Revenge, Regret, and Rebirth

Commentary #1: Three new films with themes that resonate — The Count of Monte Cristo, Goodrich, and Emilia Peréz

Box Office King

A few short years ago, some were saying that the movie industry was dead and television had taken over the world. Funny to think that only a couple of decades ago, movie stars wouldn’t be caught dead doing television shows.

Now, they’re all over the small screen—Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Jessica Lange, Kevin Costner, Harrison Ford—hell, even Al Pacino was in one (Hunters, which hardly anyone saw or heard about even though it starred Al Frickin’ Pacino.)

The only movie star who has not done a television show is the incomparable Tom Cruise, and it’s highly unlikely he ever will. Besides, his TV appearances over the years are memorable enough…

Meanwhile, his ex-wife, Nicole Kidman, might just be the queen of the small screen. She seems to have been in every hit television miniseries of the last few years and still finds time to star in movies.

Fun fact: even I have shared the small screen with Ms. Kidman, albeit for a few seconds. I was cast as an extra in HBO’s The Undoing, playing a concerned parent at school dropoff. I will have to take a screenshot of our scene one of these days.

There might have been a brief lull in moviemaking (Steven Spielberg credited Cruise for ending that with 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, telling him: “You saved Hollywood’s ass. Seriously, Maverick might have saved the entire theatrical industry”), but if 2024 is anything to go by, that lull is well and truly behind us.

Today’s post is about three of this year’s films that touch on big themes: revenge, regret and rebirth.

Don’t worry, no spoilers…

Revenge

The Count of Monte Cristo (Adventure/Thriller) starring Pierre Niney, Anaïs Demoustier et al., directed by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière.

Full disclosure: I have never read Alexandre Dumas’s literary classic The Count of Monte Cristo (shame on me), nor did I see the 2002 film adaptation, so I went into this movie not knowing the story. Boy was in for a treat! A magnificent swashbuckler—beautiful cinematography, opulent set design, great costumes, excellent acting and superb storytelling.

The film is in French and runs three hours long, but do not let that deter you. So fast-paced it flies by, and the story is so moving and gripping, it engages from start to finish. I became emotionally invested within the first few minutes and not for one moment was I bored. Visually stunning, it’s clear that no expense was spared on production.

I’m sure everyone already knows the story, but for those who don’t: set in Europe during the 19th century, it’s the tale of a young sailor who is arrested on his wedding day for a crime he didn’t commit and imprisoned in a bleak fortress on a remote island for fourteen years. Upon his escape, he acquires a fortune, assumes a new identity, and exacts revenge on the jealous and corrupt men who stole his love and destroyed his life.

Amongst the tapestry of timeless themes—betrayal, justice, resilience, patience, hope, friendship and love—The Count of Monte Cristo is primarily known as an epic tale of revenge. It is relatable because we have all experienced betrayal in some way, there are people in our lives who have wronged us that we’d like to get back at, but as seductive and tempting as revenge is, the reality is that it’s unfulfilling, empty and laden with consequences.

A friend wisely advised me many years ago that the best and only way to get revenge is by living well.

Regret

Goodrich (Comedy/Drama) starring Michael Keaton and Mila Kunis, directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer.

Michael Keaton—another ‘A’ lister who crossed over to the small screen in 2021 and deservedly won an Emmy for the truly dope Dopesick—never disappoints. He is one of the most likeable and watchable actors, in my opinion. Here, he plays Andy Goodrich, a workaholic art dealer whose wife leaves him for not giving her enough attention (he doesn’t even notice she’s addicted to prescription drugs.) When she calls while he is asleep in bed to let him know she has checked into rehab, he is left to look after their 9-year-old twins but Goodrich has been wrapped up in his work life for so long that he doesn’t have a clue how to parent.

He leans on his older daughter, Grace (Mila Kunis), from a previous marriage, to help him with the kids even though she is about to become a mother herself. Goodrich was absent in her life when she was a child, so their relationship is strained. This is a man who has spent most of his life ignoring those closest to him in favor of his career, which after all that time, is falling apart anyway.

Ultimately, Goodrich is a heartfelt story about family bonds. The central plotline is the father-daughter relationship as Goodrich struggles with his new reality and attempts to build bridges with Grace by becoming the father she never had. Was all that time spent at work, missing out on his loved ones lives, worth it? Of course not. Working too hard is one of the top five regrets of the dying, according to a palliative care nurse.

Although Goodrich is a sad movie for the most part, there were some laugh-out-loud moments. When Grace goes into labor early, Goodrich sits by her side in the hospital room holding her hand through the contractions. I have never given birth, but if I had, I can’t even imagine my father being present for such an ordeal, let alone holding his hand!

Rebirth

Emilia Peréz (Musical/Melodrama) starring Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón and Selena Gomez. Directed by Jacques Audiard.

This is one of those genre-defying films that requires suspension of disbelief. Emilia Peréz is a highly implausible but hugely enjoyable story of four women pursuing their own paths to happiness under wacky circumstances.

A Mexican cartel boss hires a struggling lawyer to help him with an extreme life change: fake his own death and change genders so that he can finally live as her true self: the woman he has always wanted to be. It is full of random song and dance numbers and leaves many unanswered questions, but in terms of originality and entertainment, it’s utterly captivating.

All four leads won a joint Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for their over-the-top emotive performances. The film also won the Jury Prize. The fabulous costumes are by Saint Laurent, the most memorable outfit (for me) being a red velvet suit worn by Saldaña for a showstopping dance number.

Netflix describes it as a “musical story of rebirth.” Not only does Manitas, the Mexican drug lord, change his sex to become Emilia Pérez, he/she transforms from a monster responsible for thousands of grisly endings to a do-gooder who makes amends for those crimes by founding a nonprofit that assists families affected by cartel violence. Some may find the plot too preposterous, but it’s unlike any film I’ve ever seen. The ending was nothing short of shocking.

I am currently undergoing a rebirth of sorts myself, or rather—a reset—more about this in due course.

Until then, here are a few more cracking good films I highly recommend (in no particular order) all released this year: The Substance, Anora, Apartment 7A, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Monkey Man, Blink Twice, It Ends With Us, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and Joker: Folie à Deux.

A few I haven’t yet seen but want to: Gladiator II, Dune: Part Two and The Outrun. Coming out next month that I also want to see: The Room Next Door and Nosferatu.

And last but not least, the movie I am most excited about and really can’t wait to see (it comes out on 20th December) is the ultimate Kittenesque movie… Mufasa: The Lion King.