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Bleak House


            The Driver (Ryan Gosling) who lives in an apartment in Echo Park, Los Angeles, has no name and no signs of any real personal life. He barely speaks and rarely shows any real emotions. The Driver works repairing cars and as a Hollywood stunt driver by day and a getaway driver for criminals by night. The cars the Driver uses are provided by his mentor and boss, Shannon (Bryan Cranston) a crippled, washed-up body shop owner. On criminal missions all he does is drive. He doesn't plan any of the heist details and he doesn't carry a gun. He gives his clients a five minute window to pull off their jobs and get back in the car. If they do their jobs right and are out in five minutes, then the Driver guarantees a safe, successful getaway. The Driver lives in an inconspicuous apartment complex, in a sparsely decorated room, down the hall from an attractive young woman named Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her six-year-old son, Benicio (Kaden Leos). One day the Driver helps out when Irene's car breaks down and she invites him back home. Over a glass of water, she explains that her husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac) is in prison and she is raising her son alone.Meanwhile, Shannon wants to borrow $300,000 from Bernie Rose (Albert Brooks), a movie producer/loan shark/local gangster to invest in a racecar that he wants the Driver to race. After a trial at a local racetrack Rose is impressed with the Driver's skills and agrees to the idea. Less impressed is Nino (Ron Perlman), a hulking, ruthless thug and Bernie's partner in crime.The Driver starts spending a lot of time with Irene and Benicio. He develops a genuine bond with Benicio and the chemistry and attraction between Irene and him develops into an unspoken romance. Unexpectedly, Irene receives a call from her husband's attorney that he is being released from prison in one week. Standard comes home and is shown to be a decent guy who regrets the actions that put him in jail. Irene and the Driver try to come to terms with the end to their short-lived relationship. Standard finds Irene talking to the Driver and senses something, but instead of feeling threatened, he welcomes the Driver.One day the Driver finds Standard beaten badly in the building's parking lot. The attackers were from Standard's previous employer, Cook, who wants him to pull off a daylight pawn shop robbery as payback for protecting him in prison. The Driver offers to help when he hears that Irene and Benicio may be in danger if Standard does not cooperate. Cook tells them that the pawn shop is expected to have around $40,000 in cash. Standard has been told that he is a free man if the job goes off as expected.Accompanying the Driver and Standard is Cook's associate, Blanche (Christina Hendricks). While the Driver waits in the parking lot, he sees another car sidle up in the parking lot a distance away. Soon Blanche returns with a heavy bag and the two wait for Standard to return. Suddenly, Standard runs out and is shot to death by the pawn shop owner. The Driver quickly drives out of the parking lot even as they are pursued and nearly killed by the car that was in the parking lot. The Driver executes some deft driving and manages to escape the pursuers.Hiding out at a motel afterward, the Driver realizes that the stolen money is more like a million dollars. The Driver and Blanche watch a news report about the pawnshop robbery which mentions that the shopkeeper reported nothing as stolen. The Driver is suspicious and forces Blanche to reveal whether they were set up and by whom. She admits that she was in on it with Cook, whose real name is Chris. While Blanche is in the bathroom, her cell phone goes off. The Driver realizes that Blanche has revealed their location to Chris, who has sent hitmen to kill him. One of the hitmen kills Blanche, and the Driver manages to kill both hitmen and escape. The Driver goes to a local strip joint in search of Chris. Using a hammer to beat in his hand, the Driver forces Chris to confess that Nino set up the heist and he wanted both Standard and the Driver dead. The money belongs to the East Coast mob, and Nino knows that the mob will come after him if they found out who stole their money. So he tells Bernie Rose that Shannon, Irene, Benicio, and the Driver are the only links back to him and will have to die. Bernie agrees to this plan reluctantly, and in exchange, brutally kills Chris for messing up the original plan of killing the Driver.The Driver offers Irene the money so she can get away from the city with her son, but she slaps him because his offer offends her. As they are talking, Nino's hitman arrives in the apartment elevator. They get into the elevator and the Driver realizes that the man is here to kill them. The Driver grabs Irene and gives her a passionate kiss before disarming the hitman and stomping his head in. Irene is terrified to see this side of the Driver. Meanwhile, Shannon had been warned by the Driver to get out of town, but before he can, Rose shows up at his garage and kills him. The Driver finds his friend's lifeless body sitting in a pool of his own blood. The Driver heads out after Nino and Rose to avenge his friend's death.Wearing a rubber mask from one of the movies he had worked in, the Driver shows up at Nino's pizza place and waits until he gets into his car. He follows the car and rear ends it before slamming hard into the rear end. The limo is sent tumbling over a small cliff onto a deserted beach. Nino is still alive and crawls out of the car away from the Driver but the Driver catches him and drowns him in the sea. He then calls Rose to tell him that Nino is dead. Knowing the Driver cares only about is the safety of Irene and Benicio, Rose suggests a meeting at a restaurant where the Driver can handover the money in exchange for Irene and Benicio's guaranteed safety. Rose lets him know in no uncertain terms that the Driver will not live long. Even with his life in danger, the Driver agrees.The Driver makes a final call to Irene to tell her how much he enjoyed spending time with her and Benicio and that they will never see him again. The Driver and Rose meet at a restaurant. They proceed to the parking lot where the Driver hands over the cash. As he hands it over, Rose pulls a knife and stabs the Driver in the abdomen, but the Driver pulls his own knife, just as quickly and stabs Rose in the neck. The Driver manages to get in his car and drive out of the parking lot, leaving Rose's dead body behind, next to the open bag of cash. There is a shot of Irene knocking hopefully at the Driver's apartment door but he is not there. The final shot is of the Driver bleeding badly, cruising through the city streets at night, listening to music.
    

