The songs feature music from multiple Academy Award® winner Alan Menken (“Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin”) and lyrics by Howard Ashman, and new lyrics by three-time Tony Award® winner Lin-Manuel Miranda. “The Little Mermaid” is directed by Oscar® nominee Rob Marshall (“Chicago,” “Mary Poppins Returns”)with a screenplay by two-time Oscar nominee David Magee (“Life of Pi,” “Finding Neverland”). The film stars singer and actress Halle Bailey (“grown-ish”) as Ariel Jonah Hauer-King (“A Dog’s Way Home”) as Prince Eric Tony Award® winner Daveed Diggs (“Hamilton”) as the voice of Sebastian Awkwafina (“Raya and the Last Dragon”) as the voice of Scuttle Jacob Tremblay (“Luca”) as the voice of Flounder Noma Dumezweni (“Mary Poppins Returns”) as Queen Selina Art Malik (“Homeland”) as Sir Grimsby with Oscar® winner Javier Bardem (“No Country for Old Men”) as King Triton and two-time Academy Award® nominee Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” “Bridesmaids”) as Ursula. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land but ultimately places her life – and her father’s crown – in jeopardy. The youngest of King Triton’s daughters and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea and, while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. “The Little Mermaid” is the beloved story of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. The list of plausible murderers is offered not because the mystery is well-constructed, but rather because it is hollow enough that any of the characters could fill in the solution. It is a fool's errand as for much of its run Gemini offers the sense that it could be nearly any of the aforementioned characters responsible for the killing, just as it could be Heather's ex-boyfriend, Devin (Reeve Carney) a weird fan, Sierra (Jessica Parker Kennedy) an annoyed paparazzo, Stan (James Ransone) or Heather's friend, Tracy (Greta Lee). Those in the audience trying to work their way through the murder alongside Jill will constantly be stymied by the film's reluctance to offer the reasons for characters' actions and/or feelings. Actions are taken based on whims, whether it's Heather dropping out of a movie, Greg stating a desire to leave the country, or Jill attempting to evade the police. Whether Katz is attempting to show the depressing side of the film business or joking about it (or something else) is unclear, but what comes across in his depiction of stars, assistants, and everyone else is that there need be no explicit reason for anything occurring. Gemini itself doesn't offer her a great reason to run, but the audience is able to impose other instances where the police have gone after the wrong person as motivation. As a single example of this, Jill's running from the police feels more plausible because everyone has seen a movie (or TV show) where an innocent person is accused and runs from the cops in an attempt to prove their innocence. In fact, Gemini regularly trades on our ideas of what a murder mystery movie should be. ![]() Franklin is funny here, but that isn't enough to sell it. It is a poorly placed, overly self-aware scene, one which reveals just how few suspects there are for Jill to care about and lets the audience know to expect a plot twist. Greg goes so far as to discuss what he would do if he were making the screenplay for the murder, including indicating possible twists. It pats itself on the back as Jill discusses possible murder suspects with Greg (Nelson Franklin), one of the people who has been working to put together the movie Heather just left. At times Gemini seems overly self-satisfied. ![]() It is a task for which Jill is ill-equipped, and the evidence against her is circumstantial at best, but one she sets for herself anyway. From there things go from somber to somber and silly as Jill decides to evade the police, led by Detective Edward Ahn (John Cho), and try to put together for herself exactly what happened. It is Jill who is deemed a suspect when a dead body is found in Heather's home. It is Jill who has to keep Heather out of trouble. It is Jill who has to try and keep away adoring fans. They may be friends, but there is no question that Jill works for Heather, so when Heather-for no reason the movie cares to delve into-decides she wants to drop out of a project, it falls to Jill to make Heather's desires known. At the center of the movie is Jill (Lola Kirke), an assistant to movie star Heather Anderson (Zoë Kravitz).
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