Disclosure Day

Brooklyn-born film obsessive Robbie Holmes delivers his 1er™
 review of Disclosure Day — Steven Spielberg's sci-fi
thriller written by David Koepp, starring Emily Blunt, Colman
Domingo, Josh O'Connor, and Colin Firth.

Spielberg has done it again. This is the best film Robbie has
seen this year — a wide-eyed, optimistic, and deeply emotional
first contact story that only Spielberg could make at this point
in his career. Emily Blunt is the heart of it. Colman Domingo,
Josh O'Connor, and Colin Firth all bring something real and
necessary to the screen.

Four and a half stars and a heart.

📝 Letterboxd Review: boxd.it/eKWoyj
▶️ Watch on YouTube: youtu.be/kehjFGSEbfI
🌐 Full episode page: geekonfilm.com/podcasts/disclosure-day

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Hey folks, welcome to my Wonder About Disclosure Day. It's about a week and a half or so since I've seen the movie. I've listened to an awful lot of podcasts, and I've thought about the movie a lot, talked about it with my wife, and I think I have my take on it finally. Um, okay, let's start with what our friends over at IMDB have this movie as. Uh, if you found out we weren't alone, if someone showed up, proved it to you, would that frighten you? So this is written by David Kepp and Steven Spielberg, and it is directed by Steven Spielberg. Uh over on Letterboxd, I have this as four and a half stars with a heart. So this is my original review. I haven't edited it. I think I'm going to stick with it. Uh so we just left the theater about an hour ago, and I'm still buzzing a bit. I think this is the best film I've seen this year, and I think it is so competently and confidently made. Spielberg is still one of the people I trust to put the camera, to put a camera in the right place and to direct action. But what he really did in this movie, he ramped up the empathy. Emily Blunt is fantastic. She is absolutely the center of this movie and is so well cast and well directed in this movie. She has a like ability and believability that I think is often overlooked or not deployed properly. Coleman Domingo and Josh O'Connor both are just walking bags of empathy. I really loved how cruel and twisted Colin Firth was in his determination to do what he thought was right. So there you go. Four and a half stars and a heart. I mean, that's pretty high for me. Uh and I did agree with Past Robbie, and this is the best film I've seen this year for lots of reasons. Um, I think uh I've had a lot of conversations online, I've listened to a lot of people's opinions, and I think this is a little bit of a Rorschach test for where you feel like we as humanity stand. Um, I hear people constantly saying that, like, you know, it's unbelievable that Josh O'Connor would be able to make it around the men in black and get to the car. Yet they are still okay with the fact that there is this alien tech that allows people to drop in. So I think this is a Spielberg issue, right? I think if you grew up on Spielberg and you grew up on the feelings and the emotions that Spielberg gave us and brought us back to in this movie, it's very much about that wide-eyed, optimistic possibility that I think is really unique to Spielberg. He makes movies that make you think someone described it as a dream that that you remember having as it's being unfolded. Like it's that familiar to you. And I I agree. I really think this movie is it's it's so great. I was moved from the moment it started. Um, I really love the way that Emily Blunt's character is used. I think that she is deployed so perfectly here. You get a little bit of the like tryhard, but also not sure where she belongs in the character of Margaret Fairchild. And, you know, we we meet her dating Wyatt Russell uh back in their apartment. And he's so perfect as Jackson as this sort of jerk like boyfriend who, you know, can't get uh can't really understand what why his girlfriend can't get her stuff together. And, you know, eventually we find out that uh he is okay if she moves and leaves the town because he's not going with her. You know, there's a lot of that that I think is really uh amazing. And I think that it's honest. I think there's so much going on in this movie that I felt like was charming. And I think, you know, their relationship felt like pretty realistic, and I think it worked for me. I could see him being the guy who's just happy playing at the bar and she's looking for more. Um, and then they you cut over to Josh O'Connor, who's playing Dr. Daniel Kellner, right? Who we opened the movie with. And the movie opens with a wrestling match um with two wrestlers, Lance Archer and Brian Cage. Yep, my wrestling showing through. Uh, I was really impressed to see the murder hawk uh in a Spielberg movie. Um, I can't believe it. But uh it opens with um Lance Archer stomping on a camera, like he's stepping on or smashing Brian Cage. And it feels an awful lot like this is Spielberg telling us, like, we're wake up. We're it's starting as like stomping you, the audience, in the face, um, and hitting us directly uh as the movie opens. And I think that's on purpose. But I also think there's some other, I've heard a lot of theories. My wife asked me the other day if Spielberg had said any of this. Um, and I think my theory is that wrestling is the greatest storytelling, right? Like we uh we know the outcomes are chosen and we still love the spectacle. And I think that's what Spielberg is trying to remind us is this is a spectacle, right? Like he in his mind believes there are aliens out there, right? Like, this is just a spectacle for him to be able to remind you of that. Um, and I think it's really well done. Uh, I think