The Program (David S. Ward, 1993)

After a couple of poor seasons, pressure is mounting on the coach (James Caan) of a college football team to pull them out of this slump - by whatever means necessary…

I have been trying to write a sports movie for a while. I had heard about this movie via the Action Boyz podcast - they have a near-four hour episode on it - and it sounded intriguing. It was also free to watch on the internet, which raised its stock.

Released in 1993, The Program takes a look at College football/gridiron - a sport I know almost nothing about. 

As part of my viewing, I considered watching a scene which was edited out of the US release after the first week - it involves players laying down in the centre of a road and playing chicken with traffic. The scene was removed after some tragic real-life imitations. In the end, I did not bother. 

While running less than two hours, The Program is an epic treatment of its subject - it takes on a variety of different character perspectives, from a new rookie (Omar Epps) to the Heisman trophy prospect (Craig Scheffer) to the coach (James Caan). 

Its scope exceeds its grasp - Darnell’s (Epps) plotline feels like it could serve as its own movie, while the coach’s willingness to cover up and/or overlook his players’ behaviour so he can get to a championship game (and keep his job) is a darker thread that the movie resolves in the most arbitrary fashion.

What I appreciated about the movie was how dark it was. It takes on college football’s dark underbelly: the way entire schools mould themselves around the ‘program’, while players are treated as disposable pieces on a game board. Players with no other options see football as an economic opportunity, and so losing a game or getting injured carry more existential stakes. 

Lead performer Scheffer is miscast. I know him as the blueblood villain of Some Kind of Wonderful, and he is an odd fit as Kane. He does seem haunted, but there is something missing - he does not feel like the little boy lost the script is trying to present, a man child who makes up for his lack of parental foundation with daredevil antics.

He is not terrible, but he lacks the soulfulness and the pathos the filmmakers clearly intended. 

Omar Epps is terrific as Darnell - cocksure and naive, the movie comes alive whenever he is onscreen. 

Another highlight is Duane Davis as veteran defensive player Alvin Mack. With little screentime, he gives insight into the high-stakes circumstances of the game.

The film is a fascinating smorgasbord - it tries to offer insight into the seedier aspects of the sport, while also trying to provide the same emotional catharsis of underdog sports narratives. That darkness negates the ending, and the arbitrary (and hopeful) wrap-up feels dishonest to what came before.

 

As the movie finished,  I was struck with an epiphany. This movie would work so much better if it was presented in the manner of a Paul Verhoeven-style satire - offering the audience its familiar pleasures but with the bitter aftertaste of the sacrifice and capitalistic greed which underpines it.

In the right frame of mind, the movie can play this way. And there are aspects of the movie which seem to push in this direction. James Caan’s jocular, deceptively easy-going coach comes away looking like an absolute monster, while the steroid-enhanced player Steve Lattimer (Andrew Bryniarski in full berserk mode) is a walking signifier of all the games’ worst impulses.

Frankly, considering where college and pro football has gone, the time could not be better for another take on The Program.

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Plus One (Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer, 2019)

Faced with a year of weddings by various friends and family, friends Alice (Maya Erksine) and Ben (Jack Quaid) decide to join forces to take them all on as the other's plus one. 

As they tough it out through various nuptials, the old friends find themselves drawn closer together...

“What is a ‘meet cute’?”

I feel like every time I review a romcom or a thriller it starts with some variation of ‘they do not make this any more’ or ‘I cannot remember the last time I watched a romcom…’

As I mentioned in my previous review, these kinds of mid-budget genres used to be the bread and butter of the Hollywood studios. Now you’re lucky if you get one or two.

I only heard about this movie a few months ago, and I immediately scribbled its title down. 

An independent production picked up and released by Hulu, Plus One is the kind of movie that studios would have been drooling over in the nineties and noughties. The fact this movie stars Jack Quaid, the offspring of one of the genre’s leading lights (Meg Ryan for those who cannot google), feels like a bitter in-joke at the state of the genre.

Interspersed with footage of wedding speeches, Plus One may have some of the aesthetic trappings of an indie (handheld camerawork, naturalistic lighting) but its bones are pure romcom. 

The initial reveal of the characters’ roles: Erskine is the depressed version of a screwball comedy heroine, with Quaid as the deceptively square object of her affections.

Erskine was an unknown quality to me. She is very funny, and manages to thread the needle by not losing the character’s underlying loneliness. The key difference between Alice and Ben is that she is open about her problems and has no time for innuendo or niceties. 

As with his role in Companion, Quaid is playing with the idea of a ‘nice guy’ - the idea being ‘nice’ does not equate to ‘good’. The character is not honest about his intentions, and he has a terrifyingly idealised view of marriage. 

Despite the inevitable romantic close, this is a romantic comedy that does not evade or obscure the realities of relationships - not all of them last, and just because they end does not mean they should be viewed in binary terms of success or failure. 

I was also impressed with how efficient the film is in its story-telling. It manages the trick of presenting as naturalistic, but it never loses track of the characters’ journey. One aspect of the film I liked is how the film placed dialogue and exposition into more dynamic contexts, like a golf game.

