3.5 stars. Rated PG, and suitable for all ages
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 2.6.15
Much as I anticipate this annual
opportunity to focus on big-screen “short stories,” the 2014 Academy Award nominees
— as a group — are a bit disappointing.
To be sure, both the live-action
and animated categories offer several strong nominees. But others are unsatisfying,
even puzzling. The respective nominating committees sometimes focus more on
form than content — chiefly with animated shorts — and that’s particularly true
this year.
As a result, you’re unlikely to
greet the entire road-show package with the same delight and enthusiasm
generated by those from previous years; the 2014 nominees are noteworthy more for
isolated pockets of excellence, rather than overall superiority.
To cases, then, starting with the
live-action nominees:
Irish director Michael Lennox’s Boogaloo and Graham is charming, thanks to Ronan Blaney’s droll script and
fine performances by the film’s two young stars. Riley Hamilton and Aaron Lynch
play Jamesy and Malachy, the sons of working-class parents (Martin McCann and
Charlene McKenna) who maintain an uneasy co-existence with occupational British
soldiers in 1978 Belfast.
The boys have little to call
their own, and therefore are thrilled when their soft-hearted father surprises
them with two baby chicks. The boys name their new pets Boogaloo and Graham,
and soon amuse their neighbors by “leashing” the birds and taking them for
walks. But as the chicks grow into chickens, their mother becomes increasingly
annoyed by the bother, and eventually issues an ultimatum.
The result of which leads to a
particularly ingenious conclusion.
The British actually have a
tendency to stand out in this category, with A-list stars often lending their
talents; I still remember how much I enjoyed Martin Freeman and Tom Hollander,
in last year’s The Voorman Problem. They’re matched this year by Sally
Hawkins and Jim Broadbent, both sensational in director Mat Kirby’s The Phone
Call.
Hawkins, Oscar-nominated for 2013’s Blue Jasmine, stars as Heather, a shy young woman employed at a
telephone crisis center, where she can’t work up the nerve to chat with the
good-looking guy (Edward Hogg) who handles one of the other phones. But such
idle thoughts are forgotten when she receives a call from a distraught old man
named Stan (Jim Broadbent), who can barely speak through his misery.
To Heather’s mounting terror,
Stan admits to having taken an overdose of pills, but he refuses to divulge any
helpful information regarding his whereabouts. We never see Broadbent: just
hear his voice on the phone, or from a point within his home where he’s not
quite in view ... but he’s easy to recognize, and he’s mesmerizing.
As is Hawkins. Kirby keeps her
face in tight close-up, and the actress works this scenario with heart-stopping
conviction. Her emotional intensity is absolutely shattering.
Kirby co-wrote this script with
James Lucas, and they build their 21-minute film to a very powerful conclusion.
