Thursday, 19 March 2015

Film Reviews (13 - 20/03/2015) (Run All Night, Suite Francaise, X + Y)




Liam Neeson action movies have become so commonplace these days that they're practically a genre unto themselves and not one with a very good track record as they all clearly want to be a cash-in on Taken (2008), which wasn't even a very good movie to begin with. However, Run All Night is better than most with Neeson playing a retired Irish-American mobster forced to violently protect his son (Joel Kinnaman) after he kills the son (Boyd Holbrook) of Neeson's boss and old friend, played by Ed Harris.


Whilst Neeson still seems somewhat game to play the ageing action hero, there's nothing really new that he brings to the table. He knows why he's cast in these films so he plays the old role is some enthusiasm, though the often-likeable Ed Harris often seems to be phoning it in. The film's real skill is its intensity. Unlike some of the worse Neeson action films (Walk Among The Tombstones (2014), for example) there's speed and life here thanks to some great sound, editing and action direction. It's by no means a classic, but it manages to deliver the goods in an enjoyable way. Also features Common and Vincent D'onofrio. ***




Suite Française

A World War II-set romance starring Michelle Williams as a Frenchwoman living during the Nazi occupation of France. Mathias Schoenharts plays a Nazi officer staying with Williams and her disapproving mother-in-law (Kristen Scott-Thomas) and a romance between Williams and Schoenharts begins to blossom. Like a great deal of period romance, Suite Française's beauty lies in its mannered approach, but lacks any real passion beyond the purely aesthetic. As a depiction of war, it fares better; with some well-executed sparse action sequences and a film that dares on occasion to be gutsy, but the filmmakers' seeming desire to retain politesse saps some of the strength away, leaving something handsome and occasionally interesting but also meandering slightly limp. Also features Margot Robbie and Sam Riley. ***


X + Y 

Asa Butterfield plays a young autistic maths prodigy in X + Y, an intriguing drama about grief and adjusting to the world around you. Whilst Butterfield makes for a great performance (as does the uncanny Edward Baker-Close as Butterfield's younger self) masterfully incorporating not just the distinct emotional and personal elements of autism, but also the physical aspects, the film also has some great supporting performances. The always great Sally Hawkins rises to the occasion as Butterfield's mother and has some great chemistry with Rafe Spall as Buttefield's acerbic but caring mentor whilst newcomer Jo Yang, also makes a good first impression. Whilst the film's ultimate message is pretty muddled and focus is lost towards the end, X + Y may just be one of the best attempts at representing autism on screen to date. Also features Eddie Marsan. **** (this week's Hot Ticket)

Thursday, 12 March 2015

Film Reviews (05-12/03/2015) CHAPPiE, Hyena, Kill The Messenger, Still Alice, Unfinished Business



CHAPPiE – The latest offering from South African sci-fi auteur Neill Blomkamp stars regular cast member Sharlto Copley as CHAPPiE; a former police robot who has been fitted with artificial intelligence and, arguably, a soul. Whilst kind-hearted, CHAPPiE becomes involved in a world of crime with some local gangsters and is also being tracked down by religious man of action, Hugh Jackman. CHAPPiE has received a fair amount of criticism, and it’s fairly obvious that the film owes a massive debt to older science-fiction films (Robocop (1987) looms particularly large, as does Short Circuit (1986)) and whilst the casting of rappers Die Antwoord as fictionalised versions of themselves seems a little gimmicky, the film looks stupendous and Sharlto Copley makes for a great performance with a very endearing story. I may be sticking my neck out a bit, but I’ll go on record for thinking this is a great film. ****



Hyena – Gritty British crime thriller starring Peter Ferdinando as a policeman, walking the fine line between law and criminality in a corrupt system and trying to take down sex traffickers. Hyena has toughness, intensity and a great sense of atmosphere but is also wildly inconsistent. At times, strikingly unusual and at others markedly realistic, whilst the plot is hugely convoluted and overblown, making it very difficult to follow. There’s also a rather unsavoury element to the themes of the film that seem almost xenophobic at points. Nail-biting and full of potential, but potential not very well realised. ***



