Jenny Slate Archives – CULTURE MIX

Review: ‘Zootopia 2,’ starring the voices of Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Ke Huy Quan, Fortune Feimster, Andy Samberg, Idris Elba, Patrick Warburton, Quinta Brunson, Nate Torrence and Shakira

November 25, 2025

by Carla Hay

Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman) and Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) in “Zootopia 2” (Image courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc.)

Directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard

Culture Representation: The animated film “Zootopia 2” (a sequel to the 2016 movie “Zootopia”), which takes place in the fictional city of Zootopia, features characters who are talking animals.

Culture Clash: An earnest bunny rabbit and a cynical fox, who are police officer partners, investigate a case of business corruption involving their city’s weather wall climate control system and accusations of stolen land.

Culture Audience: “Zootopia 2” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the first “Zootopia” movie, the “Zootopia 2” voice cast, and appealing animated adventure films about talking animals.

Gary De’Snake (voiced by Ke Huy Quan) in “Zootopia 2” (Image courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc.)

“Zootopia 2” uses the same formula as the first “Zootopia” movie: A rabbit and a fox team up to investigate a crime mystery involving bigotry against certain animals. This sequel is entertaining but needed more originality. And like many sequels, “Zootopia 2” introduces new characters while bringing back previous characters, thereby making the movie’s cast of characters a little overstuffed.

Directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard and written by Bush, “Zootopia 2” is a sequel to the 2016 movie “Zootopia,” which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Bush and Howard directed “Zootopia,” which was written by Bush and Phil Johnston. Because there are so many more animated features about talking animals now than there were in 2016, it will be harder for “Zootopia 2” to stand out as an Oscar-worthy movie.

“Zootopia 2” begins with a montage summary of what happened in the first “Zootopia” movie: Earnest and cheerful bunny rabbit/police officer rookie Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) recruited jaded fox/con artist Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman) to help her solve a mystery. Judy and Nick live in the large urban city of Zootopia, which is populated mostly by mammals. The majority of Zootopia’s mammals are considered prey to predators. Nick and Judy end up becoming friends because of their shared bond of being bullied as kids and being underestimated later in life. For years, the prey animals and the predator animals of Zootopia have lived in harmony.

In the first “Zootopia” movie, the villains wanted to make the predator animals look like out-of-control killers, for reasons that are explained in the movie. Mild spoiler alert for those who don’t know what happened in the first “Zootopia” movie: As shown in the beginning of “Zootopia 2,” Judy and Nick solved the case, which resulted in Zootopia’s short-lived ewe mayor Dawn Bellwether (voiced by Jenny Slate) to be exposed as the mastermind villain. Dawn was subsequently arrested and sent to prison. Nick then gave up a life of crime to became a police officer at the Zootopia Police Department, and he was assigned to be Judy’s cop partner.

In “Zootopia 2,” Nick and Judy are still cop partners at the Zootopia Police Department. This time, the prejudice spreading throughout Zootopia isn’t against predators. It’s against all snakes, which were exiled from Zootopia years ago because of snakes’ reputation for being too dangerous to live in Zootopia. Other reptiles are also looked at with suspicion by many of Zootopia’s residents.

Zootopia is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the city’s weather wall climate control system, which is the driving force of Zootopia’s ecosystem. Zootopia’s most powerful family is a clan of lynxes, called the Lynxley family, because the Lynxleys own the patent to the weather wall climate control system, which was invented by a Lynxley ancestor. The Lynxleys are hosting a Zootennial Gala, where a valuable notebook called the Lynxley Journal has this patent and is on display in a glass case.

The Lynxley patriarch is Milton Lynxley (voiced by David Strathairn), whose underachieving son Pawbert Lynxley (voiced by Andy Samberg) is a scion to family fortune. Pawbert seems to be a disappointment to Milton because Pawbert is the type of shrewd business dealer that Milton wants Pawbert to be. Milton’s other children are arrogant Catrrick Linxley (voiced by Macauley Culkin) and spoiled Kitty Linxley (voiced by Brenda Song), who are competitive for their father’s approval.

In the beginning of “Zootopia 2,” Judy and Nick get pulled from regular duties by their African buffalo boss Chief Bogo (voice by Idris Elba), who is displeased that Judy and Nick disobeyed orders to “stand down” during car chase of criminals. The car chase caused a lot of destruction, so Chief Bogo re-assigns Judy and Nick to do lightweight traffic cop duties. Nick and Judy, who often disagree with each other, are also ordered to attend a Partners in Crisis therapy group, led by a mouse named Fuzzby (voiced by Quinta Brunson), who is a polite but firm therapist.

After being pulled from police detective duties, Judy and Nick decided to go “undercover” as guests at the Zootennial Gala. Judy is curious to see the Lynxley Journal because the Lynxleys have said that a pit viper attacked the Lynxley’s family maid many years ago, in an attempt to steal the journal. Snakes have been banned from Zootopia for years because of this incident.

At the Zootennial Gala, a pit viper named Gary De’Snake (voiced by Ke Huy Quan) arrives in Zootopia to crash a gala event, by dropping underneath a red cloak on stage while Milton is giving a speech. Gary announces to the shocked crowd that his great-grandmother Agnes De’Snake was the one who actually invented the weather wall climate control system, and she was wrongfully accused of attacking the Lynxley maid.

Gary claims that there is proof that he’s telling the truth, and he wants to clear the De’Snake family name and for Zootopia to lift the ban against snakes and other reptiles. Gary says the Lynxleys are the real enemies, so Gary kidnaps Milton. What happens next is a madcap adventure where Judy and Nick get involved in solving this mystery. A talkative beaver named Nibbles Maplestick (voiced by Fortune Feimster), who is a conspiracy-theorist host of a podcast titled “Scales & Tales of the Weird,” tags along and helps guide Judy and Nick through some unfamiliar territory.

“Zootopia 2” also features brief returns of characters who were in “Zootopia.” These returning characters include Benjamin Clawhauser (voiced by Nate Torrence), a cheetah who is a desk sergeant/dispatcher at the Zootopia Police Department; Flash Slothmore (voiced by Raymond S. Persi), a sloth DMV employee, who is notoriously slow in urgent situations; Judy’s supportive parents Stu Hopps (voiced by Don Lake) and Bonnie Hopps (voiced by Bonnie Hunt); and Duke Weaselton (voiced by Alan Tudyk), a weasel who is a small-time crook who sells bootleg DVDs on the street.

Also making return appearances in “Zootopia 2” are Mr. Big (played by Maurice LaMarche), an Arctic shrew crime boss who is based in Tundratown and is a parody of the Vito Corleone character from “The Godfather” movies; Fru Fru (voiced by Leah Latham), Mr. Big’s bubbly daughter, who is now the mother of a daughter named Judy, named after Judy Hopps; stoner yak/naturalist club owner Yax (voiced by Tommy Chong); and pop singer Gazelle (voiced by Shakira), who does a big concert at the end of “Zootopia 2,” just like Gazelle did in the first “Zootopia” movie. And don’t be surprised to see a previous villain from “Zootopia” show up in “Zootopia 2.”

New characters in “Zootopia 2” include Zootopia’s current Mayor Winddancer (voiced by Patrick Warburton), a vain stallion who is a former actor; a streetwise basilisk named Jesús (played by Danny Trejo), who is an underground informant; look-alike police zebras named Zebro Zebraxton (voiced by Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoai) and Zebro Zebrowski (voiced by Phil “CM Punk” Brooks), who call themselves the Zebros; and two razorback Zootopia cop partners Captain Hoggbottom (voiced by Michelle Gomez) and Truffler (voiced by David Fane), who are tough and aggressive.

“Zootopia” has so many celebrity voice cast members, many are just reduced to doing short cameos because there isn’t enough time to develop all of these characters in this 108-minute movie. These guest appearances are so quick, many viewers might not know these celebrities are in the “Zootopia 2” cast unless they look at the movie’s credits that list all the cast members. Michael J. Fox (as fox prisoner Michael J. the Fox), June Squibb (as Judy’s grandmother Gram Gram), Amanda Gorman (as giraffe reporter Deerdra Bambino), Mario Lopez (as wolf reporter Denny Howlett), Tig Notaro (as bear prisoner Big Tig), Yvette Nicole Brown (as EMT Otter and The Bearoness) and Ed Sheeran (as sheep Ed Shearin) are some of famous names in the “Zootopia 2” voice cast.

