Although it follows a well worn template in terms of its storytelling, the investigative journalism drama She Said comfortably adds itself to the canon of films that depict the high risk profession with plenty of admiration and dramatic grace.
Zoe Kazan
Although it looked for quite some time like it would never see the light of day in Toronto area theatres, actor turned filmmaker Paul Dano’s exceptional directorial debut Wildlife, one of the best films of 2018, finally gets its proper due with a run at TIFF Bell Lightbox.
Joel and Ethan Coen’s western anthology movie The Ballad of Buster Scruggs showcases the filmmaker siblings’ love for an all but dead and dusted genre while simultaneously functioning as a casual tour throughout their entire careers.
The Big Sick could be identified on one level as a combined romantic comedy and family drama that’s just as rousing as its lower aiming, crowd pleasing counterparts, but that would be selling it short. Sure, it’s one of those “boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy doesn’t know what he had till it’s gone” narratives mixed with a story about the trepidation one feels when meeting a significant other’s parents, but there’s a rawness and freshness to The Big Sick that can’t be denied, slighted, or overlooked.
Don’t be confused this week if you hear that Zoe Kazan seems to be starring in two romantic comedies that both star Daniel Radcliffe. In Canada, there’s The F Word, and in the United States the film was released as What If, but they’re the exact same film. No matter what name you want to call it though, Kazan is one charming leading-lady.
The friend zone is a frustrating place, and sometimes it’s the last place either person wants to be. In director Michael Dowse’s latest film, The F Word, Daniel Radcliffe plays Wallace, a single guy who finds the right chemistry with Chantry, played by Zoe Kazan, only to realize that she has a very serious boyfriend.