Kill The Messenger -  Jeremy Renner stars as investigative journalist, Gary Webb who became the centre of a media firestorm in mid-90’s America for his reports on the US government working in drug dealing in order to finance South American militias. The true story this is based on makes for some rich storytelling that is stylishly executed with an interesting cast (alongside Renner there’s also Rosemarie DeWitt, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Oliver Platt, Andy Garcia and Ray Liotta) but the plot really starts to lose momentum and cohesion in the final stretch. ***



Still Alice – Julianne Moore won both awards from BAFTA and The Academy for this performance as Alice Howland, a linguistics professor diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Moore’s recognition is somewhat deserved (despite the rather strong competition) as she provides a truly transformative performance. This does have the effect of putting co-stars like Kristen Stewart and Alec Baldwin (whose brilliant chemistry with Moore was also seen on TV series 30 Rock) but the film’s honesty helps build to a very strong final act. **** (this week's Hot Ticket)



Unfinished Business – Not long since wearing his business clothes for his role in The Internship (2013), Vince Vaughn once again puts on his monkey suit for his latest film, Unfinished Business. Here, he plays the head of a small company (staffed by himself, an elderly but still active Tom Wilkinson and sweet but…unusual youngster Dave Franco) looking to close a deal that will make or break his business. Set mostly in Germany, the film has a rather “Tee hee, aren’t Europeans weird/pretentious/kinky?” mind-set as well as some glaring hypocrisies (an anti-bullying sub-plot up against jokes made at a character who’s clearly mentally handicapped) and plot holes (said person’s handicap only becomes addressed after a year’s work, despite being pretty clear and alluded to for the rest of the picture). Still, the occasional joke is a winner and there’s a sweetness and speedy brevity to the situation that makes the film bearable if unremarkable. ***

Thursday, 5 March 2015

This Week's Reviews (28/02 - 05/03/2015)


The Boy Next Door

Jennifer Lopez makes for unusual but solid casting in this horror-toned thriller as a middle-aged woman whose one night stand with a teenage neighbour (played by Ryan Guzman) has some dangerous consequences. Lopez is however, the film's only marginally redeeming factor. Ineptly written and directed and with some other less successful strokes of casting eccentricity (Kristen Chenoweth is great in musicals and comedies but way out of place here), the film is mercifully short but may be worth a few ironic laughs for the daring. The Guest (2014) touched on similar ground, with intentional comedy and fared a great deal better. **



Focus (previously published review, see last entry)



It Follows
If The Babadook (2014) proved that good horror movies could still be put in multiplexes, It Follows may help to convince the skeptics that it may not be a fluke. Maika Monroe plays a teenage girl trapped by the presence of humanoid forms that only she can see and that can kill her. The film owes an obvious debt to older horror films, especially Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) but manages a snag of originality, something plenty of horror movies, even good ones, don't always manage. The only major flaw is an overly-complicated and inconsistent mythology but the film is filled to the brim with dread and foreboding atmosphere, something that has been sorely lacking from the mainstream in horror for a while. ***



The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel


The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is well named. Second in quantity and second in quality. The film follows up on a hotel/home for the (almost exclusively) British elderly in India and brings back most of the cast from the first film, such as Judi Dench, Celia Imrie, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith and Dev Patel all of whom are very likeable and amiable but without much to do. There are a few plot lines that flow through the film (particularly on Patel's upcoming nuptials to Tina Desai) put the film serves more of a purpose of indulging an audience in the presence of a glamourised India and the appearance of Richard Gere; the plot is of secondary concern, at best. As a result, it lacks the bittersweet tone that made The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) such a good film, but there's something to be said for those who enjoyed the first film aesthetically. Pleasing to the eye, but unsatisfying to the mind. ***