E6 FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2019 LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR
AT THE MOVIES: REVIEWS
Handsome, earnest and
reserved, despite a succes-
sion of soul-rattling charac-
ter revelations, “After the
Wedding” is the kind of well-
appointed, morality-mind-
ed adult soap that once had
pride of place throughout an
earlier Hollywood era’s mov-
ie year. Now, it’s sneaking in
amid the whizbang tent-
poles with its measured
tones and big-theme profes-
sionalism.
It may have trouble,
though, since writer-direc-
tor Bart Freundlich’s Ameri-
can remake of Danish film-
maker Susanne Bier’s Os-
car-nominated 2006 family
drama is curiously blood-
less, despite the enticing
tweak of gender-reversing
the primary roles and giving
two of those parts to
Michelle Williams and
Julianne Moore (who is also
married to Freundlich).
Their performances are
rock-solid embodiments of
the original story’s major
concerns — parenthood,
regret, emotional tradeoffs
—but the movie is still a dis-
cordant mix of elegance and
potboiler, miles from the
type of vivid, stylish melo-
drama director Douglas Sirk
and cinematographer Rus-
sell Metty accomplished in
the ’50s.
With so many turns
to process in “After the Wed-
ding,” one should feel much
more bruised and wiped
out by the end, which
Freundlich treats instead as
a soft landing — the spills
cleaned, leaving no visible
scars. Consider it one kind of
antidote to the summer
movie season’s customary
loud, gaudy chaos.
—Robert Abele“After the Wedding.” Rated:
PG-13, for thematic material
and some strong language.
Running time: 1 hour, 52
minutes. Playing: Land-
mark and ArcLight Holly-
wood.Kevin NunesSony Pictures ClassicsISABEL(Michelle Williams), who runs an orphan-
age, has raised Jai (Vir Pachisia) since he was a baby.
‘AFTER THE WEDDING’
No love is lost in
this melodrama
Sterling juvenile thespi-
an Anna Pniowsky illumi-
nates Oscar-winning actor
Casey Affleck’s latest outing
as a writer-director, “Light of
My Life,” a heartrending
survivalist saga positioned
in the neighborhood of
Debra Granik’s indie darling
“Leave No Trace” and Cor-
mac McCarthy’s post-apoc-
alyptic novel “The Road.”
Forced to dress as a boy
and go by the name Alex in
front of others, 11-year-old
Rag (Pniowsky) cautiously
travels across inhospitable
terrain with her father (Af-
fleck) a decade after a
plague eradicated most
women — among them her
mother (Elisabeth Moss in
flashbacks) — and turned
those remaining into tar-
gets. Laced in Daniel Hart’s
forebodingly ethereal score,
every decision they make is
prone to become perilous.
Affleck’s mournful prag-
matism serves him well in
the role of a man seeking tothoughtfully parent and
protect his child under un-
imaginably precarious cir-
cumstances. In Pniowsky’s
precise matter-of-factness
the multihyphenate finds a
terrific partner to foster an
onscreen father-daughter
relationship that operates
with total openness. She is a
staggering revelation.
In the end, all Affleck’s
character wishes is to ensure
he prepared Rag for a world
that disfavors her gender,
but what better indication
that his job as caretaker suc-
ceeded in raising an empow-
ered and self-sufficient
young girlthan realizing the
“love adventure” they are on
has always been her story to
navigate and overcome with
or without him.
—Carlos Aguilar“Light of My Life.”Rated: R
for some violence. Running
time:1 hour, 59 minutes.
Playing: Laemmle Monica
Film Center, Playhouse 7Saban/ Paramount
ACHILD and her father (Anna Pniowsky, Casey
Affleck) navigate a dangerous, post-apocalyptic land.‘LIGHT OF MY LIFE’Family’s journey
in a harsh world
Shia LaBeouf delivers his
most heartfelt performance
yet in the Mark Twain-in-
spired fable “The Peanut
Butter Falcon,” written and
directed by Tyler Nilson and
Mike Schwartz. Nilson and
Schwartz conceived of the
film while volunteering at an
organization for people with
disabilities where they met
Zack Gottsagen, an actor
with Down syndrome who
always wanted to star in a
movie.
Gottsagen, a performer
with natural comedic timing
and the ability to deliver
funny and unexpected
punchlines, stars as Zak, a
young man unfairly confined
to life at an old folks’ home.
With no family or guardians,
Zak has been ordered by the
state to live there, though he
dreams and schemes of es-
cape plans. He has a singu-
lar goal in mind: to travel to
the wrestling school of his
hero the Salt-Water Red-
neck (Thomas HadenChurch). One night, he
makes his escape, clad only
in his skivvies, and ends up
in the skiff of Tyler (La-
Beouf), a rogue, rascally
crab fisherman who has his
own problems to run from.
LaBeouf brings the soul
to “The Peanut Butter Fal-
con,” while Gottsagen brings
the spirit. He has an undeni-
ably charming screen pres-
ence. He more than stands
up to the task of movie star,
and the filmmakers have
crafted the perfect vehicle to
showcase both his talents
and the surprising connec-
tion with LaBeouf.
