Is Michelle Monaghan the most actress-y actress? She’s been an actress playing an actress for Shane Black, Sofia Coppola and Mike White on this season of The White Lotus. Monaghan, evidently the very essence of a Hollywood lead, grew up in Winthrop, Iowa of all places. Her hometown’s itty-bitty population, and the blue ribbon she won for hog wrestling there, have since made for endless talk-show fodder.
Because one new episode of The White Lotus a week just isn’t enough, Little Big Screen is spending Spring Break with Michelle Monaghan movies.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Directed by Shane Black
From the bottom of Black’s heart — a snotty Chinatown riff that’s really a romantic comedy about fumbling Michelle Monaghan. The chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer crackles like the fizz in a Coca-Cola commercial, but Kiss Kiss Bang Bang only works because, somehow, Monaghan embodies the hardest crush in the history of high school. In a film that has Marvel’s Iron Man peeing on a corpse, the lasting image is of Monaghan wearing a warm-weather Santa suit, Frogger-ing across lanes of Los Angeles traffic.
Rent it on Apple TV and Prime Video.
Somewhere (2010)
Directed by Sofia Coppola
Monaghan gets the “And” credit in a film almost meant to be overlooked. Coppola’s Lost In Translation receives more attention for its autobiographical echoes, but the gaudy nothingness in Somewhere rings too true to be anything but. The film follows a movie star (Stephen Dorff, not Monaghan, although she does play one), as hollow as a plaster mold, able to blow in the slightest breeze — until his daughter (Elle Fanning) shows up to bring life back to his eyes. A kind-vibed Chris Pontius (of Jackass fame) is also here, making perfect sense on a Chateau Marmont couch.
Rent it on Apple TV and Prime Video.
Made of Honor (2008)
Directed by Paul Weiland
Another movie about fumbling Michelle Monaghan, except this one is also dedicated to the memory of Sydney Pollack. The two leads — Monaghan and Patrick Dempsey, on 26-day loan from Grey’s Anatomy — and two locations — New York City and Scotland’s Isle of Skye — are more than enough to carry this by-the-book rom-com. The “won’t they” part of the third act has everything, namely a plaintive Dempsey and one of the very best Brit-pop ballads. Also, there’s a scene set in college and the de-aging CGI is stupid-good for some reason.
Rent it on Apple TV and Prime Video.
Mission: Impossible III (2006) & Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018)
Directed by J.J. Abrams / Directed by Christopher McQuarrie
“Mission: Impossible star” is still the go-to when tabloids need a second reference for Monaghan. She ended up wedded to Tom Cruise’s super-duper spy after her role as succubus love interest in Keanu Reeves’ comic-book movie Constantine was cut in post. The nagging guilt of director Francis Lawrence got her scenes in the hands of J.J. Abrams, and the rest, as far as The Daily Mail editorial team is concerned, is history. In the many years (and directors) between MI:3 and Fallout, Cruise kept getting questions about Monaghan’s character, so she was brought back for the franchise’s sixth installment. That’s the one with Henry Cavill reloading his biceps mid-fight; MI:3 is the one with Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Stream both on Paramount+. Rent both on Apple TV and Prime Video.
Notable films in local theaters this week
Iowa City
Friday, Mar 21, Late Shift at the Grindhouse: THRUST! The Punk Cut, FilmScene
Writer/Director Victor Bonacore and producer Bork Torkleson join FilmScene to present the VHS “Punk Cut” of this post-apocalyptic exploitation film where girl gangs rule.
Des Moines
Tuesday, Mar 25, Ex Machina – A Science on Screen Presentation, Varsity Cinema
A screening of the 2015 sci-fi film with pre-show talk by Martin Roth, Professor of Philosophy at Drake University, discussing artificial intelligence.
Quad Cities
Thursday, Saturday-Sunday, Mar 20, 22-23, Hoosiers, The Last Picture House
The Last Picture house celebrates Gene Hackman with one of the quintessential sports flicks.
