Category Archives: Melodrama

2014, Abduction, Addiction, Bloody scenes, British, British Mystery Series, Could Be Hard To Watch, Crime thriller, Depression, DO NOT MISS, Drug Dealers, Drugs, Dysfunctional Lives, Ethical struggles, Gritty, Kidnapping, Melodrama, Mental Illness, Murder, Murder Investigation, Mystery Film, Netflix Streaming, Not Feel Good, Police Corruption, Police Story, Psychological Drama, Rape, Sociopath, Suicide, Suspense, Thriller, Violent, Wonderful acting

Happy Valley (2014)

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From Netflix:

From the creator of “Last Tango in Halifax” comes this police drama starring Sarah Lancashire (“Coronation Street”) as Yorkshire police sergeant Catherine Cawood, a strong-willed officer coping with the suicide of her daughter and struggling to raise the young son she left behind. When the man she blames for her daughter’s death is paroled, Cawood embarks on a mission to bring him down, unaware that her target is plotting another heinous crime.

Update to initial Season 1 review: Netflix now offers Season 2 of “Unhappy Valley” which continues the story line of Season 1. Season 2 is at least as riveting as Season 1.

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Original Review:

“Happy Valley” is NOT happy. After I tell you what is brutal in this riveting British TV series, I will then try and convince you to watch one of the most spellbinding detective series I have ever watched.

First the ugly news: Years ago the handsome sociopath Tommy Lee Royce raped and drove to suicide the daughter of sergeant Catherine Cawood. He is just out of jail and has joined in with a kidnapping of young Ann Gallagher whom he rapes in captivity. While transporting the kidnapped girl in a van, the kidnappers are approached by a young woman policewoman whom the sociopath runs over and over and over with his automobile. Get the nasty picture? You never see any rape, but you do see some brutal fights.

Now the reasons why you should not miss this drama: Sarah Lancashire is (as the British would say) “positively brilliant” as Catherine Cawood. Here is an incredibly strong woman with a long list of problems. For example, her dead raped daughter had a resulting son whom Catherine raises alone as a grandmother because Catherine’s remarried husband left her when the boy was born. Yes, it does sound like a good old melodrama. But the acting, the complicated personal relations, and the exacting plot details and surprises are well worth the uncomfortable price of admission.

If you can stand the barbarians and their callous behavior, then I feel duty bound to say: DO NOT MISS!

2013, Addiction, Alcoholism, Crude Talk, Dysfunctional Lives, Marital Infidelity, Melodrama, Nothing special, Suicide, Vulgar

August: Osage County (2013)

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From Netflix:

When their father disappears, three strong-willed women return to their childhood home and to their equally strong-willed mother. As they search for their patriarch, the dysfunctional family members wind up facing difficult truths about themselves.

What an impressive collection of actors for the family ensemble from Hell! Watching this soap opera may seem familiar because there are so many “family get-together” films just like it. For some reason this new addition to the “Dysfunctional Family Hall of Fame” was for me enjoyable. But then let’s take a look at the roster.

  • Meryl Streep (Violet Weston) – drug-addicted widow of recently self-destructed husband, world-class alcoholic Sam Shepard (Beverly Weston)
  • Julia Roberts (Barbara Weston) Violet’s daughter – married to but separated from Ewan McGregor (Bill Forham). Their daughter is the renowned vegetarian Abigail Breslin (Jean Fordham)
  • Margo Martindale (Mattie Fae Aiken) Violet’s sister – married to Chris Cooper (Charlie Aiken). Their son is the stammering neurotic Benedict Cumberbatch (Little Charles Aiken)
  • Julianne Nicholson (Ivy Weston) is Violet’s unmarried daughter who is the girl friend of Little Charles Aiken.
  • Juliette Lewis (Karen Weston) is the scatter-brain daughter about to marry her latest boyfriend, thrice-married Dermot Mulroney (Steve Huberbrecht).

Once you get all those relations straight the rest is easy. If you are really confused try the Wikipedia summary.

Just be prepared for some ugly surprises. Nothing special.

2013, Acceptable for children, Alzheimer's disease, B-movie, Could Be Sad, Drugs, Dysfunctional Lives, Father-son relations, Feel Good For All, Mediocre, Melodrama, Optimistic, Plot Twist, Quiet

Straight A’s (2013)

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From Netflix:

Seeking redemption, family outcast Scott returns to his hometown, only to throw everyone’s lives into disarray. It’s particularly troubling for his sister-in-law, who was once his high school sweetheart.

Give this “Straight A’s” a rating of a Straight B.

However, it is (except possibly for many uses of the F-Word) a feel-good film suitable for children. Since it was a 2013 film made immediately available for Netflix streaming, you might suspect this film is not Oscar material.

Sorry, but for me Anna Paquin will always be Sookie Stackhouse from that TV vampire-fest “True Blood”. Ryan Phillipe played Louis Roulet in “The Lincoln Lawyer“.