Drive

Promising Young Woman


            The movie opens on Jamie McAllan (Garrett Hedlund) digging a grave for his father before rain and darkness come. He takes a break while his older brother, Henry (Jason Clarke), takes over. Both of them are working on the grave when the storm hits, and Jamie gets stuck. Henry saves him, despite Jamie's tearful worries he would have left him down there.The next morning we hear a voice-over from Laura (Carey Mulligan), Henry's wife, walking behind the coffin with their two daughters, about how the farm reminds her of mud. Henry and James are struggling with and arguing about how to fit the coffin in the grave.A black family, the Jacksons, drive by with their wagon. Although Laura tries to talk Henry out of it, he asks for their help.Laura's voice over then goes to the year 1939, explaining how she met Henry. Although she can't say she was truly in love with him, she was grateful and saw him as a rescuer and reprieve.Jamie meets Laura when he is coming home from school on the train, and she and Henry are there to pick him up. He is more innocent, clean-shaven, and talking about plays, which he admits is to impress Laura. He continues to shower her with stories at a fancy party and even dances with her, despite having just toasted to Laura and Henry getting married and having children.In her voice over as they dance, Laura admits that she was perhaps in love with Jamie. Henry explains his brother has that effect on girls.Laura explains that Henry's proposal was not what she expected, although, she does seem happy, however, since she admits she likes domestic life, which soon includes raising their daughters, and that she felt she was put on earth for such a reason.The scene shifts from Henry listening to the radio, distraught, as FDR addresses Pearl Harbor, to the Jackson family, saying goodbye to one of the sons, Ronsel (Jason Mitchell), who is giving his voice over about going off to fight in the war. His mother, Florence (Mary J. Blige), also gives a voice over about him going to fight.Ronsel's father, Hap (Rob Morgan), takes a break from working in the fields to talk about how his family worked the land all their lives and died without owning any of it. He seems fixated on acquiring a deed for his own land.Henry casually tells Laura after sex one night that they'll be moving to a farm in Mississippi in two weeks. He tries to tell her how much she and the girls will love it, but she's surprised, as she doesn't recall him ever telling her that it was his dream to have a farm.With the help of Henry's father, Pappy (Jonathan Banks) and his pickup truck, the family moves from their nice suburban neighborhood to a new house which doesn't seem too bad. Someone already lives there though, and the man who took money from Henry has left town. Pappy rants about Henry being a fool after the homeowner shuts the door in their faces. They have no other choice but to live on the farm, despite Pappy's protestations.The scenery quickly becomes different on the way to the dilapidated farmhouse, with a rickety bridge and dirt roads. A poor white family, the Atwoods, who are always shown covered in dirt, also live in the area.The Jackson family is sitting down to dinner when Henry interrupts by demanding help to unload the truck before it gets dark.Henry and Pappy argue about Hap riding in the truck with them, but it's the only way to ensure they can unload before it gets dark. Henry and Laura are both trying to do what they can to set things up, except Pappy who sulks in the corner and then tries to get Laura to give up her piano so he can sleep in the house. Henry and Laura fight over it, but Laura remains firm, and Pappy sleeps in the lean-to.Jamie and Ronsel are both seen fighting in the war. Jamie is an army pilot, telling his co-pilot who has just missed his daughter's birthday that he'll be home to see her soon. Ronsel, in Belgium, is writing a letter to his family about how they are often on the move.Back on the farm, Laura watches on from the porch while Henry fires Carl Atwood (Dylan Arnold) for a mistake with a horse. Carl begs to be kept on since he has kids and another on the way, but Henry is firm. Hap shoots the horse.Vera Atwood (Lucy Faust) later comes to the house with her daughter, Alma, to beg for their job back, but Laura tells her it's Henry's decision, not hers.Ronsel's letter continues about how white people treat black people differently in Europe compared to back home. We see that he has a white girlfriend, showing up at her house with flowers.The McAllan girls are sick with whooping cough, but Henry is unable to get into town to call for a doctor since it is raining too hard. He goes to the Jacksons', interrupting Hap reading Ronsel's letter, to demand the help of Florence, who is a midwife.In her voice-over, Florence talks about how her mother was a nurse to white children, and that in caring for the McAllan girls, and knowing that anything going wrong would be her fault, she understands what her mother went through. The girls do improve though under Florence's care.Florence agrees to work full time for the McAllan family, despite Hap trying to dissuade her from doing so. Juxtaposed with scenes on the farm are Jamie and Ronsel both in trouble.Jamie's co-pilot gets shot in the head through the window and dies while Jamie panics but stays alive. Ronsel is in a tank, where his friend is shot and killed. Another juxtaposition shows Hap falling from a roof, breaking his leg.Four weeks later, Henry comes to check on Hap, who expects to be back soon, despite how the doctor recommended he take six weeks. Henry is unsympathetic though and wants him back on the field for the sake of timing, and because of a rainstorm which had caused delay. Although Hap is hesitant because it means they'll have to owe money, he agrees to rent a mule from Henry for the work. Once Henry leaves, he tries to get out of bed on his own but ends up falling and crying out in pain.Jamie is shown on his bunk, drinking and very distraught about his co-pilot's death. He continues to drink for the rest of the film.When Henry tells Laura that Florence can't come back to work for them for a few weeks, Laura complains Henry didn't tell her, and that he should just lend Hap a mule. He refuses and tells her that they need to make their own money and look out for themselves.Laura acts on her own to take money Henry has locked away in a box, which she uses to send a doctor to take care of Hap. Henry remains angry with Laura though and refuses her advances at night in bed. Laura says in her voice-over that although she didn't always enjoy having sex with Henry, it made her feel like a wife.Jamie and Ronsel are celebrating with women in their own way when the war ends. Ronsel and his girlfriend are sad though as they realize their relationship is coming to an end.Laura says Saturday is her favorite day since it's the only day she feels clean. We can see that she and her daughters have also become constantly dirty, like the Atwoods. Despite how she is bathing, Pappy walks right by Laura.Jamie arrives home. Henry and the girls are delighted to see him, and Pappy comes around a bit after some jokes, but Laura seems caught off guard when Jamie hugs her.Later that night over drinks, Jamie, Pappy, and Henry talk about the war. Pappy says that he was told about Jamie earning high honors, and wants to know how many men he killed, but Jamie brushes off that he was just lucky and doesn't know. Pappy belittles Jamie by telling him that he at least looked the people he killed in the eye. Henry chastises Pappy when he walks away and tries to tell Jamie Pappy is proud of him. Jamie admits to Henry he actually killed about four Germans.Ronsel has to sit in the back of the bus sectioned off for black people, on his way home. He's in his uniform, and a young black boy salutes him with a smile, but Ronsel's voice-over explains how nothing's changed at home. He walks into the store in town, making conversation with the shop owner, with Laura also there to introduce herself.Despite how he's expected to leave through the back door, Ronsel tried to go out the front and is taunted by Pappy, who is with Henry and another man. Ronsel tries to leave calmly, but upon getting riled up lets them know how black soldiers were put on the front lines and killed many Germans and Japanese. Laura prevents Henry from intervening further and Ronsel leaves through the back door.It is now dark when Ronsel comes home, having walked. His father has just said grace, asking for Ronsel to be protected. Ronsel and his father have an emotional reunion.While Hap, Florence, and Ronsel are sitting outside on the porch, Henry shows up to tell them about the incident at the store. Once Ronsel confirms it is true, Hap has him apologize. After Henry leaves, Hap reminds Ronsel that white people will win every time.Jamie leaves the store from buying his own supplies when the sound of a car backfiring sends him to the ground in a flashback while the white people there just stare at him. Ronsel helps him as he's walking by and after they make their formal introductions, Jamie offers him a ride home in the truck.Once they are a safe distance away from town, Jamie convinces Ronsel to come up from the back of the truck to ride inside with him. They talk about their experiences in the war, with Jamie admitting he doesn't like Pappy either, and that he thinks Ronsel is acting stubborn when Jamie is trying to be nice to him after offering him a drink. They toast to the friends they both lost in the war.Hap is practicing his reading at home when he sees Jamie dropping Ronsel off home in his truck, nervous that something else could be wrong, but Jamie offers to give him rides more often.Laura is pregnant again, and Henry seems genuinely excited.Ronsel and Florence have a nice moment while the rest of the family is at an evening worship service. He gives her candy which she tries to save for the other children, but he makes her have it.Jamie's drinking is causing trouble at home too. Laura wakes up in the middle of the night to hear him muttering on the porch in her sleep. He eventually lets her calm him down but runs off in the car when he sees Henry at the door.In a voice-over, Laura says that Henry was always away when something bad happens, when Vera comes to their house, very pregnant, with a knife in her hand. She tries to demand that Laura take her into town since she's going to kill Carl for abusing their daughters. Laura explains she can't drive as Henry took away the keys. She tries to convince Vera to sit with her, but she leaves. Laura later learns that they found Carl's body, with Florence having seen Vera covered in blood after stabbing Carl 17 times.Laura is having a problem with her pregnancy and has one of her daughters get Florence, but still loses the baby. Florence tries to comfort her and tells her how she lost a baby too, Samuel.Jamie and Ronsel continue to hang out and share war stories.Laura is depressed for a time, but slowly gets better and plays the piano again. She also appears genuinely cheered up to discover that Jamie has built a shower for her, as a surprise, to give her privacy.Florence explains in a voice-over that she is concerned for Ronsel, who does seem on edge, except for when Jamie picks him up for them to hang out. When it is just the two of them sitting on the porch late at night, Florence and Hap discuss how they think Ronsel should move, which Hap thinks will make him happier. He and Florence have a nice moment dancing on the porch while they both hum a song.Ronsel and Jamie are out drinking, discussing how they miss certain aspects of the war. Ronsel especially does, since black men were considered liberators and treated better, but that he's just considered a black man back home in Mississippi.In talking about the women he's been with, Jamie deduces that Ronsel was with white women in Europe, and even learns that he had a girlfriend there. Ronsel won't say much about her though.In bed at night, Ronsel gets emotional over holding his girlfriend's cross. On his way back home alone, driving drunk, Jamie has another flashback. He is found the next morning by the sheriff and Henry, his car nearly in the pond.Ronsel sleeps late the next day, with Hap giving him a hard time for having stayed in bed while his siblings worked. His sister hands him a letter from Germany, and he runs off with a smile on his face to read it.Jamie and Henry get into a fight when Jamie spills milk and laughs about it. Henry calls him out for being drunk while Jamie fires back about how Henry can't see that his farm is failing or that Laura is doing badly. Henry says he's going away for a few days, and that he expects Jamie to be gone when he gets back.Ronsel is walking in the mud and pouring rain when a pickup truck starts chasing him. It turns out to be Jamie, getting a laugh out of the trick he played on Ronsel. They're both hesitant to talk about what's bothering them, but when Jamie asks him what's the worst thing he's ever done, Ronsel admits it was leaving his girlfriend and shows him a picture of his girlfriend with a baby clearly fathered by Ronsel, named Franz. Rosnel tells Jamie that his girlfriend wants Ronsel to come back to Germany.The two drive around carefree, drinking, and singing along with the radio. Jamie sees Pappy driving with another man, and it's not clear if Ronsel can hide in time. Upon dropping him off, Jamie tells Ronsel that he is leaving, with the two acknowledging their friendship and Jamie hoping for Ronsel that he gets to go back to his son. They say goodbye, and Ronsel goes home to find just his mother there since the rest of the family is at church.Laura and Pappy are home with the girls. As soon as Jamie walks in, Pappy can tell that Jamie is drunk, and demands to know who was in the truck with him. Jamie admits right away that it was Ronsel and Pappy demands the keys, also antagonizing Laura by pointing out how he can tell Laura likes Jamie.While getting into the truck, Pappy finds the letter on the front seat. At his house, Ronsel realizes that he no longer has it. Florence tries to stop him from leaving until his father gets back, but he takes off. Jamie is packing up, to Laura's surprise since she didn't know he was leaving. She tries to stop him from leaving, on account of her daughters, but also herself. She kisses him, and they end up having sex.Ronsel is outside in the rain at night, distraught, trying to look for the picture, when he is jumped by white men in their trucks. Jamie is asleep in bed when Pappy wakes him, accompanied by members of the KKK. They bring him to a barn full of other white men, where Ronsel is tied, beaten, and with a noose around his neck.Jamie tries to get them to set Ronsel free, and fights with his father, also trying to defend Ronsel to the rest of the men over the picture of Ronsel's girlfriend and his son, but they ignore him while getting Ronsel to admit he fathered the child.Jamie gains control of someone's gun and aims it at his father, but Pappy is correct that Jamie "doesn't have the balls to kill a man up close." Another man gets control of the gun, someone is shot in the leg, and it isn't long before Jamie is on his knees and knocked unconscious.When Jamie is brought to, Ronsel is now naked, bloody, nearly unconscious and tied to the wall, as Pappy and the KKK decide to make Jamie decide what will happen to Ronsel. Jamie is forced to decide on them removing Ronsel's eyes, tongue, or testicles, to which he decides tongue. Ronsel wakes up screaming and struggling, and Jamie is held down, forced to helplessly look on.Ronsel is left tied naked hanging in the barn wen his family finds him. Jamie is dropped off back in bed, still bleeding and barely conscious.The next church service is awkwardly quiet, save for a baby crying. Hap just sits up at the altar, not saying anything, just looking up at the sky.Laura goes to wake Pappy up. Jamie, still bloody, but now awake, is sitting on a chair, as he tells Laura, he killed Pappy. Jamie smothered him with a pillow, but beforehand he woke him up to let Pappy know he wanted to look him in the eye.When Henry arrives home, Laura tells him that Pappy died, but says he did so peacefully in his sleep.We are now back to the beginning, with Hap and Florence driving by, Ronsel in the wagon. Henry asks them for help, to which Hap acquiesces, though he refuses to have his sons help. Hap also gives words over Pappy's grave before getting back in the wagon. Before they leave, Jamie runs over for Florence to give Ronsel the letter, "if you see him," and walks away so that Henry is left to dig the grave himself.Ronsel's voice over explains his nightmares about being in the tank and with a burlap sack over his head, not being able to scream.While walking around in a nice suit in a city, though still appearing unsettling, Jamie says that he hoped "Pappy's untimely death" brought Ronsel's family peace, and for Ronsel to find happiness, though he himself didn't find peace. The Jackson family does appear to be doing well, dressed in finer clothes, at their own house, with Hap genuinely happy.Ronsel's voice-over continues with him talking about how he should end his story, which involved overcoming much as a mute. As he makes his way through Europe, to his girlfriend, and now son who is a few years older, he says he is there this time not for war but for love, and that love is how he chooses to end his story.
    

