The Weekly Gravy #137

Just a quick note to say that we (I) at If You Want the Gravy… support the WGA strike, both as a writer and as a member of multiple union families. Let us hope for a satisfactory resolution.

The AristoCats (1970) – ***

Really, The AristoCats is even breezier and lighter than The Jungle Book, with a far less threatening villain, far milder moments of peril, and fewer feints at tragedy. And yet, it’s arguably the better film (by a narrow margin) in my book, because it doesn’t attempt to be more than the easy-going entertainment it is. I remember liking it as a kid; I don’t know that it was ever a favorite of mine, but I appreciated it then and can appreciate it now.

In 1910, Madame Adelaide Bonfamille (Hermione Baddeley) lives in her plush Paris home with her beloved cats Duchess (Eva Gabor) and Duchess’ three kittens: Berlioz (Dean Clark), Marie (Liz English), and Toulouse (Gary Dubin). She also has Edgar (Roddy Maude-Roxby), her devoted butler, whose devotion wanes when he learns that Madame plans to leave her money and estates to the cats; he is but the residual legatee.

Overlooking the fact that, as the cats’ custodian (and the fact that cats can’t actually spend money), he could effectively live off Madame’s legacy for the low price of caring for four cats, Edgar decides to get Duchess and her kittens out of the way. (I should also note that Madame doesn’t seem especially close to dying – but Edgar is supposed to be stupid.) After drugging them with spiked cream, he drives into the countryside and, being waylaid by a couple of comic-relief farm dogs, loses them on a riverbank. No idea what his actual plan was.

Worried but otherwise unharmed, Duchess and the kittens make a helpful friend the following morning: Abraham de Lacy Giuseppe Casey Thomas O’Malley (Phil Harris), a nomadic alley cat who’s immediately taken with Duchess and offers to help get her and the kittens back to Paris. Various adventures follow, including an encounter with some comic-relief geese and an interlude with Thomas’ old friends, led by Scat Cat (Scatman Crothers), which gives us the film’s most famous sequence, “Everybody Wants to Be a Cat.”

Eventually, Edgar is defeated and mailed to Timbuktu, Duchess and her kittens are reunited with Madame, Thomas is welcomed into Madame’s household, and Madame turns her home into a gathering place for the stray cats of Paris. Cue le jazz hot.

Aside from one scene where Marie falls in a river and must be rescued, there’s little reason to believe Duchess and her kittens are in very much danger; hell, the kittens never even lose their little bowties. And the biggest action scene in the film is completely superfluous to the plot, as Edgar, trying to cover his tracks, tries to retrieve his hat and umbrella from the countryside (no, it doesn’t make much sense to me either), and gets into a protracted comic tangle with Napoleon (Pat Buttram) and Lafayette (George Lindsey), two farm dogs who sound like they’re from the Deep South despite being in France.

Indeed, aside from title song, sung by Maurice Chevalier, there’s not much that’s French about The AristoCats; most of the characters have English or American accents, and while we glimpse notable landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, the film devotes little time to them. But they’d already done London (and would do it again), and even though Parisian cats had already been done by UPA/Warner Brothers in Gay Purr-ee…well, maybe they figured no one would remember that film.

Of course, anyone who remembered 101 Dalmatians might think the plight of Duchess and her kittens was like a watered-down version of what the titular dogs went through, and anyone who remembered Lady and the Tramp might think the relationship between Duchess and Thomas was more than a little similar (though Thomas is less hung up on class distinctions than Tramp). And no, AristoCats isn’t as good as either of those films in terms of story, character, music, or artistry.

But it’s a charming and likable film nonetheless. The animation, while a bit heavy on the scratchy lines of the xerography process, has its verve and character, especially in the scenes with Scat Cat and his rowdy gang. The voice acting is fine, with Harris’ amiable throatiness, Gabor’s Continental purr, Maude-Roxby’s plummy conniving, and the always-welcome Sterling Holloway as a friendly mouse adding to the all-around good vibes. The music is likewise pleasant, though quite forgettable outside of “Everybody Wants to Be a Cat.”

