The best faith-based films have dirt under their fingernails.

It’s one thing to praise Jesus and the power of God. It’s another to acknowledge the bumps and bruises along the spiritual way.

It’s why “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot” is a winner from start to finish. The true story of a small Texas town that opened its arms to vulnerable children isn’t here to sugarcoat reality.

Nor does the saga downplay the Christian roots embedded in the tale. Those elements are inextricably tied together.

The story opens in 1996, centering on Bishop W.C. Martin (Demetrius Grosse) and First Lady Donna Martin (Nika King) of Possum Trot, Texas.

Donna’s saintly mother, who reared 18 children, passes early in the film. That leaves the grieving daughter to reconsider her modest brood. Can’t they summon her late mother’s spirit and give a home to more children?

She starts digging into the adoption process and finds a trove of troubled foster children. Let’s start there, she says to herself.

Bishop isn’t convinced.

His reservations power the film’s early sequences. How often do you see a couple fight over the prospect of foster children and, later, the husband attempts to seduce his wife with Bible verses?

This isn’t your average faith-based drama.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Donna teams with a pragmatic social worker (a solid Elizabeth Mitchell) to adopt two foster children. That’s only the beginning.

Bishop leans on his charismatic sermons to inspire other families to open their homes and hearts. It won’t be easy. The flock stumbles under the pressure of adding troubled kids to their homes. Traumatized kids act out, early and often.

Their respective finances take a hit, too.

Can the Martins lead the way? Or will their newest foster child Terri (Dianna Babnicova), a girl who thinks she’s a cat, prove love can’t actually conquer all?

Grosse and King are so marvelous, both separately and together, you’ll wish there was an acting honor for dual performances. Grosse’s pulpit work is first rate, but it’s how he combines a loving spirit with masculinity that sells the character.

King’s First Lady has enough love for all of her East Texas town, but she’s no saint. Her relatable meltdowns flash her emotional limits.

A lesser screenplay might deify the duo. Not “Sound of Hope.”

At one point Mitchell’s social worker cops to her own limitations. When pressed about temporarily caring for two foster kids she quips, “I’d take them home with me, but I have drinking to do.”

Dirt. Fingernails.

The younger performers give similarly sharp turns, particularly Babnicova. Poor Terri reverts to a feline persona when emotionally cornered. The film doesn’t delve deeply into that tic, all for the better. What’s more measured and worthwhile is the loss of trust Terri has for everyone in her orbit.

“Sound of Hope” gently details what these foster children have endured, from horrifying scars to wounds that hint at lifelong trauma.

Cardboard characters are at a minimum. Even a well-heeled pastor is given a modicum of grace.

Much of “Sound of Hope” is set in church, and those scenes hum with authenticity and reverence. Grosse deserves much of the credit, but the creative team behind “Sound of Hope” respects the cultural rhythms in play.

The film preaches but somehow isn’t preachy.

Audiences will come away with a fresh appreciation for foster families and the need to reach beyond one’s comfort zone. And, chances are, they’ll need an electrolyte boost after the emotional end credits.

The film’s final scenes and real-world updates are brutal to the tear ducts.

HiT or Miss: “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot” will leave your spine stiffened and eyes glistening.

The post ‘Sound of Hope’ – Bring a Kleenex Box (Maybe Two) appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

Mark Molloy’s “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” is the long-rumored, decades-belated sequel to the film that put Eddie Murphy on top during the Reagan administration. It’s also the first one that’s really good.

Yes, you read that right. It took 40 years, but someone finally made a solid follow-up to “Beverly Hills Cop” (1984), and the reason this one sticks (and the hit-and-miss follow-ups that preceded it didn’t) is that it understands the character of Axel Foley and is willing to explore him.

Murphy is back as Foley, a police officer still living in Detroit, a local legend for the cases he cracked and the laws he broke along the way. Foley’s commanding officer, played by Paul Reiser, asks him if it’s time to retire, or if Foley needs the action on the streets more than it actually needs him.

It’s a valid question.

Meanwhile, Foley’s estranged daughter, Jane (Taylour Paige) is an attorney who works in Beverly Hills, as far away from her father as she can manage. A case involving family friend and cop Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) leads Jane into incredible danger and results in Billy disappearing with a vital piece of evidence at stake.

Axel returns to Beverly Hills, where another cop, Det. Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) eventually helps him, but not before he reminds Foley of his infamous past.

