The glorious Brian Cox brings János Edelényi's THE CARER to pulsating and delightful life

A love letter from Hungarian film to British actors, acting and Shakespeare himself (whoever the hell he actually was), THE CARER is also the second film I've seen in as many weeks to star that great actor Brian Cox in yet another role of a dying old man.

Again, as in The Etruscan Smile, Cox is a treasure, and the movie itself, even as it proves filled with many of the usual dying-senior-citizen tropes, is so specifically designed around Cox and his (along with director and co-writer János Edelényi's) love of acting, in particular the Shakespearean variety, that this movie immediately becomes a gift and a treat for anyone who shares these affections.

Hungarian filmmaker Edelényi (shown at right), along with his co-writers Gilbert Adair and Tom Kinninmont, tells the story of a once hugely popular (if not hugely loved) stage and screen actor Sir Michael Gifford (played by Cox, above and below), now suffering from Parkinson's disease, mostly reclusive, and given to firing one caregiver after another, to the frustration of his daughter (Emilia Fox), his driver-and-ex-dresser (Andor Lukáts), and his nurse and ex-lover (Anna Chancellor). Into this unhappy little hothouse comes a possible new caregiver (played sweetly/feistily by an alliterative newcomer named Coco König), a pretty young woman who brings along her own agenda.

How all these characters bounce around and off each other -- in ways that often go differently than you'll expect -- helps make the movie a lot more enjoyable that it might initially seem. And the acting ensemble, led by Cox, is both ultra-talented and eminently watchable.

Additionally, the script, direction and performances do not play fast and loose with senior years or end-of-life situations, so there is a certain verisimilitude to the proceedings that makes whatever feel-good you take away from the film unsaddled with guilt.

Shakespeare lovers will revel in both how much of the Bard they'll enjoy during the course of the film, and Mr. Cox does such a fine job with it all that you'll wonder why he has not been tapped to play all these roles already.

The Carer is one of those well-made, old-fashioned films that should resonate both with older audiences (for obvious reasons) and younger ones willing to take an interest in what maybe lies ahead. As for the lovely, intelligent and deeply felt speech that Sir Michael makes at the film's conclusion, if you are not already aboard this very special slice of entertainment, this should fully wrap you in its wonders.

From Corinth Films and running a just-right 89 minutes, The Carer hit home video last month -- for purchase and rental. Amazon Prime members can view it now free of charge it as part of their membership.

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.

One of last year's best films hits Blu-ray/DVD: Mia Hansen Løve's THINGS TO COME

As if her fine performance in the very bizarre Elle wasn't enough for a single year, Isabelle Huppert appeared in yet another superb role in a much warmer movie last year. I'm only catching up with THINGS TO COME now, as it makes its DVD and Blu-ray debut this week. From writer/ director Mia Hansen Løve (shown below), the movie burnishes even brighter the career of both the actress and the filmmaker, the latter of whom has given us at least two other excellent movies: Father of My Children and Goodbye First Love. Løve's latest proves to be her best work yet: her most mature and thoughtful with nary a weak moment to be found.

In stark contrast to Elle, Huppert here plays a relatively normal woman -- a philosophy teacher who, in late middle age, finds herself suddenly confronting something she never expected. Things to Come is a family drama, but it's one that proceeds quietly and concisely in a manner that allows Huppert's character, Nathalie (below), to consider the events and people around her, just as a professor of philosophy might, and Løve lets us do the same. The movie unfurls at what seems exactly the correct pace so that we take it all in and mull it over and arrive at conclusions without ever feeling forced into anything.

If this sounds rather minor as praise, it is not. So often filmmakers stuff everything from their action to their ideas so firmly down our throats that it all seems overcooked and pre-digested. TrustMovies suspects that this sort of style is anathema to Ms Løve.

All her characters are offered up in this manner, from the special student Nathalie has coached along (Roman Kolinka, above) to her educator husband, Heinz (Andre Marcon, below, right) to her ailing mother (a lovely job from Edith Scob) and even the "helpers" who represent the current state of textbook publishing in the western world.

