DETAILS
Ride the Eagle
Stars: 4.5
Starring Jake Johnson, D'Arcy Carden, J. K. Simmons, and Susan Sarandon
Written by Jake Johnson and Trent O'Donnell
Directed by Trent O'Donnell
Unrated, but contains scenes of coarse language and substance use
Runtime: 88 minutes
Playing at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 21 at the Arden Theatre as part of Reel Mondays.
*Please visit the Arden Theatre's website to prepare yourself for COVID-19 protocols: stalbert.ca/exp/arden
Tickets can be purchased online at sapl.libcal.com/event/3647607. A season pass is $50, or you can purchase your tickets for $15 each (plus Eventbrite fees). All proceeds benefit STARFest — St. Albert Readers’ Festival.
Visit friendsofsapl.ca/reel-monday for more information. The next — and last — film called Just Mercy runs on April 4.
Contact [email protected] or visit the library's customer service desk if you need assistance with purchasing your tickets, or if you have other questions. As this is a Friends fundraiser, there will be no refunds for unused tickets. Tickets can be purchased online until just before the movie begins, but will not be available in-person at the door before the movie.
It's called a conditional inheritance, which some parents must see as the last chance they have to offer anything to their estranged children. In other words, it means you still have some work to do before you qualify to receive what you have been bequeathed. It could be easy money, or it could spell more trouble than it's worth.
When Honey (Susan Sarandon) dies, she leaves a series of detailed instructions to her son Leif (Jake Johnson). Comply, or forfeit her gorgeous cabin at Yosemite. Leif is a close-to-middle-aged pothead musician who seems to have a decent and communicative relationship with his dog Nora, and perhaps no one else. I might call him a loner stoner, but he seems likeable enough. Maybe he has trouble getting along with people in general. Part of Honey's instructions really seem to put him in the position to deal with people on her behalf, which leads him into some unique situations.
These situations are what drive the movie forward. What is Honey getting at? How well can Leif manage the challenges? And most importantly, to what does the title — Ride the Eagle — refer? It's a beautiful cabin, but to what lengths will Honey drive her son?
Johnson (who also serves as the co-writer on this decidedly low-budget project) plays Leif like Oscar Isaac's younger brother with much the same looks and sensibility, to boot. The character work is successful and, I think, achieved equally through the writing as through the acting process. We've seen him in other larger and more notable projects where he was more of a supporting player. I strongly suspect we'll see and hear more of him in an indie project like this in the future. While Eagle is blessed to have Sarandon on the marquee (and likewise with J.T. Simmons), she is really just a ghost in the background. The movie is Johnson's show, and he carries it confidently, and comedically. Any movie about a parent's death and the attempt to reconcile a lost relationship from beyond the grave must carry the existential weight of regret with it.
Perhaps that's why there is so much coarse language in the movie. Honestly, every fourth word is a four-letter word, it seems. Still, nothing detracts from what is a highly enjoyable adventure in dysfunctional family dynamics.
Okay, Nora carries a bit of the show, too. Who doesn't love a dog, especially one that serves as the faithful ear to all of Leif's one-sided self-talk?