There is nothing really wrong with this predictable melodrama except for its mediocrity. In fact, if you are watching while doing something else constructive, this is not a bad diversion.

2013, B-movie, Comedy, Corny, Feel Good Not For Children, Imperfect, Melodrama, Optimistic, School Teacher, Sex Scenes, Teenagers

The English Teacher (2013)

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From Netflix:

Devoted small-town English teacher Linda yearns for love. Enter Jason, a former student whose career as a Broadway playwright didn’t pan out. When she persuades him to stage his play at the school before giving up, love — and controversy — arises.

Nathan Lane, Julianne Moore, and Greg Kinnear join forces to give us a film which is both a comedy and a somewhat corny melodrama. Thank goodness for the surprising belly-laughs. Although you might give this film a B+, there are some interesting plot turns. Moreover, the events are all too possible (“What! A high school teacher having inappropriate sex! Impossible!”) . Several of the principle characters do have some bad moments, some soul searching, and experience some happy changes.

However, that high school play seemed too lame for the audience to be so excited. But then parents can appreciate just about anything positive.

Since I am not really raving about this film, I feel I can offer a small spoiler: there is a happy ending.

2008, AIDS, B-movie, Barely Acceptable Trash, Corny, Drugs, Dysfunctional Lives, Explicit sex, Gay theme, Gritty, Marital Infidelity, Melodrama, Murder Investigation, Not Recommended, Nudity, Prison, Religious Theme, Ridiculous plot, Sadism, Suicide, Suspense, Terrible acting, Unrealistic, Violent

The Fall (2008)

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From Netflix:

When his loser brother is accused of killing a priest, Frank (Scott Kinworthy), a hotshot lawyer with lofty political aspirations, steps in to defend him. But as Frank digs up the truth, he uncovers damning revelations from the past that could ruin his future. Written and directed by John Krueger, this suspenseful drama follows the conflicted attorney’s difficult choice between saving his sibling or himself.

If you are ever teaching a course in film writing or acting and you need an example of really bad writing or acting then have I got a HORRIBLE film you can use to great effect!

Only the (somewhat farfetched) plot kept me watching. Not that it would have cost me anything to stop watching this film streamed from Netflix. At times I sat watching in open mouthed wonder that anyone could act in such an amateurish and exaggerated manner. Think high school actors (although I have seen better acting in high school plays).

If the acting seems bad, wait till you learn the plot. Although I will spare you the gory details, this film manages to dredge up plot lines involving a hotel for gay encounters, a priest who commits a theatrical suicide, adultery, a psychotic gay prisoner, attempted murder using the AIDS disease, sadistic prison guards, a completely amoral and ambitious wife of a lawyer, and the list goes on.

Do not claim that I did not warn you! On the other hand, aren’t you really curious to see just how bad this film really is?

Acceptable for children, British, Classical musicians, Feel Good For All, Love Story, Melodrama, Senior citizens

Quartet (2012)

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From NetFlix:

A trio of retired opera singers’ annual celebration of Verdi’s birthday sours when their estranged fourth member shows up but refuses to sing. Tensions rise and diva drama erupts — will personal problems prevent the show from going on?

Do not confuse this British film with the American film A Late Quartet.

Maggie Smith (“Downton Abbey”), Tom Courtenay (“The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner”), Billy Connolly (Thomas Bell in “House M.D.”), and Pauline Collins (“Shirley Valentine”) form the quartet of retired opera singers. Michael Gambon (Professor Albus Dumbledore in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”) is a self-appointed impresario.

They and a large group of retired musicians reside in a beautiful palace-like home for retired musicians set in glorious British countryside. In fact, the other aged actors are real-life retired musicians. Stay for the final credits in which you see for many of these characters a double set of photos: one photo from the present paired with a photo of them in their performing prime.

If nothing else, the scenery is gorgeous and well worth seeing the film on a large screen as we did in a movie house. Additionally the music is wonderful. Although the story is a bit melodramatic, it is still worth the watch.

Enjoy!

1991, Drama, Dysfunctional Lives, Melodrama, Sex Scenes

Crooked Hearts (1991)

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From NetFlix:

Director Michael Bortman also penned the screenplay for this potent drama based on Robert Boswell’s novel. Sparked by a troubled relationship between family patriarch Edward (Peter Coyote) and defiant eldest son Charley (Vincent D’Onofrio), the dysfunctional Warren clan finds themselves beleaguered by conflict and tainted by scandal. But things come to a head when middle son Tom (Peter Berg) returns home after dropping out of college.

Welcome to the life of yet another dysfunctional family in which children tend to fail spectacularly in important ventures, brothers make other brothers’ girl friends pregnant, father’s have affairs, etc.

What we have here is not a pretty scene.

If the film has a theme, it is “why can’t Charley leave home?” or “to what horrible lengths must Charley go in order to leave home?”

