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Nyad – Movie Review

Anette Benning and Jodie Foster star in Nyad

Hey film fans! Slick Dungeon here back to review another Oscar nominated movie for you. This one tells the tale of a determined swimmer who achieved the nearly impossible, and did it far later in life than anyone would expect. The movie has two Oscar nominations, one for Annette Benning for Best Actress, and one for Jodie Foster as Best Supporting Actress. Do be warned there will be spoilers below for the film, and a sports event you could easily google. Still, if you hate that sort of thing just keep swimming away until you watch the movie and then swim on back here to read the review.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

What’s it About?

You know how everyone is feeling super hero movie fatigue right about now? Well, I’ve had film fatigue for a different genre of film for a long time. The inspirational sports drama film fatigue. I honestly can’t say I have seen anything new in this kind of movie since Rudy. Typically in these films there is an athlete or a team with the desire to win something or do something that hasn’t been done in sports. The said athlete or team faces adversity and challenges and nearly gives up. But in the end something changes and they become more determined and push on through the obstacles to win said game, medal, record etc. It can be moving and inspiring but it’s nothing unexpected. I wish I could say Nyad pulled me out of this fatigue but far from it.

This is not to say the real life Diana Nyad is anything other than an incredible inspiration with an amazing story. And this is also not to say that there weren’t stand out performances in this film. I’m just saying you aren’t going to find anything you don’t expect here.

The film tells the tale of Diana Nyad (Benning) who tried several times in her life to swim the Straits of Florida unassisted until she accomplished her goal. This swim is one of the most difficult open water swims possible and everything from severe weather to dangerous ocean life, not to mention the currents themselves, could easily derail the best swimmers in history.

When she was young and a star swimmer in her twenties, Nyad attempts the swim. She does the best she can but ultimately she can’t make it.

We then fast forward to Diana in her sixties. She’s had a successful career and is basically troubled by the lack of exceptionalism in the world. Something, to her, is missing. She spends most of her time with her friend, Bonnie Stoll (Foster). Her life is happy enough but she wants more.

Diana decides to once again hit the pool. She’s pushing herself to the limits to see if she could make another attempt at the swim she failed at decades ago. She tells Bonnie about her plan to get back out there and attempt the swim again.

A team is assembled around Diana and soon we have all the pieces for her to make another attempt. In this attempt the ocean currents push her off course far enough she has to quit.

Determined not to give up, Diana tries once again. This time she is injured by a box jellyfish which can be lethal to humans. She nearly dies.

Still determined not to give up, Diana tries again, this time after consulting with an expert on jellyfish who helps her create a protective suit. She goes out once again but this time is defeated by disastrous weather conditions.

By this point, Diana’s team are all pretty tired of making the attempts and try to convince her to give up. It goes so far that several of her key supporters quit, including Bonnie, her coach.

Finally, still determined not to give up, Diana apologizes to some of the members of her team and they all gradually, if reluctantly agree to make one more attempt. This time they face dangers and challenges but luck, weather, and the marine life are all favorable enough that Diana is close to completing the swim. She gets close to giving up, but Bonnie, Nyad’s coach and friend, hops in the water to give Diana one last inspirational speech to push her through. At long last, after four failed attempts at the most difficult swim in the world, Diana does the impossible and completes the swim.

Throughout the film we see flashbacks of Nyad’s childhood and see that her father inspired her to want to do the swim in the first place. We also see the darker side of her life as we get flashbacks of a coach who abused several young female swimmers. It’s not until after this man dies that Diana truly confronts her trauma and it’s not until after this that she completes the swim.

Also throughout the film we see Bonnie inspiring, pushing, consoling, and sometimes angering Diana all in an effort to get Diana to push through and give her all. Diana’s obsession nearly ruins the lives of several people in her orbit but ultimately, through Bonnie’s leadership they prevail.

The Performances

While this type of movie may be a formula I am tired of, I can separate out the performances here. Annette Benning gives an impressive, if stoic performance. Physically this film must have taken a lot out of her as I am sure she had to spend hundreds of hours swimming. As far as the character of Nyad goes, she doesn’t seem to have much character growth. She basically goes from determined to even more determined. And while, in life, this makes for an interesting person, on film it feels rather dull. Annete Benning does transform well into her character but other than be determined enough to win the race, and mildly change her attitude towards her past and her teammates, not much happens here.

