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Epoch Times
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Epoch Times
‘Lilly': ‘Erin Brockovitch' Lite
PG-13 | 1h 33m | Biopic | 2025 In 'Lilly,' writer-director Rachel Feldman tells the story of trailblazer Lilly Ledbetter (Patricia Clarkson), a pioneer from humble beginnings who took her employer, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., to court on the basis of gendered pay discrimination. While the influential legacy of Lilly Ledbetter (whose contributions toward equal pay fight resulted in the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009) deserves celebration, this earnest and heavy-handed biopic is more focused on its message than on Lilly. Sadly, her legacy doesn't receive the polished and sophisticated biopic treatment it deserves. Unequal Pay Lilly spent two decades as an Alabama tire factory supervisor before discovering in 1999 the extent of her unequal pay compared to her male colleagues. After filing a lawsuit for discrimination, she became an underdog crusader for the issue, learning difficult lessons along the way about corporate manipulation of the justice system, and the influence of political lobbyists. Lilly Ledbetter (Patricia Clarkson) at work in the tire factory in "Lilly." Blue Harbor Entertainment Co-writer-director Rachel Feldman's biopic feels more a rushed docudrama. In it, everything is spelled out for the audience by both the characters within the story and one expert who exists outside of it—the late Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It's likely Ginsburg's writing on Ledbetter's case resulted in Congress passing new legislation to address inequality of pay. The late judge was obviously an expert on the case, an impassioned and wise advocate for gender equality, and a fine storyteller, but making her the narrator immediately makes one wonder if the filmmakers wouldn't have rather made a biopic about Ginsburg and not Lilly. Related Stories 12/23/2020 11/29/2020 Throughout, a few scenes communicate Lilly's personal life. There's her relationship with her husband, Charles (John Benjamin Hickey), who at first resents his wife's decision to start working to supplement their meager income, but who eventually becomes her constant advocate over the years. Also, there's her strained relationship with her wayward son (Will Pullen). Lilly loves to dance, that is, until a work 'accident' severely injures her leg. Clarkson ('The Station Agent') displays Lilly's feisty tenacity but is ultimately forgettable in this tonally confusing narrative. Lilly remains little more than a representation of the legal fight and activism that happened around her. There must have been much more to the real Ledbetter than this movie portrays, but it's ultimately sabotaged by the intrusive, edited archival material and curious stylistic choices. Although well-intentioned, the film overall lacks subtlety and surprise. Promotional poster for "Lilly." Blue Harbor Entertainment 'Lilly' Director: Rachel Feldman Starring: Patricia Clarkson, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Benjamin Hickey, Will Pullen MPAA rating: PG-13 Running Time: 1 hour, 33 minutes Release Date: May 9, 2025 Rating: 2 1/2 st ars out of 5 Would you like to see other kinds of arts and culture articles? Please email us your story ideas or feedback at
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ami Canaan Mann on Directing Natalie Dormer as a Heroic Real-Life Doctor in ‘Audrey's Children' and What She Learned Watching Her Dad Direct ‘Heat'
'Audrey's Children' — in theaters Friday via Blue Harbor Entertainment — tells the true story of pediatric oncologist Dr. Audrey Evans (Natalie Dormer), who upended medicine with a new treatment of Neuroblastoma, an often-deadly childhood nerve cancer, all while standing up for herself in her field and caring for her young patients. With a script from Julia Fisher Farbman, the film is directed by Ami Canaan Mann, whose storytelling extends to many different genres in both features (the romantic drama 'Jackie & Ryan,' the crime story 'Texas Killing Fields') and television ('The Blacklist,' 'Power,' 'House of Cards'). Mann opens up about the documentary that influenced her style on 'Audrey's Children,' the role that inspired her to work with Dormer and what she learned working on the set of 'Heat' with her father, Michael Mann. I was sent the script, and there's a scene where the main character, Dr. Audrey Evans, is talking to one of her patients, a child at the hospital, and she's trying to help this child understand their own mortality as a mode of preparation. I thought to myself when I read that scene, 'My God, no adult wants to be in that position with a child, particularly a child whose life you're trying to save, and you're aware that you may fail.' I just thought it was such an egoless thing to do, and she did that as a pediatric physician daily, for decades. To me, that's real heroism and somebody whose story I would like to tell. More from Variety Blue Harbor Acquires U.S. Distribution Rights to Historical Biopic 'Audrey's Children' (EXCLUSIVE) Natalie Dormer, Assaad Bouab to Star in Celyn Jones Thriller Series 'Minotaur' (EXCLUSIVE) 'The Wasp' Review: Naomie Harris and Natalie Dormer Play Old Friends With Fresh Grievances I heard an interview with Peter Weir, who is a hero of mine, and he was talking about casting, and he was talking about how the idea is to discern the spirit of the character that you need in order to pull the narrative forward. Casting is really trying to figure out which actor can embody that and already has that spirit. Meryl Streep can do absolutely everything, and every one of her characters has an essential Meryl that