The plot is both overly complicated and predictable. Yet, the dynamics between old friends and the father trying to reconnect the broken bond with his daughter are as important here as the sleuthing going on. There’s also a lot of action, more than I expected, in fact- the said-to-be $150 million price tag is no joke, as it appears that, if this is the last time we’re seeing this character, then Murphy and mega producer Jerry Bruckheimer want to go out with a bang.

RELATED: WHY ‘BEVERLY HILLS COP’ IS THE PERFECT ’80s MOVIE

“Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” survives an iffy opening sequence, which offers some auto smash-ups and the first of many nods to the franchise (both “The Heat is On” and “Shakedown” are featured early) but doesn’t seem to be above the laid-back silliness of “Beverly Hills Cop III” (1994).

Once this becomes an ensemble piece, we not only harken back to what made the first one so great, but the sharp casting choices sell it.

Murphy is in good form, funny and enthusiastic but willing to play into Foley’s flaws; he’s aided by Paige, the standout from “Zola” (2020) whose unsentimental, no-nonsense take on what could be the film’s most maudlin character is a nice surprise.

So is Levitt, terrific and playful in what could have been just another sidekick. Once we get a look at Kevin Bacon playing Captain Grant, we have an obvious idea who the villain is, but Bacon plays him in shades that suggest a complex, compromised social climber (Foley notes his shoes as a giveaway) and not a mustache-twirling heavy.

It’s fun to see Reinhold and Bronson Pinchot again (though it’s even more forced here than it was in “Beverly Hills Cop III” how Serge is plugged into the story) but the biggest pleasure is the dramatic heft John Ashton still gives as Taggart, filling in for his movie mentor Ronny Cox.

The cast makes this such a pleasure, I didn’t mind that, for all the wild action and good laughs, this is a dialogue-heavy character study as much as it is a legacy sequel (in fact, it’s more satisfying as the former than the latter).

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Molloy makes an impressive directorial debut after helming a slew of standout commercials. It’s interesting to look at the four “Beverly Hills Cop” films and note how, for the commercial and of-their-time qualities they have, each has a very different style and approach to how the character is presented.

The 1984 original wasn’t just a blockbuster but it’s still one of the best films of its year. Director Martin Brest, a few years away from following it up with “Midnight Run” (1988) and “Scent of a Woman” (1993), made the first installment tough and straight forward. Murphy’s electric performance was not just a series of bang-on funny bits but a rich contrast between Foley’s down-to-earth manner and the materialistic world he was suddenly immersed in.

Yes, the soundtrack is iconic, and the film is endlessly quotable but there isn’t a bad scene in it. On the other hand, the first sequel “Beverly Hills Cop II” (1987) was helmed by Tony Scott, looking and feeling like Scott and his mega-producers (Bruckheimer and the late Don Simpson) had just stepped off the set of their “Top Gun” (1986) and placed Foley into that world.

“Beverly Hills Cop II” can be exciting, and Murphy has some choice moments but it’s a sour, cold film, as Scott’s mega-slick imagery and another knockout soundtrack can’t overcome a story that isn’t interesting and villains that are hard to care about.

Scott took Brest’s scrappy original and made it an MTV video, complete with Murphy as Foley no longer vulnerable but, like the man playing him, a bonafide superstar.

John Landis’ “Beverly Hills Cop III” arrived with both the star and director in need of a hit and, despite the foolproof premise (its “Die Hard” in Disneyland!), the film mostly misses. The third installment has an excellent opener, showing us Foley on a case in Detroit that goes south and results in the only father figure in his life being murdered.

For a while, the movie defies its bad reputation, until the premise is forced (why must Foley always have to fly over to Beverly Hills, again?) and the amusement park sequences misfire. In addition to a song soundtrack and score that don’t always work, “Beverly Hills Cop III”, despite the R-rating and ample profanity, oddly feels like it’s aiming to be the more mainstream, watered-down alternative to the first two.

Landis and Murphy have made good movies before (their 1988 “Coming to America” deserves the ongoing adoration) but the third “Cop” is goofy and, bizarrely, feels like a Disney movie instead of a supposed send up of the Disney company.

I’m happy to report my fear that the fourth “Beverly Hills Cop” would be another comedy sequel debacle like “Anchorman 2” (2013), “Dumb and Dumber To” (2014) or “Zoolander 2” (2016) is unrealized. There are flaws, like how the screenplay by Will Beall, Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten is involving but has no real surprises.

