Talking Movies: Tár, Superintelligence and Thando
Spling reviews Tár, Superintelligence and Thando as broadcast on Talking Movies, Fine Music Radio. Listen to podcast.
TRANSCRIPT
Good morning – welcome to Talking Movies, I’m Spling…
This week, we’re talking about an arthouse music drama, a modern romcom and a social drama.
Starting off with a film now on circuit…
TÁR
One of the greatest living composer-conductors navigates the international world of Western classical music.
Writer-Director: Todd Field
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Noémie Merlant and Nina Hoss
Tár is a fictional chronicle of a world-renowned conductor whose untouchable ego and self-destructive tendencies eventually catch up with her. Taking its time to immerse audiences by way of a reality-soaking interview, the EGOT winner is established on the back of a comprehensive to exhaustive biographical introduction. It takes a while to acclimatize to the pacing of this elegant character portrait, but the experience becomes quite mesmerising as the fly-on-the-wall style docudrama channels a lifelike flow, intimate and often prickly. Getting to grips with the character’s station, critical acclaim and precarious personal life, the filmmakers keep an effective tension as Blanchett’s organic, magnetic and versatile performance serves as the golden thread. While Blanchett is deserving of an Oscar, one of six nominations for Tár, the runaway success of the Everything, Everywhere All at Once phenomenon took centre stage at this year’s Academy Awards. Maintaining her typical grace, Tar’s underscored by the character’s ego and refreshed by gender and sexual orientation within the field, which creates a multi-layered twist for this fine production. An arthouse drama, Tár is far from being a crowd-pleaser. Yet, it’s so engaging that it’s difficult not to be entertained and transported by Blanchett’s brilliant performance and this timebomb drama as absolute power corrupts a soul with real-world consequences. A timely examination, Tár entertains some topical debates, delivering a slow-boiling character portrait as it pours from one curious scene to the next.
An excellent 8!
Moving on to a movie now on Showmax…
SUPERINTELLIGENCE
An all-powerful Superintelligence chooses to study average Carol Peters, who must prove that people are worth saving.
Director: Ben Falcone
Stars: Melissa McCarthy, James Corden and Bobby Cannavale
Superintelligence is a comedy drama turned romance about one of today’s hot topics, artificial intelligence. This charming movie grapples with how AI has come to infiltrate so many aspects of our daily lives. It’s not concerned about presenting a cautionary tale about the rapid advances of technology and just how unprepared lawmakers are to navigate the grey area. It’s more about creating an innovative platform for a formulaic romcom to play out. Starting as an all-seeing threat, the Superintelligence adopts James Corden’s voice in order to soothe a fan described as “the most average person on earth” in a failed job interview. McCarthy is a naturally cute and funny actor whose bubbly disposition is infectious and filters into the tonal qualities of the films she headlines. While an absolute delight, she’s limited by the writing and is now becoming typecast with familiar comedy scenarios. As fresh as the theme is, Superintelligence does slip into familiar territory as formulaic romcom elements surface. A lighter version of Spike Jonze’s Her, where AI essentially plays matchmaker, Superintelligence does enough to remain entertaining, smoothing over its flaws with giddiness and a sense of nutty fun. There are more hits than misses and while it fails to truly explore the darker side to its artificial intelligence conversation, this sheep in wolf’s clothing does just enough to carry through with the help of its affable and breezy co-leads. Basically two films glued together, Superintelligence is not the most seamless hybrid but is lightweight and entertaining enough if you’re willing to roll with it.
A flat 5!
And finally a movie now on Showmax…
THANDO
A schoolgirl pushed to the edge revisits some of the life events that brought her to this point.
Director: Kagiso Modupe
Stars: Zikhona Bali, Thembi Nyandeni and Mpho Sebeng
This gritty and timely social drama deals with abortion, bullying, gender-based violence, suicide and the trappings of having a blesser. As sincere as it may be, the drama is undone by an overwrought screenplay and tonal inconsistencies. Leaning too heavily on narration, Thando over-explains and creates some unbelievable scenarios, which while somewhat redeemed by its resolution become cloying and unintentionally humorous in the moment. Switching perspective at one point, there’s too much telling and not enough showing. The performances are earnest and this authenticity goes a long way to keeping a degree of emotional investment, however the net result is rather shaky as important as its issues are. The pacing is also a bit stop start, finding its fulcrum at one primary location and using flashbacks, which are a bit confusing in the timeline. Doing some story acrobatics along the way, the final twist offers some relief but does come across as an edgy yet cheap trick in the grand scheme of things, subverting any haunting afterthoughts and siphoning dramatic power. One gets the impression that the film was crafted around social issues in a way to serve as an educational film with artistic merit rather then vice versa. It powers through to present a glorified after-school special with clout as the seriousness of events ramps up to necessitate governmental acknowledgement.
A flimsy 4!
So just to wrap up…
TAR… an effortless lead performance and engaging docudrama storytelling realise this silky, timely yet cautionary character portrait… An excellent 8!
SUPERINTELLIGENCE… a delightful lead and curious modern concept underpin this charming yet rickety hybrid romance comedy drama… A flat 5!
THANDO… noble ambitions, sincere performances and timely issues soften an overwrought script and uneven film-making… A flimsy 4!
For more movie reviews and features visit splingmovies.com.
And remember, Don’t WING it, SPL!NG it!
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