The Duffer:
While Mark Rylance was fantastically humble as the duffer Maurice Flitcroft in The Phantom of the Open, the actor/actress who stole the show is Sally Hawkins. Nominated twice for Oscars, she may be the most underated actress in the world. Watch Eternal Beauty (also directed by Craig Roberts who did this Phantom film), watch Maudie and tell me she should not have an Oscar on the shelf.
But back to Phantom…as a biopic it was pretty formulaic, however, because the caliber of actors is so high, the aforementioned Rylance and Hawkins and a relatively new actor, Jake Davies, the movie ascends the screenwriter’s (Simon Farnaby) blandness. The trailer scene alone, involving the entire ensemble, was well worth the admittance fee.
The Fluffer:
Whatever happened to the sex comedy? I hadn’t thought to ask until I heard about the new one Good Luck, Leo Grande (directed by Sophie Hyde) which due to movie companies’ prudishness (?) is only available on HULU.
For kicks, I put in sex comedy movies 2021 in the Google search box and a whopping 3 titles came up. I bet if I put in horror films 2021 the search box that 300 would pop up. But I won’t get on my anti-violence soapbox today.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first two-thirds of this film, though laugh out loud comedy it was not. Much like Phantom, this film employs one of the best actresses (besides Sally Hawkins), Emma Thompson, and so the last third is forgivable. Still, I wonder why Katy Brand (screenwriter) chose to end the movie like a woman’s magazine article when her premise was so unique. Emma plays a middle aged widow who wants to get her sex mojo back and hence hires a sex worker (played by Daryl McCormack). It’s basically a two-hander (no this isn’t one of the techniques, lol) and both Emma and Daryl rise to the challenge. Again, wish my enjoyment of the ending could have been a ‘happier’ one.
