A to Z Challenge 2020 - Films That Begin With “W”

Walk the Line (2005)
Director: James Mangold
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon
Brief Thoughts: The biopic can be a fairly formulaic genre, so it’s probably best to pick and choose the subject. This one was pretty easy for me. My dad’s a big fan of Johnny Cash, and around the time this was released he listened to Cash obsessively. I became a fan a little before this period thanks to Cash’s late career renaissance that culminated with “Hurt.” Joaquin Phoenix may not have the best possible voice for the role, but he does fine, and his versions of the songs are still quite good. Bubbly Reese Witherspoon ended up with all the awards love, and why not? It’s probably her perfect role.

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
Director: Nick Park, Steve Box
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter
Brief Thoughts: So, yeah, definitely a fan of Wallace & Gromit. The rabbits are adorable!

Watchmen (2009)
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino
Brief Thoughts: Of course I loved this. Was there really any doubt?

The Way, Way Back (2013)
Director: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
Starring: Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell
Brief Thoughts: This is a coming-of-age movie that isn’t embarrassing to admit loving. The “way, way back” is the backseat in a station wagon, which is something I definitely experienced growing up. Nat Faxon & Jim Rash are criminally underrated; this was the movie they made after The Descendants, although admittedly it featured far less George Clooney. But another perfect vehicle for Sam Rockwell! And one of many, many roles no one ever expected to see from Steve Carell, who easily has one of the most interesting careers in modern Hollywood.

We Are Marshall (2006)
Director: McG
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox
Brief Thoughts: If biopics are formulaic, then sports flicks definitely are, but they’re harder to pick through. My sister swears by, as far as football movies go, Remember the Titans, but this is mine. It’s the movie where Matthew McConaughey became a personal favorite, and it’s inexplicably the only movie that had any clue what to do with Matthew Fox.

Wind River (2017)
Director: Taylor Sheridan
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen
Brief Thoughts: Taylor Sheridan is one of the great directors working today, and also one of the great directors today who receive very little acclaim. Wind River ended up being viewed as a Jeremy Renner movie when that was no longer what anyone was looking for, possibly because everyone quickly realized that Hawkeye was never going to get his own movie. Boo to those people.

Woman Walks Ahead (2018)
Director: Susanna White
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Sam Rockwell
Brief Thoughts: You, ah, may have noticed a running theme in these mini-reviews, that I think there’s a lot of filmmaking talent that’s criminally underrated. You can bet Jessica Chastain belongs in that group. Woman Walks Ahead was...completely ignored upon release. Chastain plays a woman who conducts a series of interviews with Sitting Bull “in retirement” on the reservation. It plays a little fast and loose with history, and might seem a little preachy, but then, every western since Dances With Wolves that’s portrayed Native Americans as protagonists gets that label (and any that features them as antagonists gets buried...you really can’t win). Either way, you also get Sam Rockwell!