Parisa Fitz-Henley

  • My Spy (2020)

    My Spy (2020)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Video on-Demand, December 2021) As far as mainstream family action comedies go, My Spy hits pretty much all of the high notes. Action-focused actor looking to broaden his appeal to younger audiences? Dave Bautista! Perfunctory plot meant to act as scaffolding for the fun and games? CIA agents sent to keep watch over the ex-wife of an international terrorist! Young audience stand-in? The rather wonderful Chloe Coleman as a protagonist putting a professional spy through her paces. Comic relief? Have Kristen Schaal in a prominent supporting role and Ken Jeong as a shouting boss. Eye candy for the boys? Parisa Fitz-Henley. My Spy’s script is clearly put together according to the usual formula, but it works well — the idea of a nine-year-old girl besting a secret agent is amusing (one sequence is even inspired by Mossad training), and the screenwriters aren’t above poking fun at the thought that viewers are savvy enough to understand the game being played. From the likable gay couple revealed to be something quite different (yet the same) to characters wondering who would build an airfield next to a cliff right before an action sequence making good use of that contrivance, the film knows what business it’s in, and clearly relishes it. It amounts to a perfectly watchable film, perhaps a bit confused about its age rating but still entertaining enough not to disappoint. You know what to expect, and My Spy delivers.

  • Fantasy Island (2020)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Amazon Streaming, November 2021) Considering the list-driven approach I have used to make my way through the popular films of the past few years, I don’t always pay a lot of attention to reviews. But the harshness of the commentary toward Fantasy Island was striking enough to make an impression — what could possibly make the film so reviled? I didn’t get it, nor did I get it during the film’s opening moments. My childhood memories of the original show’s reruns were faded (Tattoo’s “Da plane!” and Ricardo Montalban’s immaculate white tuxedos are just about what remains), but the overall idea of an island making its visitors’ wishes come true seems like something difficult to screw up. Fantasy Island’s first few minutes did seem to set things up nicely — a few visitors, quickly (if bluntly) sketched, a mysterious owner played by reliable scene-stealer Michael Peña, a rather cute assistant, great lush tropical scenery: how could this go wrong? Well, I had no idea the film would soon take a nosedive, and then keep going lower. Warning signs start to show when it quickly becomes clear that the film only has horror on its mind, as the various fantasies of the guests all converge. This is obviously not a TV show, so the palette of emotional goals that could vary from one episode to another is here compressed to fit the commercial imperatives of a movie aimed at younger audiences and that means horror. But it’s the way it gets there that’s strange: Even fantasies that don’t need to go to horror eventually get there in jarring ways. There’s also the inconsistent accumulation of supernatural events that comes to ruin the story. Not necessarily by sole dint of being supernatural (that could be smoothed over, and the original show had some of it as well) but the ways the film’s justifications don’t necessarily make sense when they’re all put together, with so many tropes (Time travel! Mysterious liquid! Demonic deals!) competing for attention, it all degenerates into a big ball of incoherent nonsense. There are twists that bore, different stories clashing with others in ways that leave us cold, and the sense that a lot of effort (especially from Peña, who’s still good even in a dumb role) is expended trying to make us believe in something misshapen in the first place. The ultimate problem is in trying to tie everything up into one single explanation, which seems ludicrously specific, contrary to the potential of the premise and unbelievable in the first place. (“No way, we’re all from Chicago?”)  I’m not completely disappointed at the result (Any film with Maggie Q or Michael Peña is worth a look, and I’m adding Parisa Fitz-Henley to my watch list) but I now very much understand the critical lashing that the film got — enjoy those opening moments, viewers, because it’s all downhill from there.