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Film reviews

Challengers Review

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This is one of the most enticing films directed by Luca Guadagnino that I have ever seen. Challengers is a film whichtests tensions and favoritism to the absolute maximum. Tennis and relationships are explored hand in hand throughout the film.  The story centers around Zendaya, she is one of the main competitors. The film focuses on competition for both a tennis championship and the attention of Zendaya. Challengers does not only push itself in terms of its mental suspense, but it is also remains on point in having its audience think about the rules of tennis and what it takes to make it to the big leagues. With its two male stars, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor, the heat is truly on in Challengers.

The film begins in 2019. Art Donaldson (played by Faist) is a successful tennis player in a loving relationship with Tashi Donaldson (played by Zendaya). They live a life of success, commercialism, and many rankings in tennis championships. His competitor (also a long-term friend on odd terms) is Patrick Zweig (played by Josh O’Connor). Zweig is one who keeps hitting or missing in tennis competitions. He keeps finding himself in financial despair and frustration. They are all connected though, as the film jumps to the era before the hot mess began. Art and Patrick were good friends, and Tashi was one they were obsessed with. They all became very close to the point where they were all madly in love with each other. However, it is clear that the distraction and attention for Tashi also is the key to their performance on the court. Both have always had goals and ambitions to impress Tashi. With all of that, the lines get blurred for success on the court for Art and Patrick.

The film goes into a pattern where the younger days were ones of success and young love between all three individuals. As the film progresses, the competition of tennis only gets more complex and mentally challenging, because both Art and Patrick want to be great. On top of that, they all want to be in one fulfilling and loving relationship with Tashi. Tashi had gone pro but sustained an injury and has limitations. It fueled Art and Patrick to be competitive with each other in the rankings and wins throughout their tennis career. Guadagnino focuses in-depth on their clear aggravations, mentality, egos and persistence. Challengers is a daring sportsmanship experience that will stress its audience to the max with its adrenaline.

With all the turmoil and detrimental thinking among the three characters, carrying from their younger days to their current lives, they build a relationship of confusion where love, tennis, and lust lead to destruction. The film’s continuity and wicked suspense wraps around winning the love of Tashi. This element creates a layer of disconnect. Challengers draws a picture where growth has wins, losses, jealousy and halts in success–all enthralling key points in Challengers.

The relationships and thoughts of the individuals in the film made me start to think of Guadagnino’s masterpiece Call Me by Your Name. Although these are separate types of films when it comes to relationships, there is a layer of writing where his work shines brightly. His directing is one that conveys that his characters are irritated or upset, and it is keen on making surethat audiences know it. Guadagnino’s direction of leading his audience think about soul-searching in Challengers goes into many directions. Who has more faith? Who is a better man for Tashi? Why do these individuals tolerate each other’s nonsense so much?  Challengers has continuous elements of intense anddetrimental stress in its characterizations—the stressors do not stop and make the competitive nature of this film even more mesmerizing.

A boiling and athletic ride of anxiety, this film takes a deep dive into egotistical minds. Tashi is all that matters to Art and Patrick and infidelities that occur go down the path of benefiting one over the other on the tennis court. Challengers has tons of moving parts that will make its audience keep wanting to think thoroughly and precisely. It is a duel for a championship and much more. The question is who is the true champion and the one that loves Tashi the most? Is it Art or Patrick? Find out in Challengers. Four stars.

Film reviews

The Beekeeper Review

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The title seems self-explanatory, yet this is a film layered withconnections to bees and one who deals with them daily. A hidden element is that there can be mass destruction that awaits when bees get angry. Jason Statham brings on that fury in The Beekeeper. With an opening introduction of archived science reels related to bees, the film may feel like it is a scientific experiment at first. The story unfolds though in a direction of violence and fatalities. The Beekeeper is bee extermination with a twist. The bees do not get exterminated, the bad guys do as The Beekeeper goes on a hunt that is relentless and lethal leading to absolute mayhem.

In the film, Statham is Adam Clay. He is a man that is a beekeeper for a woman named Eloise Parker (played by Phylicia Rashad). Adam does bee projects on Eloise’s property. Eloise becomes the victim of hackers and all of her bank accounts are drained. This leads Eloise to commit suicide. Her death puts Adam on a journey of vengeance. He hunts down the company that scammed Eloise. The daughter of Eloise is Agent Verona Parker (played by Emmy Raver-Lampman), and she is a detective. She is on the case along with her partner Agent Matt Wiley (played by Bobby Naderi). They try to hunt down the hackers, however Adam is ahead of the game. He burns down the building where the call was made which led to Eloise’s death. The man who runs the whole hacking game is a wealthy entrepreneur named Derek Danforth. He is one of the heads of Danforth Enterprises. Derek is a punk, rich boy and money has always been his way out of his problems. His ego is out of control, but is it enough to stop Adam from coming to kill him and put a deadly halt to his hacking operations?

