Movie Diary 12/18/2022

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (Dean Fleischer-Camp, 2022). A film of cuteness, a quality that perhaps does not sustain itself for 90 minutes. Still, I liked Jenny Slate’s authenticity in voicing an anxious, cheerful shell (also Isabella Rossellini as a shelly relative), and that was enough in this case.

Argentina, 1985 (Santiago Mitre, 2022). Just a coincidence, watching this film on the same day as the World Cup final. It takes a workmanlike, very old-fashioned approach to an important national moment (a civil trial for the members of the overthrown military dictatorship), and that’s okay for the purpose at hand. As the lead prosecutor, Ricardo Darin brings his seasoned presence and admirably resists the temptation to get all soppy with the material – a welcome demonstration of professionalism that serves the cause here.