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Review: ‘Lady and the Tramp’ is an Inoffensive Take on the Original Film

Lady and the Tramp is the latest Disney live action reboot, based on the original 1955 animated film and directed by Charlie Bean. It stars Tessa Thompson and Justin Theroux as the classic characters of Lady, an American cocker spaniel, and Tramp, a street-smart, stray schnauzer, as they embark on an adventure together. Interestingly enough, while it is now regarded as a classic, the original Lady and the Tramp wasn’t initially well received by critics.

Firstly, Lady and the Tramp is an excellent choice to remake and debut as a part of the Disney+ launch. It is a beautiful film that manages to look high budget while also looking like a mix between a TV film and a theatrical release. It’s perfect for the family couch viewing experience and the small scale adventure does not warrant a big screen adaptation. However it’s still basically the exact same story, with very few deviations from the original, but you can also say that about 90% of Disney’s live action slate. Thompson and Theroux were well cast and really work to maintain their characters’ charm and classic feel, just like in the original. Sam Elliot was also the perfect casting for Trusty, an elder Bloodhound. One new thing Tessa Thompson’s portrayal of Lady adds to to film is a small amount of spunkiness to Lady’s character, which was not present in the original. This particular change was both believable and easy to embrace.

While the filmmakers did use real dogs combined with a little CGI on their faces when they talked, every time they spoke, it just seemed too weird. During every dialogue sequence, every dog looks at whoever they’re interacting with, then away from the camera, and then back again. It is unnatural and repetitive, and gets to a point where you don’t want to see these dogs on camera anymore, let alone their awkward mouth movements whenever they speak. It would’ve been better if Disney had used CGI to capture the animals’ full body movements, especially when speaking, to avoid the unnatural and repetitive nature of the dialogue sequences. The main human protagonists of the film (Kiersey Clemons and Thomas Mann) were fine portraying Darling and Jim Dear, but they also were ultimately unimportant due to their short screen times, which makes them seem like a talking shadow that the audience only sees for a little bit before immediately forgetting.

The story is very familiar and though it’s not great when they attempt to add new styles to shake it up, it’s a good first viewing with Disney+. It doesn’t add much in the way of new and doesn’t boast anything that makes it a worthwhile watch, but if you want to take a few hours out of your day to watch some cheap entertainment, it couldn’t hurt. Being the first Disney live action not to have a theatrical release, and besides the pacing issues, animal voice-overs, and the human appearances, this film was cute, fun, and a completely inoffensive take on the original film.

2.5/5 STARS

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Review: A Solid Outing in Hearts Beat Loud

This film was seen at the 44th Seattle International Film Festival. The film is now in wide release in Seattle.

The “indie” scene is full of heart warming dramas, catchy music, and well regarded actors who take on smaller scripts with the hope of tapping into human emotion. The scene is well populated and represented, but Hearts Beat Loud is perhaps the most outward facing, indie movie so far this year. The question is can the film break free from these notions that plague the indie scene? Well no, but it is a solid outing.

The film centers around Frank Fisher (Nick Offerman) and his daughter Sam (Kiersey Clemons). While Frank struggles with his vinyl record store Sam is preparing to head off to college in the fall. In the final months of their departure, Frank tries to savor what time they have left by making music, a hobby Sam reluctantly participates in. When Frank uploads one of their collaborations to Spotify and it becomes a hit, the two come at odds as Frank pushes for Sam to pursue her talents while she wants to move on.

What is the biggest issue is how contentious the father daughter relationship can be. Frank is a man who hangs onto the past, but he never seems to over come that. Instead the film finds resolve in compromise which doesn’t lead to a gratifying arc for either Frank or Sam. As Sam is going off to college to study pre-med, Frank is losing the lasting remnant of his wife who he sees in his daughter, and he attaches himself to her to prevent that loss. The following interaction between Sam and Frank doesn’t result in anything learned, but rather a consolation as Sam accepts her father’s dependency and desire to remain the same, doing so through their collaborative music. By the end of the film, you feel as if neither father nor daughter have changed all that much.

It’s even weirder when you consider how much push back Sam has to the initial jam session, but then acceptance immediately after the song finds success. The film sets itself up for Sam to resent the success of their song because she wants to be a heart doctor, but instead she leans into it and takes it on. The conflict in the film wants to come out of a mismatch between what Sam and Frank want, but it never communicates that. It is much more concerned with how both Sam and Frank find an equal footing between themselves in a father-daughter relationship, but unfortunately that theme isn’t all that gratifying.

Hearts Beat Loud is trying to communicate the acceptance of differences between father and daughter, but ends up with an unsatisfactory result. The mild mannered indie film is harmless enough, but you won’t find much beyond the performances of Offerman and Clemons. There’s nothing that completely derails the film, but it’s also nothing to write home about either.

Score: 3/5 Stars