Biopics are hard. How does one tackle often examined history through a new and unique perspective? How many times can a single story be told? To make matters even more tricky, is it even fair to expect a movie to bring the challenging complexity of a single person’s life into a breezy 120-minute runtime? Truthfully, it is rare. This week, Lee attempts to do just this. Does the examination of the iconic war correspondent stand apart from the crowd? Or is this just another dime-a-dozen war movie? Read on.
About Lee
Lee is, believe it or not, the second film we’ve had in 2024 about a war correspondent named Lee. This time, the film follows Lee Miller (Kate Winslet), the iconic model-turned-war correspondent with a specific focus on her WWII-era work. Alexander Skarsgård, Andy Samberg, Andrea Riseborough, Josh O’Connor and Marion Cotillard co-star in the movie. Ellen Kuras directs Lee from a script by Liz Hannah, Marion Hume and John Collee.
Lee, as mentioned above, is a biopic with a challenge. This film has to tackle the life and career of a truly multi-faceted woman in less than two hours. We learn early in the film that throughout her life, Miller was a model, a photographer, and an artist. She appeared on the cover of Vogue, she apprenticed under the legendary surrealist creator Man Ray and this is all before the work most remember her for, serving as a War correspondent in Europe during World War II.
RELATED: What’s New on TV This Week (Sept 29 – Oct 5)
A Bit Rushed
As such, this film struggles initially in its footing. We’re dropped into a wealthy European art world with little direction. This early storyline is a bit rushed, and this has the effect of pushing some of the development deeper into the film as the World War II storyline builds. The performances that are heaviest in the early arcs struggle to take hold, namely Alexander Skarsgård as Lee’s supportive husband. Their relationship never receives the time it needs to gel. Meanwhile, the always brilliant Cotillard doesn’t find her footing until she reappears deep in act two.
Lee realizes its powerful and staggering identity in the second act, and it maintains an unrelenting pace until the final credits roll. The film brings an examination of World War II that isn’t often seen as Lee treads the moral grey area that is capturing life in a combat zone. Miller’s female perspective gives a painful but refreshing originality to this often-covered war. The film is not afraid to tackle women’s issues that have often been told only through the stories of soldiers.
At the same time, the film tackles the horrors of World War II head-on. Through Miller, the film calls out the celebration and romanticization of the war often seen in Hollywood. We watch as Miller and Scherman (Samberg) photograph concentration and death camps, cattle cars and the aftermath of war throughout Europe. We sit with them in their pain, their horror and above all, their exhaustion.
RELATED: Movie Review: Apartment 7A
The Performances
Lee is a film that stands on the back of its performances. It, of course, doesn’t need to be said that Kate Winslet is once again awards-worthy. We know and love this role for her. Her strength and power is vital to this narrative’s success, especially as it enters its visceral and emotionally challenging third act.
However, there was one bit of casting that shook me to my very core. Andy Samberg. Kids, full disclosure, yours truly has never been his biggest fan. As fellow war correspondent David Scherman, Samberg enters brand new (and beautiful) territory in his career. Samberg brings a painful and decidedly human insight into the horrors shown in the third act. The depth and emotion in his portrayal contrast beautifully against the rock-hard strength Winslet brings as Lee Miller. While awards season has hardly begun, this critic would love to see Samberg on some Best Supporting Actor lists this year.
Perhaps most staggering, though, is something that is virtually impossible to talk about: the last five minutes. For a majority of the runtime, Lee is structured largely as a standard biopic as an elderly Miller sitting through an interview with a young journalist (Josh O’Connor). This is honestly a “dime-a-dozen” trope we’ve seen in so many historical movies.
RELATED: Everything Coming to Netflix in October 2024
A Staggering Curve Ball
So, it came as a surprise when Lee threw a staggering curve ball in the film’s closing moments. For some, it’s a small and insignificant moment. However, in the choice, the audience is left with a gut-punch understanding of not only Lee but also her personal relationships. It’s a reveal that is equal parts sensitive and painful in the insight it gives to an entire generation. It’s a final scene that yours truly is going to be thinking about for a long, long time.
Lee is a film that transcends its basic biopic DNA. We’ve seen so many biopics and we’ve seen even more World War II films. However, this one sits with you in all its repressed humanity. Lee understands its characters in such a painfully clear way, and in this, the WWII biopic is a success. This is, of course, thanks to the always impressive Winslet, but Andy Samberg emerges here as a sneaky MVP with a quietly beautiful performance we should be talking about.
Lee is now playing in theaters around the country.
- Movie Review: LEE - September 30, 2024
- Movie Review: APARTMENT 7A - September 26, 2024
- Movie Review: MEGALOPOLIS - September 26, 2024
