Movie Review

Western drama National Anthem a coming-of-age tale for LGBTQ community

Eve Lindley and Charlie Plummer in National Anthem.

Photo courtesy of LDEntertainment

Coming-of-age films are a tried-and-true genre, as everyone can relate to the joys, heartbreaks, and difficulties that come when you’re young. What’s mostly been missing from the cinematic landscape are coming-of-age films focused on the LGBTQ community, although that has started to change in recent years. The newest addition to that segment is the affecting Western-set film, National Anthem.

Dylan (Charlie Plummer) is a 21-year-old with no big prospects. He lives at home with his mom Fiona (Robyn Lively) and younger brother Cassidy (Joey DeLeon), and earns money by picking up day jobs alongside migrant workers in New Mexico. One such job takes him to a ranch owned by Pepe (Rene Rosado), dubbed “House of Splendor,” where Dylan encounters a group of people who appear to encompass much of the LGBTQ spectrum.

He soon discovers that the ranch is a haven for the members of the group, a place they can live and be free from the worries and judgments that come in the wider world. Dylan is especially taken by Sky (Eve Lindley), who – despite being in a relationship with Pepe – openly flirts with Dylan throughout the film. Dylan finds himself enthralled by everything the ranch has to offer – community, love, sexual and gender fluidity, and more.

Directed by Luke Gilford, and written by Gilford, Kevin Best, and David Largman Murray, the film is a beautiful, hopeful, and often sensual journey for its characters. As the story is told almost entirely through the eyes of Dylan, it’s next to impossible not to be drawn to everything that he’s experiencing. Although the film doesn’t go deep into Dylan’s life struggles, it does enough for the audience to understand that the ranch is a much-needed escape for him.

As for those living at the ranch, it’s the vibe more than anything else that makes them engaging. We never get to know any of them very well, even Sky, who is almost like a fantasy for Dylan. But the comfort they feel being around like-minded people is palpable, an idea that is explored through supporting character Carrie (Mason Alexander Park). Even though whatever Dylan’s sexual identity was prior to coming to the ranch is not part of the film, it’s clear that he too highly enjoys being part of this particular group, with little acclimation needed.

The film mostly acts to counteract the heavily-masculine and heterosexual ideas that have pervaded most Western-themed films. Gilford returns multiple times to rodeos put on by the International Gay Rodeo Association, which allows the LGBTQ community to participate in or watch the sport with no fear of exclusion. There’s even a drag queen scene at which – gasp! – Dylan's brother is in the audience, acting almost like a middle finger to those who think such a thing is harmful to children.

Plummer has been a low-key star for a while now, leading indie films like Lean On Pete, Gully, and Words on Bathroom Walls. Although never the most expressive actor out there, he exudes a personality that is appealing in its understated nature. Lindley is a luminous presence in the film, from her cheerful demeanor to the way she is filmed to accentuate her physical traits. Special note should go to Park, who keeps the story grounded with their open and real performance.

National Anthem is a film with several different messages, none more important than that everyone should have a safe space to call their own. Although the story is idyllic at times, it has a magnetic charm thanks to Plummer and Lindley, and the beauty of the country in which the film takes place.

---

National Anthem is now playing in select theaters.

movies film reviews

Movie Review

Denzel Washington brings new spectacle to the Colosseum in Gladiator II

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Paul Mescal in Gladiator II.

There are some films for which making a sequel is natural, and others where a follow-up is wholly unnecessary. Gladiator, which made both tons of money and was named Best Picture at the Oscars, told an impactful stand-alone story that ended with the protagonist dead and no real loose ends. And yet because there’s always more money to be made, here we are 24 years later with Gladiator II.

The lead character this time around is Lucius (Paul Mescal), a general in a North African army who becomes a prisoner of war when the Roman army led by Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) bests him and his troops in battle. Taken back to Rome, he is put in the pool of captured men forced to fight at the Colosseum for the amusement of twin emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracella (Fred Hechinger).

Lucius is controlled by Macrinus (Denzel Washington), an ambitious schemer who bets liberally on his prized fighter and always has an eye to move up in the world. Meanwhile, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), the sister of Emperor Commodus from the first film, is now married to Marcus Acacius and has a unique connection with Lucius that is fairly obvious from the get-go.

Directed once again by Ridley Scott and written by David Scarpa, the film commits a number of sins throughout its 150-minute running time, the most blatant of which is that, aside from a few embellishments, it essentially tells the same story as the first film. Lucius, like Maximus, is a deposed military leader who’s out for revenge on the person who killed his family. Instead of one obnoxious emperor, there are now two. And the only way for Lucius to earn his freedom is to fight his way out.

Stories told in the same world can echo each other and, if done well, overcome those similarities. But Gladiator II is shockingly boring for a purported sword-and-sandals epic. Scott and his team try to introduce new elements to the fights, like a gladiator riding a rhinoceros or a ship battle inside the Colosseum (with sharks!), but most of the sequences are inert with no propulsion to them.

The action fails because none of the relationships in the film amount to much. There are stand-out characters like Macrinus and the twin emperors, but instead of creating antipathy or strong feelings of triumph or defeat, the story just kind of happens without any sense of excitement or importance. Much of that issue lies at the feet of Lucius, who simply doesn’t inspire in the same way that Russell Crowe’s Maximus did.

Mescal is a fine actor who’s done good work in more intimate roles, but he’s not up to the task of being an action star, at least not in this film. Any bombast he shows with the character feels forced, and the story doesn’t give him enough opportunities to counteract that lack. Washington, however, fills up the screen with his charisma, and it’s during his scenes that the film comes closest to being rousing. Quinn and Hechinger are a lot of fun as the twin emperors, but in the end they feel like retreads of Joaquin Phoenix from the original.

Any sequel should have a purpose that sets it apart from what came before, but Scott, Scarpa, and the rest of their team fail in that respect in Gladiator II. It’s a mostly lifeless film that delivers scenes that would be exciting if they had any kind of good story to back them up.

---

Gladiator II opens in theaters on November 22.

movies film