Mr. Movie review: Phantom Thread is a Phantom plot
Phantom Thread casts Daniel Day-Lewis as Reynolds Woodcock. The film is set in the early 1950s. Woodcock is one of Europe’s most famous dress designers and is ably assisted by his spinster sister, the cynical Cyril. She’s done by one of the film’s two scene-stealers, Leslie Manville (Mr. Turner).
The other is not Day-Lewis. It is the tall, somewhat-gangly Alma, wonderfully done by Vicky Krieps. The clumsy but charming Alma becomes his lover and the model for some of his new designs. From there, writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson drags you through his insecurities, then through hers and then back again.
Day-Lewis says this is his last movie. Maybe he should have been a little more choosy. You often don’t like the protagonists in a PTA movie and that’s by design, but at least most are interesting. Day-Lewis’ Woodcock is not.
Critics and fans look forward to Anderson’s characters and plots. When PTA (There Will Be Blood) gets it right, no one gets it right better. He does, however, have a flaw: Anderson hooks you and then takes you down a dead-end road. It often seems like — as it does here — that he doesn’t really have a satisfactory ending in mind. In this case it is a very bizarre and, ultimately unsatisfactory climax.
This one ranks as — and here’s a pun that is as bad as the movie — sew-sew.
Movie name: ‘Phantom Thread’
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps, Leslie Manville
Mr. Movie rating: 5 stars
Rated R for brief nudity and mature themes. It’s playing at Regal’s Columbia Center 8 and at Walla Walla Grand Cinemas.
5 stars to 4 1/2 stars: Must see on the big screen.
4 stars to 3 1/2 stars: Good film, see it if it’s your type of movie.
3 stars to 2 1/2 stars: Wait until it comes out on DVD.
2 stars to 1 star: Don’t bother.
0 stars: Speaks for itself.
This story was originally published January 18, 2018 at 5:46 PM with the headline "Mr. Movie review: Phantom Thread is a Phantom plot."