Mr. Movie: In his last movie, Brian Dennehy shines in “Driveways”

Driveways

Brian Dennehy is cast as Del. He’s a widower living in a small town in New York. Del’s life consists of eating alone and playing bingo with his pals at the local veteran’s club. He’s bored and life doesn’t have much meaning.

Then Asian-Americans Kathy and her son Cody show up next door. Kathy’s hoarder sister died and she’s there to clean up the mess. If you’ve seen hoarder TV shows, or know anything about hoarders, then you know it takes close to forever to clean up and sterilize a home.

Bored with not much to do while his mom is cleaning things up, Cody strikes up a friendship with Del. His mom is grateful for the distraction and Del and Cody are grateful for something to do.

The drive to see “Driveways” has a lot to do with it being Dennehy’s last movie. His performance — as always — is exceptional. This is one of the reasons the movie’s producers have been pushing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science and its voters to nominate Dennehy for a best supporting actor Oscar for his performance.

It’s a righteous push. I didn’t see anything by anybody in that category in 2020 that is much better.

“Driveways” is also a beautiful little movie. It is crafted much like a short story. The movie has substance and depth but it’s also short, compact and has very little wasted space or time.

Credit director, Andrew Ahn for his skilled storytelling.

Big movies get sequels. Sometimes as many as three. Small movies do not. Ahn’s movie — based on a screenplay by Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen — is one of those that makes you want to know more about what happened to the characters once the credits roll.

“Driveways” won’t get a sequel — obviously — but this is the kind of movie I always hate to see end.

There are moments in the film — a beautifully read poem by Jerry Alder and Dennehy’s final monologue among them — that make this film special. So is Ahn’s use of music that give the film a unique soul.

In the end, the main attraction is Dennehy. His career covers decades. Dennehy appeared in over 180 films and at 6’3”, Dennehy was an imposing figure. Imposing is one thing — as we all remember from John Wayne — great acting is another.

Dennehy could act. He won a Golden Globe for his work as Willy Loman in the TV version of “Death of a Salesman” in 2000, and has been nominated for Primetime Emmys.

His performance is not the only reason to see “Driveways.” The work of Lucas Jaye who plays Cody and Hong Chau as his mother, Kathy, are exceptional as is the work of other minor players in Ahn’s movie.

Please don’t see the movie just for Dennehy. This is a really nice little film that’s been out awhile and as we move closer to the awards season, it is just now getting more notice.

Deserved notice.

▪ Rated PG-13 for mature themes and some language. It’s streaming on Showtime and can be seen on view on demand formats.

▪ Rating: 4 out of 5

Relic

There have been bunches of movies where this demon or that possesses someone for evil. It’s a common horror movie thread. Once in awhile a producer will find an original angle for the genre.

Key words: once in awhile.

“Relic” isn’t in that category. Not even close. While it does have some originality in the concept, the execution is horrible. Horrifyingly horrible. That’s the true horror of a movie like “Relic.” An old lady disappears. Her daughter and granddaughter show up and try to figure out what happened to her. A few days later, and out of the blue, the woman returns home. She’s bruised and hungry but no worse for wear. However, no matter how much she’s pressed, the lady will not say much about her experience.

Then — and no surprise to fans of horror films — strange things begin to happen.

You’re already yawning and a lot of you have seen so many films like this that you could almost write the script yourself. Noises happen in the night. Rooms are entered but once you do, finding a door to get out becomes impossible. The characters have no idea how to use a light switch and often walk through the house in the dark.

That’s one of my favorite horror movie “oh-come-on-now” moments. If you hear something or see strange movements in the house, you turn on the light. Duh. Horror movie victims just can’t seem to get around to that, or to at least grabbing a flashlight.

It’s just one of a bazillion problems with “Relic.”

The movie’s trio of actresses — Emily Mortimer (“Mary Poppins Returns, The Pink Panther” redo), Bella Heathcote (“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”) and Robyn Nevin — give it their all but the script and concept given to them by director Natalie Erika James and her co-writer, Christian White just can’t get you anywhere remotely interesting.

It’s old, dusty and — as Webster defines relics — a remnant left after decay. So, in the end, “Relic,” itself, is a relic. And not a good one.

▪ Rated R for language, mature themes and violence. It’s streaming on a number of streaming sites.

▪ Rating: 1 out of 5

This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 9:51 PM with the headline "Mr. Movie: In his last movie, Brian Dennehy shines in “Driveways”."