Jake Gyllenhaal III: Stronger 💪
In movie news: Remaking 'The Princess Bride'?
🐪 Happy Wednesday!
I’ve recommended some oddball picks for the last couple days of our week dedicated to movies starring Jake Gyllenhaal. So today, I’m talking about a good old fashioned biopic. For the movie news section, I give my take on a potential The Princess Bride remake and introduce a new Oscar contender.
I’m covering the New York Film Festival this week, so go to smashcutreviews.com to read reviews for all the movies I’m seeing. Okay, here’s day 3️⃣.
Today’s recommendation: Stronger
STREAMING ON HULU & PRIME VIDEO
What it’s about: Stronger tells the true story of Jeff Bauman (Jake Gyllenhaal), a typical Bostonian whose life was changed on April 15, 2013 when he lost both of his legs in the Boston Marathon bombings. With the help of his girlfriend Erin (Tatiana Maslany) and family, he tries to adjust to his new life.
Why it’s great: Stronger could have easily been a paint by the numbers biopic about a man who is faced with an obstacle and overcomes it with sheer willpower and perseverance. However, David Gordon Green isn’t interested in telling that story. Instead, he’s interested in the very real effects of a traumatic event like the Boston bombing and portrays that with a keen cinematic quality. Jeff is a complex protagonist. He’s so unwilling to be a hero, which strains the relationships around him. And Gyllenhaal portrays both the physical and emotional struggle with vigor. It’s one of his best performances.
The key players:
🎬 David Gordon Green
🖋 John Pollono
🎭 Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany, Miranda Richardson, Clancy Brown, Jessica Lundy
The details: ⏳ 119 minutes // 🇺🇸 U.S. // 📺 Trailer // 📝 My review
Fun fact: Many of the minor characters including the doctors and nurses in the hospital, staff at the rehab center, and first responders were played by the real life people.
Don’t have Hulu or Prime Video? Stronger is available to buy or rent on Prime Video, iTunes, and YouTube.
In movie news: A potential The Princess Bride remake set Twitter ablaze
👑 A single quote from Sony Pictures Entertainment chief executive Tony Vinciquerra set Twitter off yesterday — including Cary Elwes and Jamie Lee Curtis — when he implied Norman Lear’s 1987 classic The Princess Bride might be remade:
“Very famous people whose names I won’t use, but they want to redo The Princess Bride."
My take: With the critical tide turning against Disney’s “live-action” remakes — here’s my review of The Lion King — and fans rolling their eyes at every reboot and remake announced, it’s not inconceivable that we’re reaching the saturation point for Hollywood’s obsession with existing IPs. Then again, The Lion King made $1.6 billion, so don’t expect things to change that quickly.
💧 A new Oscar contender has emerged with Focus Features’ Dark Waters, which got its first trailer today.
🔮 Oscar chances: The movie brings together two Oscar also-rans in Todd Haynes (nominated for Far from Heaven) and Mark Ruffalo (nominated for The Kids Are All Right, Foxcatcher, and Spotlight). While Best Actor is stacked this year, there isn’t a clear frontrunner. Ruffalo could fill that role.
That’s all for today! If you like what I’ve been doing it’d mean the world to me if you’d share this link with your friends. You’re the best!
See you tomorrow,
Karl (@karl_delo)