🎊 Welcome back!
On the first day of our week dedicated to movies starring Jake Gyllenhaal, I talked about one of his few, ahem… comedic roles. So, today I’m recommending a classic Gyllenhaal "complicated man” movie.
If you missed yesterday’s recommendation, you can see it here and if you want to share the gift of movies with a friend, send them this link. Okay, here’s day 2️⃣.
Today’s recommendation: Enemy
STREAMING ON NETFLIX
What it’s about: Adam Bell (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a college professor living an unremarkable life. That is until he watches a movie and discovers one of the actors (also Jake Gyllenhaal) looks exactly like him. He becomes obsessed with learning the identity of his doppelgänger, but what he finds is even crazier than he — and us — could imagine.
Why it’s great: Enemy is a puzzle that needs — and wants — to be solved. However, director Denis Villeneuve and screenwriter Javier Gullón don’t make it easy for you, which makes the movie so fun to watch over and over again. They’re careful to give you clues and hints — some obvious and some you have to work for — that will guide you to some conclusion. But the real joy of the movie is that everyone’s conclusion will be different. Gyllenhaal gives two of his best performances as very distinct characters that share some bond. Look out for the small inflections he uses to differentiate the two. It’s masterful.
The key players:
🎬 Denis Villenueve
🖋 Javier Gullón
🎭 Jake Gyllenhaal (x2), Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon, Isabella Rossellini
The details: ⏳ 90 minutes // 🇨🇦🇪🇸 Canada & Spain // 📺 Trailer
Fun fact: Forget Marvel and their wild tactics to prevent leaks. The cast of Enemy had to sign confidentiality agreements preventing them from explaining the meaning behind the spiders in the movie to press.
Don’t have Netflix? Enemy is available to buy or rent on Prime Video, iTunes, and YouTube.
In movie news: M. Night Shyamalan is back!
🌘 Oscar-nominated writer/director and master of the plot twist M. Night Shyamalan is going to be back with not one but two movies set for release on February 26, 2021, and February 17, 2023. These projects will continue his partnership with Universal Studios after the successes of The Visit, Split, and Glass.
My take: I’m a Shyamalan apologist — although The Last Airbender is unforgivable — and his recent work has been mostly a return to form, so I’m excited about these projects. His model of self-funding is interesting, though. It could be a good way for a filmmaker to maintain creative control.
☘️ Netflix released the official poster for Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman.
My take: It’s bad.
If you like (or dislike) a recommendation, let me know by replying to this email. All feedback is good feedback.
See you tomorrow,
Karl (@karl_delo)