Movie/TV Reviews

Susan Granger’s review of “Last Breath” (Focus Features)

 

If you enjoy sitting on the edge of your seat, heart-racing, biting your nails with anxiety about what will happen next, “Last Breath” is for you.

Based on a true story, it’s about a diver performing routine pipeline repair work 300 feet below the surface of the North Sea when the cable attached to his diving bell snapped, leaving him stranded in the dark with his oxygen running out

Living with his nervous fiancé Morag (Bobby Rainsbury) in a trailer on the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland, young, curly-haired Chris Lemons (Finn Cole) is a saturation diver – which is described as “the most dangerous job on Earth.”

Saturation divers work at great depths for an extended period in a pressurized environment that prevents decompression sickness – a.k.a. ‘the bends.’  This ‘saturation’ technique allows them to perform complex underwater tasks – like maintenance and construction – without needing to decompress after each dive.  

In September, 2012, Chris joined his teammates – veteran Duncan Allock (Woody Harrelson) and brusque Dave Yuasa (Simu Liu) – on a vessel assigned to oil pipeline repair work deep underwater in the treacherous North Sea.

A crisis occurred when the ship’s dynamic computerized positioning system failed during an intense storm while Chris and Dave were diving.  Then – suddenly – Chris became untethered, drifting away with only ten minutes of oxygen left in his suit.

What happens next can only be described as gripping, high-tension logistics, as his shipmates – including Cliff Curtis, Mark Bonnar, Myanna Buring – devise various schemes to find and rescue now-unconscious Chris, eventually using an underwater mechanical retriever that resembles the kind of claw that kids use to grab a toy from an arcade vending device,

Scripted by Mitchell LaFortune, David Brooks and director Alex Parkinson, it’s an authentically claustrophobic adventure that manages to be visually compelling even in the murky darkness – thanks to cinematographer Nick Remy Matthews.

If this sounds familiar, Alex Parkinson made it into a 2019 British documentary which he’s expanded significantly,

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Last Breath” is an intense, suspenseful 6, streaming on Prime Video, Peacock and Apple TV.

Susan Granger’s review of “Rust” (Prime Video/Apple TV)

 

Nearly four years after Alex Baldwin’s prop Colt .45 – inadvertently loaded with ‘live’ ammunition – killed 42 year-old Ukrainian cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza, their movie “Rust” is now streaming.

Instead of consigning the film to the scrap-heap where it belongs, vultures are circling as profiteers from a senseless tragedy that never should have happened. More about that later.

Set in Wyoming, 1882, the gunfire-filled, low-budget Western revolves around Lucas Hollister (Patrick Scott McDermott), a 13 year-old orphan, sentenced to hang for an accidental shooting and saved by his outlaw grandfather, Harlan Rust (Baldwin). Together, these fugitives head for Mexico, doggedly pursued by ruthless bounty hunters.

Underwritten by director Joel Souza from Alec Baldwin’s story, it’s inept, at best, never resolving its 19^th century law/justice/religion narrative themes. While there are some visually compelling landscape scenes, most interior shots are dark and murky with heavy use of silhouette. Although Bianca Cline operated the camera after Hutchins’ death, it’s impossible to differentiate their cinematography.

Now about ‘live’ ammunition on the set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Oct. 21, 2021. Although an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin was dismissed – based on police/prosecutors withholding evidence from the defense – he was also a producer on the film and – as such – responsible for on-set conduct and hiring a young, inexperienced armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was sentenced to 18-months in prison.

My father (S. Sylvan Simon), adoptive father (Armand Deutsch), brother (Stephen Simon) and son (Don Granger) were/are producers so I am familiar with that role’s responsibility. There is NO excuse for ‘live’ ammunition on a film set. None! 

So who profits from “Rust”?  In 2022, Halyna’s widower Matthew settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the film’s producers, who were protected by an LLC listing only one thing of value: the movie. That resulted in his billing as one of the executive producers, and their son Andros will receive profits from the film. But inevitably, ‘creative’ bookkeeping will determine how much that is.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Rust” is a tragedy-riddled 2, streaming on Prime Video, Apple TV and other video-on-demand platforms.