—Katie Walsh“The Peanut Butter Fal-
con.” Rating: PG-13, for
thematic content, language
throughout, some violence
and smoking. Running time:
1 hour, 33 minutes. Playing:
Landmark; ArcLight Holly-
wood; Regal Edwards West-
park; Regency Rancho
Niguel 8Seth JohnsonRoadside Attractions / Armory Films
ZACK GOTTSAGEN, left, who has Down syndrome,
and Shia LaBeouf in “The Peanut Butter Falcon.”‘THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON’Shia LaBeouf will
break your heart
nified freedom to him, the
feeling that nothing could
fence him in or keep him
down.
Immediately, we flash
back two years, to Banks
playing inspired football for
Long Beach City College, de-
lighting a coach who refers
mysteriously to a past con-
nection to USC.
Then, Banks gets a call
from what turns out to be his
parole officer. In the midst of
five years on parole after
having served an equal
amount of time in prison,
Banks now has to wear an
ankle monitor and, as a reg-
istered sex offender, must
stay away from schools,
playgrounds and parks, ef-
fectively ending his dreams
of making it to the NFLtional individual, able to rise
above adversity and doubts
by virtue of his determina-
tion, belief in self and overall
strength of personality, all of
which Hodge urgently con-
veys.
As a brief scene-setting
prologue showing Banks
watching kids playing foot-
ball underlines, skill on the
football field has always sig-If you are a real person
and your name serves as the
title of a major motion pic-
ture, it’s to be expected that
there’s a ton of drama in your
tale. And with “Brian
Banks” that is definitely the
case.
This is a film based on the
true story of a young man
with a bright future as a foot-
ball player who is impris-
oned for a sex crime he did
not commit and then wages
a seemingly impossible fight
to clear his name and restart
his life once he gets out.
Conventional but effec-
tively so, more tense and in-
volving than might be antici-
pated as obstacles pile on
obstacles, this emotionally
affecting story knows
enough not to push too hard
and reaps the benefits from
its relative restraint.
In fact, “Brian Banks”
has points in common with
2009’s Oscar-winning “The
Blind Side,” but the movie
business has so changed in
the intervening decade that
this new film is not released
by a major studio but by
Bleecker Street, an inde-
pendent distributor that
specializes in adult-oriented
fare.
Equally surprising is the
fact that Tom Shadyac is the
director. Best known for
way-broad comedies such as
“Ace Ventura: Pet Detec-
tive,” “The Nutty Professor”
and “Patch Adams,”
Shadyac has not made a
narrative feature for 10 years
following a life-changing
bicycle accident.
Here he’s teamed with
more serious screenwriter
Doug Atchison (“Akeelah
and the Bee”) and has the
benefit of a forceful, multi-
dimensional performance
by Aldis Hodge as Banks,
which elevates the material
and the film.
Previously seen as MC
Ren in “Straight Outta
Compton” and Janelle
Monáe’s husband in “Hid-
den Figures,” Hodge put on
serious weight to play the
NFL-linebacker-sized
Banks, but that is not all.
For “Brian Banks” is an
emotional story as well as a
narratively complex one,
and for it to succeed we have
to buy Banks as an excep-
despite the time he has lost.
As it would be with a real
person, we come to know
Banks (living with his mom
because his prison record
makes full-time employ-
ment difficult) only gradu-
ally, finding out bit by bit
what has befallen him since
he was a 16-year-old high
school linebacker good
enough to catch the eye of
USC’s Pete Carroll.
Some information comes
to us when Banks writes a
letter to the California Inno-
cence Project, an organiza-
tion dedicated to freeing the
unjustly imprisoned.
The group has previously
turned down clearing his
name because Banks is al-
ready out of prison, but his
understanding mom Leo-mia (a fine Sherri Shepherd)
advises her son to try again
and “tell them who you are.”
One of the things we find
out is that Banks has been
able to stay focused because
of inspired juvenile hall men-
torship by Jerome Johnson
(Morgan Freeman), who of-
fers the paradoxical wisdom
that “prison can set you free,
your despair can become a
doorway.”
Eventually, we also learn
the disturbing story of how a
fabricated high school inci-
dent and inept legal repre-
sentation leading to an ill-
advised plea bargain, in ef-
fect, torpedoed Banks’ life.
Though Banks does form
aconnection with Karina
(Melanie Liburd), a trainer
he meets in a gym, his key re-lationship is with Justin
Brooks (Greg Kinnear), the
real-life head of the Califor-
nia Innocence Project.
Initially it is not the kind
of relationship we might be
expecting, because Brooks,
despite being impressed by
Banks as a person, does
nothing but tell him why, for
a variety of reasons, the In-
nocence Project can do
nothing for him.
While the interest of
Brooks’ colleagues Alissa
(Tiffany Dupont) and Mari-
lyn (Mystie Smith) helps,
“Brian Banks’ ” focus is on
showing how the stellar
qualities of the man himself
made the difference. When
they name a film after you,
it’s no surprise that you have
the goods.Katherine BomboyBleecker Street
ALDIS HODGEbulked up to play “Brian Banks,” a promising football player whose NFL dreams are cut down by a wrongful conviction.Hardest fight is off the gridiron
Aldis Hodge is a force as an athlete wronged in this affecting fact-based drama
‘BRIAN BANKS’
‘Brian Banks’
Rating: PG-13 for thematic
content, related images,
and for language
Running time:1 hour, 39
minutes
Playing:In general releaseKENNETH TURAN
FILM CRITIC