We Live In Time

2024 A24

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 48min

Drama ~ Romance

Starring: Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh.

Every Minute Counts

Andrew Garfield stars as Tobias Durand, a sales representative for The Weetabix Breakfast Cereal Company. He is going through a divorce and has received the divorce papers. In a hotel, after just getting out of the shower, he sits down in his robe and decides to sign the papers. The pen quits writing part way through his signature. Frustrated he grabs another and it doesn’t work, then another. Tobias completely loses it, throws the pen and leaves the hotel in his robe heading for the corner store down the street. He purchases a pen and heads back to the hotel walking on the side of the street when…….

Almut Brühl (Florence Pugh) happens by in her car, just as Tobias steps into the street, and hits him. Tobias passes out in the street and comes to later in the hospital with a neck brace and some pretty good facial bruises. He looks over and sees Almut who explains who she is and what happened. She apologizes and offers to buy him and his wife dinner at the restaurant where she is the Chef. He agrees and, not wanting to talk about his going through a divorce, the next evening he shows up alone. When Almut finally comes out of the kitchen, she asks Tobias about his wife and he explains that they are going through a divorce. In the very short time they have met each other, they both have feelings for each other and Almut invites him to go home with her.

And that is the start of their decade long romance and the beginning of a life together. And as with any couple they experience love, laughter, joy and heartbreak. They must also contend with some serious medical news about Almut, which they must make major life changing decisions about. They decide to enjoy every minute of every day, no matter what. As we all should. Throughout all of it they share their commitment and deep love for each other as they navigate the changes that life always seems to throw at you. Throughout the movie there are flashbacks going back to certain moments in their history together that reflect on their current circumstances. And you can see how one thing led to another. It is a little hard to keep up with, trying to figure out when they are flashing back to. But in the end it all makes sense.

I am being a little vague about the details because I don’t want to spoil it. I think Andrew and Florence did a fantastic job together with this movie. I honestly don’t think anybody else could have pulled this movie and story off the way they did. They were meant to play Tobias and Almut, their chemistry together carried this movie. I liked it, I really enjoyed Florence and Andrew together as Almut and Tobias. It isn’t a Hallmark Movie with a happy ending, you know, everybody smiling and riding off into the sunset, but I thought it was a real good Romantic Drama. That’s two thumbs up for Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield and We Live In Time.

Oppenheimer

2023 Universal Pictures

Rated: R

Length: 3 hr

Biography ~ Drama ~ History ~ True Story

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, Jason Clarke and Kenneth Branagh.

“Prometheus stole fire from the Gods and gave it to man. For this he was chained to a rock and tortured for eternity.”

Cillian Murphy stars as J. Robert Oppenheimer, a Theoretical Physicist in charge of The Los Alamos project and one of the pioneers of the first atomic bombs built during World War II. It follows his life and education leading up to chairing the project to create the world’s first atomic bomb, and his life and career following the first Atomic bomb test. It also chronicles his personal battles dealing with the responsibility of being the man that changed the world with an atomic weapon, and his guilt that he may have ultimately laid the foundation for the destruction of our world.

The movie starts with the 1954 security hearing orchestrated by The Atomic Energy Chairman Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr). It was a kangaroo court orchestrated by Strauss with the express purpose of destroying Oppenheimer’s reputation and credibility, mainly due to Strauss’s jealousy and paranoia regarding Oppenheimer. There is a scene where Oppenheimer is having a conversation with Albert Einstein within eyeshot of Strauss, and Strauss is convinced that Oppenheimer is bad mouthing him to Einstein. But in reality Oppenheimer was discussing with Einstein his fear that in creating the atomic bomb he might have started a chain reaction that could destroy the world.

The movie centers on the 1954 hearing and the 1959 Senate Confirmation Hearing for Strauss where it is revealed how Strauss tried to undermine Oppenheimer and his work. It flashes back and forth between the hearings and the events in Oppenheimer’s life that led up to the first atomic bomb test (which is quite impressively depicted in the movie), and the events after as he grapples with the fallout personal guilt he has. There are a lot of stories going on here and it can be a little difficult to understand and follow. Especially as it flashes back and forth to different times and events, some being in black and white.

