There is STILL next to nothing new worth watching in theaters at the moment, so I made my way through new fare at home.
Red, White & Royal Blue – The selections I made this weekend all ended up being very strong, and of course that started off with this highly anticipated adaptation. Given that I just re-read this book a little over a month ago, a lot of the story was still very clear in my mind. I also know in the past I’ve scolded myself for reading something before watching it, but I knew with the casting of Nick Galitzine and Taylor Zakhar Perez as Prince Henry and Alex, respectively, that I was going to be okay with whatever they gave me. And I was! Yes, there was an obscene amount of sub plots that they took out of this two hour movie – heck, they didn’t even include June – but they hit all of the major relationship scenes between Alex and Henry and they were almost word-perfect. I can’t wait to watch this again.
Happiness for Beginners – Another rom-com adaptation was released on Netflix a few months ago, but this one just further proves the point that Netflix cares about quantity and not quality. I have to imagine there was probably a hundred pages worth of details missing because it felt like I was coming into someone’s life in the middle of a sentence. And sure, that’s how it is for most fictional characters that are met, but this just felt really clunky. So while there were very large chunks of this film that had me scrunching my face in confusion, and then again in annoyance at our main character, Helen, there were a decent number of scenes that came across really endearing. Those handful of scenes ultimately turned it around for me in the end, but if we’re being honest, I should have just watched Red, White & Royal Blue again.
Heart of Stone – There’s just something about Gal Gadot that I just can’t quite take seriously as an action star. I realize that sounds stupid given how many of them she’s been the main star in but I stand by it. In this latest action flick courtesy of Netflix, she plays Rachel Stone, a member of The Charter undercover with an MI6 team trying to get to an arms dealer. That little scuffle instead sets off a chain of events that focuses more on Stone needing to protect The Charter’s most valuable asset: The Heart. In the exact opposite way of the latest Mission Impossible film, this is an AI technology that is being exclusively used to save lives. Of course, it can be used for literally anything, and that’s just what some bad guys would like to do with it. At least, that’s what you think at first. There were definitely layers to this story that I was not anticipating, and with a likeable cast and fast action sequences, this was a pleasant watch.
The Passenger – Not to be confused with the deeply bad 2016 sci-fi romance drama, Passenger, this instead is a killer road thriller brought to us by Blumhouse. I wouldn’t call this film scary, but there are some realistically gruesome scenes peppered throughout. The real draw of the film lies in the relationship between quiet, shy, and decision-averse Randy, and his homicidal co-worker, Benson as they embark on a sort of retribution tour, if you will, that Benson has forced upon Randy. As the film moves along, we learn a lot more concretely about Randy and what made him the way he is. And although we don’t learn quite as much about Benson, he gives a commanding performance that had me wondering just what he was going to do next. I tend to agree with some other people’s consensus, that their relationship seems to be more complex than just co-workers. Really great end to the weekend!