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Early reviews are powerful. When I first heard about Black Bag, I thought the film had potential, but I wasn’t entirely convinced. If I’m being honest, I was actually a bit skeptical, so I decided I’d only watch the movie if the critics gave it a thumbs up. I anxiously awaited the day their reviews would start to drop, and when they finally did, I was floored. To say the reactions to Black Bag were positive would be an understatement. The film received nearly universal acclaim (as of this writing, it still has a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes with over 150 reviews!), so of course, I just had to check it out for myself. I bought a ticket for opening weekend as soon as I got the chance, and I couldn’t wait to see if the movie lived up to the hype.
Black Bag was directed by Steven Soderbergh, and it stars Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page, and Pierce Brosnan. In the film, George and his wife Kathryn are both British intelligence agents, and despite living in a world of deceit and duplicity, they manage to maintain a stable and loving relationship. But that all changes when George is tasked with finding out who stole a top-secret computer program called Severus. He’s given a list of potential leakers, and to his chagrin, his wife is one of the suspects. This unfortunate turn of events threatens to tear their marriage apart, and if Kathryn really did steal the program, it’ll force George to choose between the two great loves of his life–his country and his wife. When you first read that plot description, it sounds like an awesome premise for a spy thriller, but unfortunately, the execution in Black Bag doesn’t hold up its end of the bargain. To be fair, there’s a lot to like in this movie. Most notably, the cinematography is top notch, and the story takes some pretty riveting twists and turns…or at least, they would be riveting if I cared about the characters. See, for all this film gets right, it makes one fatal misstep: the characters are boring. Take George, for example. He’s brought to life by Michael Fassbender, and the guy goes almost the entire movie without cracking a smile. He comes across as all business all the time, even when he’s talking to his wife (and even when they’re in the bedroom!), and to his credit, Fassbender plays the part perfectly. He doesn’t let the slightest bit of unwanted levity shine through his character’s unbreachable veneer of seriousness, so you totally believe that this genuinely is his personality. It’s an A-plus performance, but there’s just one problem: it doesn’t make for a compelling protagonist. Sure, that vibe would’ve been fine for a side character, but as the lead, George ends up feeling rather soulless. He’s almost entirely bereft of humanity, so no matter how gripping his story may be on paper, I simply couldn’t bring myself to care about it. And when we turn to Fassbender’s costars, they’re not much better. A number of the characters in Black Bag are similarly mechanical, and the ones who break that mold aren’t given a ton to do. Either way, they all come across as flat and uninteresting, so after about a half hour, the experience started to feel more like homework than entertainment. On a thematic level, Black Bag deals with ideas Catholics should appreciate, but once again, the weak characters sap the story of all its force. For instance, in typical spy thriller fashion, the stolen software has the power to wipe out thousands of innocent people, so the film could’ve served as a powerful witness to the value of human life. Similarly, since George and Kathryn are married, their relationship could’ve highlighted some important truths about the marriage bond. But because Fassbender’s performance lacks humanity, you never feel the weight of those great themes. You get the impression that George cares about Severus because it’s his job, not because he truly values the lives it threatens, and despite what he says about his wife, his love for her seems almost passionless. Intellectually, all the pieces are there, but like its lead character, this movie just has no soul. It’s the cinematic equivalent of reading a list of bullet points, so if you ask me, I’d recommend giving Black Bag a pass.
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You have to step outside your comfort zone every once in a while. That common advice is true in almost every area of life, and movies are no exception. If you’ve read my reviews before, you know my tastes lean very heavily towards what are commonly called “genre” films–horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and action–but when I first heard about There’s Still Tomorrow, I decided to take a leap of faith and give it a shot. It’s about as far from my typical wheelhouse as anything I’ve ever seen in a theater, so this was a real stretch for me. I walked into my screening with little more than a hope and a prayer that I wouldn’t regret the decision, and now that I’ve finally seen the movie, I’m happy to report that I was not disappointed.
