It was probably around 100 years ago that stalwart Hollywood star Marie Dressler said, “You’re only as good as your last picture.”
asserted
You → say → picture
Today, that hard-nosed observation not only holds; in a culture measured out in here-today-gone-tomorrow limited series and independent films that fail to find their audience, it’s more apt, and more potentially heartbreaking, than ever.
asserted
it → hold → audience
Misty Green, the title character and the heartbeat of Chris Rock’s fourth feature film as a director, is living out Dressler’s maxim.
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Green → live → maxim
Misty, played by Rosalind Eleazar, is a gifted singer and actor who desperately needs a break.
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who → play → break
But there are good reasons she’s not going to get it.
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she → be → it
Even though she has an Emmy from her role in a hit series, she’s on her way to being forgotten.
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she → have → way
She has no patience for Hollywood BS and refuses to play the usual games.
asserted
She → have → games
But she’s also prickly and unpleasant—she has alienated most of the people who might be able to help her—and a self-destructive streak hinders her further: She’d rather go out for a night of clubbing and coke than stay in and learn her lines for the next day’s important audition.
uncertain
She → ’ → audition
So now she’s in desperate straits.
asserted
she → ’ → straits
Essentially homeless, she’s been camping out in the apartment of a rich—and dead—ex-lover, but the guy’s angry widow has just given her seven days to pack up and vacate.
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widow → camp → days
During all this, her fragile brother, Jay (Daniel Kaluuya), who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and whom she loves deeply, shows up at the flat that’s not even her own, needing more from her than she can provide.
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she → diagnose → her
We’ve seen the story of the wannabe comeback kid before.
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We → see → kid
One of the weaker links may be the character played by Rock himself, Jordan, a director who wants to help Misty but harbors amorous feelings that don’t feel wholly believable; Misty could use some help, but she may not need that kind of savior.
uncertain
she → play → savior
But overall, Rock’s writing is sharp and perceptive, and he’s attuned not just to the horrors of trying to make it in Hollywood, but also to Misty’s specific plight—and to the reality that she’s at times almost repugnantly dislikable.
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she → ’ → times
Eleazar, best known for her role in Slow Horses, knows just how to shape this character without ever softening her.
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Eleazar → know → her
Misty is gifted, arrogant, impossible; at times, you begin to wonder if she even deserves a break.
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she → begin → break
But Eleazar, giving one of the best performances of the year, tears our expectations to shreds: Who are we to decide what she deserves?
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she → give → what
At one point, during an audition, one of the men in charge of potentially hiring her blurts out, “Are you mixed?” and her eyes, moments ago dancing with fire, become glacier cold.
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eyes → hire → fire
Misty has made her way along a path paved with irrelevant, if not outright racist and sexist, questions and assumptions—it’s little wonder she can barely take any more.
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she → make → more
But even stronger than her resentment is her belief that she still has something to give.
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she → give → something
It may be a stereotype to characterize actors as needy people, but Eleazar captures an almost existential longing that goes beyond garden-variety neediness.
uncertain
that → characterize → neediness
And at her lowest moment, Misty’s desperation becomes nearly unbearable to watch.
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desperation → become → moment
Eleazar brings us right to the knifepoint of her degradation, and it pierces us too.
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it → bring → us
But Rock wouldn’t leave Misty in despair; he gives her the empathetic yet unsentimental ending she deserves.
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she → leave → ending
It’s almost impossible to like Misty, and yet, in a film that’s both acerbic and tender, Eleazar makes us love her, almost against our will.
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us → ’ → will
Hollywood, a place of dreams, can be inhumane to those who dream the biggest.
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who → dream → biggest
Misty Green opens a safe space for them—without the false promise of a happy ending.
asserted
Green → open → ending
The Aporia
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