Mudbound


            In February 1961, Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) is a struggling folk singer (previously a merchant marine) in New York City's Greenwich Village. His musical partner, Mike, has committed suicide; Llewyn's recent solo album Inside Llewyn Davis is not selling; he has no money and is sleeping on the couches of friends and acquaintances.
Llewyn performs in the Gaslight Cafe ("Hang Me, Oh Hang Me"), and club owner Pappi (Max Casella) tells him someone is waiting for him. Outside, a shadowy man in a suit beats Llewyn for having heckled a performance at the venue the previous night.Llewyn sleeps at the Upper West Side apartment of his older friends the Gorfeins. The next morning, he listens to one track from his and Mike's album "If We Had Wings" ("Dink's Song", not to be confused with another traditional ballad, "Fare Thee Well (Ten Thousand Miles)").[6] When Llewyn leaves the apartment, the Gorfeins' orange tabby cat (a male) gets locked out. Llewyn takes the cat to the West Village apartment of his friends Jim (Justin Timberlake) and Jean (Carey Mulligan). Llewyn visits his manager, who explains that Llewyn's album is not selling, but claims he sent a copy to Chicago producer Bud Grossman (a character based on impresario Albert Grossman).Jean secretly tells Llewyn she is pregnant, and fearing that she was impregnated by Llewyn instead of Jim, asks him to pay for an abortion. The three friends attend the Gaslight Cafe. Llewyn unsuccessfully asks Jim for money. Jim, Jean, and their guest Troy Nelson (Stark Sands) perform "Five Hundred Miles". The next morning, it seems that the Gorfeins' cat escapes again.Llewyn visits his sister in Woodside, Queens, hoping to borrow money, and tells her to throw out a box of his papers. On Jim's invitation, Llewyn, as part of the "John Glenn Singers", records a novelty song with Jim and Al Cody (Adam Driver), "Please Mr. Kennedy". Llewyn needs money immediately and agrees to $200, with no royalties.
At the gynecologist's office, Llewyn sets up Jean's appointment. The doctor says that two years previously, Llewyn had paid in advance for another woman who then decided to keep the baby and moved to Akron. Llewyn and Jean argue about his lack of direction. On the street Llewyn grabs what appears to be the Gorfeins' orange cat; that evening he takes the cat back, and is invited in to have dinner. He is rude the Gorfeins' guests and when asked to play after dinner reluctantly starts playing "Fare Thee Well". Mrs. Gorfein starts to sing the harmony -- which was Mike's part -- but Llewyn snaps, insulting the Gorfeins and their guests. Mrs. Gorfein leaves the table crying, coming back when she discovers that the orange cat is not theirs; Llewyn takes the cat and leaves.Llewyn rides with two musicians driving to Chicago: the laconic Johnny Five (Garrett Hedlund), a beat poet, and the disagreeable Roland Turner (John Goodman), a jazz musician. Roland insults Llewyn: demeaning folk music, making fun of his name, and ridiculing a grown man traveling with a cat. Later Llewyn plays his guitar ("Green, Green Rocky Road"). At a roadside restaurant, Roland collapses from a heroin overdose in the bathroom. The three continue, eventually stopping on the side of the highway that night to rest. When a police officer tells them to move on, Johnny resists and is arrested. Left without the keys, Llewyn abandons the car, with the cat and the unconscious Roland inside.In Chicago, Llewyn seeks out Bud Grossman (F. Murray Abraham), who says he never received a copy of Llewyn's record, but agrees to an audition. Llewyn plays "The Death of Queen Jane"; Grossman is not encouraging.
Llewyn hitchhikes back to New York and hits what may be yet another or perhaps the same orange cat with the car he is driving. He considers briefly detouring to see his son in Akron. Back in New York he pays $148 to rejoin the merchant marines. He also visits his ailing father, singing him "The Shoals of Herring". Llewyn then starts to say goodbye to Jean; she tells him that Pappi will let him play at the Gaslight again. Llewyn searches for his shipping license required to ship out but it was in the box his sister threw out. The union office can issue a new license, but at a price that Llewyn cannot now afford.At the Gaslight, an Irish quartet performs "The Auld Triangle". Pappi states that he had sex with Jean, suggesting that he pressures female performers he finds attractive to do so in order to perform at the Gaslight. Llewyn becomes upset and loudly heckles an older woman playing "The Storms Are On the Ocean". He is thrown out and goes to the Gorfeins' apartment. They graciously welcome him; he is amazed to see that their orange cat Ulysses found his way home, arriving the previous day.The next morning is nearly identical to his stay at the Gorfeins' at the beginning of the film, although this time he blocks the cat from escaping. On the street he gazes at a poster for The Incredible Journey, wondering about all his sightings of an orange cat.He performs at the Gaslight, singing "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me" and finishing with a raw, emotional solo performance of "If I Had Wings". Pappi teases him about his heckling the previous evening and tells him that a friend is waiting outside. As Llewyn leaves the building, a young Bob Dylan takes the stage and begins to sing. Behind the Gaslight, Llewyn is confronted by a shadowy man in a suit, who beats him for rudely heckling the previous night's performance, who he reveals was his wife. Llewyn watches the man get in a taxi, commenting "Au revoir".
    