she carries with her. For Audrey, I knew we needed somebody who had an emotional and intellectual passion and fire. At the same time … it sounds counterintuitive, but her spirit could also hold incredible softness and empathy with children. I saw the remake of 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' and there's a shot of Natalie and she has this power in her shoulders, and at another moment she turned very slowly to the camera. I was like, 'Oh, that's her.' Weirdly, my biggest reference might be Barbara Kopple's 'Harlan County, USA,' in the gritty realism, the textural symphony that she has in that film. It's a documentary, but it's a deep dive into a very specific world with incredibly human characters and a humane ethos towards the narrative overall. That's really what I was trying to go for in terms of the visual lexicon of this movie, that it was a textural world that felt like a real world. If it felt visually consistent because of the subject matter, it would be easy to go in a way that was a little bit too soft. If you can make the world visually consistent and compelling, perhaps the audience would want to stay with you through that hour and a half. That was the puzzle. That was the directorial challenge. Part of that was the visual language of film, making it seductive so that you wanted to be there. All of that was informed by it essentially being a character study. The criteria was anything that happened visually in terms of shot design, performance — I'm a pretty camera-heavy director because I come from a photography background — so all the composition, everything was coming from an awareness of the character herself, who just happened to be a woman who was pediatric oncologist, who happened to work with kids who had cancer. It was a story about a woman, a brilliant thinker, and watching how she moves in a flawed, and sometimes not flawed, way. It wasn't so much words of advice, because my dad and I just talk about dad-kid stuff. We actually don't talk about films a whole lot, and I knew I wanted to work with him on one movie from the beginning to the end. The timing worked out so that it happened to be 'Heat.' I didn't actually work for him, I worked for the line producer as an assistant. He had another assistant who did assistant-y stuff, so I was sort of the, 'Ami, go figure out the gyroscopic helicopter mount, now go figure out the infrared, coordinate with people in Folsom Prison so we can send Bob and Val to go there to interview inmates.' I eventually directed second unit. What that did, though, was allow a distance from the show, from the directorial heart of it, but just close enough to see everything. Watching an A director move from beginning to end through an entire project, and watching that project evolve and watch his approach to it evolve … not so close that I wasn't seeing everything I could see, but not so far away that I couldn't watch that trajectory. Watch the trailer for 'Audrey's Children' below. 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Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Blue Harbor Acquires U.S. Distribution Rights to Historical Biopic ‘Audrey's Children' (EXCLUSIVE)
Blue Harbor Entertainment has acquired the Stateside distribution rights to Ami Canaan Mann's 'Audrey's Children,' which will be released nationwide March 28. Based on a true story, the historical drama stars Natalie Dormer as British physician Dr. Audrey Evans, who 'burst onto the scene in 1969 as the first female Chief of Oncology at the world-renowned Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.' According to the film's synopsis, 'Audrey's Children' follows Evans as she 'battles sexism, medical conventions, and the subterfuge of her peers,' eventually developing the first Neuroblastoma Staging System, co-founding the first Ronald McDonald House for families of patients, and impacting the lives of millions of children around the world. After years of collaborating and supporting the film, Evans died two weeks into the start of physical production. More from Variety Natalie Dormer, Assaad Bouab to Star in Celyn Jones Thriller Series 'Minotaur' (EXCLUSIVE) Karan Soni and Jonathan Groff Rom-Com 'A Nice Indian Boy' Gets Theatrical Release by Blue Harbor (EXCLUSIVE) 'The Wasp' Review: Naomie Harris and Natalie Dormer Play Old Friends With Fresh Grievances 'Dr. Evans was a force of nature, determined and tenacious. And always with the well-being of children at the forefront of everything she did,' said Mann. 'She's a lodestar, really, of how to walk through the world. And when I learned about her journey, I thought, 'Yes, this is a story I need to help tell.'' 'When 'Audrey's Children' came my way, I was shocked that Dr. Evans wasn't already a household name,' said Dormer. 'Her influence rippled across the world, touching millions of lives. Playing such an extraordinary woman was an honor I couldn't pass up and I knew I had to take on the role immediately.' Dormer stars alongside a supporting cast that includes Jimmi Simpson, Clancy Brown and Brandon Micheal Hall. Julia Fisher Farbman of Emblem Entertainment wrote the screenplay for the film and produced with Amasia Entertainment's Bradley Gallo and Michael Helfant. Executive producers include Susan Cartsonis, Suzanne Farwell, Brent Emery and Clément Bauer of Resonate Entertainment and Michael Leahy of Strike Accord. 'Audrey's Children' was produced with 'passionate support' from the Ronald McDonald House Charities and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, according to producers. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Grammy Predictions, From Beyoncé to Kendrick Lamar: Who Will Win? Who Should Win? What's Coming to Netflix in February 2025
