The Duke (2020)

On my watch list for months, this delightful caper lived up to all I had read, as a 60-something Newcastle man steals a painting from the National Gallery of London in 1961. Yes, it did happen. Jim Broadbent is terrific as Kempton Bunton ("That's not a real name," someone says in the movie, but it was) as is Helen Mirren as his impatient wife Dorothy. In the very large cast you'll also see Fionn Whitehead as their son Jackie and Matthew Goode as a lawyer. The Duke of Wellington is the subject of the painting by Goya.

Roger Michell (who died in September, 2021 at 65) directs with a firm hand from a multi-layered script by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman and I loved the 60s-inspired score by George Fenton, 

Broadbent was 71 and Mirren was 76 when the movie was released in 2020. Kempton was 61 when the painting was stolen. But, as I said in an earlier post, maybe in earlier times 60-something people acted older than we did when we were that age (!).

Kempton and Dorothy's grandson Christopher Bunton is among the producers.

Broadbent and Goode were last blogged for The Sense of an Ending, Mirren for The Good Liar, Whitehead for Dunkirk, Michell for Le Week-End, Fenton for The Lady in the Van. Bean and Coleman make their screenplay debuts.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are in royal agreement with Jack and me, averaging 97%, while its audiences aren't far behind in succession at 85. We rented it July 27 from iTunes/Apple TV and loved it.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

We liked a lot this romp in which Nicolas Cage plays a version of himself––divorced, charming, yet unreliable, insecure, narcissistic, and needing a job––who travels to Europe to meet a superfan and gets involved in espionage. Wonderful location shots and high production values plus fun supporting work from Pedro Pascal, Tiffany Haddish, Sharon Horgan, Lily Sheen, and more add to the enjoyment.

You don't have to be an obsessive Cage devotee to like this but it wouldn't hurt. There are references and/or clips from too many of his projects to count. And his screen credit here is his birth name Nicolas Kim Coppola (his father was Francis' brother).

Directed by Tom Gormican from a script by him and Kevin Etten, it moves along at a steady clip. Although there is one fantastical element that I wouldn't have missed, it doesn't ruin the movie.

Mark Isham's alternately moody and lively score can be streamed on Apple Music and others.

The settings include Dubrovnik, Budapest (including the Urania National Movie Theatre), and Los Angeles (including the Sunset Tower and Chateau Marmont), shot beautifully by Nigel Bluck.

Cage was last blogged for Pig, Haddish for The Kitchen, Horgan for Together, Sheen for Everybody's Fine (in which she played a young version of her real life mother Kate Beckinsale. Her father is Michael Sheen), Isham for scoring Judas and the Black Messiah, and Bluck for shooting The Peanut Butter Falcon.

I think I watched the first season of Narcos, in which Pascal played the drug kingpin modeled after Pablo Escobar, but he plays this role for laughs. This is Gormican's second film script (after writing with Etten on 4 episodes of a TV show) and directing debut. Etten has produced and/or written quite a lot of TV shows and this is his first movie screenplay. 

Rotten Tomatoes' critics' average is a not-quite-massive 86% and its audiences' similarly sized at 87. We watched it July 19 as a rental from Apple TV/iTunes.

Jerry & Marge Go Large (2022)

Jack and I really liked this story of a real man in his 60s who figures out how to profit from a state lottery and brings his wife and many others in on the scheme to win millions. Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening are adorable as the title characters, as are Larry Wilmore, Rainn Wilson, and others.

David Frankel directs from Brad Copeland's screenplay, which was adapted from/inspired by Jason Fagone's 2018 Huffington Post article. I read the article after watching the movie and suggest you wait, too. I learned the movie changed some details, none of which bothered me. In fact, they made a better story. That said, I thought that the characters of Marge and Jerry did act older than the early 60s they were said to be. Perhaps, however, that's how folks acted in their actual place and time––Evart, Michigan just after the turn of this century. 

Whoa, news flash: in Andrea Estes' and Scott Allen's 2012 Boston Globe article that preceded Fagone's article, Marge is said to be "70-something." That makes their behavior more believable. The drier Globe story concentrates more on the lottery and is not credited for the movie, while the Huff Post article is about the people: Marge and Jerry Selbee.

Although I found a playlist of the songs, I don't think there's a link to the score by Jake Monaco.

Atlanta locations stood in for Michigan and Massachusetts, with cinematography by Maryse Alberti.

Cranston was last blogged for The Upside, Bening for The Seagull, Wilmore for Dinner for Schmucks (besides lots of TV acting, writing, and creating), Frankel for Hope Springs, and Alberti for The Kitchen. 

Wilson is best known for 188 episodes of The Office and, besides many TV roles, has acted in a handful of movies that I haven't seen. Copeland wrote 19 episodes of Grounded for Life, six of Arrested Development, and eight of Life in Pieces, to name a few.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics have shrunk to 65% but its audiences are bigger at 78. We thought it was sweet when we watched on June 28 on Paramount+.

The Kitchen (2019)

Yes, we watched it three years ago but I forgot to write about it. I think we liked it. I recall that it's a violent story of three women who have to complete their husbands' crimes while the men are in jail. Melissa McCarthy and Tiffany Haddish play against type as desperate women, while, as we know, Elisabeth Moss can do anything.

It was directed and written by Andrea Berloff, based on a comic book series by Ollie Masters and Ming Doyle. Bryce Dessner composed the score, which can be streamed on Apple Music and elsewhere. Maryse Alberti was the cinematographer.

McCarthy was last blogged for Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Haddish for The Card Counter (this year), Moss for The One I Love (last year), Berloff for writing Straight Outta Compton (The Kitchen is her directing debut), Dessner for Cyrano (this year), and Alberti for Stone.

Its huge cast of talented actors is belied by Rotten Tomatoes' uncooked average of 23%, while the audiences' 69% average suggests it's slightly tastier.

If you are intrigued, it's available to rent on Apple TV/iTunes, Prime video, and more.

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022)

As big fans of Emma Thompson, Jack and I were happy to see her latest (and were not disappointed), in which a 60-something London widow hires a young male prostitute to check sexual experiences off her bucket list. Thompson and Daryl McCormack bring plenty of depth to the roles of Nancy and Leo. 

This and another one (coming soon to these pages) do not get the age thing right. Imdb says her character is 55 but Thompson is 63, and her character seemed to me to be in her 60s or older. Director Sophie Hyde and writer/“creator” Katy Brand are 45 and 43, respectively, so perhaps they couldn’t bear to age their Nancy so much.

The music by Stephen Rennicks can be streamed on Apple Music and elsewhere.

There is a movement afoot to stop using the term “sex workers,” as some folks believe such people are victims of human trafficking. That may be true elsewhere, but Leo is no victim and the term is used a lot in this movie.

It was shot in 19 days in Norfolk, England.

Thompson was last blogged for Cruella and McCormack for Pixie. Hyde and Brand are new to me, though experienced. It may be relevant to note that Brand, who has more credits for acting than other jobs, had a small part in Nanny McPhee Returns (2010), which Thompson wrote and played the the title character. I put creator in quotations, above, because I’ve never seen it before as a movie credit.

Rotten Tomatoes’ critics are very lucky, averaging 95%, and its audiences are almost as fortunate at 85.

We watched it June 22 on Hulu.