
Richard Jewell
Eastwood’s conceptions of heroism and villainy have always been, if not endlessly complex, at least never simplistic.
Eastwood’s conceptions of heroism and villainy have always been, if not endlessly complex, at least never simplistic.
It becomes repetitive, nonsensical, and just loud after everyone gets an origin story and we're left with nothing to do but go boom.
Roger Ebert on James Ivory's "Howards End".
"The Ballad of Narayama" is a Japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice, telling a story of startling cruelty. What a space it opens…
An article about today's noon premiere of a new movie about architect Benjamin Marshall at the Gene Siskel Film Center.
An article about the screening of Horace Jenkins' "Cane River" on Friday, November 1st, at the Academy Film Archive in Los Angeles.
Scout Tafoya's video essay series about maligned masterpieces celebrates Steven Soderbergh's Solaris.
An article about today's noon premiere of a new movie about architect Benjamin Marshall at the Gene Siskel Film Center.
An FFC on Gavin Hood's Official Secrets.
A celebration of Yasujiro Ozu, as written by a Far Flung Correspondent from Egypt.
I have come to appreciate silence not as a sign of weakness or capitulation, but as a finely sharpened dagger that finds its way to…
The nominees for the Chicago Films Critics Awards for 2019.
“My first child died inside me. Inside my swollen womb.” These are the first words, spoken in voice over by lead actor Shirley Henderson, in this film. So in case you’re wondering where the party’s at, it’s right here, people.
But seriously—“Never Steady, Never Still,” while a conscientious and indeed serious drama, is not a grim slog. Call it sober, as befits its scenario. Henderson plays Judy, a wife who managed, after her first try, to successfully bear a child. That kid, Jamie (Théodore Pellerin) is now 19, and rather surly; his burly bearded dad Ed (Nicholas Campbell) thinks it would do Jamie good to hit the oil fields of Alberta, Canada (the family lives off of Stuart Lake in British Columbia).
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Judy has Parkinson’s Disease, but has found a measure of care and contentment within her nuclear family. Ed looks after many of the needs engendered by her condition and urges her not to fret about what she can’t control.
These characters are not people who talk much about their feelings. Judy has a support group with other Parkinson’s patients, which is helpful. An early encounter at the oil field spells out how things are for Jamie: after being approached by a coworker to banter about a sporting event televised the night before, Jamie demurs that he didn’t watch it; this incites the coworker into some spectacular passive-aggressive clapping back. We soon learn, via a startling dreamlike shot, that Jamie’s also struggling with his sexuality.
An unexpected tragedy finds Judy facing life without the kind of support she needs. But “Never Steady, Never Still” is not a crisis-management movie. Written and directed by Kathleen Hepburn, making her feature debut, it’s a slice-of-life motion picture. It delicately but sharply probes its characters’ lives, with nuanced depictions of exchanges that slowly bring these troubled people to better understandings of each other, and of themselves. There are traces of early Ken Loach in Hepburn’s approach, but ultimately the filmmaker’s voice, with all its frankness and plain-spokenness, is her own. Shirley Henderson, ever a wonder of nature as a performer, is wonderful as Judy. She shows no strain as she depicts Judy’s symptoms and does no performative gymnastics to solicit extra sympathy from an already empathy-generating character. She pulls off the most difficult and effective illusion of all, which is to make it look as if she’s living through what she’s acting. This is not the sort of screen acting that wins awards, I fear—it’s too subtle. But if you don’t treat yourself to this movie, you will indeed be missing out on one of the best pieces of acting 2018 cinema has to offer.
A review of the newest film by Quentin Tarantino.
The top 50 shows of the 2010s.
The best films of 2019, as chosen by the staff of RogerEbert.com.
This message came to me from a reader named Peter Svensland. He and a fr...