Løve lets you understand where all her characters are coming from; even if you don't approve of what they're doing, you can still appreciate their viewpoints. Holding all this together is Ms Huppert who, as usual, inhabits her character so fully that we can, too,

The actress takes the events that would be soap opera to so many performers, writers and directors and turns them into the most intimate and specific details of life experienced. Of course, that's what good acting is supposed to do. Watching Huppert, you realize that this is what separate good from great.

One of 2016's best films, there is not a false moment in this entire movie, so if you have not already discovered Things to Come, I would suggest you take advantage of its current home video release. (The Blu-ray transfer is especially lovely.) From Sundance Selects/IFC Films and running 102 minutes in French with English subtitles, it hits the street tomorrow, Tuesday, May 9 -- for purchase and/or rental.

Blu-ray/DVDebut: Wim Wenders' angst- and surprise-laden EVERY THING WILL BE FINE

I can't remember the last time I found a movie so trying to sit through for its first half, and then slowly became so involved in the second half that, by the finale, it had me in tears. Such a film, for better or worse, is EVERY THING WILL BE FINE, the new one from the popular German arthouse director, Wim Wenders. What Wenders does here is about as risky as it gets these days, in terms of audience approval. He delays and delays and delays our gratification and involvement with his main character to the point -- if you look at the critical reviews and audience response to the film -- of near obliteration. Even TrustMovies must admit that, had he not received a complementary disc (along with an obligation to cover this film), he might have stopped watching midway and moved on to something else. He is very glad he didn't do this.

Actors are often attracted to roles that occasion angst, guilt, and depressive behavior (and why not, as these so often win awards). Part of the problem very soon into the film is that James Franco (below) is not an actor who fares well with this sort of role. He can seem all-too-shallow for one thing, and he needs real specifics from which to build a character. Initially, at least, Wenders (shown at right) and his screenwriter, Bjørn Olaf Johannessen, don't provide these. Franco plays Tomas, a novelist who is evidently somewhat blocked and whose main characteristic seems to be that, despite the sub-zero temperatures, he forgets to close doors to the outside.

Fifteen minutes into the film, after a sudden shock of an incident, we are handed an ever greater shock, and the movie, for a time, clicks in. This is due partially to the actress Charlotte Gainsbourg (below), who does "depressed" with the best of them.

Tomas, in fact, treats her character better than he treats his longtime girlfriend -- another somewhat wasted role for the often excellent Rachel McAdams (below, left) -- and later in the film will treat his next girlfriend, played by Marie-Josée Croze (at left, two photos down), with equal unconcern bordering on disdain.

But Wenders has something more on his mind. During his film a number of years pass -- nearly a decade or more, I believe -- and in that time, things and people begin to change to the point where we finally become much more involved with them and their issues. Time is said to be the great healer, but it can act as something more. It bridges huge gaps, and when telescoped as interestingly as it is here, it shows us things and makes us understand them in ways we might not have otherwise done.

The Gainsbourg character has a son whom we meet early on (below) then later see as he grows up (as a teenager, he is quite beautifully played by young actor Robert Naylor). Tomas' odd bond with both the Gainsbourg character and her son is key to the movie, and as this bond grows and changes, the film takes on enormous resonance, with its ultimate scene a pure and emotional amazement.

Every Thing Will Be Fine is also quite a beautiful film to view. I believe it was originally shot in 3D, and even on the rather spectacular Blu-ray transfer the film has been given, there are a number of moments in which you can almost see that 3D come to life. (This is one of the better Blu-ray transfers I've yet viewed.)

All of which is by way of saying, stick with Wenders' movie and you may be very surprised how moved and connected you will eventually feel. Even Franco -- about whose work I run hot and cold -- finally acquits himself surprisingly well. And McAdams gets one scene toward the end in which she absolutely shines.

From IFC Films and running 119 minutes, the movie hit the street on Blu-ray and DVD this past Tuesday, June 7 -- for purchase or rental. On the Blu-ray extras, there are interviews with Wenders and most of his cast (Franco is the exception). These are quite interesting and offer additional worth to the overall experience.