Adam states, “I take care of bees,” and he sure does. His words declare his faith to Eloise because she meant a lot to him. The film’s writing is true to the revenge genre. Derek has an assistant with him at all times. That assistant is Wallace Westwyld(played by Jeremy Irons). Wallace is like an Alfred to a young Bruce Wayne, but for the wrong reasons here in his relationship with Derek. He tries to talk sense into Derek however, Derek’s ego is still too ahead of him. Wallace tells Derek that Adam’s goal is “To kill his way to the top of the hive.” His lethal huntwill not come to an end until the ones who caused others to suffer will suffer themselves.

The Beekeeper kills rapidly and leaves a minimal trail of destruction. That is because the pieces come together quickly. It mimics the fascination of a bee hive, yet takes a turn into a killing spree. The premise of evil lurking is the main vein of the writing in The Beekeeper. It is an unstoppable and mind-boggling thriller that is different and pure Statham.

Statham is The Beekeeper, and he will not stop until everyone that is an enemy suffers. Irons is the one who knows the layers of meaning of a beekeeper—he knows the philosophies, sayings, actions, and how bad the dangers will get for Derek. This is a journey where the action is non-stop and it invites you along for the ride. There were moments where my mind felt that it was kind of predictable however, there was a revolving door of unexpected outcomes that managed to blow my mind. This is a different experience for a Statham thriller. The layer of having a fascination for bees created a platform for the damaging aspects and a rollercoaster ride of craziness. Three out of four stars for The Beekeeper.

Film reviews

The Boys in The Boat Review

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The Boys In The Boat is a heartfelt film about rowing in the era of The Great Depression as it delves into the theme of bonding through sportsmanship in a tumultuous time. Director George Clooney displays the importance of teamwork from the start, exemplifying that commitment is crucial. The film is set in an era of financial deficits and not many avenues are available for college students who do not have much money. Rowing becomes an opportunity for the young men in this situation. Inspirational in as much as it tugs on emotions, The Boys In The Boat is however lacking in its ability to fulfill.


The film takes place in Seattle, Washington. The year is 1936and the setting is the University of Washington. A time when finances for education are not easy to come by for many students. The first student the film introduces is Joe Rantz (played by Callum Turner). He lives in a broken-down car most of his days since he cannot put a roof over his head. The second student is Roger Morris (played by Sam Strike). He has a mind for engineering, but his finances are the blockade to him getting an education. Both Joe and Roger find themselves in dire circumstances, which leads them to join the rowing team of University of Washington. Their coach is Al Ulbrickson. The rest of their teammates are Chuck Day (played by Thomas Elms), Don Hume (played by Jack Mulhern), Shorty Hunt (played by Bruce Herbellin-Earle), Jim McMillin (played by Will Coban), Johnny White (played by Tom Varey), and Gordy Adam (played by Joel Phillimore). They are a team that will thrive and encourage each other to soar to new heights in their sport.

The writing in the film delivers a strong message of sportsmanship and encouragement. There is a quote in the film, “Every good race has a jockey”, which exemplifies that every position in the boat has a different responsibility during a race. The power and angling are controlled by the rowers in the back. Speed is the duty for the front rowers. All together though, everyone must deliver as much power as they can and the timing must be perfect. There is also another quote in the film, “Technique is more important than power.” This becomes true to the aspects of winning in The Boys in the Boat. The boys learn that momentum and synchronicity are the most importantbuilding blocks to keep their power going. All of this creates a feel-good experience as they come together as a team and as friends.

The writing begins to lack when the politics of academia enter the story. The biggest issue is finances. The University of Washington cannot compete financially with the wealthier Ivy League schools during this economic time and the resources for a rowing program are scarce. The performances of the rowers do not matter when money and reputation of other schools come first. The unfair advantage of the Ivy league schools is the component that is unclear. Edgerton’s performance as the coach shines with realistic frustration and turmoil. He wants his team to be one of an achievement, but the academic and financial factors keep interfering with their chances of success. Harvard and Yale have the upper hand and he has to find a way for his team to stay in competition.

The road to the Berlin Olympics is the shining accomplishment awaiting in The Boys in the Boat. This climactic moment of the film brings home a strong message of persistence and sportsmanship. Unfortunately, the ironies of the political and financial issues get lost in poor writing and make the script fall short of its full potential in exposing the turmoil they create.There are still politics today when it comes to colleges and sports, however this era depended on survival through pure fortitude and belief in the hope of a better future. It brought forth the ones that shine the brightest lights. Three out of four stars for The Boys in The Boat.