YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE (full review at Screen Realm)

You Were Never Really Here is the fourth feature from Lynne Ramsay and is an adaptation of the novella by Jonathan Ames.

Joaquin Phoenix stars as Joe, a deeply traumatised ex-soldier who lives with his elderly mother and works as the hired muscle for a private investigator. A lucrative case comes his way as he is employed to locate Nina (Ekaterina Samsonov), the runaway daughter of a local Senator. He is given an address and a request to exercise both discretion and brutality. To divulge any more plot would be to enter spoiler territory but suffice it to say, the plot takes us into some dark territory and violence is ever present.

Read the full review at Screen Realm:
https://screenrealm.com/you-were-never-really-here-movie-review-joaquin-phoenix/

IMDB: You Were Never Really Here

INHERENT VICE (full review at The Reel Word)

In 1970 Los Angeles, Larry ‘Doc’ Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) is a perma-stoned private detective, hired to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, a wealthy, married property mogul. At the same time, Doc is hired to find a recently released ex-con and a woman’s missing, presumed dead, husband. By accident or design, these cases intersect and Doc must work to resolve them, all whilst being hassled by Detective ‘Bigfoot’ Bjornsen (Josh Brolin), and the stridently anti-hippy LAPD.
Read the rest of the review at The Reel Word:
http://www.thereelword.net/inherent-vice-review/

IMDB: Inherent Vice

HER

I went into this movie knowing little to nothing about it and was very pleasantly surprised by Spike Jonze’s comedic, existential sc-fi romance drama (!). Never one to shy away from the offbeat or the weird, courtesy of his track record of collaborations with Charlie Kauffman, this was written and directed by Jonze and sees heartbroken writer Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) falling in love with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), the self aware operating system for his computer.

Set in the near future, categorised by some believable but futuristic tech, and society’s sartorial preference for very high waisted trousers, HER delivers some profundity, amusement and just the right amount of pretension (lightly flavoured, rather than over seasoned) to make for a really interesting and different take on a conventional romance picture.

As a piece of cinema it LOOKS fantastic. Subtle effects illustrating the scope of the future cities or the modern day technology of the time.  The performances are key to this working also. Joaquin Phoenix is reliably great. Scarlett Johansson is perhaps a little too recognisable, but since her entire part in this is as a disembodied voice, it’s also a great performance. Smaller parts are filled out with actors of quality – from Amy Adams through to Olivia Wilde to Chris Pratt (Andy from Parks & Recreation).

There are times where the movie dallies with the absurd, and there was some uncomfortable laughter from certain corners of the cinema, but if you can get on board with this and buy it as a concept, the reward is thoroughly enjoyable.

IMDB: Her