Inside Llewyn Davis


            It is the early 1960's, and Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is a bright young schoolgirl quickly approaching her 17th birthday. Jenny's parents have sacrificed much so that her schooling can get her into Oxford, with her doing everything from learning Latin to playing the Cello.One day, having been caught in the rain, a much older man named David (Peter Sarsgaard) helps Jenny get home. Jenny is rather impressed by David's taste in music, as well as his maroon-colored Bristol, a very rare car.David soon after leaves a bouquet of flowers on Jenny's family's doorstep, and when she sees him in town (with a couple of her classmates in tow), she thanks him for the kind gesture. David then mentions how he would like to invite her to a concert Friday evening. Jenny is unsure if she can get permission, but when David shows up and charms both her Mother and Father, she finds herself spending an exciting evening listening to a concerto, and having a late supper at a supper club.David then comes calling again, offering to take Jenny on an outing with his friends, Danny (Dominic Cooper) and Helen (Rosamund Pike). They partake some time at an art auction, before going to Danny's place, which is a lavish and luxurious residence. After this, Jenny watches as David moves some West Indians into an apartment house (much to the disdain of a couple neighbors).David soon after invites Jenny to accompany him and some friends to an outing in Oxford. To get Jenny's parents to consent, David lies about having studied there, and knowing famed author C.S. Lewis, who he claims lives there, and whom Jenny (playing along with his 'game') pretends to want to meet.David, Jenny, Danny and Helen head off, and while away their first day at a pub, with David forging C.S. Lewis' signature on a copy of "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" to pull off the prank.Later that even, being in the same room as David, Jenny confesses to him that she is still a virgin, and wishes to stay so until she is 17. David tells her he has no problems with this.The next day, the party stops at a small house, where after a short time, David and Danny emerge from the house with a framed map, and demand the girls return to the car. After they take off and return to London, Jenny stalks off, feeling that David and his friends are a bunch of thieves.David confesses that they do steal some items for sale, and admits to why he was helping the group of West Indians the other day. This practice, called "blockbusting," involves moving West Indians families into areas where elderly women don't wish to live by them. Wanting to vacate (fearing a possible overflow of 'others'), the old women tend to sell their flats for a cheap price. Jenny then forgives David, and continues on with their relationship.Soon after, Jenny tells her school friends how David is planning to take her to Paris for her 17th birthday (a place she's wanted to visit for some time). Her friends eagerly give her a wishlist of gifts to bring back for them, but word quickly spreads through the school. Soon, Jenny's teacher Miss Stubbs (Olivia Williams) and the Headmistress (Emma Thompson) have heard, and caution Jenny about what she is doing. However, Jenny still intends to go.On the day of her 17th birthday, David stops off to deliver a number of gifts to Jenny, and to ask her parents if she can go with him to Paris. Jenny's parents are against this, but David soon manages to charm them into letting her go.In Paris, the two enjoy a romantic time, before Jenny final 'gives' herself to David.Upon returning, Jenny attempts to give Miss Stubbs a package of "Chanel No. 5" as a bribe to help her pass over some of her current papers and scores...many of which have suffered from Jenny's lack of attention. Miss Stubbs refuses the bribe, and attempts to talk sense into Jenny again, but Jenny just feels that her teacher is grooming her for a boring and unexciting life, unlike what she is currently experiencing with David and his friends.A few nights later, David, Jenny, and their friends attend a dog race, at which time, in the parking lot, David proposes for Jenny to marry him. Jenny does not answer right away, and discusses the matter with her parents. Her father (still believing that David is a man from Oxford), sees no reason why the two shouldn't be married.Soon after, Jenny's schoolmates are shocked when she is seen wearing an engagement ring in class. This soon catches the eye of both Miss Stubbs and the Headmistress once again, whom Jenny has some rather harsh words towards, before deciding to quit the school altogether.Shortly thereafter, David arranges for a night out with Jenny and her parents. After stopping at a petrol station to refuel, Jenny checks the glovebox for a cigarette (where David usually keeps them), but finds just an empty carton. As she continues sifting through the glovebox, a series of letters catch her eye. When David returns to the car, she demands that he take them home.After her parents go into the house, Jenny angrily chastises David for the letters...as they are addressed to Mr and Mrs David Goldman! Jenny is hurt by what has happened, and demands David tell her parents. When he still seems unable to cooperate, she says she will give him a few minutes alone, before she will come out and 'drag him in.' After this, David simply leaves without saying a word...leaving Jenny (unseen by the audience) to tell her parents the truth. Jenny also is sad in regards to how she has quit school and possibly lost out on going to Oxford.Still knowing the address on the letters, Jenny visits the house (not very far from her own family's), where she finds a woman and a child. The woman soon realizes why Jenny is there, and claims she is not the first that her husband has tried to seduce.Jenny soon returns home, where her Father says he will tell David off for what he did, but Jenny delivers some harsh words at her parents, who seemed perfectly happy with her marrying David, after some time before saying how important school was. Jenny then retreats to her room, when her Father comes to the door sometime later, apologizing for his actions.Jenny then returns to her old school, asking to be let back in to repeat her final year of study. However, the Headmistress refuses. Jenny then goes to see Miss Stubbs, who is now glad to see that Jenny does not want to throw her life away, and helps her study and work hard to re-learn what she missed out on her final year in the school.With her old teacher's help, Jenny is accepted into Oxford. The film ends with a narration by Jenny:"So, I went to read English books, and did my best to avoid the speccy, spotty fate that Helen had predicted for me. I probably looked as wide-eyed, fresh, and artless as any other student...But I wasn't. One of the boys I went out with, and they really were boys, once asked me to go to Paris with him. And I told him I'd love to, I was dying to see Paris... as if I'd never been."
    

