It’s another great week for new movie watching thanks to Our Father, The Devil and The Dive. I also recommend the Helen Mirren headlined Golda and Liam Neeson’s latest (Retribution). Eric Holmes is concocting new items for our CinemAddicts/Find Your Film merch site, and Bruce Purkey is still the butcher!!!
Our Father, The Devil centers on Marie (Babetida Sadjo, delivering a seminal performance), an African refugee who is the chef for a retirement home. Her existence in this small town in France is peaceful enough, and her life takes a big turn when a retiree gifts her a small, family cabin. When Father Patrick (Souleymane Sy Savane) joins the retirement home, Marie is devastated and determined. She believes the priest is a former warlord who killed her family, and what ensues is a battle of wills between the two.
Listen to the Our Father, The Devil review on CinemAddicts:
Babetida Sadjo and Souleymane Sy Savane are excellent, and the writing from director Ellie Foumbi is top-notch. All three of us recommend the film in varying degrees. Bruce and Eric have an engaging back and forth on the movie’s storytelling structure. Check out Our Father, The Devil starting Friday at New York’s Quad Cinema.
The Dive centers on sisters May (Louisa Krause) and Drew (Sophie Lowe) as they go diving in a remote location. May gets trapped 28 meters underwater by a rock, and Drew must find a way to save her sibling. Directed and co-written by Maximilian Erlenwein, The Dive is a tense and refreshingly character driven narrative. Sometimes action defines character, and that element is perfectly evoked in The Dive. I interviewed Erlenwein this week and will have that posted on Friday. All three of us highly recommend The Dive which was shot mainly with the use of practical effects.
Listen to CinemAddicts Episode 204 on Apple Podcasts:
Check out The Dive in theaters Friday and everywhere you rent movies. You can pre-order the title on Amazon.
I gave a mild recommendation to the new Liam Neeson movie Retribution (as a counterpoint, my mother loved it!) and I also gave a positive review to Golda. Helen Mirren’s performance as Golda Meir will hopefully receive awards buzz. If you are a big Liam Neeson fan, you should catch Retribution. My only complaint with that thriller is, despite the skillfull direction by Nimrod Antal and an always engaged Neeson, the movie’s “twist” was very obvious to me. Again, my mother dug it more than me so do with that what you will!!
The Retribution and Golda leads have crossed paths before this box office weekend. If you have not seen director John Boorman’s Excalibur it’s well worth the watch. That film features Liam Neeson and Helen Mirren.
Retribution and Golda hit theaters on Friday.
