Ryan Murphy and his well-chosen cast help THE PROM go on to bigger, glossier things

There are those who say that Ryan Murphy (shown below), director of the new film version of the Broadway musical THE PROM has de-charmed the thing, removing spontaneity and genuineness from the proceedings. Others -- those who don't understand or appreciate musical comedy -- will counter that those attributes were never present in the first place. Bullshit. The Prom, in either aspect, has plenty of both -- and many more amazements, too. In fact, it defines what musical comedy is and simultaneously redefines it for our current age of inclusivity/diversity (as well as the unfortunate and ever-present desire and need to wipe these off the face of the earth). In short, it couldn't be more true to its 2020 time period.

TrustMovies didn't see the original Broadway show, but he did catch its musical number from the telecast during the Tony Awards a couple of years back. Based on what he saw of this and the other nominees' numbers, The Prom was the only show whose musical score and lyrics he wanted to hear more of. So he brought the Broadway cast album and by now has just about worn it out from mucho multiple plays. 

And, yes, TM was worried, given Mr. Murphy's off-and-on track record, that he might gussy things up past the boiling point. But, no. Sure, he's a little busier than he need be now and then, but the show's distinct charm, energy and sweetness, as well as its delightful digs at the narcissism of theater folk, remain front and center. 

Best of all, Murphy has kept the score mostly intact and up to snuff. Matthew Sklar's music --  maybe the bounciest since Baby -- combines with Chad Beguelin's witty and full-of-real-rhyme lyrics to keep our ears consistently alert and gratified. The book (by Bob Martin and Beguelin does a grand job of bringing together its two tales -- one about a troupe of near over-the-hill actors seeking some publicity that will kickstart their careers, the other of a high school girl in Indiana who wants to bring another girl to the prom as her date but is stymied by the local PTA.

While I adore the original cast of the Broadway album, we all can understand the need for casting big names in starring roles. And we surely do get them here -- from Meryl Streep (above, center right) as the belting diva ("Can I get softer lighting?") and James Corden (above, left) as her gay co-star to Nicole Kidman (center,  left) as the forever chorus girl who can't get a break and Keegan-Michael Key (above, right) as the sympathetic principal of the school that these kids attend -- the whole cast is first class.

I don't want to give away much more because the situations and songs are all so much fun that you deserve to experience them freshly and first-hand. (That's Ariana Debose, above, left, with Kerry Washington, as daughter and mother on either side of the GLBT divide.) 

But I will just call attention to a couple of brilliant moments of heart-stopping/jaw-dropping intimacy and surprise in the middle of all this joyous bounce: One arrives as Mr. Key sings a quiet song to Ms Streep about what theater -- and her own part in this -- has meant to him over the years. The song sweetly, humorously calls attention to both the mysteries and seeming ridiculousness of the musical form, even as it celebrrates them so beautifully.

The other moment comes as Ms Debose sings to her girlfriend Emma about the many hoops her mother puts her through so that she can become the perfect girl. All this seems both truthful and rueful (witty, too) until suddenly there's a single line -- regarding why mom is doing all this -- that stops you in your tracks. The Prom is filled with these little surprises, as much as it is chock-a-block with feel-good fun. 

 

From Netflix, running 130 minutes, and a much-needed gift for the holidays, The Prom is available now on the popular streaming service. (Above, right, with Ms Kidman and further above, left, with Ms Debose is Jo Ellen Pellman, making her auspicious movie debut as our heroine, Emma. )

An energized, funny fever-dream of a movie-- Mikhanovsky & Austen's GIVE ME LIBERTY

I'm not certain I have ever seen a film with more uncorked, knock-your-socks-off energy than that exhibited by GIVE ME LIBERTY, the new made-in-Wisconsin movie from co-writer (with Alice Austen) and director Kirill Mikhanovsky. That energy is so consistent and contagious -- yet somehow not overly insistent -- that it not only disarms you but absolutely pulls you into its all-embracing humor and, finally, emotion.

Mikhanovsky, shown at right, has not exactly come out of nowhere (he was a co-writer on one of last year's most interesting narrative/documentary mashes, Gabriel and the Mountain), but his work here as director/co-writer seems to TrustMovies to be something that he will not easily equal again. His film is often that extraordinary.

Give Me Liberty's "plot" begins with a very long, constantly interrupted bus-ride in which the driver, Vic (a handsome newcomer blessed with quiet charisma, Chris Galust, shown below, right), must bring various special-needs patients to and from their destination.

His passengers, this time, are both expected and not so, with the latter providing much of the movie's grand energy, charm and humor. These, some of whom are shown below, are a bunch of Russian emigres, late for the burial of a dear friend, who cadge Vic into giving them the necessary lift. (There is evidently a large Russian Jewish community in Wisconsin, of which Vic and family are part.)

