Five Fingers For Marseilles
★★★½
A neo-western set in rugged post-apartheid South Africa, Five Fingers For Marseilles is ambitious and beautiful. I read a review on here that described it as a movie that goes from Stand By Me to Unforgiven, and that's pretty accurate. Five Fingers tracks the titular group from pre-title prologue, where they're a young resistance against Boer police exploiting their poverty-stricken "Railway" town, to 15 years later, when Tau, "the Lion", returns to town as a different man. Here, he finds the town in the group of new oppressors, former friends as dangerous threats, and painful consequences stretching back to a fateful act 15 years ago.
Five Fingers' characterization and emotional heft hinges on those consequences, how the characters have changed between childhood and now, but the crucial issue is that we never spend enough time with the group as kids to really get a sense of their personalities beyond surface traits or why their present fates are tragic. The other themes, such as the weight of violence or legacy or the lasting effects of colonialism, are much more effective, but the narrative suffers from the lack of connection with the characters.
However, purely as a neo-western, Five Fingers For Marseilles excels. The South African landscape is vast and gorgeous, and the aesthetic offers the perfect blend of modern (cars, bicycles, bare bulbs hanging, etc) and classic Western imagery (an isolated ramshackle town with a railroad passing through, a lawless land surrounded by rolling cliffs and hills, horses tied outside, etc). The silver-tongued cloudy-eyed outlaw boss known as The Ghost works as an effective antagonist with great presence onscreen. The homages to classic Spaghetti Westerns were fun too, such as Tau calling himself "Nobody" in town or the blood-soaked showdown that erupts in the finale (complete with a Wilhelm scream)
Support The Girls
★★★★
A day-in-the-life dramedy, Support The Girls depicts a single harrowing day at Double Whammies, a Hooters-esque sports bar, and it's one of those days: where the cable goes out, and there's an attempted robbery and the boss is being a particularly potent asshole, among other ceaseless emergencies and obstacles.
But what gives the movie its heart and its compelling nature, is the close-knit camaraderie of the women. Each character shines with distinct and lively personality, all hinging around their respect and appreciation for general manager Lisa. Regina Hall is fantastic in her role, that has her juggling motherly concern for the girls, dealing with disrespectful customers, struggling with her own familial issues, shifting from welcoming and professional to private despair to stern anger to self-reflection. That nuanced performance is a reflection of the movie as a whole, fun and charming yet never shying from the harsh reality of the grind.
What Keeps You Alive
★★★½
A decent thriller that excels with its rustic atmosphere, succinct plotting, moments of brutal violence, and well-spaced twists that always strike just when you're getting comfortable with the story. The performances and relationship drama are actually pretty decent despite the dialogue coming across as stilted. What Keeps Us Alive doesn't quite stick the landing (although the eventual ending is surprisingly satisfying) but when the movie is at its best, it's a very enjoyable mean little flick.
Jailbreak (Rewatch)
★★★★
I liked this much more upon second viewing. I can't recall the last martial arts movie I've seen where the plot was such a blatant excuse for people to just beat the crap out of each other. Even The Night Comes For Us attempted to jam a story and characterization into its second half.
There's a giddy earnest to Jailbreak's tone and blunt structure, throwing the central team of cops into large brawls and one-on-one showdowns, all filmed with long well-framed shots that make good use of the limited sets. The camera pans around fights like a kid in a candy shop, sometimes entering the POV of combatants to get even closer to the action. The director's excitement at showing us all these blows and grapples is palpable.
There's something refreshing about a fun yet well-choreographed action flick like this, that isn't oppressive like BuyBust or ultra-violent like The Raid or overstuffed with plot like Villainess or attempting and failing at more involved narrative like Night Comes For Us. Compared to its influences and genre ilk, Jailbreak never takes itself seriously; in fact it has a fair share of humor and slapstick moments. The combat is slick and weighty but never excessively brutal. The story has zero illusions about being nothing more than a framework for fight scene showcases of talented Cambodian martial artists.
Despite a plot so thin that "lean" doesn't even qualify, despite the abrupt ending and the handful of punches and kicks that clearly only hit air...Jailbreak works.
