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Deauville Festival of American Cinema · 2015

Deauville Festival of American Cinema 2015

Competition

Programme

14 films · 8 reviews

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99 Homes

Review preview for 99 Homes

The narrative is paced with the urgency of a thriller.

Richard Mowe · 4 out of 5
A man struggles to get back the home that his family was evicted from by working for the greedy real-estate broker who's the source of his frustration.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Ramin Bahrani; Writer: Ramin Bahrani, Amir Naderi, Bahareh Azimi; Stars: Andrew Garfield, Laura Dern, Michael Shannon, Tim Guinee, J.D. Evermore, Patrick Kearns, Noah Lomax, Gus Rhodes, Judd Lormand, Cullen Moss, Donna Duplantier, Tom Bui, John L. Armijo, Wayne Pére, Jamie Elliott)

Full review See: Interview with Ramin Bahani about 99 Homes

Babysitter

A dysfunctional L.A. family hires a mysterious babysitter who changes their lives.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Morgan Krantz; Writer: Morgan Krantz; Stars: Max Burkholder, Danièle Watts, Valerie Azlynn)

Cop Car

Review preview for Cop Car

This is a tense and enjoyable genre picture, and one which gets terrific central performances from all involved.

Robert Munro · 3.5 out of 5
Two 10-year-old boys steal an abandoned police car.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Jon Watts; Writer: Christopher D Ford, Jon Watts; Stars: Kevin Bacon, Shea Whigham, Camryn Manheim, James Freedson-Jackson, Hays Wellford)

Full review

Day Out Of Days

In Los Angeles, a 40-year-old actress works to make it in the cutthroat business of Hollywood while contending with ever-youthful competition.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Zoe R Cassavetes; Writer: Zoe R Cassavetes; Stars: Melanie Griffith, Vincent Kartheiser, Bellamy Young, Alessandro Nivola, Brooke Smith, Ione Skye, Eddie Izzard)

The Diary Of A Teenage Girl

Minnie Goetze is a 15-year-old aspiring comic-book artist, coming of age in the haze of the 1970s in San Francisco. Insatiably curious about the world around her, Minnie is a pretty typical teenage girl. Oh, except that she's sleeping with her mother's boyfriend.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Marielle Heller; Writer: Phoebe Gloekner, Marielle Heller; Stars: Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgård, Kristen Wiig, Christopher Meloni, Margarita Levieva, Quinn Nagle, Madeleine Waters, Austin Lyon, Miranda Bailey, Giovanni Miller, Samantha Hyde, David Fine, Natalie Stephany Aguilar, Drew Benda, Davy Clements)

Dixieland

In the hot lazy days of a Mississippi summer two star-crossed lovers, a recently released ex-con and an aspiring stripper, become trapped in a downward spiral of crime and obsessive love, as they try to ditch their small town lives.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Hank Bedford; Writer: Hank Bedford; Stars: RJ Mitte, Riley Keough, Faith Hill, Chris Zylka, Spencer Lofranco, Brad Carter, Steve Earle, Mick Foley, Corey Jantzen, Hans Marrero, Shy Pilgreen, James W. Evermore, Vincent Eugene Hatten, Sergio Figueroa, Fabian C. Moreno)

Dope

Review preview for Dope

The film has charm, due in most parts to Shameik Moore's performance

Angus Wolfe Murray · 3.5 out of 5
Self confessed teen geek from the wrong side of the tracks in Inglewood, Cal, with aspirations to go to Harvard, is compromised by a stash of drugs and threats from gangster crews.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Rick Famuyiwa; Writer: Rick Famuyiwa; Stars: Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Zoë Kravitz, Kimberly Elise, A$AP Rocky )

Full review

Emelie

Review preview for Emelie

It's likely to be most appealing to people just too young to be officially allowed to see it.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A replacement babysitter seems to have sinister intentions towards her young charges.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Michael Thelin; Writer: Richard Raymond, Harry Herbeck; Stars: Sarah Bolger, Susan Pourfar, Ryan Monolopolus, Elizabeth Jayne, Dante Hoagland, Robert Bozek, Randi Langdon, Brian Mysliwy, Daniel James, Sara Kow-Falcone, Christopher Srock, Carly Adams, Carl Bailey, Michael Joseph Dugan, Daniel James)

Full review

Green Room

Review preview for Green Room

Less psychological and more formulaic than his previous feature, this is still relentlessly entertaining.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A young punk band is trapped in a secluded venue after stumbling on a murder committed by neo-Nazis.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Jeremy Saulnier; Writer: Jeremy Saulnier; Stars: Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat, Anton Yelchin, Patrick Stewart, Mark Webber, Joe Cole)

Full review

James White

Review preview for James White

This film feels fresh and real even to those of us who have been there.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A young New Yorker struggles to take control of his reckless, self-destructive behaviour in the face of momentous family challenges.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Josh Mond; Writer: Josh Mond; Stars: Chris Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott Mescudi, Makenzie Leigh, David Call)

Full review

Krisha

When Krisha returns for a holiday gathering, the only things standing in her way are family, dogs and turkey.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Trey Edward Shults; Writer: Trey Edward Shults; Stars: Olivia Grace Applegate, Bryan Casserly, Alex Dobrenko, Chris Doubek, Billie Fairchild, Krisha Fairchild, Robyn Fairchild, Victoria Fairchild, Atheena Frizzell, Augustine Frizzell, Chase Joliet, Rose Nelson, Bill Wise)

Madame Bovary

Story of a small town doctor's wife who tries to advance her social standing through a series of affairs.

(Country: US; Year: 2014; Director: Sophie Barthes; Writer: Rose Barreneche, Sophie Barthes; Stars: Mia Wasikowska, Paul Giamatti, Ezra Miller, Rhys Ifans, Laura Carmichael, Logan Marshall-Green, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Luke Tittensor, Richard Cordery, Olivier Gourmet, Morfydd Clark)

Songs My Brothers Taught Me

Review preview for Songs My Brothers Taught Me

Zhao is in no hurry, allowing the sense of life in Pine Ridge to seep in to the bones of the film.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Life for siblings on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Chloé Zhao; Writer: Chloé Zhao; Stars: Irene Bedard, Eleonore Hendricks, Taysha Fuller, Travis Lone Hill, Dakota Brown, John Reddy, Lauren Janis, Cat Clifford, Kevin Hunter, Keanna Rowland, Jorge Dullknife, Gabby Montileaux, Derrick Janis, Allen Reddy, Jashaun St. John)

Full review

Tangerine

Review preview for Tangerine

This film is a shot of dayglo-coloured adrenaline to the vein, a vat of sugar poured into the eyes.

Owen Van Spall · 5 out of 5
A working girl tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Sean Baker; Writer: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch; Stars: Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Taylor, James Ransone, Clu Gulager, Scott Krinsky, Katja Kassin, Josh Sussman, John Gulager, Ana Foxx, Jason Stuart, Anni Weisband, Frances Green, Scott Lyons, Richie Lillard, Mickey O'Hagan, Karren Karagulian, Tess Hunt)

Full review See: Interview with Mya Taylor about Tangerine