Watching

Viewing of late has included "The Assistant" (pictured above), "The Old Guard," "Black and Blue,," "The Morning Show" and "Athlete A" along with a rewatch of "Bombshell," a cumulative contemplation of what women must endure -- and the evil men do. And then there's "Greyhound," where a woman appears in the most token fashion imaginable.

Especially disturbing is the documentary "Athlete A" on Netflix, an examination of the horror inflicted on women gymnasts and the myriad ways people in power tried to hush it up. Unflinching in its description of the sexual abuse, unblinking in noting how the authorities added to the abuse by trying to intimidate the truth-tellers, almost unbearably agonizing as the women tell their stories -- stunning, agonizing work.

And, sadly, not the only production dealing with such horrors. The absorbing "The Assistant" (now on disc) is mercifully brief -- under 90 minutes -- because it is so hard to accept its Weinstein-like story of a Hollywood studio head who is harassing and exploiting women, and whose behavior is shrugged off  by almost everyone working for him. The exception is a young staff assistant (Julia Garner) who, sensing that wrong is being done, struggles to figure out what to do. And when she does figure it out, the result is not what she would hope. Writer-director Kitty Green has no illusions about how this all will play out, even ]if the audience is expecting some #MeToo magic, some "Bombshell"-scale satisfaction, a revelatory and public blast like that capping the first-season finale of the uneven but entertaining "Morning Show" (Apple TV+).

In Green's telling, the assistant, Jane, is far less powerful than top-level gymnasts or morning-TV personalities. She is left with no alternative to keeping silent and showing up for work. And Garner is remarkable at the silences, the reaching for the right words when it has been made clear that no words will be right.

In this context, it's almost a relief to turn to "The Old Guard" (Netflix), an action piece where the central characters are strong women (Charlize Theron and KiKi Layne) so is the director (Gina Prince-Bythewood), The story is a somewhat mild entertainment, with more than a few action cliches and a significant plot hole, but enough authority from Theron in particular to make it amusing -- as well as the foundation for further films, as the ending promises. 

Theron is Andy, a do-gooder mercenary with a secret; as we learn soon enough, she and her team members are all hundreds of years old, blessed with immortality that no amount of automatic-weapons fire can stop. Although they have taken pains to keep their powers hidden, someone has figured it out -- and there's a -- wait for it -- science-minded mogul eager to tap whatever generates the immortality. And there's a new immortal, a young Marine played by Layne, who is brought into the group just as she is beginning to understand her powers.

There's more, of course, including a change in Andy's situation which could affect the whole team. But when characters are not brooding about their fates, they're engaged in some vivid action made all the better because it's women who are most crucial to success.

 The police thriller "Black and Blue" (now on Starz) is also about a tough woman, a New Orleans police officer (Naomie Harris) isolated in many ways; a woman in a male-dominated field, a former local resident who has alienated her old friends by becoming a cop, and an honest officer whom events drop into a sinkhole of corruption and murder. It's the last point that drives the plot of the movie, and its resolution, since Harris is the film's moral center, and the one who must draw others away from despair and cynicism if she and justice are to survive. Being a woman makes that at once more difficult -- she is a rarity in this police department -- and easier -- she is often underestimated. The movie is OK, although the last few beats are predictable, and there's a bit too much male-savior business for this to stand as strongly as "The Old Guard" does for women power. 

Which brings us to the most problematic treatment of women in this bundle, the World War II drama "Greyhound" (Apple TV+). It's a taut film, adapted by Tom Hanks from a C.S. Forester book, with Hanks as a Navy captain of a destroyer helping protect a convoy heading from the U.S. to England across a stretch of ocean where there's no Allied air support -- and German submarines lurking. The tension in the battles, and between them, is effective and Hanks's character is gripping. Outwardly calm, mistakes can bring terror to his face; religious and rather formal (a subordinate apologizes for swearing in front of him), he is willing to take down German foes, but their bodies still had souls to him.

But Hanks's script falters in the opening moments, introducing a woman (Elisabeth Shue) whom Hanks wants to marry. Her brief appearance adds nothing to the film, save to allow for a woman character in this sea of men.