Other Doctor Lives: The Forgiven (2021, R)

*Premise spoilers.*

Kind of an odd movie. I can see what they were doing with it, but it didn’t really move me.

While vacationing in Morocco, David and Jo get lost in the desert trying to find a friend’s swanky party. Driving through the dark, David accidentally hits and kills Driss, a teenage boy selling fossils. They arrive at their friend’s house, and while the party continues in a somewhat uneasy fashion, Driss’s father soon appears. He entreats David to accompany him back to his home as he lays his son to rest.

In movies, I think there are important distinctions between a character being “bad,” being unlikable, and being unpleasant. Plenty of morally bad characters are the type you love to hate, and plenty of unlikable characters are still entertaining or engrossing. Unpleasant characters, however, tend to give you a bad feeling when they’re onscreen. They’re not really engaging, and you don’t necessarily root for them to be better. The overwhelming reaction they evoke is, “Ugh, this guy/girl.”

Many of the characters in The Forgiven are unpleasant. And given the setup—a bunch of rich white people have a lavish, tone-deaf party in Morocco while the body of a dead Moroccan boy sits in the garage—they’re supposed to be terrible. David goes with Driss’s father because he basically has no other option, but he has zero self-awareness about the whole thing and actually gripes, “My, what a jolly weekend this has turned out to be.” While he’s away, the other guests dance, canoodle, do drugs, and debate which western country most deserves to be hated by Muslims (all while the Moroccan servants stand at the edge of the room waiting for instructions.) And it’s just unpleasant.

Plenty of strong actors in the cast. Ralph Fiennes fully commits to playing David, a boorish, bigoted alcoholic whose reckless indifference has thrust him into a situation he never could’ve imagined being in. Jessica Chastain’s Jo berates David for his callousness and bristles at his ignorant remarks, presenting herself in contrast to her openly distasteful husband. But she’s also very selfish in her way, and as the weekend wears on, we see more of that on display. I always like seeing Saïd Taghmaoui pop up in things—here, he plays Anouar, who comes along to help Driss’s father. As the main English speaker in the group, he’s chiefly in charge of wrangling David on the journey, and he’s David’s best bet for being able to recognize his traveling companions as full, living humans. The film also features appearances from Alex Jennings, who I always liked on The Crown, and Christopher Abbott, who I recognize best from Girls.

Matt Smith plays Richard Galloway. He’s the host of the party, along with his boyfriend Dally, and he relishes the chance to show off his fancy castle in the desert. He enjoys local delicacies and quotes the Quran during his toasts, the sort of posh white guy who’s gotten a bit too comfortable in the global south. He doesn’t automatically think he knows best—he relies a lot on his servant Hamid to help him gauge the temperature of a situation, especially when the dead boy’s father arrives—but there are definitely times when he’s overly familiar and makes his servants walk an uncomfortable line.

Richard seems to be one of the westerners who’s most genuinely disturbed by Driss’s death. He’s insistent about calling the police immediately, and he uses Driss’s name while other characters call him “the boy.” At the same time, he places a significant amount of his concern on whether this fatal car accident is going to ruin his party, and after David leaves, he basically orders Jo to enjoy herself. And although he fully suspects that David was drunk when hit Driss, Richard is also perfectly confident that he’ll avoid any legal consequences, because locking up rich white men for running over poor Moroccan boys Just Isn’t Done.

Smith is effective in the role, even if it isn’t very demanding. He finds what nuance there is to explore and digs into that.

Accent Watch

RP, super posh.

Recommend?

In General – I wouldn’t. Not that I’d explicitly call it a bad movie, but I didn’t enjoy watching it.

Matt Smith – A soft maybe. Smith does a good job here.

Warnings

Violence, language (including homophobic slurs,) drinking/smoking, and thematic elements.

Joel Fry-days: Drunk History: UK: Series 1, Episode 1 – “Rob Beckett and James Acaster” (2015)

It was a deep dive on another actor, Andrew Rannells, that led me to watch Drunk History in the first place. That episode was a blast, and I went back to watch the whole series later on—so much fun! So it’s only fitting that Joel Fry is the reason I’m trying out the UK version of the show. This is his first of three episodes, and while he’s quite good in it, I’m not sold on the series yet.

