The Toronto International Film Festival has descended upon the city, and with hundreds of choices, picking the right film to see can be overwhelming. We’ll be bringing you recommendations every day, from major Hollywood features to compelling docs — the best from around the world. These are films that deserve to be seen, either during the festival or after.
For No Good Reason
Rating: 3.5/5
Ralph Steadman — the famed artist whose pictures complemented the words of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson — is the focus of this fascinating and fun documentary. Charlie Paul’s debut feature sees Johnny Depp, who has portrayed Thompson onscreen, visit Steadman to reflect upon his past while watching the prolific artist create new works of art.
It’s a lighthearted and curious look back at Steadman’s escapades with Thompson, which saw the two beset the Kentucky Derby and many other places. Steadman’s style is iconic, and his portfolio vast; in the film, we watch him add to his collection, beginning with an empty canvas and scattering streaks and dollops of paint to bring an image to life.
What makes this illuminating film most enjoyable is its whimsical score and the animation of Steadman’s art, of which so much is shocking, poignant and even disturbing. It’s a stylish profile of an iconic man who keeps on plugging along.
Sept. 9, TIFF Bell Lightbox 3, 7:15 p.m.
The Invisible Woman
Rating: 3/5
In his second go at directing, Ralph Fiennes brings to life another story of love and betrayal, just as he did so effectively with Coriolanus (except now it’s without blood and violence). This time he recounts and dramatizes the romantic affair between author Charles Dickens (Fiennes) and a young actress and admirer, Nelly Ternan (Felicity Jones).
Fiennes’ Dickens is a genuinely warm presence, eager to burn the candle at both ends. He is a man full of life and ideas, but when he meets a young actress who will be in his new play, his world changes instantly.
For all his vibrancy, Dickens has a bit of a dark side. He lies to his wife, then easily ignores her protestations and melancholia. It is a slow and affecting historical drama, less a passionate physical affair than an emotional and mental connection that develops between two characters. Fiennes triumphs as an excitable Dickens, and Jones inhabits an earnest young woman torn between her head and her heart.
Sept. 9, Visa Screening Room (Elgin), 6 p.m.
Sept. 10, TIFF Bell Lightbox 1, 11:45 a.m.
Blue Ruin
Rating: 4.5/5
This stark and bloody story of vengeance centers upon an unlikely sympathetic character, the modest and wayward Dwight (Macon Blair). He is a wildly-bearded vagrant, diving in dumpsters, sneaking into houses and sleeping in his very old (and very beat up) car.
The audience doesn’t quite know what happened in the past, but Dwight learns that a man is being released from prison, and he sets out to find this person and kill him.
It’s a quiet, tempered and cerebral film that shocks and startles throughout. Macon plays Dwight with a heavy heart, portraying a man clearly burdened by a past he cannot escape, and trying dearly to find solace in the present. You feel for his character, even when he’s in over his head — you just hope he can find peace.
Sept. 9, The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, 8 p.m.
Sept. 11, TIFF Bell Lightbox 1, 12 p.m.