One of the main stories of this movie is the power struggle between Oppenheimer and Strauss as Strauss seeks to undermine his influence with the Atomic Energy Commission. Christopher Nolan, the director, uses color and black and white to differentiate between the two men. The Black and white scenes are used to show Strauss’s point of view and thinking, while color was used to represent Oppenheimer’s. That alone is a fascinating viewing if you know that and view the movie with that knowledge.

There is a lot of star power in this movie:

Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer
Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer’s Wife kitty
Robert Downey Jr. as Atomic Energy Chairman Lewis Strauss
Matt Damon as US Army Colonel Leslie Groves who oversaw The Los Alamos Project
Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock, a psychiatrist, Communist Party USA member, and Robert Oppenheimer’s romantic interest
Josh Hartnett as Ernest Lawrence, a Nobel-winning nuclear physicist who worked with Oppenheimer at the University of California, Berkeley
Casey Affleck as Boris Pash, a US Army military intelligence officer and commander of the Alsos Mission
Kenneth Branagh as as Niels Bohr, a Nobel-winning Danish physicist, philosopher and Oppenheimer’s personal idol
Rami Malek as David L. Hill, a nuclear physicist at the Metallurgical Laboratory.
Jason Clarke as Roger Robb, an attorney and future US circuit judge who served as special counsel to the AEC at Oppenheimer’s security hearing.

It is a fascinating look at the man and his accomplishments, his relationships and his guilt at having orchestrated the potential demise of the world. I’ve watched it three times mainly because it took two to fully understand all the stories going on, and then a third to appreciate it with the knowledge and understanding of everything going on. It is well acted by everyone involved, and the cinematography is outstanding.

Some fun facts:

It grossed over 976 million worldwide, the third highest of 2023
It won 7 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best supporting Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography and Best original Score
And 5 Golden Globe Awards
And 7 British Academy Awards
And was named one of the top ten films of 2023 by the American Film Institute

An excellent movie obviously but it is a long one coming in at three hours.

But it is a fascinating three hours.

Two Thumbs Up!!

A Good Person

2023 Metro Goldwyn Mayer

Rated: R

Length: 2 hrs 8min

Drama

Directed by: Zach Braff

Starring: Florence Pugh, Morgan Freeman, Celeste O’Connor and Molly Shannon.

“Down here, in a world of my own making, the lovers always kiss, the neighbors are always kind, and the trains always take you to the far off places you always swore you’d go. In Life, of course, nothing is nearly as neat and tidy….. Amor Fati.”

Florence Pugh stars as Allison, Molly Shannon as her Mom Diane, Morgan Freeman as Daniel her estranged ex father-in-law to be, and Celeste O’Connor as Daniel’s Granddaughter Ryan. Allison is set to wed Daniel’s son Nathan and travels into the city with her soon to be Brother and Sister in law Molly and Jesse on a wedding dress hunt. Things take a disastrous turn when a backhoe enters the road in front of them in a construction zone.

What follows is a study into the aftermath of that tragedy and how everyone copes and reacts. Florence Pugh and Chinaza Uche as Nathan do an outstanding job of portraying a couple dealing with tremendous grief and loss while trying to navigate forward with their lives. Celeste O’Connor (who I just saw in Madame Web) does a great job playing the feisty coming of age teenager thrust into dealing with the loss of her mother. Molly Shannon is absolutely loveable as the messed up mother trying desperately to help her daughter through her rough patch. Morgan Freeman (One of my all time favorites) is perfect as the Grandpa suddenly trying to raise his teenage niece Ryan by himself.

I really like Florence Pugh, having seen her in Outlaw King (Another good one) with Chris Pine, and Don’t Worry Darling After watching this she is one of my new favorites. I am officially a fan now. Watching her as she deals with the emotional pain of grief and loss, addiction to opioids and suicide was heart-wrenching and painful. She wrote and sang two of the songs in the movie The Best Part and I Hate Myself. Really good, I wondered if she was a musician as well. Her brother is a musician, Toby Sebastian and she was releasing cover songs on Youtube under the name Flossie Rose before she became an actress.

This is truly a great movie. I highly recommend it. And I will definitely watch it again.

Two thumbs Up!