Cleopatra Coleman

  • The Right One (2021)

    The Right One (2021)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, September 2021) I’ve been enjoying a cinephile’s crush on Cleopatra Coleman since her supporting turn in James vs. His Future Self, but apparently I’m not the only one to find her so compelling because here she is now headlining romantic comedy The Right One. She here plays an author in need of inspiration and affection, as her efforts to turn in a new manuscript falter until she meets a very strange young man who seems to change name, identity, accent and profession every time she meets him. This is not quite your usual fluffy rom-com — as one can guess, our male lead (Nick Thune) has some issues to work through and while this propels the film’s mystery forward throughout its first half, it also eventually sends The Right One crashing into a wall. It’s not fun to talk about mental illness and while it’s a fundamentally important discussion, a romantic comedy is not necessarily the right vehicle for it. Not when, on the other side of the equation, you’ve got bubbly fun Coleman being utterly adorable in the lead role. It’s even worse considering that when the truth comes out, it leaves a hollowed-out male protagonist who’s not a whole lot of fun to be with, contrarily to his alter-egos. Thune gets the worst of the film’s crashing interest, as there’s an entire third act of psychological reconstruction missing. Credit being due, though, even a not-so-good movie is not enough to get me to disembark the Coleman fan train — she’s very charming here, with a great mix of attractiveness and likability. She ends up carrying the film on her shoulders all the way through the disappointing conclusion and there’s no question I’m going to watch the next film she’s going to feature in. Isn’t that the mark of a budding movie star?

  • James vs. His Future Self (2019)

    James vs. His Future Self (2019)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, May 2020) Oh my. Am I witnessing the birth of a new science fiction genre? James vs. His Future Self is the third or fourth Canadian Science Fiction film in recent memory to have been filmed in Sudbury. Let me coin the movement: Sudburypunk. I kid, but only a little—Sudbury has slowly become a bit of a destination for filmmakers eager to showcase Northern Ontario landscapes while still being able to count on a metropolitan area as a home base. The city has varied shooting locations, including the futuristic Science North complex, and isn’t too far away from Toronto. James vs. His Future Self is exactly the kind of low-budget science fiction film that can benefit from a bit of Sudbury care. It’s a likable SF comedy about a man getting lessons from his future self coming back in time to save his younger self. Among many strengths, it can boast of likable actors, a gorgeous love interest (Cleopatra Coleman, always terrific), sometimes hilariously profane dialogue, and a self-aware script that delights in upsetting expectations throughout. Over its running time, James vs. His Future Self went from holding my interest to earning my sympathy for the characters. Frances Conroy is particularly good as the off-kilter science matriarch—and let’s not forget Jonas Chernick and Daniel Stern sharing the same role. It’s all blatantly, charmingly Canadian—Sudbury’s Science North is even explicitly featured as itself. For a silly comedy, James vs. His Future Self does tackle heavy themes of themes of self-contradictions, actualization and personal evolution. The final scene is not unexpected, yet surprisingly poignant. If that’s how Sudburypunk is going to go, let me subscribe to whatever else is going to come out of it.

  • Step Up Revolution (2012)

    Step Up Revolution (2012)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, May 2020) I’ve bounced all around the five-film Step Up series, from seeing the third in theatres to going home to watch the first and then the fifth and now the fourth. (Don’t worry—I’ll see the second soon.) The decision to locate Step Up Revolution in sunny colourful Miami is a good one, although the dubstep and flash-mob fascination date this film more solidly in 2012 than anything else I would have imagined. The plot itself, what with its promoter-destroying-neighbourhood hook, is rather jejune and more fitting to a kid’s movie starring a dog, but the point of the movie is the dance sequences, and there are quite a few good ones here. Never mind that our ragtag dance troupe requires props and costumes that would bankrupt any professional dance group. There are a few callbacks to the previous entries of the series (Moose shows up!), but Step Up Revolution generally stands alone. The calling card of the series is that it’s about as close as we’ll get to modern MGM musicals, and in that regard this fourth entry delivers the goods in energetic fashion: It’s best to look at it as a collection of dance numbers than a cohesive narrative. From that angle, the film’s highlights include a massive number on Ocean Drive, a cute bit at the Miami Museum of Fine Arts that pays homage to Miami’s art scene, a hilariously on-the-nose bit featuring a “businessman” flash mob and a finale set against a colourful stage made of shipping containers. The plot makes no sense, but the numbers are high-energy, Cleopatra Coleman has a supporting role, and the anti-capitalist message is good for the kids. All told, I can’t find any problem with Step Up Revolution. Why isn’t there a box-set of this series available for purchase?