ELIZABETH OLSON MAKES HER MARK ON "LOVE & DEATH"

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - LOVE & DEATH - HBO MAX - [TV-MA] - [10] episodes. Series Directed by Lesli Linka Glatter. Series writers; David E. Kelley, James Atkinson, John Bloom, and Joe Bob Briggs. This series stars the very talented Elizabeth Olson, Jesse Plemons, Krysten Ritter, Lily Rabe, and Elizabeth Marvel.

This series is based on actual events that occurred in a small town in northern Texas on June 13, 1980. The plot involves several church going families in a rural town that are caught up in a devastating murder, which is eventually revealed during a murder investigation, that two married members in their church organization had a wild, impulsive affair, and where the wife of the husband [the one involved in the affair] was murdered with an axe, being hit 41 times in the utility room of her home. Olson leads the series as the open-minded Candy Montgomery, in a mesmerizing performance that is sure to win her some nominations in some future Emmy Award show. Kudos also go out to Krysten Rotter in her performance as the frumpy, mentally deranged Betty Gore. who is in a constant mental struggle to fit in with other wives of the small town.

THE GOOD - This is a witty and smart series, produced carefully to present a northern Texas town in the mid-1980s; the clothes, the cars, the city landscapes, and even the lingo of time are perfectly presented. Olson plays off an impulsive wife who feels like she's "missing out" on life, probably reaching a delayed seven-ear-itch or mid-life crisis, and "logically"reaches out to another man outside of her marriage to help fill her emptiness. She goes brilliantly from church mom, to a sultry deviant that does her best to remain emotionless during her affair, and then afterwards, maintains a proper Christian personae. The cinematography is pristine, the sound is perfect and the music selection was not only noteworthy, but also comically used during the shows run.

THE BAD - After studying up on the actual events of the true events behind the series, the production did very little to maintain integrity with several details on how the people [portrayed by the actors] actually looked, perhaps intentionally distancing itself from those little actual events of the time[?]. There is honestly very little to complain about this series, with the exception of a few little nit-pickings about 80's methodology in terminology that I won't post here.

POST MORTEM - This is a well developed series that only uses the "based on" prescription of the actual events, but I feel that it’s an honest and best telling of the actual events. There is another mini-series produced by HULU in 2022 called CANDY, starring Jessica Biel as Candy Montgomery, that overs some detail with supporting and backing characters that were not presented in Love & Death, which would have explained and developed supporting characters in an all new light and established that a special psychosis was happening in the town. However, I was not impressed with Hulu's production of the true story and the final production seemed rushed and lacked pivotal details in the overall presentation of the mini-series. I suggest that viewers watch HBO Max's version of the true events to get more of a psychological treatment to the development of the real Candy Montgomery.  

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️[4 of 5 Stars]

EVERY GREAT WRITER HAS A BAD BEGINNING, TAYLOR SHERIDAN WAS NO EXEPTION

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - WIND RIVER - Amazon Prime - [2017] - Written and Directed by Taylor Sheridan. Starring Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olson, Jon Bernthal, Graham Greene, and Kelsey Asbille. This movie was billed as an answer to the countless numbers of Indigenous Native American women that are reported missing every year in staggering numbers and mysterious circumstances. This was a planned dramatic feature film with a message to open up the investigations to the many missing women who are still missing to this day. If produced right, this movie seemed like it could make make waves in the history, and now urban legend, of why females are missing in the western regions of the United States.

With the recent successes of all of the current writings created by Taylor Sheridan, I decided to do an in-depth look into his career as a writer and filmmaker. First, I was surprised to learn that Sheridan was a film director and that he had an $11 Million film under his belt with a heavy star studded cast. Even though this film had a tremendously dramatic trailer, the film was anything but dramatic and I'm surprised that Sheridan was able to bounce back from the obvious failure of this film. I have to admit, that after watching all of the recent works written by Sheridan already released through streaming services, I was not completely impressed by this film. I truly expected a far better production and message from this film.

THE GOOD - I mentioned that there's a big lineup of infamous actors in this feature film; the talented Elizabeth Olson from the recent fame of "Wanda Vision," Jeremy Renner from the MCU's "Avengers," and the rugged Jon Bernthal from "The Punisher." There's a slight glimpse of the mountainous beauty and vast landscapes of Utah and Wyoming. The film won an award from the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, but I'm not sure why.

THE BAD - Where dramatic films are concerned, this film drags on and on with sketchy pacing and lackluster cinematography. Most of the actors seem to just be on set to earn a check and put no other energy in performing their roles which makes for a lack luster presentation in the final product of the film. The screenplay and editing of the film are almost horrific, giving an almost amateur pacing to the film and not giving a solid development of worry for the story to make its point. The explanation why the FBI sent an agent to help with the investigation of a body being found on Indian territory was very dry and Olson's part of the film feels a little far fetched. Sheridan tries to develop tension in the film, but his limited skill in directing scenes truly makes RIVER seem like a wasted effort in telling a significant story that needs explaining.

POST MORTEM - This film would have better served as a mini-series or maybe a full series production on a streaming service. Furthermore, the opening credits billed this film was a tiny, little look into the disappearance into local women in the Native American culture, but there was no tie to the actual long list of names that have been abruptly removed from the local communities. Sheridan was smart to leave the directing of his scripted creations to the professionals. His other series work wouldn't have been as successful as films and his writings are proving to work on longer running productions. WIND RIVER might have been the awakening that Sheridan needed to focus more on his writing.

⭐️⭐️💫[2.5 of 5 Stars]