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    Movie Review

    The Shape of Water creature feature mystifies and delights

    Alex Bentley
    Dec 7, 2017 | 2:53 pm
    The Shape of Water creature feature mystifies and delights
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    When dealing with writer/director Guillermo Del Toro, always expect the unexpected. The Mexican filmmaker jumps around among horror, comic book movies, allegorical dramas, and big budget action flicks, populating each with fantastical creatures that only he could dream up.

    His new film The Shape of Watertouches on multiple genres, including mystery, thriller, and romance. Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins) is a mute woman who works as a cleaning person at a top-secret government facility in 1962. She and her co-worker, Zelda (Octavia Spencer), are present when a gruff agent named Strickland (Michael Shannon) brings in a strange aquatic creature, known as Amphibian Man (Doug Jones).

    Elisa finds herself drawn to the creature, with whom she can communicate where no one else can. When the government scientists, which include Dr. Robert Hoffstetler (Michael Stuhlbarg), decide the creature would be better destroyed than studied, Elisa tries to come up with a plan to rescue it.

    Even with a relatively straightforward plot, the film as a whole defies description. It’s a period film through and through, with its Cold War themes, time-specific music, and scenes of people watching mid-20th century movies and TV shows. But Del Toro also includes incongruous profanity and nudity, sometimes out of nowhere, to remind you that you’re watching a thoroughly modern film.

    Much of the enjoyment comes in not knowing exactly what you’re going to see next. Elisa has a codependent friendship with her next-door neighbor, Giles (Richard Jenkins), who helps her in key moments. He, like other characters, zigs when you expect him to zag, resulting in a story that’s equally fascinating and confounding.

    Not everything is a winner, though. For no apparent reason, Del Toro and co-writer Vanessa Taylor delve into Giles’ work and romantic life. Likewise, they take a profoundly odd detour to glimpse Strickland’s home life. The scenes are distractions to the story as a whole, adding nothing but confusion as to why they were included.

    Thankfully, the whole thing is anchored by Hawkins’ wordless performance. The way she plays Elisa echoes her breakout, Oscar-nominated role in 2008’s Happy-Go-Lucky. Her wide-eyed, open embrace of not only the creature but life as a whole is a joy to watch, and it keeps the movie from being consumed by its weirdness.

    You may find yourself mystified by the time you get to the end of The Shape of Water, but it’s highly unlikely you’ll forget it anytime soon.

    Miranda Hawkins and Doug Jones in The Shape of Water.

    Sally Hawkins and Doug Jones in The Shape of Water
      
    Photo by Kerry Hayes, courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures
    Miranda Hawkins and Doug Jones in The Shape of Water.
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    Movie review

    Tantalizing teen comedy Summer of 69 is more nerdy than naughty

    Alex Bentley
    May 8, 2025 | 2:00 pm
    Sam Morelos and Chloe Fineman in Summer of 69
    Photo courtesy of Hulu
    Sam Morelos and Chloe Fineman in Summer of 69.

    There was a trend in the late 2010s/early 2020s of bawdy comedies featuring teenage female protagonists, including Blockers, Booksmart, and Yes, God, Yes. Those types of films seemed to go by the wayside in recent years, but they’re making a comeback with the new film Summer of 69.

    Abby (Sam Morelos) is a high school senior and video game streamer who has had a crush on her classmate Max (Matt Cornett) for her entire childhood. When she learns that Max has recently broken up with his longtime girlfriend, she’s determined to make her move. With advice from a confidant that Max likes a certain sexual position, Abby sets out to learn as much as she can about it, including hiring a stripper, Santa Monica (Chloe Fineman), to help her.

    Coincidentally, Santa Monica is facing a situation where the club at which she works, Diamond Dolls, will be closed if the owner doesn’t come up with $20,000 in a week. Abby, who comes from a well-to-do family, seems to offer the perfect solution, and so the two agree to a week of lessons for that amount. Naturally, all sorts of complications arise, as well as the two women forming an unexpected bond.

    Written and directed by Jillian Bell, with help from co-writers Jules Byrne and Liz Nico, the film is both suggestive and innocent at the same time. For all of the talk about sex and innuendo, having the nerdy and inexperienced Abby at the center of the film ensures that the story remains relatively chaste throughout. That includes scenes at the strip club, where Bell makes the choice to show almost no nudity.

    Most of the humor of the film stems from Abby’s lack of experience, highlighted by her having “sexual” fantasies about Max that never actually get to the sex part. The juxtaposition between Abby and Santa Monica is also used for laughs, although Bell and her co-writers make sure to include a side story for the dancer that makes her into a three-dimensional person.

    What ultimately makes the movie succeed is the way it keeps its characters relatable. Many high school films feel the need to play into a bunch of stereotypes, but those are kept to a minimum here. Instead, Bell upends expectations by delivering honest - sometimes to a fault for the characters - dialogue that acknowledges the spectrum of sexual realities for high schoolers, a version that differs from insatiable horniness of some other teen comedies.

    Morelos, one of the stars of Netflix’s That ‘90s Show, makes for a charming lead, someone who can convincingly take her character from awkward to confident over the course of the story. Fineman, best known for her current stint as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, complements her well, showing her comedic prowess in a number of physical scenes. A supporting cast that includes Nicole Byer, Paula Pell, Alex Moffat, and Natalie Morales keeps the energy level high.

    Despite its titillating title, Summer of 69 is much more sweet than naughty. Like most coming-of-age movies, it’s about a girl who’s trying to figure out where she fits in the world. The answers she finds aren’t always the ones she was expecting, but in the best possible way.

    ---

    Summer of 69 starts streaming on Hulu on May 9.

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