The new release, THE BRIDE, is a pastiche of movies and disjointed genres including horror, romance. gangster, and black/white musicals stitched haphazardly together in an ingenious experiment by actress/director Maggie Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal pays homage to the 19th C writer Mary Shelly with a wink and a nod to specific movies, actors and writers. Set in the gritty, crime infested 1930s city Ida/Bride (Jessie Buckley, sure to get another Oscar nom if not win for this performance) plays the embodiment of a resurrected woman intended as carnal companionship is electrifying. Christian Bale (an Acad. Award winner for is equally terrifying and even more heart wrenching as Frankenstein. It is Frankenstein who seeks out the mad scientist. Dr. Cornelia (Acad. Award actress, Annette Bening) to allay his entrenched loneliness. Together the two dig up the recently deceased Ida whom we watched implode around a nightclub table with nefarious gangsters prodding her on and then pushing her to an early demise. Once Ida has been resurrected she rejects Frankenstein's overly eager overtures. A more subdued courtship ensues replete with movie dates that often feature one of two nepotistic castings with Jake Gyllenhaal playing a singing/dancing matinee idol on the screen. The other bit of familiar family casting comes with Peter Sarsgaard playing Detective Jake Wiles on the track to reign in Frankenstein and his bride and perhaps some Chicago crime bosses. I'm more at a loss to describe storylines than I am to point out disjointed tributes to movies such as "Bonnie and Clyde" and most assuredly "Young Frankenstein." Gyllenhaal really tipped her hate to Mel Brooks "Young Frankenstein" especially when having Frankenstein prances and sings "Putting on the Ritz." Penelope Cruz plays Detective Wiles gal Friday whose the brain behind the operation and is breaking new ground in field. This has been quite a posthumous year for Mary Shelly with the Oscar nominated "Frankenstein" film. However, it's an enigma what Gyllenhaal wants Buckley to emote as Shelly. What works best is the captured poignancy of Shelly's classic. Bale as Frankenstein is a murderous monster and a gentle lover who wants nothing more than Bride by his side. Bening delivers the ruthless distancing of her own doings and responsibilities. Shelly's 1818 novel will remain atop my favorite list; one of the few books I'll reread. Seeing this bizarre, and at times cringeworthy movie with A+ acting and stunning cinematography, "I prefer not to." BRIDE will not have mass appeal in Kansas or Buffalo but should garner critical acclaim along with 2026 Oscar nominations for casting and several individuals in the cast.)
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