Los Angeles Times - 04.10.2019

E6 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2019 LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR

AT THE MOVIES: REVIEWS

Family separations at the
hands of U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement
yield a new kind of road trip
in Richard Levien’s first fea-
ture, “Collisions,” a timely,
undeniably compassionate
but ultimately underwhelm-
ing production reflecting on
a profoundly American is-
sue.
In a mixed-status house-
hold, U.S.-born teen Itan (Iz-
abella Alvarez) has assumed
a parenting role for her
younger brother Neto (Ja-
son Garcia Jr.), while their
undocumented mother
Yoana (famed Mexican ac-
tress Ana de la Reguera)
labors nights to support
them. Losing their protector
and breadwinner to the im-
migration system sets the
studious girl on a cross-
country quest to determine
her mother’s whereabouts.
Alvarez, a rising Latina
star in Hollywood, com-
mands each desperation-
ridden scene with the matu-

rity and resolve.

Combative banter with-

obstinate uncle Evencio

(Jesse Garcia) represents a

collision of two distinct ex-

periences in a country with a

sadistic attitude toward im-

migrants and their children.

Garciais superb as a cynical

truck driver.

Propelled by its gifted

principal cast — in spite of

stilted performances in the

periphery — and a purpose-

fully opaque aesthetic to

amplify its social realist grit-

tiness, Levien’s humbly

made film doesn’t achieve

the sentimental impact it’s

after but is far from being a

complete disservice to a

cause in need of urgent at-

tention.

— Carlos Aguilar

“Collisions.”In English and

Spanish with English subti-

tles. Not rated. Running

time: 1 hour, 22 minutes.

Playing: Laemmle Music

Hall.

Widdershins Film

IZABELLAAlvarez, a rising Latina star, commands
desperation-ridden scenes with skill and maturity.

‘COLLISIONS’

Humble story of

family separation

A well-intentioned bid to

corral feminism and Fran-

cophilic cultural history into

a Jules Verne-ish child’s ad-

venture, veteran animator

Michael Ocelot’s La Belle

Epoque-set feature “Dilili in

Paris” is instead an awkward

misfire, the more regrettably

so for showcasing a kind,

smart and brave mixed-race

girl from New Caledonia as

its young protagonist.

Courteous, inquisitive

Dilili — a stowaway who per-

forms in a colonial-themed

“living” exhibit about the

Kanak people — befriends

Orel, a delivery boy, and to-

gether the pair, with the help

of soprano great Emma

Calve, investigate a spate of

child abductions.

Orel seems to know ev-

eryone who’s anyone in Paris

— Louis Pasteur, Marie

Curie, Picasso — which

turns the detective tale into

a kid-friendly, educational

meet-and-greet of the era’s

artistic/scientific greats,

and a detail-rich tour of the

city’s cultural landmarks.

But the flatly visualized

characters and tinny, stiff

English-language voice per-

formances are busts, cre-

ating the paradoxical vibe of

a cartoon with an uncanny-

valley problem, as if you were

watching the rough specs for

an animatronic theme-park

installation.

Ocelot’s timely message

of female empowerment

wrapped in a “Handmaid’s

Tale”-by-way-of-Gaston

Leroux tale of paternalistic

oppression becomes a lost

opportunity, as is Dilili her-

self, who never quite transi-

tions from appealing con-

struct to beguiling heroine.

— Robert Abele

“Dilili in Paris.”Rated: PG,

for thematic material

throughout, some language,

peril and brief smoking.

Running time: 1 hour, 33

minutes. Playing: Laemmle

Glendale; also on VOD.

Samuel Goldwyn Films

THE BELLEEpoque-set animated film by Michael

Ocelot includes a richly detailed tour of Paris.

‘DILILI IN PARIS’

Poor execution

upends girl’s tale

The Chicago-set dram-

edy “Game Day” is way past

its expiration date — and

not just because it was

mainly shot in 2015. With its

deeply creaky gender and

racial themes, this strained

film evokes something un-

earthed from several dec-

ades ago, if not before.

Erica (Elizabeth Alder-

fer), a sullen, humorless,

supposed tech whiz who’s

admittedly “not a people

person,” gets caught up in

some muddled business in-

volving an internet start-up.

She’s then stuck working for

a generic firm steeped in

“bro” culture where she’s

treated like an outsider be-

cause, y’know, a woman.

If only she could play

basketball with the fellas,

maybe they’d take her seri-

ously. Seriously?

So Erica, who goes by

“Ricki” because, at heart,

she’s really just one of the

guys, hires a poor but proud

African American teen, Lu-

cas (actor/rapper Romeo

Miller, formerly Lil’ Romeo),

as a hoops coach. A wary

friendship blossoms, Ricki

gets game, learns teamwork

and things improve at the of-

fice. At least she didn’t have

to pull a “Yentl.”