An Education


            The film starts with a shot of the flashing green light in East Egg, Long Island, as Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) says how his father told him to always see the good in others. He is seen in the Perkins Sanitarium talking to a doctor, whose records indicate that Nick is there due to his alcoholism, among other things. Nick adds that there was only one person who he saw good in: Gatsby.Nick takes us back to the previous spring in 1922, where Wall Street was booming, and bootleggers were in business due to the alcohol ban. Nick moves to a cottage on Long Island in West Egg, saying he was full of ambition as he started working as a bond broker for Wall Street after originally wanting to be a writer. This cottage was next door to Gatsby's mansion.Nick goes across the bay to visit his cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan) and her blue blooded husband Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton), who went to Yale with Nick. Daisy introduces Nick to Jordan Baker (Elizabeth Debicki), a golfer. Over dinner, we learn that Tom is pretty arrogant and racist, remarking on the rise of the colored empire. He gets a phone call, and Jordan tells Nick that Tom is having an affair. Later, Nick walks with Daisy, who says she has become cynical lately. Nick asks about her daughter, and Daisy mentions she is glad she had a girl and hopes she can be a fool, because, in her words, that's the best thing a girl in this world can be. Nick returns home and notices a figure standing on the pier and looking and reaching toward the green light, and Nick believes this is Gatsby.The doctor at the sanitarium convinces Nick to write a novel about his experience. He continues the story by writing about the Valley of Ashes, a desolate part of New York featuring a billboard with two eyes watching over everybody, said to be the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg. Nick and Tom are headed to the Yale Club when they get off the commuter train and head to a car repair garage run by George Wilson (Jason Clarke). Tom chats with him over business matters, and George's wife Myrtle (Isla Fisher) comes downstairs. It becomes obvious that she is Tom's mistress. She mentions her sister is coming to New York and wants to introduce her to Nick.Later, at an apartment, while Tom and Myrtle are going at it in the bedroom, her sister Catherine (Adelaide Clemens) comes in with two other friends. They begin to have a party, and Nick remarks that this is only the second time he's ever been drunk. At night, he watches from the window and looks upon the people in the town, saying he finds himself within and without the world he is in. Myrtle comes out of the bedroom shouting Daisy's name, enraging Tom and causing him to smack her hard across the face.Nick wakes up in his home and says he has no memory of how he got back. He opens front door to find that he has received an invitation to a party at Gatsby's, saying he was the only one who has ever gotten a direct invitation, as all the other wealthy people in New York just come to his mansion and indulge themselves. He goes to the party, which is extravagant, and asks around for Gatsby, but nobody has seen him. He runs into Jordan, who is also curious to find him. They hear rumors such as Gatsby being a German spy or an assassin. Eventually, Nick happens to encounter the man himself, Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio). Nick tells Jordan that he imagined Gatsby to be older and fatter. A man comes by and tells Jordan that Gatsby wishes to speak with her in private. A while later, as the party comes to an end, she comes out telling Nick that she just heard something very shocking. Before she can say anything else, she is pulled away by a snobby rich man.The next morning, Gatsby shows up at Nick's cottage in his Duesenberg and takes Nick on a trip, describing to him "God's truth" about himself. He claims to have come from a wealthy family that are now all dead, and later attending Oxford and going on to become a decorated WWI veteran. He takes Nick into the city to meet with his business partner Meyer Wolfsheim (Amitabh Bachchan). They go into a bar beneath a barbershop where bootlegged alcohol is being sold. We learn that Wolfsheim is rumored to have rigged the 1919 World Series, and Gatsby considers setting Nick up for a business with them. Tom Buchanan shows up, at which point Gatsby vanishes.Nick has lunch with Jordan, who tells him what her conversation with Gatsby was about. Through a flashback, we learn from Jordan that five years earlier, Gatsby and Daisy were romantically involved while living in Louisville, Kentucky when Gatsby was a war officer. When he is called away, she waited for him, but then eventually met Tom and was set to marry him. Before their wedding, however, she got a letter from Gatsby, causing Daisy to nearly get cold feet, but she went on to marry Tom. Gatsby also intentionally bought his mansion across from Daisy's home, hoping to see her. Jordan tells Nick that he wants him to invite Daisy over for tea. He approaches Gatsby that night and says he will do it.The following morning, a bunch of people fix up Nick's lawn and home, and it's clear that Gatsby intended to have tea at Nick's place instead of his. They fix it up and make it look nice, but Gatsby starts getting nervous. He almost leaves until Daisy comes in. Nick brings her inside, but Gatsby has fled. She is amazed at all the flowers in the living room, and then Nick hears a knock at the door. It is Gatsby, dripping wet from the pouring rain outside. He enters, and Daisy sees him, and they both comment on how glad they are to see each other again. The tea time is awkward, until Nick decides to leave them alone by saying he is going into the city. When he gets back to his house, Gatsby decides to take them to his place, and they spend some time at the beach before coming back to his home. He shows Daisy a variety of shirts he possesses, and while she is excited, she starts crying. Nick knows it's sudden for her after five years, but she won't admit that.Nick tells some truth about Gatsby. His real name is James Gatz, and that he came from a poor family of farmers from North Dakota. He did not see himself as part of that family and as he got older, he set off to accomplish more. While riding his boat, he encountered a yacht sailed by a man named Dan Cody (Steve Bisley). The young James Gatz rescued him from a storm and went on to sail with him, adopting some of Cody's customs like using the term "old sport" (which he frequently calls Nick). After Cody died, he did not receive his inheritance because of Cody's family, so Gatsby went on to make himself a wealthy man.Gatsby throws another party, this time having Daisy and Tom show up. She and Gatsby retreat to a nearby location where they begin to kiss passionately. Daisy says she wishes they could run away together. Gatsby is pulled away by his butler to settle a business dispute. After the party is over, Gatsby believes Daisy did not have a good time. He tells Nick that he needs her to tell Tom she doesn't love him so they can go back to Louisville and get married. Nick tells him he can't repeat the past, but Gatsby insists he can. He notes the first time he kissed Daisy when they first met, and Gatsby felt he had already married her. Before leaving, he tells Nick he is wrong about the past.Gatsby stops throwing parties for a while. One day, which happens to be the hottest day of the summer, he invites Nick, Daisy, Tom, and Jordan over for lunch. Gatsby tries to hold Daisy's hand, but she panics and claims she is bored and wants to go into the city. Tom notices that she is feeling something for Gatsby, so he agrees to go into the city. Gatsby and Daisy drive off in his car while Tom takes Nick and Jordan. They stop for gas at George Wilson's garage, and he has learned of Myrtle's infidelity, but not that she's sleeping with Tom.The group meets up at a hotel where a man is cutting up a large block of ice to pass around because of the heat and for drinks. Tom starts to slowly antagonize Gatsby, hoping for a confrontation. He mocks his use of "old sport", claiming he lied about Oxford, and accuses him of bootlegging with Wolfsheim. Gatsby hits back by saying Daisy loves him and not Tom, putting her in an uncomfortable position. As Tom continues to egg him on, Gatsby snaps, throws the alcohol and grabs Tom, screaming at him and nearly hitting him. This frightens Daisy and Jordan. She and Gatsby leave. Tom decides to open a bottle of liquor and offers Nick some. He remarks that he just remembered that day was his birthday.At night, Myrtle is being abused by George as he asks her where she got her pearls. She runs out into the street as she sees the Duesenberg coming, thinking it's Tom. The car speeds as Gatsby grabs the wheel, trying to swerve, but the car strikes Myrtle and kills her instantly. Tom, Nick, and Jordan drive by the scene and discover Myrtle's corpse as the police are on the scene. Tom is visibly distraught but denies having known her well. He goes to George, who is grieving. Tom tells him that the car that hit Myrtle was driven by Gatsby.The Buchanans go back to their place. Jordan invites Nick inside, but he refuses. As he leaves, he hears Gatsby calling to him. He tells Nick that Daisy was driving after leaving the city to ease her tension, but although he tried to move the car, they were unable to stop from hitting Myrtle. Nick walks away, seeing Tom and Daisy talking, apparently having reconciled.Nick meets up with Gatsby later as he is fixing up the Duesenberg and covering it. He learns more about Gatsby - the whole truth. Gatsby was always after Daisy and hoped she would wait for him after he came back from the war. Although he was penniless, he wanted to come back to her, but she had already married Tom. Nick realizes Gatsby truly loved Daisy, and he only threw the parties in the hopes that she would show up for one of them. That morning, Gatsby's gardener comes in and says he is to drain the pool before the leaves fall. Gatsby decides to take a swim before that and asks Nick to join him but he declines. Before finally leaving, Nick tells Gatsby that the Buchanans are rotten people and that Gatsby is worth more than them. They share a friendly wave before departing.At work, Nick is too distracted and hopes Gatsby will call him with good news. At the same time, we see Daisy looking at her phone as she considers calling Gatsby. The phone rings at his place, and Gatsby hears it, excited. However, he does not see George Wilson behind him, who shoots him in the back. He falls into his pool, dead, just as George turns the gun on himself. We also see that it was Nick, not Daisy, who was calling, and he panics as he heard the gunshots.After Gatsby's death, the media blamed him for the affair with Myrtle, as well as her death. Nick is upset that he could not tell them the truth. His place is bombarded with reporters who ungraciously huddle over his open casket. Nick tries to get in touch with Daisy, but she and Tom are leaving with their daughter, packing up everything and having their butler tell Nick they are gone. Nick adds that virtually nobody attended Gatsby's funeral except him. He would later go on to leave New York and go back to the Midwest, completely disillusioned. He also muses that Gatsby could not see that his dream of being with Daisy was behind him.Nick completes his novel, simply titling it "Gatsby". He takes another look at the cover page and writes something extra, now calling it "The Great Gatsby".
    

