Sundance 2021: "CODA" Review

I was lucky to catch “CODA” on the last day of Sundance. By the time I did, it had already broken records as the highest selling film at the festival at a whopping $25 million. So for me, it was like sipping an expensive pour of bourbon; I had to see what $25 million tasted like! While I ingested it with other senses, the film that focuses on the bond of a deaf family had my eyes pouring out tears and belly full of laughs. In short, the film is worth the hype.

The film is a remake of the 2014 French dramedy “La Famille Bélier”. “CODA” stands for Child of Deaf Adults. Within the film, Ruby (Emilia Jones) is the only hearing member of her family. The Rossis are a hardworking, tight knit fishing family living near the coast of Massachusetts. Ruby works on the boat with her father Frank (Troy Kotsur) and brother Leo (Daniel Durant). She acts as interpreter and intermediary between worlds for her family. Her mother Jackie (Marlee Matlin) is a former model and her father’s passion for his beautiful wife is never not on display, even if it humiliates Ruby.

While Ruby works early morning hours with her father and brother, she attends high school with other teens her age. She decides to take a chance and audition for the school choir, led by Bernardo Villalobos (Eugenio Derbez). Bernardo is a character, stating that you can save yourself the embarrassment and call him Mr. V if you can’t roll your R’s. He’s the exact influence that Ruby needs to motivate her to audition for Berklee College of Music. 

The clash of Ruby’s desire to go to college and her family’s need for a no cost interpreter to keep their business running is the center of the conflict in the film. However, it’s the layers of issues within that conflict that makes the film so moving. Each family member wrestles with issues of inadequacy. Leo feels as though he isn’t appreciated enough as the older brother who seems to be looked over by his parents. Ruby feels like an outsider as the one in four who can hear. Her parents depend and lean too much on Ruby for assistance, missing or refusing to see that she needs to breathe and be independent. 

The film is full of beautiful, moving, and laugh out loud moments. It spotlights relationships within the family and the family bond as a whole. The ensemble cast is absolutely stellar, boasting of Academy Award worthy performance for all the right reasons. The Rossi family use American Sign Language to communicate throughout the film and thus the physical and subtle nuances of their performances are even more powerful. Director Sian Heder captures the importance of communication within her cinematic family and what communication means for the deaf community through framing and sound. 

You’ll have to judge for yourself if this film should be valued at $25 million. Much like bourbon, your taste may be different but there are certain films that universally strike a chord and resonate. “CODA” certainly is a winner that deserves the buzz and accolades it will receive!

Rating: A

DCIFF '16: "Driving While Black" Review

If “Crash” had the slight edge of a stoner film it would be “Driving While Black”. The film blends comedy with the serious and timely subject of racial profiling and police brutality flawlessly. What makes “Driving While Black” so enjoyable is it makes its points without proselytizing. At its heart, the movie is about the ups and downs of a flawed individual trying to make ends meet while pursuing his passion. Dealing with the police just happens to be a part of the story woven into his daily life. In many cases we see play out in the news, I think this is what makes police brutality so appalling and the film so relevant.  

Set to the sounds of hip-hop and the visual background of LA streets both seen and unseen in films, “Driving While Black” is a guaranteed conversation starter. Writer/star Dominique Purdy is Dimitri, a pizza delivery guy trying to make it as an artist in LA. He’s had his fair share of discriminatory run-ins with the police in his lifetime, which has left a distrustful taste in his mouth as evidenced through flashbacks in the movie. After his car breaks down giving him some time to take a tour of celebrity homes in LA, Dimitri has an opportunity to get a better job as a star maps guide. Each time he makes an attempt, something comes up that keeps him from the interview, and it’s usually the police.

The film also works at portraying a balance of both sides of the coin. Simultaneously throughout the film we are able to see the inner workings of a local police unit comprised of ethnically diverse cops that weave in and out of Dimitri’s storyline. The workplace banter amongst the cops is filled with realism that brings them down to a “next door neighbor” type of vibe that is relatable. From Officer Borty-Lio (Sheila Tejada) trying to get promoted to provide for her family in a squad full of men, to the bad apple Officer McVitie (Peter Cilella) whose past demons have created an over-aggressive monster behind a badge, the film does a good job of developing all characters involved on both sides of the issue.

“Driving While Black” doesn’t sugar coat its character’s decisions either. In one scene, Dimitri is pulled over with a friend who has been driving while high on marijuana, and in another a friend has a gun in the car. It almost makes you question Dimitri’s choice in friends, but these are real life examples that show we all aren’t perfect.  It’s a great mixture of ingredients that help to allow the viewer to decide what’s right and wrong in the situation.

Director Paul Sapiano does a great job of pacing the film out and allowing the film to disarm you with its comedy.  But when the film gets serious, it’s hair-raising.  It’s the situation that black men prepare themselves and their sons for. It’s the type of situation that every move and word counts if you want to go home that night. It’s exactly what makes the film a great display and analysis of the subject matter that will have you talking after the lights come up.

“Driving While Black” takes a comedic approach to a controversy that has become all too common these days. Sometimes comedy is the best medicine. Hopefully, it can serve as another resource to open the door to conversation about this troubling issue in America.

Rating: B+

“Driving While Black” screens at the DC Independent Film Festival Friday March 11, 2016.

"Fort Bliss": The Other Side of War

“Fort Bliss” has all the makings of a Lifetime Original Movie in theme. A decorated U.S. Army medic and single mother returns home after touring in Afghanistan to face a troubled relationship with her five year old son. The film however, is far from a Lifetime movie! It’s a character study that civilians probably have never thought about, and the military community knows all too well.

If “The Hurtlocker” spends 90% of it’s time in the war and 10% at home, “Fort Bliss” is just the opposite. In fact, you could say that it picks up where it left off. Maggie Swann (Michelle Monaghan) has been through it. We first meet her on the battlefield where the tough-as-nails medic saves a soldier who has a live explosive device lodged in his stomach. She’s a hero to the core, can hang with the boys, but wouldn’t take credit for anything but doing her job. Upon arriving home in the states she’s greeted by...no one. Her ex-husband Richard (Ron Livingston) meets her outside of the welcome facility to explain that her son doesn’t want to see her after her extended tour has left him with few memories of her.

This is where the real fight of the movie takes place. Swann desires to reconnect with her son Paul (Oakes Fegley) and goes to pick him up to take him home with her, but it’s an uphill battle. He’s been under the tender wing of Richard’s girlfriend Alma (Emmanuelle Chriqui) and doesn’t want to leave. Monaghan does fantastic work in this film, as from the beginning you can read so many thoughts on her face without her saying a word. You can tell she’s decompressing and trying to turn off the battle she just left in Afghanistan, while at the same time trying to fight for the love and connection with her son that they once shared. How do you get there? On the battlefield orders are made and actions take place, but when it pertains to someone’s heart...things aren’t so simple. Every decision Swann makes stems from the tug of war between her professional and personal emotions and ideals.

Written and directed by Claudia Myers, the film is a labor of love as Myers poured years of research into it. The balance of character driven drama and action on the battlefield is exciting to watch. It’s Monaghan’s performance that grounds the film in a real, tough, and universal struggle that anyone can relate too. The film opens today in select theaters and everywhere on Video On Demand. Check it out if you want to see a war movie that sheds light on the side of war we tend to forget, but should have a healthy respect and appreciation for!

Rating: B+

Check out my interviews with some of the stars of the film at the GI Film Fest earlier this summer!