Susan Granger’s review of “Good American Family” (Hulu/Disney)

 

Autism and Adoption are two ’trigger’ words in today’s culture – and Hulu’s “Good American Family” delivers a double-whammy on both.

“There are three sides to every story,” actress Ellen Pompeo explains. “Or six sides.  Or nine. This is why art keeps us alive. Because everybody gets to see things their way – to make sense of them.”

Branching out from her surgeon character Meredith Grey on ABC’s hit medical show “Grey’s Anatomy,” Pompeo tackles suburban supermom Kristine Barnett in “Good American Family.”

Based on a real-life adoption-gone-wrong case, the limited series is told from multiple perspectives.  A legal disclaimer precedes every episode, describing it as reflecting and dramatizing conflicting points-of-view, rather than determining a definitive truth. (Keep that in mind because it’s ultimately frustrating.)

Since they have three biological sons, Kristine and her husband Michael (Mark Duplass) are determined to adopt a daughter. After working with their autistic son Jacob and others in their Indiana community, Kristine has already established herself as a competent, passionate advocate for disabled children.

So when they receive a cold-call from an adoption agency, Kristine and Mark immediately agree to pick up Natalia Grace (British newcomer Imogen Faith Reid), a seven year-old girl from Ukraine who suffers from a form of dwarfism.

As time passes and behavioral issues arise, Kristine increasingly suspects that their newly adopted daughter is not a child but a malicious adult woman posing as much younger for disreputable, perhaps exploitable reasons. As the noncommittal chapters unfold, the sense of doubt grows.

Then midway, there’s a switch to Natalia’s contradictory perspective as she’s abruptly abandoned by the Barnetts and forced to live on her own, eventually becoming part of another family, headed by Cynthia Mans (Christina Hendricks) and her preacher husband Antwon (Jerod Haynes).

The conclusion revolves around America’s flawed legal system which is filled with loopholes and, apparently, pivots more on precedent than on justice.

Or as Detective Brandon (Dule Hill) notes: “If you tell a story well enough, the truth doesn’t always matter.”

Problem is: As scripted by Katie Robbins and Sara Sutherland, Kristine is diabolically manipulative while Michael is a dumb, dependent loser. And if the premise is familiar, Investigation Discovery produced a somewhat similar, multiyear, three-season docuseries titled “The Curious Case of Natalie Grace.”

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Good American Family” skewers a sorrowful, suspenseful 7 – with all eight episodes streaming on Hulu.

Susan Granger’s review of “Territory” (Netflix)

 

‘Still yearning for more “Yellowstone”? Netflix now offers “Territory,” a one-season, six-episode Western series with a smidge of “Succession” and a dollop of “Yellowstone.”

Set in Australia and featuring many familiar Aussie actors, the story revolves around a huge cattle ranch – called a ‘station’ – in the vast Northern Territory.

Said to be bigger than the entire country of Belgium, Marianne Station belongs to the Lawsons. Stubborn, ornery Colin Lawson (Robert Taylor) is the patriarch. Defying tradition, he has passed ownership of the property to his younger son Daniel (Jake Ryan) because his older son Graham (Michael Dorman) is an alcoholic.

Graham is married to Emily (Anna Torv), who comes from the Hodge family of disgraced cattle thieves, and she has a meddling ‘ex’ named Campbell Miller (Jay Ryan). That’s all background.

Emily’s voice opens the series with an ominous warning:  “People say the Territory has two seasons: drought and flood. And it’s true. Everything up here is trying to kill you: the climate, the land, the animals.”

Sure enough, Daniel is immediately killed, leaving a huge power vacuum which business-savvy Emily is determined to fill and hoping her daughter Susie (Philippa Northeast), who’s home from agricultural college, will eventually take charge.

But then there’s Sandra Kirby (Sara Wiseman), a despicable mining billionaire who owns ‘mining rights’ to some valuable Marianne Station property. Complicating matters: Sandra’s son Lachie (Joe Klocek) falls in love with Susie,

Meanwhile, Marshall (Sam Corlett), Graham’s estranged son from a previous marriage, shows up with two disreputable pals: Rich (Sam Delich) and Sharnie (Kylah Day).

