DON’T LET GO (2019) – My rating: 8/10

Don’t Let Go is a psychological horror-thriller directed and written by Jacob Aaron Estes, from a story by Estes and Drew Daywalt. Jason Blum serves as a producer through his Blumhouse Productions banner, alongside Bobby Cohen and David Oyelowo.

I took a chance and went to see Don’t Let Go, despite the fact I  never heard of it. This one flew way under the radar, as I really enjoyed it.

Don’t Let Go starts off with Jack Radcliff (David Oyelowo) who is a homicide detective, picking up his niece Ashley Radcliff (Storm Reid) from a theater, after her parents had forgotten. Ashley is somewhat detached from her parents, especially her father Garret Radcliff (Brian Tyree Henry) due to his bipolar disorder and past years of drug abuse. Jack decides to have a stern talk with Garret about his lack of decent parenting skills. The movie goes on to show the close relationship Jack and Ashley have developed over the years.

While bogged down in paperwork, Jack receives a disturbing phone call from Ashley desperately begging for help. Jack races to their house only to find Ashley, Garret and his sister-in-law dead. He also finds a box of cocaine beside Garret, which suggests Garret killed his wife, daughter and himself after consuming too much drugs, which caused him to lose control and go into a murderous rage. Jack blamed himself, thinking that his chastising of Garret sparked this murder-suicide.

Two weeks later, Jack receives a phone call from Ashley which indicates she is still alive. Mysteriously, Ashley is calling him from the past. Jack then realizes by changing events in Ashley’s timeline will cause changes in his own time, enabling him to re-write the past. He decides to covertly help her re-arrange events in her life in the hope of preventing the murder-suicide. It quickly becomes apparent that Garret was not responsible for murdering himself and his family but was murdered by someone else. Jack and his partner Bobby (Mykelti Williamson), who is also a homicide detective and close family friend, begins to uncover evidence of an underground network of drug dealing cops working for an unknown figure called “Georgie”. Garret’s old connections to the drug underworld finally caught up with him, allegedly leading Georgie to collect some old debts and kill Garret and his family, or so it seems.

Although, Don’t Let Go, in my opinion,  is a science fiction/fantasy movie, it was directed in such a way that you really start to believe this could happen.  Kudos to Jacob Aaron Estes for his creativity and direction.  There is a lot of story here that will require your deepest focus to keep up.  Things are going to happen quickly so keep alert.  “Georgie” must be cracked, the timeline must line up and Jack must convince someone that there is really a chance to turn this murder mystery around.  I highly recommend Don’t Let Go — Check It Out!

 

THE FLORIDA PROJECT (2017) – My rating: 7.5/10

The Florida Project is a drama directed by Sean Baker and co-written by Baker and Chris Bergoch. For many of the leading stars, this was the first time they had acted in a movie. I had no idea what this movie was about but became anxious half way through to see how it would end. While I needed much more, I thought it was a descent endeavor.

Moonee (Brooklynn Prince) is 6 years old and lives in Kissimmee, FL (which is near Walt Disney World) with her mother, Halley (Bria Vinaite). They reside in a motel called The Magic Castle where Moonee spends most of her time unsupervised with her motel-resident friends, Scooty (Christopher Rivera and Dicky (Aiden Malik), engaging in mischief, mooching from tourists, stealing, and other misbehaviors. One day the 3 children get caught spitting on a guest’s car. As punishment, they are made to clean the car plus Dicky’s father forbids him to play with Moonee and Scooty any more. Dicky is replaced with a new friend from next door who is living at the Futureland Motel named Jancey (Valeria Cotto). Dicky and his family relocates to New Orleans seeking a better life. Meanwhile, Bobby (Willem Dafoe), the manager of The Magic Castle is very protective of the children and tries to keep things in order. Halley struggles to pay the rent and hawks perfume to tourist in hotel parking lots and persuades Scooty’s mother, Ashley (Mela Murder), to steal food for them from the diner where she works. Once Ashley discovers the kind of mischief the 3 children are into, which includes setting fire to an abandoned condominium, she severs their friendship including stealing food. Halley moves on to a new venture, offering her services online as a prostitute, closing Moonee in the bathroom when she has a client. Bobby notices the activity and applies restrictions on unregistered guests in her motel room. Next Halley steals a client’s Disney resort passes to sell. When the victim finds her and demands his money back, Bobby gets involved and scares him off and warns Halley of eviction if she doesn’t stop all her illegal activity. Desperate, Halley approaches Ashley to apologize and ask for money. When Ashley mocks her for her prostitution, Halley beats her in front of Scooty.