The Great Gatsby


            Brandon (Michael Fassbender) is a successful, handsome thirty-something businessman living and working in New York City. Unknown to those who know him, he's struggling with a sexual addiction. On a subway train he flirts with a young woman (Lucy Walters) and she flirts back with him. She has a wedding and engagement ring on, and when they exit the train, she disappears into the crowd.After work, Brandon and his boss David (James Badge Dale) go out and meet three women at a club. Later Brandon has sex with the woman David was trying to pursue.When Brandon arrives home, he assumes a burglar is in his house but finds a naked woman taking a shower: it is in fact his sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan), a troubled young woman who has been left as damaged as Brandon by their troubled childhood, which is never completely revealed. Sissy tells Brandon that she has been living in Los Angeles for the past year and performing as a singer in local clubs. Having fallen on hard times, Sissy claims that she has no place to live and asks if she could stay with him for a while. Brandon reluctantly agreesThe next evening, Brandon and David watch Sissy singing a beautifully sad jazz version of  New York, New York at a club. Afterwards, Sissy sits with Brandon and David at their table where she talks a little more about herself and her singing career before. After a casual talk over drinks, they all go back to Brandon's apartment. While Brandon checks his mail in the lobby, Sissy and David go up to his apartment. When Brandon arrives, he hears Sissy having sex with David through the bedroom door, in his bed.Brandon leaves his apartment and runs on the streets while listening to Bach's piano music on his earphones. Brandon comes back home and sees that Sissy and David are gone. He changes the bed sheets and quickly goes to bed. A little later that night, he is annoyed by Sissy who climbs into bed and wants to cuddle him. Brandon yells at her to go back to sleep on the couch and she leaves him alone.At work, Brandon then tries to pursue a relationship with his co-worker Marianne (Nicole Beharie), by flirting with her and asking if she would like to have dinner with him, and Marianne accepts. After having a casual and pleasant dinner at a local restaurant, in spite of the young awkward waiter (Robert Montano) interrupting them several times, Brandon resists making a move on Marianne. They part ways at the end of the dinner, and he goes home alone.Later that night, Sissy arrives at Brandon's apartment and accidentally walks in on him masturbating in the bathroom. She then finds his laptop open full of pornography. Through the laptop camera, a woman (Charisse Merman) is half-undressed, touching herself while waiting for Brandon. She says that he would love the two women to get it together. Brandon violently appears and accuses Sissy of spying on him and she storms out. Brandon then takes all of his pornography in his apartment, including his laptop, and throws everything out.The next day at work, he approaches Marianne and takes her to a lavish hotel room. In the bathroom, hidden from Marianne's view, he snorts a line of cocaine. They attempt to have sex but Brandon cannot maintain an erection. Marianne leaves, while he stays at the hotel room, feeling lonely and humiliated. Some time later, Brandon is seen having sex with another woman (Amy Hargreaves) in the same hotel room.When Brandon gets home, he watches cartoons on his TV set, and Sissy arrives and talks to him. He asks her where she was, and she tells him that she was with David. Brandon tells Sissy that David happens to be married, and Sissy says that she already knows, for David told her during their first night together. Brandon angrily tells Sissy that she must move out at the end of the week to look for her own place to live. She says that they are family and are supposed to help each other, but Brandon wants nothing to do with her because he says all she does is drag him down.Brandon then heads out and tries to pick up a woman at a bar (Anna Rose Hopkins), but ends up getting beaten up by her boyfriend (Chazz Menendez) after he insults him by telling him how he would pleasure her. Bruised and beaten, he tries to enter a nightclub, but he is denied entrance, as the party-goers look much younger than its usual crowd; in fact, they are probably underage, so the bouncer (Carl Low) insists that he can't get in that night. Brandon sees a gay bar across the street and enters it. As he walks through it, a man approaches and kisses him, then performs fellatio on him in one of the back rooms. Next, Brandon is shown entering a cheap hotel room occupied by two women (Calamity Chang and DeeDee Luxe). He ends up having sex with both of them at the same time.When he leaves, he sees that Sissy left a voice mail on his cell phone. He gets off the train he is on due to its being delayed by an implied suicide further up the tracks. He frantically calls Sissy but she doesn't answer, so he rushes home. When he gets there, Sissy is lying on the bathroom floor after having cut her wrists. She survives and he visits her in the hospital. When he leaves, he collapses and cries in the rain.Some time later Brandon is seen sitting on the train, going to work as usual. The same woman from the beginning sits across from him, only wearing her engagement ring. He tries to look away but she keeps staring at him and smiling... clearly flirting with him. She stands up to leave the train, expecting him to follow her like the last time. Brandon keeps looking at her, and before viewers can know if he is going to follow her or not, the screen cuts to black.THE END[written by KrystelClaire]
    