Jerzy's back--and as fine as ever--with a new, unusual slice of happenstance, 11 MINUTES

What a career -- fifty years of it --  Polish filmmaker Jerzy Skolimowski (shown below) has had. From his full-length debut movies Walkover and Identification Marks: None, both from 1965, through his latest and one of his most spectacular to reach these shores, opening this Friday in New York -- 11 MINUTES -- the man seldom repeats himself yet keeps entertaining us while very cleverly pushing our filmic boundaries. This new film is no exception. It's quietly enthralling for its initial 70-odd minutes before exploding, literally and figuratively, into one of the more wondrous explorations of non-benign serendipity you're likely to have witnessed. This is equally eye- and mouth-opening cinema.

Skolimowski is the man responsible for a movie that so many of us love and yet would probably forget to place on our best lists: Deep End. For me, 11 Minutes is right up there with that unusual film. But it is so very different in style, if not theme. This filmmaker has one of the darker sensibilities in modern cinema, and I do not mean something like the cheapjack variety that a Tarantino exhibits. The Skolimowki version is bone deep, I think, perhaps due to his having grown up under Communist rule in Eastern Europe. And it is not that the man is resolutely negative. His films are usually full of life and fascinating behavior, but the overall vision is of a world that will come to naught. And he makes us feel the loss.

The plot here is rather... not there. Instead we have maybe a half-dozen different stories involving characters who are clearly inhabiting the same town at the same time. But their lives are quite separate.

Were not Skolimowski such an intelligent and clever writer/director, we might lose interest in these people as the film progresses, Instead we stick with them because their stories, even if disconnected, are clearly important (to them, and the filmmaker makes them important to us, too).

There's a hopeful young actress (Paulina Chapko) and the clearly sleazy director (Richard Dormer) with whom she has an audition (three photos above); her over jealous boyfriend (Wojciech Mecwaldowski) two photos above; and an ex-felon hot dog vendor (Andrzej Chyra, just above) who really knows his dogs, both canine and edible varieties).

A drugged-up drug courier (Dawid Ogrodnik, above) who takes a little extra time delivering sex ,as well; an elderly artist composing outdoors; a young man about to take up stealing; and a young woman, suddenly homeless and walking a dog (played by striking newcomer Ifi Ude, below) are among the disparate group.

What makes 11 Minutes so unusual is its structure. What we see in this film is roughly the same eleven minutes but viewed from the perspective of all these different characters. So the film seems to bounce back and forth in time, but because we're seeing things so strangely, we can only just keep up with the proceedings. That is, until, finally, we begin to view various threads assembling. Not all of them, mind you, but enough to keep us on our toes.

The film's distributor is billing its movie as a "thriller," but it's not. Too slow-moving for that genre, it is more of a drama, but one that unspools -- unravels, really -- in quite unpredictable fashion.

Even so, little will prepare you for the finale, in which it all comes together with shock, surprise, sadness and wonder. The cinematography here is extraordinary (via Mikolaj Lebkowski), and once you've picked your jaw up from the floor, you may very well murmur, as did I, "My god -- Skolimowki's done it again."

From Sundance Selects/IFC Films and running just 83 minutes, 11 Minutes will open Friday, April 8, in New York City for its exclusive theatrical premiere engagement at the IFC Center. Elsewhere? I hope so. A film this intelligent and this much fun ought to find wider circulation.

On Blu-ray/DVD: Soesbe/Montiel's BOULEVARD --one of Robin Williams' final, if not finest, roles

TrustMovies has been a big fan of filmmaker Dito Montiel ever since his Guide to Recognizing Your Saints appeared. After some hit-and-miss work over the years (most of which I've enjoyed), he is back again, directing Robin Williams in one of his final roles in BOULEVARD, from a screenplay by Douglas Soesbe. The movie proves a serious attempt to explore the life of a quiet, closeted, married-for-years-to-a-good-woman, gay man about to experience something that will lead to big change.