Many of these celebrity voice cameos are people who are known for making a lot of money for Disney. Josh Gad (of Disney’s “Frozen” movie fame) is the voice of a mole named Paul Moledebrandt. Dwayne Johnson (a star of Disney’s “Moana” movie franchise) has a voice role listed in the “Zootopia 2” end credits as Zeke AKA That Dik Dik Stuck in that Tuba. Auli’i Cravalho (2016’s “Moana”) has the voice role of an anti-venom pen. Anika Noni Rose (Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog”) is the voice of “Squeal of Fortune” mouse. Bob Iger (Disney’s CEO) also gets his own “Zootopia 2” character: a tiger weather forecaster named Bob Tiger.

The energetic and playful visuals for “Zootopia 2” are perfectly suited for the story’s quick pace, which involves a lot of chase scenes and “race against time” scenes. The story also has some comedy that people of many generations can enjoy, with a few jokes that adults will understand better than very young kids. The performances of Goodwin and Bateman continue to anchor the “Zootopia” story with aplomb, as the friendship between Judy and Nick evolves and is put to the test when they are forced to be apart for much of the story. Quan and Feimster are good additions to the “Zootopia” franchise, with “Zootopia 2” making more room for the possibility that Feimster’s Nibbles Maplestick character is more likely to have a prominent role in future “Zootopia” movies.

By adding so many new cameo characters (many of whom are unnecessary to the story), “Zootopia 2” almost trips over its eagerness to show off its all-star cast, when the story would’ve worked just fine without half of these cameos. The end of “Zootopia” and an end-credits scene give hints on what to expect in the third “Zootopia” movie. Even with “Zootopia 2’s” excessive casting, retread of story concepts, and somewhat preachy “life lessons,” “Zootopia 2” is a fun ride that retains much of the charm and intrigue of the first “Zootopia.” And sometimes, that’s all you need.

Walt Disney Pictures will release “Zootopia 2” in U.S. cinemas on November 26, 2025.

Review: ‘It Ends With Us,’ starring Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Jenny Slate, Hasan Minhaj and Brandon Sklenar

August 7, 2024

by Carla Hay

“It Ends With Us”

Directed by Justin Baldoni

Culture Representation: Taking place mainly in Boston and briefly in Plethora, Maine (with flashbacks to scenes taking place in Plethora, about 15 years earlier), the dramatic film “It Ends With Us” (based on Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel of the same name) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some Asians and black people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A florist meets and falls in love with a charismatic neurosurgeon, who gives up his playboy ways to date her, but things get complicated when she sees a dark side to him, and she finds out that her high-school sweetheart is still in love with her.

Culture Audience: “It Ends With Us” will appeal primarily to people who fans of star Blake Lively and the book on which the movie is based, as well as romantic dramas that deal with serious topics such as domestic abuse and generational trauma.

Blake Lively and Brandon Sklenar in “It Ends With Us” (Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures)

Talented performances from the principal cast members give emotional resonance to the melodrama in “It Ends With Us.” This worthy book adaptation effectively shows how abuse and generational trauma can be toxic when mixed with love and loyalty. “It Ends With Us” is a story that frankly displays, in sometimes heart-wrenching ways, how difficult it can be to leave an abusive relationship and how a public persona doesn’t always match someone’s true self in private.

Directed by Justin Baldoni and written by Christy Hall, “It Ends With Us” is based on Colleen Hoover’s best-selling 2016 novel of the same name. There’s a love triangle in the movie, where the three main adult characters are about 10 years older than they are in the book. Although there might be some fans of the book who won’t like that these characters’ ages are changed in the movie, people who see the movie can attest that making the characters older in the movie actually gives the story more poignancy. That’s because the relationship mistakes seen in this story can’t be blamed on the characters being too young and inexperienced when it comes to relationships.

The “It Ends With Us” begins by showing Lily Bloom (played by Blake Lively), who’s in her early 30s, driving to her hometown of Plethora, Maine, to attend her father’s funeral. Lily’s father Andrew Bloom (played by Kevin McKidd, shown in flashback scenes) was the mayor of Plethora and a well-respected member of the community. Lily’s widowed mother Jenny Bloom (played by Amy Morton) is happy to see Lily (who is an only child) but tells Lily that she wishes Lily would stay in contact with her.

Lily and Jenny have a complicated relationship that is later explained in the movie. Besides the fact that Lily has been avoiding her mother for years, it’s obvious that Lily has conflicted feelings about her father too. Lily has been asked to write a eulogy for her father, but she’s been postponing writing this eulogy. She’s expected to read the eulogy at the funeral.

On the day of the funeral, Jenny is disappointed to find out that Lily hasn’t written the eulogy yet. Jenny tells Lily just to write down and say five things that she loved about Andrew. At the funeral service, when Lily is in front of the crowded church, Lily tries to say something for the eulogy, but she can’t.

Lily makes a quick apology and leaves the funeral. Lily leaves behind the note paper where she was supposed to write five things she loved about her father. The five notation marks are blank.

The movie then fast-forwards to Lily sitting on the rooftop of an upscale Boston apartment building at night, when she’s startled to see a good-looking man (who’s in his late 30s) storming through the rooftop door and angrily kicking a chair. He’s suprised to see her there and says he’s sorry for this temper tantrum and explains that he’s had a bad day. Lily tells him that she doesn’t live in the building but she’s on the rooftop because she’s “just visiting.” She doesn’t say who she’s visiting in the building.

Lily eventually tells him the reason why she’s in Boston: She’s going to open a flower shop, which has been her lifelong dream. Lily says she’s been “obsessed with flowers” since she was a child. And she jokes that her name Lily Bloom might seems like a contrivance, considering her flower obsession, but she tells him that it’s her real name.

After some flirting, he introduces himself as Ryle Kincaid (played by Baldoni) and says he lives on the top floor of the building, next to his sister and her husband. Ryle then tells Lily that he’s a neurosurgeon. Her reaction is to laugh because she said she thought he was a “crypto bro” or an “expensive prostitute.” Ryle is intrigued by Lily, who is immediately attracted to him too, but she doesn’t really want to show it and is somewhat guarded with him at first.

Ryle turns on the charm and tells her they should play a Naked Truth game, where they tell each other an intimate secret that most people in their lives don’t know. Ryle tells Lily that the reason why he was so upset is because earlier that day, he operated on a 6-year-old boy who had been accidentally shot by his underage brother, but the gunshot victim died. Lily expresses sympathy and decides to open up to Ryle by telling him that she lost her virginity to a homeless guy named Atlas when she was in high school. Lily explains the homeless guy was a fellow student.

The movie has several flashbacks showing how the relationship developed between Atlas and Lily, who were each other’s first love when they were about 17 or 18 years old. In these flashbacks, teenage Lily is played by Isabela Ferrer (who has a striking resemblance to Lively), and teenage Atlas is portrayed by Alex Neustaedter. These flashbacks show Atlas and Lily had a tender romance where they treated each other with kindness and respect, even though some snobbishly cruel students at the school insulted Atlas and Lily as a couple because they knew Atlas was homeless.

Lily and Atlas kept their relationship a secret from Lily’s parents because she knew that her strict and controlling father would not approve of the relationship. Atlas was homeless at the time because he said his single mother kicked him out because she chose her abusive boyfriends over Atlas, who has a hand injury from when he tried to protect his mother from one of these abusers. Lily then confesses to Atlas that her father often hits her mother.

This shared trauma of coming from an abusive home ends up bringing Atlas and Lily closer together. Atlas tells her that after he graduates from high school, he’s enlisting in the U.S. Marines, but his dream is to one day move to Boston, which he thinks is the greatest city in the world. It’s implied in the movie that Atlas and Lily never had a bitter breakup. Their lives just went in different directions, and they didn’t stay in contact with each other after they graduated from high school.