Fortunately, writers Ban Davies and Timothy Lee, working with director Greg McLean, interject intriguing Down Under jargon and folklore along with authentic Aboriginal actors (Clarence Ryan, Hamilton Morris, Tuuli Narkle) into the sudsy melodrama.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Territory” is a derivative 7. All six episodes are streaming on Netflix but, unfortunately it has not been renewed for a second season.

 

 

Dissecting the “Snow White” Disaster by Susan Granger

 

Mirror, mirror on the wall, what Disney movie flopped the hardest of them all?

There’s no point in ‘reviewing’ the live-action re-imagining of “Snow White.” It’s a $270 million disaster – not including marketing – at the box-office, and it’s become a lightning rod against ‘Woke’ culture.

So what went wrong?

In 1937, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” launched Walt Disney’s animated empire. Even today, Disney executives work in a building adorned with statues of the Seven Dwarfs, and Disney Animation offices are nearby on Dopey Drive.

The visually dazzling, morality tale revolved around a beleaguered, poisoned princess who was befriended by seven miniature miners and, in return, she swept and cleaned their home – until a handsome prince kissed this damsel-in-distress and they lived ‘happily ever after.’

Since the fairy tale specifically describes Snow White’s facial features as being ‘as white as snow,’ perhaps casting Rachel Zegler (“West Side Story”), a Latina actress of Colombian descent, wasn’t the brightest move but, given the Academy’s recent DEI imperative, it’s understandable.

Problem is: Gal Gadot is the Evil Queen who resents any comparison with Snow White. What? Gal Gadot was crowned Miss Israel in 2004 before she was cast as DC Comics’ superhero “Wonder Woman.”  She’s gorgeous!

While it’s tempting to fault feisty, outspoken Rachel Zegler, who never misses a chance to proclaim “Free Palestine,” showing support for those who ignited the Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel, the blame for the basic creative decisions undermining this film rests with screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson, director Marc Webb, producer Marc Platt and former Disney studio chairman Alan F. Horn.

Inevitably, the lilting “Someday My Prince Will Come” signature song was eliminated and replaced by “Waiting on a Wish,” written by EGOT-winning partners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, heralding female empowerment and self-sufficiency – as dictated by the creators’ liberal sexual/class politics.

My question is: If the traditional love story in the original Grimm fairy tale is truly objectionable by contemporary standards – WHY remake it?

Does turning the Prince into a Robin Hood-like revolutionary (Andrew Burnap) make him a better companion for the fearless heroine?

As for being cared for by a septet of little men, this Snow White doesn’t praise and reward them; she berates them.

Even depicting the “Heigh-Ho” dwarfs has become a fiasco. Back in 2022, actor Peter Dinklage, who has a form of dwarfism, criticized Disney for “still making that backward story about seven dwarfs living in a cave.”

Combining performance capture, puppetry and CGI, the 2025 photo-realistic results are just weird: as a result, Doc, Grumpy, Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Dopey and Bashful now resemble lawn gnomes.

If you’re still morbidly curious, I’d advise waiting until “Snow White” eventually streams on Disney+.

Susan Granger’s review of “The White Lotus: Season 3” (Max)

 

Let’s be honest: Mike White’s “The White Lotus: Season 3” isn’t as much fun as the previous two. The satirical anthology that began as a pandemic project on Maui in Hawaii has grown into a huge, Emmy Award-winning, globe-trotting franchise with a glamorous, exotic location and different cast of characters for each season.

Set in Phuket, Thailand, at a luxurious beachside hotel/spa outside of Bangkok, the plot begins with returning Season 1 massage therapist/spa manager Belinda Lindsey (Natasha Rothwell) celebrating with her son Zion (Nicholas Duvernay) when gunshots resound.

Incoming via motorboat are three lifelong friends – TV star Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan), corporate lawyer Laurie (Carrie Coon) and uptight Kate (Leslie Bibb) – along with the Ratcliff family from North Carolina, headed by tormented financier Timothy (Jason Isaacs), his neurotic wife Vickie (Parker Posey), elder son Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), younger son Lochlan (Sam Nivola), and spirituality-seeking daughter Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), considering a year-long retreat in a nearby Buddhist monastery.

