Midnight Special (2016) - Nichols' strange, cool sci-fi curveball

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A mysterious bespectacled boy reads underneath a blanket on the uninformative poster for Jeff Nichols' Midnight Special

A boy whom a Texan sect is centered around has been abducted, and the authorities send their big guns out to locate him, when among other things they learn that he has divulged some of their secrets, which he couldn't possibly have known about naturally.

Midnight Special is written and directed by great Arkansan filmmaker Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories (2007)).
It is a strange story about a fantastical boy from a foreign civilization, which is elevated through handsome photography (by Adam Stone (The First (2018, TV-series))), skillful editing, an effective score (by David Wingo (Barry (2018-19))) and an excellent cast.
Jaeden Martell, formerly Lieberher, (St. Vincent (2014)) is tremendously credible as the boy; Adam Driver (Lincoln (2012)) is a delectable NASA scientist; Kirsten Dunst (Luckytown (2000)) finds herself in a very unglamorous maternal crisis in the film; and Michael Shannon (What They Had (2018)) and Joel Edgerton ($9.99 (2008)) are wooden men in the car.
Nichols doesn't miss an occasion to score a facial close-up from anyone in the fine cast, and the father-son dynamic between Shannon and Martell, - when we don't fully know the actual history between the two characters, - is a bit odd. The film remains exciting nevertheless, and it culminates forcefully with a view inside the super-evolved world of the strange boy. Midnight Special is a cool film.

Related posts:

Jeff Nichols: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Loving (2016) - Edgerton and Negga own the screen in Nichols' powerful period drama 
Top 10: Best drama-thrillers reviewed by Film Excess to date 
2012 in films - according to Film Exces [UPDATED I]
Mud (2012) - Career-defining, electric Americana
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]    
Take Shelter (2011) or, Madness in Ohio 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 18 mil. $
Box office: 6.7 mil. $
= Mega-flop (returned 0.37 times its cost)
[Midnight Special premiered 12 February (Berlin International Film Festival) and runs 112 minutes. Nichols wrote the script as a reflection of his becoming a father. It is Nichols first studio production, done so only when he was promised final cut. Shooting took place in Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico and in Mississippi from January - March 2014. Dunst wore no makeup in the film. The film opened #30 to a 190k $ first weekend in 5 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #14 and in 521 theaters (different weekends), grossing 3.7 mil. $ (55.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 1.4 mil. $ (20.9 % ) and the UK with 1.3 mil. $ (19.4%). Nichols returned with Loving (2016). Shannon returned in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016); Dunst in Hidden Figures (2016); and Martell in The Confirmation (2016). Midnight Special is certified fresh at 84 % with a 7.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Midnight Special?

St. Vincent (2014) - Melfi debuts with a heartwarming dramedy

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The star trifecta that leads one of the year's most endearing movies, Theodore Melfi's St. Vincent

St. Vincent is the (relatively) low-budget feature debut of producer Theodore Melfi (Tricks (2004), producer) after a string of shorts. Melfi has both written and directed this dramedy that sees great American actor Bill Murray (Groundhog Day (1993)) make a leading role comeback, his first since Wes Anderson's masterpiece The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004).

Vincent is an old, grumpy guy, who drinks too much, gambles too much (without much luck), steals and swears. His closest friend is a Russian-American prostitute. Now he gets two new neighbors, who are going to make an impact on his rather sad life.

Melfi has been blessed with a stellar cast, perhaps responding to his script that was on the 2011 Blacklist:
Besides Murray, who is back in form, Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids (2011)) proves a very worthy opposing young comedian/actress; McCarthy shares the screen with him and carries her own; she delivers natural laughs as well as impressive dramatic moments that fuel St. Vincent, which is a great showcase for her. 
The film relies on a story that has a totally real feel to it. Nothing is exaggerated beyond what is realistic here. - Melfi wants to tell us an uplifting story with a heaviness to it that includes some of the complications and tragedy of life as it is, and as his audience, we want him to finally push us to the heartwarming resolve that we pretty much know we are in for.
 

Bill Murray and Jaeden Lieberher in one of the best scenes in Theodore Melfi's St. Vincent

The details:

Naomi Watts (The Impossible/Lo Impossible (2012)) is fun in a role few probably expected to see her play; a supporting role as a pregnant, Russian-American stripper/prostitute. Chris O'Dowd (Calvary (2014)) completes the adult ensemble as a nice Catholic teacher, who injects the neat theme of saints to the story. - St. Vincent deals with religions but it's not a religious movie really. (But it's also not not a religious movie.)
Jaeden Lieberher (Aloha (2015)) makes an almost eerily well-acted feature debut here as the boy Oliver; Lieberher is both super-cute, endearing and smart. SPOILER I especially loved the scenes of his training for and relating about the inevitable nose breaking of the bully. Dario Barosso (The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)) plays that bully, (as he has done more than once before already in his short career), and it was nice to see SPOILER the two build a friendship later in this film.
St. Vincent presents a rare mix of the virtues of helping each other out and being something for one another with implicit stings at the systems of today that make life an uphill struggle for those who are not well-off financially. Summing it up in the shortest way possible, it's a good time at the movies, so don't miss it!
Melfi is already in pre-production with his next film, Going in Style, a heist comedy with veteran actors Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin.

Watch the trailer for the movie here

Cost: 13 mil. $
Box office: 54.6 mil. $
= Big hit
[Hooray for St. Vincent! It made it! The film has  made 44.1 mil. $ (81 % of the total gross) in the US, and its theatrical engagements are singing on its last verse now, though it opens in Sweden tomorrow. It has garnered good reviews, several nominations, including Globe nominations for Best Comedy/Musical and Best Musical/Comedy Actor (Murray), and a few wins.]

What do you think of St. Vincent?