Eddington (#705)


I realized today that I had mis-numbered my last couple of reviews.  Sorry about that. Yesterday I saw a film I hope to forget quickly.  EDDINGTON is a small town in New Mexico in which the sherif, played by Joaquin Phoenix, an Academy Award-winning actor best known for his roles as unconventional characters (The Joker, for example), who is in a feud with the mayor and launches a campaign to replace him. Phoenix is not as unconventional as the residents in his town. They are protesting a surfeit of social, political, environmental, mental, emotional, racial and ethnic issues separately and together, and they're getting rowdy and violent about these causes, none of which likely exist in this tiny rural hamlet. There is also a rift in the community regarding the wearing of masks in the midst of the Covid outbreak. The place seems so remote from the rest of the world you wonder how anyone could have contracted Covid (at least I did). Things go from bad to worse when someone shoots and kills the mayor and his son. Is that enough of a plot to support a two hour and 5 minute film I was hoping would end a lot sooner?  Needless to say, I didn't like Eddington and hope none of the residents, including the sheriff, find their way to my little town. There was one other well-known actor in the film whom I did not recognize, but it's just as well because I don't like her either (Emma Stone). 67% of critics and 65% of audiences gave it a thumbs up.  I wonder what they were watching. If Phoenix gets another Academy Award for this one, I may give up my reviewing. For those aficionados, a promised last Downton Abbey will arrive in theaters in September. I'm looking forward to it.


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