Warm without being maudlin, earnest about romance without romanticising it, Plus One is a gem of a movie.

If you are new to this blog, I also co-host a podcast on James Bond, The James Bond Cocktail Hour. 

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You're Cordially Invited (Nicholas Stoller, 2025)

Due to a bizarre piece of bad luck, sister Margot (Reese Witherspoon) and father Jim (Will Ferrell) discover they have accidentally double-booked the same venue for their respective family member's wedding.

Despite a truce, the pair begin a Cold War to drive out the other. 

The dearth of theatrical comedies has been an issue for years.

I have been trying to watch more new comedies, and I want to diversify more in terms of what I cover on this blog.

I was trying to recall recent examples to review and this was the most recent example I could think of.

I will not pretend that this movie is good. I watched it on a plane, which might be a qualifier for my judgement: 

I laughed a couple of times, but my biggest reaction was nostalgia for these kinds of high concept romantic comedies.

They seem to have died out on the big screen, and have become more the domain of streaming. This one was released through Amazon but it at least feels vaguely like a real movie.

The one giveaway is that it has that same desaturated digital look that a lot of streaming movies have. 

While I do not think this movie ultimately works, the bones are there.

The script seems to be solid, with legible arcs for each of its main characters, but plenty of space left for madness to ensue. 

The biggest issue may be miscasting, but in a very specific way: stars Witherspoon and Ferrell feel like they are in completely different versions of the same movie.

The movie feels like two halves of the same movie made in different realities that have been merged through some collapse of the multiverse.

One can see a version of this movie with Witherspoon and Jason Bateman or Mark Ruffalo; likewise, one could see a more cartoonish version featuring Ferrell with Tina Fey or Regina Hall.

The actors are both funny, but in completely different ways that do not seem to complement each other. 

It makes the movie kinda interesting as a case study of the clash between Witherspoon’s tightly wound neurosis versus Ferrell’s broad emotional explosiveness.

It might have come off if the movie did not show its final trump card of having our misbegotten leads get together romantically at the end.

It is such an unbelievable conclusion that even the movie seems to recognise how silly it is. 

After Witherspoon realises Ferrell has been secretly falling for her, we get a hilariously awkward flashback montage of Ferrell creepily grinning at Witherspoon after all of their fiery interactions.

It is a legitimately funny sequence that takes advantage of the limitations of Ferrell’s star persona (my man can do a lot of things, but romantic ardour is not one of them), almost akin to the movie throwing up its hands at the contrived finale.

As for the rest of the cast, Geraldine Viswanathan is well-cast as Ferrell’s daughter. She also is one cast member who feels like she can authentically move between Ferrell and Witherspoon’s comic spheres without missing a step. 

If there was any justice in this world, she would be getting the lead in stronger entries in the genre.

Not a complete waste of time, You’re Cordially Invited shows that there are still faint flickers of life in the Hollywood comedy.

If you are new to this blog, I also co-host a podcast on James Bond, The James Bond Cocktail Hour. 

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Night Owls (Charles Hood, 2015)

A one-night stand becomes more complicated when Kevin (Adam Pally) discovers a) his paramour Madeline (Rosa Salazar) trying to kill herself, and b) that the home they just did the dirty deed in belongs to his boss...

It is a tired bit that I love movies where the action is set in one location for the entire runtime.

From memory, this was a blank pick I made scrolling through Netflix. 

My only experience of Adam Pally before this were his appearances on Jon Gabrus’ podcast. Rosa Salazar, Battle Angel herself, was even more of a non-entity.

I bring this up because it meant I could go into the movie unburdened by expectations. It is almost impossible to see a movie this way any more - and it paid off.

It is so hard to describe the film without comparing it to a play. It is mostly a conversation between two people, but at no point does it feel stagebound or verbose.

The story is always changing in terms of the characters’ dynamic, and they are constantly moving through the house as they attempt to evade and confront each other.

Pally does a good job as the naive Kevin - this character could have come across as a total doormat (Instead he is wooly rug). 

The character has a clear arc, but the script and Pally are savvy enough to make sure this transformation is not a straight arrow in one direction. One of the film’s tensions is Kevin’s struggle with loyalty to the team and its messianic coach (Peter Krause).

Salazar does not try to shave off any of her characters’ rough edges. One of the most interesting aspects of her character is how she continues to hold a torch for the coach who she has been having an affair with - Salazar plays this rapture out with a knowing resignation. Unlike Kevin, she knows she is as stuck as he is. 

In its clash between these characters, in its own modest way Night Owls is a good movie about the corruption underpinning college sports, and more clear-eyed about deeper issues around misogyny, class and racism are reflected in the public perception of celebrity - particularly when that celebrity is white and male.

Worth a look.

If you are new to this blog, I also co-host a podcast on James Bond, The James Bond Cocktail Hour. 

You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

If you enjoy something I wrote, and want to support my writing, here’s a link for tips!

OUT NOW: Avatar - Fire and Ash (James Cameron, 2025)

Picking up after the events of Way of Water, the Sully clan are on the verge of breaking up: 

Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) are dealing with the fallout of eldest son Neteyam. Adopted human son Spider (Jack Chambers) needs a new breathing machine and cannot stay with the family. 