“It Ends With Us” seamlessly goes back and forth between showing the present-day relationship that develops between Lily and Ryle and the past relationship between Lily and Atlas. During the first conversation that Lily and Ryle have on the apartment rooftop, he tells her up front that he wants to have sex with her but he’s not interested in falling in love. He also admits that he’s a playboy who’s not ready to give up his dating lifestyle.

“Love isn’t for me,” Ryle says. “Lust is nice though.” Lily asks Ryle about his overtly sexual pickup technique: “How many women as this worked on?” He answers with a cocky smile, “All of them.” Lily plays hard to get, which makes Ryle want her even more.

Meanwhile, Lily has to do a fixer-upper job for the retail space where she’ll have her flower shop in Boston. Her shop is called Lily Bloom’s, which has a bohemian chic decor. Lily’s first hire for the shop is a talkative and friendly neurotic named Allysa (played by Jenny Slate), who saw Lily’s “Help Wanted” sign before the shop opened and impulsively went into the shop to apply for the job. Allysa admits that she doesn’t like flowers (Allysa explains why, much later in the movie), but Allyssa is so impressed with Lily’s passion for flowers, Allysa says she wants the job anyway.

Lily instinctively likes Allysa as a person and hires her on the spot. Allysa and Lily quickly become best friends. Allysa and her multimillionaire husband Marshall (played by Hasan Minhaj) have a happy marriage, and they welcome Lily into their lives. It’s mentioned later in the movie that Marshall is a tech entrepreneur who sold his company for a nine-figure sum. Marshall is eager to impress people in his social circle to show how much he pampers and adores Allysa.

On the flower shop’s opening day, Lily gets her first customer: Ryle. And she’s in for a shock when she finds out that Ryle is Allysa’s brother. Allysa knows about Ryle’s playboy reputation. And when Allysa sees that Ryle and Lily have an intense attraction to each other, she warns Ryle to stay away from Lily. But you know where all of this is going, of course.

Lily, Ryle, Allysa and Marshall go on double dates together, such as bowling. After this bowling date, Lily tell Ryle that she just wants to be “friends” with him. However, Ryle practically begs Lily to let him kiss her so that he can “get it out of his system.” They kiss in a way that you know will lead to something more.

The first time that Lily and Ryle spend the night together, it’s after Lily went to Allysa’s birthday party. Even though Ryle and Lily have a hot and heavy makeout session at his place, Lily insists that she doesn’t want to have sex with him that night, so they spend the night together by cuddling and kissing in bed. Ryle is respectful and doesn’t pressure Lily into do anything sexual with him that she doesn’t want to do.

However, Ryle comes across as someone who is used to getting his way and knows what to say and do to seduce women. It’s only a matter of time before he and Lily fully consummate their relationship. (The movie’s sex and violence are subtle, not explicit.) Ryle also “love bombs” Lily by being very romantic and doing everything he can to convince Lily he’s the perfect love match for her.

The morning after Ryle and Lily spend their first night together, Allysa finds out when she comes over for an unannounced visit. Allysa is apprehensive about this budding romance, but Allysa also knows she has no right to interfere if Lily and Ryle say that they are happy together. Allysa tells Ryle that she doesn’t want Ryle to break Lily’s heart. Allysa tells Lily that she doesn’t want their friendship to be ruined if things don’t work out between Lily and Ryle. Ryle and Lily eventually tell each other that they love each other. Lily then moves into Ryle’s place.

One evening, Ryle and Lily have a romantic date at a new restaurant called Root. Lily is in for another shock when the restaurant owner comes over to introduce himself: He’s none other than Atlas (played by Brandon Sklenar), who is surprised to see Lily there too. Lily goes into a back room to have a private conversation with Atlas. They update each other on what’s been going on in their lives since they last saw each other when they were high school.

Lily and Atlas still have an emotional connection that’s hard to deny. Lily tells Atlas that Ryle is her boyfriend and she’s happy with Ryle. Atlas says he has a girlfriend named Cassie. When Lily rejoins Ryle at the dinner table, he can tell something is “off” with Lily. She doesn’t tell Ryle that the owner of the restaurant is Atlas, the guy she dated when they were in high school.

None of this is spoiler information because all the marketing materials for “It Ends With Us” reveal that much of the story is about this love triangle. What isn’t revealed is the trouble in Lily and Ryle’s relationship. On the surface, Ryle is loving and attentive. But he gets jealous easily, he has a bad temper, and he has some ways about him that are overly controlling when it comes to his relationship with Lily. The specifics of these problems won’t be revealed in this review.

Observant viewers will notice that Ryle has a tendency to make big romantic statements and gestures so he can be the center of attention and when he wants to prove to Allysa that he’s not a brother who’s a heartbreaker. The first time that Ryle tells Lily that he wants to seriously date her, it’s in front of Allysa. Later in the movie, after Allysa and Marshall have a big life-changing moment, Ryle uses it as an opportunity to propose marriage to Lily. These are all signs of Ryle being a narcissist.

When Allysa and Lily started to become friends, Allysa told Lily that Allysa’s mother gave birth to three kids in three years. Allysa and Ryle had a brother named Emerson, who died when Allysa and Ryle were children. Emerson’s death is a sore subject that Allysa and Ryle don’t really like to talk about, but it makes Lily more sympathetic to Ryle. Whether Lily wants to admit it or not, she seems to be attracted to emotionally damaged men with childhood traumas.

“It Ends With Us” is predictable in some ways but also has a few twists and turns that will surprise people who don’t know what happens in the book. All of the cast members, particularly Lively and Baldoni, give authentic-looking performances. Lively (who is one of the producers of “It Ends With Us”) portrays Lily with an exuberant spirit that fully embodies Lily’s compassionate, intelligent and independent personality. But it’s also a performance that skillfully shows how Lily’s self-worth gets eroded when she starts to question her judgment and blame herself for things that aren’t really her fault.

As an actor/director, Baldoni should be commended for directing a movie where he plays a character who is not necessarily the hero. However, there’s a still little bit of director vanity in the movie because of the frequent comments about how handsome Ryle is. Overall, it’s an adept performance in depicting how abuse comes in many forms, and it’s not always obvious to the people who are targets of the abuse. Many abusers also don’t think their abuse is as bad as it is because they also justify it by all pointing out all the “good” things they do for the people they abuse.

“It Ends With Us” shows the realities of how on the outside, a couple can look “aspirational” and “perfect,” but there are deeply troubling things about the couple’s relationship on the inside. It’s not a preachy movie that shows any crusaders who come to the rescue. “It Ends With Us” has more realistic scenarios of how loved ones of abuse victims are often powerless to help abuse victims who feel trapped and who stay in the abusive relationship.

Allysa and Marshall are the movie’s occasional comic relief on the surface. But the more sobering reality is that Allysa and Marshall are so busy trying to impress people by doing their own version of curating the “perfect couple” image, they don’t see signs when people close to them might be hurting. There are complicated ways to look at what Allysa and Marshall should or should not do, considering the fact that Lily and Ryle are adults who are responsible for their own lives and their own choices.

Lily’s mother Jenny represents the choices that people make to stay in an abusive relationship and how those decisions can affect children who are involved. Morton gives a wonderfully nuanced performance as a mother who is emotionally wounded and desperate for love and affection wherever she can get it—even if it means putting up with a loved one being awful to her. Jenny doesn’t fully comprehend or understand that Lily has been avoiding her partly out of resentment for Jenny staying in abusive marriage and partly because Jenny represents a past that Lily wants to forget.

Perhaps the biggest weakness of “It Ends With Us” is that it doesn’t do enough with the adult character of Atlas. Sklenar is very good in an underwritten role, where Atlas is mostly presented as a brooding and sensitive guy who’s pining for Lily. More scenes were needed to show more about who the adult Atlas is, instead of portraying him as mostly a lovelorn workaholic. The movie shows more about the teenage Atlas than the adult Atlas, even though much of the story hinges on the choice that adult Lily has to make between Ryle and the adult Atlas.

