5 minute read
Film Reviews
Sister Rose Pacatte, FSP
Sister Rose is a Daughter of St. Paul and the founding director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies. She has been the awardwinning fi lm columnist for St. Anthony Messenger since 2003 and is the author of several books on Scripture and fi lm, as well as media literacy education.
Advertisement
Sister Rose’s FAVORITE LENTENTHEMED FILMS
Th e Help (2011) Mass (2021) Th e Way (2010) Schindler’s List (1993) Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
WANT MORE? Visit our website: StAnthonyMessenger.org
BREAKING BREAD
Anthony Bourdain, the beloved food pilgrim and writer, once said, “Food may not be the answer to world peace, but at least it’s a start.” Th e Israeli version of Britain’s MasterChef premiered in 2010 to great acclaim. In 2014, Dr. Nof Atamna-Ismaeel—a microbiologist, chef, wife, and mother of three from a town in northern Israel—became the fi rst Muslim Arab to win Israel’s most-watched Sunday show. A year later, she cofounded the A-Sham Arabic Food Festival in Haifa. Th is superb documentary tells the story of the festival that pairs Muslim, Jewish, and Christian chefs collaborating to bring back dishes that have gone extinct or those “with a lot of meaning.”
Atamna-Ismaeel believes that “there is no room for politics in the kitchen” and sets out to prove it by modeling peace between people who are oft en thought to be at odds. She believes that the world sees Israel as 90 percent confl ict. Th e reality, however, is that the country is made up of community and fellowship.
I fi rst saw Breaking Bread at the 2019 Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival and was overwhelmed by the beauty of American producer/director Beth Elise Hawk’s immersion into Arab-Israeli cuisine at the food festival. From the beginning, you are drawn in and transported to another place by the mouthwatering visuals of something as simple as making hummus, which, if you have ever visited the Middle East, never tastes the same twice.
Now making its theatrical premiere in US theaters, this documentary is a celebration of food, humanity, and the willingness to live in peace built on mutual respect and art. Because the chefs were paired off before fi lming began, there is an authenticity to their interactions and passion for food, rather than the artifi cial construction of reality television shows in this country. Th e food festival is about collaboration—not competition.
Hawk explained in one interview that Atamna-Ismaeel is aware of the confl ict between Arabs and Jews. “Th ey are aware of this and know that what transpired at the A-Sham Festival was the antithesis of politics, where food was the great equalizer, a unifi er rather than divider. I tried my best to be sensitive to the cultural nuances of both sides and maintain a balance in the structure (without aff ecting the fi lm’s integrity), as much as possible in postproduction.”
Th e resulting fi lm, a delight for the eyes and the heart, feels so inviting that Haifa may become a destination for foodies everywhere.
LAST LOOKS
Charlie (Charlie Hunnam) moves around his aging trailer on a remote lot near Idlewild, California, listening to the narration of the short fi lm Th e Story of Stuff , about how consumerism is destroying the earth. Aft er leaving a successful career as a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department in a fog of shame, Charlie has changed his life. He now only has 100 possessions. When he gets something new, he gets rid of something else.
His life of solitude is disrupted when a former colleague, Lorena (Morena Baccarin), shows up to entice Charlie to help her solve the murder of the wife of a famous British actor, Alastair Pinch (Mel Gibson), who plays a judge on television. Charlie refuses to help, and she leaves. Soon he is convinced by some nefarious characters to fi nd Lorena because she stole a thumb drive from them and is now missing.
Last Looks is directed by Tim Kirkby and scripted by Howard Michael Gould, who based it on his 2018 novel of the same name. Th e opening sequence got my attention because it starts out as a terrifi c exposé on the consequences of consumption. Th en the narrative veers off into a disjointed, fi lm noir knockoff : a tale of cops, studio heads, movie stars, murder, criminals, and a reluctant hero. Charlie’s minimalist lifestyle is the running joke throughout the fi lm. Gibson, in a supporting role, comports himself well, as if to let us know he has cleaned up his act in real life. It is entertaining enough with some funny moments.
Not yet rated, R • Some language, bullying, suicide references, verbal violence.
Catholic News Service Media Review Offi ce gives these ratings.
A-1 General patronage
A-2
Adults and adolescents
A-3
Adults
L Limited adult audience
O
Morally offensive
THE TENDER BAR
In the 1970s, Dorothy (Lily Rabe) returns to her parents’ home on Long Island with her 9-year-old son, JR (played at diff erent ages by Daniel Ranieri and Tye Sheridan), aft er her marriage falls apart. She joins her aging parents and other siblings who have returned home with their kids for similar reasons. As Uncle Charlie (Ben Affl eck) says, “It’s crowded.”
Charlie owns a bar called Th e Tender Bar and teaches young JR valuable life lessons over the years. He encourages him to become a writer, though Dorothy wants him to go to Yale and become a lawyer. Th e fi lm is directed by Oscar-winner George Clooney with the screenplay by William Monahan.
Th is is a gentle story about a bartender who loves unconditionally. Th e only distracting thing about the fi lm is that the amazing and promising actor who plays the young JR looks nothing like JR as a young man.