On the other hand, Bonnie, played by Jodie Foster, goes through a roller coaster of emotions. She has to deal with an entire team of people, including an athlete that is so obsessive she nearly bankrupts her whole team. Bonnie goes from reluctant coach to cheerleader, to caring friend, to knowing just the right thing to say at the right moment. Foster’s performance here is impressive and brings much needed life to the film. When Foster is encouraging Nyad to walk the few feet of sand she has to in order to ultimately complete the swim, you can feel how emotional it is for her. To be fair, Benning’s face was covered up with lots of prosthetics in this scene so it’s harder to read to begin with. But when the camera looks at Foster, it’s easy to see she is giving her all to the character.

I don’t know if either actress will win in their categories but between the two performances, I think Foster’s is the stronger of the two.

In Conclusion

The story truly is inspirational but I’m not sure the film does it full justice. The performances by the lead and supporting actresses are impressive but may not be the best ones of the year. The directing, cinematography and all the rest of it is fine but not incredible. The reason to watch is definitely for the performances but the rest is just what you would see in any of those inspirational sports films.

If you haven’t seen this movie and you are curious about the performances of the two actresses then give it a watch. But, if you are looking for inventive film making or a different kind of sports film, this is not going to scratch that itch. The most notable part of the story is the actual accomplishments of the real Diana Nyad and I think if you were to watch a documentary or read an article about her, you’ll likely find it more inspirational than the biopic here.

Swimmingly yours,

Slick Dungeon

Posted on by slickdungeon

Elemental – Movie Review

FIRE AND WATER – Set in a city where fire-, water-, land-, and air-residents live together, Disney and Pixar’s “Elemental” introduces Ember, a tough, quick-witted and fiery young woman whose friendship with a fun, sappy, go-with-the-flow guy named Wade challenges her beliefs about the world they live in. Featuring the voices of Leah Lewis and Mamoudou Athie as Ember and Wade, respectively. © 2022 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Hey there film fans, it’s Slick Dungeon! I’m back to review another Oscar nominated film. This time I’ll be reviewing the latest entry from powerhouse animation studio Disney/Pixar, Elemental. The film is about a hotheaded element who meets an element fluid enough to go with the flow. Be forewarned there will be spoilers below so if that sort of thing bothers you, watch the movie and then come on back here to read the review.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

What’s it about?

While on the surface this is basically a rom-com with most of the trappings you find in that genre, at its core, Elemental is about the immigrant experience. There is a big city where most elements live called Element City. This city has lots of air, earth, and water elements. More rare are fire elements.

Two such elements are Bernie and Cindie Ember. They immigrate to Element City with their daughter Ember and set up a shop called The Fireplace. With them, they also bring their blue flame which represents their traditions and culture.

Things seem to go relatively well at first. Bernie is successful at his business and he promises the store to his daughter once she is ready. Bernie does seem to have a serious dislike for all water elements. And while Ember is good at most things in the store, she does have a tendency to lose her temper at customers. Also, in general, the community is not entirely accepting of fire elements because, well, they can catch things on fire, and that would be bad.

We jump ahead a few years and Ember is grown up. She’s still helping her father with the store most days but he is near retirement. Ember has one last thing to do to prove herself. She has to get through the red dot sale day without losing her temper. The sale starts and things go okay at first but customers are customers and soon Ember heads down to the basement to let off some steam. She heats up and soon a pipe in the shop bursts. It looks like Ember has ruined the day.

But then, a city inspector comes out of the pipe. This is Wade Ripple who is a water element. He is horrified at the state of the shop but sympathizes with Ember. Still, he has to do his job and he writes up some citations that could get the shop closed down.

Ember does everything she can to convince Wade to ditch the citations but she’s too late and it’s out of his hands. But he is again sympathetic to her situation and allows her to meet some of the higher ups who could reverse the ruling.

In the process of all this, Ember ends up lying to her father about what happened to the shop. Wade and Ember also discover that the real problem has to do with the gate of the city.

As you can guess, in any rom-com, the lies pile up, the romance heats up, and it all comes to a head in a disastrous situation. But, in the end, things work out. Ember and her father are still on good terms even though she has decided not to run the family store and even though she is dating a water element.

The Animation

As with any Pixar film, the animation here is incredibly good. The design of the elements themselves is fun and enjoyable and the backgrounds make an entirely fictional setting look basically real.

This type of skill is what has won Pixar plenty of Oscars in the past but I would not say this film is breaking any new ground in animation here. While the style is good and it matches the story well, there isn’t anything we haven’t seen before visually. That’s not to say it is not an impressive feat. To still be this good at making an animated story work is saying something in and of itself. Pixar has nothing to be ashamed about in this film and I am not sure why it didn’t catch on with audiences so well. I think perhaps the marketing is to blame but if you have not seen it, this is worth a watch for the visual experience alone.

The Voice Acting

As far as the voice acting talent goes in this film, it is spot on and perfectly cast. All of the characters sound like you would expect them to and this, combined with the great animation makes for a very engaging viewing experience.

