I had mixed feelings going into “Materialists.” Part of me was excited to see Celine Song’s newest effort, since her first film, “Past Lives,” was one of my runaway favorite movies of 2023. But I was also apprehensive, since “Materialists” was packed with more traditional A-list actors like Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal (insert your favorite joke about Pascal being in everything here). Would Song’s voice get lost in the Hollywood machine?

Coming out of “Materialists,” I also have mixed feelings, but not because Song “went Hollywood” or anything. Her new film is thoughtful, well-written, and insightful, just like “Past Lives.” But where her first film’s melancholy left me with a feeling of knowing satisfaction, “Materialists” is more of a downer, with an ending that feels a little too bleak to achieve the hopeful note it’s grasping for.

The film centers around the love life of a professional New York matchmaker named Lucy (Johnson). To her, marriage is a business—literally and figuratively—and though she’s been quite successful at her job, having produced nine marriages, her grasp of marital success is tied to purely empirical factors like wealth, education, and in the case of men, height and hairline.

When Lucy meets an uber-wealthy financial guru at her client’s wedding, she thinks she may have stumbled on a unicorn. Harry (Pascal) is tall, handsome, and rich, but he’s also thoughtful, stylish, and engaging. He also seems to be genuinely interested in Lucy, which her own insecurities interpret as a red flag. But she pursues the relationship to be sure.

In the meantime, the same wedding brings her ex-boyfriend John (Chris Evans) back into her life. John is a struggling actor, working as an event server to keep up his share of the rent in an apartment that pales next to Harry’s 12-million-dollar penthouse.

It isn’t a unique love triangle. In fact, “Materialists” often had me thinking of “Reality Bites,” a similar movie I don’t think I’ve seen since the 1990s. In thirty years, the question hasn’t changed: is it better to pursue wealth and security, or to find “true love” in poverty and sincerity? Is that the only choice?

Even if the question is similar, putting Song in charge suggests “Materialists” won’t default to any cliched or routine endings. In fact, that’s one of the biggest challenges with a movie that doesn’t fit into the bounds of genres like a traditional romantic comedy. A lesser movie might have made the choice more two-dimensional and obvious, but Song tries to inject some cold hard reality and nuance into a relatable quandary.

And yet, the results are mixed. To help underscore the idea that what works on paper may not translate to real life, a subplot about one of Lucy’s clients takes a very dark turn when a set-up leads to a sexual assault. And though the lead characters try to say the right things, by the end of the movie you aren’t entirely convinced that their lessons will stick. But maybe that’s what Song is trying to say?

This is far from a Meg Ryan-brand romantic comedy, by intention, but the outcome of “Materialists” still feels a little too sober. Its characters struggle to find hope in the face of cynicism, and at best, a viewer hoping to make some sense of 21^st century dating will find a filmmaker who shares their pain. But the light at the end of the tunnel is still very fleeting.

Maybe it’s because dating in New York City really is that miserable and materialistic. Maybe Johnson’s depiction of Lucy just isn’t sympathetic enough. Maybe “Past Lives” just set too high a standard. “Materialists” is good, and good-intentioned, but the sum total of its parts feel more bleak than hopeful. 30+ years later, it seems that reality still bites.

“Materialists” is rated R for scattered profanity and mild sexual content.

The post Song’s ‘Materialists’ is a sobering follow-up to 2023’s ‘Past Lives’ appeared first on Utah.Film.

As fun as it is to dive into the holiday movie season, it’s easy to feel like you’re just watching the same titles over and over again…and not just because you’ve stumbled onto some 24-hour marathon of “It’s A Wonderful Life” or “A Christmas Story.” There are lots of great Christmas movies out there, but new options always feel welcome.

With that in mind, Jake Kasdan’s “Red One” probably won’t crack many Top-10 Christmas movie lists, but it should offer a fun option for anyone on the hunt for a new route into the Christmas spirit this season.

You’ve probably heard about “Red One’s” basic plot by now: Santa Clause (J.K. Simmons) gets kidnapped, and it’s up to his chief of security (Dwayne Johnson) and a modern-day Grinch (Chris Evans) to save him.

The most creative and distinctive aspect of “Red One” is the way it interprets Santa’s operation. Instead of the jolly, heavy-set institution we’re all accustomed to, Simmons’ Santa is a weight-lifting, super-active (but still cookie-loving) specimen who reportedly burns four million calories during his yearly delivery. The factory and its workers are part of an expansive, tech-heavy yet magical system, complete with an extensive security attachment headed by Callum Drift (Johnson).

So it’s a bit of a surprise when a mysterious party breaches the North Pole installation and gets to Red One (Santa’s code name). With only a day to go before Santa’s due on his sleigh, Callum has to recruit an unlikely source to get the Man in Red back: a professional tracker named Jack O’Malley (Evans) who helped the perpetrator locate Santa prior to the abduction.

Together, Callum and a reluctant Jack are able to connect the dots to the culprit—a mythical Christmas Witch named Gryla (Kiernan Shipka)–and they uncover her devious master plan: finally bring cold and cruel justice to everyone who has ever been on the Naughty List. Can they thwart the Christmas Witch and rescue Santa in time to save Christmas? If you’re over 10, the answer to that question is never really in doubt, and “Red One” is mostly about how much fun you have along the way.

Answers to that question will vary, but the aforementioned creativity is a big help. “Red One’s” portrayal of Christmas is an enjoyable blend of traditional with modern, without bending the rules too far to feel alien. It doesn’t have the sustained magic of so many Christmas classics, but it feels comfortable in its own shoes.

As mentioned before, the final destination of the plot isn’t really the point, and not all of the steps to get there will keep you from considering a bathroom break or a run to the snack counter. But it’s fun to see a few familiar faces, and “Red One” does just enough with a couple of key character arcs for its protagonists to feel relatable in the holiday chaos.

Even if “Red One” isn’t engaging and inspired enough to make the all-time list, it’s plenty of fun. The only downside is that it earns its PG-13 rating just enough to make it off-limits to a lot of younger kids who would probably enjoy it.

“Red One” is rated PG-13 for scattered profanity, vulgarity, and general mayhem.

The post Creative ‘Red One’ kicks off the holiday movie season appeared first on Utah.Film.