Death By Lightning: This week’s reviews are dealing with a number of releases on Netflix recently. This one was just released in early November while the others were October releases. This is a four-part series which shows the late 1870s and early 1880s with the political landscape of the Republican Party. This is a few years after the end of the Civil War and also the assassination of President Lincoln. Michael Shannon plays James Garfield of Ohio. He was a Congressman heading to the Republican convention in Chicago where he was there to stand up for and nominate his fellow Ohio Senator John Sherman. He provides a rousing speech for that nomination in his defiance of the existing sitting President Ulysses Grant, who was well supported by the voters in New York State, lead by Roscoe Conkling. With no intention of being a nominee things happen at the convention that were unexpected.

The other main character in the story is Charles Guiteau, played by Matthew Macfayden (Tom from Succession) who is a scoundrel and a charleton, who is a former lawyer who steals from his clients and his family, lies without hesitation and exaggerates his importance and accomplishments. He has been relentless in looking to find a steady job after seeing the Republican convention take place in Chicago. He seeks out the politicians to engage with them to help with the campaign. He backs into a job by pure happenstance. He relentlessly pursues Garfield and the senior staff in the Administration, which nowadays we would call stalking. Macfayden is creepy in portraying this narcissist and it is remarkable that he is allowed access to the White House and the President so frequently, especially given the recent assassination of Lincoln.

I found this slow to get going, and the language used is updated to reflect current venacular including present day profanity. There are some uncomfortable scenes with Guiteau as time as again he takes advantage of people or simply spouts off on various untruths with people who are looking to be cordial and pleasant with him. Garfield is shown to be an idealist, looking to have government “by the people, for the people” as written in the Constitution. He doesn’t like power brokers like New York’s Conkling and wants to end the influence there. He has true faith in a running mate he never chose, but was from New York where influence was necessary. It was a poor choice. I did not know this story, and it was engaging. It was also surprising how democracy can be run, but also how individuals can have their morals overwhelmed by influence of others. It is a weakness in the system, but a necessary one. I like Betty Gilpin as Garfield’s wife as she shows herself to be strong, intelligent and resilient. She is a true partner for James Garfield, supporting, defending and standing by his side. This series taught me a number of things about this time in American history, including that Canadian Alexander Graham Bell could be involved! Imagine that!

A House of Dynamite: This was recently released on Netflix as well. It was somewhat frustrating, which was intentional by the well known director Kathryn Bigelow, that we saw three different versions of the same set of circumstances without resolution. It has a good cast with Idris Elba as the President, Jared Harris as the Defense Secretary, Rebecca Ferguson and Jason Clarke. From the political side it is interesting to see that a foreign power (not Russia or China) has unexpected nuclear capability and decides to make an aggressive, unexpected move. It is surprising that the US relies solely on limited counter-measures to combat this aggressive move and not have further ability to do anything else after that. I understand that conceptually one is trying to strike a bullet midair with another bullet, but to save countless lives it would seem to be simply not enough. I would expect that drones, planes and other missiles could be launched against it. Certainly I would also expect that other countries potentially could assist.

Much is made in the previews and pictures in spport of this movie about Rebecca Ferguson, however her time and role are limited, and mostly to the first of the three sections involved. Others play roles higher up that are more consequential, but that I think was the point because initially the event was viewed as being a mistake, a drill, or not that consequential. In a matter of minutes it gets to be VERY consequential. My biggest takeaway was that there was a reasonable, rational man sitting as the President (Elba). If this situation were to play itself out now in real life, with the current President at the helm, it wouldn’t be so thoughtful of an exercise, and I would expect that the “well done” option would be used by him (as opposed to rare or medium well). That could be wrong, and I have to hope that such a scenario never plays out with this President, but my suspicion is that rather than Elba, we would have a President from Stephen King’s Dead Zone played by Martin Sheen instead as pictured below.

I do think that the advice provided by the generals in this movie was unreasonable, as an immediate retaliatory strike back (in whatever degree or form) wasn’t necessary without seeing more missile launches being sent. Surely there is an understanding, clearly shown in all the faces but not uttered in words, that worldwide annihilation is what was at stake here. As situated, there would be an ability to track down where that original event originated from, even if by submarine. All superpowers would have an interest to bring the perpetrator to justice, if all were innocent and not knowing about the actions of an outlier. The stakes are just too high to be careless about pride and what is necessary in retaliation. I recognize that the whole point was getting to point of impact, and seeing those and their reactions to it without actually seeing the results, but the movie certainly leaves the viewer hanging. It certainly leads a viewer to question a number of things as a result. Let’s hope such a scenario never comes to pass in our lifetimes.

Ballad of a Small Player: This is a new movie with Colin Farrell, directed by Edward Berger. Set in Macau, which looks remarkably like Las Vegas, Farrell plays Lord Doyle who we learn is on the lam and a gambling addict. His game is baccarat, but he seems to fare worse than James Bond ever did. He explains that money can change hands very quickly and fortunes gained. The object is to have two cards which together add up to 9, but not over. Face cards are zero. He has a binging personality, which can be from his gambling, his eating habits and the places where he stays. He is on the lam from taking a wealthy person in Britain for a substantial sum, and he is pursued by an investigator Cynthia Blithe played by Tilda Swinton.

At a low ebb in his fortunes, Doyle meets up with Dao Ming who explains that he is playing against “Grandma” who has very deep pockets and plays with her husband’s money. Dao Ming plays herself, but also fronts money as a loan shark for other people. It seems her debts could also be quite high. The plot continues. Doyle becomes more desperate and in that hour of need, and meets up again with Dao Ming who comforts him and they discuss at length how they are very similar people. I won’t carry on further with the plot, except to say that Doyle is faced with a difficult decision. The rest is in many ways more fantasy (perhaps) than reality but certainly Doyle is a believer. In the final act, we are left seeing the choices that Doyle makes and wonder what exactly that he has learned about himself, and how do we expect that he will carry on.

I think that Farrell plays this well and shows the manic side of Doyle well. You can see the addict of any kind who will stoop to any level or means to get another hit or to play another hand. The gambler is always convinved that they are one good hand, one win streak away from turning their luck and life around. Rarely does it seem to come, because generally once on a winning streak, the gambler wants more and more. In the days of gambling available virtually everywhere, in casinos and on the phone, this is a good lesson for many to see. There is a reason why there are so many apps, and casinos in places around the world. There is a reason in Ontario that the government sets up the casinos, and that is because they make money. They profit off the human vices. Those who get as deep as Doyle does in the whirlwind can find that their lives get turned upside down. It was interesting to view and took an odd turn but was not time wasted.