WE MADE IT! ('Power', 'National Anthem', 'Ghostlight')

Day 7, the final day of the Chicago Critics Film Festival. [5/10/2024]

What a week! In total I saw 21 flicks at CCFF, only skipping out on the shorts programs, Fleischer Cartoons, Thelma, and Viggo Mortensen’s The Dead Don’t Hurt. I am exhausted, but so happy to have been given this opportunity from Starburst Magazine. Without further ado, let’s clean up the last few pictures I saw!

Power

Power is a documentary about the American police force and its foundations in law to enact violence with such loose discretion. Going back decades to interrogate how we've gotten here makes this a convincing documentary you can show to just about anyone thinking on these issues from any perspective. Whether you consider it a feature or a bug, the film is simply made to convey its points about police overrunning of the country in a straightforward, broad manner. As a feature, it makes a case (thanks Brian T for the phrase) against those who do not already agree with it because of how conventional it is.

As a bug, this documentary feels too raw to create a hugely emotional artistic statement. The number of cuts to black after some "profound" statement becomes tiresome, as does the constant showcasing of smoke-filled skies and filmmaker narration questioning his place. This is especially annoying for the audiences that have already heard and understood most of these political and historical concepts. It's certainly nice to have a "Dummies Guide" to police run amuck that skims the surface of all these concepts to create one unified piece, but Power doesn't go deep enough nor use its filmmaking in a way that most willing to see a documentary like it haven't heard before. 3/5

National Anthem

The charming cast of National Anthem helps keep a classic LGBTQ story exciting. When Dylan (Charlie Plummer) meets with a queer rodeo troupe on their ranch, he begins a road of self-discovery started by a simple crush (Eve Lindley). The film’s simplicity allows it to be made up of colorful landscapes and crafted conversations. Although the story could be a broad portrait of a rainbow of American Dreams, the characters are given specificity that keeps audiences wanting to simply hang out with the whole cast. We must shout out Mason Alexander Park as Carey, who sparkles in a potentially boring drama role so easily you don’t realize she has become the heart. You want to be their friend and understand the allure of a ranch away from the world through personality.

But the people who introduced you to yourself aren’t going to know you better than yourself forever. Dylan’s coming of age will come with some sacrifices; it won’t all be sunshine, though it is rainbows. It’s a story that can apply to all romances but gains extra power being about this oasis at the edge of America. 3.5/4

Ghostlight

A father who learns to emote through participating in theater feels like the perfect culmination of the Chicago Critics Film Festival. In 9 of the 21 programmed films I saw, a daughter could not connect with her father. Cuckoo, Handling the Undead, National Anthem, I Saw The TV Glow, Good One… the story of being misunderstood by parents is becoming more and more frequent. The final film of the festival being about a dad (Kieth Kupferer) participating in his daughter’s (Katherine Kupferer) favorite artform feels like an attempt to heal something broken. The laughing and loving crowds around me likely thought about their own dads at home… if only he’d try making a movie, painting, or doing whatever it is that I’m into as an artist, maybe he’d understand me.

There’s a lot to love in Ghostlight. The family trio’s genuine chemistry keeps the film bubbly even in serious and dark moments. The tragedy of a son’s death, of a brother’s, is large enough that this movie knows it can only start the conversation about how to deal with it. Maybe that’s why we all go to the movies. It may be unlikely that we all see the same things in them, and even more unlikely that we are suddenly transformed and can deal with parental issues, queer drama, police brutality, single mother parenting, a bag of money, or any of the other themes we see in our pictures. But if the conversation can start by the light of credits and under the musk of buttery popcorn, then movies will have done something magic. 4/5