Animals

 

Co-written, directed by, and starring Ben Affleck, Animals is a political thriller that centers on Mark Kimball, played by Affleck, a wealthy lawyer running for mayor of Los Angeles. His high-stakes campaign and pristine personal life with his wife Abigail, played by Kerry Washington, threatens to crumble after a devastating phone call reveals that their son has been kidnapped for a massive ransom. As they scramble to secure the payout, hidden secrets unravel, dragging them deeper into a web of deceit and dangerous moral compromises.

On screen, the talent was undeniable. Affleck and Washington shared a compelling, grounded chemistry, and the supporting ensemble delivered strong performances across the board. The narrative kicked off with an intriguing, fast-moving premise that successfully kept me guessing, using its central line, “Humans are animals with stories”, to explore sharp themes about family, spin doctoring, and how far someone will go when backed into a corner.

However, despite the strong cast, the film ultimately lacked the directorial punch and kinetic tension of Affleck’s previous work, like The Town or Argo. Instead, it landed in surprisingly mediocre territory, feeling more like a straight-to-streaming title than a cinematic event.

The plot felt long-winded and it built toward a straightforward, lackluster ending rather than a truly shocking payoff. With several unanswered questions left hanging by the credits Animals turned out to be an okay, one-time watch at home, but not a film you’ll feel compelled to revisit.

Steel Magnolias

 

After Dolly Parton’s recent passing, I felt drawn to her classic catalog, making Herbert Ross’s 1989 Southern classic Steel Magnolias my first stop. Adapted from Robert Harling’s stage play, the film gathers six women in a small-town Louisiana beauty parlor run by Truvy Jones, played by Parton.

At its heart, this film was really anchored by the mother-daughter dynamic between M'Lynn and Shelby, as the latter navigates a high-risk pregnancy alongside an autoimmune disease, played by Sally Field and Julia Roberts, respectively. It was a little slow in pace but it was easy to follow and the central themes hit home. It’s an affectionate look at grief, radical self-acceptance, and the undeniable power of female friendship to carry you through the heaviest of moments.

The casting was star powered for its time. All the women played well off of one another. A young Roberts held her own around seasoned actors. Dolly’s Truvy felt very much like Dolly playing herself, a warm, charming, gossip-loving anchor, functioning more as a delightful side character than a heavily developed lead. In fact, most of the supporting ensemble, including Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, and Olympia Dukakis, stayed relatively one-dimensional, leaving you wishing the script had given them richer character arcs.

Visually and culturally, the movie served as a total 80s time capsule. That era’s severe lack of diversity was on full display here. I caught maybe one Black couple in the background of the entire film.

From a pacing standpoint, the melodrama was a bit of a rollercoaster. During the peak emotional scene it started off feeling somewhat flat, then built into a really effective and moving stride, and then got a little unhinged right at the end.

In the end I found the title to be a clever nod, as Steel Magnolias are exactly what this film was trying to depict with this group of women. Delicate, beautiful facades that hid an inner core of pure steel when life got hard. So, despite its structural flaws, I can see why this film has stood the test of time.