It is fall, right? I mean, the calendar says it is fall. I see you folks carrying Pumpkin Spice Lattes around. Football has started. It is fall. Even if the weather has just now gotten that note.
This month, I’m going to give you a pair of films that got buried at the box office. Chances are, you didn’t see these in the theater. One made about $7 million in the United States and the other, well, it barely made $20,000. Just for a little perspective on that, Abominable, which is a kids movie about a magical yeti made almost $12 million this weekend alone. It has only been out two weeks and has made more than 5 times what these two movies did put together for their entire theatrical run.
But money isn’t everything, folks, and I don’t want you to miss a diamond in the rough. So let’s get things started.
Anna (2019) [R]
Anna begins in Moscow in 1985 where several CIA agents are captured and killed. We jump to five years later where Anna, played by Sasha Luss, is found by a modeling scout and whisked away to Paris. She ends up dating one of the agency partners who also turns out to be an arms dealer. Two months later, she kills him. We then learn through flashback that previous to her modelling career, Anna was trained as a spy for the KGB and that the modelling agent partner was her target. But there are other parties who were interested in that same arms dealer (remember those dead CIA agents from the beginning) and are now very interested in Anna.
Let’s talk about the performances first, shall we? All of the main actors and actresses are good. Is Sasha Luss going to win an Oscar? Probably not. But she does fine work in this role. How often do you see Helen Mirren give a poor performance? Or Cillian Murphy? Some of the supporting cast are passable. There are a few clunkers in there but overall, I give the acting in Anna a solid “B”.
I think if you are going to find an issue with Anna, it is going to come in the plot and the direction, both of which come from venerable French auteur Luc Besson. He has made many notable movie such as The Professional, Lucy, The Fifth Element, and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.
The thing is, his movies are often plot-thin and action-heavy. He throws you few curve balls with Anna and plays with the sequencing of events, making things a little muddled from time to time. The action, however, is quite something. While Anna isn’t wall-to-wall action, what is there is well done and, in a couple of instances, fairly heart-racing.
Is Anna a little derivative? Sure. Besson did this same sort of movie almost 30 years ago when he made La Femme Nikita. But there is enough new and interesting here that I can forgive going back to the well. The plot may be a little overused. The direction may be a little sloppy. But it is a fun way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon.
6.5 paws out of 10
Light Of My Life (2019) [R]
Light of My Life begins with a father (the character is just named Dad in the credits) telling his 11 year-old daughter, Rag, a rambling bed time story. Rag and Dad have been living off-grid since a plague spread across the world wiping out almost all of the women and girls. Dad fears that if people were to discover that Rag is a girl, they would take her from him or worse, so he spends every moment doing what he can to protect her. Thanks to their constant paranoia and planning, they have made it this long without Rag’s secret being exposed. But their nomadic, solitary life is beginning to take its toll and there are big changes just around the corner.
The plot is admittedly a little bare and not without precedent. There’s a little bit of The Road in there and some of 2018’s Leave No Trace. Maybe even a taste of Children of Men. The pace of the film is slow and many of the scenes feel like they meander a little too far off of the path. But I would argue that the plot of Light of My Life is actually pretty spot on for what it seems to be trying to accomplish.
The whole film revolves around the relationship between Rag and Dad and how that matures and changes as the film progresses. Fortunately, the performances are both fantastic. Affleck is consistently good but it is Anna Pniowsky’s performance that shines brightest. Her performance may be subtle and quiet but she is the engine that drives the train.
I can’t decide for you whether or not you should give Light of My Life a try. I’m not even 100% sure I agree with my own score below. But I do know that despite the meandering pace, I found the film to be well-acted, truly engaging and thought-provoking.
7.5 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.