So far, so good. And Williams, who just about never gave a bad performance unless he was forced into it, is once again in fine form as a man who has kept a deep and important part of himself a secret from not just the rest of the world but from himself. What's missing -- and I hate to say it since Montiel (pictured at right) made his mark with an uber-stylish independent movie -- is the kind of style that might elevate this film above the level of a well-intentioned try at consciousness-raising on both sides of the camera.

Boulevard is a quiet film which in itself is nothing bad. But it is quiet in so many ways -- from a script featuring dialog that is true-to-life but also bland enough to have us in sleep mode to direction that accentuates the script's limitations by refusing to goose any scene out of exactly what we expect -- that the movie finally has barely come to life before it's over.

None of this is the fault of the actors, who to a man and woman stay in keeping with the quiet tone. In addition to Williams the fine cast includes Kathy Baker (above, right) as his put-upon wife, Roberto Aguire (below, left) as the young man who throws the monkey wrench into his life, and Bob Odenkirk as his funny best friend. They help make this movie, which you'll very much wish were better than it is, a passable viewing.

Boulevard, from Anchor Bay Entertainment and Starz Digital hits the street this coming Tuesday, September 1, available on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD -- for rental and/or purchase.

Zack Parker's SCALENE presents an interesting triangle -- and yet another chance for Margo Martindale to shine

SCALENE, the title of the film from Zack Parker, is not the name of its main character, played with great ferocity and her usual finesse by the wonderful Margo Martindale. Instead, it refers to a couple of things: the type of triangle  that the brain-damaged son of the character played by Ms Martindale is asked to put together during his visit to a doctor, as well as a kind of stand-in for the three main characters in the film, who form a three-sided and quite unequal triangle, and from whose viewpoints we witness their story as it unfurls -- beginning at nearly the finale and then backtracking so that we see and understand the tale more fully.

Reality, for filmmaker Parker (shown at right), proves multifaceted and graspable only by seeing all sides of the situation. What makes Scalene particularly redolent and sophisticated in terms of its storytelling technique is that Parker doesn't hit us over the head with with any obvious she says/he says/she says rendition or by separating the film into three sections or by repeating entire segments from another person's viewpoint. No: Instead he begins at the climax and then circles back, filling in the blanks via story and characterization alone. In this way we slowly come to understand the situation and how and why it evolved into the shocking mess it has now become.

The story is simple enough. Janice Trimble (Ms Martindale, above), rather than hospitalizing her grown son, Jakob (Adam Scarimbolo, below) -- who has suffered since middle school with brain damage due to inhaling some unhelpful airplane glue -- intends to care for him on her own.

To this end she hires a young college girl, Paige (Hanna Hall, at left), to act as her part-time home-health-care aid. Over time, however, Paige grows fond of Jakob and begins to feel that perhaps Janice is physically abusing her son. What to do? The choices made at this point, which lead to choices made later by others, could be called into question as not the smartest way to handle things. Yet, in no case are these choices beyond the bounds of reality, so we -- and the characters -- must deal with them as they are.

All three actors are good, and Ms Martindale is exceptional. I ques-tion, however, the casting of Ms Hall as a college-age student. Physically speaking, she simply looks way too old; in some scenes with the actress who plays her mother, you'll imagine the two are sisters. This also makes the character's naivete a bit hard to accept.

Still, it is bracing to see an independent film that bites off a chunk of situation this interesting and challenging, and then lets its audience chew on it until digestion takes place. More often filmmakers bite, chew and ingest all on their own, before spitting it up into something like pre-digested pablum for their audience.

And then there is Margo Martindale, a great character actress and leading lady who is finally coming into her own in terms of having a large audience at last discover her. (She won an Emmy last year for her work on Justified and was honored a few years back with a Chlotrudis Award for her great work as that Colorado postmistress in the Alexander Payne segment of Paris je t'aime. Ms Martindale alone is reason enough to see most any film she's in, and this one is no exception. Scalene makes its appearance on DVD and Blu-ray this coming Tuesday, July 31, from Breaking Glass Pictures -- for sale or rental.