WARWICK SHOWCASE

BREAKING
* * *
(Sad Series of Events Based on True Story)

Veteran Brian Brown-Easley (John Boyega) has reached his breaking point.

His marriage has ended in divorce, and he misses being with his young son.

Endless hours on the phone and at the VA has not produced the $892 disability check owed to him. He has PTSD.

Nobody will help him or even listen to his story.

Brian enters a bank with a backpack containing a bomb, threatening to blow it up if he can’t get the media to tell his story. He doesn’t even want the money. Just somebody to listen and do something about his situation.

The desperate man holds two employees hostage, trying not to frighten them (unsuccessful) and always being polite and gentle, calling them “ma’am” and saying “please” and “sorry.”

Flashbacks show the reasons for his frustration as he tries to maneuver his way through the heartless system.

He talks to the press and the police negotiator, while failing to get any response from the VA.

The movie is a burning indictment against the VA and how they treat veterans.

The police do not come across well as they overreact and plan for the “best shot.”

Things do not end well.

While the movie has its tense moments, it moves ever so slowly toward a conclusion that you see coming.

THE INVITATION
* * ½
(Another Vampire Movie)

For some strange reason, movie-goers like vampire movies.

“The Invitation” takes a while to get there, but if you have seen the trailers, you know where it is headed.

Evie meets an Englishman online and discovers he is a distant relative.

He invites her to come to a wedding at the family gathering and meet the lord of the spooky mansion.

The weird family is preparing for a wedding. Strange events occur. Things go bump in the night. Maids disappear. Don’t go in the library.

During all this chaos Evie falls in love with the lord of the mansion.

The big night arrives. Guess who the bride is!

Can she escape? Does she turn into a vampire?

At this point I really didn’t care.

NETFLIX

KLEO
* * * ½
(Stylish, slick spy flick)

With nothing worth watching on TV except AGT, I turned to a stylish, slick German spy story on Netflix.

Jella Haase plays a German Democratic Republic spy who is assigned the job of killing a businessman.

Her bosses make a scapegoat out of her, sending her to prison. Two years later, the Berlin Wall comes down and she is released.

The series follows her as she relentlessly tracks down the people in high and low places who are responsible for her imprisonment.

Kleo joins forces with a naïve policeman who is in awe of her violent behavior. They team up to uncover a deeper plot involving the cultural and political differences between the East and the West, eventually solving a major political plot.

If you don’t take this one too seriously, you can have fun watching Kleo change disguises and eliminate those who have wronged her.

Violence is often tongue-in-cheek, and the cop and the spy make a very funny pair.