that Eve uh Hewson, who plays Jane Blankenship, uh Daniel's girlfriend, uh, has doesn't have enough to do in the relationship piece. I think she's great. I think she's believable. Everything I saw her do in this movie, I thought was really good. But I think I would bring that back to Daniel. Daniel is really underserved as a character. Um, I think I'm very, very happy with Emily Blunt's turn as Margaret, and I think it really resonates with me about she should have been the center of this movie. But there's a lot of individual relationships that are being curated throughout this movie. And I don't know that that one between Daniel and Jane is super successful as me believing they are a couple or that she would give everything up to follow him. Um I will say Coleman Domingo playing Hugo. Uh, I heard a really great uh concept that uh Hugo is actually the surrogate stand-in for Spielberg, right? We see him only at the beginning, uh, where there's a set being built in a background, and he's the guy in the chair who is orchestrating what's going on. Um, and he just says, believe it'll happen, it'll all work out, you know, to Daniel. And I just think it is so great to have someone who is so believable, likable, and empathetic in the role of Hugo, but it shines such a spotlight on why Coleman Domingo is such a special talent. And I really loved it. Uh, and then the little dips into the religious side of the house where you have Elizabeth Marble playing Sister Mora and her connection to Jane, who at one point was studying to become a nun, is really good. And it it brings together all of the things that I think Spielberg has been trying to do throughout his career. I think the thing that we we are lucky enough to have is we have directors like Scorsese, like Francis Four Coppola, like Spielberg, that all have been working well into their late 70s and early 80s. And they get a chance to like write their final story about the thing they care the most about. And that's what this feels a little bit like. This feels a bit like The Irishman, or this feels a bit like Megalopolis, you know, and I think that's pretty special. I think, you know, we so many of us were shaped by Spielberg. I know that I was. My my awakening as a young Cinephile was Jurassic Park. I read the book, I went to the movie, and I was able to have full-on conversations with my friends about what was different between the book and the movie and why and how great it was. And and it really gave me that sense of like, this is magical, right? Like, and it's not just that he created or made this story, it's the feeling that he created it with. He created characters and made them more empathetic. You know, um, in this movie, you could see where Wyatt Russell's just a jerk, but he's a jerk who's trying to take care of his girlfriend and she's leaving a hospital and he's calling back to the doctor. So even though he may not be wanting to be with her forever, he's still a relatively well-rounded person who cares about his girlfriend. And I think the going back to the the with the other nuns, uh, you get that moment where you see Jane having this deep connection to Sister Mora and how real that is, right? That I believe the relationship between Sister Mora and Jane much more than I believe the relationship between Daniel and Jane. Um, and I think it's an important part of the story that is being told here. You know, there's science and there's faith and there's creativity, and it all comes together. And I think that's what Spielberg does, right? He tells you a story from his perspective. He's probably one of the greatest that's ever done it. And he knows how to block a scene better than almost any other director. And he knows how to make action feel dynamic and exciting, but he knows how to make a conversation or a walk and talk feel like it's as much as a train crash. And I think he's special, and I feel very lucky to have seen this and gotten to see this in IMAX with my wife, and it was a big deal for us. And uh, I just feel really lucky. I stand by my four and a half stars on a heart. I stand by the fact that there are things in this movie that I didn't love, but I did love how I felt. And I cannot wait to own this in physical media. There are full on scenes I will go back and revisit. Hell, I might even rewatch the movie from the very beginning many times. But those who haven't seen it, I will luxuriate in showing it to them. Um, that's it for me. I have so much going on in my personal life. I'm really glad I took a few minutes out to try to record this. Um, I will be doing more. Uh if you've seen it on YouTube, um, we're moving and I'm building a home theater. And uh last night we watched the first thing we could watch there, uh, because it's just about done, waiting for the final speaker install. But we watched House of the Dragons season three, episode one. So my wife and I were able to experience that in our new home theater. Um keep an eye out on YouTube and probably on Instagram Reels, um, maybe even on TikTok. I will try to keep an eye, uh try to record some things to show off what that became uh from vision to execution. I'm so proud of the um I'm so lucky, but I'm so happy with where it landed. Um, so many contractors, so many companies all coming together to make something special that I've been dreaming of my whole life. So um thank you so much for listening. Uh please rate review comment. Um, if you don't find disclosure, if you don't find Geekon Film where you want it, please let me know. I'm happily at it to another service. But um thank you so much, and I look forward to talking to you soon. Probably gonna be Toy Story 5. Have a great day. Bye bye.