As with its US counterpart, the conceit of the show is that a comedian gets blinding drunk, then tells a historical tale as well as they can. Their narration becomes the soundtrack to a reenactment, with the actors lipsyncing their drunken retelling verbatim. In this episode, we’re treated to “When Henry VIII Met Anne of Cleves,” “Queen Victoria’s Secret Sex Drive,” and “How Scotland Caught the Black Death.”

First, a couple differences from the US show. There doesn’t appear to be an actual host in this series. Each drunk comedian is talking to someone offscreen, but we never see them. Instead, a series narrator briefly introduces each story before the comedian starts telling it. I like the quick tally of how many drinks they’ve had at the start of their segments.

I already knew the bullet points on Anne of Cleves from the musical SIX, and this version of her story hits the same major beats. Told by Rob Beckett, there are some funny bits here. I like the scene where Henry VIII is talking to Oliver Cromwell about his previous failed marriages (divorced—beheaded—died): “And Cromwell’s like, ‘Henry, it’s not your fault!’ And Henry’s like, ‘Well, one of ‘em definitely was.’” I also enjoy Henry’s friend Anthony Brown not having the guts to tell Henry that Anne doesn’t look like her portrait, instead saying, “‘Henry, she’s absolutely quality, mate. You’re gonna love her.’ And then Brown fucks right off!” However, it’s gross that, while Beckett specifically references Anne’s smallpox scars as the issue with her looks, she’s played by a fat guy in a wig and 16th century gown. And I really don’t like the extended sequence of Beckett imagining Brown gagging as he tries to tell Henry about Anne.

Fortunately for me, the Black Death story is the shortest of the bunch, a quick little tag at the end of the episode. It’s narrated by James Acaster, and instead of being dramatized by a cast, his narration is accompanied by simple animation. It’s still horrifically disgusting, though, and it creeps me out. The one bit I enjoy is his description of how the plague is ravaging the English: “Chins falling off. Butts falling off. Nipples—off.”

Kerry Howard tells the Queen Victoria story, where Joel Fry plays Prince Albert to Rebecca Front’s Victoria (Front was Nicola Murray on The Thick of It, so that’s fun.) While I knew a little about Victoria and Albert, I’d never heard speculation that Albert was gay and their nine children were due in part to Victoria being “a raging nympho.” Again, this is a segment with a few fun lines and a fair amount of uncomfortable stuff. I like Howard’s description of the sexual repression of the era, saying, “Ankles were not to be seen. They were like tits.”

Mostly, though, the comedic depiction of Albert’s horror and exhaustion about Victoria’s insatiable sex drive just reminds me of the Pop Culture Detective videos on “Sexual Assault of Men Played for Laughs.” Through a modern lens, we’re able to recognize plenty of sexual violence in arranged marriages between historical monarchs and recognize that it’s effed up, so it doesn’t sit that well for me to hear Howard laughing uproariously at her own jokes when Albert is the one being forced to have sex.

Despite all that baggage and grossness, I do still like Fry’s performance as Albert. He’s a bit hampered by Howard’s narration—he’s lipsyncing her words, of course, but she does different voices for all the characters, which boxes him in more than usual to a specific portrayal of the character—but given the strength of his nonverbal acting, it doesn’t surprise me that he’d do well with this format. His facial expressions and body language are top-notch throughout, making Albert a sweet bundle of nerves who’s caught between a rock and a hard place when the queen of England announces, “I’m gonna have you.”

Here are my favorite parts:

• When one of Albert’s friends asks if he’ll know what he’s doing in the bedroom, Albert replies,  “To be honest, erm, why would I want to go near a woman? [...] It’s like a dragon down there, and I don’t want to touch that dragon.” Fry’s facial expressions are just great here!
• “‘You’re gonna be my wife—I mean, husband.’ And Albert’s like, ‘Er…!’”—Nice physicality here, with Albert nervously taking a drink while looking wide-eyed at Victoria.
• On their wedding night, I like the choice Fry makes to have Albert covering his face with both hands while Victoria is on top of him.

