By Susan Granger
Special to WestportNow
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” writer/director Rian Johnson’s expansion of George Lucas’ galactic adventure franchise, is everything you want it to be — and more — particularly viewed on the huge IMAX screen at Norwalk’s Maritime Aquarium.
Beginning where J.J. Abrams’ “The Force Awakens” left off with the scrolling-text “crawl,“ the totalitarian First Order under Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) is still trying to obliterate Resistance forces, led by wry General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) and steely Vice-Admiral Amilyn Holdo (Laura Dern).
Desperate for help, courageous Rey (Daisy Ridley), Jakku’s scavenger-turned-warrior, is dispatched on the Millennium Falcon with Chewbacca to try to convince reclusive Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) not only to come back but also to train her as a Jedi.
Despite detecting Daisy’s extraordinary aptitude, melancholy Luke is adamant about not leaving Ahch-To, his craggy island sanctuary, particularly when he senses dangerous mind-melding similarities between Rey and his last pupil, despicable Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), who has descended to the Dark Side.
Meanwhile, hotshot Rebel rebel pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) takes off in an X-wing to recklessly taunt, then engage contemptuous General Hux’s (Domhnall Gleason) massive ship.
In a subplot, Stormtrooper-turned-Resistance warrior Finn (John Boyega), plucky newcomer Rose (Kelly Marie Tran), and the shifty mercenary DJ (Benicio Del Toro) embark on an espionage mission to Canto Bight, a hedonistic casino city, riffing on a previous “Star Wars” cantina with its bizarre clientele.
The requisite lightsaber duels arrive on schedule, along with Yoda. British visual-effects artist Neal Scanlan has created a myriad engaging creatures, like the ice cave’s Crystal Critters, Ahch-To’s Caretakers and the tiny, saucer-eyed Porgs that bond with Chewbacca. Plus the Droids.
This latest installment is cheeky and fun, while continuing the familial thread, epitomized by idealism, self-sacrifice and Eastern mysticism.
FYI: Principal photography was completed before Carrie Fisher’s poignant death at age 60 on December 27, 2016; her daughter Billie Lourd plays Lieutenant Kaydel Connix.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is a spectacular 10. What a great holiday gift for moviegoers! May the Force Be With You ….
Woody Allen’s “Wonder Wheel” returns to the signature giant blue Ferris wheel that looms over Coney Island’s amusement park, recalling his youth, back in the 1950s.
Morose, migraine headache-plagued Ginny (Kate Winslet), a former actress, is a waitress at Ruby’s Clam House. Approaching her 40th birthday, she unhappily married to oafish, volatile carousel-operator Humpty (Jim Belushi), whose long-estranged daughter Carolina (Juno Temple) suddenly shows up.
Fleeing from her gangster husband and his crime-syndicate cohorts after squealing to the FBI, penniless Carolina has nowhere else to go. “I know where all the bodies are buried,” she explains.
And none of this sits well with Ginny’s preteen pyromaniac son, Richie (Jack Gore), from her first marriage to the jazz drummer whom she thoughtlessly betrayed.
Not surprisingly, having her nubile 26 year-old stepdaughter around interferes with Ginny’s adulterous affair with seductive Mickey Rubin (Justin Timberlake), the local lifeguard who commutes from his pad in Greenwich Village and dreams of becoming a major playwright, like Eugene O’Neill.
Too bad that Timberlake hasn’t developed the acting chops to tackle this kind of complicated, multilayered role, serving — as many others have — as Allen’s talking-into-the-camera alter-ego.
What Allen excels at is capturing Brooklyn’s Coney Island atmosphere, along with cinematographer Vittorio Stonaro and production designer Santo Loquasto, who use innovative lighting and camera angles to resurrect the bustling boardwalk of years past. And Allen subtly scores by casting “Sopranos” veterans Tony Sirico and Steve Schirripa as the menacing goons on Carolina’s tail.
FYI: The cast and crew moved to Staten Island to film scenes that take supposedly place under the boardwalk since that space no longer exists; it was filled with sand after Hurricane Sandy.
On the Granger Gauge, “Wonder Wheel” is a simmering, stilted 6, filled with bittersweet nostalgia.
The problem with the senior-centric “Just Getting Started” is that it never really gets going. Although septuagenarian writer/director Ron Shelton has churned out hits like “Bull Durham” and “Tin Cup,” he stalls out with this tepid, wannabe Christmas comedy.
It begins as a Mob wife (Jane Seymour) spots a familiar face (Morgan Freeman) on a TV ad for Villa Capri, a luxury Palm Springs retirement resort and dispatches her son to bump him off. Apparently, he was an FBI informant who assumed the identity of ‘Duke Driver’ in the ‘witness protection’ program.
As the Villa Capri’s charming manager, roguish Driver rules the roost, surrounded by hens (Glenne Headly, Elizabeth Ashley, Sheryl Lee Ralph) who are eager to share his nest when he’s not poker partying with his pals (Joe Pantoliano, comedian George Wallace).
Shenanigans commence when prickly newcomer Leo McKay (Tommy Lee Jones) arrives, challenging Driver’s supremacy on all fronts, while flirting with Suzie (Rene Russo), who was dispatched from corporate headquarters to audit the books and fire Driver.
As a Los Angeles native, I relished Driver’s equanimity about warm weather at Christmas: “Well, Bethlehem is exactly the same latitude as Southern California, so probably the original Christmas was more like Palm Springs.” Which is actually true. Songwriter Irving Berlin and greeting card marketers are the ones who created snowy scenes for Christmas.
Garrulous Morgan Freeman and taciturn Tommy Lee Jones, who has a dry sense of humor, had never worked together before, and their chemistry clicks. Too bad they didn’t have better material.
FYI: Although there are some Palm Springs background shots, filming took place at the Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado in Santa Fe, New Mexico — for tax reasons. And before taking lessons for this movie, Tommy Lee Jones had never played golf, noting: “I can hit the ball a long way, but I don’t always know where it’s going to come down.”
On the Granger Gauge, “Just Starting Out” is an unfunny 5. It’s seasonal sludge.
(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.)
