New movies: ‘Mauritanian,’ ‘Tom and Jerry,’ ‘Billie Holiday’
Based on the 2015 memoir “Guantanamo Diary,” the legal drama “The Mauritanian” centers on the experiences of Mohamedou Ould Salahi, who was held for 14 years without charge at Guantanamo Bay.
The movie, directed by Kevin Macdonald (“The Last King of Scotland,” “One Day in September''), splits its time between Salahi (played by Tahar Rahim, of the acclaimed 2009 French film, “A Prophet”) and his experiences at Guantanamo and the efforts of his attorneys (Jodie Foster and Shailene Woodley) to secure his release. Benedict Cumberbatch appears in a supporting role as military attorney Stuart Couch, who is assigned to prosecute Salahi’s case.
“The Mauritanian” leans on well-established courtroom thriller tropes, with Foster (a recent Golden Globe winner for the role) thumbing through redacted files with aplomb. The evidence surrounding Salahi’s involvement in the 9/11 attacks is shrouded in mystery, to the point where Couch himself begins to question the veracity of the case.
Narratively, “The Mauritanian'' doesn't break much creative ground, but the stellar cast, led by a compelling and starmaking turn by Rahim, provides more than enough energy to propel the film through some of its foggier legal moments. The movie also devotes an intentionally uncomfortable stretch to Salahi’s experiences being tortured while in U.S. custody. It’s Rahim’s magnetic presence that helps this sequence reach its intended dramatic climax.
“The Mauritanian” is playing in theaters and, as of this week, available as a premium VOD rental on all the major platforms.
And now for the most awkward transition ever… the children’s film “Tom and Jerry” arrived in theaters and on HBO Max last weekend. The classic Hanna-Barbera characters appear as their familiar cartoon selves in a live-action world (all the other animals in the movie are cartoons too, including piles of dead fish in a short sequence at a New York City seafood market. Odd.). Unfortunately, the live-action/cartoon hybrid plays less like “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” and more like that misbegotten “Rocky & Bullwinkle” movie from 2000 starring Robert De Niro.
Perhaps because they don’t speak, Tom and Jerry appear in the film more as supporting characters, with the story instead following a resourceful-but-unemployed young woman (Chloe Grace Moretz) who fakes her way into an event planning gig at a posh NYC hotel. Unfortunately, her uptight supervisor, played by the always-welcome Michael Pena, suspects her bonafides, especially after she’s tasked with removing a pesky mouse (Jerry) from the hotel. Before long, another hotel squatter, Tom, is “hired” to remove the pest.
There’s no other way to say this: “Tom and Jerry” is a weird movie. Much of the plot centers on a wedding between two wealthy socialites (Colin Jost and Pallavi Sharda), and scant appearances by comedians Rob Delaney and Ken Jeong (as other hotel staffers) only sporadically raise the movie’s humor level in between Tom and Jerry’s property damage-inducing spats.
Those slapstick battles probably work fine for kids, but parents won’t find much to engage with here, aside from Moretz and Pena’s surprisingly committed performances. One plus of watching the film on HBO Max - you can stream a whole library of classic “Tom and Jerry” cartoons with just an extra click or two after the movie ends.
One more quick hit: Singer Andra Day took home a surprise Golden Globe for her performance in the Hulu-exclusive release, “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” from Lee Daniels (“Precious”). Day is excellent as the iconic jazz singer, but the movie is a bloated mess. It focuses on efforts by the government to silence Holiday by exploiting her drug addiction. Day handles both the music and the heavy drama well, but Daniels never establishes a logical narrative.
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Tyler Wilson has been writing about movies for Inland Northwest publications since 2000. He is the co-host of Old Millennials Remember Movies, available everywhere you find podcasts. He can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.
