[I review the psychological thriller, "The Woman in Cabin 10," as well as the black comedy "The Roses" and Ben and Amy Stiller's documentary about their parents, "Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Lost."]
The Woman in Cabin 10 (2025)
An investigative journalist becomes involved in a tangled mystery while on a luxury cruise ship.
Recovering from the trauma of witnessing a source's murder, investigative journalist Laura "Lo" Blacklock (Keira Knightley) receives an invitation from terminally ill billionaire Anne Bullmer (Lisa Loven Kongsli) to join her and her husband, Richard (Guy Pearce), and some other wealthy guests, aboard their luxury yacht sailing to a fundraising gala in Norway. Anne wants Laura to write about her new charitable foundation. The first evening at sea, Lo ducks into Cabin 10 to avoid her ex-boyfriend, Ben (David Ajala), a photographer working for the Bullmers, and encounters a mysterious blonde woman (Gitte Witt) there. After dinner, Anne privately reveals to Lo that she has stopped taking her medication and plans to donate all of her fortune to charity.
That night, waking to a ruckus and a woman's scream next door, Lo finds a bloody handprint by Cabin 10 and witnesses someone fall overboard. She alerts the ship and despite Laura's insistence that there was a woman in Cabin 10, all guests are accounted for and she is told that no guest was staying in Cabin 10.
Did she imagine it? Was it a hallucination brought on by my her guilt about her source? No, Laura knows what and who she saw so she sets out to solve this mystery.
In the meantime, the trip continues. When Laura meets with Anne again, Anne appears to have forgotten their earlier conversation and when Laura sneaks into Cabin 10, she finds blonde hair in the sink drain. Then some other strange things start to happen. But the more she asks questions, the more the crew and guests refuse to believe her suspicions and in fact start thinking there is something mentally wrong with her. But as she gets closer and closer to solving the mystery that is unfolding on the ship, Laura realizes her life is in danger.
What is going on? Who was that blonde woman in Cabin 10? And who was it that Laura saw fall off the ship? And why won't anyone believe her?
Based on the 2016 novel by Ruth Ware, adapted by Joe Shrapnel, Anna Waterhouse and Simon Stone and directed by Stone, this is a classic, old-fashioned, psychological thriller. You have the troubled journalist, a fish out of water hanging with very rich people (played by some recognizable British actors - Hannah Waddingham, David Morrissey, Art Malik, et al); everyone on the yacht is seemingly suspicious; our heroine witnesses a murder but no one believes her; and there is a big twist.
If you read the book, you know how this will go. Or maybe not. I'm not sure what it says about me or the book, but I read it and could not remember the twist. I'm also not sure what it says about me that I couldn't help but think how fun it would be for there to be an episode of "Below Deck" that featured a real life murder mystery like this. But, I know, that would be pushing "reality TV" too far.
Rosy the Reviewer says...despite some "Huh?" moments and Laura doing some stupid stuff, this is a fast-moving psychological thriller reminiscent of those old Hitchcock films that will satisfy fans of "woman in jeopardy" stories. (Netflix)
The Roses (2025)
I almost dislike remakes of perfectly good films as much as a I dislike sequels, and the original "The War of the Roses" is a perfectly good movie that I think would stand up today, but who can resist Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch as a married couple battling it out when their marriage goes wrong? And there are some distinct differences between the two films, so I am going to go along with the "reimagining" angle instead of calling this a remake. And if you never saw "The War of the Roses," then this will all be new to you.
Architect Theo (Cumberbatch) and aspiring chef Ivy (Colman) meet in London in the kitchen of a restaurant where Theo is having a work lunch and when Ivy shares that she is moving to America, Theo says they should go together. Ivy replies "We haven't even had sex yet," to which Theo replies, "That's minutes away." And he was right. Off they go to have hot and heavy sex in the cold walk-in fridge.
Fast forward ten years, Theo and Ivy are married with two children, Hattie (Delaney Quinn) and Roy (Ollie Robinson), and living in Mendocino, California (but actually filmed in England in Devon - I thought that was the case, because I lived in Northern California and used to go to Mendocino quite often and it didn't look familiar. So then couldn't help but wonder why Mendocino)?
However, the cracks in the marriage are already starting to show. Ivy is a free spirit who spoils the children with desserts and fun while Theo is more regimented and health and exercise conscious. But then, since Ivy had given up her career dreams to raise the children, Theo presents her with a restaurant. She names it "We've Got Crabs!"
But later, while Ivy's restaurant takes off, Theo loses his job in a catastrophic way, and in a reversal role, becomes the stay-at-home dad where he imposes his discipline on the kids, even having them sign commitment documents to exercise and eat right. And this time, with Ivy's success, she tells Theo she will pay for him to build them a dream house, which he does.
So times passes. Hattie (Hala Finley) and Roy (Wells Rappaport) are now teens, and Ivy starts to feel shut-out of the kids' lives, and Theo is jealous of Ivy's success. Despite attempts to save the marriage and with the kids away at boarding school, the marriage goes to hell. Theo wants a divorce but he thinks he deserves to keep the house, since he designed it and built it. However, Ivy thinks she deserves it because she paid for it. In fact, Ivy doesn't want Theo to have anything, so the two make each other's lives unbearable with cruel tactics - really bad stuff like trying to hurt each other's businesses and reputations. And then it gets worse!
Directed by Jay Roach from a screenplay by Tony McNamara (based on the 1981 novel "The War of the Roses" by Warren Adler), Colman and Cumberbatch are great to watch, even when they are doing terrible things to each other. But I couldn't help think that it took too long to get to the mean, I mean, fun parts. I remember the earlier film, "The War of the Roses" being faster moving and funnier.
Rosy the Reviewer says...this film is all about Colman and Cumberbatch, and if you like them and you never saw the original, you might enjoy this film, but I did see the original and liked that one better. But watching Colman and Cumberbatch was worth it to me (for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime).
Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Lost (2025)
Stiller & Meara were a husband-and-wife comedy team made up of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara that was popular primarily in the 1960s and 1970s. The duo made frequent appearances on television variety shows such as "The Ed Sullivan Show."
Stiller and Meara were among the earliest graduates of The Second City improvisational comedy troupe to become famous. They were regulars on "The Ed Sullivan Show, but the two also had separate careers. Anne starred on "Archie Bunker's Place" from 1979-1982 and had film roles and Jerry had a career boost as George Costanza's father on "Seinfeld."
Jerry saved everything so after their deaths, their children Ben and Amy Stiller go back to the apartment where they were raised and where their parents lived for so many years, and as Ben and Amy go through all of the mementos of their parents' lives, theirs and their parents' stories unfold with the help of home movies and other archival footage.
Though this film covers Anne's and Jerry's careers and shares footage from some of their comedy bits, this heartfelt film, written and directed by Ben and Amy, it is almost more about what it was like for Ben and Amy growing up with famous parents who worked together.
Anne would often say it was difficult to see where the act ended and the marriage began. Likewise, the kids would hear them yelling and weren't sure if they were rehearsing or fighting. Ben and Amy share anecdotes and personal observations about their lives with these remarkable people who they clearly loved and admired. And it's a remarkable documentary.
Rosy the Reviewer says...a poignant and fun tribute to a wonderful pair of actor/comedians who deserve to be remembered. (Apple+)
See You Next Time!
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