Lazzell Reviews

Barbie (I) (2023)

A Classic Screwball Comedy

[10/10 · 5 August 2023]

Pushing all of the serious reviews aside for a moment, this is a classic comedy of the thirties, updated for our times. Screwball comedies like "Bombshell" with Harlow and "My Man Godfrey" were wonderful satires. They centered around a battle of the sexes, with a female character dominant over the male lead. They were loaded with farcical situations and spoofing, as well as lots of physical comedy.

And like "Christmas in Connecticut", they often had a gentle but serious 'message' at the end, and America loved it. The woman is always smarter, generally with a plan up her sleeve, the male lead (most of the men in the movie) are oblivious. The more self-important, the more obliviousness they are to what's really going on around them. I'd now love to see Ryan Gosling in a re-make of "It Happened One Night", he'd be terrific. Or Margot Robbie in a re-make of "Some Like It Hot".

Dreamin' Wild (2022)

Chekhov in Rural America

[10/10 · 5 August 2023]

A gem of a story, reminiscent of a short story by Sherwood Anderson, Richard Ford, Eudora Welty, Raymond Carver, Jim Harrison, or the Irish writer Claire Keegan. There's a surface plainness and apparent accessibility, seemingly easily penetrable.

But small issues of moral choice build up, we see mature feelings wrestle with the idealism of youth.

Characters we thought we could easily understand become more complex. This focus on the seriousness of life goes to the heart of the matter: family loyalty, honor, compassion, forgiveness (and self-forgiveness). "Dreaming' Wild" has a fundamental directness that casts a profound, direct light on the austere interior of the Emerson family.

Its precision and pacing is writerly, it gives the viewer time to think.

Remarkable performances by Casey Affleck, Beau Bridges, Walton Goggins, Noah June, and Jack Dylan Grazer. And Chris Messina.