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Reviews
Murder in the Cove (2020)
Sad tale of Vigilante "Justice"
I found this documentary interesting and very thought provoking. The case upon which it's based reminded me of the murder of Ken McElroy in 1981, in Skidmore, Missouri, but with a difference. Both cases involved men who antagonized and alienated their provincial communities. But while Ken McElroy was a sophisticated and sadistic aggressor who knew how to manipulate the law, Phillip Boudreau was an illiterate criminal who really never seemed to have any means to develop a livelihood beyond thefts of various kinds, but particularly of lobsters in a fishing village (patently unwise). McElroy was shot by unnamed members of his community in the equivalent of an assassination. Boudreau was shot while in his boat, the boat was then rammed (three?) times until he hit the water, still alive, then he was "gaffed," i.e., dragged with a fishing hook to deep water, attached to an anchor, and deep-sixed. The jury convicted for manslaughter, though the actions involved in killing Boudreau seem obviously premeditated, once the assault upon him was intiated. After all, the convicted men could have pulled him into their boat and taken him to a hospital. Mr. Boudreau seems to have been an unproductive and nasty piece of work, though it's apparent in this documentary he was cared for. Murder in the Cove raises the interesting question of why authorities (police or fishery agents) took no action against him despite the fact he stole lobsters year after year and bragged about it (though at one point copies of repeated criminal charges are shown, so he certainly was known to the Canadian police, and had served time in prison from a young age). And while he was evidently a thorn in the community's side, there's no suggestion in the film that he was ever violent, despite that he threatened violence. And in any case, whether he was violent or not, the primary issue the film raises is the right of an individual citizen to make an independent judgement of guilt and deal out the ultimate punishment. The man who instigated and coordinated the attack says to his interrogator: "Someone had to do it." But who appointed him executioner? And is execution really an appropriate punishment for theft, even habitual theft? Why not notify the authorities? Apparently no one ever did. Early in the film someone indicates (I'm paraphrasing) 'we like to handle our own problems.' Ouch.
The Lost Daughter (2021)
This won a Venice Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay???
Really, were there were no other nominations? Or maybe it's because the main character speaks Italian. Beautiful location, acting uniformly good, pretty awful story. Olivia Colman is a great actress and Jessie Buckley is wonderful, but neither of them makes this movie worth spending two hours and extra to watch. Yes, raising children is difficult - most people of average IQ already know this, but in this movie the kids (actually very well portrayed) are only props for the mother's poor choices. Would this movie ever have been made if Maggie Gyllenhaal wasn't wealthy and well connected? Other reviewers have wondered about the glaring plot problems. Why bother? This movie gives women's pictures a black eye.
Midsomer Murders: Blood on the Saddle (2010)
Pretty bad, but not the worst
Any episode with Caroline Langrishe can't be all bad (here she offsets a really sad performance by Daniel Ryan). Pip Torrens is also excellent. A lot of silliness in this episode, beginning with a promising parody of the Marlboro Man, but the standard that sets slides downhill fast. As noted elsewhere, the switches in action between past and present are amateurish, and the Confederate flag (?!) is totally out of place. Production elements are way below par in Blood on the Saddle. Still, I'd watch this episode over the Made-to-Measure Murders or the Electric Vendetta (yawn) or The Straw Woman. (NB - I'm speaking strictly of story lines, not production values or acting in those episodes, and I haven't watched any episodes after Season 13.) Pure tangent: anyone remember Blood on the Badge from Barney Miller?
In the Heart of the Sea (2015)
What a Shame!
In 2000, Nathaniel Philbrick wrote In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, which won the National Book Award. The sinking of the whaler Essex in 1920 inspired Herman Melville to write Moby Dick. Ron Howard has tampered with gold to create garbage. Facts are set aside to produce a stand off between an unintelligible Chris Hemsworth (was he drinking?) and Benjamin Walker, as the first mate and Captain. There's decent CGI, and music to tell you what to feel. Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whislaw and Michelle Fairley give good performances as do some other members of the cast, but there's hardly a fact which isn't distorted and the actual weeks of misery these people suffered on the sea are compressed into two brief longshot pastels of the ocean, with narration. Howard actually has the whale chasing the sailors after the sinking. My advice, read the book.
Law & Order: Legacy (1997)
Don't Get Murdered on a Busy Weekend
I don't want to reveal spoilers, but as another reviewer has pointed out, there is a hit man not to be forgotten in this one, both for his modus operandi and for his sangfroid. The performances of Jenny Robertson (IMO an underrated actress who enhances any of her material) and the great Frances Sternhagen stand out, and you will not be bored. Another reviewer complains of plot holes, but I say picky picky. I've watched this perhaps three times, and I've never been brought up short by a plot issue. The late great Jerry Orbach (RIP) has a very nice scene with Ms. Sternhagen, and the episode includes many funny quips (yes, most of the Law and Order episodes have funny quips, but I think this episode's are particularly funny).
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Number Twenty-Two (1957)
How can you go wrong with Evan Hunter (Ed McBain) and Rip Torn?
The first time I saw Rip Torn's name, back in the 60's, I thought it was a joke. Not so. Both the nickname "Rip" and the surname were family names, and Rip Torn's talent as an actor was just as legitimate. Only about 25 when this was filmed, Torn plays an arrogant and smack worthy punk who is cruising for a bruising, The acting in this episode is uniformly excellent, with a special nod to Russell Collins and Ray Teal, a man who melts into his characters. Lineups were standard police procedure decades ago (there was even a series called The Lineup in the early 50's) , and Evan Hunter (aka Ed McBain, of 87th Precinct fame) was a master of dialogue, so evident here in the denoument of the lineup. As noted elsewhere, Hitchcock refrained from his usual irony in his finishing remarks and played it seriously straight. Kudos.