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As I write this, the Oscars are just around the corner, and the movie to beat is The Brutalist (rated R in theaters and streaming) which clocks in at three hours and 35 minutes with an intermission. Adrien Brody, also a front-runner for Best Actor, is László Toth, a Jewish post-war refugee from Hungary. László is an accomplished architect but he starts from scratch in the U.S. His cousin Attila who has changed his last name to Miller, and married a Christian, gives László a job in his furniture shop, which doesn’t end well. It does introduce László to wealthy and ungrateful businessman Harrison Van Buren (Guy Pearce) who reappears in László’s life when he’s living in poverty, working menial jobs and occasionally shooting heroin.
After initially dismissing László’s work, Van Buren tracks him down to share that the library László created for him has been featured in a magazine. He hires him for a huge vanity project, gives him a place to live on his spectacular property and even helps negotiate the immigration of László’s wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones), and his niece who are still detained in Europe. They appear after the intermission, yes there is a 15-minute intermission.
László is thrilled and relieved to reunite with Erzsébet, but shocked to see her in a wheelchair. They have trouble reconnecting and László is obsessed with his monumental building project. Erzsébet, a writer, wants to work, but the job that Van Buren helps her find is in New York City. Intelligent, visionary and arrogant, László has conflicts with Harrison’s obnoxious, entitled son, coworkers, and others who look down on him because he is Jewish and an immigrant. Things get uglier when Van Buren proves to be even worse than we imagine, resulting in a terrifying encounter on a trip to Italy to secure marble for their project.
The Brutalist, rated R, in theaters and streaming.
Throughout the film’s epic length, Brody is brilliant. You can’t help but compare his work here to his Oscar-winning performance, portraying a Holocaust survivor in 2002’s The Pianist. Brody has a wickedly expressive face and we believe him and his story every single moment.
Jones (also nominated for an Oscar) is exceptional. She’s strong and tough and fighting for her marriage and for a better life, while battling her illness and pain. Pearce definitely earns his Oscar nod as the self-righteous, arrogant millionaire with mommy issues. What could be a mustache-twirling caricature is saved by Pearce instilling Van Buren with a sliver of humanity.
Co-Writer/Director Brady Corbet (nominated in both categories) filmed The Brutalist in the rarely-used Vistavision on a crazy low budget of $10 million (that will get you four seconds in a Marvel movie). It is gorgeous, with breathtaking imagery, lighting and shadow thanks to cinematographer Lol Crawley. The story is compelling, especially early on. However, the ending of The Brutalist is confusing, disappointing and betrays the overall tone of the film. Bothersome? Maybe, but Corbet still delivers three exceptional hours of unforgettable filmmaking.
The Brutalist: 4.5 Stars out of Five
Bridget Jones Mad About the Boy (rated R, on Peacock) is the fourth, and promised final Jones film starring Renee Zellweger as Bridget. The wild “singleton” of four films and four novels by Helen Fielding, is now a melancholy widow with two young children. Her great love, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) died four years earlier on a humanitarian mission. Bridget is trying her best to raise her kids, return to work, and maintain her relationships with her long-time friends and former boss/boyfriend and hands-down best thing in the movie, Daniel Cleaver, played by the irresistible Hugh Grant.
Not two minutes after her pal puts Bridget on a dating app, she and Roxster (Leo Woodall) meet as cute as you can meet. He’s 29 and for some reason, thinks she’s 35. The character is actually 51 and the fact that Bridget doesn’t tell him is icky at best. They do have a great time together, and the age difference does become a big deal. Still, it’s super obvious that she should be focusing on her son’s “practically perfect” teacher (Chiwetel Ejiofor).
Bridget Jones Mad About the Boy (rated R, on Peacock)
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy has some very funny moments, thanks to movie-stealing Grant and the always-fabulous Emma Thompson, returning as Bridget’s doctor. And it’s quite touching at times. But it never really clicked for me, possibly because I LOVED the first film and Bridget so much. This outing tries to capture the spirit of the original, bringing back characters and some funny gags, but Zellweger tries a little too hard. She is constantly squinting, scrunching her face, and walking with a distractingly weird bounce. I’m glad that Bridget gets the happy ending she deserves but I’m also glad her story is over. Now if they would just give Grant and Thompson their own movie…
Bridget Jones: 3.5 out of Five