Movie Review

Rapid ascent of climate change activist comes to life in I Am Greta

Greta Thunberg and protesters in I Am Greta.

Photo courtesy of Hulu

Many people have tried to call attention to the climate change crisis, but few have gotten more attention — especially in recent years — than Greta Thunberg. The Swedish teenager has gone from solitary climate strikes outside of Parliament in Stockholm to being internationally known in less than two years, an ascent that would be head-spinning for any young person, much less one with such an important message.

The documentary I Am Greta chronicles her journey, detailing how she’s inspired people around the world, and how her speaking out has led to immense backlash, as well. The film, directed by Nathan Grossman, starts off with voice clips of people denying the existence or importance of climate change, foreshadowing the resistance that Thunberg will face over the course of the film.

Thunberg has Asperger syndrome, a disorder on the autism spectrum that can manifest itself in repetitive thoughts or behavior. The film doesn’t focus on this fact, but neither does it shy away from it. Thunberg freely admits that she has gotten laser-focused on different things throughout her life, although she views her current fixation as much more than just a byproduct of her condition.

The film also shows how quickly people’s lives can be changed in the social media world. An interview Thunberg gave to BBC in September 2018 was retweeted by Arnold Schwarzenegger to his more than 4 million followers, an act that essentially started her celebrity. It wasn’t long before Thunberg was speaking at a UN Climate Conference, a speech that also went viral, inspiring climate marches around the world.

She would go on to meet with French president Emmanuel Macron, Pope Francis, and other world leaders who supported her mission. However, she would also receive criticism from leaders like Russian president Vladimir Putin and U.S. president Donald Trump, who echoed refrains that she was too young to be trusted or that she lacked her own ideas.

If you’ve never seen Thunberg speak, the effect can be bracing due to the absence of pretense. Most people would warm up a crowd with some sort of introduction, but Thunberg jumps right into the meat of her argument, often harshly calling out leaders to their faces over their lack of action on climate change.

While a veneration of Thunberg and her work in general, the film does her no favors when it comes any concrete action she is proposing. If she goes into any specifics during her speeches or meetings with world leaders, that’s not reflected on screen. That unfortunately only makes it easier for her critics to call her a scold and nothing more.

What the film does succeed in doing is personalizing Thunberg. As can often be the case with viral sensations, she has been defined by her cause and not who she is in full. Grossman includes many smaller moments of Thunberg having intimate conversations with her family, goofing off, feeling overwhelmed, and more. Despite her poise when making speeches, she’s not an automaton, and these scenes emphasize her humanity.

Thunberg remarks at one point that “Humanity sees nature as a bottomless bag of candy,” a sentiment that’s difficult to dispute. The film makes clear that few significant steps have been made toward combatting climate change, noting that the world is still not on track to meet the Paris Agreement that was signed in 2016. The message of Thunberg and I Am Greta is a grim one, but one with a shred of hope, knowing there are passionate people putting in the hard work toward change.

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I Am Greta premieres exclusively on Hulu on November 13.

Movie Review

New biopic 'Jimmy' salutes Jimmy Stewart's service in World War II

KJ Apa in Jimmy

Photo courtesy of Papaian Studios

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Actor Jimmy Stewart, thanks to movies such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Shop Around the Corner, and The Philadelphia Story, had the reputation early in his career as the everyman in Hollywood, someone to whom most audiences could relate. That became even more true when Stewart entered the military during World War II, a period that is explored in the new biopic, Jimmy.

The film was co-produced with Fort Worth-based Papaian Studios and received a red-carpet premiere as part of the Lone Star Film Festival on Wednesday, November 4. Stewart had several ties to Fort Worth, which were celebrated at the event.

Stewart (KJ Apa) was riding high in 1941, coming off his first (and only) Oscar win for The Philadelphia Story. As depicted in the film, his life is upended when he receives a military draft notice as the U.S. prepares for war. He’s determined to serve, but people like studio head Louis B. Mayer (Jason Alexander) try to talk him out of it. Already an experienced pilot, he eventually joins the war in Europe, flying the B-24 bomber.

Despite his celebrity status, Stewart requests to be treated the same as any other soldier, which means flying multiple missions over enemy territory. He moves up the ranks, becoming a leader tasked with, among other things, reporting the deaths of service members to their families. He also starts a friendship that develops into a romance with Lady Julia (Kara Killmer), giving him a distraction from the horrors of war.

Directed by Aaron Burns and written by Justin Strawhand, the film has the clear goal of being a hagiography for Stewart, showing all of his good qualities and few of his bad ones. In fact, the character of Stewart is harder on himself than the actual movie is, chastising himself over the deaths of fellow soldiers that he likely could not have prevented. The filmmakers go to great lengths to show how good and well-respected Stewart was, something that may well be true, but doesn’t make for great drama.

The bulk of the film features Stewart at war, following him and others as they fly multiple missions and commiserate over the price of combat. The sequences are fine, but the film’s budget does not appear to be high, and so the CGI needed to recreate the scenes is noticeably subpar. Because Burns and Strawhand usually keep to surface-level storytelling and don’t go deep on any character besides Stewart, his time at war is engaging but slight.

The film is bookended by Stewart and Frank Capra (Max Casella) making It’s a Wonderful Life, Stewart’s first film after coming back from war. It’s here where the movie becomes most interesting as Stewart, still affected by his war experience, struggles to bring the character of George Bailey to life. The behind-the-scenes look at the film-within-the-film and the recreations of its iconic scenes are catnip for anyone who knows/loves the Christmas classic.

Apa, best known for starring as Archie on the TV show Riverdale, does extremely well as Stewart. He nails Stewart’s quavering voice and the way he ambles about plays right into the actor’s established persona. Casella and Killmer get the most play in supporting roles, and each does solid work as characters trying to understand Stewart. Alexander, Sarah Drew as Hedda Hopper, and Rob Riggle as a colonel each go a little too big in their respective parts.

Jimmy is probably best watched as an approximation of the man Stewart was in the 1940s, not as something that’s completely true to life. The film elides or stretches the truth on multiple occasions, which is par for the course in biopics. It could have used some stronger storytelling to make Stewart feel like a real person, not merely a replica of the famous actor.

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Jimmy is now playing in theaters.

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