Fine whine. Three couples and a couple of singletons who never saw “The Big Chill” congregate on New Year’s Eve to remember what was and mess with what might be in Joseph Infantolino’s low-budget but accomplished pansexual relationship roundelay “Helena from the Wedding.” Newlyweds Alex (Lee Tergesen) and Alice (Melanie Lynskey) invite their fortyish friends to their snowbound cabin in the woods; the writing is sharp and performances engaging as the characters’ weaknesses are revealed. The intimacies add up to bittersweet goodness. With Gillian Jacobs, Dagmara Dominczyk, Paul Fitzgerald, Dominic Fumusa, Jessica Hecht, Corey Stoll. 89m. (Ray Pride)
“Helena From The Wedding” opens Saturday at Siskel.
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
Seeing The Elephant: A Review Of Babylon The boisterous, brawling yet melancholy "Babylon," is a variation on film history, but more drawing for drama. It's gaudy and mean, celebratory and sorrowful.
Heart: A Review of Soul The real world is soulful, too, in Pixar's bountiful life of the mind.
Uncanny Ally: A Review Of M3GAN "M3GAN" sells itself in its first handful of seconds in how it introduces the handiwork of roboticist Gemma (Allison Williams, "Get Out") and her present product, PurrPetual Petz from Funki.
Fine Line: A Review Of Shortcomings It's a season for the comeuppance of a curmudgeon in Randall Park's smart, biting "Shortcomings," adapted by Adrian Tomine from his graphic novel of the same name.
A Drag Getting Old: A Review Of Indiana Jones 5 In the protracted opening couple of reels, a very young, computer-crafted Harrison Ford plays a younger cultural marauder who first encounters the dull MacGuffin of the title.
RECOMMENDED