In conclusion

While the animation is great and the story is solid, in a lot of ways this film feels too conventional. It is nice to see the immigrant experience depicted in animation and I think that will resonate with a lot of audiences. The love story is fairly standard and ends the way you most likely guessed it would end. However, the film doesn’t quite push enough envelopes to make it stand out over other Pixar films. It is undoubtedly one of the best animated films of the year but I don’t think it is, in fact, the best one.

As far as whether this film will win an Oscar, my prediction is it is between Elemental and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Either one could win but my money is on Spider-Man. (Please don’t bet on anything based on my predictions because I am often wrong.)

Elementally yours,

Slick Dungeon

Posted on by slickdungeon

Flamin’ Hot – Movie Review

Well, hello there film fans! Slick Dungeon here, back to review a bit of an oddball of a film full of grit, determination, innovation, exaggerations, Cheeto dust, and a potential Oscar winner. I am talking, of course, about the “true” story of Flamin’ Hot, telling the tale of how one of the spiciest snacks in the world came to be. Somehow this film is full of controversy, more inspiring than expected, and an Oscar contender. That’s right, this movie could technically win an Oscar. Fair warning, if you don’t want your eyes tearing up as if you’ve inhaled that famous fiery red orange concoction, this review contains spoilers. You have been warned. Although, can you really spoil a product line? Um, yeah I guess you can. Anyway, if you want to watch the movie first to stay spoiler free, do that and then come on back here for the review.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

What’s the Story?

Before I get into the review, there is, strangely, a bit of background to cover here. Flamin’ Hot is meant to depict a real life story about a man who goes from janitor at a Frito Lay manufacturing plant to inspirational executive at Frito Lay, opening up a new market with an innovative product line. Only… that may not be the full truth here. There have been multiple articles debunking the story of Flamin’ Hot in places like The New York Times, The LA Times, and NPR.

Regardless of the controversy, the filmmakers charged forward with making this movie, claiming the story was never about Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, but actually the story of the life of Richard Montanez. There are some facts here which are not in dispute at all. Montanez was, indeed, a janitor at Frito Lay. And he did become a top executive of PepsiCo. To me, that can be inspirational all on its own and anyone who can claim that sort of accomplishment should be proud.

What’s a little less clear is if he actually had the idea of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos or if it was more of a high level executive group idea.

I’m not here to figure out what the truth is. This ain’t that kinda blog. What I am here to do, is review movies. So I’m going to take this from the perspective of a film goer and see if the movie works, if it is worth watching, and how well it was made.

Why Review This?

There are a lot of movies out there. Personally, I am not in favor of this trend we have where the movies have started becoming not stories of people but products. Take for example, Air, Blackberry, and Tetris. While these are technically about the people behind the products, one could argue these films are nothing but one giant advertisement for said product. Heck, even Barbie could be considered that but at least it isn’t trying to say it’s based on a true story.

In the case of Flamin’ Hot, we have another, “based on a true story” style film about a product line. But here’s the thing. This year I want to try to review every film that is up for any kind of an Oscar in 2024. (Don’t hold me to that, there are a ton of movies on that list but I will do my best) And guess what? Flamin’ Hot is nominated for an Oscar. Best Picture? Nope. Best Director? Nope. Best Actor? Nope. This movie is nominated for… Best Original Song.

Yeah, so even if the movie itself is embroiled in some controversy, even if the story is pushing one that is more favorable to a whole corporation than to a single movie goer, the song could still be the best one in film from 2023. The song that is nominated is called The Fire Inside with music and lyrics by Diane Warren. Will it win? Never take my predictions as true on Oscar stuff because I have a pretty low percentage of being right. However, my prediction is this will not win best song because it has too much competition from Barbie.

By the way, the song only shows up during the credits so I watched the whole movie just for that. Since I did watch it, I might as well tell you about it. Spoilers follow.

A rough beginning

Richard Montanez is a hard working kid in southern California. He stands out in school where most of his classmates are white and they make fun of him for being Mexican and eating burritos. Not one to overlook an opportunity, Richard has the idea of letting some of the white school kids eat one of his burritos. The kid loves the burrito because, well because burritos are amazing as everyone knows. So Richard decides to sell his burritos for a quarter to the kids at school. Already he has a solid head for business.

Unfortunately for Richard, rumors go around that he is not earning his money but stealing it. He ends up getting arrested and essentially gets caught up in a life of crime. This makes it difficult to get a stable job because he now has a criminal record and no formal education to speak of. However, he has a supportive wife, Judy, his friend from school. Richard is determined to go legitimate and after a bit of convincing and using his powers of networking and persuasion, Richard does land a job at Frito Lay. He’s working as a janitor and he has nothing to be ashamed of as he’s earning a decent paycheck, he’s stable enough although somewhat dependent on government assistance and things might be looking up.

