Couch Theater – July 4, 2019

#Middlebury #DVDs

“Dumbo” (PG) – The owner of a small circus (Danny DeVito) takes a gamble on a pregnant elephant, and when the baby is born with giant ears and debuts with a flop, he asks the children of his trick rider Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) to raise it. They accidentally discover that the precocious pachyderm can fly, and a genuine circus act is born. When a bigtime showman (Michael Keaton) recruits the act – and Mom is trucked off – Farrier and the children team up with a trapeze artist and mount a rescue to reunite mother and baby. There’s no getting around the eruption of feelings when Mom is taken away. The lullaby will make you cry. But beyond heartstrings-pulling moments here and there, I couldn’t shake the feeling that, despite it being visually pleasing and well-performed, it didn’t match the enchantment and captivation of the original.

“The Hummingbird Project” (R) – Jesse Eisenberg and Alexander Skarsgard head this business caper as cousins Vincent and Anton Zaleski, who work together to achieve their dream: run a beeline fiber optic cable from the New York Stock Exchange direct to Kansas so that they can have trade information milliseconds ahead of the competition and effectively make beaucoup buckaroos by high frequency trading. It’s complicated, but they are very passionate about it, and so is their ex-boss, a cutthroat woman named Eva Torres (Salma Hayek) who plots to thwart and beat them at their own game – at any price. It comes from director/writer Kim Nguyen, and is as much dark dramedy as social commentary on greed.

Barry Ward and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor in “Maze” (Ola Kjelbye/MVD Entertainment Group photo)

“Maze” (NR) – Irish Republican Army prisoner Larry Marley (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor) is indefatigable in pursuit of freedom, even in a high-security breakout-proof prison such as the HMP Maze. For this challenge, all resources must be pursued, including fellow prisoners with a diverse array of talents and even, or most especially, the guards themselves. Marley establishes a rapport and eventual friendship with a warden, Gordon Close (Barry Ward), that leads to the largest prison escape in Europe since World War II. It’s based on the real-life 1983 mass breakout at the prison. Although it’s about a prison break, it’s not an action movie. It’s a psychological drama, slowly building and unfolding, that is well worth watching.

“The Aftermath” (R) – Keira Knightly and Jason Clark are Rachael and Col. Lewis Morgan, an English couple brought to Germany post-World War II during rebuilding. They take over the house of German architect Stefan Lubert (Alexander Skarsgard), but instead of sending him and his daughter off, Col. Morgan allows them to stay. With so many lives lost, it’s inevitable that grief catches up. Given time and access, Rachael and Stefan have an affair. It’s terribly cliched, but of course, beautifully done. If you’re into gloomy period romances, this is your cup of tea.

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“Manhunt” Season 1
“Poldark” The Complete Collection
“CSI: New York” Season 2
“Hanna Barbera: Wally Gator” The Complete Series

© 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.