The film is set in and around a large Wisconsin city on a day when street protests are taking place -- which make the usual travel routes suddenly off-limits and of course add to the film's energy, convulsions, politics and fun. There is one passenger here -- a young lady named Tracy (played by another newcomer, Lauren "Lolo" Spencer, shown above, center, and below) -- whose beauty, needs and problematic situation attract both Vic and us.

The one passenger who really charms the pants off us, however (even as he lies, cheats and steals a bit), is a younger Russian emigre named Dima (a knockout of an actor, Maxim Stoyanov, below), who would be a shoo-in for Best Supporting Actor nomination, if the Academy ever paid proper attention to movies like this one. Mr. Stoyanov is giving what is likely to be the performance of his life; you will not want to miss it.

How all these people -- and a few others I won't have  time to go into -- get where they're going, along with what they do, once they arrive there proves marvelous, and often as moving as it is amusing. We get family scenes, traumatic and hilarious; dancing and singing; artwork that is a beautiful as it is simple; and a wrap-around beginning and ending that offers up the film's most  endearing and moving character, a bed-ridden friend of Vic who provides him and us with some wonderful thoughts and ideas.

Give Me Liberty gets so much so right that I suspect you will forgive its occasional repetition and a running time that's just a tad too long at 111 minutes. When it is working full-throttle, which would be most of its duration, it is so dynamic that you can't -- hell, you won't want to -- look away. And by the by, this is also a bring-us-together movie like you have most probably never seen. It defines diversity without even trying.

From Music Box Films and one of this distributor's most unusual offerings, the movie opens today, Friday, August 23, in New York City at the IFC Center and Brooklyn's BAM Rose Cinema. Next Friday, August 30, look for it in the Los Angeles area at Laemmle's Monica Film Center, Playhouse 7 and Town Center 5.  The film will hit South Florida on Friday, September 13 at the Coral Gables Art Cinema, the Savor Cinema in Fort Lauderdale and the Cinema Paradiso in Hollywood. To view all currently scheduled playdates, cities and theaters.click here and then scroll down to click on Theatrical Engagements.

DVDebut for Matt Tyrnauer's timely, thoughtful doc, CITIZEN JANE: BATTLE FOR THE CITY

Of course Jane Jacobs is the hero is this new documentary, while Robert Moses is its chief villain. This is to be expected of any work that explores our cities, their past and (we can only hope) their future. What is maybe not so expected is that the movie fairly teems with humanity, diversity and life. I suspect that Ms Jacbos, who died more than a decade ago, would be pleased with what producer/director Matt Tyrnauer (shown below) has put together here. CITIZEN JANE: BATTLE FOR THE CITY is a combination of history, personality, struggle and (for a change) success in preventing the powers-that-be from imposing their too-often stupid and destructive ideas upon cities such as New York and (eventually) Toronto. Jacob's landmark book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, is explored at length and in some depth, and bits of her glorious writing are prominently featured, too. Together all this makes for an exultant look back at what can happen when a woman who's both a talented writer with smart and important ideas also discovers her ability to organize and protest, in the process garnering some amazing results.

Mr. Tyrnauer has filled his film with great archival footage -- of New York, Philadelphia, Jacobs (and her nemesis, Moses) and especially of the wonderful diversity and energy present in cities that ought to be harnessed, rather than destroyed by the kind of projects of which Mr Moses was so in favor.

We see Le Corbusier and how his work was often bastardized in the name of modernity to create sterile and non-productive low-income housing. Instead, as Jacobs told us, the city should be a place where "enterprises and people are mutually supportive."

We're there with Jane and others, as she leads the fight to prevent Moses' highway through Washington Square Park. His now infamous quote that "Nobody's against us except a bunch of mothers" is shown to be all too true -- and effective.

Jacobs' real test comes as she opposes Moses and his ludicrous Lower Manhattan Expressway, which would have destroyed the entire neighborhood of Soho and displaced thousands of citizens. Her goal was not to prevent change, but to manage it well, rather than simply "freezing time."

Sure, the film is anti-Moses, but it does give the man, along with some of his better projects, his due. But mostly it's about the miracle of the city -- when it works the way it should and could. It's all about "the safety of the street and the freedom of the city," two ideas that Jacobs cherished. Best of all, perhaps, the documentary helps us understand Jacobs' "new" theory about cities and how she arrived at it. The final quote we get from her glorious book, describing the city as a kind of wonderful dance, is so perfect and beautifully realized that you may want to watch the movie all over again, just to hear it once more, spoken against those enticing visuals. (Jacob's voice is read by Marisa Tomei, while Moses' words come via Vincent D'Onofrio.)

From IFC Films and running a just-about-perfect 93 minutes, Citizen Jane: Battle for the City will hit the street on DVD this coming Tuesday, September 12 -- for purchase and/or rental.