The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar: It will be a short review this week because this is a short movie. At only 41 minutes, this Wes Anderson film based upon the Roald Dahl book is just delightful. The impressive cast includes Benedict Bumberbatch, Dev Patel, Ralph Fiennes and Ben Kingsley. All are very good in bringing forth this tale of a man who claims to have acquired the ability to see without the use of his eyes.
Cumberbatch plays Henry Sugar who is a wealthy man, but with no real drive, and no real abilities. He by happenstance comes upon a book which is the old tale of a man who had met with a yogi who had the ability to see without using his eyes. Henry Sugar reads the book, is intrigued and wishes to acquire the ability. But what to do once you have acquired the ability? Along the way, the characters are played well with Dev Patel as a doctor who was tasked with masking the lead in the book played by Ben Kingsley. Say what you want about Wes Anderson, and his movies can be hit and miss for me, but he gets top talent to play in his movies. This was short but perceptive, and once you get over the seemingly extraordinary ability which takes years and years to develop, then you just go with the premise and see where it takes you. I enjoyed and would recommend. You see? Short and sweet.
Better Call Saul, Season 6: Things are coming to a head, and near the end for Saul/Jimmy in this final season. Episode 9 was particularly moving on many fronts. The tie ins with Breaking Bad are becoming well established, and even though you know that the characters in Breaking Bad are moving on past their situations presented, it is still a fun ride in how they get there. However flawed these characters are, and they are all flawed, the audience cares, all the while scratching our heads at the very human ability to not be able to stop unhealthy patterns of behaviour, even when we know that they are hurting us. It is really good TV. I would encourage those who get bogged down in the early seasons to stay with it, because there are some really good pay-offs when you do. It is clever writing, good characters on both the good, bad and grey scales along the way. I like that even the “bad” characters are smart, and come up with intelligent plans that make sense, which makes this more of a chess match. What will the bad guys do and how will the good guys counter? What happens when the plan goes astray? You get to find out. Enjoy.
Mondays With Robbie 