The Florida Project is an odd movie because you are never clear what the project is.  Leaving unqualified adults to care for children is never a good idea no matter where they live, the end always yields the same results.  You will definitely have to see this one (preferably on DVD) to draw your own conclusions.  I thought the movie was informative but not enough depth to amount to anything.  Willem Dafoe was brilliant.  Check it out!

[The Florida Project was Oscar nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Willem Dafoe)]

 

MOLLY’S GAME (2017) – My rating: 8.5/10

Molly’s Game is a crime drama written and directed by Aaron Sorkin (in his directorial debut), based on the memoir, Molly’s Game: From Hollywood’s Elite to Wall Street’s Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker by Molly Bloom.  This film is based on a true story and is truly captivating.

Her first accident didn’t stop her but after her Olympic dreams are shattered by a second accident during a qualifying run, world-class skier Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain) has to rethink her future and skiing isn’t in it. Not feeling like she wants to go straight into law school as originally planned, she instead heads to Las Vegas and finds herself assisting in the production of a high-end underground poker game. Discovering she’s got a knack for this sort of operation, she moves the action to New York and goes into business for herself.  Eventually, a young Molly Bloom ran the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game in Los Angeles and New York City, for nearly a decade, before being arrested by the FBI. Her players included Hollywood celebrities, athletes, business titans and the Russian mob. With the help of her straight-laced defense attorney, Charlie Jaffey (Idris Elba) Molly faced stiff federal charges all while keeping the integrity her clients.

After Molly’s skiing career ended, her father Larry Bloom (Kevin Costner) maintained a distance from his daughter allowing her to find her own way.

I thoroughly enjoyed Molly’s Game.  The acting was brilliant and I found the movie entertaining, charming and enjoyable.  At the 75th Golden Globe Awards, Molley’s Game received two nominations, Best Screenplay and Best Actress – Drama for Chastain. Sorkin also earned nominations for his script at the Writers Guild of America and BAFTA Awards.  Check it out — I think you’ll enjoy it!

[Molly’s Game received an Oscar nomination for Adapted Screenplay]

 

DO YOU BELIEVE? (2015) – My rating: 9.5/10

One of the best spiritual movies I’ve seen.  Do You Believe? is well acted with an unforgettable story.  12 lives eventually intersect with each other by the end of a fantastic journey.  Some learn, some remain the same, some die and some don’t have a clue.  Do You Believe? is suspenseful, thrilling, exciting, emotionally draining and even funny.  Kudos to Jon Gunn for directing a marvelous movie.  Mira Sorvino, who plays Samantha, gives a riveting performance and her daughter, in the movie, Lily (Makenzie Moss) steals the show. Others of the 12 include 2 brothers, Kriminal (Senyo Amoaku) and Pretty Boy (Shwayze) who are part of a gang, Joe (Brian Bosworth) a dying inmate, Pastor Matthew (Ted McGinley), his wife Grace (Tracy Melchior), an EMT, Bobby (Liam Matthews),  his wife, Elena (Valerie Dominguez), Elena’s brother Carlos (Joseph Julian Soria) who is also a Marine suffering from Post Traumatic Disorder, a young woman named Lacey (Alexa PenaVega) who cuts on herself and is in despair, an older couple, JD and Ten (Lee Majors and Cybill Shepherd, respectively, who lost a child many years ago, Dr. Farell (Sean Astin) who wants to take all the credit for saving patients, Andrea (Andrea Logan White) an Atheist lawyer, and Maggie (Madison Pettis) a pregnant teenager.  The movie opens with a verse from James 2:17 –  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (NIV)   Also, Malachi (Delroy Lindo) carries a large cross and ask the question: Do You Believe?  I love this movie — it’s very well done and gives a powerful message.  It’s worth every dime spent on the big screen.