March Madness is almost over. So is the NBA season. Baseball is just getting started. Friends, it sounds like spring has sprung! That wonderful time of year when flowers bloom… the bees start buzzing … you have to start scouting out safe places to stash your car when it hails because your apartment doesn’t have covered parking. It is truly a special season.
And so we are going to do something a little different this month. This time, we are going to talk about three films. Two documentaries and one, well, let’s call it a docu-drama. All three, at their core, are stories about authenticity and integrity. They explore what really defines who and what we are as people and as cougars.
Oh, come on! You humans don’t have a monopoly on self-awareness and self-actualization.
Fyre (2019) [TV-MA]
Fyre is a Netflix documentary about the ill-fated Fyre Festival from two years ago. If you are unfamiliar with the Fyre Festival, don’t read about it before you watch this. Don’t worry, I’m not going to reveal any details here.
Fyre Festival was the dream of entrepreneur, Billy McFarland and rapper Ja Rule. It was supposed to be the party to end all parties complete with celebrities and incredible five-star amenities. But as you can probably guess, ambition far outran what was possible (or, frankly, prudent).
I suppose you could watch Fyre and enjoy some schadenfreude. I can totally understand why you might enjoy watching disaster unfold slowly in front of you. Hey, I’m right there with you. But, to me, the strength of the film comes from its focus on authenticity. The question is asked several times in the film, “If they had just told the truth about what this festival is, would it have been such a disaster?” And it is pretty fascinating to ponder.
There has been some controversy about Fyre. The marketing agency that co-produced the film was the same agency that represented the festival itself. This brings in further questions of integrity and impartiality with the Fyre. That just helps make the story even more lurid and interesting but it also affects your opinion of the film.
Every time you think it can’t get any worse or crazier, sure enough, it does. You want to laugh but then you are reminded that this isn’t a joke. Fyre Festival caused real harm to people. But like a wreck on the highway, it is hard not to stare.
7.5 paws out of 10
The Inventor: Our For Blood In Silicon Valley (2019) [TV-14]
If you don’t know the story of Elizabeth Holmes’ company Theranos, we’ll start this with a quick run-through.
Holmes was a young student at Stanford who dropped out and formed a company, the aim of which was to produce medical testing equipment that they claimed could perform hundreds of tests with a single drop of blood from the patient. It was a bold and truly world-changing technology that attracted billions of dollars from investors and the attention of some of the most important thinkers in the world.
It was also a lie. The machines they were producing could not perform the tests Theranos claimed that they could. Theranos and it’s founder lied to investors, regulators, the public and most tragically, patients.
Much like Fyre above, The Inventor is, in my view, about authenticity and integrity. The film spends a good deal of its two hour run-time speculating on who knew what was really going on and talking about what they did or did not do about it. For the most part, the film keeps about as even-handed as you can with the material, which is both understandable and frustrating. By keeping the discussion dispassionate, it feels a little (and yes I chose this word on purpose) clinical.
Maybe it is that The Inventor was directed by Alex Gibney ( who we have talked about before around here ) but I was hoping for more out of this. The movie tends to wander around a little aimlessly. You don’t learn much about Elizabeth Holmes or why she did what she did. It all feels a light on detail.
5 paws out of 10
The Rider (2018) [R]
“Collin, are you reviewing a Western?” Kinda. Let me try to explain.
Director Chloé Zhao was in South Dakota working on another film when she met a young, rodeo cowboy and horse trainer named Brady Jandreau. After Brady suffered a terrible accident during a rodeo competition, the pair worked together to develop what became The Rider.
The film begins with Jandreau (whose name is changed to Brady Blackburn in the film), removing a bandage and revealing his freshly stapled skull. This isn’t played for sympathy or as some sort of gore or shock moment. Instead it is used to set the stage. This is where Brady is in his life at this moment.
We learn that he has been told by his doctors that he can never ride again. The circle of people surrounding Brady (played by his real life family and friends) rely on him for almost everything so he takes a job at a big box store to pay the bills. But he tells everyone that this is only temporary until he has healed enough to ride again. His friends tell him to suck it up. A rider rides regardless of the pain and danger.
But Brady knows what is on the other side of that coin. His buddy and fellow rodeo star Lane Scott (playing himself) is severely disabled after his own rodeo accident. Brady talks about riding again for the both of them but he knows he can’t.
The Rider is handled with sensitivity and care by Zhao. Another film, for example, might beat the relationship between Brady and Lane with a cudgel to squeeze out every ounce of available emotional power. Instead, Zhao’s restraint and matter-of-fact style highlights the empathy and love that Brady has for his friend without feeling exploitative. Had this been a bigger budget, Hollywood feature, Zhao would have garnered far more praise and adulation for her direction.
As with the two movies we have already discussed, The Rider deals with the concepts of authenticity and integrity. The honesty and vulnerability that Brady and his friends and family offered Zhao is striking. We live in a time where virtually everything we see is curated and Photoshopped to hide any scars or weaknesses, it feels incredibly refreshing to see something real (even if it is partially fiction).
I could go on about how fantastic The Rider is. And I don’t know that I am doing a good job of conveying it to you in this review. I usually point you towards movies that are full of action and excitement. Occasionally, we’ll talk about a movie that I just find plain entertaining. The Rider is something different. It is honest, heart-rending, a portrait of resilience, an exploration of modern masculinity, a testament to strength of character and integrity. The Rider is an exceptional film that I would recommend to anyone of you out there. Even those of you who just want to watch stuff blow up.
9 paws out of 10
As always, if you have a movie you think I should check out or you want to talk further about one of these reviews, drop me a line on Facebook.