Friendship (2024)

* One Star Out of Five

0 Tissues

IMDB rating: 7.5

Suggested Age Range: Adults only

I watched “Friendship” with increasing confusion.

Where was this movie going… and why?

I had expected a lighthearted riff on male bonding and, as it turns out, I was misguided.

Friendship, the movie, is very dark. Do not go if what you want is a fun evening of comedy. And definitely do not take your children.

This is a film about extreme awkwardness, a popular subject these days. But in this case, it morphs into extreme pain.

This is a film about misattunement, malevolent power dynamics, and distorted relationships. It is a film about pathological idealization and where it can lead. This is a film about the intense desire for friendship, and the lengths some people will go to find it – but it is not a film about friendship itself.

And this is a film about unstable, narcissistically injured men. 

It is a disturbing movie. It is a bit on the order of “What About Bob”, but not as funny. 

Yes, people in the audience laughed, and at first that made sense to me. But as the movie continued, the laughter I heard felt disturbing. The audience laughed AT the main character as he made increasingly serious misjudgements. I suppose this should not surprise in the current era of bullying autocrats and those that emulate them…but it is not something I want to watch.

I will not spoil the movie for you – but let’s just say, you should not expect a happy ending.

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Inside Out Two (2024)

**** 4 stars out of 5

0 Kleenex rating

Suggested Age Range: Older kids – 6 and up

Dr. Corinne Masur

Inside Out Two is a great movie for older kids, say six to thirteen. It does a terrific job explaining mean girl dynamics, anxiety and feelings around puberty. The idea of how one builds a self is introduced – but this plays a minor role. Riley, the main character who everyone will remember from the original Inside Out, is now facing adolescence and she has become a very competitive girl who drives herself to attain popularity and athletic success. She is still supported by two loving parents – a fact that may be challenging for some young viewers who do not have two parents, whose parents are divorced, or whose parents are less involved than these doting movie versions.

Overall, the movie is a bit overstimulating, which is why I recommend it for older kids, but lots of fun and potential fodder for plenty of discussions afterwords.

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Wicked – Part 1

***** 4 Stars

0 Tissues

Suggested Age Range: Good for ages 8 and up

Wicked is an indisputable triumph.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as the co-stars simply could not be better, the singing and staging are beautiful and the complexity of the plot will hold the interest of adults as well as children. 

This is not just a children’s story – the themes are intensely political and environmental and the message about prejudice is hard to miss.

Age old questions about good and evil are raised again and again. The mean girl trope is trotted out and it is unclear how it will all be resolved….and yet we kind of know. 

References to other films are fun to spot – The original Wizard of Oz, Harry Potter, Legally Blond, Shrek and others are there – in spades.

And why do I give this film an 8 and up rating? Well, the flying monkeys are still really scary – and so is the big Oz mask. When I was a child and I watched the original Wizard of Oz, I was afraid of those monkeys, and the big Wizard – and your children may have nightmares just as we did – if you decide to bring the little ones along. Also, as I said earlier, this film is complex. The plot is not easy to follow and the usual expectations around who is good and who is not is turned on its head. But of course, that’s the point of this film.

Mare Of Easttown (2021)

Dr. Corinne Masur 

**** 4 stars out of 5

1 Kleenex Rating

IMDB Rating: 8.5

Suggested Age Range: For Adults Only

As much as it is about anything, Mare of Easttown is about parenting.

If you haven’t seen it yet, you should know ahead of time that it is not a show for children or young teens.  It is not even a show for many adults, containing as it does, many of the most egregious evils of this world. But it IS worth watching both for all its twists and turns and for it’s meditations on parenthood.

Mare of Easttown is a well conceived drama and who-done-it. And while it is fun to debate whether the Philly accent is sufficiently authentic or whether Kate Winslet had to gain weight to play the role of Mare, it is also interesting to look at it as a primer on the full spectrum of parenting with all its complexities and opportunities for love, conflict, misunderstanding and loss. It deals with the imperfections of parents and children alike, with the many mistakes both can make finely portrayed. In this show there are secrets and betrayals and fierce love and loyalty.  It faces, head on, the fact that parenthood is messy and complicated, often painful and sometimes tragic.  In this show, as in life, both mothers and fathers make the worst of errors, use the poorest of judgement, and commit the most heinous of acts while still loving and wanting to protect their children.