Movie Review: Anora

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

A delightful dramedy from Sean Baker. 

This film's story revolves around a young sex worker, who a young and extremely wealthy Russian immigrant hires to be his girlfriend for a week. After having an incredibly fun week together, he asks her to marry him. The two impulsively get married, yet he talks very little about his parents. From here the story takes one unexpected turn after another. There is never a moment when you can see where this film is going and when you think you do, it has a different surprise around the corner. Because of this when the movie truly gets going it becomes one heck of a fun ride that keeps one's eyes glued to the screen. This movie also benefits from a wonderful sense of humor. While the humor in the earlier scenes isn't particularly great, as the movie's plot gets truly moving it becomes laugh out loud funny. And once the laughs begin to start, they just keep coming. These laughs range from silly slapstick to explicit sex jokes to smart and clever character-based humor. Once the film reached its mid-section, the audience I saw this with was laughing at nearly every joke, something unheard of in a comedy (or even dramedy). However, the greatest charm of this film is its title character. The stripper with a hidden heart of gold has been a movie cliché since back when movies used to call them hostesses. Still this movie manages to make this character feel completely real to us. She is a completely likable and relatable character that keeps this somewhat cynical movie still so enjoyable and not meanspirited. Yet the film does not play down her flaws but puts them on full display. This however does not make her less likable but only more human. Making this character all the more human and relatable is Mikey Madison's very charismatic performance. How much we care about this character also makes it, so the emotional moments hit perfectly. The supporting characters are also delightful and some of them even turn out to be more complex than cliché characters they first seem to be. This is one of the hallmarks of director Sean Baker's films. Though the characters his movies portray may not be people one may typically look up to, but he never judges them and urges us to do the same. It is what makes his films special, and it is fully on display here. 

My main problem with this movie is that the early scenes go on too long. Thet can drag and feel repetitive at times and the humor in these scenes doesn't compare to how funny the movie will get near its midpoint. 

This is a real treat.