What saves “It Ends With Us” from being a standard soap opera with tearjerking moments is the empathetic and mature way it depicts how difficult it is for many people in abusive relationships to even admit that they’re in an abusive relationship. The insidious and complicated nature of most abusive relationships is that it’s very common for abusers to have a charming and apologetic side. The abusers make profuse apologies, promise to change, and remind their victims of the good times they had. These tactics often confuse the abuse victims and make their victims hopeful that the abusers will change and things will get better.

“It Ends With Us” also shows the harsh realities that many abusers and their victims don’t seek professional help for their problems. It’s especially true for people who want to maintain a certain public image and don’t want to do anything that would tarnish that image. It would be very easy and quite sexist to dismiss “It Ends With Us” as a weepy “chick flick,” rather than acknowledge that this story has a powerful message that applies to anyone: Instead of blaming abuse victims or abuse survivors about when or if they reported the problem, it’s important to remember that it takes tremendous courage to admit there’s a problem, ask for help, and do what is necessary to stop the problem.

Columbia Pictures will release “It Ends With Us” in U.S. cinemas on August 9, 2024.

Review: ‘Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,’ starring the voice of Jenny Slate

June 21, 2022

by Carla Hay

“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On”

Directed by Dean Fleischer Camp

Culture Representation: Taking place in Los Angeles, the animated/live-action film “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” has a nearly all-white cast of characters (with one Latina) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A young male seashell and his grandmother, who are living by themselves in an Airbnb rental house after their other family members have gone missing, have to adjust to a new life when a documentary filmmaker moves into the house.

Culture Audience: “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” will appeal primarily to people who like quirky films that blend animation with live action.

Marcel (voiced by Jenny Slate) and Dean Fleischer Camp in “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” (Image courtesy of A24)

“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” could have been an excessively cute film about tiny sea shells with human-like characteristics, but this unique movie is an offbeat charmer with an appealing mix of comedy and sentimentality about life and love. The movie has an artistic blend of live action and stop-motion animation that looks organic, not forced. And although there are some parts of the film that get repetitive and not all of the jokes land well, the positive aspects of “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” far outnumber any of the movie’s small flaws. “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” had its world premiere at the 2021 Telluride Film Festival and made the rounds at other film festivals, including South by Southwest (SXSW), the Seattle International Film Festival and the San Francisco International Film Festival.

The origin story of “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” is self-referenced throughout the movie, which has a plot that’s similar to how the movie’s title character first became an international sensation. In real life, filmmaker Dean Fleischer Camp and actress Jenny Slate did a series of short comedy videos called “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,” beginning in 2010. In these videos, Slate voiced the character of Marcel, a talkative one-inch sea shell with one eye, human feet and a wryly observant and inquisitive view of life. Based on the way that Marcel talks, he has the intelligence and emotional maturity of a human boy who’s about 9 or 10 years old.

These videos about Marcel became a worldwide hit on the Internet and inspired children’s books written by Slate and Flesicher Camp. And now, there’s an entire movie about Marcel. The feature film “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,” directed by Fleischer Camp (who co-wrote the movie’s screenplay with Slate and Nick Paley) takes viewers on Marcel’s often-emotional journey to find his missing family members. Marcel lives in a middle-class house somewhere in Los Angeles, where the unmarried human couple named Larissa (played by Rosa Salazar) and Mark (played by Thomas Mann), who previously occupied the house, had a bitter breakup. The house is now being used as an Airbnb rental.

Marcel’s wise and practical grandmother Connie (voiced by Isabella Rossellini) is Marcel’s only family member who hasn’t gone missing. Among the those who have gone missing in Marcel’s family (they are all one-eyed small shells with feet) are Marcel’s parents Mario and Connie and Marcel’s brother Justin. What bothers Marcel and Connie the most is that they didn’t have a chance to say goodbye, and they have no idea where the other family members went. Marcel and Connie have photos and illustrations of their family members as visual mementos.

Marcel and Connie have a very close relationship. She often teaches Marcel things about life, often in answer to Marcel’s seemingly endless stream of questions. Connie and Marcel also love to watch “60 Minutes” together and are big fans of “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl. Marcel describes Connie as very independent and resourceful. For example, Marcel says that Connie taught herself how to farm. Connie also loves to garden and spends a lot of her time in the home’s garden.

At times, Marcel has a childlike wonder and curiosity about the modern world. Other times, he has a simple clarity about how to react to difficulties or problems because he doesn’t have as much emotional baggage or insecurity as someone who is an adult. Throughout the movie, there are whimsical moments and more serious moments where Marcel’s personality and quirks get various reactions to those around him.

In the beginning of the movie, Marcel says that he and Connie are living by themselves in the house, along with their pet lint named Alan. Their solitude ends when an Airbnb renter moves into the house with his white terrier mix dog named Arthur. He’s a mild-mannered filmmaker named Dean Fleischer-Camp (playing a version of himself), who needs a new place to stay because he has recently separated from his wife. In a case of art imitating life, Slate and Fleischer Camp (who used to spell his surname as Fleischer-Camp) got married in 2012 and then got divorced in 2016.

As expected, Marcel is curious about the house’s new human resident, and the feeling is mutual. It takes Marcel much longer to get used to Arthur, Dean’s dog, since Marcel is sometimes annoyed by how the dog smells and keeps interrupting Marcel like a curious and playful dog would do. Marcel shows Dean around the house, including the potted plant where Marcel sleeps on a slice of bread. Marcel describes where he sleeps as his “breadroom.”

Marcel might seem like a precocious child, but he doesn’t know a lot about modern technology. Dean tells Marcel that he’s making an online documentary. Marcel’s response is “Online? You lost me.” Eventually, Dean shows Marcel how the Internet works when Dean begins posting videos of Marcel online. The videos become an international sensation, with Marcel developing a huge fan base. (Sound familiar?)

Marcel is overwhelmed and often flabbergasted by all this newfound attention. However, he thinks it can be put to good use when he asks Dean to help get the word out about Marcel’s missing family members. You can easily predict which TV news show might get involved. Someone who doesn’t really want to get too caught up in the fanfare is Connie, who is very skeptical of the Internet and all modern technology.

The first third of “Marcel the Shell With the Shoes On” seems like a series of skits weaved together, with a lot of wisecracking remarks from Marcel, as he and Dean start to get to know each other and eventually become friends. The other two-thirds of the movie begin to have more substance when the story focuses more on the search for Marcel’s family members. The movie has themes of love, heartbreak and grief that are handled with sensitivity without being mawkish.

For example, Marcel begins to notice after a while that Dean is very curious about Marcel, but Dean is very reluctant to talk about himself. And it’s not just because Dean wants to be an journalistic documentarian. Dean is having difficulty processing the breakup of his marriage. Dean’s preoccupation with Marcel’s problems are a way for him to cope with or avoid his own personal problems.

The movie doesn’t fully show Dean on camera until a pivotal part of the story when he’s essentially forced to talk about himself. It’s a clever way that the movie has Dean “coming out of the shadows” that reflect his own willingness to be open up more about himself and show more vulnerability. Fleischer Camp gives a solid performance, but the character of Dean seems to know that Marcel is the real star of the show.

“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” has terrific voice work from Slate and Rossellini, who make an endearing and believable duo as a grandparent and grandchild. Connie isn’t a new character, but this movie is the first time that Connie gets her own backstory and story arc. Not everything in “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” is comedic, since the movie has some tearjerking moments that might catch some viewers by surprise. In a cinematic era when animated/live-action hybrid films are so focused on dazzling viewers with big adventures that are visual spectacles, it’s nice to have a movie like “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” that focuses more on everyday emotional connections and appreciating loved ones during life’s ups and downs.

A24 will release “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” in select U.S. cinemas on June 24, 2022, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on July 15, 2022.

Review: ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once,’ starring Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, James Hong, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tallie Medel and Jenny Slate

March 23, 2022

by Carla Hay

“Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

Some language in Mandarin and Cantonese with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in unnamed cities and various dimensions, the sci-fi action film “Everything Everywhere All at Once” features a cast of Asian and white characters (with a few Latinos) representing the working-class and middle-class.

