Opening This Week: Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Greed, Onward, The Way Back, Spenser Confidential
BY SCOTTIE KNOLLIN
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE
Much-acclaimed French drama Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a testament to masterpiece filmmaking from director Céline Sciamma. Starring Noémie Merlant and Adéle Haenel, the film shares the story of a forbidden affair between an aristocrat and a painter commissioned to paint her portrait.
The film was first screened at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d’Or (and won the Queer Palm and the Best Screenplay award), before enjoying a swath of major awards throughout the awards season. Portrait missed its chances of being France’s official Academy Awards entry after Les Miserables was chosen, but landed on many critics’ best-of lists.
Filmed on location in Saint-Pierre-Quiberon in Brittany, Portrait benefits from a beautifully written and tragic love story, breathtaking cinematography, and groundbreaking performances.
The film has enjoyed a limited release in the United States throughout 20202 and recently made news when its creative team left the C´sar Awards (France’s equivalent to the Oscars) after Roman Polanski was named Best Director.
Join members of the North Dakota Film Society at a screening at The Fargo Theatre on Saturday, March 7th, at 11:30 a.m. Click here for more details.
Opens in Fargo.
GREED
Steve Coogan, Isla Fisher, and Asa Butterfield make up the cast of the satirical comedy Greed, opening this weekend at The Fargo Theatre.
Coogan is a billionaire high-street fashion mogul celebrating his 60th birthday in Mykonos. The film follows the antics and acts as a commentary on extreme wealth and class.
After premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in the fall of 2019, Greed was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for a U.S. release.
Critics have been kind to the film, highlighting Coogan’s performance as a win.
Opens in Fargo.
ONWARD
If we’re all being honest, it’s been a few years since Pixar gave us a true treat. Yes, Toy Story 4 hit some of the emotional boxes it needed to, but Pixar’s success has always been in its original tales. The studio returns to form with Onward, a fantasy film featuring the voices of Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Octavia Spencer.
Two teenage elf brothers (Holland and Pratt) receive a gift from their late father. With the gift comes aspell that will being their father back for 24 hours. Adventure ensues as the duo tries everything in their might to fulfill the spell, but are only capable of bringing back his lower half. With time ticking away, they must go on a quest to try to restore him before it’s too late.
The film was first announced at the 2017 D23 Expo as a “suburban fantasy world” film. The director, Dan Scanlon, remakred that the film was inspired by his own father’s death when he and his brother were young.
Onward premiered at the 70th Berlin Film Festival in early 2020 and was met with critical praise. Critcs have called it funny, heartwarming and beautifully animated.
The film will be accompanied by the short film, Playdate with Destiny, featuring Maggie Simpson.
Opens in Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks, Jamestown, and Minot.
THE WAY BACK
Gavin O’Connor, the director behind Miracle and Warrior, is no stranger to sport dramas. His star in The Way Back, however, is. Ben Affleck gives a career-best performance as an alcoholic construction worker who is recruited to become the head basketball coach at his former high school.
Filming of the picture began in late 2018 in Los Angeles. Affleck has gone on record saying that the film’s tropes acted as a form of therapy for the actor who has famously battled alcoholism.
Critics who have seen the film have remarked that Affleck’s intimate performance is astounding and evokes similar emotions to that of his brother, Casey Affleck, in the Oscar-winning Manchester by the Sea. It’s a compelling sports drama that’s more about recovery and second chances than it is a Hoosiers or Remember the Titans.
Opens in Fargo and Grand Forks.
SPENSER CONFIDENTIAL
Netflix has tried to fill every bucket with its original films, from awards-worthy dramas to kid-friendly animated hits. Somewhere in the middle lies the muck of its original films, like Spenser Confidential, a new comedy/thriller from director Peter Berg.
Starring Mark Wahlberg (who has worked with Berg on a number of blockbuster hits, like Lone Survivor and Mile 22), the film is loosely based on novel Wonderland by Ace Atkins. Wahlberg plays the titular Spenser, a detective on the hunt for bad guys. Yes, the plot doesn’t get much deeper than that.
There’s no doubt that Berg is great at producing well-shot mediocre projects (with the occasional gem here and there, like Friday Night Lights), but his recent foray into Michael Bay territory has left much to be desired. Spenser Confidential will likely not be an awards contender.
Streams on Netflix.
