Tag Archives: jodie comer

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The Last Duel – A Movie Review

On paper, The Last Duel had a lot going for it. Obviously, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Adam Driver are major draws due to their established talent.

Jodie Comer, if you’re not familiar with her, is brilliant in Killing Eve, and I’m very happy to see her transitioning into major motion pictures.

And, of course, The Last Duel was helmed by the legendary director, Ridley Scott. You know Ridley Scott as the genius behind Alien, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, The Martian, and many, many others.

That being said, as you would expect, The Last Duel looks amazing. You feel like you’ve stepped back in time to medieval France. The architecture, the armor, the clothing, the landscapes, the weaponry, the messiness of the era–it all looks grounded in absolute reality. This isn’t surprising considering that it’s a piece of historical fiction.

Damon, Driver, and Comer nail their roles. Damon is hugely unlikable, Driver is both charming and horrible, and Comer is potently restrained.

But in the end, I found the entire premise of the movie distasteful and the tone uncomfortable. Yes, the movie is based on actual events, yet that alone did not dictate the direction and artistic choices made by the creatives. After all, The Last Duel is not a documentary.

If you’re unfamiliar with the premise, Damon’s character marries Comer’s character in order to amass more land and to produce an heir. His friend, played by Driver, finds himself favored by royalty and continues gaining advantage after advantage, which enrages Damon’s character. Comer’s character eventually accuses Driver’s character of raping her. It is then decreed that Damon’s character will battle Driver’s character in a duel to the death. The winner will supposedly be chosen by God, and that will determine whether an actual rape occurred or not.

The premise is troubling enough as it is, but the execution of the film is where it truly lost me. The film is broken into three components–first from the perspective of Damon’s character, then Driver’s, and then Comer’s. The script seems to want the audience to believe that Comer’s character was in love with Driver’s character and set him up, which ultimately was not the case at all. I found that manipulation alarming. In this day and age, blaming the victim is simply reprehensible. They also chose to depict the rape of Comer’s character three separate times, a little differently each time, which stuck me as gratuitous and unseemly.

I hoped that at some point, there would be a message in this movie. There would be something we could learn about the human condition. There would be something that reinforced the fact that human rights and individual dignity must take precedence no matter when or where a story takes place.

That did not happen. Perhaps the filmmakers intended a deeper meaning. Maybe they wanted to convey a criticism of the horrors women have endured throughout history. However, in my opinion, the film simply seemed to relish in its disturbing plotline.

As I said before, it’s not a documentary. The filmmakers may argue that they simply reconstructed actual events. I would counter by saying that the actors playing Frenchmen in this film did not even use a French accent, so I’m not sure how beholden they were to authenticity. In other words, they made choices, and I disagree with many of those choices.

I do not recommend The Last Duel.

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Free Guy – A Movie Review

I’ve been meaning to see Free Guy for awhile now because I heard it was really funny and had some great cameos. It finally arrived on DVD, so I checked it out at my local library because … as previously established … I like my movies free.

I’ll be honest — the first hour dragged a bit for me. But the last hour — superb!

The premise is this — Guy (Ryan Reynolds) is a nonplayable character in a video game. He doesn’t realize he’s in a video game, though. All the action stars of his world wear sun glasses, and we quickly realize those are the gamers. One day, after experiencing a kind of love at first sight, he gets hold of a pair of sunglasses, puts them on and … becomes free. From that moment on, we begin to get a glimpse into the real world, how programmers played by hot commodities Jodie Comer and Joe Keery influence Guy and his environment, and whether a game company owner villain extraordinaire played by Taika Waititi will end Guy’s life as he knows it.

Free Guy is big on action, hilarious on comedy with work buddies Lil Rel Howery and Ryan Reynolds exhibiting superb chemistry, and surprisingly complex as issues of video game ethics, artificial intelligence, and morality come into play. Plus, there’s a good old fashion love story.

Before it hits its stride, though, Free Guy is a little bit jarring. Ryan Reynolds plays Guy as a cross between Buddy from Elf and Emmet from The Lego Movie. It then moves into territory akin to The Matrix in terms of reality versus the digital world. But, once you wrap your head around the concept, it’s a super fun ride with a solid story.

Plus, there are some fantastic cameos and Easter eggs. I won’t spoil them, but be on the lookout for visual and audio standouts. Remember, technically speaking, this is a Disney film.

If you’re looking for an action comedy with a pretty engaging storyline, give Free Guy a shot.

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Why You Should Be Watching BBC America’s Killing Eve

Tonight, Killing Eve’s season finale airs.  If you’re not watching this show, you really should.  I heard about it on a few different podcasts, and so my wife and I checked it out and it immediately won us over.  Why?

Good question.

Let me see if I can answer it.

Sandra Oh plays Eve Polastri, and American born citizen who came to Britain and never left.  She works for MI5, which is England’s equivalent of the FBI.  A global assassin has come to her attention, and, to be honest — she’s a fan.

Jodie Comer plays Villanelle, the assassin.  She is young, brilliant, beautiful, athletic, and a total psychopath.  When she discovers Eve is hot on her trail, she becomes infatuated.

Do you recognize the beginnings of a very unhealthy relationship?

This is a quirky show.  At times it is incredibly violent because Villanelle loves what she does for a living.  At other moments it is quite dramatic as Eve’s relationship with her husband suffers due to her professional, and personal, secrecy.  It then becomes a flat-out thriller when Eve and Villanelle come face to face.  However, amidst everything, it is always darkly humorous.  This show has a weird, pervasive sense of humor that is always lurking just below the surface.

This is probably due to the series creator: Phoebe Waller-Bridge.  She also created and starred in Fleabag, an equally idiosyncratic show that I rave about at every opportunity.  She has a strangely captivating sense of humor, and it shines in this series she based on a novel.

Everyone gives a top-notch performance in Killing Eve.  The writing is crisp.  The locations are both beautiful and mundane.  Even the clothes are oddly interesting.

But beneath it all, the show has an electricity to it that I don’t detect in many other programs.  It just feels … different.  It strikes me as fresh, original, and a little dangerous.

With its eighth and final episode premiering tonight, it doesn’t require much of a commitment on your part.  They move fast and believe me when I say you’ll be entertained the entire time.  Be prepared, though, when Villanelle is on the job, she pulls no punches.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer in Killing Eve (2018)

(Did you enjoy this review?  Check out Scott William Foley’s short stories HERE!)