★★★
In a third floor office somewhere in L.A. there’s a stack of formula comedy scripts, each one bearing a half-baked title and a handwritten note asking: is Jason Bateman free? From the top of the pile, Game Night is a surprisingly stylish addition to the star’s very marketable oeuvre. If it isn’t the full ticket, the film deserves credit for its experimental bon vive.
★
It took Justin Malin just thirty-six hours to sell the script for Father Figures, once titled Bastards. The fact that Paramount went on to drop it – spurring the first of many delays – suggests that they hadn’t read the script; the fact that Warner Bros. didn’t suggests that they still haven’t. Dull as dishwater.
★★★★
The year is 2002 and the titular character of Lady Bird is a senior year student at a Catholic high school in the suburbs of Sacramento. Thus far, the character is a mirror of Greta Gerwig, for whom the film marks a directorial debut. Though not autobiographical – the director/persona relationship is more spiritual here – it is the personal touch of a life lived that allows Gerwig’s film to shine. Lady Bird is tender, stark and unfailingly honest.
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