After all the hub-bub over the tech-fueled new documentaries “Musk” and “You Can See Everything,” we can turn to the rest of this week’s new arrival, including another biopic, “Tenzing,” and the romantic drama “Love of “Your Life.”
Here’s our roundup.
“Tenzing”: Jennifer Peedom’s stunningly photographed biopic puts a welcome spotlight on the life of legendary mountaineer/sherpa Tenzing Norgay, one of the first of two men (with Sir Edmund Hilary) in 1953 to scale Mount Everest. While “Tenzing,” an Overall Audience Award winner at the recent Mill Valley Film Festival, is traditionally told, it is always gripping and moving, with Peedom and screenwriter Luke Davies recounting Tenzing’s early love and respect for Everest (or Chomolungma) and his own underdog status in this at times bittersweet story. That his athletic feat gets told not through the eyes of a white explorer but from the perspective of this humble Nepalese-Indian hero makes it all that more interesting and compelling. Tenzing (played with heartfelt emotion by Tibetan actor Genden Phuntsok) shouldered the brunt of being considered an outcast, as did – to a lesser extent – New Zealand adventurer Hilary (Tom Hiddleston) – looked down upon since he was not British at a time when the Brits had a firm, grip on expeditions and excluded others. Tenzing felt the sting of the verbal barbs he endured about not being a legit sherpa due to his heritage. Those themes get explored well as do the cultural and ethnic roadblocks that get thrown in his path. While there is no doubt that Tenzing Norgay’s place in history got cast in the publicity and political shadows of Hilary and expedition leader Colonel John Hunt (Willem Dafoe), “Tenzing” corrects that and champions how it was a true team effort with Tenzing deserving of the same headline treatment. Details: 3 stars out of 4; debuts Oct. 16 on Apple TV.
“Love of Your Life”: Romantic dramas that focus intricately and sensitively with weighty matters such as moving forward after a tragic event don’t get produced as often as they once did. With her poignant and at times quite sexy follow-up to the tremendous boxing biopic “The Fire Inside,” incisive filmmaker Rachel Morrison successfully fills that void with a soulful character study about dedicated nurse Maya (Margaret Qualley, in a career high performance) finding herself after being lost in the aftermath of COVID-19. Qualley and screenwriter Julia (“Nyad”) Cox make Maya a brittle, fully realized character — a genuine person with brains and issues. When she meets Charlie, an endearing Prince Charming (Gabriel Basso, giving us all the right feels, she thinks he is just too good to be true. He fawns all over her. Maya’s hard-drinking bestie (Patrick Schwarzenegger) even approves of the relationship and Maya eventually ingratiates herself with Charlie’s mom (Catherine Keener, always a welcome player in any film.) Aaron Pierre appears later in the film and brings smarts and magnetic sexiness to his role, but this film succeeds because of Qualley’s mercurial and tone-rich performance, the gorgeous cinematography from Todd Banhazl and a nuanced protagonist confronting both exterior and interior hardships. Details: 3 stars; available to stream now on Amazon Prime.
“Trust Me, I’m a Doctor”: Uncertain of the exact tone to take and even what the heck it’s trying to say, director/writer Thane Economou’s listless take on the trial and tribulations of Anna Nicole Smith’s doctor fails and falls flat. It doesn’t work as a comedy. It doesn’t work as a drama. It doesn’t work as a critique of celebrity culture. Put simply it just doesn’t work. And it could. A shaky screenplay bounces about and never pickles a legitimate narrative lane to explore. It grazes topics (Smith’s relationships and her son; the media circus of her life and death) but never entirely explores any of them. It sometimes uses voice-over narration to little effect and even resorts to fourth wall breaking. It adds nothing. This lack of focus stymies fine actors too. Kal Penn is almost too restrained as the then 40-year-old SoCal Sandeep Kapoor, a doc who’s gay and is not out to his parents. He finds himself sucked into the car wreck of a life of star/addict Smith (Abbie Cornish, given little to do except imitate her), and learns to regret partying with her at a West Hollywood pride parade. Linda Hamilton graces the screen as Kapoor’s seen-it-all Hollywood attorney and she and Penn have a couple of snappy exchanges, but it’s really Elon Gold as TMZ’s Harvey Leven who steals scenes and saves the day a few times. Maybe Kapoor’s memoirs, which served as this film’s basis, makes more salient points. As a movie, “Trust Me, I’m a Doctor” sadly feels hollow and empty, and like it’s riding the coattails of a star’s tragic legacy. Details: 1½ stars; in theaters Oct. 16.
“Animals”: If a tall order of cynicism served up in a nonsensical hostage thriller suits your needs, check out director/star/co-writer Ben Affleck’s latest. It takes a bleak view of the human condition and the latent reptilian impulses that bite back when loved ones and careers get threatened. There are interesting ideas ping-ponging about in Affleck’s sixth feature-length directorial effort along with admirable performances from its impressive cast. But the screenplay is a mad jumble and never convincingly sticks the landing on any of them. It tags so many bases and never resolves critical questions that it should about why this is all happening. Affleck is a very good director and deserves more focused, coherent material. There’s a sense there might have been some tinkering with this loopy screenplay. Affleck turns in a solid performance as an insecure people-pleaser of a Los Angeles mayoral candidate, Mark Kimball. He’s a wreck since his poll numbers are sagging, his campaign is in dire need of a major cash infusion and his often-ignored wife (Kerry Washington) is about to ditch him. Then comes the biggest punch to the gut – an ominous phone call demanding a huge ransom for his trick-or-treating son. Naturally, it puts everyone on tenterhooks, including Kimball’s housekeeper (Adriana Paz), her undocumented husband (Luis Gerardo Méndez), Mark’s campaign manager (Steven Yeun) and so on. A cold and calculating and very expensive fixer (Gillian Anderson) sweeps in and it’s about right there when the story goes off the rails. “Animals” is indeed a curious beast, a familiar thriller that poorly cribs from the classic Kurosawa film “High and Low” and feels stuck in its larval stage. You keep on waiting for it to break through from its messed-up cocoon and transform into a better movie. But this one never breaks free and takes flight. Details: 2 stars; available now on Netflix.
Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.