Culture Clash: A laundromat owner, who has troubled relationships with her husband and young adult daughter, finds out that she and other people she knows have different lives in other dimensions.

Culture Audience: “Everything Everywhere All at Once” will appeal primarily to people who don’t mind watching very unique and sometimes deliberately confusing movies with a time-travel component.

Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Michelle Yeoh and James Hong in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (Photo by Allyson Riggs/A24)

The frenetic, genre-blurring “Everything Everywhere All at Once” sometimes tries too hard to be eccentric, but this highly innovative film stands out for refusing to play it safe. Get ready for a bumpy and bizarre ride. There’s so much hyperactive editing in the movie that speeds though different times and spaces, viewers might feel like they just went through the cinematic version of a psychedelic experiment after the movie is over.

Daniel “Dan” Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (also known as filmmaking duo Daniels) wrote and directed “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which takes leaps and bounds across different genres, from sci-fi to action, in a mash-up of a comedic tone and a dramatic tone. At the core is the story of a family that is falling apart in the beginning of the film, and the family members find themselves gaining new perspectives when they discover what their lives would be like as other beings in different times and places. It’s not a film for people who want conventional structures in the movie. Underneath all the craziness in the movie is a story with a heartfelt message of love and acceptance.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” starts off looking like it’s going to be a typical family drama. Evelyn Wang (played by Michelle Yeoh) is a domineering and stern matriarch who is trying to keep her family’s laundromat business afloat in the midst of some personal turmoil: Evelyn and her mild-mannered husband Waymond Wang (played by Ke Huy Quon) are at a breaking point in their marriage. Divorce papers have been drawn up, and the movie eventually reveals who was the one who filed for divorce.

Evelyn and Waymond live above the laundromat together. Evelyn’s father Gong Gong (played by James Hong), who has traditional Chinese views on life, has been staying with them for a visit. Evelyn and Waymond have a daughter in her early 20s named Diedre “Joy” Wang, who is an out-of-the-closet lesbian or queer woman. Joy (who tends to get easily irritated by her mother) has been happily dating laid-back Becky Sregor (played by Tallie Medel), who is accepted by Joy’s parents, even though Evelyn is afraid to tell Gong Gong that Becky is Joy’s girlfriend.

When Evelyn introduces Becky to Gong Gong, she describes Becky as Joy’s “good friend,” which upsets Joy. However, Joy doesn’t correct her mother about misleading Gong Gong about the true nature of Joy and Becky’s relationship. Evelyn and Joy have been having tensions over Joy thinking that Evelyn doesn’t completely accept who Joy is. And who can blame Joy for feeling this way? Evelyn is the type of mother who tells Joy: “You have to eat healthier. You’re getting fat.”

One day, the four members of the Wang family visit an IRS agent named Deirdre Beaubeirdra (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) in an audit meeting about their tax returns. Deirdre is a frumpy and grumpy accountant who becomes a little impatient at how the family doesn’t have some of the documents that she needs to complete her work. Evelyn is preoccupied with an upcoming party that she wants to have for the laundromat’s customers. One of the invited customers is someone whom Evelyn only calls Big Nose (played by Jenny Slate), who has a Pomeranian dog as her constant companion.

It’s at this IRS office that things start to get weird. Waymond takes Evelyn aside and tells her that he’s not really her husband but he’s really a being from another dimension who needs her help to save his world. Things happen with an umbrella; ear buds where people pick up various audio frequencies; giant black circles; and a slew of flat, plastic eyes (similar to rag doll eyes) that all take the story through various twists and turns. The being who says he’s not Waymond calls himself Alpha Waymond, and he comes from the Alphaverse.

Without giving away too much information, it’s enough to say that some of the various incarnations of the characters in the movie include two people who are live-in lovers and have hot dogs for fingers, so they have to do a lot of things with their feet; two people who become rocks and have silent conversations with each other; and a chef named Chad (played by Harry Shum Jr.), who has a raccoon living under his chef’s hat. There are fights involving martial arts, gun shootouts and some very strange rituals that might make some people squirm and/or laugh.

All of the cast members fully commit to the full range of wildly different characters that they have to portray in the film. Yeoh is the obvious standout because of Evelyn’s central story arc in the movie. Even for people with short attention spans, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” might be too much of a spectacle overload. But if you’re prepared for a unique cinematic experience and have the curiosity to absorb it all, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” might make you further appreciate filmmaking that takes bold risks.

A24 will release “Everything Everywhere All at Once” in select U.S. cinemas on March 25, 2022. A special one-night-only fan event will take place at select IMAX theaters in the U.S. (with cast members appearing in person at select locations) on March 30, 2022. The movie’s release expands to more U.S. cinemas on April 8. 2022.

Review: ‘On the Rocks,’ starring Rashida Jones and Bill Murray

October 23, 2020

by Carla Hay

Rashida Jones and Bill Murray in “On the Rocks” (Photo courtesy of Apple TV+)

“On the Rocks” (2020)

Directed by Sofia Coppola

Culture Representation: Taking place in New York City and Mexico, the dramatic film “On the Rocks” features a cast of white and African American characters (and a few Asians) representing the upper-middle-class and middle class.

Culture Clash: A married mother of two young daughters begins to believe her philandering father’s suspicions that her husband is cheating on her.

Culture Audience: “On the Rocks” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching movies about “privileged people’s problems.”

Marlon Wayans, Rashida Jones, Alexandra Reimer and Liyanna Muscat in “On the Rocks” (Photo courtesy of Apple TV+)

“On the Rocks,” written and directed by Sofia Coppola, is the type of movie that Woody Allen has made for most of his career, but “On the Rocks” is told from a female director’s perspective. It’s a story about an upper-middle-class woman in New York City who spends almost the entire movie worrying about whether or not her husband is cheating on her. And there are several scenes with conversations about the differences between how men and women handle romance and a committed relationship. “On the Rocks” had its world premiere at the 2020 New York Film Festival.

In order for the film not to be too talkative and have some action, “On the Rocks” throws in a plot development of “I’m going to spy on my husband,” so that viewers get to see different angles of her privileged lifestyle, where she can have cocktails at exclusive lounges in the middle of the day and jet off to Mexico whenever she wants. And did we mention that this woman has daddy issues? Because that’s what’s propelling her to feel so insecure about her marriage.

“On the Rocks” telegraphs those daddy issues from the film’s opening scene, which features a dark screen with a voiceover of an unseen man telling his unseen daughter, who is presumably underage at the time this conversation is taking place: “And remember, don’t give your heart to any boys until you’re married. And then you’re still mine.”

The movie then cuts to the lavish wedding of Laura (played by Rashida Jones) and Dean (played by Marlon Wayans), who are blissfully happy on this big day in their relationship. The wedding reception is in one of those European-styled ballroom halls that includes a romantically lit swimming pool on the property. When they are alone at the reception, Laura and Dean are seen impulsively stripped down to their underwear and frolicking in the swimming pool.

The movie then fast-forwards several years later. Laura and Dean are now parents to two daughters: Maya (played by Liyanna Muscat), who’s about 9 or 10 years old, and Theo (played by identical twins Alexandra Reimer and Anna Reimer), who’s about 3 or 4 years old. Maya and Theo are both adorable and obedient kids. Dean is a busy executive at a company whose industry is not named, but it’s the type of company that revolves around getting clients from all over the world. Therefore, Dean does a lot of traveling.

Laura, who’s 39 and soon about to turn 40, is a writer who’s working on a novel called “Amici e Conoscenti,” which is Italian for “Friends and Acquaintances.” The movie has a brief flash of the book cover, and it looks as pretentious as it sounds. Laura and Dean live in the type of spacious New York City apartment that’s for people who can afford a home that’s worth at least $3 million. However, they don’t have servants, and Laura’s casual style of dressing indicates that she tries to be as “down-to-earth” as possible.

One thing that Laura is very uptight about though is her current situation of having writer’s block. She moans to Dean that she shouldn’t have sold her book before writing it. Laura, who works from home, also complains that it’s hard for her to adjust to writing during the day when she’s accustomed to writing at night. In other words, Laura has privileged people’s problems.

