By Susan Granger
Special to WestportNow
In “Call Me By Your Name,” director Luca Guadagnino chronicles the confusing, often conflicting sexual urges and coming-of-age of an introverted adolescent experiencing his first romance.
Set in a picturesque 17th century villa in a small, bucolic town near Lake Garda in northern Italy during the summer of 1983, a dramatic conflict erupts when restless 17-year-old musician Elio (Timothee Chalamet) encounters 24-year-old Oliver (Armie Hammer), a visiting American graduate student.
Ostensibly there to help Elio’s father (Michael Stuhlbarg), an eminent professor of Greco-Roman culture, confident, curious Oliver casually befriends capricious Elio, not realizing that his seductive presence has awakened Elio’s youthful ardor. Although both Elio and Oliver have dalliances with local women, an engaging, erotic, clandestine attraction soon develops between them.
Adapted by James Ivory from Andre Aciman’s 2007 autobiographical novel and sumptuously photographed by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, it’s a showcase for Oscar-nominated Timothee Chalamet, who exhibits heartbreakingly raw awkwardness, coupled with infectious enthusiasm.
Armie Hammer, who looks like a perfectly proportioned Praxiteles sculpture, is the great grandson of industrialist Armand Hammer; he catapulted to fame as the Winklevoss twins in “The Social Network.”
The third member of the outstanding acting trio is Michael Stuhlbarg, as the understanding, accepting father, who just wants his son to find happiness. He delivers an idyllic, advice-giving speech about tolerance and love that crucially affects the entire scope of the story.
Since both men are bisexual, the storyline gives the impression that homosexuality is a choice. That’s controversial because, while many scientists claim that sexual preference is genetically determined, perhaps sexual preference can be changed. And watching this film opens up that discussion.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Call Me By Your Name” is a subtly stirring, sensitive 7 — about a sensuous summer that could change the course of a boy’s life.
In “Hostiles,” writer/director Scott Cooper pays homage to classic Westerns like John Ford’s “The Searchers” by creating a frontier saga that examines the complexity of the Native American conflict and connects with relevant, contemporary themes, including reconciliation, inclusion and equality.
“The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic and a killer,” states the preface by D.H. Lawrence.
Set in 1892, it begins with a vicious Comanche raid on isolated homesteaders and U.S. soldiers torturing an Apache family — setting the scene for this revisionist examination of the American West.
Under threat of court martial, embittered Army Capt. Joseph J. Blocker (Christian Bale) must escort dying Cheyenne war chief Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi) and his family from imprisonment at Fort Berringer in New Mexico Territory to their tribal lands in Montana.
Riding northward through the rugged landscape, Blocker and his small troop of soldiers discover grief-wracked Mrs. Quaid (Rosamond Pike), the sole survivor of that Comanche raid; she is determined to dig her children’s graves with her own bare hands.
Given no choice, Blocker takes the widow along with them. When they reach Ford Collins, Colorado, he’s further burdened by transporting psychopathic Sgt. Philip Wills (Ben Foster) for trial.
When the travelers are brutally attacked by Comanche raiders, Yellow Hawk begs to be released so he can help them fight, observing, “We must unite …”
Working from an episodic script, Scott Cooper enlisted Chief Philip Whiteman, the pre-eminent Northern Cheyenne Chief of Montana, to ensure authenticity. Along with his cast and crew, he was determined to get every detail of their customs and mores correct.
“The majority of Americans are shocked at what our country has become,” notes Bale. “This tax bill, etc. is not what American was built on. I adore this country; it’s my adopted home. Most Americans are shocked to see the hatred and division that has occurred recently, particularly toward refugees. It’s a genuine tragedy. But we have been here before; we can learn from that.”
On the Granger Gauge, “Hostiles” is a savage, sorrowful 6, perhaps igniting a conversation about how two opposing forces can move forward in peace and harmony for the betterment of humanity.
In “The Commuter,” 60 year-old Michael MacCauley (Liam Neeson) could be any of hundreds of commuters, bidding goodbye to his wife (Elizabeth McGovern) and son (Dean-Charles Chapman) in Tarrytown, New York, before boarding Metro North’s Hudson Valley Line, heading into Manhattan.
But today is different. Already deeply in debt, Michael is abruptly laid off from his job selling insurance, and he finds little solace at the Irish bar where he shares brew with his former NYPD partner, Alex (Patrick Wilson), before returning to Grand Central Station.
On the ride home, Michael is seated across from mysterious Joanna (Vera Farmiga), a stylish femme fatale who offers him $100,000 — $25,000 now and $75,000 later — to identify a bag-carrying stranger named ‘Prynne.’
It’s a proposition he finds difficult to refuse, particularly after Joanna disembarks and threatens his family while the clock is ticking.
As Michael relentlessly makes his way through the different railroad cars, the passengers on this ill-fated train comprise a realistically diverse cross-section. As a regular rider, Michael recognizes some but not others.
How can he spot the right person named Prynne and tag the proper bag with a GPS tracker?
Predictably, Michael’s suspense-filled mission leads to a preposterous criminal conspiracy, involving the engineer’s death, faulty emergency brakes, a CGI derailment and tense hostage situation.
Working from a convoluted screenplay credited to Byron Willinger, Philip de Blasi and Ryan Engle, Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra, an avid admirer of Alfred Hitchcock, reunites with Liam Neeson for yet another action-thriller in the same vein as “Nonstop,” “Unknown” and “Run All Night.”
On the Granger Gauge, “The Commuter” catches a slick, sinister 6. “Next time, take the bus.”
(Editor’s Note: Westport resident Susan Granger grew up in Hollywood, studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, she has been on radio/television as an anchorwoman and movie/drama critic for many years. See her reviews at www.susangranger.com.)
