rbstern

I understand why the script is what it is; they've modernized the Kelly/Clark character for younger audiences.

Unfortunately, they traded realism for action.

The movie achieves silly levels of unrealism in extended gunfights with inept opponents, making it more like a video game than special operations. And we've got Navy NCO's living in homes that look like they cost many times what a chief petty officer could afford. Have the filmmakers ever seen base housing?

Maybe Clancy's stuff just doesn't translate as well, post Cold War. I've found that to be the case with the later Jack Ryan movies and TV shows. They're entertaining, but they lack the depth and riveting quality of the book storylines, and frequently substitute action for intrigue.

Very much the case here.

This is a solid movie with decent performances. It straddles the line between comedy and drama, and isn't really one or the other.

Best picture? Uh, no.

Conclave was a towering script, full of magnificent performances, making Anora look pedestrian by comparison. I have no rational explanation for the choice, other than what was probably a public relations effort to set the trendiness.

Yura Borisov's performance was very good.

Beyond that, I saw no performances that stood out. Good? Absolutely. Great? No. Mikey Madison is fine as the lead, but her character is generally unremarkable and not very interesting.

We've gotten spoiled with the great movies coming from all kinds of creators and distributors. Maybe the Oscar model is just worn out.

I watched this movie not knowing anything about it or what to expect.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality. Script, acting, camera and sound work are all well done, which means the director did his job, too.

The leads, Zita Bai and Vas Provatakis, both come across as believable in their relationship, along with their individual volatility and vulnerability.

Zita Bai portrays Baby's subtle beauty and nerdly, teen, social outsider perfectly. An awkward teen with lots of fish-out-of-water moments. She's strange in a relatable way. The sparsity of her dialogue means Bai has to convey a lot with physical acting, and that may be one of the best aspects of the film. It's a great, physical performance by Bai.

Vas Provatakis' performance is also strong. Fox's menacing persona, along with his foolishness and vulnerability are believably presented as a toxic mix. At times you root for him. At other times, you want him gone.

Supporting cast is good. There are a couple of outsized caricatures in the supporting roles, but they don't mangle the story. In some ways, they can be chalked up to Baby's reality-challenged views.

The film flirts with going off the rails in some of the focus on Baby's videography and fascination with strange visual phenomena. It feels a bit like a teen version of a Terrence Malick movie in those moments. To its credit, it never crashes. It ends up back where it belongs: Baby's strange journey. And strange it is. The slightly distorted reality scenes with her parents could have also derailed the movie, but don't. It's a bit hard to discern real from imagined in some of these scenes, but it doesn't hurt the film. In fact, it adds speculative intrigue to what Baby's home life has been.

Baby's story is not unique or particularly interesting. She's like many teens you'd find in a given community: Difficult life circumstances, strange home life, discordant relationship with family and peers, plus a strange imagination.

In the end, I didn't love the story, but it was so well executed, I ended up liking the movie.

I hope Zita Bai will write more scripts and act in them. Very talented performer.