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“ANORA” (2024, 139 min., directed by Sean Baker)
Sean Baker makes documentaries.
Not technically, sure, but his films are so truthfully observed and authentically performed you could almost believe his characters are real people.
It doesn’t hurt that Baker is committed to making films about people often representationally relegated to the underbelly of the United States. His characters are sex workers, porn stars and trans women, impoverished kids and long-suffering single moms. Baker has dedicated his career to de-stigmatizing the marginalized, lambasting conservative dispersions while spotlighting the humanity and dignity of his subjects.
“Anora,” his latest, is no different.
“Anora” stars a fiery, fantastic Mikey Madison as its title character, Ani, an NYC stripper and private escort. Ani has a thick accent, thick skin and a businesswoman’s pragmatism. The film opens with a neon-soaked and nudity-laden montage of Ani deftly navigating her club’s patrons. She’s cooly, detachedly good at what she does, chewing gum and counting bills while men melt behind her.
However, the plot and Ani’s ability to maintain her professional distance gets complicated when she’s introduced to Ivan “Vanya” Zakharov, exuberantly played by the boyishly buoyant Russian actor Mark Eydelshteyn.
Vanya is a young Russian guy, ostensibly in NYC to study, but much more interested in the city’s clubs, ketamine and company. He takes to Ani immediately, inviting her to his mansion – he slides around on sock feet when she first arrives, a visual reference to “Risky Business,” another comedy about sexwork and the unexpected – and buying her company in charming, broken English.
Ani is bemused by Vanya and enticed by his parents’ money, which Vanya is coasting on with bratty nonchalance. After attending a party Vanya throws, Ani agrees to join him for a whirlwind week in Vegas, drinking, snorting and having lots and lots of sex.
Baker, Madison and Eydelshteyn are fearless with their unabashed dedication to the X-rated, a major part of what makes “Anora” such an accomplished A-grade film.
The week ends with Vanya proposing a green card, shotgun, Vegas wedding. After some hesitation, Ani accepts, letting her professional guard down. She offhandedly mentioned earlier in the film that she had always wanted to go to Disneyland. Here is her chance for a fairytale ending.
Of course, Ani still haggles for the minimum karats she’ll accept for her diamond ring.
At this point, there are nearly two hours left in “Anora.” Baker seduces the audience with the promise of a rollicking, risqué rollercoaster ride and then plunges into a deep descent, with a couple comic loop-de-loops on the way down.
The film is similar to the relationship between its central characters: most viewers will be fast to fall in love with it before realizing their heart is about to be broken in slow-motion. As the after “ever after” sets in, “Anora” is heart-wrenching, hilarious and hideously real.
Madison turns in a star-making performance. It wouldn’t be a shock to see her recognized at the Academy Awards; her facial expressions, physicality and sheer presence create one of the characters of the year in Ani.
Despite the sadness imbedded in the film’s DNA, “Anora” is hilarious. Madison has exceptional comedic timing, a good thing when Baker has written her such searing one-liners.
Their supporting cast, particularly the boneheaded and blatantly funny Karren Karagulian and Vache Tovmasyan as two of Vanya’s goons, provide a solid foundation for the might of Madison to pummel.
No one in the movie is a match for Ani, but Madison is the perfect fit for “Anora.”
“Anora” is difficult, thorny, funny and horny. It’s one of the best films of the year. It features an absolutely gutting finale. Madison is show stopping. The direction is flawless. The script is sharp.
In other words, it’s a total Sean Baker movie.
Rating: 5/5
“A REAL PAIN” (2024, 90 min., directed by Jesse Eisenberg)
“A Real Pain” might be the funniest film of the year. It’s also set on a Holocaust memorial tour. Somehow, these things coexist in Jesse Eisenberg’s fantastic sophomore feature.
It makes sense when you examine the two characters at the movie’s core. Eisenberg plays David, the awkward, nervy cousin of Kieran Culkin’s Benji, boisterous, unencumbered and audacious.
Despite the heaviness of the material Eisenberg tackles – the writer/director sends his characters on a journey through grief as they tour Poland towards their late grandmother’s antebellum home – he never strays into plodding territory. “A Real Pain” is a real joy to watch, bustling with energy and ideas and just barely reigning in Culkin’s explosive performance.
The film is the rare kind of movie about grief. There is little resolution, loud discussion and many humorous diversions. It feels undeniably honest effortlessly and all the more profound for it. Leaving with dry eyes would be hard, but the movie never tries to force it.
Watch for Culkin. He’s a real gem here.
Rating: 4/5