Still, of the many legacy sequels popping up on how a fondly remembered character is now in the latter years of life and needs to consider their mortality, it’s stronger than expected.

Also, it is nothing like the debacle that was “Coming 2 America” (2021) or a close-but-not-quite disappointment like “Another 48 HRS.” (1990). I’m a lifelong Murphy fan (yes, I even like “Harlem Nights”) and am happy to report that he gives this fourth and hopefully last (might as well walk away on a strong note!) entry as Axel Foley the comic and dramatic heft it needed.

Paramount Pictures was once Murphy’s creative homebase but, if this and the great “Dolemite is My Name” (2019) are any indication, then Netflix is working out for Murphy as much as Beverly Hills has overall for Axel Foley.

Three stars

The post ‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ Does the (Near) Impossible appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.

Director Ti West and Mia Goth proved the perfect horror movie combo with “X” and “Pearl.”

West’s retro vision wouldn’t work without someone as committed as Goth in front of the camera. She proved that in the first two films of his genre trilogy, with “Pearl” giving Goth the tour de force platform actresses crave.

And she crushed it.

Yet “MaXXXine,” the third and presumably final film in West’s series, ends the saga on a lackluster note. It’s alternately preachy and gross, the latter coming without the tension to make the gore worthwhile.

For every good scene there’s a clunker, turning this ’80s flashback into a frustrating affair.

Maxine Minx (Goth) is ready for her closeup. No, not another porn shoot but a bonafide movie. OK, it’s a cheap horror sequel, but the film’s director (Elizabeth Debecki) wants to turn a “B-movie” into something better.

The film in question is “The Puritan 2,” and it’s already got Moral Majority types picketing on-set. Is West commenting on Cancel Culture via its previous, less powerful incarnation?

Maxine doesn’t care. She’s finally on the road to stardom, but two sizable threats stand in her way. The Night Stalker is murdering beautiful young women in the greater Hollywood area, and Goth could be a target. She’s also being harassed by a sleazy private detective (Kevin Bacon, stealing the movie) who knows what went down in “X.”

“MaXXXine” has it all – ’80s accouterments, slasher kills, social commentary and a crisp cast. Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Monaghan play detectives who think Maxine is connected to the recent slayings.

West recreates seedy, Reagan-era L.A. with all the attention to detail you need.

So where’s the problem?

Let’s start with Maxine. She’s never been less relatable or compelling. Yes, she’s a damaged soul hell bent on fame, but in “X” those qualities proved problematic yet endearing. Here, the script gives us little reason to rally behind her inner drive.

When she shows up late on set and threatens to lose the gig her face is passive, almost resigned to what happens next.

Huh?

Goth’s character can fight back with the best of ’em, but those sequences feel like 2024 empowerment rants more than organic rage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cannavale and Monaghan offer another anachronistic blind spot. His toxic masculinity shtick isn’t working, and she repeatedly calls him out on it in ways that feel … wait for it … woke. West is a better screenwriter than that, even on a bad day.

Debecki’s director also sounds like a thoroughly 2024 character. Her chats with Maxine address gender inequalities from a modern-day lens. Yes, the era routinely exploited women, a scenario better depicted by what happens at the end of Maxine’s big audition.

She’s asked to take off her top in such a nonchalant way that it speaks volumes.

Show, don’t tell!

The various storylines don’t bring enough grit to the story. The screws should be tightening around Maxine’s best chance at fame, but there’s little sense of urgency.

Yet there’s always another brisk supporting character to right the genre ship. Giancarlo Esposito plays Maxine’s lawyer under a silly wig, and his solutions prove gritty and great. Bacon’s escalating tactics deliver some bleak humor, and the actor knows precisely how to modulate his threat level.

And there’s something satisfying about an industry that both rejects porn as a viable path yet every other person recognizes Maxine from her “body” of work.

Again, very smart.

The third act ties the trilogy together while echoing its weakest themes. We’ll say no more, but know it’s the least subversive path West and co. could have taken.

Sigh. Our heroine deserves better. So does a genre series with two very good parts.

HiT or Miss: “MaXXXine” puts a bloody bow on Ti West’s horror trilogy, but it remains the weakest of the three films.

The post Why ‘MaXXXine’ Lives Down to Its Seedy Roots appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.