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Film reviews

Small Things Like These Review

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From director Tim Mielants and based on the book written by Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These is an adaptation with heart about a situation involving layers of uncertainty. The story is woven in a way that is thought-provoking. It weighs the choices a man must make when faced with secrets. The film is set in areas around County Wexford and County Wicklow in Ireland. The season of the film gives off a chilly feeling and thecinematography feels cold as well. There is a sense given the subject matter that there are complicated moving parts when it comes to choices that have serious consequences.

The film’s main character is Bill Furlong (played by Cillian Murphy). He is a father to many daughters with his wife, Eileen Furlong (played by Eileen Walsh). He works hard daily to feed his family. With a job as a coal merchant, Bill prioritizes his family. Even though he is presented as a family man, the dark era of his early days being raised by a single mother come back to him.

When part of holiday celebration doesn’t go as planned, and other eerie moments occur, Bill still behaves with a heart. He meets Sarah Redmond (played by Zara Devlin), a teenager whois pregnant. He finds her in a shed in drastic and cold temperatures, suffering in a way that Bill cannot accept. The place where this takes place happens to be a convent, run by Sister Mary (played by Emily Watson). This presents a portrait of what seems very inappropriate in the operations of the convent where the nuns belittle Sarah.

Small Things Like These creates a representation of a small town with very few places to hide. The writing and pacing are focused primarily on the intentions of Bill as he struggles with the harsh secrets and realizations regarding the convent. Small Things Like These transitions to scenes in Bill’s past, and then jumps back to the present. It shows him living life with his family and delves into his thought process about what he should be doing to help Keep Sarah safe. The artistic aspects of Small Things Like These illustrate the risks of doing a good deed, i.e., aiding Sarah in finding safety. Murphy’s performance is impressive as a character who demonstrates loyalty and respect in his efforts to break down barriers.

This film is a poetic force of a drama that is both dark and often unnerving. The drastic way lighting is used to illuminate specific moments of confusion and frustration experienced by lead character, Bill, is what especially dazzles during Small Things Like These. The past may not be able to be undone given the difficult reminders of prior hardship. Going forward, however,Bill’s dedication to being a father motivates him to do what is right. Using the small-town setting to help deliver a deeply emotional vibe, the film’s power lies in creating a nervous mentality that swerves vigorously. Three out of four stars for Small Things Like These.

Film reviews

Oppenheimer Review

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The technological and cinematic abilities of the mind of filmmaker Christopher Nolan are on full display in Oppenheimer, a film that also takes us deep into the mind of J. Robert Oppenheimer, thanks to actor Cillian Murphy.

In Oppenheimer, Murphy brilliantly displays the genius and also the egotistical attitude and drive toward success that were the hallmarks of Oppenheimer, often called the “father of the atomic bomb”. Oppenheimer is relentless and harrowing while driving forward with its true events story, but will it be the blockbuster that we have come to expect from Christopher Nolan?

Oppenheimer starts with Oppenheimer’s early life and his days of schooling and science. Oppenheimer is not a common student. He is bright in the classroom, but he is also focused on his success outside of academics. In school and beyond he is all about science and physics and theories, and his projects have meaning. Oppenheimer’s research gets the attention of higher officials, and eventually he is put in charge of the development of the atomic bomb. Much of the first half of the film focuses on Oppenheimer’s problems developing the atomic bomb. The uncharted territory begins after it appears he has accomplished his goal.

Oppenheimer jumps back and forth between his personal issues and his political affiliations with Jean Lewis Strauss (played by Robert Downey Jr.), who is the United States Secretary of Commerce. The personal issues involve his affair with Jean Tatlock (played by Florence Pugh), and his unfaithfulness to his wife Kitty Oppenheimer (played by Emily Blunt). Throughout these stressful scenarios, the atomic bomb project continues. US Army Corps of Engineers officer Leslie Groves (played by Matt Damon) is who assigns Oppenheimer the atomic bomb project, and they work together to develop it. This is where the film begins to be stressful. As the project hits plateaus, the screen burns with anxiety. The whole film is really just one haunting and mentally overwhelming thrill ride. It’s like a biographical history on acid.

Nolan’s use of 70 MM projection in Oppenheimer is invigorating and astonishing. His audience will feel they are in Oppenheimer’s world, his mind, and surrounded by the many frustrations that are in his life. This is simply one of the most daring true story films I have seen. But the film also burns with questions. Is Oppenheimer actually a bad guy? Is his development of the bomb a just cause? Will the bomb truly save lives? The creation of the bomb brings many unanswered questions, and it is spellbinding.

No one could play the role of J. Robert Oppenheimer better than Murphy. He delivers a performance showing the power of the man, as well as his brilliance. Murphy is faithful to the seriousness of the topic, and he seems to grasp the force of the film’s heavy theme.

Again, Oppenheimer is invigorating, and it definitely goes deep. It’s pace is in tune with its cinematography for a very dramatic effect. Christopher Nolan direction continues to succeed. Three and a half stars for Oppenheimer.