Film Review: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny & So Much Tenderness

Adventures in Family Life

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny & So Much Tenderness

By Marc Glassman

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

James Mangold, director

Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, David Koepp & Mangold, script

Starring: Harrison Ford (Henry (Indiana) Jones), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Helena “Wombat” Shaw, Mads Mikkelsen (Jurgen Voller), Antonio Banderas (Renaldo), John Rhys-Davies (Sallah), Toby Jones (Basil Shaw), Ethan Isidore (Teddy Kumar), Shaunette Renee Wilson (Mason)

It’s fascinating to watch Indiana Jones, a character created as a loveable homage to 1930s film serials for the Boomer generation, being revived for an audience that must be far bigger than those of us who remember Indy in his glory days 40 years ago. With a budget of $295 million, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny has to be a monster hit to justify its outrageously expensive set pieces in Morocco, Sicily, Scotland and various film studios. Even with Harrison Ford, still fit at 80, able to wear his leather Jacket and fedora and crack his whip, enticing the world to come to see Indiana Jones one more time may be a tough task to undertake. But if there’s one character that people still find loveable, it’s Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones. 

Before the Marvel Comics Universe dominated cinemas, there was Indy Jones, a funny athletic brave archaeologist, who could beat outrageous villains while cracking jokes and showing off—when necessary—his knowledge of ancient history. Played with panache by Ford, he was as popular in the ‘80s as Batman and the Marvel costume super-hero brigade have proven to be since that time, and it’s fair to say that Indy has retained his fan base. Like those super-heroes, Indiana Jones has spawned video games, attractions at theme parks, novels and, of course, comics of his own. To say that an audience is waiting for the new Indiana Jones film is to state the obvious.

The fifth in the film’s franchise, and the first in decades, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny starts off with a bang—or rather a huge battle with Nazis on a train. We’re back in World War Two and thanks to “de-aging” computer magic, Ford looks eerily like the young Indiana Jones taking on hordes of bad guys with the panache of the young Indy. He’s accompanied by fellow academic and best friend, Basil (Toby Jones), who looks and acts like a real professor way in over his head, which plays well to the wonderful humour of the early films as Indy has to rely on him to help beat the Nazis and capture one third of the “dial of destiny,” which was supposedly created by the greatest mathematician of ancient time, Archimedes. There’s a wonderfully staged battle on a train between Indy and a slew of the Nazis headed up by the evil scientist Jurgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen, still remembered for his turn as James Bond villain “Le Chiffre”)—and we know that the fight will continue in the present.

Surprisingly, the “present” is 1969, which is great for Boomers, oops Zoomers, but it may have been a strange choice for the rest of the audience. In the late Sixties, Dr. Henry (Indiana) Jones is retiring from Hunter College and already looks like the Harrison Ford of today. He encounters at a local pub his brash and brilliant goddaughter Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), who is the daughter of his late best friend Basil and knows as much about archaeology as those two. Indy remembers Helena fondly as “Wombat,” the nickname Basil and he called her, and is persuaded to show his archive to someone who is almost his daughter. But it turns out that Wombat has a lot more going for her than mere nostalgia for what her dad and Indy did in the past: she is actually a scandalous buyer and seller of antiquities and is in hot pursuit of all three pieces of Archimedes’ ancient dial.

Let’s pause for a bit. In order to freshen up the Indiana Jones series, director James Mangold and his screenwriting team, which includes the great playwright Jez Butterworth (whose “The Ferryman” is likely a masterpiece), have added a true wild card to the cast: Phoebe Waller-Bridge. It was the amazing Waller-Bridge who wrote the dark and funny assassin comedy Killing Eve and starred, wrote and directed Fleabag, a totally brilliant and wicked take on life in contemporary London. Both TV series have won Emmys, BAFTAs and Golden Globes and are truly off-kilter productions. Now here she is, cast as “Wombat” in an Indiana Jones thriller. In the old days, this would have been like casting Gilda Radner or Phyllis Diller in a James Bond movie. It wouldn’t have even been considered. Truly, we are in the post-COVID era.

