Anora
PRAISE : Mikey Madison’s joins the list of actresses including Natasha Lyonne and Jennifer Lawrence who have given great standout performances in independent films.
The film worked for me not only because it took me on a crazy odyssey filled with believable characters, it's love letter to parts of Brooklyn but the main reason it's the sincerity of the title character Anora.
She's a stripper who does the stripper hustle to a T. She meets the running from responsibility ,extravagant spending Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn) and there's seemingly a romantic connection but among other things Vanya is not as free as he seems. The movie definitely rests on the more than capable shoulders of Madison over and over again. Her performance wasn't a revelation to me because I watched her for years on FX's
Better Things but she's definitely outstanding in her portrayal of Anora. I believed in what she wanted, needed and believed in right to the end. Pretty Woman comparisons can be made but Anora is its own thing especially when it comes to transactional trysts possibly becoming more and the raw hard truths about people and life. I spoke of the other performances and Eydelshteyn made me think of people ive crossed paths with that had the same im here to party personality. As Vanya’s Armenian handler Toros ,Karren Karagulian, is great as he airs his frustrations with Vanya and the world. As the henchmen, Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) and Igor (Yura Borisov) they do well as they lean into physical comedy and a caring vibe is definitely put out by the latter.Writer and Director Sean Baker has shaped an interesting,heartfelt drama with humor around it's edges.
One of the best movies of 2024
PROBLEMS: A couple of minor things.
Scale of 1 to 10 a 10+
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