Review on the Side: Cinderella

Release Date: March 13th, 2015
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Writer: Chris Weitz
Bechdel Test: Passed all three tests

Cinderella is the live action adaptation of the classic Disney cartoon of the same name. The 1950's Cinderella was a powerful movie that helped establish Disney as a brand that can make quality films. In the last few years, Disney has produced a series of live action adaptations and re-imaginings including Alice in Wonderland, and Maleficent. Both movies were visually stunning with a less than stunning plot. With Cate Blanchett headlining this film as the evil step mother, it's easy to presume this film will be another re-imagining of sorts.

Instead, Cinderella is quite faithful to the original cartoon, and surprisingly the original Grimm fairy tale. It's the traditional story of a poor girl who is abused by her step-mother and step-sisters and goes to the ball to meet a prince with the help of a fairy. No psychedelic universe, or cartoon settings. It's refreshingly simple and enchanting.

Lily James as Cinderella encapsulates that blonde, fair maiden look that Disney loves so much. I always will have trouble with a lead who has no flaws, and Cinderella is meant to be nothing but kind and good, although she never comes across as tooth-ache sweet. Despite the role being an fashioned cliche, James draws you in with her sincerity.

Cate Blanchett does steal the show quite a bit as the evil step mother. It would have been very easy to make her character inherently evil through and through, but instead the step-mother becomes a sympathetic character. Blanchett radiates talent, and without her I think this movie would fall flat. Helena Bonham Carter also brings a lot of charm to her role as the Fairy Godmother. She frequently plays fantastical characters, but the Fairy Godmother is different from her normal fair. She gives life to the story when it starts to grow dull, and has a wonderful presence as the narrator.

The biggest issue I have with Cinderella is with director Kenneth Branagh. The film feel drawn out and flat. Similar to his Marvel movie Thor, Branagh takes a magical fantastic universe and does a disservice with flat comedy and slow steady pacing. His style is simply quite boring. The second half of the movie seems to lose all urgency and stakes. There's nothing wrong with this or any of his movies, they will simply will never surprise you.

It does need to be said that like many old fairy tales, the portrayal of women is steeped in old fashioned ideals with less than stellar stereotypes. There's no getting around that. There's an argument to be had about the way women are portrayed in these morality films, and how that affects gender roles but I don't have it in me to fight that battle. Yes, it's old fashioned, but the essential message of kindness over selfishness isn't going to ruin a nation of kids. There does seem to be a conscious effort to represent diversity with some of the minor characters, so at least there's that.

Cinderella is a nice movie. I might recommend it to kids who enjoyed Maleficent but as an adult my nostalgia lies in the cartoon, I'd rather hear the old fashioned "Bippity Boppity Boo" than sit through this version again. It's a totally fine movie with some rather nice moments, but there's nothing to take away from it besides some impressive costumes and a hefty payday for Disney.

IMDb - Cinderella (7.2)

Review #46: Jenny's Wedding

Release Date: July 31, 2015
Writer: Mary Agnes Donoghue
Director: Mary Agnes Donoghue

Logline: Jenny Farrell has led an openly gay life - except with her conventional family. When she finally decides to start a family and marry the woman they thought was just her roommate, the small, safe world the Farrells inhabited changes forever. They are left with a simple and difficult choice - either change with it or drown. (IMDb) Comedy, 94 minutes.

Bechdel Test: Passes all 3 tests

Review

After reading this interview with writer/director Mary Agnes Donaghue, I was really looking forward to Jenny’s Wedding. Films centering around LGBT issues are unfortunately scarce and I’m always happy to see people attempting to help bridge that gap. While the effort is valiant, the finished product unfortunately doesn’t quite pay off. With mediocre performances, stiff dialogue and a blatant over usage of that Macklemore song from 2012, Jenny’s Wedding squanders its opportunity to tell an important story that is both needed and wanted in our current age of sequels, remakes and male centered action blockbusters.

This film could have benefited greatly from better chemistry between the two leads. Katherine Heigl’s Jenny and Alexis Bledel’s Kitty are so boring together that it’s easy to see why Jenny’s family had no problem believing they were just roommates. They are the beigest of beige. Too basic to even fit the categorization of basic bitches. Although the film is truly about Jenny and her family, a little more time focused solely on her relationship with Kitty may have produced a deeper level of empathy from the audience.

The combination of on-the-nose dialogue and preachy overtones makes the film seem more like a made for tv movie than an authentic discussion on coming out and being true to yourself. It just feels a little clunky, a little outdated and a little disjointed. When you add all these problems up, they equal a disappointing experience and a mediocre film.

Portrayal of Women: On a positive note, it’s nice to see the women in the film grow into more confident versions of themselves. Jenny escapes her state of fear and learns to stick to her guns. Her mother does the same as she lets go of a lifelong desire to fit into the cookie cutter

stereotype of a perfect family.

And then there is Jenny’s sister, Anne, who is played beautifully by Grace Gummer and is arguably the most interesting character in the film. Trapped in a horrible marriage and an unhappy life, Anne comes to the understanding that the only way to ensure your own happiness is to take action. She is consumed with this idea that happy people don’t have dead grass – something her yard has been plagued with for years. I really wanted to get on board with this, but like the rest of the film, it was too forced to actually be effective. 

Sisterhood Moment: The dynamic between Jenny and Anne is almost worthy of its own film. The implied rocky history seems to be founded on jealousy and mistrust – feelings that are sometimes impossible to avoid between sisters. The moment Jenny asks Anne to be her maid of honour is sincerely sweet and shows that the bond of sisterhood is truly stronger than anything.

Rating: 1 gossiping neighbor with questionable hair choices

IMDb - Jenny's Wedding (5.4)

Wikipedia - Jenny's Wedding

Rotten Tomatoes - Jenny's Wedding  (8%)