Shame

The Dig

Far from the Madding Crowd


            The film begins with onscreen captions explaining that a medical breakthrough in 1952 has permitted the human lifespan to be extended beyond 100 years. Subsequently, the film is narrated by 28-year-old Kathy H. as she reminisces about her childhood at Hailsham, as well as her adult life after leaving the school.The first section of the film depicts young Kathy, along with her friends Tommy and Ruth, spending their childhood at Hailsham, a seemingly idyllic English boarding school. It is subtly revealed that the film is set in an alternate twentieth century. A teacher is fired after telling the pupils of their fate: they exist to provide donor organs for transplants. They will be nurtured to adult age, then they will be available for "selection." After their third "selection" they will "complete" before they can be selected for any more procedures. Some "complete" after their first "selection", while others survive four or more "selections." Tommy is emotionally angry and is teased by the other boys. Kathy falls in love with him.In the second section of the film, the three friends, now teenagers, are rehoused in cottages on a rural farm. They are permitted to leave the grounds if they wish. They do not question the ethics of their situation. At the farm, they meet other graduates of similar places. Kathy, Tom and Ruth are clones who are fascinated by the idea of finding the original people that they were "modeled on". Kathy and her friends are questioned about rumours of the possibility of "deferral," which allows couples several extra years before being "selected" if they are in love and can prove it. Tommy reasons that the art gallery at Hailsham was intended to identify clones who have a soul. Tommy and Ruth become lovers. The lonely Kathy applies to become a "carer", a clone who is taught to drive and trained to give post-operative care to other clones. In exchange for supporting and comforting donors after their organs are harvested, she gets a temporary reprieve from selection. She has become a carer by the time she hears that Tommy and Ruth have split up.In the third section of the film, Kathy has been working as a carer for several years. She has watched many clones "complete." She reunites with Ruth, who is frail after two "selections". Ruth has been keeping track of Kathy and Tommy, and helps Kathy arrange their reunion. Ruth admits that she did not love Tommy and seduced him because she was jealous and afraid to be alone. She is consumed with guilt, and has been searching for a way to help Tommy and Kathy. She believes that Tommy and Kathy would qualify for "deferral." She gives them the address of "Madame," who regularly visited Hailsham and selected student artwork to go into the gallery. Ruth "completes" on the operating table shortly afterward. Tommy tells Kathy that he has been creating art for several years in hopes of a deferral. He and Kathy drive to visit Madame, and learn that deferral does not exist. Tommy's artwork will not help them.The film ends after Tommy has "completed," leaving Kathy alone. Two weeks after losing Tommy, Kathy is notified that her first "selection" will occur in one month. Contemplating their childhood, she speculates whether their fate is really so different from the people who receive their organs. "We all complete. Maybe none of us really understand what we've lived through, or feel we've had enough time."
    

Never Let Me Go

My Boy Jack


            Suffragette (2015) is a Directoral collaboration between Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane) and writer Abi Morgan (Iron Lady), funded by the British Film Institute. The Historical drama, set in London follows the early members of the Women's Social and Political Union and the story of their radicalisation from peaceful protesters to law breakers. The film documents WSPU's secret meetings to discuss tactics when protests and parliamentary evidence fail to win women the vote. After further mistreatment by employers, police and political lies the suffragettes decide to increase their activism with civil disobedience causing damage to Oxford Street windows, postboxes, churches and politicians homes. Police surveilllance and arrests lead to the suffragette's imprisonment and hunger strikes. The film's characters are Laundry workers, Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan) and Violet Miller (Ann Marie Duff), Shopkeeper Edith Ellyn (Helena Bonham Carter), Gentry Mrs Haughton (Romola Garai) and WSPU founder Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep). Mrs Withers and Emily Davison's activism is included in the script and their struggle to gain the vote acknowledged. The Director also includes the suffragettes husbands struggle to support their wives activism, Mr Watts ( Ben Wishaw), Mr Ellyn (Finbar Lynch) and Mr Haughton (Somuel West).
    

Suffragette

Variety Studio: Actors on Actors

Wildlife

Collateral


            Written and directed by Shana Feste, in her feature directorial debut, THE GREATEST tells the story of Allen and Grace Brewer, a grief-stricken couple whose family has been pushed to the breaking point by the death of their older son, Bennett, in a car crash. When a young woman, Rose, shows up a few months later announcing that she is pregnant with Bennetts child, the Brewers are forced to take her in. At first, Roses presence threatens to tear the family even further apart but, eventually, her interaction with each of the Brewers proves to be the very thing that brings them back together.
    

