Leslie Odom Jr.

  • Needle in a Timestack (2021)

    Needle in a Timestack (2021)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, December 2021) As far as low-budget SF films go, there’s a lot of intriguing material in Needle in a Timestack. Taking place in a future where time travel is expensive but commonplace, the film explores the consequences of an existence where the present may be altered abruptly, leaving characters wondering if things have always been that way. For instance, our protagonist’s happy marriage is complicated by the idea that the ex-husband of his wife is rich enough and jealous enough to go back in time to try to get her back. In the film’s rather romantic outlook, characters can sense when things are wrong (such as having a cat rather than a dog) and find themselves longing to fix things. There’s a lot of cold melancholy in writer-director John Ridley’s film (as adapted from SF legend Robert Silverberg’s short story of the same name), and an effective use of SF devices rather than special effects in creating its world. I wasn’t completely convinced by the film’s logic, but so it goes for films more driven by dramatic logic than science fact. (Furthermore, logic and time travel don’t go well together when causality itself is a suggestion.)  The cast can be surprising at times, with Leslie Odom Jr. in the lead role, Orlando Bloom as the antagonist and Freida Pinto as one of the two women in their lives. The low budget is used as well as it could, I suppose, although the film could have used a slightly wider scope in order to create its worldbuilding. Still, Needle in a Timestack finds its place among other recent low-budget SF films executed tastefully, with some intriguing dramatic situations made possible by extraordinary devices.

  • One Night in Miami… (2020)

    One Night in Miami… (2020)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Amazon Streaming, December 2021) Fan-fiction goes respectable in actress-turned-director Regina King’s One Night in Miami, a film built on the idea of what could have happened when real-life friends Malcom X, Cassius Clay, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke — all legends in their own fields — spent an evening together. The bare bones of the story are factual: they did spend an evening together in a Miami hotel room, and they were all at their own crossroads at the time. (Two of them would be dead by the following year.)  The rest is fictionalization, albeit good and believable drama as the four men, recognizing their growing personal power and influence, discuss what black men could do with what they had at their disposal. Reflecting real-life, the most compelling member of the cast has to be Eli Goree as Cassius Clay, with Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X not far behind. All four main actors (with the cast being rounded off by Aldis Hodge as Jim Brown and Leslie Odom Jr. as Sam Cooke) do well in a dramatically challenging film, with the tight space/time unity allowing for debates reflecting the tensions of the Civil Rights movement. As a directing debut for King, it’s a success — the film walks a fine line between fact, drama and discussing big ideas. While nighttime hotel setting ensures that the film’s palette remains monotonous, that same theatrical feeling creates a fertile dramatic environment for the characters to exchange their views on big topics. One Night in Miami should be particularly fascinating for anyone interested in those figures or the era in which it’s set, but there’s a lot to admire in the rest of what the film has to offer as well.

  • Hamilton (2020)

    Hamilton (2020)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Disney Streaming, July 2020) Like everyone else, I couldn’t escape the critical acclaim for Hamilton the musical back in 2015–2016. Still, it took me a surprisingly long time to have a listen at the soundtrack. My reaction to the songs of Hamilton was very much in-line with everyone else: Holy Washington, this is really good. The blend of historical material (even acknowledging the deviations from reality—Broadway is no place for historical accuracy) with catchy modern music made for an addictive experience, and my expectations ran high for a professional recording of the show given the high unlikeliness of seeing (or being able to see, of being able to afford to see) the show live, especially after the end of its initial run. The announcement that the recording would be released on digital to coincide with Independence Day was a rare bit of good news in an otherwise dismal 2020. My expectations ran high as I settled down to stream the film, and even they were amply exceeded. Seeing the show adds an extra dimension in the songs and my typically non-hyperbolic self feels justified in labelling this as a work of genius. Much of the credit goes to Manuel-Lin Miranda, whose book, music and lyrics are perfectly executed. I’m not that familiar with live theatre, so much of the typical touches of the form (the ensemble, the musical quotes, the staging) feel fresh and inspired, and make perfect sense in reinforcing the aspirational fantasy of the content. While Miranda couldn’t have done a better job in creating the show, its interpretation rests on a strong cast with few weak points. Leslie Odom Jr. is particularly good as Aaron Burr (to the point of barely feeling like a villain despite, well, shooting the protagonist), Jonathan Groff is a comic highlight as King George III, and Renée Elise Goldsberry is spectacular. Other players get their spotlight in the second act: Daveed Diggs is very funny in a pair of Francophile roles, Phillipa Soo gets more attention as the story goes on and Christopher Jackson is imposing as Washington himself. The video credits are a nice touch—especially for the much-deserving ensemble. The songs I liked best on the soundtrack (My Shot, The Schuyler Sisters; You’ll be Back; Ten Duel Commandments; The Room Where It Happens) are equally good here, but the staging (and accompanying body movement, much of it sarcastic) elevates some numbers far above their audio-only component: “Satisfied” become heart-wrenching as it rewinds time, “The World Turned Upside Down” is a triumphant new favourite with rolling guitars and bombastic dancing, “What’d I Miss?” has some great comic staging, both Cabinet Battles are fantastic (they were already great as songs) and “The Election of 1800” is fun and dramatic at once. The concentric turntables are used to good effect during the duels and the eye-popping Hurricane sequence, with the dramatic climax of the entire production hinging on simulated bullet-time summation of a man’s life as he gets shot. If I’m effusive in my praise, it’s because Hamilton is a rollercoaster and I was on-board for every laugh, every cry, every killer line and dramatic twist. I strongly suspect that much of this intense reaction comes from living-in-July-2020, measuring an authentic piece of Americana at its best against the vertiginous decadence of the United States over the past few years, with an incompetent leadership embracing corruption, authoritarianism, and intentional division to the point that it cannot handle a crisis killing citizens by the tens of thousands (soon the hundreds of thousands: Oceans Rise, Empires Fall)—the exact opposite of the values embraced and demonstrated by Hamilton’s appealingly multicultural cast and moral outlook. While I’m looking forward to a cinematic version of Hamilton in a decade or so, this June 2016 live recording is a striking time capsule and a reminder that many Americans do have their heart in the right place. As we wait for an end to the current catastrophe, Hamilton couldn’t have come at a better time—and despite not being much of a movie in traditional terms, it looks as if it’s going to be in the running for best-of-year contention. I would be surprised if I had a bigger emotional reaction this year to anything else but a landslide repudiation of the current administration on election night.