There’s Still Tomorrow was directed and co-written by Paola Cortellesi, and Cortellesi also stars in the film alongside Romana Maggiora Vergano, Emanuela Fanelli, Valerio Mastandrea, Francesco Centorame, Vinicio Marchioni, and Giorgio Colangeli. It’s a black-and-white Italian dramedy set shortly after the close of World War II, and it follows a middle-aged woman named Delia who lives with her husband Ivano and their three children. Plotwise, there’s not much to say about this movie. It focuses more on the characters and the themes than on the story, so you’d be hard-pressed to find a consistent narrative thread that runs through the entire film. It’s largely just an examination of Delia’s daily life and the crosses she has to bear as a woman in post-war Italy, so audiences used to mainstream Hollywood filmmaking might struggle with this slower, more meandering approach to the art. But if you’re okay just sitting back and following these people as they go about their normal, unassuming existence, you’ll find a treasure trove of beauty and meaning. Let’s start with the performances. They’re the heart and soul of this movie, and almost everybody in the cast is fantastic. For instance, Valerio Mastandrea plays the ill-tempered, hyper-macho husband who alternates between hitting his wife and insulting her in front of the kids, and if you’ve ever met anybody like that, you’ll totally buy this guy’s performance. Mastandrea carries himself with the gruff, arrogant air of a longtime abuser, so even when he’s not actively assailing his wife, you’ll loathe him and desperately want him to get his just desserts. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Paola Cortellesi plays Delia as a tender, loving woman who just wants what’s best for her family, but she also infuses the character with a strength and resilience someone like Ivano could only dream of. Her husband has led a relatively easy life, but she’s had to endure years of abuse and mistreatment both at home and from society at large. On top of the beatings and verbal assaults she receives from Ivano, she also earns less at work simply because she’s a woman, and her lecherous father-in-law touches her inappropriately whenever she gets close to him. The poor woman has very little respite from the misogynistic patriarchy that permeates her world, and Cortellesi beautifully manifests the character’s inner fortitude as well as the constant pain that stubbornly refuses to leave her side. She almost makes you feel that torment yourself, so you’ll come to love Delia and sympathize with her plight almost immediately after you meet her. And at its core, that’s what There’s Still Tomorrow is really about. It’s an examination of the hardships women had to endure in that era of Italian history (and, by extension, the struggles women all over the world still experience today), and the film approaches that theme from a few different angles. It obviously focuses primarily on Delia’s story, but there’s also a subplot involving her daughter, Marcella, that lulls you into a sense of cozy security before hitting you with the disturbing truth. It’s a clever sneak attack that shows you just how widespread this misogyny really is, so in case you didn’t get the point with Delia, you’re sure to see it with her daughter. As you can probably guess, that pervasive abuse and mistreatment can begin to feel pretty heavy after a while, so I’m glad this movie is a comedy as well as a drama. The jokes had me and the small crowd at my screening laughing out loud throughout the film’s entire two-hour runtime, so no matter how dark the story got, it never became oppressive. In fact, the overall experience was surprisingly lighthearted. On the whole, this movie is just as fun as it is heartbreaking, so it allows you to have your cake and eat it too. That being said, the story isn’t all doom and gloom. There’s Still Tomorrow ends on an unexpectedly hopeful note, and I really wish I could talk about it in detail. But that would ruin the surprise, so I can only dance around it with vague generalities. Suffice it to say, this conclusion is a breath of fresh air in a cinematic world where half the population has their dignity trampled upon every single day, and director Paola Cortellesi executes the finale with such triumphant joy that you won’t just walk out of the theater. You’ll float out, and you’ll be inspired to do your part to make the world a better place. Seriously, this is one of the most beautiful endings I’ve ever seen in a film, so in my book, it cements There’s Still Tomorrow as an instant classic. I’m so glad I went outside my comfort zone and gave this movie a shot, so even if it’s outside your typical wheelhouse too, I highly recommend checking it out anyway. It’s hilarious, heartbreaking, and moving in all the right ways, so if you're a fan of great cinema, I think you’ll love it just as much as I did. Other than maybe comedy and horror, comedy and action is the best genre mashup around. Those two styles just complement each other incredibly well, so naturally, I’ve been super excited for the new action comedy Novocaine ever since I first heard about it. The premise alone was enough to pique my interest, but what really sent my anticipation through the roof was the trailer. This film looked like it would blend its two genres nearly to perfection, so when I got the chance to attend an early screening at my local AMC, I couldn’t say no. I eagerly purchased a ticket as soon as I got home from work, and now that I’ve finally seen the movie, I’m happy to report that it totally delivers.
