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Film reviews

The Underdoggs Review

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With Snoop Dogg as the lead, audiences can expect a whole lot of gangster attitude and graphic dialogue in The Underdoggs. The film’s context is not inspiring but somehow its directing is clever. Movies in which a sports celebrity is serving probation usually grab my attention. I enjoy comedic scenes and bizarre connections like those in Role Models (2008) and Champions (2023) which both featured characters during a probationary period. However, in The Underdoggs there is also a lot of Straight Outta Compton (2015) poured all over it. The foul language even expressed by very young characters made watching The Underdoggs uncomfortable at moments.

The film focuses on a man named Jaycen played by Snoop Dogg. Jaycen uses to be a professional football player and now lives in a high-end mansion in California. His reputation has been down the drain for years. His agent Ryan (played by Kal Penn) believes that due to Jaycen’s bad reputation finding speaking or networking opportunities is not worth this time. Jaycen’s problemslead to a harsh plateau which puts him in a position to do community service where he ends up coaching a young football team of misfit kids. The film is about how aformerly famous athlete thrives in community service to prove himself worthy.

At the beginning of the film, the writing is atrocious due to the repeated graphic language by Dogg and the athletes on the team he is coaching. The dialogue was a big turn-off for me in The Underdoggs. It was hard to sense a feel-good vibe with the slew of bad language, particularly from the teenagers. It brings too much negativity to a story that should be about good sportsmanship and self-improvement. The film does have some happy moments where Jaycen provides inspiration to his team, but most of the time the movie is dominated by Dogg’s attitude.

The vulgarity does not stop and is combined with poor behavior by the players as well. Viewers would reasonably expect some encouragement based on the film’s setup, but there is very little joy to be found amidst the foul-mouthed characters. The Underdoggs is one of the most disappointing movies so far this year but could have been improved upon if the language had been toned down.

While the film suffered from poor writing for a sports flick, the negativity was likely added for entertainment purposes. One high note comes in the way of a twist. The character Kareem, played by Mike Epps, is arguably a worse influence than Dogg’s character, Jaycen. Both are not great role models to inspire young kids, but they come around over time. Dogg and Epps as partners-in-crime will appeal most to young viewers.

Overall, the context remains the biggest problem with the film. It never successfully finds the right mix of being funny, serious, and heartfelt. The script is filled with so much toxicity that it is hard to find a joyful mix. Will Jaycen achieve success as a coach? Find out in The Underdoggs. Two out of four stars.

Film reviews

Cassandro Review

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Cassandro is the true story of a wrestler with a difficult background, including having to hide his sexuality. Directed by Roger Ross Williams, Cassandro is witty and surprisingly positive. Gael Garcia Bernal Is the star of the film and he delivers one of the most monumental performances of his career. Cassandro is simply irresistible, and it may very well be one of the best foreign language films of 2023.

Saul Armendariz (played by Bernal) is the central character. Cassandro is his stage name when he is wrestling. Saul lives a quiet life with his mother, Yocasta (played by Perla De La Rosa). He works wrestling gigs and hopes to make it his career. He trains with Sabrina (played by Roberta Colindrez). She believes that Saul has the ability and ambition to make it to a high level in the wrestling ranks. But Saul has a secret that causes some hesitancy in his life. He is gay. Saul finds the courage to come out of the closet and he finds that his life is mostly full of love and support, but he does experience some hatred. He fights on, though, and he doesn’t let what others think stop him from pursuing his dream.

When Saul is in his wrestling character as “Cassandro the exotic” his sexuality is his trademark in the ring, and that is where he finds his fame. One of the things that makes the film invigorating is that it’s about someone finding where they belong and what they are passionate about. Saul very much wants to be a wrestler, and he also wants to make his mom happy. As his career and life take off life he sees his income grow, and he has new adventures and meets new people. There is some risqué behavior and, to an extent, Saul sees growth in some aspects of his life and turmoil in other aspects. The turmoil involves issues with being gay and getting into a secret relationship with another man, Gerardo (played by Raul Castillo).

The big wrestling event that Saul is working with Sabrina to get to is called the Lucha Libre. They keep climbing the ladder together, but can Saul make it to the big event? Saul has some challenges and important choices to make before getting there.

Cassandro is simply a triumph. It is a story of despair turned into hope. The writing and cinematography are superb, the cultural vibes are there, and audiences will find themselves pulling for Saul and hoping he is able to keep going in a positive direction. Gael Garcia Bernal has always been very talented and versatile, but this may his best film yet. He is definitely the key to the film’s brilliance. Thanks to Bernal, Cassandro takes the cake. Four out of four stars for Cassandro.

58th Chicago International Film Festival, Film reviews

Nanny Review

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Nanny is a film that weaves emotions of the past, present, and future. It displays a juxtaposition of what is right and wrong when dealing with tough situations. Nanny is filled with positive vibes in its opening. Just moments after that though, it begins to heighten with disagreements. The anxiety of the characters in Nanny become strong and harrowing mental terror is visually portrayed. Nanny soars with tension in various moments. The film, however, is not great because its continuity is miscalculated.

Nanny’s plot is played out in New York City. The film introduces us to Aisha, played by Anna Diop. Aisha is an immigrant who is hired to be a nanny by Amy, played by Michelle Monaghan, and Adam, played by Morgan Spector. They put her in charge of watching their daughter Rose, played by Rose Decker. Aisha loves her job taking care of Rose. It distracts her from the many troubles of her own past. The mood for Aisha starts to shift when Amy begins to fall behind on paying her. Aisha finds herself having to talk to Adam behind Amy’s back. As the miscommunication starts getting out of hand, Aisha’s own reality begins to tarnish. Her tensions remind her of the past, and she finds herself mentally losing control. As disagreements begin to intensify with all the parties involved, the more the terror evolves.

Aisha’s frustrations with Amy and Adam are what causes her anxiety to spin out-of-control. It is the same way for Amy. As Amy keeps putting off the payments for Aisha, Nanny gets more vivid with strange illusions. The scary imagery of Aisha’s past keeps haunting her, and it begins to impact her job performance with Rose. The outcomes Aisha’s behavior become irreparable and surreal. Nanny proves its point of consequence by creatively showing what is in Aisha’s mind. The trail of Aisha’s past is not forgotten, so Rose may be in danger under Aisha’s care. Nanny lures its viewers by utilizing tracks of strange imagery tied to Aisha’s emotions. I found this utterly gnarly.

Nanny is an invigorating film with a captivating plot. I found it lacking because of how over-done Aisha’s mental images are. For example, there is a moment where she envisions something horrific in a swimming pool. Was this supposed to be an evil mermaid-type of omen? Isthis a psychological movie trying to be a version of The Shape of Water (2017)? If so, its fantasy moments like this were unappealing to me.  The execution was mediocre and not of importance to Nanny’s central problem.

Despite the strange mermaid moment, Nanny makes sense thanks to its underlying tensions. It is the mental horrors where the film crosses the line. Perhaps the goal was to make the audience feel like it is a fantasy.  Unfortunately, it is not one. Instead, it is a film about a lady trying to make an income, while also trying to get her life together after a harsh past. Sadly, the creative process causes this film to go way overboard.

My explanation to help put this film into context is that Nanny falls under the genres of horror and thriller. It is more psychological terror mixed with exaggerated emotions. The film does not know when to stop adding more elements. The over-exaggerations are what causes Nanny to be just mediocre and make the movie not make sense in certain moments. Two and a half stars for Nanny.