THE WEEKEND WARRIOR Early Edition February 28, 2025

LAST BREATH, RIFF RAFF, MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE, MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM, SUPERBOYS OF MALEGAON

Well, this is the last weekend of the month, and it’s also the last week of my 50s, and I’m much sadder about the latter than I am the former. Here I was hoping to end my 50s being very wealthy, and in fact, it’s the exact opposite. I’m broke as fuck. And yet, once again, I’m offering my box office analysis as a freebie to all subscribers, sort of as my birthday present to all of you. You’re welcome. I just want this brutal cold to come to an end, because this winter has not been fun for this old man.

Unfortunately, this is also looking like another dreadful downer of a weekend with quite a bit of starpower across the new movies in wide releases, but nothing that really jumps out as something anyone might feel the need to see in theaters.

LAST BREATH (Focus Features)

Woody Harrelson and Simu Liu star in this based-on-real-life undersea thriller, directed by Alex Parkinson, who previously co–directed a documentary about the same subject with the same title back in 2018. The film follows the story of three saturation divers assigned to repair a pipeline on the bottom of the North Sea when one of the divers, Chris Lemmons (Finn Cole from “Peaky Blinders”), gets trapped underwater with only 10 minutes of oxygen remaining.

This amazing story is coming to North American theaters for the first time, and for many viewers, it will be their first knowledge of this 2012 race-against-the-clock story, since the original doc didn’t really make waves here. (Sorry!) The trailer is trying to sell this story but it’s as much about whether fans of Harrelson and Liu (from his role as Shang-Chi in the Marvel movie of the same name) will give the film a look.

Reviews for this are embargoed until Wednesday night, so if I have time to write another column this week, I’ll try to include it there – it’s very good – though I decided to review the next two wide releases now just in case I don’t have time to write more later this week.

Focus Features is opening this in 2,500 theaters on Friday with advance previews including Monday night’s Mystery Movie Monday at Regal, which could help raise interest and awareness, though this is really going to be a tough sell even with two generally popular stars. Last Breath will probably be fortunate if it can open in the $5 to $7 million this weekend, but this seems like a weekend where even the most avid of moviegoers stay home. In other words, expect this to be on Peacock by April.

I also will be interviewing Alex Parkinson for Cinema Daily US, so look for that soon.

RIFF RAFF (Roadside Attractions)

Filmmaker Dito Montiel returns with an ensemble crime-dramedy, starring Bill Murray, Jennifer Coolidge, Pete Davidson, Ed Harris, Lewis Pullman, Gabrielle Union, Miles J. Harvey, Emanuela Postacchini, and more. In the film, Pullman plays Rocco, a guy who shows up at the door of his father Vincent (Harris) with his pregnant girlfriend (Postacchini) being chased by a number of armed goons (played by Murray and Davidson) wanting to kill him.

This is the first movie to get a US theatrical release in almost ten years from the filmmaker who broke onto the scene with 2006’s A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints, as many of Montiel’s films have been mostly VOD and not reporting box office. His biggest hit to date was the 2009 MMA drama Fighting, starring Channing Tatum, which opened with $11 million and grossed $23 million domestic, but no other movie has come close.

Even with no substantial theatrical hits, Montiel is a respected enough indie filmmaker that he was able to pull together an impressive cast with Murray, Coolidge, and Davidson probably being the biggest draws, though this is one of two movies Ed Harris appears in this weekend, both of them having premiered at festivals last year. Still, if you look at the cast, there really isn’t anyone who has a proven box office history, except maybe Union, although it’s been seven years since her last theatrical leading role, and her role in this one is fairly small.

Reviews have generally been decent since the film premiered at TIFF last year, and the trailer could be entertaining enough to bring in a small audience, but Roadside Attractions is only opening this in roughly 750 theaters, so it seems like it might have a tough time opening with more than $2 million, going up against stronger returning movies in that same range.

Mini-Review: I’ve reviewed enough of Dito Montiel’s films over the years to know that his films can be an acquired taste, although he does try to mix things up in terms of genre and the size of his films. Riff Raff benefits from having a huge cast of characters and many great comedic and dramatic actors in those roles, even though it’s hard to pinpoint whether it’s fully a comedy or drama. At least Montiel is mixing it up and installing stronger comedy elements into his work, which does wonders to make this one of his more entertaining films.

The definition of an ensemble cast, Riff Raff isn’t specifically about one of the characters or another but about what is essentially a blended family that involves a criminal element. We begin by meeting Ed Harris and his daughter and grandson, played by Gabrielle Union and Miles J. Harvey,

The film’s biggest problems are that there are so many characters introduced, and Murray and Davidson, who bring the most humor to the film, only appear once in the film’s first hour. They do play a larger part as the film goes along, but there is generally an erratic tone as it bounces between that humor and the family drama going on, and it does end up getting quite seriously by the end.

Oddly, Coolidge seems to be the most out of place with her characterization, but otherwise, it’s an impressive cast, even including Michael Covino from The Climb. Even the lesser-known cast like Postacchini and Harvey have such great moments with Harris and Pullman, although Union seems to be forgotten during most of the film’s second half.

As someone who has often been mixed on Montiel’s prior output, I found Riff Raff to be quite entertaining, working far better than it should have, considering how many different characters and ideas he’s trying to pull together. But when all those ideas do come together, that’s when the film really shines.

Rating: 7/10

I should have an interview with the director over at Cinema Daily US sometime this week.

MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE (Briarcliff)

Almost a year after the movie premiered at the SXSW, Kyle Hausmann-Stokes’s drama starring Sonequa Martin-Green (“The Walking Dead”) as former soldier Merit,who returns home from Afghanistan suffering from PTSD from the loss of her best friend, the titular Zoe, played by Natalie Morales. Once back, she’s called on to watch over her Vietnam vet father (Ed Harris, him again!) suffering from early stage Alzheimer’s out at his lake house, while coming to terms with her own problems. Morgan Freeman and Gloria Reuben also star in the film as Merit’s group therapy counselor and her tough mother.

Even though this is a decent film that has racked up terrific reviews since premiering at SXSW, it also seems to be a very tough sell, which may be why it’s been delayed from its planned November release to this dead weekend in late February. The problem is that while it has those great reviews, and it has some solid names like Freeman and Harris, a movie about grief and PTSD and Alzheimer’s is not something that people will necessarily be rushing out to see. Even though it has great reviews, the odd dramedic tone of the trailer might also put people off, even though I’m a big fan of Morales from her pandemic indie, Language Lessons, from a few years back.

Briarcliff couldn’t even figure out what to do with The Apprentice, which should have been a slamdunk. Even after it got two acting Oscar nominations in a very tough race, there really hasn’t even been much effort to get it back into theaters. That’s kind of worrying for a movie like this, which is also based on a true story but not one about a well-known figure currently screwing up our country, so it’s hard to imagine this will make more than $2 million, and it probably will end up outside the top 10.

Mini-Review: This is another movie I’ve heard about for quite a while, but really didn’t know very much about it and didn’t know what to expect from the title, although I generally liked the cast of which I was familiar. That was not the case with Sonequa Martin-Green, who I wasn’t familiar with at all, maybe because I just never got into “The Walking Dead” show, despite loving the comics.

In My Dead Friend Zoe, she plays Merit, a soldier formerly stationed in Afghanistan with her best friend Zoe (Natalie Morales). You might be able to figure out what happens to the latter from the movie’s title, but this is more than just about Merit’s grief, and Zoe is always present, essentially making this the second true story movie in the past two weeks that involves an imaginary friend. (I know for a fact that there are no imaginary friends in Last Breath, though. That could have been VERY awkward.) Maybe it isn’t overtly obvious that Zoe isn’t actually there whenever Morales is cracking jokes, though it will be obvious to those who actually have read the movie’s title or watched the trailer, so not really a spoiler.

Martin-Green is a terrific dramatic actor, and she has many great moments with Harris as well as a few decent scenes with Morgan Freeman, who plays Merit’s group therapy counselor. Some might go into the film presuming this is a comedy from the title and premise, but by the end of the movie – once you learn what happened to Zoe – you understand what’s been going on with Merit, and it’s crushing. It truly destroyed me, and I was in tears, and to me, that’s the sure signs of a quality drama.

Despite its odd premise and mix of storylines, My Dead Friend Zoe ends up being a fitting tribute to military vets and quite a tearful character drama held down by four fantastic performers.

Rating: 8/10

MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM GQuuuuuuX -BEGINNING- (GKIDS)

This week’s Anime offering, which has a familiar title but the weirdest ass subitle, might not even be getting as wide a release as I once thought it might, though these days, these things are so fluid and changing, that it might end up being moderately wide anyway. This is at least getting some IMAX screenings, but probably only on Wednesday night for previews. Everyone who has read me regularly knows what a blindspot I have when it comes to Anime, to the point where I probably won’t have much to say about this one, and any predictions I make would literally be like throwing shit at a wall to see what sticks. That’s the kind of honesty you get when you’re a subscriber to my box office analysis. 🙂 I could see this breaking into the top 10 if it opens in 400 or more theaters but probably on the lower end.

Similarly, the Indian film, SUPERBOYS OF MALEGAON (Amazon MGM), will be getting a moderate release by Amazon into roughly 400 theaters this weekend ahead of its eventual streaming on Prime Video. Reema Kagti’s Hindi comedy follows an aspiring filmmaker in the small Indian town of Malegeon, as he puts together a group of friends to make a film for the entertainment of their fellow townsfolks. It’s getting a same-day release in India and the UK as well, so we’ll see how much time it has in theaters ahead of it being on streaming. Will try to review this later in the week, too.

THE BOX OFFICE CHART

Regardless of how much The Monkey drops in its second weekend, we’re not likely to see any new movies opening better than third place, and only Focus Features’ Last Breath will have enough theaters to even come close. Even the strongest of the other moderate releases (the new Gundam movie) will have a hard time getting into the top 10 with such a modest release and with plenty of other animated competition still in theaters. There’s also roughly four movies likely to end up in the $1.5 million to $2 million range.

1. Captain America: Brave New World (Marvel/Disney) - $14.5 million -47%
2. The Monkey (Neon) - $6.8 million -52%
3. Last Breath (Focus Features) - $6 million N/A
4. Paddington in Peru (Sony) - $4.5 million -31%
5. Dog Man (DreamWorks Animation/Universal) - $3.5 million -36%
6. Ne Zha 2 (CMC Pictures) - $1.7 million -45%
7. Mufasa: The Lion King (Disney) - $1.6 million -35%
8. Heart Eyes (Sony/Screen Gems) - $1.6 million -44%
9. Mobile Suit Gundam (GKIDS) - $1.5 million N/A
10. The Unbreakable Boy (Lionsgate) - $1.4 million -44%
– Riff Raff (Roadside Attractions) - $1.3 million N/A
– My Dead Friend Zoe (Briarfcliff) - $1 million N/A
– Superboys of Malegaeon (Amazon) - $850,000 N/A

I’m not sure 100% sure I’ll have time to write another column this week, but if I do, it will include my review of Last Breath, and who knows what else? Possibly Superboys of Malegaon.