On top of these crises, the family has a new external threat: Varang (Oona Chaplin), the chief of a Na'vi tribe who have turned against the traditional ways and declared war on Pandora's entity Eywa. 

After the glacial build up to the release of The Way of Water, the three year gap between Part Two and Three feels like whiplash. 

The years between the first two films’ releases have not dented their relevance - indeed, by 2022, America and the world appeared hellbent on replicating James Cameron's vision of humanity's future

And since then, things have only gotten worse.

How will Pandora reflect the world today?

Cameron has a good record with sequels - but this is the first time Cameron has attempted a third chapter.

Unlike the previous movie, I did not go back to re-watch the previous films.

Despite not re-watching the previous film, Fire and Ash carries an air of familiarity.

Unlike Way of Water, it lacks new flavour. Or to be more exact, it features new flavours, but does not make them the centrepiece.

Way of Water spent most of its time re-setting our central heroes in the new aquatic world of the coastal tribes. 

I kept thinking of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome - the first act or so seems to be going in a new direction: with a new dilemma, new antagonist, and a new environment.

It feels like a slight reheating of the previous movie's story. 

This is meant as a feature rather than a bug - the characters are dealing with the fallout of the previous movie, and this film does not feature the same massive jump in time as Way of Water.

This is one element that I cannot get over. I listened to the Blank Check review and the hosts put forward the idea that Way of Water and Fire and Ash were intended as one extended story, split in the middle. 

I am eager to re-watch the film, but one can see a version of the story that collapses the beats of the previous film with this one. 

Let us get into what what works:

Oona Chaplin's Varang is a major addition, giving a uniquely malicious energy

She is concerned with power, finding it and manipulating it to her own ends, using violence, psychology and sexuality to entrap her victims.

When she links up with Quaritch, we get a twisted mirror image of Sully and Neytiri's relationship.

She is a Na’vi perspective completely against the philosophy and way of life we have seen before - someone who is against the entire ethos the previous films have established. 

Because of this, she provides Quaritch with a bridge to his new life as a Na’vi.

Their first meeting is a surreal moment as Quaritch goes from prisoner of the clan to showing Varang how to fire a gun - it is a perverse meet-cute as the two Quaritch recognises someone who shares his love for violence - especially violence against Pandora.

 

The other fresh element is the portrayal and design of the other Na’vi subculture, the Windtraders (props for the cuttlefish-like creatures pulling the Windtraders’ jellyfish-like dirigibles!).

But the Windtalkers are limited to one setpiece, and Varang is relegated to a second banana.

We spend a lot of time in the same locations of Way of Water, with all the same characters going through similar conflicts. 

Britain Dalton’s Lo'ak - Jake and Neytiri’s second son - is still battling for respect, while his best friend, the whale-like tulkun Payakan, is still ostracised by the rest of his species.

I can accept Payakan’s need to fight for acceptance more than I can Lo'ak’s - the big catharsis of the ending of Way of Water is Jake finally accepting him. 

The last major echo is the climax, which feels like a super-sized variation of the endings to both previous movies (basically more boats, Tulkuns body-slamming said boats, and a last-minute deux ex machina that is a clear lift from the original film)

However, the movie is so vast that there are elements to relish:

Following the death of his son, Jake has retreated to what he knows - he is back to being a Marine, mission and process-focused, unable to connect with his wife or his children. As with the last film, Sam Worthington has come into his own as Jake. Playing an older man who is struggling to communicate with his family, he is terrific.

Zoe Saldana, the heart and soul of the first movie, also gets more meat - the death of her son brings out a deep-set resentment toward adopted son Spider (Jack Champion). She is so good I almost took her for granted. 

What foregrounded how good they were was a scene that almost falls apart because of one performance. And that is Jack Champion as human step-son Spider.

He becomes a very important character in this film, one with massive implications for the future of Pandora. And in one scene the Scullys are pushed to consider the unthinkable.

The scene works, but in spite of Champion. I do not mean to slight the actor.

As the one live-action performer in most of the scenes, Champion has the hardest job of all the actors in these movies. He has to work almost exclusively with motion-capture performers, and would have had to perform scenes twice in order to create the seamlessness between the live-action and the computer-generated components. This is a matter of logistics and human stamina. 

In this important scene, it feels like he cannot get to the heavier emotions it requires.

Fire and Ash is definitely the weakest of the Avatar movies - but it is hardly a disaster.

It is the rare opportunity to see a filmmaker operate at this level with a distinctive sense of vision. 

In trying to write about it, it is also weird as hell. The relationship between Varang and Quaritch is pulsing with a sexual energy that has been completely absent from these movies, and the bond between Spider and Kiri (Sigourney Weaver) is so inherently strange, I am very curious to see where they go next.

I wish the ending had more of a button - as is, it is a little soft, leaving the opportunity for certain threads to be picked up. This is the one part of the movie where one feels the broader economic imperatives behind the franchise.

Related

Xenogenesis 

The Terminator 

The Abyss

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Avatar - The Way of Water