The film revolves around Indy’s relationship with Wombat as they fight but eventually team up to get all three parts of Archimedes’ dial, which, it turns out, can turn back time. Not only has Wombat figured it out, so has Jurgen Voller, who claims to be a loyal American, but is a Nazi through and through. So, the hunt is on, and it leads us to Morocco and a wild car chase—no blockbuster is complete without one—followed by some deep-sea diving including an almost deadly encounter with giant eels, which Indy loathes as he has always hated snakes (fans will know this), then a crazy plane ride and sky fight– and finally a huge and impressive battle in ancient Syracuse. Yes, you read that correctly: the time travel machine, when assembled, can take all of our characters back to ancient times and a legendary battle, the Siege of Syracuse, which cost Archimedes his life. Anyone interested can read more in Plutarch’s Parallel Lives. 

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is an eccentric thriller, offering everything from contemporary British black comedy to what feels like a heartfelt evocation of an ancient philosopher. Ultimately, it works because there is some chemistry between Harrison Ford and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, enough so you can almost believe that they might become a “got your back” goddaughter/godfather surrogate family. The film tries too hard to please but it may just be likeable enough for huge crowds to see it. It’s no masterpiece but it is one cure for the summertime blues.

So Much Tenderness

Lina Rodriquez, director & writer

Starring: Noëlle Schönwald (Aurora), Natalia Aranguren (Lucia), Deragh Campbell (Nancy), Augusto Bitter (Felix), Andreana Callegarini-Gradzik (Madison), Charlotte Creaghan (Annabel), Juan Pablo Cruz Pablo (Adrian), Brad Deane (John), Sebastian Kowollik (Alexander), Lee Lawson (Simone), Kazik Radwanski (Rob)

The difficulty of adjusting to life in a new country may well be the central narrative of Canada, from Susanna Moodie’s famous journals to Mordecai Richler’s Duddy Kravitz to Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion. Now it forms the centre for So Much Tenderness, a quiet and lovely film of immigration by two women from South America, set in contemporary Toronto. 

Canada has provided a second home for Aurora, an attractive middle-aged lawyer from Colombia who had to flee her native land after her husband Adrian was killed in a fight defending the rights of environmentalists. It’s a cause which Aurora espoused and she has to bear the burden of inadvertently bringing on his demise. She has been joined in exile by their daughter, Lucia, who has had to adjust to a new country and language while they both mourn Adrian’s death and try to embrace an exceedingly different way of life in Toronto. Director and writer Lina Rodriquez has fashioned a low-key character study of a mother and daughter, which avoids melodrama and offers a series of insights into what life must be like for many immigrants living in Canada.

All stories are specific, of course, and Rodriquez’s intent isn’t to create a sociological study. Her challenge, which is shared by her lead actors Noëlle Schönwald (Aurora) and Natalia Aranguren (Lucia) is to make us understand and care about who these women are, and what makes their lives meaningful amid the daily hubbub of Toronto. Aurora has had to exchange her life as a lawyer for that of a daycare worker and Spanish language teacher while Lucia has become bifurcated—half typical Ontario teen and half Spanish speaking loyal daughter. 

Rodriquez stages scenes that last longer than usual, allowing for the emotions of her main characters to be expressed properly. Not overtly arty, her style emphasizes their natural lives: Aurora effortlessly chopping vegetables on a wooden board, the two women carrying a dresser down the sidewalk in a typical Toronto neighbourhood, Lucia and her two BFFs carrying on a conversation about boys in a bathroom while getting ready for a party. Rodriquez stages a couple of memorable sequences at parties with groups huddled around kitchen tables telling elaborate anecdotes. We see Aurora at work, and whether dealing with kids at daycare or adults learning Spanish in adult education classes, she’s clearly exceptional at what she does.

So Much Tenderness barely has a plot. What it succeeds in doing is to make you engage in the adventures that make up the lives of Aurora and Lucia, two decent people who are fighting to become the best they can be—which makes them exemplary Canadians. Lina Rodriquez has made a film with feeling and character. I look forward to her future work.