Novocaine was directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, and it stars Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder, Ray Nicholson, Jacob Batalon, Betty Gabriel, and Matt Walsh. In the film, Nathan is an unassuming bank manager with a rare medical condition called congenital insensitivity to pain, or CIP for short. As the name suggests, it means the guy can’t feel pain, so he leads a very careful life. He has to make sure he doesn’t unknowingly injure himself, and for him, that means eschewing any sort of social life. When he’s not working, he just stays home playing video games, but that all changes when he has lunch with Sherry. She’s one of the tellers at the bank, and they hit it off immediately. Sherry becomes Nathan’s first real friend, and soon after that, she becomes his girlfriend. It seems like life has finally turned around for our poor protagonist, but before he can really savor this newfound happiness, something terrible happens. One day, a group of criminals rob the bank and take Sherry hostage, and without thinking twice, Nathan decides to take matters into his own hands. He follows the thieves in hopes of rescuing the woman he loves, and as luck would have it, his insensitivity to pain comes very much in handy. Like a lot of the best action flicks, Novocaine doesn’t dive into the mayhem right away. It spends about twenty-five minutes introducing us to the two main characters and their budding relationship, and if you ask me, that’s the exact right storytelling choice. Nathan and Sherry are both incredibly likable, so no matter what’s happening, it’s just an absolute joy to see them on screen. Let’s start with Nathan. He’s played by Jack Quaid, and if you’ve ever seen The Boys, you know exactly what this guy is like. He has the same dorky, somewhat awkward personality as Hughie, Quaid’s character in that show, and to the surprise of nobody, Quaid knocks it out of the park. He’s so natural in these roles you can’t help but wonder if he’s like that in real life, and just like in The Boys, he also manages to imbue Nathan with the kind of charisma that keeps your eyes glued to the screen whenever he’s around. He’s simply a super fun character to watch, but he’s not the only great protagonist in the first act of Novocaine. Sherry doesn’t have any noteworthy quirks, but that doesn’t stop actress Amber Midthunder from shining just as brightly as her costar. She takes what could’ve very easily been a bland love interest and turns her into the kind of person you’d love to hang out with, so Nathan and Sherry just might be the year’s best on-screen couple so far (at the very least, they give Ally and Jay from Heart Eyes a run for their money). That great lead duo carries the first twenty-five minutes of Novocaine, but their influence doesn’t stop there. They also keep the rest of the movie grounded in genuine humanity, so when the action finally kicks into gear, it’s not just visual noise. You truly care about Nathan and Sherry’s plight, and that emotional connection with the characters makes this more than just an action flick. It’s a love story. It’s about the lengths a man will go to in order to protect the woman he loves, and to quote Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride, “you could not ask for a more noble cause than that.” That being said, a great cause is only half the battle. The main character’s pursuit of his goal also has to be entertaining, and on that count, Novocaine is a total slam dunk as well. The action is super fun, but the real star of this show is the comedy. Nathan’s inability to feel pain is played for laughs from beginning to end, so no matter what happens to him, the directing team of Dan Berk and Robert Olsen manage to turn it into a genuinely knee-slapping joke. On paper, that schtick might sound like it would get old pretty quickly, but the directors don’t let that happen. They constantly find new and inventive ways to make you laugh out loud, and it’s a good thing they do, because Nathan’s injuries get pretty intense at times. To take just a couple of examples, there’s a scene where the guy gets an arrow shot through his leg, and at one point in the film, he even gets some of his fingernails ripped off. If this wasn’t a comedy, those moments would feel like they came straight out of a gross-out horror flick, but with the gags, they end up being surprisingly lighthearted. To be fair, the jokes don’t neutralize all of Nathan’s injuries, so the more squeamish among us will probably still struggle with some of them, but on the whole, they’ll make the experience of watching someone endure grievous bodily harm way more enjoyable than you’d ever expect it to be. It’s an absolute blast and a half, so if you’re a fan of bonkers action comedies, I think you’re going to love Novocaine. It’s not the best movie of this still-young year (as of this writing, that honor goes to a little Italian film called There’s Still Tomorrow), but it’s definitely the most fun, and it grounds that fun in genuine humanity. I walked out of the theater with a big smile on my face, and if this sounds like something you’d enjoy, I think you will too. |
Jp Nunezis a longtime film buff and theology nerd with master's degrees in theology and philosophy from Franciscan University of Steubenville. His favorite movie genres are horror, superheroes, and giant monsters. Archives
May 2025
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