And soon, there’s another problem that will preoccupy Laura’s thoughts. One night, when Laura and Dean are in bed, he starts kissing her while he’s half-asleep, but then he suddenly stops when he hears Laura’s voice. Laura doesn’t really know what to think about this interrupted amorous moment, so she asks two people in separate phone conversations. And she gets two completely different answers.

The first person she asks is an unidentified female friend, who tells Laura that she shouldn’t worry about it because Dean is a wonderful and loving husband who wouldn’t cheat on her. The other person Laura talks to about it is her father Felix (played by Bill Murray), who immediately tells Laura that Dean is probably cheating on her. Laura gives Dean the benefit of the doubt and tries to put the incident out of her mind.

But then, one day, while she’s unpacking Dean’s luggage, she sees a woman’s toiletry bag in his suitcase. She opens the bag and sees body oil. She takes the bag out and leaves it on the dresser. Her suspicions begin to percolate, but she doesn’t say anything to Dean about it right away. Some of the passion has gone out of their marriage, but Laura thinks it’s because they’ve been busy with their separate careers.

Soon after finding this mystery toiletry bag, Laura and Dean attend a work party that Dean’s company is having at the office. At the party, she meets for the first time a woman named Fiona (played by Jessica Henwick), a fairly new account manager who works closely with Dean and usually goes on the same business trips with Dean and some of their other colleagues. Fiona is outgoing, effusive, and seems very happy to meet Laura.

Fiona then introduces Laura to two other work colleagues: Jenna (played by Zoe Bullock) and Chase (played by Chase Sui Wonders), who aren’t as friendly as Fiona. In fact, they seem slightly uncomfortable talking to Laura, so the conversation is brief and awkward. At this point, viewers are probably thinking what Laura is probably thinking: “Are any of these women having an affair with Dean?”

During Laura and Dean’s ride back home, Laura casually mentions the toiletry bag that she found in Dean’s suitcase. He tells her that the bag belongs to Fiona, who asked him to carry it for her in his suitcase because the toiletry bag couldn’t fit into her carry-on luggage. He says he’ll return the bag to Fiona. Dean’s response seems open and honest, without hesitation, surprise or guilt. And so, Laura accepts that explanation and doesn’t make a big issue out of it.

However, Laura’s father Felix won’t let it go, and he plants seeds of doubt in Laura’s mind about Dean’s marital fidelity when he starts interrogating Laura about Dean’s activities when Dean is away on business trips. Felix, who is a semi-retired art dealer who used to own an art gallery, even gives an analysis of the type of hotels that Dean stays at, by commenting on which hotels are more discreet than others if someone wants to have an affair. Felix is also an incessant name dropper who loves to brag about all the people around the world he knows, including hotel concierges, who can do favors for him.

How does Felix know all of about the mind of a cheater? Because he’s a longtime philanderer, and it’s the reason why Laura’s mother Diane (played by Alva Chinn) and Felix got divorced years ago. Felix left Diane for his mistress, a much-younger woman named Robin, but that relationship didn’t work out either.

It’s not clearly stated when Felix and Diane got divorced, but it’s implied that it happened when Laura and her younger sister Amanda (played by Juliana Canfield) were still children and living at home. It’s clear as the story goes on that the devastation of the divorce and Felix’s perpetual selfishness have caused Amanda to become estranged from her father. And the pent-up resentment that Laura has about Felix’s role in the divorce comes out later in the movie’s best scene.

Felix is addicted to being a playboy, because everywhere he goes, he flirts with women who are almost always young enough to be his daughter. He also has an outdated, very sexist attitude toward life that is a mix of Neanderthal and elitist. In the beginning of the movie, Felix is only heard on the phone because he’s away on a trip in Paris. When he arrives back in New York City to see Laura, his insufferable personality is on full display.

Felix loves to spout self-righteous platitudes where he thinks he’s always right in his mindset that men always have to be dominant and superior to women. His ramblings are a mishmash of garbled anthropology and philosophy to justify why he has such a sexist attitude toward women. It’s really all just Felix’s egomaniacal way of denying that he’s a crass boor who doesn’t want to admit that a lot of men have evolved from the old days when women were treated like property.

For example, in one scene, Felix explains to Laura that in ancient times, women’s breasts reminded men of when humans used to walk on their haunches. The rounder the breasts, the more desirable the woman, according to Felix. Felix also says that men are attracted to adolescent females because adolescent females are easier to catch and therefore easier to mate with in man’s instinctual need to spread his seed. What’s creepy about this comment about adolescent females is that Felix thinks that what applied to ancient times—when human life expectancy was much shorter than it is now and having kids at age 14 was considered normal—applies to society today.

Adding to the “creep” level of Felix, he’s weirdly flattered when he and Laura are out in public together and people assume that Laura is his girlfriend. He mentions it any chance he gets to Laura, who is understandably uncomfortable with this semi-incestuous implication. It’s pathetic insecurity on Felix’s part, but there’s not much Laura thinks she can do about it because he’s her father and he’s set in his ways. Occasionally, she scolds him by saying things like, “Can you just be normal around women?”

And it comes as no surprise that Felix thinks that men aren’t wired to be monogamous. It’s an incredibly narrow-minded viewpoint that doesn’t take into account that not everyone is the same when it comes to love and committed relationships. It’s an example of how Felix, as he does throughout the entire story, believes that his way of thinking is always the correct way, even if it’s “politically incorrect” by today’s standards.

As annoying as Felix might be to some people watching this movie, there are many men with money and privilege who think the exact same way as Felix does. They might not share these thoughts with everyone, but they will talk about it with people whom they feel comfortable with, and this backwards mindset is reflected in how they live their lives. (These are the type of men who hate the #MeToo movement.) Some people might think that the Felix character is over-the-top and unrealistic, but it’s a very accurate depiction of how some people in certain social circles really think and act in life.

And so, it comes as no surprise, considering Felix’s history of infidelity, that he’s quick to assume that Dean is cheating on Laura. Felix keeps nagging Laura to do something about it and even takes it upon himself to hire a private detective to spy on Dean. Felix keeps telling Laura that Dean is probably having an affair with Fiona.

At first, Laura is appalled by Felix’s assumptions, but eventually she gets sucked into Felix’s suspicions and gives in to the idea that she should start spying on Dean too. Felix is happy to egg her on, and he spearheads arrangements so that Laura can go with him on these spying excursions.

There are several scenes where Felix shows up at Laura’s home or calls her and expects her to drop everything so that Laura can accompany him for drinks at this swanky hotel or that upscale lounge. Over cocktails and at stuffy parties, they commiserate over Dean’s possible infidelity, as well as talk about Felix’s point of view that it’s harder for men to be faithful spouses than it is for women.

At one point in the movie, Laura wails to Felix and asks him if it’s possible for women to keep their love partners’ interest and if it’s possible for men to still be attracted women once they reach past a certain age. (Felix believes a woman reaches her attractiveness “expiration date” around the age of 40.) Felix says that it’s possible for a woman to hold a man’s interest in a long-term relationship if she still has confidence that she’s attractive.

Even though Felix is the last person who should be lecturing other people about successful, monogamous relationships, he does have a good point about self-confidence that Laura completely misses because she’s become too caught up in her own misery and insecurities in thinking that she might not be good enough for Dean anymore. An objective observer would also be able to see that Felix seems way too invested and too eager to find out if Dean is a lying, cheating husband. It’s as if Felix wants confirmation that there are more men than not who are cheaters, even if it means that his daughter will be emotionally hurt in the process.

The dynamics between Laura and the women in her family have subtle clues about how race and class play a role in their family’s hierarchy. There’s a scene where Laura, her sister Amanda, and their multiracial mother Diane are having an outdoor luncheon with Felix’s mother (played by Barbara Bain), who’s called Gran in the movie, at Gran’s grand estate. Gran immediately expresses disapproval to Laura about how Laura is dressed (Laura tends to wear blazers, jeans and flat shoes), while Diane nips this criticism in the bud by telling Laura that she looks great.

