All of Us Strangers: As Good As It Gets

I just watched this and have so much to say, BUT this is not so much a review. as just me thinking out loud about a movie that . . . well, destroyed me sounds about right.  

So, Movie fans: Do you like ghost stories? Do you like sad stories? Do you like films that leave you with more questions at the end than you had at the beginning? Are stories that are mercurial, confusing, illusive and open to interpretation up your alley? If so, Andrew Haigh's All of Us Strangers is the movie you need to see.  Right away.  

Haigh is one of those queer directors whose work, although generally centered on gay stories, transcends genre and speaks to us all as humans. Lonely, hopeful, wondering, wandering, vulnerable, and not-as-tough as we think, humans. I've liked everything I've seen, but All Of Us Strangers, goes straight to the top. I will argue that it is as masterful a piece of filmmaking as anything being nominated for all the other awards. An indisputable masterpiece, every element of Haigh's project is perfection: the script, the cast and their acting, the lighting, the balances between what is real and what is dreamed or imagined, the music . . . all of it comes together like a symphony of perfect parts.  

And speaking of symphonies, Haigh takes us on a voyage that immediately brought me to mind of two works: Richard Danielpour's Symphony No. 3: Journey Without Distance, and the work which inspired it: Helen Schucman's, massive (1400 pages)  A Course In Miracles. A Course in Miracles is a metaphysical, spiritual journey that teaches the power of  transformation through healing relationships, asserting that the greatest miracle is the act of simply gaining a full awareness of love's presence in a human life. Schucman tells us - reassures us:

The journey to God is merely the reawakening
Of the knowledge of where you are always and what you are forever.
It is a journey without distance
To a goal that has never changed.
What was a place of death
Has now become a living temple
In a world of light.

Her words began ringing through my head once I realized what the movie was about. Of the story at its heart I will synopsize it simply: Adam, a mid-40's screenwriter, gay, and a loner, has never gotten over the death of his parents when he was 11. Living in a sterile new, near empty apartment tower he meets Harry, also alone in this same purgatory-like residence. It's awkward, Harry is needy and Adam shuts him out. After looking through some souvenirs of his childhood, Adam sets out, wanders, following a man through a field (Elysian Fields?) and the man turns out  to be his dead father, now younger than himself. Dad takes Adam home and the family is reunited, catching up, sharing memories and secrets. The re-established unit continues meeting throughout the film, as Adam, attempting to let down his guard, also lets in and establishes a relationship with Harry.  

The performances of the four principals are flawless. Absolutely.  Andrew Scott (who I first met as the brilliant, twisted, Moriarty in Sherlock ) captures every essence of  the lonely soul that is Adam. Filled with doubt, confused about his importance or relevance in the world, downplaying every aspect of his life . . . it all bleeds marvelously through. His face and physicality speak volumes.

Paul Mescal's Harry, with a near identical agenda, is even more wounded, but wears his heart upon his sleeve - ("for daws to peck at" as Iago would say). Both men have smiles that make a grown person want to cry . . . for so much is revealed through their silence and faces. 

Clare Foy as Mom, is a middle class product of her time, from her hairstyle and jewelry down to her seeming reluctance to embrace her grown son's gayness. It's quickly established this is not rejection, but rather born of a mother's fear of the difficult road ahead for her child . . . a world of prejudice, homophobia, AIDS and loneliness. Adam is able to reassure her the world has changed since then.

Never getting the credit he deserves Jamie Bell has nonetheless established himself as one of the finest actors on screen we have.  His work here as Dad, so different from the last films I've seen him in, is practically a masterclass in subtlety creating a man who is truly proud of his boy, even as he is ashamed for feeling he was not the father he knew he should have been. Bell's work here is noble . . . heartbreaking. 

If you've not seen it, that's all you really need to know. If you have seen it, you're going to want to find a friend to have a coffee with for a few hours of conversation to explore every facet, of this wondrous little movie. Even though it's 2024, I've adjusted my Top Movies of 2023, to put All Of Us Strangers near the very top.  It's that good.  

Fiennes and Okonedo: Antony and Cleopatra on Fire

I just spent the past three plus hours transported to Rome and Egypt along with Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, in the guises of Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo. Director Simon Godwin has created a modern, yet still timeless world for Shakespeare's characters to spring to vivid life in, and while overall the cast was excellent, with superb performances by (nearly) all, the show is aptly named for this formidable couple. Shakespeare did well with his titles, eh ? 

Fiennes' Antony is one of surface bravado but with deep and myriad underpinnings of ego, self doubt, jealousy, delusion, loyalty and genius. An interesting, and telling choice, was to portray Antony as an alcoholic, subtly but effectively putting his choices and actions in a light I'd never considered before. When Caesar sends Thidius to "steal" Cleopatra, and seeing through Caesar's intent, toys with the boy, he begins kissing her. Antony staggers in, waving a half empty bottle of Bulleit bourbon (my old favorite!) and his rage seems fueled by the whisky, orders the boy whipped and beaten, and unleashes his rage upon his queen, including what sounds like a liberty taken with the line "Ah, you kite!" (you can imagine what's in its place). Fiennes moves like an aging dancer, elegant one moment, clownish the next, crawling on the floor, all with abandonment of regard of to how he appears. He simply (or not so simply) . . . just "Is."

As his Cleopatra, Sophie Okonedo is . . . formidable seems too slight a compliment for her performance. As many shades as Fiennes' Anthony presents, Ms. Okonedo seems to go even further. She is regal, elegant, sexy, a swaggeringly dangerous beauty, loud of voice and character. She gives such depth to a character already complex on the page that it is difficult not to be overwhelmed by her, which is as true of the viewer as it is of the many characters in the play. 

While their scenes alone and with others felt daringly theatrical, together Fiennes and Okonedo created fire. The Johnny Cash/June Carter song lyrics "We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout" kept springing to mind. The pair almost seem to have a secret language in each other's company that goes beyond words and gestures and straight to the passion and soul of their partner. Godwin had a gift in the pairing of these two formidable actors and the result of their work together is thrilling, almost always on edge and, even for someone knowing the play well, full of constant, welcome surprise,  

Some criticism was made of the initial run (back in 2018) of the length of the play and how Godwin's production - setting each scene in its own locale, rather than a unit set - added unnecessary stretching to an already long work. Similarly, criticism abounds about how Shakespeare knew not how to end this play, a good half hour between the deaths of Antony and Cleopatra. Nonsense. We've moved into an era where plays are frequently shorter than ever, while we easily spend three hours at the cinema watching planets explode, with trite dialogue wanly delivered by beautiful actors afraid of their voices, in films with quick cuts geared toward those with Attention Deficit Disorder. This is not Shakespeare's fault . . . it's ours. If one can give oneself over to the glory of language that speaks beyond the obvious, that is rendered from the hearts and minds of superb artists, on a stage that serves all of it up splendidly, i can think of no better use of a few hours of one's time.  

The film of this live performance is available on several pay streaming platforms presently, and, happily as of today, free on YouTube. Go watch it. Now.