This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Mill Valley Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.
Featuring Mill Valley Film Festival reviews of The Outside Story, Home, Jumbo, Current Sea, Public Trust, and The Heist of the Century.
The Outside Story
Although it’s certainly not breaking any cinematic boundaries, The Outside Story is quite the irresistible charmer! The plot is a little basic and the writing sometimes feels slightly off. However, it has and endlessly wholesome and sugary sweet tone that makes for a lovely viewing experience. The ensemble, especially Henry, thrive and let this excel. It at times feels like theater, especially with its limited locations, giving it a unique feel that’s hard to compare. It almost plays out like a fantasy in this world we live in where this type of interaction is minimal, and it has the optimistic charm of one too! (Daniel Azbel)
74/100
Home
Home is a compelling documentary exploring the power of the human spirit. Filmed by mostly by British athlete Sarah Outen and a small team, the film covers her quest to become the first person to cycle, row, and paddle across the world. Proving to be much easier said than done, this intimate portrayal of Outen’s 4.5 year journey, through her many ups and downs that impacted her physically and mentally, was not only inspiring but beautiful to watch. In the end, despite its impressive scope, its limited nature made for gaps which made the film feel on the rushed side.
73/100
Jumbo
Ever since its premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, some have dismissed Jumbo on its premise alone, a film about a woman who falls in love with an amusement park ride, While the film essentially fails at trying to be more than its admittedly silly premise, it deserves a chance and manages to still be a somewhat entertaining watch. An engaging and often tragic depiction of mental illness, the film works thanks to a vulnerable lead performance by Noémie Merlant. Meanwhile, the film does an impeccable job at pulling the viewer into its lead’s world with some impressive imagery.
68/100
Current Sea
Current Sea is a documentary that felt like a thriller. The film follows the journey to create a marine conservation area to combat the rise of the illegal fishing industry in Cambodia at the hands of Vietnam and other neighboring countries. Thing got intense to watch as the illegal fishermen went to imaginative and sometimes dangerous lengths to support themselves and their families while the other side fought the fisherman on the seas and the Cambodian government to enact laws to protect the local marine life and the livelihoods of the Cambodian people. An important film for conservationists everywhere.
78/100
Public Trust
It may not seem that way nowadays but America is a beautiful country though perhaps some Americans take that for granted. Public Trust is a documentary that celebrates the beauty the country has to offer, specifically its public lands, and also highlights the powerful forces that look to take control of them to plunder them and their countless resources out of greed. Despite seemingly insurmountable odds against the likes of big industries both domestic and abroad and the American government, there are still people and communities fighting to defend these lands and livelihoods against those looking to take them away.
74/100
The Heist of the Century
Based on a true story, The Heist of The Century is a comedy about a group of thieves who pull off the most sophisticated heist in Argentinian history. With films like these, the fun comes from waiting to see if all will work out. While it did. it definitely did not look that way until it happened. It’s all about the hijinks and for that, the film was fun to watch thanks to the chemistry of its cast. With any rise comes a fall and perhaps the film is a touch too long as a result but that’s a minor issue.
72/100
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.
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