During the holiday/awards season, most “prestige” films aim big–big messages, big emotions, big spectacle, big casts, and especially big running times.

Based on a true story, The Impossible centers on the devastating spectacle of the 2004 tsunami, specifically on how it caught up and separated a real Spanish family vacationing in Thailand. And in doing so, it plunges headlong into questions about life and death, and about suffering, survival, and hope.

But what’s truly impressive is that despite the watery weight of all that, the film–one of this season’s best–sticks closer to a nuanced and restrained (and often gritty, terrifying, and painfully realistic) naturalism that speaks to the strength and power of love and humanity without relying on easy emotional points or spoon-fed, feel-good Meaning. And does so in under two hours.

The Impossible stars Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, and stellar young newcomer Tom Holland as an Anglicized version of the real-life family. It’s directed by The Orphanage‘s Juan Antonio Bayona and written by his Orphanage screenwriter Sergio G. Sánchez based on a story from Maria Belon, whose family actually lived through the harrowing events.

Back in October, I sat down with director J.A. Bayona during the Chicago International Film Festival to talk about The Impossible; about making a film that doesn’t exploit an actual disaster and finding that tricky balance between realism and artistic impact.

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Slight Spoiler Warning: The basic plot of The Impossible is that the family is split in half by the tsunami, both halves fearing the others are dead. The discussion below with Bayona doesn’t get specific, but it does touch on the film’s resolution, which is not a surprise if you know anything about the real family’s story or if you’ve seen any advertising for the film. Read more »

In recent years, long-time character actor John Hawkes has slowly moved from strong but low-key supporting roles in television shows like Deadwood and Eastbound and Down and indie faves like Me You and Everyone We Know into attention- (and Oscar nomination) grabbing roles like the quietly menacing Teardrop in Winter’s Bone and the, yes, the quietly menacing cult leader in Martha Marcy May Marlene.

But this winter, Hawkes is moving directly into the spotlight, starring in The Sessions, the true story of poet and journalist Mark O’Brien, a childhood polio victim who spent most of his adult life in an iron lung. Written and directed by  Ben Lewin and co-starring Helen Hunt and William H. Macy, the film follows O’Brien (who died in 1999) as he hires Cheryl (Hunt), a sex surrogate, to help him experience sexual intimacy. (O’Brien chronicled his efforts in the 1990 magazine article ”On Seeing a Sex Surrogate.”)

Hawkes’ portrayal of both O’Brien’s physical limitations (the writer had feeling but no movement below the neck) and his irascible, sometimes prickly, nature has already earned him plenty of awards talk this Oscar season. In person, however, Hawkes is, like his characters, soft-spoken and somewhat bemused and even distrustful of fame and acclimation. (In true Midwestern fashion, the friendly Minnesota-born actor seems uncomfortable with the artificial social constructs of a multi-city press tour, and yet never anything but utterly polite, kind, and accommodating.)

Last month several other film writers and I sat down last month in Chicago with John Hawkes to talk about The Sessions and his thoughts about the real Mark O’Brien. Read more »

Despite its scandalous, salacious title, the Danish film A Royal Affair is as much about the 18th-century struggle between faith-based fear and Enlightenment ideals as it is about a queen’s furtive glances during court dinners.

There is a passionate affair in the film: between the British-born Queen Caroline Mathilde of Denmark (Swedish actressAlicia Vikander) and the German doctor Johann Struensee (Danish superstar Mads Mikkelsen, best known here for Casino Royale) who is initially hired to care for Denmark’s young, mentally ill King Christian VII (terrific Danish newcomer Mikkel Boe Følsgaard).

But for writer-director Nikolaj Arcel (who co-wrote the Swedish version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) what’s more important than royal romance is Struensee’s efforts to bring Enlightenment reason and reforms to the Denmark in the early 1770s–efforts that cost him dearly, but made him a Danish historical hero.

A Royal Affair, which was co-written by Rasmus Heisterberg, was originally based on Per Olov Enquist’s 1999 novel The Visit of the Royal Physician. That book’s film rights had, however, already been optioned, so Arcel and Heisterberg ended up also using the erotic novel Prinsesse af blodet by Bodil Steensen-Leth as their narrative hook.

Either way, the resulting film, anchored by its excellent lead performances, is a rich, sumptuous, and layered story of not just the usual political mechanisms and betrayals behind the throne, but also a highly relevant look at the clash between reform-minded ideas and Dark-Ages censorship and persecution.

I sat down with Nikolaj Arcel last month during the Chicago International Film Festival, and when we weren’t both running off-topic about our feelings about past and present Speilberg films, we talked about A Royal Affair, how ideals get corrupted, and the new wave of Danish film making.

A Royal Affair opens this weekend in select theaters across the country. Read more »

A film about a young couple dealing with how much they drink, Smashed defies most of the narrative and emotional conventions you might expect when you hear “alcoholism movie.”

Smashed was written by Susan Burke and James Ponsoldt, directed by Ponsoldt, and stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World) and Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad).

And though the title suggests Animal House/Project X hi-jinks, it’s really a very nuanced, rich film about the complexity of both problem drinking and maintaining a loving marriage. But for every bit Smashed doesn’t flinch from an honest look at alcoholism and recovery, it also embraces its characters’ charming and funny attributes.

Kate (Winstead) is a devoted and talented elementary teacher who spends her evenings and weekends having a blast drinking with her husband Charlie (Paul). But when the drinking and its aftermath begin to affect her job, Kate decides to sober up with the help of a recovering co-worker (a surprisingly earnest and awkward Nick Offerman from Parks and Recreation) and her AA sponsor (The Help‘s Octavia Spencer). Unfortunately Kate’s new-found sobriety begins to unbalance her genuinely loving marriage to the still-drinking Charlie.

I sat down with Mary Elizabeth Winstead and James Ponsoldt earlier this month in Chicago to talk about Smashed, which won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance in January. As with the film itself, the interview was full of both laughter and serious discussions about alcoholism and recovery.

Smashed opens today in select theaters nationwide.

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