“Charming,” “likable,” “pleasant”…I keep coming back to these words because they sum up The AristoCats so well. It doesn’t have the highest highs, but its lows aren’t that low (aside from Shun Gon, the heavily stereotypical Chinese cat). That may seem like damning with faint praise, but that’s the post-Walt era for you (although he’d greenlit the film before his death). It could be considerably worse – and although my memories of the next few films are very faint, it could very well get worse.

Score: 75

Sisu (2022) – ***½

Briefly defined at the start of the film, sisu is a Finnish concept of “stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience, and hardiness,” which sums up its hero and the film as a whole pretty well. To be sure, there’s nothing in there about spraying blood, fearsome knife skills, using another person as an air tank, or very good dogs, but all that’s implied. Not in the film, mind you – everything in the film is quite visible, and what we don’t see we don’t need to know.

We learn that our hero, Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila) is a veteran of the Winter War with the Soviet Union, and has walked away from the ongoing Lapland War, in which the Nazis are being driven out of Finland (who’s brokered peace with the Soviets) and into occupied Norway. Aatami is more interested in prospecting for gold and finds a rich vein of it amidst the stark landscape. Heading back to civilization to cash in his treasure, he encounters a Nazi squadron led by Bruno Helldorf (Aksel Hennie); when some of Bruno’s soldiers discover his gold, they plan to execute him and take the gold, but Aatami makes quick work of them and flees with it.

Bruno learns about the gold, and after finding Aatami’s dogtags, learns his backstory: after losing his home and family in the war, he became so intensely vengeful that his superiors simply pointed him at the Soviets and let him wreak bloody havoc. Bruno’s superiors order him to give up and go to Norway, but Bruno, knowing the Nazis have lost the war and what fate awaits him, sees the gold as his chance to escape Europe with his life. But Aatami, having sisu, has other plans.

It’s a major strength of Jalmari Helander’s script that he quickly and neatly lays out the scenario and the motivations – especially why Bruno decides to pursue so lethal an opponent – and gives us no more than we need. Aside from some haunting sound effects to suggest his horrible memories and a few lines of exposition, we get nothing of Aatami’s past, and we get absolutely nothing of Bruno’s (or any other character’s). We get what we need to set the stage and see us through to the end – which takes about 90 minutes with credits. It’s taut without being scrawny.

To be sure, compared to something like Inglourious Basterds – which, with its premise and division into chapters in a bold, blocky yellow font, it’s clearly taking some cues from – it lacks the depth of character, the wit, or the crisp dialogue to have a real shot at future-classic status. And one aspect of the film might have actually benefited from greater development: the story of several Finnish women kidnapped by Bruno’s men who, with Aatami’s help, turn the tables on them. They help to establish that Aatami is a legend in his own time, but the film threatens to give them, especially Aino (Mimosa Willamo), more depth than it actually does.

All that said, it’s still a fine slice of bloody mayhem. Helander’s direction is greatly aided by Kjell Lagerroos’ excellent cinematography, which shows off the harsh plains and mysterious forests of Lapland to fine effect and achieves some memorably apocalyptic imagery when we see the results of the Nazis’ scorched-Earth tactics, the first-rate sound design, which gives us the rumble of tanks, the roar of airplanes, the bangs and booms of guns great and small, and the silence of the wilderness as well, and some fantastic makeup effects which viscerally convey all the hell these characters go through – or have gone through, as the scars which line Aatami’s body testify.

Tommila’s performance is effective, albeit greatly restrained; aside from a hoot of joy and assorted screams of pain, he speaks but once in the film, and while we can see in his face his quick thinking and physical anguish, he rarely pauses to show much emotion. This is by design, of course, but it’s a hard design to transcend. Hennie doesn’t necessarily transcend the role of Bruno, but he strikes the right balance with it, being a mean, conniving bastard who knows the party’s over for him, but not going too far into cartoon villainy – the film has a welcome streak of dark humor, but aside from one especially superhuman moment near the end, it’s heightened without being ludicrous.

