Pressed for Time: “CODA”, “Belfast”, “King Richard”

I wouldn’t say that any of these are bad films. “King Richard” is the weakest of the three and if I sound like I’m judging harshly, it is because of all the nominees for “Best Picture”, it has, despite a great performance at the center and strong ones all around, the weakest showing as a film.

I realized that as of this writing, I have seen most of the nominees for Best Picture for the 2022 Academy Awards and I feel it incumbent on me to do the write thing. I know it’s a lousy pun. Sue me.

I loved “CODA”, really liked “Belfast”, and admired Will Smith’s performance in “King Richard”, though the movie overall didn’t completely resonate with me (and it’s a good film!)

Given that parenthetical remark, maybe it’s not out of place to remind ourselves that we can experience a work of art, a film, a concert, and while recognizing its merits, it may just not completely takes us by storm. I think I’ve said elsewhere that criticism often reveals more about the critic than the work under review.

With that out of the way, I’ll take some quick looks here.

“CODA”

I was not in the mood for “CODA”; I had preconceived notions that it would be a glorified ABC After School Special with better acting and production values, but I was blown away by what I encountered. 

The themes of growth (across the board in individuals, families, and community) and communication are natural draws and ripe for Oscar Bait. Refreshingly, this is not an Oscar Bait-y movie. It’s unsurprisingly heartfelt but strikingly unsentimental. 

Centered on Ruby Rossi (she and her brother are Children Of Deaf Adults), the sole hearing member of a deaf family of fishermen in Gloucester, Massachusetts (represent!), we she how she navigates coming of age as a young woman, a singer, and the weight of her familial responsibilities as translator for her father and brother. 

Emilia Jones shines in the role, but/and is surrounded by yet another stellar performance by Marlee Matlin as her mother Jackie, Daniel Durant as brother Leo, Eugenio Derbez as her music teacher Mr. Villalobos, and above all, by Troy Katsur as her dad Frank. Kotsur is a force of nature; tender, funny, resilient and shrewd, he anchors the character in such a layered performance that it’s no wonder he’s up for a best supporting actor nod. He doesn’t intentionally do any scene-stealing, but you cannot take your eyes off him.

Your heart goes out to all concerned when the Rossis begin to venture outside the family and begin to organize their own co-op that the other fishermen can join to get out from the price-fixing middlemen, but it works. This could have gone south so badly, as could have the other sub-plot where the Coast Guard arrests Troy and Leo for not responding and complying with them and not having an interpreter on board, underscoring Ruby’s centrality in their lives. 

However, Ruby has joined the chorus at her high school and is being supported by her teacher, Mr. V. I don’t know where some people were so negative about Derbez’s performance. He gives us another grounded, truthful look at a complicated character and if it seems he’s sometimes being played for comic relief, it’s hardly bananas and pratfalls; his presence provides the tension between Ruby being tethered to helping her family and perhaps realizing that she has her own voice and dreams.

Add to this the budding romance with her classmate Miles played by Ferdia Walsh-Peelo as another strong, supporting player and the tale unfolds convincingly, if without much of that tension spilling over into the plot overall. I came into this somewhat aware that everything was going to work out, but it’s the journey that really mattered over and above the plot constructions. You really come to love these folks because they are so damned real. And funny. There is a distinctly North Shore wit about the Rossis that renders their deafness almost, well, moot. 

About that: the family’s disability is contextualized and not rendered as a disability. If anything, if there is a “disability”, it’s the insularity of the family against which both Leo and Ruby rebel. Durant’s exchanges with Jones are heartfelt and propulsive as he tries pushing away to pursue her “hearing life”. It’s painful, by turns and by turns, serves a greater purpose in showing in sharp relief what all parties need to do to grow.

As I mentioned above, a lot could have gone wrong; the film could have drowned in mawkishness and sentiment, but subverts that possibility with a remarkable script by director Sian Heder. There isn’t a false note in the film and so many moments of earned grace that it really is amazing that it isn’t reduced to pandering. It isn’t at all surprising he’s up for Best Adapted Screenplay.

I find myself eating plates of crow when I go into a film with preconceived notions, ideas of how material is going to be handled, and/or just plain cranky. For the record, that’s mountains of crow; and I love it when I’m wrong and the meal consumed, because I’ve seen something wonderful, learned that I still have a jaded blindness to deal with, but one more experience that helps chip away at that. 

“Belfast”

I like Kenneth Branagh, I really do. Unfortunately, early on in his career, he was touted as “the next Laurence Olivier”; he was expected to be Olivier’s successor on stage and screen and turn English theater and film on its head and well, he’s done some superlative work and some pretty mediocre work. I find it tragic to have not seen him on stage, where something tells me he shines, but his film work sometimes leaves a bit to be desired (“Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein” comes to mind). 

There is nothing wrong with “Belfast.” It’s a perfectly good movie but if I don’t sound completely taken by it, it’s because it shows some of the seams in Branagh’s directing, not the least of which are the repeated long shots of Belfast as a framing device for each episode. I hasten to add, it’s exquisitely photographed and lovingly acted. But it could do with less languishing over moments of exquisite photography.

