Posted on 10/10/2024 10:33:11 AM PDT by sphinx
"In every shot and every scene, mostly in closeup, Ronan carries the film with her unselfconsciously fierce and focused presence. Out-of-control-drunk acting in montage is a difficult thing to bring off – as is the representation of precarious sobriety – but she does it with intelligence and plausibility. There is a powerful moment when Rona confesses in her 12-step group that what she mostly feels is a passionate longing for the happiness of being drunk. Later, in an Orkney shop, Fingscheidt allows us to register a visually unemphasised row of bottles behind the shopkeeper while Rona is buying food and her blank, composed remark to him that, no, she doesn’t want anything else. It is a considerable performance."
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Trailer at the link.
At last, a worthy 2024 release to bring to your attention. I do not mean to suggest that there have been no decent movies this year. But I have two threshold requirements for recommendations here:
(1) The movie should be new, or at least newish, in response to the voices in the peanut gallery who insist that Hollywood (or the movie industry more generally) hasn't made anything good since [drop in your walkaway date]; and
(2) The movie should be "conservative," in the sense that it is set in a morally coherent universe, doesn't cheat, and gives scope for conservative moral, philosophical, political or religious themes to breathe.
When it comes to movie threads, freepers seem to be strong on science fiction, westerns and war movies. There are pockets of support for other genres and we all have our favorites here and there; of these, movies about alcoholism and recovery often draw interest. There have been many of these over the years. I am starting to suspect this is a subject that people in the film industry know something about and might have some personal experience with. When you stop to think about it, it is amazing (or maybe not) how many of the best actors have been drawn to these stories. It's quite a list.
Anyhow, the industry keeps returning to the story. The last two that I've seen have been A Good Person (2023, Morgan Freeman, Florence Pugh) and To Leslie (2022, Andrea Riseborough and an excellent supporting cast). Both are solid and well meaning, but they struck me as a bit formulaic and predictable. The Outrun, at least to me, felt fresh. This of course starts with selling the characters, and Saoirse Ronan knocks it out of the park, which we by now expect from her. She is in the chatter for another Oscar nomination for this role; she's already been nominated for Atonement, Brooklyn, Lady Bird, and Little Women. I would vote for her; her turn as Rona in The Outrun is the best piece of acting I have seen this year. If you need a couple of movies to root for in the Oscars next time around, put this on your list. It might be some mentions for best adapted screenplay as well, and I would not be surprised if it gets a mention for cinematography.
Yes, Saoirse Ronan plays Rona. Try not to be confused. Rona is the one with freckles.:)
The Outrun felt old-fashioned to me (with one asterisk), and I mean that in a way that is a compliment, not a criticism. The movie plays alcoholism, hitting bottom and the beginning of recovery perfectly straight; Jack Klugman's character from Days of Wine and Roses could have turned up in any of the AA scenes and felt right at home. With a runtime of just under two hours, the movie gives its characters room to breathe. There are now forced plot gimmicks to try to get an unexpected twist in a story with a very familiar outline.
The asterisk is the use of nonlinear storytelling. The story is set primarily in the present time, where Rona has returned to her childhood home in the Orkneys to try to restart after her crash and burn in London. We see a few childhood scenes that sketch in family background; scattered scenes of Rona in London as a hard-partying young woman -- well educated with a promising future and a nice boyfriend, but deep in trouble before she knows it -- early recovery scenes in London; the inevitable relapse; and a long, hard slog to (maybe) stable recovery in the islands. A happy ending? No, there are no miracle cures; at the end she is far enough along to feel able to return to her professional path in London with a purpose, but she's a survivor who has finally accepted one day at a time. We wish her well, but we don't know how it will turn out. Neither does she.
I thought it was very well done, and Ronan completely sells the character. You will be rooting for her, and that's essential for this kind of movie to work.
The other two alcoholism/recovery movies I've mentioned -- A Good Person and To Leslie -- felt a bit melodramatic to me. This must be a very fine line to walk as a filmmaker; there are plenty of real life crash and burn stories that are every bit as melodramatic as anything demented Hollywood screenwriters might come up with. But on the other hand, the more common pattern (I think) is a long, slow descent, a death by inches, and then a long, slow recovery, also by inches, and it must be hard to turn these into compelling drama unless the alcoholism story is thoroughly backgrounded and emerges through indirection. If that story is going to be foregrounded ... well, you end up with Jack Lemon in The Days of Wine and Roses (1962) smashing up his father-in-law's greenhouse and uprooting plants looking for his hidden bottle. The Outrun's touch is much lighter, with the roughest moments glimpsed momentarily in very quick flashbacks ... but in this case, the story is based on a well-received memoir by Amy Liptrot, a Scottish gal who did indeed grow up on Orkney, did indeed have a schizophrenic and bipolar father and a mother who turned to religion to cope, and who did indeed crash hard in London in her 20's. I will withhold the criticism of melodrama if the story is true (or mostly true).
