‘A Little Prayer’ Sundance Film Review: David Strathairn & Jane Levy Lend Gravitas To Southern Family Melodrama

It’s crazy to think that boyish-looking Jonathan Tucker, known for roles in “The Virgin Suicides” (1999), “Hostage” (2005), “In the Valley of Elah” (2007), and “The Ruins” (2008), is now 40 years old. And beyond roles like “Charlie’s Angels” (2019), the perennially youthful-looking actor generally plays nice guys, introverts, and the like.

The four indelible stars of 80 for Brady — Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno and Sally Field — have a combined age of 335 years but are not the least bit inclined to act like it in this highly concocted but sassy, good-natured wish-fulfilment comedy. The film is as silly and contrived as all get-out and you can’t help feeling that, with a cast this good, it’s a shame that a script worthy of the actresses’ combined talents couldn’t have been found and put to much better use. Still, if you’re at all inclined to spend a couple of hours in the company of four ultra-talented ladies doing dopey and rambunctious things to worm their way into the Super Bowl to behold their sports hero Tom Brady in person, then this is your ticket.

The Sundance Film Festival returned to Park City after a two-year virtual hiatus and that means the in-person awards ceremony returned as well. Well, sorta.

EXCLUSIVE: The Sundance Film Festival deals keep dropping. Sony Pictures Classics has landed worldwide rights to A Little Prayer, which premiered at the Ray yesterday in the US Dramatic Competition category. The film is directed and scripted by Angus MacLachlan, who scripted Junebug.

Roger Ebert once wrote, “just because something is not done anymore doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing,” when describing Norman Jewison’s irrepressible romantic comedy “Only You.” This same sentiment can be applied to Angus MacLachlan’s latest family dramedy, “A Little Prayer,” a welcome throwback to adult-oriented movie fare of yore like “On Golden Pond,” “Fried Green Tomatoes,” or “Passion Fish.

Ira Sachs’ latest film centers on a three-way relationship between two men and a woman as they navigate their way through love, lust and heartbreak. Passages begins on a film set. Tomas (Franz Rogowski), a German man in Paris, is directing a period piece. On set, he’s a hardass, always yelling, screaming and nitpicking about small things. After shooting, he goes to the film wrap party with his husband Martin (Ben Whishaw), but he is less than enthusiastic about the event, so he leaves the forlorn Tomas alone to dance with Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos). The two head to another party, and without any indication that they even like each other, they have sex. Maybe it’s the first time he’s had sex with a woman, and he tells his husband about it as if he is supposed to be happy for him? Of course, this starts an argument between the two, which leads to Martin walking out. 

There is so much to appreciate about A.V. Rockwell’s A Thousand and One. The film chronicles the lives of native New Yorkers from 1994-2005, which was a period of transition in NYC. The atmosphere began to change, as stop and frisk was over-utilized, gentrification was displacing the people of Harlem at rapid speed, and the culture of the city gave way to sterilization. Now there are even fewer resources available, the wage gap is beyond repair and it’s unaffordable. Rockwell drew inspiration from this and created a coming-of-age story about finding an identity and chosen family.

Theater Camp is a hilarious film by first time directors Molly Gordon (Booksmart), and Nick Lieberman. This was a collaborative effort between friends as it’s written by Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Nick Lieberman, and Noah Galvin. You can tell this is a labor of love because while it’s kooky, it’s full of vulnerability and earnestness. 

The Persian Version, directed and written by Maryam Keshvarz stars Layla Mohammadi, and Niousha Noor as a mother and daughter at odds with one another.

Eileen, directed by William Oldroyd, and written by Ottessa Moshfegh, and Luke Goebel, which is based on Moshfegh’s book of the same name. The film stars Thomasin Mackenzie, Anne Hathaway, and Shea Whigham.

Written and directed by Nida Manzoor, Polite Society stars Priya Kansara (Bridgerton), Ritu Arya (Umbrella Academy) and Nimra Bucha (Disney+ Ms. Marvel). The Focus Features movie had its world premiere Friday in the Midnight section of the Sundance Film Festival.

Magazine Dreams is a drama and second feature directed by Elijah Bynum, which stars Jonathan Majors, Haley Bennett, Taylor Paige, and Harrison Page

So far nearly all the films I have been seeing for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival are based on true stories, from a teacher in Radical to a gay single father in San Francisco circa 70’s and 80’s to Michael J. Fox as himself, and now yet another iconic character gets his story told on the big screen. World Premiering at Sundance tonight is Cassandro, a wild story of the first openly gay wrestler in the ultra macho sport of Mexico’s Lucha Libre.