But when the Ricki-Lu-

cas dynamic peters out,

writer-director John Sus-

man contrives some “‘hood”

mayhem that nearly derails

the already shaky story.

Alderfer does the best

she can given her ill-con-

ceived part and the film’s

misguided setup.

Miller, Jurgen Hooper,

Chris Johnson and the late

Fyvush Finkel provide de-

cent support, but the others

get lost in clichéd or under-

written roles (those par-

ents!).

— Gary Goldstein

“Game Day.” Not rated.

Running time: 1 hour, 42

minutes. Playing: Laemmle

Music Hall, Beverly Hills.

Ammo Content

BASKETBALLtutor Lucas (Romeo Miller) takes a

break with eager student Ricki (Elizabeth Alderfer).

‘GAME DAY’

Clichés overrun

workplace drama

situation.

Also, because nothing

about their journey was

known when they began —

how long it would last, what

the dangers would be, where

they would end up — that

makes this story of uncer-

tainty and stealth one espe-

cially suited to a catch-as-

catch-can medium like the

cellphone.

Finally, Fazili ended up

with exceptional collabora-

tors, including composer

Gretchen Jude and espe-

cially editor Emelie Mahda-

vian, a job that is essential

when you are boiling down

300 hours of footage and 25

hours of voice-over into a 90-

minute film.

With great difficulty,

Fazili was able to have the

data on his phone’s memory

cards periodically shipped

to the U.S.-based Mahda-

the family’s father, is an ac-

complished Afghan film and

theater director. But in 2015,

after he opened a popular

secular meeting place called

Art Café, the Taliban called

for his death and he fled to

neighboring Tajikistan.

Going with him were his

wife, Fatima Hussaini, also a

filmmaker, and their two en-

gaging, live-wire daughters,

Nargis and Zahra. It turned

out to be only the first step of

a very long journey.

Making films on phones

is hardly new territory, but a

combination of factors make

this one vividly stand out.

For one thing, Fazili has

very real filmmaking skills,

both in terms of framing the

specific events he records

and finding random mo-

ments of unexpected but

real beauty that reflect the

immediacy of the family’s

There’s as much truth as
poetry in the title of the un-
expectedly intimate and in-
volving documentary “Mid-
night Traveler.”
Yes, there’s a bit of a blues
lyric about those words, but
they’re also terrifyingly liter-
al: Time and again, the sub-
jects of this compelling first-
person film end up fleeing
for their lives in the middle of
the night.
Winner of a special jury
prize at Sundance, the film
was shot entirely on three
cellphones as a family of
four goes involuntarily on
the run before our quite as-
tonished eyes for what ends
up feeling like forever.
In addition to being in
charge here, Hassan Fazili,

vian, freeing him to wipe the

cards and start shooting

again.

All of this would have

been of limited interest had

Fazili and his team not ac-

complished what they have:

created a story that cap-

tures with casual but daz-

zling immediacy what it

feels like on the most human

level to be a refugee. This is a

story that could not have

been made had it not been

lived first, and that makes all

the difference.

Fazili and his family are

introduced as they are leav-

ing Tajikistan after a year of

fruitless international ap-

peals for refugee status.

The words “Day One” ap-

pear on the screen and Hus-

saini admits, “Wherever we

can go, that’s where we’ll go,”

a sentiment that is more

prescient than she knows.

It would detract from

“Midnight Traveler’s” con-

siderable impact to be too

precise about all the places

the family touched down

and how much time their

journey took, but some spe-

cifics are necessary to give a

sense of the tone of the film.

An early moment of un-

expected wonder takes

place during a stopover in

Turkey, when young Nargis

delightedly exclaims, “It’s

like the water is angry” as

she steps into the Bospho-

rus strait and discovers the

nature of tides.

Much of the family’s ex-

perience, however, is less

salutary as smugglers lie to

and threaten them and, in

Bulgaria, they witness the

depredations of anti-immi-

grant gangs.

Though youngsters Nar-

gis and Zahra are surpris-

ingly resilient in the face of

all this, the adults are not

always so. As deprivations

shorten tempers, disputes

occur, including a memora-

ble one in which Fazili is

chastised for compliment-

ing another woman.

It is the gift of “Midnight

Traveler” to allow us to feel

this family’s fate in the pit of

our stomachs. If the plight of

refugees has ever seemed

abstract, this film makes

sure you know how real it is.

Oscilloscope Laboratories

HASSAN FAZILI,bottom left, and his family — wife Fatima Hussaini and daughters Nargis, top right, and Zahra — pause for a photograph during their long journey.

Putting faces to a refugee crisis

Hassan Fazili turns cellphone footage into vivid documentary on family’s plight

‘MIDNIGHT TRAVELER’

‘Midnight

Traveler’

Not rated

Running time:1 hour, 30

minutes

Playing: Landmark’s

Nuart, West Los Angeles

KENNETH TURAN
FILM CRITIC