The topic inevitably turns to Felix, who is clearly a troublemaker in the family, and Gran makes excuses for him by saying he was rebellious even as a child. Amanda tells Laura that she doesn’t know how she can still put up with their father, while Diane (who’s been through enough with Felix to last a lifetime) tries not to say anything negative about Felix in front of his mother. This scene explains a lot about Felix’s upbringing and why he turned out the way that he did. (Felix’s father is not seen or mentioned in the movie, but it’s implied that Felix’s mother is a widow.)

In one of Felix and Laura’s spying excursions, Felix shows his elitist attitude when he scoffs that Dean and some colleagues are going to be hanging out at Soho House (a members-only social club in downtown Manhattan), which Felix considers to be a “downmarket” place because it’s apparently not upscale enough for Felix. For this spying trip, Felix picks up Laura in his red Alfa Romeo, as you do when you’re spying on someone and you want to show off your car instead of being truly incognito.

When Dean and Fiona get in a taxi together, it leads to a not-very-subtle car chase with Felix speeding to try catch up to the taxi. Felix gets pulled over for speeding by two cop partners, but he charms his way out of getting a ticket because Felix happens to know the father and grandfather of one of the cops. The cop’s demeanor changes from stern to friendly.

As Felix and Laura drive off, Laura says to him, “It must be great to be you.” And Felix agrees. The words “white privilege” aren’t said in this scene, but this scene shows how someone like Felix can get away with certain things, while someone of a different color or race who’s pulled over by police for the same reason probably wouldn’t be let off as easily.

The subplot about Laura’s writer’s block is important because it provides some context for why Laura wastes time and goes along with Felix’s schemes. She’s avoiding working on her book to go off to wherever Felix thinks they should go on a moment’s notice. She’s running away from a problem (finishing her book) by distracting herself with another potential problem (her possibly crumbling marriage).

Nowhere is this avoidance more evident than when Felix convinces Laura that they should go to Mexico to spy on Dean while Dean is on a business trip there with Fiona. In the movie’s most unrealistic contrivance, Felix just happens to know someone who owns a condo that’s right next to the resort in Mexico where Dean is staying. And so, Laura hastily arranges for her mother to watch the kids while she flies off to Mexico with Felix for a few days. This trip leads to a reckoning that gives clarity to Laura on her relationship with her father and on her marriage.

Because the movie is more about Laura’s relationship with Felix than it is about Laura’s relationship with Dean, this father and daughter are the two characters who get the most screen time. Dean seems like an overall good guy, but there’s not enough shown of him and the other supporting characters to give any insight into their personalities. Jenny Slate has a recurring role as a single mother named Vanessa, whose son goes to the same school as Laura’s daughter Maya. Vanessa’s only purpose in the movie is to give neurotic, rambling monologues about her love life to Laura while they’re waiting somewhere at the school, and Laura has to find an excuse to get away from Vanessa.

Jones is the cast member who shines the most in the emotional scenes between her and Murray, who portrays Felix as jaded and desperately trying not to show his insecurities. For all of Felix’s macho attitude toward women, he’s still very much alone and doesn’t have a romantic partner in his life who truly loves him and vice versa. There’s a world-weary sadness that Murray brings to the role that’s nuanced among Felix’s ego posturing.

The movie is also a subtle commentary on how people who seemingly “have it all” can still find ways to create problems in their lives, often out of sheer boredom. Because really, the average person does not have time to gallivant around cocktail lounges during the day and fly to resorts in other countries with their father on short notice, in order to spy on a spouse.

However, amid all of these shenanigans, what this movie shows is that Laura and Felix, in their own ways, are haunted by how infidelity and divorce had an effect on their family. Laura doesn’t want to go through what her mother Diane experienced (having her husband leave her for another woman), while Felix is determined to show Laura that it could happen to her because he’s convinced that Dean is cheating on Laura.

Rashida Jones, who is the daughter of Grammy-winning legend Quincy Jones, co-directed the 2018 documentary “Quincy” about her father’s life. This documentary, which had Quincy Jones’ participation, shows that Rashida also has a close but complicated relationship with her divorced father, who has publicly admitted that he’s incapable of extended monogamy. That’s probably why there’s an authenticity to how Rashida Jones plays the role of Laura in expressing both loyalty and exasperation when she’s with her father.

“On the Rocks” isn’t Coppola’s best film, but it’s not her worst either. The performances of Rashida Jones and Murray are the best parts of what could have been a very pedestrian movie. “On the Rocks” might be compared to Coppola’s 2003 Oscar-winning movie “Lost in Translation,” because that film also had Murray as an older man in a complicated relationship with a younger woman (played by Scarlett Johansson). However, “On the Rocks” is very much in the mold of a Woody Allen film, except that Allen doesn’t cast African Americans as stars of his movies. But just like Allen’s films, “On the Rocks” avoids showing racial issues in a racially diverse big city like New York because the movie wants to be about how privileged neurotics need love too.

Apple TV+ released “On the Rocks” in select U.S. cinemas October 9, 2020. Apple TV+ premiered “On the Rocks” on October 23, 2020.

Review: ‘The Sunlit Night,’ starring Jenny Slate

July 18, 2020

by Carla Hay

“The Sunlit Night”

Directed by David Wnendt

Culture Representation: Taking place in Norway and New York, the comedy/drama “The Sunlit Night” has an all-white cast of characters representing the middle-class.

Culture Clash: A female struggling painter artist from New York City takes a job as an apprentice to a grouchy and famous male painter artist, who lives as a recluse in Norway.

Culture Audience: “The Sunlit Night” will appeal primarily to people who like independent films that have plenty of quirky characters but not much substance.

A scene from “The Sunlit Night,” with (in front row) Gillian Anderson (third from left), Alex Sharp (third from right), Zach Galifianakis (second from right) and Jenny Slate (far right). (Photo by Eirik Evjen/Quiver Distribution)

When it comes to live-action comedy/dramas or “dramedies” that Jenny Slate stars in, it’s time for her to move on from playing the type of “stuck in a rut” woman who’s still living with her parents or still trying to launch a career, long after most people have already figured out what they want to do with their lives. (See 2017’s “Landline” and 2014’s “Obvious Child,” which is still the best movie that Slate has starred in so far. )

The dreadfully bland comedy/drama “The Sunlit Night,” starring Slate (who is long past her 20s, even though she looks younger than her real age), is yet another independent comedic film where she plays someone who gets a rude awakening that she has to start living her life like a responsible adult. In “The Sunlit Night,” Slate (who is one of the film’s producers) plays the character of Frances “Fran” Cohen, a New York-based painter artist who’s struggling to make a living from her art. German director David Wnendt makes his English-language film debut with “The Sunlit Night.”

In the beginning of the movie, Frances has recently broken up with her boyfriend Robert (played by Dan Puck) whom she’s been comfortably living with in the Hamptons. It’s implied that Robert was taking care of all of Frances’ financial needs, because now that the relationship is over, she’s suddenly found herself broke and homeless.

Frances has to move back in with her parents—Levi (played by David Paymer) and Mirela (played by Jessica Hecht)—at their cramped New York City apartment. She doesn’t share the details with her family about what went wrong in the relationship with Robert (and it’s not mentioned in the movie at all), but Frances’ parents assume that Robert was the one who ended the relationship. That assumption annoys Frances, although she doesn’t correct them.

Frances isn’t just upset about her love life. Her career isn’t going so well either. The opening scene of the film shows three pretentious art critics evaluating one of Frances’ art pieces that’s hanging on a wall, and making it clear that they don’t think the piece is good enough. One of the critics describes Frances’ work as “pedestrian,” as she sits uncomfortably in the room, listening to them while they give their negative reviews.

Frances has also recently gotten rejected for an artist residency in Tokyo. “Maybe I’m not an artist,” Frances says in a voiceover. “Maybe I’m just the daughter of two other artists.”

Frances’ mother Mirela (who designs upholstery textiles for well-to-do clients) and father Levi (who’s a medical illustrator) both make their livings as artists, but they have opposite personalities. Mirela is nurturing and supportive, while Levi is quick-tempered and tactless. Frances’ younger sister Gabriella, nicknamed Gaby (played by Elise Kibler), also lives in the apartment.