Angry, sinister Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins) is toting a lifelong grudge, much to the dismay of his ever-supportive, much younger girl-friend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood, who resembles the late Shelley Duvall) – and amiable Chloe (Charlotte Le Bon) coupled with super-rich yacht-owner Gary (Jon Gries), whom Belinda recognizes as ‘Greg,’ who killed her benefactor Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge) in a previous season.

Continuing the contrived upstairs/downstairs theme, there’s Sritala (Lek Patravadi), owner of the posh all-villa resort with her husband (Scott Glenn), in addition to Russian wellness instructor Valentin (Arnas Fedaravicius), therapist Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul), and ambitious security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong), who adores Mook (Thai pop star Lalisa Monobal).

Epitomized by the menacing plethora of lizards &monkeys amid repetitive water imagery, Mike White’s dramatic narrative is darker and slower-paced, the multiple storylines and faked fantasies less compelling, the characters less empathetic, and the acerbic dialogue less biting about wealth and privilege

As a result on the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “The White Lotus: Season 3” is a frustratingly fatalistic 5 – with all eight episodes now streaming on Max – and renewed for a fourth season.

Susan Granger’s review of “Amerikin” (Off-Broadway: 59E59 at Primary Stages)

 

Plucked straight from today’s political news, Chisa Hutchinson’s provocative “Amerikin” digs deep into the roots of racism.

Working class Jeffrey Browning (Daniel Abeles) and his wife, Michelle (Molly Carden) – who suffers from postpartum depression – live with their newborn son in segregated Sharpsburg, Maryland, which was Confederate territory during the Civil War when the bloody Battle of Antietam was waged nearby.

A Trump supporter in 2017, Jeff is so casually bigoted that he’s named his dog after a racial slur, taking pleasure in shouting the N-word to summon him.

Invited by his racist pal Dylan Hoffenberger (Luke Robertson), socially ambitious, yet insecure Jeff applies to join a Ku Klux Klan-like white supremacist organization called the World Knights and is told that – in order to qualify – he must provide proof of his genetic heritage.

Problem is: Jeff’s DNA indicates that he has 14% Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Although his tech-savvy buddy Poot Spangler (Tobias Segal) alters the test results, word gets out, prompting retaliation.

As Washington Post reporter Gerald Lamott (Victor Williams) frames it: “White Supremacist Hopeful Becomes Target of His Own Hate.”

In Act Two, Gerald,  a compassionate Black correspondent, is curious about Jeff and arrives in rural Sharpsburg, accompanied by his outspoken, college-age, aspiring journalist daughter, Chris (Amber Reauchean Willams), delving into the Facebook backstory posted by Jeff’s neighbor/ex-lover Alma Tillery (Andrea Syglowski).

Alluding to Will Smith’s zombie thriller “I Am Legend,” Gerald tells skeptical Chris: “If it were you who turned rabid and violent and lost your humanity, I hope someone would have the heart to capture you and cure you…That’s the point.”

As directed by Jade King Carroll, this often humorous play challenges the audience to acknowledge that they feel uncomfortable and think about where the discomfort comes from. Basically, Chisa Hutchinson zeroes in on how the ‘normalization’ of hate can warp an entire community.

“We will not comply” – is what the flyer inside the Playbill notes, recognizing the current uncertainty about federal funding.

Kudos to set designers Christopher & Justin Shader, Jen Caprio’s costumes, Carolina Ortiz’ lighting, Lindsay Jones’s sound, and dialogue coach Deborah Hecht.

Running 2 hours, 15 minutes with one intermission, “Amerikin” is at 59E59 through April 13. For tickets and information: primarystages.org.

Susan Granger’s review of “The Residence” (Netflix)

Shondaland has invaded the White House! Prolific producer Shonda Rhimes teamed up with Paul William Davies to create a captivating comedic whodunit miniseries that’s set in “The Residence” of the President of the United States.

The mystery begins when the dead body of stoic White House Chief Usher A.B. Wynter (Giancarlo Esposito) is discovered on the night of a gala State Dinner, honoring the Australian Prime Minister (Julian McMahon) – with pop star Kylie Minogue doing an impromptu live set.

Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Chief Larry Dokes (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) immediately summons unconventional, obsessive Cordelia Cupp (Uzo Aduba), an ever-observant, detail-oriented bird-watcher, to investigate.

Accompanied by affable FBI Special Agent Edwin Park (Randall Park), Cupp examines each of the palatial White House’s 132 rooms and hidden passageways, questioning 157 possible suspects, deftly separating fact from fiction.

There’s A.B.’s deputy Jasmine Haney (Susan Kelechi Watson), the President (Paul Fitzgerald), his impatient chief advisor Harry Hollinger (Ken Marino), sneaky Brother (Jason Lee), First Husband (Barrett Foa), drunken Mother-in-Law (Jane Curtin), and Secret Service Agent (Dan Perrault) along with various housekeepers, electricians and plumbers.

It seems everyone on the historical Residence’s staff fought with formidable A.B. at some point, including boozing Butler Sheila Cannon (Edwina Findley), inept Social Secretary Lilly Schumacher (Molly Griggs), volatile Cook (Mary Wiseman), and disrespected Pastry Chef (Bronson Pinchot).

Complicating matters, the confusing story is told in flashbacks as a Congressional committee, headed by Senator Aaron Filkins (former Senator Al Franken) and conspiracy-theorizing Senator Margery Bay Bix (Eliza Coupe), holding hearings into the crime.

Inspired by Kate Andersen Brower’s non-fiction upstairs/downstairs “The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House,” Paul William Davies’ quirky detective concept – reminiscent of Peter Falk’s Columbo, Tony Shalhoub’s Adrian Monk and Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc – boasts contentious, multi-faceted characters, relevant topics and layered subtext.

Unfortunately, there are just too many superfluous subplots, punctuated by quick cuts between three timelines, unnecessary repetition and tedious nods to (sadly absent) Hugh Jackman.

On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Residence” is a suspenseful, subversive 7. All eight episodes are now streaming on Netflix.

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Susan Granger’s review of “American Primeval” (Netflix)

Set in the Utah Territory circa 1857, Netflix’s “American Primeval” rectifies any mistaken impression that the pioneers settling in the Old American West – a.k.a. Manifest Destiny – had embarked on a romantic adventure.
“There is only brutality here,” an Army captain (Lucas Neff) cautions as Sara Rowell (Betty Gilpin) and her young son Devin (Preston Mota) arrive at Fort Bridger en route to join up with her husband in Crooks Springs.
Created by Jim Bridger (Shea Whigham), the Fort, a trading outpost, is a central to the future of Zion-seeking members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – a.k.a Mormons – along with Native Shoshone, Southern Paiute and Ute tribes under the protection of the U.S. Army.
Determined to proceed westward, Sara and Devin join a small wagon train of Mormons led by devout Jacob Pratt (Dane DeHaan) and his doubtful new wife, Abish (Saura Lightfoot-Leon) – only to bear witness to what came to be known as the ‘Mountain Meadows Massacre,’ subjecting them to the wrath of outwardly pious Brigham Young (Kim Coates).
After that, the desperate Rowells are pursued not only by a posse of vengeance-seeking Mormons but also avaricious bounty hunters, since Sara’s drawn face appears on ‘Wanted’ posters for a robbery/murder she previously committed back in Philadelphia.
The Rowells’ only allies are Isaac Reed (Taylor Kitsch), a cantankerous mountain man, and Two Moons (Shawnee Pourier), a mute, runaway Shoshone girl.
Scripted by Mark L. Smith “The Revenant”) and directed by Peter Berg (“Friday Night Lights”), this ‘authentic’ limited series is largely fiction but draws on many verified violent Utah ‘origin’ stories, joining other ‘realistic’ historical releases like “The English,” “Meek’s Cutoff,” “The Power of the Dog” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “American Primeval” is a grungy, gory, savage 7 – with all six episodes streaming on Netflix.

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Over more than 25 years, Susan Granger has been watching and reviewing movies on this website. Here is a summary of her reviews sorted by title, rating, or date of review.