Reaganomics

At first, it looks like Richard is going to make it big. He persistently asks knowledgable people about how the factory works, what the machines do, and it seems like he could be on the rise and able to do more than just clean factory floors. But, the 1980’s hit pretty hard when it came to cutbacks on government subsidies. Trickle down economics did absolutely nothing to help people in need, and inevitably, people began to lose jobs, corporations cut back on production, and Richard knew his job would soon be in jeopardy as well.

He basically stagnates in his role for a while as everyone just tries to hold on. Some of Richard’s friends get fired, no one seems to get promoted, and life, in general, is looking tough.

Video Created the Cheeto Star

Fate, it would seem, decides to step in. Richard watches a corporate video produced by the CEO of the company, Roger Enrico. In it, Enrico tells his workers to, “think like a CEO.” Yes, that’s right, a wealthy CEO is here to save everyone because somehow CEO’s have this magical ability to inspire people. (Insert sarcasm in that last sentence if you did not already)

Anyway, Richard does take this advice to heart. And he realizes a few things. First, Frito-Lay is not actually serving the market of the Latino population. They don’t seem to buy the chips. Second, there are spicy flavors everywhere. True inspiration hits though when Richard is consoling his sons as they eat elotes (Mexican street corn), and his son yelps that it burns. Richard asks if his kid is okay and the kid responds, “I like it. It burns good.”

If you have ever enjoyed a bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos you know exactly what that kid is saying.

Between this incident and the video from the CEO, inspiration has struck. Richard is about to change the world. Maybe not the world, he’s about to change food. Maybe not food, he’s about to change snack food. Yeah I think that’s where it lands.

Cue the Flamin’ HOt Montage

We see scenes of Richard and Judy taking unseasoned chips from the factory and trying every kind of hot seasoning they know of until they get their kid to say it, “burns good.” At the same time, some corporate dudes in lab coats are basically trying to do the same thing. In the movie, Richard says he doesn’t really know what was going on with that and this is basically the heart of the real life controversy. Were the spicy chips being produced by lab scientists paid by a corporation or did one guy have the idea to make the spicy powder? Or maybe both happened at sort of the same time. Who knows? Not me. Anyway, back to the review.

Finally, the recipe is perfected and Richard is happy with it. But there’s one huge snag. He’s the lowly janitor. Who is going to listen to him? Well, Richard decides he could call the CEO of the company. He does so, and miraculously ends up on the line with Roger Enrico. Richard has the power of persuasion and he’s able to convince Enrico they need to add a product line and save everyone’s jobs. Enrico is kindly, perceptive, and can relate to his workers. He behaves just like every company would want you to believe their CEO acts. Not in the interest of themselves or their shareholders. No, that would be beneath them. Enrico is a man of the people and he listens to his workers. Well, he supposedly did once at least anyway, according to the movie.

Enrico tells Richard to send him a box of the Flamin’ Hot chips and guess what? Enrico likes them.

Cue the moment our hero overcomes hardship and we all know we can’t live without a specific product

Even with Enrico’s approval it’s still a struggle to launch Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. Richard is allowed to make 5,000 bags and put them on shelves. But, at first, they don’t sell. Why not? Lack of advertising! Richard gets friends and family from his neighborhood, factory workers, and basically anyone who will listen to hit the streets, pass out the chips and build buzz for the product. He specifically wants to target the Latino community which is underserved by Frito-Lay at this time.

This all turns out successfully and, as you probably know, there are a metric ton of Flamin’ Hot products flying off the shelves today. Richard moves up in life from janitor and becomes known as the, “Godfather of Latino Marketing.”

And the world becomes a happier place because we can eat Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

In Conclusion

Is this film worth watching? It was certainly entertaining, mostly due to the enjoyable performance of Jesse Garcia as Richard Montanez. The directing was competent on the part of Eva Longoria but nothing spectacular.

In the end Montanez being known for marketing fits really well with the film because this movie is basically marketing a brand. It’s trying to say that the Latino market was not being noticed by PepsiCo and thanks to the vision of one man, the company changed what it was doing which profited both the company and the community. Even if this story were completely true, this is still marketing. It’s trying to show PepsiCo and Montanez in the best light possible. It’s what companies want us to think about both their executives and themselves.

As far as a bit of entertainment, this film is fine. It’s not Flamin’ Hot though. It’s just average.

That being said, will there be Flamin’ Hot Cheeto dust on my fingers this Sunday when I watch the Super Bowl? Absolutely.

Spicily yours,

Slick Dungeon