Room: Putting the Pieces Back Together

Room will leave you feeling absolutely wrecked. Written by Emma Donoghue (based on her novel of the same name) and directed by Lenny Abraham, it is an extraordinary movie and fully deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. But be aware that you will feel a lot of feelings.

The entire movie is told from the perspective of 5-year old Jack (Jacob Tremblay), a young boy who lives in "Room" with his 24-year old mother, Joy (Brie Larson). At first glance, they could be a very poor but loving family, making do in the cramped quarters they occupy. Until you slowly realize that they never leave this room. Because they are imprisoned there by "Old Nick" (Sean Bridgers), a man who kidnapped Joy when she was 17 and has kept her locked up in his garden shed for the past seven years. She became pregnant and gave birth to Jack in that shed, and Jack has no idea that anything exists outside of Room.

It is a horrific setting, a claustrophobic den of desperation, yet it is astonishing to watch how Joy maintains a sense of absurd normalcy for the sake of her son. She carefully supervises his brushing so his teeth won't rot like hers, and asks Old Nick to provide children's vitamins as part of their weekly "Sunday treat". She makes Jack stretch to keep fit and run "track," a heartbreaking exercise to run back and forth between the two walls of the shed that barely span the distance of her arms. And once he turns five, she finally teaches him that the things he has seen on their TV are not fake but real, things that exist outside of Room, and that she will need his help in order to escape.

If the first half of Room seems harrowing and distressing, what follows is even more tortuous. There is an escape attempt that might be the most tense thing I have had to witness in a movie theater. And subsequently, we learn that escaping from Room might have saved Joy and Jack from a monster, but it cannot save them from themselves. Initially it seems like Jack will have the greatest difficulty adjusting to the real world, a place he never knew existed until a few days ago. He doesn't even know how to climb up or down stairs, never having seen a staircase in all his young life. Yet, children are miraculously malleable, and as Jack learns to integrate into the outside world, we discover that Joy might be the one who will truly fall to pieces.

Larson delivers a haunting performance, able to portray Joy as a fiercely loving and devoted mother who is also a completely shattered human being. She captures every nuance of that character, the kindness, the rage, the pettiness, the sadness, the selfishness and the selflessness. The supporting cast of Joan Allen, Tom McCamus, and William H. Macy are also incredible, providing an insight into how you deal with the realization that the girl you gave up for dead has really been alive in such horrific circumstances all along. And Tremblay is magnificent, looking through this world with a wide-eyed naïveté and serving as the only bearable audience surrogate in this gruesome tale. If the story was told from Joy's perspective, I would have had to walk out of the theater, but getting the story through Jack's eyes protects you from the more horrific events that transpire just outside the realm of his 5-year old comprehension.

The score by Stephen Rennicks is particularly moving, but not as much as the careful use of silence, or the sounds of Jack learning that the outside world is composed of so many more sounds, colors, lights, and textures than what he got to experience in Room. This movie is also cunningly scripted and edited, always bringing you to the brink of horror and then pivoting to some quick moment of relief to give you a chance to collect yourself and carry on with the story. And the production design by Ethan Tobman is rather incredible. For the first half of the movie, when you are in Room all the time, it seems cramped, but Jack has plenty to keep him occupied. It is only when they escape and you see what the shed they lived in for seven years looks like from the outside that you realize the full extent of their imprisonment.

It seems wrong to say that Room is a beautiful film when it tells such an ugly story. But it is truly wondrous, a cinematic masterpiece that draws you in and compels you to stay invested in its characters. It is a wise psychological study, showcasing how the human spirit can survive in such appalling conditions, and then crumble under seemingly innocuous ones. And finally, it is a love story, of a mother and son who are each other's salvation, and who can survive anything as long as they have each other.

Old Times: Strange & Wondrous

I'll confess right off the bat: I have no idea what happened in Old Times. What I do know is that the Roundabout Theatre Company's current production on Broadway, directed by Douglas Hodge and starring Clive Owen, Eve Best, and Kelly Reilly, is a magical piece of theater. I was spellbound, caught up in the dialogue, watching the actors whirl through the play at a brisk 65-minute runtime, and at the end of it, I wanted to watch them do it all over again.

Owen plays Deeley, a man who is married to Kate (Reilly). Twenty years ago they were students in London, but now they live in the country, which is much quieter and eerier. The entire play takes place on one night when Kate's old friend, Anne (Best), comes to visit. What follows is a tangle of stories and memories, some singing, some sobbing, and possibly something much more sinister? Maybe? I don't know. There was a post-play discussion with Clive Owen where he stated the play should be treated like a poem rather than something with a linear narrative, and even the playwright, Harold Pinter, never gave anyone an explanation as to what this play was all about. Basically it's open to interpretation, and I welcome all your thoughts because I certainly could use all the help I can get.

