Movie Review

Cruella goes dark and deep to expand on iconic Disney character

The "101 Dalmatians" property has been an enduring one for Walt Disney Studios, with the original 1961 film maintaining a strong presence in pop culture mostly thanks to its iconic villain, Cruella De Vil. That status was bolstered even more in the late ‘90s/early 2000s when Glenn Close starred as Cruella in two live-action movies, well before Disney’s current spate of live action remakes of their animated properties.

Now comes a fourth bite at the apple with another live-action film, Cruella, which serves as an origin story for the villain. In this version we learn that Cruella (Emma Stone) was actually named Estella as a child, with Cruella being a nickname she and her mom reference for when she gets angry and/or mean. She has an affinity for fashion design, especially admiring the work of The Baroness (Emma Thompson), a leading designer in 1960s London.

After being orphaned — yep, another Disney orphan — she is taken in by street urchins Horace (Paul Walter Hauser) and Jasper (Joel Fry). The three of them work together to scam and steal their way through the city, but Estella maintains her fashion dream. When an opportunity to work for The Baroness comes her way, she grabs on with both hands, but her ambition and secrets she discovers along the way threaten to bring out her Cruella side.

Directed by Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya), who’s not known for going the safe route in his career, the PG-13 film is far from your typical Disney movie. Gillespie, along with writers Dana Fox and Tony McNamara, has delivered a dark and moody story that, while still a lot of fun, does not seem to have an audience of children in mind at all times. The movie eschews almost all goofiness in favor of scenes that emphasize real character development, an unusual choice in a mainstream film where quick and to-the-point is typically preferred.

In fact, with the fashion focus and a tempestuous mentor/protégé relationship between The Baroness and Estella/Cruella, the film has a real The Devil Wears Prada feel to it. The conversations between those two characters have a crackle to them thanks to the performances of Stone and Thompson, who chew the scenery without ever tipping over into parody.

The general gloominess of the story at large is balanced by the film’s ‘60s setting, allowing the filmmakers to indulge in all manner of sartorial fun. While that homage to the time is welcome, they overdo it in the song department, going extremely heavy on ‘60s songs to set the mood, and often playing them longer than necessary. Their choices are also a little on the nose for the scenes the songs accompany; cutting them down and leaning more on composer/two-time Oscar nominee Nicholas Brittell would have been a good idea.

Other than the obvious — Estella fully transforming into Cruella — nothing feels preordained about the story. The characters of Horace and Jasper are used for much more than bumbling comedy, and while three mostly-CGI Dalmatians are present for much of the film, they’re mostly used as diversions from the main plot instead of being the focus themselves. Even Cruella’s journey feels more authentic than expected, as she’s given honest reasons for feeling hurt and pain instead of being a one-dimensional villain.

Stone, who’s won one Oscar and been nominated two other times, long ago proved her acting bona fides, but she is still astonishingly good in this role. Her line readings, her accent, and her movements all contribute to adding to the lasting allure of Cruella. Thompson is just as good, and if there’s any justice, she’ll be vying for an Oscar at next year’s ceremonies. Hauser and Fry have a great chemistry together, giving depth to their side characters so that they’re not just pushovers.

Everyone involved with Cruella appears to have taken great care in making sure it was higher quality than the typical Disney live-action film, and it shows. While it’s more refined than your usual movie aimed at kids, it still has lot to offer viewers of all ages.

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Cruella will open in theaters and be available on Disney+ with Premier Access on May 28.

Emma Stone in Cruella.

Emma Stone in Cruella

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios

Emma Stone in Cruella.

Movie Review

Star TV producer James L. Brooks stumbles with meandering movie Ella McCay

Emma Mackey in Ella McCay

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Emma Mackey in Ella McCay.

The impact that writer/director/producer James L. Brooks has made on Hollywood cannot be understated. The 85-year-old created The Mary Tyler Moore Show, personally won three Oscars for Terms of Endearment, and was one of the driving forces behind The Simpsons, among many other credits. Now, 15 years after his last movie, he’s back in the directing chair with Ella McCay.

The similarly-named Emma Mackey plays Ella, a 34-year-old lieutenant governor of an unnamed state in 2008 who’s on the verge of becoming governor when Governor Bill (Albert Brooks) gets picked to be a member of the president’s Cabinet. What should be a happy time is sullied by her needy husband, Ryan (Jack Lowden), her agoraphobic brother, Casey (Spike Fearn), and her perpetually-cheating father, Eddie (Woody Harrelson).

Despite the trio of men competing to bring her down, Ella remains an unapologetic optimist, an attitude bolstered by her aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis), her assistant Estelle (Julie Kavner), and her police escort, Trooper Nash (Kumail Nanjiani). The film follows her over a few days as she navigates the perils of governing, the distractions her family brings, and the expectations being thrust upon her by many different people.

Brooks, who wrote and directed the film, is all over the place with his storytelling. What at first seems to be a straightforward story about Ella and her various issues soon starts meandering into areas that, while related to Ella, don’t make the film better. Prime among them are her brother and father, who are given a relatively small amount of screentime in comparison to the importance they have in her life. This is compounded by a confounding subplot in which Casey tries to win back his girlfriend, Susan (Ayo Edebiri).

Then there’s the whole political side of the story, which never finds its focus and is stuck in the past. Though it’s never stated explicitly, Ella and Governor Bill appear to be Democrats, especially given a signature program Ella pushes to help mothers in need. But if Brooks was trying to provide an antidote to the current real world politics, he doesn’t succeed, as Ella’s full goals are never clear. He also inexplicably shows her boring her fellow lawmakers to tears, a strange trait to give the person for whom the audience is supposed to be rooting.

What saves the movie from being an all-out train wreck is the performances of Mackey and Curtis. Mackey, best known for the Netflix show Sex Education, has an assured confidence to her that keeps the character interesting and likable even when the story goes downhill. Curtis, who has tended to go over-the-top with her roles in recent years, tones it down, offering a warm place of comfort for Ella to turn to when she needs it. The two complement each other very well and are the best parts of the movie by far.

Brooks puts much more effort into his female actors, including Kavner, who, even though she serves as an unnecessary narrator, gets most of the best laugh lines in the film. Harrelson is capable of playing a great cad, but his character here isn’t fleshed out enough. Fearn is super annoying in his role, and Lowden isn’t much better, although that could be mostly due to what his character is called to do. Were it not for the always-great Brooks and Nanjiani, the movie might be devoid of good male performances.

Brooks has made many great TV shows and movies in his 60+ year career, but Ella McCay is a far cry from his best. The only positive that comes out of it is the boosting of Mackey, who proves herself capable of not only leading a film, but also elevating one that would otherwise be a slog to get through.

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Ella McCay opens in theaters on December 12.

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