Hammerle On … ‘Grandma,”Black Mass’

“Grandma”

This magnificent film begins with an 18-year old girl showing up on her lesbian grandmother’s porch asking to borrow $600 for an abortion. The grandmother, already disgusted with a life that has all but lost meaning, proceeds to take her on a car trip to hunt down the money so that she can arrive on time for her procedure later in the afternoon.

Thus begins the brilliant film “Grandma,” which is funny, profane and enormously relevant to America in 2015. Lily Tomlin is positively brilliant in her role as Elle Reid, a woman who is still wrestling over the loss of her longtime partner who recently died. Though she has been living with a spirited young woman, Olivia (Judy Greer), for the past four months, she chooses to dismiss her in much the same fashion as firing an employee.

Yet chaos waits at her front door with the arrival of her granddaughter, Sage, played in heartwarming style by Julia Garner. Lacking the money to help her, Elle decides to explore old haunts to try to raise the appropriate funds.

Problems exist from the very beginning, starting with her old, dilapidated car. Her trip involves stopping at the home of an old boyfriend, Karl (another meaningful performance by Sam Elliott), who she left without notice decades ago. While each stop involves borderline hysterical moments at every turn, wait until you see her confront the arrogant boyfriend of her pregnant granddaughter. Elle leaves him wishing that he had never called her a bitch.

This film by the talented writer/director Paul Weitz has many strengths, not the least of which is forcing the audience to pay attention to the emotional trauma faced by any woman contemplating an abortion. Always traumatic and never easy, it becomes readily apparent why the anti-abortion movement is led primarily by men who will never have to experience pregnancy. As Elle points out in devastating fashion, men wouldn’t oppose abortion if faced with the possibility of carrying a large watermelon in their stomach for nine months following intercourse.

Another reason why this movie teeters on the edge of greatness is the moments involving Elle’s need to confront her own uncaring daughter for some cash. Marcia Gay Harden is wonderful in that role, and it is a joy to watch grandmother, mother and daughter reunite as they confront a family tragedy.

This is an astonishing movie, and I give nothing away by encouraging you to watch for Elle’s encounter with abortion protesters at the clinic as they arrive. It is, in my humble opinion, an epic moment on screen, and it makes you hope that we Americans can reach the point where women are treated the same as men, namely given the ability to make all decisions concerning their bodies.

“Black Mass”

Violent yet mesmerizing, director Scott Cooper’s “Black Mass” is a riveting historical drama. It is a dark tale about crime and corruption that infested South Boston during the last quarter of the 20th century, and the film makes it hard to believe that human beings are the highest evolved form of life on our planet. While this movie may be too brutal for some, it was like old home week for a criminal defense lawyer like myself.

Johnny Depp is pitch perfect as James “Whitey” Bulger, the head of the Winter Hill Gang that sought to dominate Boston. Though Depp has been in some unfortunate films, he has never given a bad performance. He brings Whitey to life as a notorious psychopath who was dedicated to viciously punishing any good deed that stood in his way.

Central to Whitey’s success was the silent deal he struck with FBI Agent John Connolly where he served as an informant to help crush the mafia that was competing with him in the Boston area. As Agent Connolly, Joel Edgerton matches Depp’s performance. He demonstrates Connolly’s egotistical drive for fame and glory that eventually tied him to Whitey’s ruthless enterprise. When you recall Edgerton’s recent performance in “The Gift,” you have to admire his acting talents.

Though there are a number of interesting performances by actresses in small roles, this is a film where men dominate the screen. Kevin Bacon and Adam Scott play FBI agents who gradually become suspicious of privately doing business with Whitey. David Harbour is also quite good as another agent who becomes trapped in Connolly’s web.

Kevin Weeks and Steve Flemmi played in memorable fashion by Jesse Plemons and Rory Cochrane, respectively, are two unforgettable guys functioning as Whitey’s dependable hitmen. People repeatedly die, including a drug-addled gang-member-turned-informant played by Peter Sarsgaard, and none of the killers display an ounce of compassion.

Furthermore, any review has to note the performance of Benedict Cumberbatch as Billy Bulger, Whitey’s brother sitting in a powerful position in the Massachusetts Legislature. He displays a wonderful Bostonian accent, and it’s hard to believe that this is the same actor who was wrongfully denied an Oscar for his performance as the gay Englishman Alan Turing in last year’s magnificent “The Imitation Game.”

What this film captures is the Neanderthal nature of Whitey’s gang. Anyone who crossed him was viciously interrogated and then killed, and violence dominates the screen from beginning to end.

Though the film doesn’t spend much time dwelling on the personal life of our gang of cutthroats, there is a moment when Whitey is visiting his 7-year-old son in the presence of the boy’s mother, played by Dakota Johnson. Learning that his son has been disciplined in grade school for hitting another student in the face, Whitey sternly lectured him that while there was nothing wrong with hitting someone, you had to be smart enough to do it in private where there were no witnesses. It was a funny, meaningful scene that told you everything you ever needed to know about Mr. Bulger.•

Robert Hammerle practices criminal law in Indianapolis at Pence Hensel LLC as of counsel. When he is not in the courtroom or the office, Bob can likely be found at one of his favorite movie theaters watching and preparing to review the latest films. To read more of his reviews, visit www.bigmouthbobs.com. The opinions expressed are those of the author.