One evening, while the family is having dinner together, Gabriella surprises them with the news that she’s gotten engaged. Frances is happy for her sister, but Levi and Mirela aren’t thrilled because they don’t like her fiancé Scott Glenny. (The movie doesn’t go into details over why the parents disapprove of this relationship.) Levi immediately ruins Gabrielle’s big news about her engagement by announcing that he and Mirela are separating and they’re selling the apartment.

Feeling like her life is falling apart (and also desperately needing a new place to live), Frances jumps at the chance to work for a famous but reclusive artist named Nils Auermann (played by Fridtjov Såheim) in the remote Arctic district of Lofoton in Nordland, Norway. It’s only a summer job, and Frances has been warned that Nils can be very demanding and difficult (he fired the previous person who had the job), but Frances takes the opportunity anyway to be Nils’ apprentice.

Nils is painting a yellow mural on a local Viking Museum’s abandoned barn. He’s entered the project into a national arts competition. And he needs someone to help him finish painting the barn. The apprentice who has the job is required to live on Nils’ property.

When Frances arrives at Nils’ place, she immediately sees why he has an unpleasant reputation. He’s a rude and very self-centered taskmaster. And he immediately tells Frances that they will have long work hours (from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.), and that she will only be allowed to work on her own art in her own free time.

Frances’ living arrangements are also less-than-ideal: She has to live in a small, messy trailer. A previous tenant has written this message on the trailer cupboards: “Welcome to Hell,” as a warning of what’s to come. Frances not only has to deal with culture shock, but she also has to adjust to Arctic Norway’s environment of the sun never really setting, even at night.

Frances covers and paints over the trailer windows in order to get some sleep. And she has some unexpected company with a young goat that keeps showing up in her trailer. Despite Nils being such a cranky and gruff boss, Frances feels a little bit of kinship with him, because art critics have used the same words to describe Nils’ art and Frances’ art: “lazy, cold, not working.”

In the nearby Viking Village, Frances visits the Viking Museum and meets an eccentric named Haldor (played by Zach Galifianakis, in yet another weirdo role), who’s the museum’s manager and who insists that people call him Chief. Haldor/Chief isn’t from Norway. He’s actually an American from Cincinnati, but he considers himself to be an expert on Norwegian culture and history—so much so, that he’s always dressed in a Viking outfit, and he stars in the museum’s short history videos that are shown in the museum’s visitor screening room. Frances is slightly amused by Haldor/Chief, which is more amused than most people watching this movie will be by this insufferable Viking wannabe character.

Nils has color-coded how the barn should be painted, while Frances says in a voiceover she’s the type of artist who prefers finger paint. Because he is very particular on how he wants the barn to be painted, Nils and Frances inevitably clash. When Nils loses his temper with Frances over how she painted part of the barn (too sloppily, in his opinion), he grabs her arm and yells, “The barn is like a cathedral to me!” Frances immediately defends herself and shouts back, “Don’t touch me ever!”

Frances storms off to get some time away from her aggressive boss. But defending herself from his physical harassment is a turning point in her relationship with Nils, because he now knows that she’s no pushover. Later, he makes a semi-apology to Frances by telling her: “You and I are complete opposites, Frances. I am not used to people … But we complement each other.”

One day, while driving with Nils in his car on a deserted road, Frances sees a solemn-looking man, who’s around her age, wearing a black suit and walking with a suitcase on the road. Frances asks Nils if they can offer the man a ride, but Nils says no.

Frances sees the mysterious suit-clad man again at a local diner. She begins talking to him and tells him that she’s sure that she’s seen him before in New York. And by the way she looks at him, it’s obvious that she’s very attracted to him and interested in getting to know him better. This sad-looking man acts very aloof with her, and he rebuffs her attempts at a friendly conversation.

Frances sees him again later at the Viking Museum. And this time, she finds out who he is and why he’s in Norway. His name is Yasha (played Alex Sharp), and it turns out he really is from New York. Yasha is in Norway because his Russian immigrant father, whom he worked with at his father’s bakery in New York, has died, and Yasha is fulfilling his father’s wish to have a traditional Viking funeral in Norway.

And where is Yasha’s mother? Her name is Olyana, and she stayed in Russia, and never immigrated to the United States, as Yasha and his father had hoped. Yasha is very estranged from his mother, and he hasn’t invited her to the funeral. But that doesn’t stop Olyana (played by Gillian Anderson) from showing up anyway.

The biggest problem with “The Sunlit Night” is that it’s a lot duller than it should be. Galifianakis usually plays goofballs who are supposed to be annoying, but his Haldor/Chief character in this movie has no moments that are truly funny. It’s almost as if he’s there as filler. Anderson does a Russian accent that isn’t very convincing, while the Yasha character is just a grieving shell of a man, so he doesn’t have much of a personality.

The relationship between Frances and Nils, which is supposed to be the center of the story, seems devoid of anything memorable, except for the scene where they have a physical confrontation. There are a few pretentious moments when Frances namechecks some famous fine-art pieces in comparisons to her current life situation, but only art buffs will really appreciate some of these semi-humorous references. And even the “romance” scenes in the movie fall flat.

Rebecca Dinerstein Knight adapted “The Sunlit Night” from her 2015 novel of the same title. The book is based on her own “fish out of water” experiences as a New Yorker living in a remote part of Norway. But what works in a book doesn’t always work in a screenplay, since the pace of “The Sunlit Night” moves as slowly as a glacier moving through the Arctic.

An example of what’s wrong with this movie is how it mishandles a possible friendship between Frances and a bored Coop Prix supermarket worker (played by Luise Nes), whom Frances randomly meets at the supermarket in the frozen-food section. (This supermarket worker says her name is Kay, but she is identified in the film credits only as “Fridge Girl.”) Frances asks this young woman if she would like to pose for a painted portrait for Frances. Fridge Girl says yes, and immediately walks out of her job that day to go with Frances, without telling her boss or co-workers.

The next thing you know, Fridge Girl is posing nude for Frances in Frances’ dumpy trailer. Who does that? The movie never bothers to answer that question, because there’s no insight given into Fridge Girl’s character and why she’s the type of person to just impulsively walk out of a job to go with a stranger to pose for a nude portrait in a dingy trailer in the middle of nowhere.

Although the movie shows that Fridge Girl has posed for multiple nude portrait sessions for Frances, there’s no real inkling of what kind of conversations they might have had outside of those portrait sessions. Viewers don’t get to see the development of a possible friendship between the supermarket worker and Frances. Instead, viewers see more of Fridge Girl’s naked breasts than her personality.

Another thing about the movie that’s a missed opportunity is how little of Norwegian culture it shows, except for over-the-top Viking stereotypes that are played for laughs. Frances doesn’t seem very curious about getting to know other local artists who might live in the area, or even traveling in her free time outside of the stifling atmosphere of working with Nils. (Going to a local diner and a local grocery store doesn’t count.)

Maybe Frances’ lack of interest in exploring more of Norway is an example of how shallow she is or maybe how lazy the screenwriting is in not making the book more interesting for the movie. Conveniently, Frances’ “love interest” just happens to be a fellow New Yorker who’s in Norway. If you were to believe what’s presented in this movie, Norwegian men just aren’t interesting enough for Frances.

And did Frances really mature emotionally from this experience? What happens when her summer apprenticeship with Nils ends? Those questions are answered in the movie, but the conclusion isn’t particularly insightful.

Frances has the type of arrested-development lifestyle that might be somewhat cute when you’re in your 20s. But it’s not cute when you’re way past that age. If people want to see a comedy/drama film about a struggling female artist who recently broke up with her boyfriend, moves back in with her parents in their New York City apartment, and has a younger sister whose life is going more smoothly than hers, then writer/director/actress Lena Dunham already made that a much-better movie with “Tiny Furniture.”

Quiver Distribution released “The Sunlit Night” on digital and VOD on July 17, 2020.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-twMQ4SOuE