I saw the film on April 30th, the anniversary of Hitler’s death, and thus the best day to see a whole bunch of Nazis suffer. So full of Finnish pride I’m shocked they didn’t put “Finlandia” on the soundtrack, Sisu is nonetheless quite accessible to international audiences through its simple story, vigorous action, and universally applicable message (dogs are good and Nazis are bad and should feel bad).

Score: 85

Polite Society (2023) – ***½

Like Sisu, Polite Society is broken to chapters (albeit less usefully), is full of action, and pays homage to a specific culture in a way which audiences of all origins can appreciate. In fact, it leans on the latter somewhat more than Sisu, and boasts enough charm and humor to compensate for any weaknesses in the story (a few but they’re there). They’re not really comparable otherwise, but when you’re reviewing two films side-by-side, you tend to look for connections.

In London, Ria Khan (Priya Kansara) is a teenager of Pakistani descent who dreams of becoming a stuntwoman like her idol, Eunice Huthart. She’s not quite up to Eunice’s level yet, and struggles to nail a particular kind of leaping kick, but she’s full of enthusiasm and makes videos to raise her profile online. She does this with the help of her older sister, Lena (Ritu Arya), an art-school dropout who’s decidedly unsure about what to do with her life.

The answer seemingly comes in the form of Salim Shah (Akshay Khanna), the son of Rahella (Nimra Bucha), the most influential member of the social circle Ria and Lena’s mother Fatima (Shobu Kapoor) belongs to. Salim wins Lena over quickly, and Ria resents the loss of her sister’s time. When Salim and Lena become engaged, she’s horrified – how can Lena be the great artist Lena knows she is when she’s married to a rich doctor like Salim?

With her friends Clara (Seraphina Beh) and Alba (Ella Bruccoleri), Ria attempts to find skeletons in Salim’s closet, or failing that, to fabricate evidence that he’s no good. Her efforts fail, estranging her from both her friends and Ria; after an incident where she breaks into the Shah residence, she visits Raheela to apologize, and finds herself confronted with Raheela’s true, scheming self; she also finds evidence that Salim is indeed up to something truly uncool.

But convincing Ria is a tall order, and after patching things up with Clara and Alba, she decides on a more reasonable course of action: they’ll chloroform Ria and kidnap her from the wedding. Cue the action-packed shenanigans.

The action is pretty good – lots of leaps and kicks and cartwheels – but it’s the characters and the writing which really make Polite Society work. It has a useful message about dreams and ambitions – in particular, how Ria is trying to make Lena conform to her ideal of how Lena should live her life, and even at the end Lena insists on figuring things out, including whether or not she’ll return to art, on her own terms.

It also touches on the intricacies of its cultural context, of how Ria and Lena are at once British and Pakistani, how they embody aspects of both cultures in their speech and manner, and how their parents also fit into this very specific social slot. It’s significant, I think, that in the finale the South Asian aesthetic takes center stage and the Khan sisters must reach into a deeper part of themselves to triumph over Raheela and Salim; Ria performs a full traditional dance number as part of her plan, a touch of spectacle that also ties into the story and themes.

It’s also just a deeply charming and funny film, with Kansara wonderful as the doughty heroine who finds herself often down, but never out, and will never give up on the sister she loves dearly. Arya, for her part, is quite sympathetic as the older sister whose aimlessness would be frustrating to any parents but is devastating to her own – and is rather frustrating to herself, as she indulges in an entire roast duck sans plates or cutlery, but hides in shame from passing acquaintances. Bucha is most enjoyable as the gracefully scheming mother-in-law with the death’s-head grin, Beh and Bruccoleri are a delightful double-act, and Khanna is a fine mama’s boy.

The one part of the film that doesn’t really work is the actual scheme Raheela has cooked up with Salim’s help; without giving too much away, it takes the film, which is otherwise relatively realistic, into sci-fi/horror territory, and it just doesn’t work that well. I get what writer-director Nida Manzoor had in mind, but it feels like something from a different film – although it does give us the great line “Dolly the sheep was one tough bitch.”

