EUyeshima

In his feature film directorial and screenwriting debut, artist Titus Kaphar has confidently created a semi-autobiographical work that deserves a wider audience than it has received. This powerful, unsentimental 2024 film tenderly explores a familiar movie trope, a father-son estrangement, but through an unflinching lens of toxic masculinity, familial rage, and generational trauma. A stellar quartet of accomplished actors fully embodies the often painful story of Tarrell, a burgeoning artist whose father La'Ron, a recovering crack addict, re-enters his life at the behest of his endearing, religious mother Mama Joyce. While Tarrell pushes Joyce to pack her house and move closer to his own family of three, she remains steadfast in realizing a reconciliation that proves devastating for all involved. Still memorable as Kevin in "Moonlight", Andre Holland is riveting as Tarrell as he manages to convey fierce resentment and anger with palpable currents of loss and exhaustion. John Earl Jelks maintains potent gravitas as La'Ron desperate to be forgiven for his past sins, and Andra Day plays Tarrell's musician wife Aisha with economic precision. It's no surprise to me that Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor ("Nickel Boys") handily dominates the film with her gut wrenching performance as Mama Joyce. Special mention should be given to Ian Foreman's heartbreaking turn as young Tarrell in the painful flashback scenes. There are a few flaws. While the details of past traumas are unpeeled effectively, they add marginally less to the story as they function more as reference points. Also, some of Kaphar's dialogue is too on-the-nose to be fully resonant. Regardless, the commitment of the superb cast takes this film to the next level.

It's unfortunate that Meghan Markle's partnership with Netflix has produced such an abysmal, pretentious program under the guise of an eight-part lifestyle series. Much of the challenge comes from the contrived persona the producers are trying to formulate in presenting Meghan as a down-to-earth young wife and mother when we know she has been surrounded by royal entitlement and social privilege. That's why it's less than convincing to see her doling out culinary advice and helpful homemaking hints like a SoCal version of Fixer Upper's Joanna Gaines but on Ina Garten's inflated Hamptons-level budget, all without having the credentials of either. From the episodes I viewed, she entertains a predisposed guest, bowls the person over with her renaissance interests (beekeeping and candle-making in the first episode), culinary mastery, and disarming, one-of-us charm. It all comes across as disingenuous as if she's hawking a personal brand of her own invention.

There is no other actress who could've played the title role with such fervent theatrical flourish and deep emotional conviction in this small-scale 2024 drama. Jessica Lange has built up her stage credentials to match her significant screen accomplishments, so at 75, she is perfectly cast as a theatrical legend in the autumn of her career starring in a revival of Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard". At the same time, she is diagnosed to be in the early stages of dementia. Forgetting her lines at rehearsals and increasingly confused about the world around her, Lillian copes with trying to live up to her own lofty expectations as well as defrosting a contrived relationship with her daughter whose resentment threatens to untether their shaky connection. A sturdy supporting cast surrounds Lange with expert assurance: Kathy Bates predictably cast as Lillian's no-nonsense assistant, Lily Rabe as the forgotten daughter, Jesse Williams as the patient young director, Pierce Brosnan as a convenient neighbor, and Cindy Hogan as the sharp-tongued mercenary producer. There were moments that seemed too on-the-nose to be dramatically effective like an impromptu mother-daughter duet of "Mockingbird", but Lange somehow transcends it all with her unique virtuosity.