The Greatest


            In 2001, Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) is released from prison on parole after serving eight years behind bars for insider trading and mail fraud. He leaves the prison hoping to find a car waiting for him but there is no one. He's alone.Seven years later in June 2008 during the time of the great USA financial collapse, Jacob "Jake" Moore (Shia Lebouf) is awakened in his apartment by his girlfriend, Winnie (Carey Mulligan). Jake turns on the television and there is an interview with Gekko on television. Gekko has become an author and a lecturer promoting his new book, 'Is Greed Good?' Winnie gets upset and throws the remote at the TV after Jake doesn't turn it off. Winnie is Gekko's estranged daughter and wants nothing to do with him. Jake drives Winnie to the airport on his motorbike and she goes off to gather investors for her online political magazine.Jake goes to work at Keller Zabel Investments, a Wall Street banking institution. He tries to raise more money for a fusion research project which will be a viable source of alternative energy down the line but the rest of the board doesn't agree with him. Jake is one of the firms top brokers and the protégé of its managing director, Louis Zabel (Frank Langella). Zabel has become disillusioned with the industry and doesn't understand how he can be told a loss is a profit. He gives Jake a $1.5 million bonus and tells him to spend it and keep the economy going. Zabel also encourages Jake to marry Winnie and have a kid since he knows that growing old isn't for the weak in this business and that Jake needs her.Jake goes out to celebrate with his best friend and buys Winnie a diamond ring. He mentions that Winnie doesn't really support marriage, given the outcome of her parents divorce, but Jake knows that she loves him and he loves her. His friend asks about rumors that Keller Zabel is in danger, but Jake brushes it off.The next day the company's stock starts crashing. Zabel doesn't come in to work so Jake goes and finds him walking his wife's dog in the park. Jake asks him if Keller Zabel is going to go under, but Zabel just tells him that he's asking the wrong question. The right question is: "Who isn't going under?"Zabel meets with the chairmen of the US Treasury at the Federal Reserve. He tries to arrange a bailout but he is blocked by Bretton James (Josh Brolin), a former businessman that Zabel had crossed eight years prior when his company was going under. James insults Zabel by offering to buy Keller Zabel stock at $3 a share (against its $75 trading value from a week prior).The next morning, Zabel wakes up and kisses his wife after breakfast. He goes to a news stand and picks up a bag of Lays chips and a newspaper. As the train pulls in, Zabel pushes towards the front of the line and jumps on the tracks.Jake hears the news on the television of Zabel's suicide as Winnie returns from her trip. She hugs him and consoles him before he proposes to her. She agrees to marry him.A few weeks later, Jake attends a lecture at Fordham University given by Gordon Gekko and hears what Gekko has to say about the current financial crisis. Gekko reveals that in his opinion the unrestrained speculation will cause a financial cataclysm, even though everybody is euphoric about the current financial bubble. After the lecture ends, Jake approaches Gekko and tells him that he's about to marry Winnie. They ride a subway train together and Gekko explains that his daughter won't speak to him because of her brother Rudy's suicide a few years prior over Gekko's imprisonment and social shunning over his father. Jake sees that Gekko has a photo of Winnie as a toddler and asks if he can have it. Gekko tells him that he will trade Jake for a more recent photograph of Winnie. Gekko gives him the photo and his card so that Jake will find him later on. He also tells Jake that Keller Zabel was in trouble the minute someone started rumors about them and that Jake should look for whoever profited from Keller Zabel's collapse. From now on, Gekko and Jake agree to make a "trade", so that Jake would enable Gekko to communicate with his estranged daughter, and, in return, Gekko would help Jake collect secret information to destroy Bretton, who ruined Jake's mentor. Thus Gekko reveals his characteristic philosophy of life, where every deal that he makes in return for something is nothing but a trade.With the help of Gekko, who is very resourceful, Jake does some digging and realizes that Bretton James profited from the Keller Zabel collapse. In order to get his attention, Jake spreads false rumors about the nationalization of an African oil rig that Bretton's company owns. The company loses $120 million and Bretton asks for a meeting with Jake. At the meeting, he tells Jake that he is impressed and offers Jake a job, making it clear that if Jake doesn't accept he will have a lot of trouble being hired anywhere else. Determined to take Bretton out and avenge Zabel, Jake accepts.Winnie and Jake go out to Long Island to meet with Jake's mother (Susan Sarandon), a real estate agent in financial trouble. She asks for $200,000 to float her properties. Jake gives it to her but Winnie tells Jake in private that she's only going to waste her chance again. She asks him to take her very expensive ring back because she isn't comfortable wearing something so expensive.Jake pretends that he called Gekko to have dinner and ask his approval so he and Winnie go to have dinner with him. During their re-introductions, Gekko sees an important business man and introduces himself, only to be brushed off as a nobody. Winnie realizes that Gekko hasn't changed his greedy ways and leaves the restaurant upset. Jake pursues her and she tells him that if he goes back, Gekko will destroy them.A few days later, Jake visits Gekko again at his apartment and gives him the photo of Winnie that he promised. Gekko tells Jake that his research pointed out that the Locust Fund, a private offshore hedge fund was betting against Keller Zabel. Jake explains that he was offered a job by Bretton James and Gekko tells Jake that he suspects it was James's testimony which got him sent away for eight years (more time than a murderer). Jake is confused, having assumed that it was Bud Fox who put Gekko after Fox's 1985-1986 insider trading trial. Gekko explains that Bud Fox got him on insider trading but that was nothing compared to some of Gekko's other activities that he was convicted of. He and Bretton had a falling out back in 1988 and, though he doesn't know for sure, he suspects that Bretton was behind it. Gekko asks for another trade: he wants to have a face to face with his daughter.At work, Jake is put on the sideline so that Bretton's point woman can take over a pitch to the Chinese businessmen. They are unimpressed with her pitch, stating that they are looking for the next big thing in energy. Jake swoops in and presents them with the fusion research he has been supporting. Bretton is impressed by Jake's initiative and is glad that the firm has made more money. However, the firm is in trouble but Bretton doesn't want anyone to know. The economy is slowly starting to crumble. Bretton hosts a fundraiser and invites Jake and Winnie. Gekko asks Jake to front him $10,000 so that Gekko can also attend and have another chance to reconcile with Winnie.Wandering around the party, Gekko ends up bumping into Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen, in a suprise cameo). Apparelty Fox did his time in prison and went on to build Bluestar Airline into one of the premier airlines in the country after his father's retirement and death. Fox sold the company and retired a multi-millionaire. He wishes Gekko well and tells him to stay out of trouble.Gekko approaches Winnie and Jake at Bretton's table but Winnie leaves when Gekko arrives. Gekko and Bretton exchange a tense conversation where Gekko implies that he has proof that Bretton is responsible for putting him away. Bretton gets uncomfortable but points out that Gekko is no one. Gekko leaves him to find Winnie. Bretton tells Jake that the Chinese are going to invest $150 million in the fusion research Jake has been supporting.Outside of the building, Gekko finds Winnie outside on the steps and they have an intense conversation. He tells her that she's all he has and she's his gal until the day that he dies. She hugs him and Jake watches them have their moment. Jake calls the head researcher and tells him that the money is on its way.Over the next few months, the USA economy collapses. The stock market loses billions during September-October 2008.Jake is at his apartment and tells Winnie that the world as they know it is over. Winnie tells him that is unacceptable because she is pregnant. Jake is floored but excitedly happy and kisses her.Numerous companies around the country are failing. Bretton calls Jake into his office and Jake takes a helicopter to meet Bretton at his estate in upstate New York. The two participate in a motorcycle race against each other and Jake beats Bretton. Bretton tells Jake that the money the Chinese invested is going into fossil fuels instead of fusion research. Jake gets angry knowing that Bretton is trying to sink the fusion research since it is not profitable, even though it would benefit the entire world. Bretton would be unable to control the source once the technology becomes known, unlike with the oil industry. Jake quits and tells Bretton to go fuck himself.Jake tells Gekko about what happened and Gekko reveals that there is a solution: Winnie has a trust fund account in Switzerland with $100 million which Gekko set up in the 1980s when she was born. He told her that once he was out of jail, he would need that money to reassert himself but Winnie reneged when Rudy died. While she has always considered giving it to charity, she hasn't. Jake could use that money to fund the research and save the company. But since Winnie never declared it, she could go to jail for tax evasion. Gekko tells Jake that he can embezzle it with his old contacts. Jake believes him and goes to talk to Winnie.At Winnie's office, Jake asks why she never mentioned the money. Winnie is shocked that he knows but Jake gets enthusiastic about the fusion research and tells her that this is her chance to make a difference. She agrees and the two fly to Switzerland. She signs the money over to Jake. Jake then entrusts the money to Gekko so that he can legitimize the funds for the investment in the fusion research company.A few hours after returning to New York, Jake gets a call saying that the money never arrived. He gets frantic but his mother interrupts him before he goes to deal with Gekko. She asks for $100,000 because of the collapse of the housing industry, but Jake gives her $30,000 and tells her that he cannot afford to waste any more money on her ridiculous real estate deals. He goes to Gekko's apartment and finds it empty: he's gone.Jake tells Winnie what happened and that he's been talking to Gekko for a while. She breaks off their engagement and tells Jake to leave: she no longer trusts him or feels safe around him. He leaves bitterly and tracks Gekko to England, where Gekko is running a financial company again with the $100 million he stole from Winnie and Jake. Jake propositions him for one last trade: Winnie gets her $100 million back and Gekko gets a grandson. Jake shows him the ultrasound of his son but Gekko, despite being moved, cannot let go of being someone of importance. He tells him that its not about money; its about the game. Gekko says that giving the money away is a "trade he cannot make." Jake leaves.Over the next few weeks, by using the previous information collected by Gekko about Bretton, Jake begins piecing together everything from Keller Zabels collapse to the economic bailouts being issued for Brettons company. Jake points out that Bretton owns the Locust Fund (www.locustfund.com) and puts the pieces together in one large information packet. He gives it to Winnie, telling her that it will put her website on the map for good as a legitimate source of information and that he misses her like crazy. He then leaves.Winnie runs the story and Bretton James is exposed. The board of directors kicks him out of the company and Bretton is forced to testify to his crimes in front of the Congressional Committee, who note that they previously had Brettons cooperation in the Gekko investigation. Bretton's career is over and he's left to the sharks. Bretton's board of directors, led by the elderly banker Julius Scherhart (Eli Wallach) goes to Gekko in order to start doing business with him in view of the new credibility Gekko gained through his London firm's astounding success. He speaks to his materialistic business clients in the language they understand and respect: by correctly predicting the coming financial collapse, Gekko sold the market short and turned the 100 million that he stole from his daughter into the incredible sum of $1 billion dollars. He proudly looks at his account assets; Gekko is a billionaire again.Jake sees the very pregnant Winnie walking to her apartment and helps her carry her things. Their son has been kicking and keeping her up at night. Jake feels his sons kicks and Winnie thanks him for the help but they do not reconcile. Gordon appears and tells them that he deposited the $100 million in to the fusion researchers account anonymously. Now that Gekko attained his aim of becoming a billionaire by using the money he stole from his daughter, he finally returns that relatively small sum. He tells them that they make a good couple and that hed like to be there for them as their father and a grandfather. He walks away saying, "What? Can't you believe in a comeback?"Jake kisses Winnie and they reconcile before the birth and, one year later, they celebrate their son's first birthday with a party, at which Gordon Gekko is also present.
    

Carey Mulligan

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