Forest Whittaker

  • Finding Steve McQueen (2019)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, July 2021) There is, at first, an awkwardness to Finding Steve McQueen that makes it slightly unapproachable. Built with the lofty goal of telling us the real story of bank robbers who, in 1972, targeted a bank known for keeping the slush fund to Nixon’s campaign, it’s a film limited by a few artistic choices and a budget that’s not quite large enough to accommodate its intentions. The washed-out cinematography is disappointingly limited, and the film’s lone car chase only drives the point home. Even when it goes from Ohio to California, Finding Steve MaQueen’s colours don’t pop and neither does the protagonist. Fortunately, we eventually get used director Mark Steven Johnson’s choices, and that’s when the film takes off. Featuring a character obsessed with Steve McQueen, it’s a lighthearted, occasionally comedic heist film that clearly revels in its period detail. The soundtrack is an absolute banger, even if the film doesn’t quite have the budgetary envelope to do much more than hairstyles, movie marquees, pop-culture dialogue and cars to ground itself in 1972. The lighthearted tone does much to warm up the film, and some of the dialogue finds its mark. There’s an interesting supporting cast to further keep it interesting, such as William Fichner as a gang leader and Forest Whittaker as a sullen FBI agent. Still, the 1980 framing device doesn’t quite fit with the heist mechanics, and is another element that goes into the final ledger for Finding Steve McQueen: it’s one of those films that’s competent enough to be watched, but far from reaching its own stated ambitions. Either satisfying or disappointing, depending on how you look at it or the expectations you bring to it.

  • The Crying Game (1992)

    The Crying Game (1992)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On DVD, October 2017) I’m old enough to remember the hubbub surrounding the release of The Crying Game, and the numerous references/jokes/parodies to the film’s “big secret” that popped up in its wake. (In retrospect, much of it amounted to transphobia, and I would hope that today’s audiences would react in a more mature fashion.)  But viewing the film today, spoilers firmly applied, reveals a film that’s both better and worse than its critical reputation. The worst aspect of the film is its pacing. It takes forever for the premise to be cleared up, there are two first acts to the movie, and there are entire stretches where not much happens. On the other hand, The Crying Game does have quite a bit of dramatic power when it does get going. Knowing all about the film’s dramatic reveal does help in appreciating the subtle humour of the film (ending with “Stand by your Man” is cheeky, but beginning with “When a Man Loves a Woman” is even cheekier), but it also helps in appreciating Jaye Davidson’s unique performance. He’s the standout in a film that also features no less than Stephen Reas as an everyday-man terrorist, Forest Whittaker as a soldier in unique circumstances and Jim Broadbent as a bartender with an impressive head of black hair. The Crying Game has often been reduced to a punchline, but it’s far more heartfelt than its caricature would suggest. I would really be curious to see a remake in the next decade or so, largely in order to appreciate the progress on transgender issues since 1992. In the meantime, it’s an efficient drama, with a solid emotional core and far more entertaining than I assumed.