Movie Reviews: ‘Asteroid City’, ‘No Hard Feelings’, ‘Blue Jean’

ASTEROID CITY: 3 STARS

For better or worse, nothing beats a Wes Anderson movie. The director’s unique production design can be found throughout his new sci-fi comedy “Asteroid City,” but with this movie, it’s clear that whimsy has finally replaced storytelling on his to-do list.

This is a twisty curve. As a set of nesting dolls, it’s a movie, in a play, in a show hosted by a Rod Sterling-esque talking head (Bryan Cranston), in a teleplay written by playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton).

Most of the “action” takes place in Asteroid City, a remote New Mexico desert town – population 87 – where Steve Carell’s motel manager is hosting a Junior Stargazer convention. Gifted children and their parents from all over the state gather to showcase their incredible and often bizarre inventions.

It’s an interesting group, including recently widowed war photographer Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman), father of “brainiac” Woodrow (Jake Ryan) and son-in-law of Stanley (Tom Hanks), movie star Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson) and the rugged JJ Kellogg ( Dear Schreiber). Along for the ride are singing cowboy Montana (Rupert Friend), teacher June (Maya Hawke), Dr. Hickenlooper (Tilda Swinton), a scientist from the local observatory, and fast-talking Junior Stargazer juror General Grif Gibson (Jeffrey Wright) are in attendance. .

When the convention is interrupted by a visiting alien, everything is locked down for mandatory government quarantine.

Despite its quirky tone and Anderson’s trademark stylistic choices, “Asteroid City” is a serious movie, albeit with a healthy dose of absurdism. An exploration of how people deal with grief, and the true nature of love, Anderson’s characters experience existential dilemmas, anguish born of loss and dissatisfaction. There are threats from atomic bombs and life from other planets dropping by unexpectedly to say hello and children wondering aloud what will happen when we die. A haze of melancholic dread hangs over the film like a haze, but Anderson’s staging of the film, the meta-story within a narrative structure, obscures the film’s deeper meanings beneath layers of style.

The cast, especially Johansson and Hanks, puts the focus on Anderson’s unfocused story, and Carell, Cranston, and ephemeral Goldblum have fun, but at times the abundance of characters feels more to grace the screen than to advance the story.

“Asteroid City” may delight longtime fans, but casual moviegoers or newcomers to the director’s body of work may find the film’s mannered stupidity off-putting and off-putting.

NO HARD FEELINGS: 2 STARS

In recent years, R-rated comedy has fallen out of favor, driven from movie theaters by handsome but fully clothed, spandex-clad superheroes. In her new movie, Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence tries to bring softcore comedy and innuendo back to the big screen with “No Hard Feelings,” a throwback to a pre-#MeToo era when raunchy romps like “American Pie” and “Not Another Teen Movie” bridged the gap between mainstream movies and bachelorette movies.

Lawrence plays Montauk, Long Island Uber driver Maddie, a young woman with only a few dollars in her bank account and even fewer opportunities to earn more after her vehicle is repossessed.

“I’m an Uber driver and I don’t have a car,” she says. “I’m going to lose my house.”

With no job and no prospects, she answers a Craigslist ad from Laird (Matthew Broderick) and Allison (Laura Benanti), the wealthy, eccentric helicopter parents of reclusive 19-year-old Percy (Andrew Barth Feldman). The overbearing couple, who monitor their child via GPS on his phone, worry he’s too reclusive and not ready to attend Princeton University in the fall.

“He doesn’t come out of his room,” Laird says. ‘He doesn’t talk to girls. He’s not drinking.”

The deal is simple: if Maddie dates Percy and brings him out of his shell, they’ll give her an old Buick they haven’t driven in years.

“So, when you say ‘date him,'” Maddie asks, “do you mean ‘date him’ or ‘date him’?”

“Date him,” Laird says, “date him hard.”

“I’ll talk his brains out,” she promises.

The plan doesn’t start off promising after Percy, fearing Maddie’s advances are actually a kidnapping attempt, gives her pepper spray. However, as time passes, Maddie and Percy’s friendship goes beyond contractual.

“No Hard Feelings” tries to find a sweet spot between racy comedy and a heartfelt friendship story and misses the mark on both counts. The silly premise muffles all the authentic moments Lawrence teases out of the bland script, and the metaphors — that is, the old Buick may be broken, but there’s nothing wrong with it, or Maddie, which a little love and tenderness can’t fix – are so heavy-handed that they squash any sincerity lurking in the shadows.

Lawrence and Feldman are both better than the material, and what success and laughs the movie owes to their performances. As the film struggles to create a feel-good atmosphere in the final reel, Lawrence’s considerable charisma comes in handy, but the predictable and ultimately contrived story feels outdated and over-the-top.

BLUE JEAN: 3 ½ STARS

“Blue Jean” is a new British period drama, set in 1988 at the time of Margaret Thatcher’s Section 28, which feels disturbing in its topicality.

Set in working-class Newcastle, the film is told against the backdrop of news reports of Prime Minister Thatcher’s Section 28, a new law that would “prohibit the promotion of homosexuality”, with Rosy McEwen as Jean Newman. She is a gay high school physical education teacher who is outdoors in her daily life but cooped up at work. “As a teacher, you have to set boundaries,” she says. “It’s part of the job. If someone found out, I would never work again.”

Her spare time is spent at home or at the local gay/lesbian bar, a smoky billiard room where she can be open with friend Viv (Kerrie Hayes).

The lines between her personal and professional life begin to blur when a new student, Lois (Lucy Halliday), joins Jean’s class. As Lois makes her way through an unfamiliar environment, Jean encourages her to play basketball, but the newcomer is bullied before, during and after every game. Jean suspects that Lois is a lesbian, but despite Viv’s disappointment, he doesn’t confide in her.

“What example are you setting for her?” asks Viv. “How is that girl going to learn if she has a place in this world?”

When underage Lois shows up at the local gay bar, Jean feels exposed; scared that her secret will be revealed.

In an early scene in “Blue Jean,” Jean asks her class if they know what “fight or flight” means. It’s, she says, how the body reacts before the brain has even thought about it. It’s that fleeting response to Lois that informs Jean’s initial reaction to coming out, before a wave of self-reflection washes over her.

Vividly brought to life by McEwen, who makes her film debut here, Jean’s instinctive need to keep her job clashes with her heart. McEwen’s performance as a star leads the character through the self-blame, heartache and ultimately relief it takes to bring this low-key story to life.

“Blue Jean” is a poignant yet tender study of identity, mixing a personal story with a political and social one. It is set decades ago and, given recent events, is unfortunately timely with its depiction of entitlement oppression and casual homophobia, yet a quiet heartbeat of rebellion pulsates as Jean moves toward self-actualization.