At least you get to see known actors early in their careers. During the filming:

  • Vincent D’Onofrio (born 1959) was a young looking 32 playing a young man of 26. Of all his roles, this approached most “normal”.
  • Noah Wiley (born in 1971) was 20.
  • Peter Coyote (born in 1941) was 50. He was, after all, the father.
  • Cindy Pickett (born 1947) was 44. She played the mother.
  • Juliette Lewis (born 1973) was a mere 18 playing a much younger little sister.
  • Peter Berg (born 1964) was 27. He does a great job as the brother Tom in this film, but for me his name just does not ring a bell. He played “Pistol” Pete Deeks in “Smokin’ Aces”.
  • Marg Helgenberger (born 1958) was 33. She is now well known as Catherine Willows in “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”
  • Jennifer Jason Leigh (born 1962) was 29. She played Tom’s girl friend Marriett

If I were not a Vince D’Onofrio fan, and if I did not enjoy watching know actors when they were just starting their careers, then I might not have initially chosen this melodrama. But the story was good enough to keep me interested to the end. Tom’s final family toast weepily tied together the story.

During the final credits Tom reads Ask’s “List of Things”.

2011, Based on a Book, Basically Sad, British, Imperfect, Love Story, Mediocre, Melodrama, Not Feel Good, Orchestral Music, Quiet, Sex Scenes

The Deep Blue Sea (2011)

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From NetFlix:

This remake of the original 1955 film, adapted from a Terence Rattigan play, stars Rachel Weisz as a wedded woman who falls hard for a younger man. Her determination and emotional obsession lead her into tragic conflict with the morals of the day.

Up to a certain point good acting made the story interesting enough to watch. But in a pub scene disappointment set in. Have you ever seen an amateur production in which the actors are unable to deliver a strong emotion without recourse to yelling? At this point my opinion of Rachel Weisz as an actor fell quite a few notches.

Both Simon Russell Beale as the affectionate but dull husband and Barbara Jefford as his insufferable, snobbish, and cruel mother did a wonderful job.

Tom Hiddleston, the lover, you may recall as Loki in “The Avengers” or as Capt. James Nicholls in War Horse (2011).

At least we had the sobbing violins to tell us when something sad was happening.

Try some other film.

2011, Based on true facts, Historical Fiction, Melodrama, Military, Redemption, Religious Theme, Violent, War

There Be Dragons (2011)

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From NetFlix:

Roland Joffé directs this epic tale of love and betrayal set during the Spanish Civil War. When a present-day journalist (Dougray Scott) investigates Opus Dei founder Josemaría Escrivá (Charlie Cox), he uncovers a surprising link to his own father, Manolo (Wes Bentley). Manolo and Josemaría were childhood friends who followed different paths when the war broke out. Josemaría pursued his faith, while Manolo joined the rebels to fight Franco.

Centering around Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei, this Catholic melodrama (give it a B+) has as its background the Spanish Civil War.

Opus Dei (for those of you who are not familiar) is an ultra-conservative Catholic organization that is much maligned in fiction such as “The Da Vinci Code”. Whether or not Opus Dei is beyond the fringe really does not matter in the film. But just remember that Franco was supported by an ultra-conservative Catholic hierarchy. Indeed the film does not take sides, but suggests that there were enough abuses and neglect by that Catholic hierarchy to spark rebellion. Scenes in which Josemaría is seen flogging himself only suggest not untypical Spanish extremism. Spaniards seem genetically unable to see the color grey.

As melodramas go, someone spent a lot of money putting this epic together. Could be worse.

2008, Acceptable for children, British Mystery Series, Car Chase, Corny, Drama, Flirting, Love Story, Made For TV, Melodrama, Mystery Film, Old-Fashioned, Plot Twist, Suspense, Trains, Wonderful photography

The 39 Steps (2008)

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From NetFlix:

Richard Hannay (Rupert Penry-Jones) has his holiday interrupted when secret agent Scudder (Eddie Marsan) bursts into his apartment, staying alive just long enough to deposit a notebook. Pegged with murder, Hannay must decode the book and nab the culprits — before they find him first. In this nimble BBC update of John Buchan’s novel, German spies and British police give chase as Hannay races to deliver the coveted code and avert a world war.

Rupert Penry-Jones and Matthew MacFadyen take turns starring in the excellent British TV series MI-5 . That series started in 2002. Since this Masterpiece Classic was made in 2008, I assume these two actors rotate in order to give them time to do other acting.

Think of “The 39 Steps” as a Harlequin Spy Romance with possibly its tongue in its cheek. Penry-Jones is accidentally thrust into an effort to prevent Germany from attacking the British navy just prior to World War I. He gets to run up and down hills, run through woods, drive vintage cars in exciting 20 mph car chases, solve encrypted messages, discover spies, and woo a winsome maiden, all the while remaining a presentable handsome Brit with a flare for witty comebacks.

If you can stand not having digital special effects enhance the performance of the actors, then you might enjoy this melodrama, despite a few “aw shucks!” moments.