Set designer Christine Jones has created a remarkable set that conveys a sense of  otherworldliness throughout the play. You constantly feel like you are spinning through time and space, a sense that is heightened by the background music by Radiohead's Thom Yorke, a musician who is adept at creating unsettling mood pieces. There were moments when I suddenly realized the set must have rotated since some of the furniture had moved, but I had not noticed because I was so much more taken with the actors as they whirled across the stage saying outrageous and wonderful things. It's fair to say that these actors must be delivering riveting performances if you don't even notice that the stage they are standing on has moved.

Old Times is a short, dazzling play, set in one gorgeous set, with three brilliant actors delivering astonishing performances. At the end of it, you might be confused, but you certainly won't be dissatisfied; if anything, you'll want to watch it several more times to see if you hit upon a revelation. No matter what your final explanation is of the play's events, watching it is a sublime theatrical experience.

Crimson Peak: Gorgeous Gothic Gore

In this age of sequels, adaptations, and films based on board games, watching a movie with a completely original script is quite a rarity. Now visionary director Guillermo del Toro has come to the rescue with the lush and haunting Crimson Peak, a movie that feels like it ought to be based on a gothic romance from the Victorian era but is in fact based on a completely original script by del Toro and Matthew Robbins.

Gothic romance is an extremely difficult genre to explain. It's a little sexy, a little scary, a little melodramatic, and a little horrific. There's an innocent young woman, a mysterious stranger, ghosts, villains, mysteries, and things that go bump in the night. Crimson Peak delivers all this and more. Our heroine is Edith (Mia Wasikowska), an independent and charming woman living in Buffalo at the turn of the 20th century. When an English baronet, Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), and his sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain) visit, an unexpected romance brews. After a series of unfortunate and gory events, Edith marries Thomas and goes off to live in the crumbling family mansion in England. At that point you can dial up the horror and intrigue to a hundred.

I won't give away more of the plot; it's fairly rudimentary stuff that you would expect from any gothic tale. Wasikowska, Hiddleston, and Chastain all deliver impeccable performances and keep you guessing until the very end as to what their characters' intentions might be. What is truly spectacular about Crimson Peak is the captivating attention to detail. Whether it's every delicate thread on Wasikowska's costumes, the gorgeous embellishments adorning the furniture in every scene, or the ominous blood-red clay that is seeping into every crack of the mansion and literally warning us of the bloody massacre that is about to ensue, this film is a riveting visual treat. Full credit is due to production designer Thomas E. Sanders, who built the gothic mansion from scratch and has given us a set that will haunt our cinematic memories for decades to come.

The acting is excellent, the vision is impeccable, the story makes you gasp and giggle in equal measure, and it is quite unlike any recent experience you may have had at the movies. Crimson Peak is an utterly original, utterly beguiling film, and it offers up a welcome change from the bland sameness of everything else that Hollywood has been serving up lately. You do not have to beware Crimson Peak - embrace it wholeheartedly and have a frighteningly good time. 

The Martian: Stunning Scientific Storytelling

With a movie like The Martian, I think it's important to begin my review by explaining exactly where I was sitting in the movie theater. I was in the front, a few feet away from the screen. And I was at a 3D showing. So what followed was the most immersive, visceral movie-going experience I've had in a while. Every year, there are a handful of movies that I insist you need to experience in an actual movie theater; The Martian is certainly one of them.

Based on the novel by Andy Weir (which I am going to have to read ASAP), The Martian is the story of astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon), who is part of a manned mission to Mars. When a dust storm descends upon the red planet, the crew is forced to evacuate, but on the way to the shuttle, Watney is hit by debris and lost, with his suit registering no vital signs. The crew assumes he has died and sets off for Earth, but the next day, Watney wakes up to find himself very much alive but now stranded on Mars. What seems like a hopeless situation quickly develops into a brilliant scientific survival story, as Watney calculates what he will need to do to survive on Mars for the next three years when the next manned mission to Mars will arrive to save him.

It's an impossible scenario grounded in very possible science and the movie serves as an ode to intelligence and scientific ingenuity. It is also extremely funny, which is unexpected given the circumstances. Watney is sarcastic and continually mocks his predicament, while back on Earth, we are treated to a cast of supporting characters at NASA who are equally intelligent and prone to quippiness in times of stress. That comedic thread is a vital element to help defuse the tension that keeps mounting throughought the movie. I didn't realize how invested I was in Watney's survival until the final act when a legitimate rescue plan is put into place and there is a chance that things will fail at the final hurdle. I cannot begin to convey my sense of horror and nausea as I contemplated the overwhelming infinity of space and the paling insignificance of these few human beings struggling to survive.

It is impossible to explain how The Martian sneaks up on you. Thanks to Damon's effortlessly charming performance, you are emphatically rooting for Watney to survive, and the stakes are impossibly high as he deals with setbacks and the possibility of dying alone in space. The supporting cast is composed of a veritable who's who of acting stalwarts, including Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Wiig, and many more. While most of the soundtrack is composed of peppy disco music (that's all that his fellow crew members left behind on Mars, much to Watney's chagrin), the serious moments are punctuated by a brilliant score by Harry Gregson-Williams that kept me on the edge of my seat during tense moments and soothed me when things worked out.

