Movie Review: Freaky Tales

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A delightfully silly movie. 

This tribute to cheesy 80's B-movies centers around four different stories that take place in Oakland in 1987. These four stories at first seem to have little to nothing to do with each other but over the course of the film they all intersect in very clever ways. For a movie that is full of silly dumb fun, these little clever touches become unexpected and therefore even more delightful. Being a tribute to cheesy 80's B-movies, this film is over the top in all the best ways. The action scenes are so over the top and silly that I simply a blast watching them. These scenes are incredibly gory, but the gore is so over the top and cartoonish that rather than being repulsive it just adds to the fun. The humor is also often quite funny. Not every gag works but the ones that do are hilarious. I especially loved Tom Hanks' cameo here, which made me laugh out loud through the whole scene. The movie also benefits from a strong sense of atmosphere. I was born in the 1990's and have never lived in Oakland, so I can't say how true this movie's depiction of 1980's Oakland is. I can however say that the portrait of this time and place here is very engaging and gives the film a delightful feel to it. 

This movie does have its problems though. The second story was too conventional and familiar, often falling short of the other three stories. This movie also has quite a few tonal shifts from scenes with more serious subject matter to the silliest and most over-the-top humor. Sometimes these tonal shifts felt quite jarring, especially in the last story. 

This movie was directed and written by the team of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who have been working together since 2004 and have directed a wide variety of films ranging from sports dramas to comedies to superhero movies (Captain Marvel (2019)). This is definitely the duo's most unique feature film. However, the movie is a personal one, based off of Fleck's experiences growing up in Oakland in the 1980's. Perhaps this is why the atmosphere of 1980's Oakland is so vivid and one of the film's biggest strengths.

This movie may be far from perfect, but it is a lot of fun.