Netflix Recommendations 2.0 *READ FIRST POST*

Blue Jay

Basically two former high school sweethearts bump in to each other randomly one day and it's a bit awkward at first but then they go for coffee and start to reminisce and reflect on the good times they shared and the not so good times.

A large part of this film is just a joy to watch. It feels almost like a play at times, with just 2 characters on screen for 99% of the time, and they're in the one space for a large part of that too. Sarah Paulson and Mark Duplass have such good chemistry, the whole dinner scene has me in stitches. One teeny tiny issue I'd have with it is the end "conflict". It's not really a spoiler to say they eventually come around to why they split up all those years ago and the reason given is kind of a predictable one but at the same time I suppose it's a realistic one. It's not enough of a gripe to take anything away from everything that comes before it though.

Danny Collins

This was surprisingly enjoyable. It starts with a note on screen saying it's very loosely based on a true story, kind of. That true story is of an English musician who discovered 30 something years after the fact that John Lennon had written him a letter after reading an interview he did in some random magazine. So in the film Al Pacino plays an aged singer who once was compared to Lennon but ended up singing other people's songs and playing sold out shows to pensioners, and he hates himself. On his birthday his manager gives him a letter that Lennon wrote to him in the early 70's but never sent. This makes him question his entire life and he sets out to find his adult son who he's never met.

Now, I know it all sounds like a bog standard dramedy but it's actually quite charming and funny. Al Pacino and Anette Bening bounce of each other so well and Bobby Cannavale and Jennifer Garner are great as Pacino's estranged son and his wife. It's not going to change your life but there are worse ways to spend your time.