From a DC Studios bet on a villain origin story to “an unfortunate example of how a beloved novel can die a slow death,” movie critic Richard Roeper details the top three movies of the weekend, letting you know which ones you should spend your time on and which ones you should consider skipping.
“Clayface” (in theaters)
Kudos to DC Studios for taking a big swing with a dark, violent R-rated origin story for a villain who isn’t nearly as well known as Joker or Penguin, but like its title character, “Clayface” suffers from an identity crisis. The story of a heartthrob actor who is horribly disfigured and turns to experimental technology has the potential to be a disturbing psychological thriller in the vein of Cronenberg’s masterful version of “The Fly” (1985), but the filmmakers seem more interested in reveling in the admittedly impressive gross-out effects than in exploring the more intriguing elements of the story.
Tom Rhys Harries is an instantly likable presence as Matt Hagen, a recently Oscar-nominated star who is riding the wave of momentum when he hooks up with the girlfriend of a powerful Gotham mob boss—who exacts his revenge the next morning by cutting up Matt’s face. Desperate to regain his life, Matt seeks out Naomi Ackie’s Caitlin Corr, who reluctantly agrees to let Matt become a human test subject for her untested experiments with AI-fueled regenerative nanocells. At first, it seems like a miracle cure—until Matt’s face starts falling off in grotesque fashion. He increases the dosage, and that just makes things worse. And now Matt can now rearrange his face so that he looks like other people. WHAT IS HAPPENING!
The buildup is intriguing, as Matt begins to fall for Caitlin even as he struggles with his emotions, which actually control whether he’ll look like his regular self, or morph into something terrifying. Still, we never really get invested in the story, in part because the Gotham of “Clayface” looks like a flat, generic city, and the mobsters and henchmen who incur the wrath of Matt aren’t particularly memorable. More problematic is that Matt makes some illogical choices—even for someone going through what he’s going through—that tests our empathy for him. That would be OK if he became a full-out villain, but the movie tries to have it both ways, right up until a conclusion that seems tacked on and gratuitous.
2.0 stars
“Klara and the Sun” (in theaters)
This is an unfortunate example of how a beloved novel can die a slow death when translated to the big screen. Director Taika Waititi’s adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s haunting and elegiac book of the same name is a shallow, brassy, off-putting and schmaltzy misstep, marred by uneven tonal shifts, unfortunate acting choices and an overall vibe that’s more creepy and obtuse than emotionally impactful.
“Klara and the Sun” is set in a post-apocalyptic world that actually seems pretty OK given World War III is in the recent rearview mirror. Things are just … different. For example, there’s no more Internet. Jenna Ortega is one of our best young actors, but she wildly overplays her role in a cloying performance as Klara, an older-model artificial friend who is desperately hoping to be paired with a human before she’s melted down for scraps. Klara finds a kindred spirit in a lonely and sickly human teenager named Josie (Mia Tharia), who lives with her distant mother Chrissie (Amy Adams) in a household riddled with grief, anxiety, denial and the pressure to be great. Against her mother’s objections, Josie chooses Klara to be her friend, and Klara moves into the chilly house.
Let the good times roll!
The visuals in “Klara and the Sun” are a garish mashup of “Willy Wonka” meets “The Wizard of Oz,” with none of the sly charm or effective humor and adventure of those two films. As Klara adjusts to her new surroundings and insists that the sun is a kind of god who can control the fate of humans and AI beings alike, the plot slogs along, relying on tropes such as the Big Romantic Misunderstanding and the Kindly Doctor who Is Anything But Kind. The film never misses a chance to get in its own way; nearly every time we’re on the verge of feeling a genuine heart, the moment is undercut by broad strokes of misguided humor. “Klara and the Sun” had the potential to be a contemplative dystopian drama about humans and robots learning from one another, an emotionally resonant story about friendship overcoming stereotypes, but we’re stuck with a sappy, manipulative, glacially-paced fable with tone-deaf dialogue, a meandering story and a baffling ending.
1.5 stars
“Love of Your Life” (Prime Video movie)
Margaret Qualley has starred in nine films over the last three years, displaying remarkable range and solidifying her standing as one of the most sought-after and valuable young actors in the business. Qualley gives her one of her best performances yet in the Prime Video film “Love of Your Life,” which could have fallen into the same treacly traps as “Klara and the Sun” but handles major plot swings and tricky emotional material with grace and authenticity.
Not that this is some kind of futuristic fantasy. “Love of Your Life” has its roots firmly planted in the real world, with the COVID epidemic playing a major part in the story, and we’ll say no more than that. Qualley’s Maya is an ER nurse in Boston who buys a piece of used furniture from a handsome and charming Ph.D. candidate named Charlie (Gabriel Basso)—and just like that, we’re off on what appears to be an endearing rom-com, with the obligatory scenes of them getting to know one another, meeting each other’s friends, Maya meeting Charlie’s extended family, etc., etc.
And then…
Let’s just say this is only the beginning of Maya’s journey, as “Love of Your Life” takes a path that reminded me of classic 1970s films such as “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and “An Unmarried Woman.” Maya thought her life plan was set in stone, but as it shifts and nearly crumbles beneath her, she makes a series of choices that feel true to her character, even if we sometimes wish she’d stop and take a breath for a moment. “Love of Your Life” has the confidence to take a beat every once in a while to show us the everyday rhythms of life, the small details that make each day unique. The screenplay doesn’t shy away from sentimentality, but then again, neither should life.
3.0 stars
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