That quibble aside, Polite Society is a very fun time at the movies, with some great sets and costumes (especially in the final act), a most capable cast, a good balance of laughs and thrills, and a familiar enough message delivered well. Recommended.

Score: 85

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) – ***

Unlike the other two new-release films reviewed here, The Super Mario Bros. Movie doesn’t need my help; as of this writing, it’s grossed $498 million domestically and just over $1 billion worldwide. Sure, it’ll lose the top spot at the boxoffice this weekend to Guardians of the Galaxy (which I meant to see on Thursday night but won’t get to until Saturday at the earliest), but it’ll probably add a decent amount to that total before it leaves theaters.

It was only after it had been in theaters almost four weeks that I went to see it ($5 Tuesday tickets, baby), and that mostly because it would otherwise have been the highest-grossing film (unadjusted, domestic) that I’d never seen; that spot continues to be held by another Illumination production, Minions: The Rise of Gru. (I don’t have any plans of seeing that.)

I went in with low expectations – video-game movies have a terrible track record, I have no special connection to the material (awareness, yes, but no particular affection), the reviews were middling, and the trailers didn’t look especially strong. That Chris Pratt did the voice of Mario wasn’t a deal-breaker for me, but it certainly wasn’t a selling point, either.

And yet, while I can’t say I was especially fond of it, I found Super Mario Bros. to be a relatively pleasant 90 minutes. The story is simple enough: Bowser (Jack Black) wants to marry Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), but he’s a belligerent turtle-beast and she’s a compassionate human being. Meanwhile, Mario and Luigi (Charlie Day), two struggling plumbers from Brooklyn, get sucked into the Mushroom Kingdom and Dark Lands respectively, and Mario joins Peach’s efforts to fight Bowser so he can rescue his brother. Other characters who factor into the journey include Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen), Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen), and Kamek (Kevin Michael Richardson).

There are numerous references to the various Mario games, including the challenge Mario must complete to prove himself to Peach, the match he fights against Donkey Kong – which he wins thanks to a power-up that gives him a cat suit – and a chase sequence on the Rainbow Road which evokes Mario Kart – which I actually have played! There are doubtless many other references, overt and subtle alike, that went well over my head but will delight fans.

I took the film less as an adaptation of the games than as an animated adventure in its own right. On that level…it’s okay. The story is pretty bare-bones, and the film bops from scene to scene (at least the non-action scenes) so quickly it feels like they took a treatment and made it the final script. The script is credited only to Matthew Fogel, but it has a distinct creation-by-committee feel; it’s hard to get very invested in what happens, not because it’s so predictable but because it’s so thin.

It does have a certain measure of charm thanks to the characters and the voice acting. Black and Armisen obviously steal their scenes, but Pratt isn’t as bad as I feared and Day is always amusing. Taylor-Joy is kind of wasted and Rogen is miscast, but on the whole, the voice acting is solid and the characters have their fundamental charm – and I also have to mention Lumalee (Juliet Jelenic), whose chirpy nihilism is quite amusing, not least because it so dismays everyone around them.

It’s colorfully animated, with character designs that feel true to the game while functioning as the film requires, and settings that, while not overly imaginative, are precisely what the material needs. It has solid music, including a song for Bowser that allows Black to bring a little Tenacious D to the table and ample use of the classic Mario theme, and suitable sound effects that give the fights and chases a measure of real excitement.

It has some genuinely solid moments, my favorite being the Mario/Donkey Kong fight, especially when Mario finds himself in the cat suit. (I like cats, what can I say?) It also has some cringe-inducing moments, in particular the excessive “comedic” use of slow-motion, which gets decidedly tiresome before the end. All in all, it’s an acceptable if unremarkable bit of family entertainment, one which goes down easy – but compared to truly great films like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, it’s hard to imagine it’ll stick in many memories.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be a sequel which will also make money hand over fist. But if they have any guts, they’ll have Peach and Bowser try to make a go of things – without any coercion on his part.

Score: 67