The Outrun is currently in theaters. If you still go to theaters, consider it. The theater will not be crowded and you do not need to worry about misbehaving idiots in the audience. This is not an idiot bait movie; there is no flying spandex, and there are no death stars, velociraptors, zombie apocalypses, or terrorist attacks. The theater will be quiet.
An overdue movie ping.
P.S. You don’t have to register to open the link. Just click on “I’ll do it later.”
No thanks. Daily life is depressing enough. 😏
Still not over the downer caused by “Midnight Cowboy.” It’s difficult to see this in the light of movies being entertainment and escapism. I’ll pass.
On surface review, if the value of a film can be gauged by: there is no flying spandex, and there are no death stars, velociraptors, zombie apocalypses, or terrorist attacks.
...well then, you have a winner here...
...yet to me, this is just another exercise in femdung navel-gazing.
I don't know, a drunk struggling to sober up, no matter how attractive she (Saorsie) is, is just a sighing, ho-hum of a 1st-world-problem movie.
IOW, not interested.
Maybe that's "just me", though.
Leaving Las Vegas was the most depressing movie I’ve ever watched and my last alcoholic movie.
That movie was heartbreaking.
‘preciate the ping.
With all respect, that’s just you. There have been many great movies dealing with adult beverages over the years.
“Navel gazing” is an interesting question. When I was younger, quiet, introspective character dramas wouldn’t have interested me, at least not much. I wanted larger than life spectacle and action. My tastes have changed as I’ve gotten older.
Indie navel gazing is ok with me if it’s well done. Try Living (2022, Bill Nighy) if you want a manly example of the genre.
Sorry. No thank you.
Sorry. No thank you.
P.S. An afterthought: I do like other kinds of movies as well, and I’m fine with fantasy, escapism and pure entertainment if well done.
That said, my particular angle of approach for the movie ping list is to find “conservative” movies. Films that take a deep breath, step back, and pose serious questions about internal character struggles and hard choices are natural opportunities for this. At the risk of sounding pretentious, there are worthy stories that valorize the heroism found in the everyday like of ordinary people, and I’m glad that such movies are still being made.
I mentioned Days of Wine and Roses as a notable Golden Age of Hollywood movie about alcoholism. Whatever else it is, Days of Wine and Roses is not cynical — and cynicism run amick is one of the hallmarks of the modernist cancer that is corrupting culture and society generally, not just the movies. Cynicism is a tool of those who believe in nothing and want to tear down those who do.
I have a soft spot for defiantly non-cynical movies. The Outrun is anti-cynical. It’s adapted from a memoir, the author of which has walked this trail. The several scenes involving snippets of AA meetings, all short, are what reminded me of Days of Wine and Roses. If you’ve seen that, you will remember Jack Klugman’s character leading an AA meeting. You betcha they played that scene straight. How many people involved with that movie were recovering alcoholics?
I got the same feeling from The Outrun. Different time. Different place. Different lead character. Different particularities to the backstory. Same war.
It’s a “conservative” movie because it’s morally serious and honest.
Looks interesting. Thanks.
“Another movie about alcoholism.”
Fair point, but it brings me to my other ping list mantra. We do a lot of kvetching about how Hollywood has gone off the rails. This often comes from freepers who take pride in not watching new movies, because “Hollywood hasn’t made anything good since xxxx.” This is not convincing coming from people who refuse to watch new movies on principle and so are blissfully unaware of the good ones that are still made and of the saving remnant in the industry who are still doing good work.
I know that most of us have seen enough movies about alcoholism that we may not be up for one more. That’s fine. But the culture war reality is that the film industry is oriented to younger demographics who still like to go out, and we can’t tell younger people that they should be content with watching golden oldies because Jack Lemon, Lee Remick, Jack Krugman, and Blake Edwards (the director) said everything that needs to be said on the subject over 60 years ago.
This is partly a matter of situational awareness. Whether you or I go out to catch the movie is one thing, but it’s still good to know that it is there, and it is good to know who in the industry is still doing good work.
Now see? That right there. That's some fine writing!
Signed,
Just Me
I get all my movies on Comcast for the price of basic cable.
I really enjoy Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Godfather, Casino, Goodfellas, Jason Bourne, John Wick, Marvel Universe, Martian (Matt Damon), Zero Dark Thirty, Blow, Dune (2021), Kingsman (2014), Ready Player One, Band of Brothers...
Most week nights I watch the Fox evening line up and/or international business news.
On weekends and holidays, there are always good movies to watch on cable, except October and December, when it becomes Halloween and Christmas over kill.
As part of the auditions, they made the actors say “Saoirse” to see how they sounded slurring like a drunk.
LOL. That just might be right.
Saoirse has dual citizenship because she was born in NYC, but her parents are Irish. Freckles are part of the job description for an Irish gal and I knew she had some ... But.I.Had.No.Idea. Here she’s playing a young woman who does a drunken crash and burn, and getting de-glammed is pretty standard in such roles. Wow. She can play rough. I now know who I would cast as the female lead if I were making a caveman movie set at the end of the last ice age. I don’t think there’s anything she can’t do, and do well. Best in class.
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