Not the most auspicious start to the series. The US version went on to share lots of cool lesser-known stories from history—more obscure tidbits about famous figures, badass stuff from impressive marginalized folks, etc.—so seeing an opening episode that relies on cheap cross-dressing jokes, “funny” sexual assault, and intense gross-out humor is a disappointment. Fry’s other two episodes are both from series 3, so fingers crossed that the show will be more thematically aligned with its predecessor by then.

Accent Watch

Not applicable—he’s lipsyncing someone else's narration.

Recommend?

In General – No. At this point, the humor is too mean-spirited and gross. I hope it gets better, but either way, this episode definitely bothers me.

Joel Fry – Possibly. Despite the disturbing angle the story takes, Fry’s performance is still good.

Warnings

Strong thematic elements (including jokes about nonconsensual sex,) sexual content, language, smoking/heavy drinking, references to violence, and strong gross-out humor.

Y tu Luna también: Narcos: Mexico: Season 2, Episode 8 – “Se Cayó el Sistema” (2020)

*Episode premise spoilers, which include a couple spoilers from episode 7.*

I feel like I’ve been saying, “This is a great episode for Diego Luna,” for most of this season, but it just keeps being true. It’s a strong episode all around, with some dramatic resolutions to major plots, and when you add Luna’s spectacular performance to the mix, it makes for some damn good television.

In the last episode, Walt met with Acosta and tried to convince him to inform on Félix. But Acosta, as usual, goes his own way, instead giving a tell-all interview to an American newspaper. While he prepares to weather the inevitable storm to come and Amado works to get the new planes ready in time for the monster shipment from Colombia, Félix is occupied with the presidential election. His political allies have made it clear that not just his career and wealth are contingent on their victory, but his freedom as well.

Giving the finger to both Félix and the DEA, spilling cartel dirt to the media and thinking this is a viable path to retirement, is just such an Acosta move. And I find it weirdly touching how concerned the reporter is about him. As he puts everything on the record, the reporter checks in with -+him, pointing out how dangerous this will be for him. In true Acosta fashion, the old trafficker simply says, “Next question.” (Also, it’s depressing that the DEA can’t muster even a scrap of this reporter’s human consideration toward their targets.) And afterwards, it’s interesting to watch the tension build for everyone but Acosta as they wait for the retaliation.

Amado is an interesting character. I wouldn’t say he’s loyal to Félix, because it’s not precisely loyalty. Rather, he’s very diligent. He knows where his bread is buttered, he knows where the danger is, and he’s methodical about doing what needs to be done to stay on Félix’s good side. Even though he thinks it’s nuts that Félix let the Colombians back him into accepting 70 tons of cocaine in a single shipment, he’s damned if he’s going to be the reason the gambit falls through. In any other circumstance, he’d probably be trying to get Acosta to take the target on his back more seriously, but in this episode, he’s meticulously going over each and every plane, ensuring everything is in working order.

Félix’s big plan for the election is as ingenious as it is underhanded. Basically, his idea is to create a dummy computer program to put out poll data. He knows the real votes won’t match his figures, but he knows that this election is a psychological game—if would-be Cardenas voters hear that he’s getting trounced by the PRI in the early results, they’ll get disheartened and won’t come to the polls. And when they stay home, the PRI will then get the votes they need to win outright. As Walt rather condescendingly points out in the narration, “It’s called voter suppression,” although at least he acknowledges that it’s a concept the U.S. is exceedingly familiar with.

At any rate, this is a huge swing for Félix, way out of his wheelhouse. On election day, the fake program he had built needs to stand up to scrutiny from the press, along with Cardenas and his people. Not to mention, Mr. X proved back in season 1 that he’s not exactly God’s strongest soldier when the heat is on. He will absolutely screw things up and then make it Félix’s problem.

I have to repeat, Luna is just fantastic here. Félix currently has two juggernauts breathing down his neck, the PRI and the Colombians, and he knows he can’t afford to slip up with either. Everything he holds is threatened, and his very life is on the line. He spends the whole day rubbing elbows with politicians who desperately need him but resent him for it, and he has to field multiple huge deals at once.

There’s a scene where things are really hitting the fan, and Luna plays Félix’s reaction to the crisis wonderfully. He’s not ready to be counted out, not yet—in the direst moments, he’s still frantically brainstorming—but you can all but physically see his head imploding onscreen as he grapples with the thought that he may not get out of this one. So, so good!