The script by Drew Goddard deftly walks the tightrope between science and entertainment and keeps you immersed in the story. Director Ridley Scott has created a movie that will appeal to your intelligence as well as your instincts and plunges you into a world that is unfamiliar but spectacular. Movies like this further humanity's enduring fascination with space exploration and serve as a reminder that the universe is vast, frightening, and beautiful. So watch The Martian and prepare to be swept away. 

Why Not Me? How to Succeed by Really Trying

I have always liked Mindy Kaling. She was ridiculous as Kelly Kapoor on The Office (and wrote some fantastic episodes of that show), she has been hilarious as Dr. Mindy Lahiri on her show The Mindy Project, and her 2011 book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) was marvelously entertaining. But upon reading her latest book, Why Not Me?, I have now discovered that I don't just like Mindy Kaling. I love her.

A mere 50 pages into this book, Kaling has already discussed her Hollywood beauty secrets (hair extensions, a padded bra, and a DP who knows how to light you perfectly), the bemusing world of Dartmouth sororities, the perks and pitfalls of (minor) fame, and included a random photo of Colin Firth. Alongside these funny and sarcastic stories, however, is a devastatingly poignant essay about weddings, and why women agree to be bridesmaids even when everyone knows it is the worst thing ever. Her views on friendship, being a woman in Hollywood, and wanting to be liked and then not giving a damn are incredibly moving. And remember, we're only 50 pages into this book. 

As you keep reading, you will learn more about Mindy's transition from nervous comedy writer to bonafide successful showrunner. She shares her tips on how to gain confidence (throwing in a guest essay from her mentor, Greg Daniels), offers up a look into her punishing schedule, shares some juicy behind-the-scenes stories from her show, and gives us tales of heartbreak and romance. In "One of the President's Men," we get a mesmerizing story of her relationship with a White House staffer, a profound story that also includes loads of high-profile name-dropping. This is quickly followed by "A Perfect Courtship in My Alternate Life," an essay that should immediately be turned into a full-length novel and/or movie as it follows a series of email and text exchanges between the alternate version of Mindy if she had become a high school Latin teacher and the grumpy widowed US History teacher who is destined to be her Mr. Darcy. That juxtaposition of real-life and fantasy romance is what makes Mindy Kaling such an incredible writer. She knows real life isn't perfect, which is why she excels at making it so wonderful in fiction. 

I won't discuss any further details of Why Not Me? because reading it is an unalloyed pleasure that everyone should experience for themselves. These essays will make you laugh, cry, and ponder all the different ways in which it is difficult and wonderful to be a woman, a celebrity, and a role model. They offer up wisdom and silliness in equal measure, and even though the book is only around 220 pages long, it contains a world of insight and advice that will serve you in good stead for the rest of your life. 

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder: Frantic Fun

Last month, I realized it had been a while since I had taken advantage of living in New York. So I headed over to the Walter Kerr Theatre to catch a matinee of A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, the 2014 Tony Award-winning musical. I didn't know much about the plot going into it, but it looked like a fun, Wodehouse-esque musical comedy that would offer me a good time. Boy did it ever.

Set in England in the early 1900s, the show tells the story of Montague "Monty" Navarro (Bryce Pinkham), a young man who grew up penniless with his mother after they were abandoned by his father. They managed to scrape by but now his mother is dead and he is mourning the loss of the only family he has ever known. Enter Marietta Shingle, a mysterious friend of his mother's who informs him that his name is actually Montague D'Ysquith Navarro, and his mother was a member of the prestigious D'Ysquith family. She was cast out when she eloped with a Castilian musician, which is why she never told Monty about her family. However, he is informed that he is ninth in line to become the Earl of Highhurst, information that becomes increasingly important as the play progresses.

At first Monty is simply keen to take advantage of this family connection to get a good job and earn a decent living. He is in love with a blonde beauty named Sibella (Scarlett Strallen), who loves him but also acknowledges it is impractical to marry for love. Desperate to make enough money to win his lady love, Monty writes to his relations, only to meet with staggering rebuffs and rudeness. When he goes to meet one of them in person, circumstances transpire in such a way that Monty "accidentally" murders the man. Well now, he's eighth in line to become the Earl. Hmm, what if more of his family members were to conveniently follow suit and die?

What follows is a raucous musical comedy that deals with - what else? - love and murder. Most entertainingly, the eight D'Ysquiths who are standing in Monty's way are all played by the same actor, Jefferson Mays, who does a brilliant job prancing across the stage as various male and female D'Ysquiths, who are all ridiculous in their own special way and meet untimely ends courtesy of Monty's increasingly ingenious plotting. 

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder is Broadway at its best. The songs are hilarious and cunningly choreographed ("I've Decided to Marry You" in the second half is particularly raucous) and the set design is wildly inventive as Monty travels across the country to put his murderous machinations into action. Pinkham and Mays deliver astonishing lead performances and look like they're having an absolute blast, which is always so important when you're watching live theatre. So if you're in NYC, head on over to the Walter Kerr Theatre and indulge in this fizzy musical gem. You won't be disappointed.