Jude Hill is a find as Buddy, the young boy through whose eyes the tale is told of the encroaching strife between Protestants and Catholics intensifies and leads to massive exoduses from the city. It’s with the actors and acting that Branagh shines as a director, giving everyone room to breathe life into their characters and very often to moving effect and affect. 

Of particular note are Barry’s mother and father, (Golden Globe winner Caitríona Balfe (from “Outlander” and as Christian Bale’s wife, Mollie Miles in “Ford V. Ferrari”) and Jamie Dornan (proving once again what a fine actor he is away from the “Fifty Shades” misadventures). Indeed, both actors are given chances to shine and imbue their characters with stunning humanity and pathos. And wit. Frankly, any film set in Ireland, even at the worst of times, that is bereft of wit, is not a genuinely Irish film.

Lastly, Dame Judi Dench and Ciarin Hinds practically walk away with the film as Barry’s grandparents. To Branagh’s and his actors’ credit, you sense a lifetime of being together, of love, and for that matter, romance and there is not a moment of unearned emotion here. Hinds and Dench are the grandparents we should all have.

Seen from a child’s perspective, the volatile situation in Belfast is mitigated by the presence of adults that if not completely sure of the future, represent safety and a certitude in the presence of petty gangsters, armed troops, and the occasional riot. Hill’s performance is a study in guilelessness and the ever-present curiosity of a child for whom almost every experience is an adventure. 

We overhear conversations about taxes and precarious finances, about the Troubles quite literally outside the door and on the street, and yet, there is security and a deep trust in these bigger adults. 

As weighing as the problems are, and they aren’t sugar-coated in the scenes with the adults (nor, thankfully, do the adults attempt to hide anything from the children), the real threats do seem to be either the taxman or low-level thug who tries to coerce Buddy’s dad into joining their ranks or paying for protection. Away in England for work, his older son Will (Lewis McAskie, a low-key, quiet performance that exudes pragmatism and honesty) is cajoled into delivering packages for “the cause” by the gangster Billy (a pain in the ass played expertly by Colin Morgan), Buddy is convinced by his cousin Moira to shoplift in order to join the gang (and passes the initiation when he doesn’t give anyone up to the police) and Billy continues to pressure the family to convince Buddy’s dad to either join, pay up, or face the consequences.

Along the way, Buddy falls for a classmate who is Catholic and solicits advice from his grandfather (poignant and funny and leading to reflections on youth and the everlasting love he has for his wife). Again none of this is forced or insipid. There is a muscularity to Branagh’s script that anyone would kill for. 

So why didn’t it take with me as a whole? Largely for reasons stated at the outset. A little too much window dressing that removes us from these characters that are so wonderfully written and performed and with whom you genuinely want to spend more time. The film lags as it relishes its own gorgeousness and exemplifies why great cinematography doesn’t always ensure a great movie. 

That said, nothing can take away from the performances or the script overall. They denouement that results in Billy’s capture felt a bit forced or rushed, as well. I get it; it’s a kind of Chekhov’s Gun moment, but it felt like it could have gone down differently and with more of a sense of consequence or retribution (well, that was already implied, and to be sure, as Billy is led away threatening pay-back, this proved to be the additional impetus to leave Belfast for more peaceful and financially secure London.)

“King Richard”

I wanted this to be a much better movie. The Williams family deserves a film and Will Smith deserves his accolades. He does turn in another remarkable performance but it’s in the context of well-done TV Movie. 

This is not to say that there aren’t some good solid performances but the direction is so lumpy and by the numbers. Where he does excel is letting Smith explore and expand Richard Williams and giving his cast free rein to do the same. Special attention to be paid goes to an unrecognizable Jon Bernthal as the girls’ coach Rick Macci. How he put up with Richard, I’ll never know…except that we do find out, don’t we?

And that’s where the movie shines. Smith’s Richard Williams is a study in contradiction, complexity, obvious love of his daughters and the game and oblivious to everyone else, including his step-daughters and wife Oracene “Brandy” Price (Aunjanue Ellis, adding another amazing performance to an awesome career; seriously, her genuine concern for her daughters, stoic love for Richard, and a slow-burn throughout all this should have garnered her an Oscar nod, too). In fact, I’d almost rather see a movie from her perspective. Price has coached a stable of great players and if she wasn’t as pushy and determined as Richard in promoting Venus and Serena, she still deserves more credit than she gets here. But then, again, it is called “King Richard” and that, for sure, is sardonic.

Saniyya Sidney as Venus and Demi Singleton as Serena are pitch perfect. Their interactions with each other and their scenes throughout convey a great deal of the character both women in real life possess. These are effortless performances in a movie filled with them. Unfortunately for that film, the performances throw into high relief how pedestrian the structure of the film is and are strong enough to buttress that structure from becoming thoroughly creaky. 

The set-ups are bland, there is woefully little rhythm to the plot, and the cinematography is okay, but hardly outstanding. Unfortunately, it’s these elements and a script that while serviceable, is in itself bland. It’s the actors that elevate it and while it is Smith’s show, without an equally strong ensemble, it wouldn’t fly.

It is hardly intended to be solely an “origin story” of Venus and Serena Williams, and I can’t say it enough that Smith delivers another great performance in a career full of them, but the script renders what should be compelling almost soporific. I get why he’s got the nomination; I am not getting why the film is up for Best Picture.