In reflecting on this movie, I keep coming back to the phrase “well composed” and I think it fits. I’ll admit that my initial pull towards this movie was Jaeden Martell. I’ve been a fan of his work as a child actor since I first saw him in the film “St. Vincent” with Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy. He was very compelling as an actor at a very early age. The on screen chemistry he had with his adult co-stars was phenomenal and he really pulled out a fantastic performance. Ever since then I’ve really tried to keep an eye on projects he is involved in. I even enjoyed him in “The Book of Henry” which was a smaller budget movie by Colin Trevorrow that was largely panned. The movie may not have done great things but I still maintain that Martell was a force in that movie. He’s also had success in the “IT” remake and a small role in the Rian Johnson murder mystery “Knives Out”. In really everything I’ve seen Martell in I’ve enjoyed. So when I saw this Stephen King story brought to life on Netflix, it was easy to add to the list.
I’m not one that’s just all in immediately for a Stephen King story, though. I feel like I should note that. I have enjoyed a number of his vehicles. But at the same time I have to notate that directors and screenwriters take his original vision and bring it to life. I know King did not see eye to eye with Kubrick on how The Shining went but I love the film. It does not cause me to seek out the book. I’m satisfied with the finished product. And while I know the framework of the story belongs to King, the originality of the overall film is perhaps more a product of Kubrick’s mind than King’s. And there are often taboo elements of King stories that are left out of finished products. So being a fan of Stephen King films does not always translate to directly being a fan of Stephen King the author. That’s not to say that I don’t appreciate his work. I do in many cases. I suppose I’m just preemptively clearing the air that I’m not a standard King sycophant who automatically adores his output in whatever form. However, after viewing this movie I quite appreciate the elements he mixed together in the story.
As I’ve already labored enough over my enjoyment of Jaeden Martell’s ability, I’ll jump straight into the story. There’s a number of notes about the story that I quite enjoyed. While this film is billed as a horror film on Netflix platform, it’s considerably more thoughtful in how the story is comprised and executed. The characters are complex but reasonable in how they are assembled. They also intermingle well and thus the casting is quite believable in it’s execution as well. There’s a seemingly ominous tone that the story dips into at times which helps it cling to that notion of it being a horror film, but at the same time it spends a more concerted effort in really telling a meaningful story about a father and a son grieving the loss of a wife and mother as well as the meat of the tale in Martell’s “Craig” and Donald Sutherland’s “Mr. Harrigan relationship.
Harrigan takes a liking to Craig one Sunday in the local church as Craig goes to the pulpit for a simple scripture reading. A deal is struck where Craig comes to Harrigan’s estate three times a week and reads to him. Harrigan picks out a literary work and Craig really does just sit and read to him. Time passes and the two develop a friendship. While Craig does have some other relationships in the film, he does have a bit of the loner personality as well which seems to match with Harrington. As the years go on, Craig grows and learns quite a lot, both from the classic literature that he reads to Harrington as well as the old man himself. We get nuggets here and there as to the nature of Mr. Harrington as a person. It’s not a secret that he was never well liked but there’s also nothing in the subtext of the relationship between the two that suggests Harrington is a terrible man either. His business dealings seem to be shrewd. He also seems to have sacrificed many relationships he could have had in life for the sake of his economic prowess. Harrington does not seem to regret the life he’s lived but I think he also realizes that there would have been equally enjoyable benefits to the notion he could have lived a very different life as well.
There is a quiet tension that builds in the background of this film as well. What I like about it is that it’s not overt and it’s nicely balanced between a very realistic and tangible sense of dread with a dash of supernatural that gives it an extra bit of eerie to the film. I know this movie isn’t brand new but it’s also not one that’s been around for years and years so I don’t really want to give too much of the plot away and ruin what could be a very nice element for the fan of the not so scary, scary movie. There’s not a bunch of jump scares or evil looking characters. In fact, a good portion of the movie plays out as a pretty standard drama, I’d say. But the pieces that add that little bit of flair that push it just over the line into a horror film are manageable enough for most people I’d say. This is another film that I’ve let my kids enjoy with me, at least partially. I was finishing it up when my 10 year old came home from school and I caught him up to speed on the plot. He enjoyed the twists and turns in the final act of the film. Some things I did still have to break down a bit as to what was happening. But he was able to follow along pretty easily and even explain a few things to his older brother when he got home from school a little while later. I enjoyed the fact that they were both able to get into the film so easily and enjoy the atmosphere of the world created within it so quickly. These, to me, are ingredients in a really well rounded movie that is accessible to all types of audiences.
What I didn’t like about the film was it got a little preachy at times. It’s easy to see that a driver for writing the story in general was the more recent gravitation towards technology, and more importantly cell phones. As they are a central device in the story, there are a number of times we get to circle back to this grandstanding about the evils of technology and social media. While I can agree in some of the larger brush strokes of the sentiments of certain ideas, there are hints are more deliberately leaning ideas that could easily alienate portions of the audience. While I would place some of the blame on a viewer who turned off this movie prematurely simply because of a differing of opinions, I also feel like dabbling in ideology like that only stands to create an echo chamber for people who agree with you and send anyone with an antithetical belief system headed for the menu button. Again, short sided folks who turn off a flick at the first sign of an idea they disagree with share in that blame as you can entertain a notion without subscribing to it. I just feel like you can still make some of the salient points you’d like to about the larger issues the film clearly has with some forms of technology and it’s permeation in society while not driving away a portion of your audience just because. While I didn’t find this overtly distracting, the fact that it popped up a few times was still cumbersome in my overall enjoyment.
When you boil it down, I did really enjoy this movie. The problem with a movie like this is that it’s not ever going to be available on physical medica because it’s a Netflix movie. So I can’t even really entertain the notion of buying this film outside of perhaps a bootlegger who puts this title on the internet for purchase. That being said, I think in the proper economic conditions, ie price point, I could easily see myself purchasing this movie. It’s not one I’d need to bust out regularly but I can easily see myself revisiting this film a few more times over the years. It’s a nice little story that is well told and well acted. It had to be one of Sutherlands final performances and he did not leave anything on the field as they say. So I think I have to give this movie a B overall. If I could buy it, I think I would. I know I enjoyed it and would recommend it and I’ll definitely watch it again at some point. It’s pretty tame overall and the dramatic aspects of the story are well done so even if it’s not a super intense horror flick, I think this one will give just enough of a spook to folks who still want to participate in this Halloween season. So I think that about does it for Mr. Harrigan’s Phone. Until next time, I’ll catch you on the flip side.
