Meewella | Critic

According to P

Tag: Nick Offerman

QuickView: Civil War (2024)

“Once you start asking those questions you can’t stop. So we don’t ask. We record so other people ask.”

Lee

Alex Garland’s timely depiction of a USA descended into civil war will hit too close for some, while not engaging in sufficient reflection for others. Garland makes a deliberate choice to sidestep party politics — the secessionists Western Forces are led by red and blue states and the President’s affiliation is never confirmed (some Trumpian rhetoric in the opening scene notwithstanding). This understandable decision leaves a void in the fictional world building, with little explanation or examination of how the nation collapsed. Yet watching Civil War just a year after release, one finds these gaps at least partially filled by real events. Instead, the war-torn country provides a backdrop for a road trip movie as a group of journalists make a dangerous journey to attempt to interview the President before he is deposed. Photojournalist protagonists allow for real immediacy in the action as they (and the cameras) move in amongst fighters as well as justifying more beautiful cinematography than might be considered appropriate for violent subject matter. Kirsten Dunst excels as Lee (her name a nod to acclaimed WW2 photographer Lee Miller), a veteran war photographer who unwillingly takes on a young protégé, torn between the desire to nurture talent and protect her from inevitable trauma. Dunst succeeds in depicting this through Lee’s hardened shell, her face usually stern, eyes searching and analysing. Cailee Spaeny, who evidently impressed Garland in Devs, provides a fresh and eager audience perspective. I found the film frequently reminiscent of Monsters with its personal story unfolding against the backdrop of a dangerous journey and threatening environment. Although the plot amounts to little more than a series of vignettes along the trip, we find significant depth in each of the central characters as events unfold. Civil War is routinely nerve-wracking, with its final assault on the White House as tense as any war film. Like the Homefront videogames, it is the surreality of placing military violence within the USA the proves particularly arresting for a Western audience — by turns tragic and disturbing, emphasised by the familiarity.

8/10

QuickView: Frances Ferguson (2019)

“Unhappy marriages so resemble one other, that we do not need to know much about this one.”

Narrator

Frances Ferguson is a difficult film to assess because it is so deliberately abrasive, a bleak comedy with scant interest in entertaining its audience. Based on real events, our protagonist is an unhappily married, frustrated Midwestern teacher who begins a self-destructive relationship with student. Some will take issue at treating a child sex offence with any humour but Frances Ferguson neither belittles nor belabours the crime itself — the entire affair is concluded within a few minutes, with the film’s focus being the absurdity of the rehabilitation process in a small town. The script’s bone dry humour is sufficiently witty (I did laugh out loud once) but it presents a disposable cast of characters — Nick Offerman’s narration literally announces the last time we see many of them — Frances’ group therapy leader being perhaps the only likeable one in the whole film. Bob Byington deserves credit for bold direction which may find a niche audience that appreciates its acerbic perspective, but I wish there were depth beyond its disquieting sense of disassociation.

4/10

"A film is a petrified fountain of thought."

(CC) BY-NC 2003-2025 Priyan Meewella

Up ↑