By Susan Granger
Special to WestportNow
If you thought it was weird seeing a young Carrie Fisher and resurrected Peter Cushing in “Star Wars: Rogue One,” wait ‘till you hear Paul Newman’s gruff voice as Doc Hudson in outtakes from the first “Cars” outing in 2006.
“Cars 3” begins as the current champion, Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson), is trounced by a new, sleek, black-with-purple headlights “tech” car, Jackson Storm (voiced by Armie Hammer), who gloats, “I can’t believe I get to race Lightning McQueen in his farewell season.”
Realizing “the racing world is changing,” following a fiery crash, discouraged Lightning discovers that his Rust-eze sponsorship is now owned by smarmy Sterling (voiced by Nathan Fillion), who wants him to become a racing brand.
Eager to race in the Florida 500, Lightning reports for training at the high-octane site where Jackson Storm toned up. That’s where he meets Cruz Ramirex (voiced by Cristela Alonzo), a peppy performance coach who refocuses his angry outbursts with “Use that!” endeavoring to increase his speed from 198 mph to 210 mph.
When that doesn’t work, Lightning goes in search of Doc Hudson’s legendary guru, Smokey (voiced by Chris Cooper).
After Paul Newman’s death in 2008, Pixar decided to eliminate, rather than recast the role of Doc Hudson in “Cars 2” (2011). Now, Newman’s mentor legacy has been revived with new images and repurposed vocals.
Directed by veteran animator Brian Fee, it pokes fun at our culture’s reliance on trendy self-help mantras, introduces female empowerment and attempts to reconcile the reality of graceful aging.
Back in Radiator Springs, there are glimpses of McQueen’s girlfriend Sally (voiced by Bonnie Hunt) with comic relief from the bucktoothed tow-truck Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy).
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Cars 3” is a sentimental 6, as the anthropomorphic vehicles take more laps around the cinematic track.
The good-hearted yet provocative comedic drama “The Women’s Balcony” is Israel’s highest-grossing film in the past three years. It’s about the power of women in a battle against modern religious fundamentalism.
Set in an older Orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem, it begins with a celebration as Etti (Evelin Hagoel) and Zion (Igal Naor), along with the rest of their close-knit congregation, parade from their homes through the streets to the synagogue for the bar mitzvah of their grandson.
During the service, the synagogue’s balcony for female worshippers, collapses. The wife of elderly Rabbi Menache (Abraham Celektar) is hospitalized in a coma, leaving him confused and depressed.
Awkwardly gathering in the only space available, the male members of the Mizrahi congregation can’t even muster a minyan when Rabbi David (Avraham Aviv Alush) appears with his seminary students.
Soon this fanatically zealous rabbi is not only supervising the reconstruction of the synagogue but also reprimanding the women for their immodesty, urging them to cover their hair, and insinuating that the accident occurred because of their sins.
When the women realize that there’s no place for them in the rebuilt synagogue, they raise money for a new balcony, only to discover that this new rabbi intends to spend their funds on a torah scroll.
That incites a female rebellion, bravely led by determined Etti — reminiscent of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata. Plus, there’s a romantic subplot involving Etti’s niece (Yafit Asulin) who falls in love with Rabbi David’s assistant (Assaf Ben Shimon).
Screenwriter Shlomit Nehama grew up in a religious family in Jerusalem and was inspired by the women in her neighborhood. And according to director Emil Ben-Shimon: “This film raises questions about whether every believer can choose his or own path of faith … and the price of extremism.”
In Hebrew with English subtitles, on the Granger Gauge, “The Women’s Balcony” is a celebratory 6, offering a revelatory glimpse into a compelling dilemma.
As a critic, I believe it’s my job to evaluate how well a movie accomplishes its vision and fulfills its purpose. In the case of “The Book of Henry,” I’m not sure exactly what that was — or is.
In the dysfunctional Carpenter family, sensitive, precocious 11-year-old Henry (Jaeden Lieberher) manages the family finances, constructs steampunk inventions in a formidable backyard treehouse and evidences a maturity far beyond his years.
Perhaps that’s why he realizes that Christina (Maddie Ziegler), the vulnerable girl next-door, is being abused by her stepfather Glenn Sickleman (Dean Norris), who happens to be the Police Commissioner.
Henry and his 8-year-old brother Peter (Jacob Tremblay) live in suburbia with their hardworking, yet remarkably immature single mother, Susan (Naomi Watts), who spends her free time on the couch playing violent video games — when she’s not drinking wine with her sassy friend (Sarah Silverman).
Unable to communicate productively with Child Protective Services, Henry slyly devises his own scheme, which involves training Susan as a sniper and delivering explicit instructions on how to murder hulking Glenn Sickleman, despite her plaintive protestation: “We are not killing the police commissioner!”
After delivering a stunning performance opposite Bill Murray in “St. Vincent,” young Jaeden Lieberher doesn’t disappoint, nor do Jacob Tremblay (“Room”) and Naomi Watts (“The Impossible”).
The problem lies with novelist Gregg Hurwitz’s capriciously implausible script, which veers from suspicions of child-molestation to tear-jerking terminal-illness melodrama to tense thriller.
That leaves director Colin Trevorrow, who helmed the quirky, Sundance-acclaimed time-travel comedy “Safety Not Guaranteed” (2012) and “Jurassic World” (2015), trying to pull together a multitude of disparate threads and contrived coincidences.
Leaving this misguided mess behind, Trevorrow’s now directing “Star Wars: Episode IX” (2019).
On the Granger Gauge, “The Book of Henry” is a confounding 4. Best forgotten.
(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.)
