunter comes to theaters this holiday season.

Sergei Kravinoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson; Bullet Train/Levi Miller; Pan) is the older son of Nikolai (Russel Crowe; Gladiator), a Russian drug lord who is cruel and heartless, even where his children are concerned. When Nikolai pulls the boys out of school after their mother dies, he takes them on a hunting trip to teach them how to “be men”.

While on safari, Sergei gets attacked by “the beast” – an old and powerful lion.  As he lies dying, a young girl named Calypso (Ariana DeBose; West Side Story) gives him a potion and when it mixes with his and the lion’s blood, Sergei becomes miraculously healed and gains super-strengthened heightened senses.  As he grows older, he becomes a mercenary until the day he needs to use his skills to save his younger brother, Dmitri (Fred Hechinger; Gladiator II/Billy Barratt; Blinded By the Light), from his father’s enemies.

Taylor-Johnson is well cast as Kraven.  Not only does he have the physical characteristics to portray a superhuman, but he also has an intense stare and calm demeanor that is often associated with a predator.  Hechinger comes across as a sniveling baby, similar to the young brother he portrayed in Gladiator II.  Crowe, who has had some wonderful roles in the past, is wasted.  He is more annoying than anything else, but that may partly be due to the script.  DeBose is even more annoying than Crowe and disrupts every scene she is in, but not in a good way.

The script is not well written, with cringe-worthy lines and several plot points all mashed together to try and create something that makes sense.  While it would seem smart to go into deep details of Kraven’s life, much of it is summarized as are the backstories of the other characters.  Even without going into details, the movie is over two hours long and yet offers little in the way of substance.

The production is a mixed bag of well-choreographed action sequences, good stunts, and hit-or-miss CGI.  The stampede is an example of the latter while Kraven’s climbing skills show off the stunt work.  As for the action, if that is the reason you want to see this movie, you won’t be disappointed.

What is most odd about this movie is the way Kraven is portrayed.  In the comics, he is a sort of anti-hero/villain who preys on others, especially Spider-Man. However, in this movie, he comes across as a sympathetic mercenary who only kills those who deserve it (kind of like Dexter).  I’m sure that was a conscious decision by the writers to make him come across as more likable.  Sadly, even with that concession, the film still isn’t great, but that shouldn’t surprise anyone as the release date was pushed back more than once which usually isn’t a good sign.

Grade: C-

Red One Movie Review Rating:

Star Cast: Chris Evans, Dwayne Johnson, Lucy Liu, Kiernan Shipka, and J.K. Simmons

Director: Jake Kasdan

What’s Good: Having J.K. Simmons as an incredible version of Santa Claus feels just right, and the message of union and love fits the holidays even if this point overplays it.

What’s Bad: The film simultaneously tries to be an action movie, a comedy, a fantasy film, and a family film, but the execution makes everything look fake and uninteresting.

Loo Break: For a considerable chunk of the second act, the characters are just running about without anything meaningful happening to them, so there is a chance to go to the bathroom right there.

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Watch or Not?: Only watch if you are a massive Chris Evans or Dwayne Johnson fan; other than that, there are better Christmas movies out there.

Language: English (with subtitles).

Available On: Theaters, Apple TV+

Runtime: 124 Minutes

User Rating:

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Christmas is here, and with it, a whole new wave of Christmas content will grace our screens, including Red One, a new film produced by Dwayne Johnson and directed by his Jumanji partner Jake Kasdan. This film goes out of its way to be as big as possible. Still, it loses itself into a half-baked fantasy universe while also trying to be a family film that plays out every Christmas cliche in the book, making the experience quite frustrating.

Red One Movie Review: Script Analysis

Red One is one of those movies that doesn’t feel real, not because the film is so magnificent that it feels like a miracle that it exists, but because there is so little about it that feels authentic instead of a product with actual meaning and intent behind it. However, this has been the Dwayne Johnson formula for a while. It has undoubtedly helped him create a business empire, even if it is a little shaky at the moment, and so this is a new intent by Dwayne to catch people’s attention this holiday season.

The problem is that while Red One is undoubtedly a big movie, it also feels entirely fake, as everything in it has gone through some marketing study. They forgot to tell everyone involved in the film that they should, at least, try to make it more genuine. The script tries to find space for every single Christmas cliche in the book and also tries to create characters that feel too serious for a movie that also tries to be a comedy.

The writing feels too mechanical, with jokes that barely register and character arcs that feel too much like cookie-cutter, creating a disconnection between every film element. Red One is a movie, but it feels more like it was done checking boxes than trying to tell a story that evolves organically into what the creatives wanted.

The film moves from set piece to set piece in a world-throating adventure that feels entirely made inside a movie studio, enhancing the fakeness of the film in every single shot. When you realize that the movie budget is reported to be $250 million, it becomes a bit unbelievable that all that money was wasted on something like this, as there is no soul to it, even when every single person from behind and in front of the screen is trying to be as professional as possible.

Red One Movie Review: Star Performance

While the script had potential but didn’t execute it, the casting might be the best thing about the film, especially for Chris Evans, who lately hasn’t managed to tap his potential outside of the Marvel films. Evans became a fan favorite with his nuanced and engaging performance as Captain America, but there has been nothing to display his acting prowess outside of that.

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Red One doesn’t do Chris Evans when it comes to his bad decisions in picking projects lately, but the film takes advantage of his great timing for humor, and the actor keeps things afloat for most of it. He is the story’s protagonist, so we focus most on him. On the other hand, Dwayne Johnson delivers the expected Dwayne Johnson performances, and it isn’t bad or good; it is just there, and well, for those who like him, it will be fine.

Red One Movie Review: Direction, Music

The film feels all over the place regarding its technical accomplishments, although the production values are impressive in some scenes. In contrast, in others, you can almost touch the green screen behind the characters, making all those scenes a big issue in terms of consistency: without it, there are many moments where the movie will break the immersion and send you on a tangent from which it is tough to come back.

Kasdan isn’t particularly technical or artsy regarding the composition of the shots or the way characters and concepts are introduced in the movie, which creates the sensation that this is a TV movie or a costly streaming series. There is nothing wrong with that, but a film should be more careful about these decisions because the audience feels it quite a bit when there is no intent behind the choices.

Red One Movie Review: The Last Word

Red One is one massive blockbuster that will be forgotten soon after this holiday. While everyone involved is as professional as possible, there is just no soul behind the project. So even when the movie can be entertaining, there is nothing to remember after the credits roll.

Red One Trailer

Red One releases on Prime Video on 12 December, 2024.

Share with us your experience of watching Red One.

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Must Read: Johnny Depp’s Son, Jack, Ditched The Spotlight For Humble Bartending Job At This Trendy Parisian Eatery?

 

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