FILM OF THE WEEK (31/03/2013): (Monty Python’s) The Meaning Of Life (1983, Dirs. Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, UK) (Cert: 15) ****

Starring: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin

When one of their friends is being eaten at the restaurant they call home, a tank of fish start to philosophise on “The Meaning Of Life”. From there, we witness the trials and tribulations of birth, childhood, school, war, middle-age, later life, death and salmon mousse in a series of comedy sketches.

In what is essentially the last hurrah of British comedy troupe Monty Python, The Meaning Of Life seeks to end the trilogy of Monty Python And The Holy Grail (1974) and Life Of Brian (1979) (their first foray into motion pictures was 1971’s And Now For Something Completely Different, but since that was basically Python re-shooting sketches from their TV show, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, it fits outside the traditional Python film family), Meaning Of Life is a good, and largely underrated, film that just manages to fall short of the quality of Grail or Brian. Of the three films, Meaning Of Life is also the one that keeps more to a sketch comedy format, although Life Of Brian is the only film with a traditional narrative. Some of these segments are well known, such as their satirical song on the Catholic Church, “Every Sperm Is Sacred”, and the rather nauseating character of Mr. Creosote but lesser known parts of the film, especially a parody of Zulu (1963) and a sequence featuring the Grim Reaper are arguably even stronger (in fact, the Reaper sketch is up there with pretty much anything Python have ever done). It isn’t as consistently hilarious as what came before, and it was probably good the series stopped here, but it’s far from the regrettable step too far some might have you believe.

Bonus Review: The Crimson Permanent Assurance (1983, Dir. Terry Gilliam, UK) (Cert: PG) ****

Starring: Sydney Arnold, Guy Bertrand, Andrew Bicknall

In the dark days of 1983, the proud bank of The Crimson Permanent Assurance was re-captured by its aging shipmates from the grasp of multi-national finance. Taking their bank/vessel as their own, the fierce, elderly crew of The Crimson Permanent Assurance set sail to take on the bloated villainy of the major finance centres.

If anyone could make a short film about bankers in a classic style of a pirate swashbuckler, it would have to have been the fanciful Terry Gilliam. Produced as a short film to precede Monty Python And The Meaning Of Life, Gilliam’s ambitions nearly crippled the project financially and through its brief fifteen-minutes the audience is treated to some truly stunning imagery and a John Du Prez score that nods towards Korngold as well as Gilbert & Sullivan. As befitting most short films, there’s not really a story that could’ve been put towards feature-length and the banking/pirating metaphor is mined for all its worth, but coming in the midst of Gilliam’s prime as a film-maker (halfway between 1981’s Time Bandits and 1985’s Brazil) this does just manage to sit alongside those films in terms of quality.

Identity Thief (2013, Dir. Seth Gordon, USA) (Cert: 15) **

Identity Thief (2013, Dir. Seth Gordon, USA) (Cert: 15) **

Starring: Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy, Robert Patrick

 

Sandy Patterson of Denver, Colorado (Bateman) becomes the victim of identity theft when a woman (McCarthy) living in Florida steals some of his personal details, running up massive financial debts. When her activities cause the authorities to get involved, Sandy assures his boss (John Cho) and the detective assigned to the case (Morris Chestnut) that he will go to Florida and apprehend the woman himself. When travelling back by plane proves impossible, thanks to matching identification, Sandy and the identity thief must travel from Florida to Denver by car.

 

I admit to having a personal soft spot for road movies. There’s something about the form the narrative takes and the scenic locations that I find entertaining. Identity Thief however, really doesn’t live up to such a promise. The premise, in of itself, isn’t a bad one, but it is poorly executed with our protagonist taking far too long to catch on to his identity being stolen and after that, the film walks a morally dubious tight-rope to the finish. Melissa McCarthy is at least, at times, likable but mostly when the bravado stops and the actual dramatic weight of the character takes over. Other than that, it isn’t a particularly amusing film and could’ve been trimmed by a good thirty minutes.

Finding Nemo (3D) (2003/2012, Dirs. Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich, Australia/USA) (Cert: U) ****

 

 Starring: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould

After his wife (Elizabeth Perkins) and virtually all of his spawn are killed, Marlin (Brooks) raises the lone surviving spawn, Nemo (Gould) by himself, teaching Nemo to be afraid of the dangers of the outside world. When he rebels against his father, Nemo ends up being captured and abducted by divers and now Marlin, with the help of an extremely forgetful fish named Dory (DeGeneres), must travel the ocean to find Nemo.

Pixar’s tale of fear and parenting set below the waves is one of their best films, which is quite an accomplishment given their reputation. Although Nemo is the titular character and does have a significant amount of screen time, the crux of the plot lies with Marlin, in an expectantly strong turn from Albert Brooks and Dory, played by Ellen DeGeneres in the film’s strongest performance. The film boasts some extremely impressive scenery and probably the best music score in a Pixar film as well. The film however does have a tendency to feel rather episodic and there are a few too many twists leading up to a conclusion. The 3D retro-fit also adds very little, even given the inevitable depth of field that comes with making a film mostly set in the ocean. Still, it doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s a very strong film.


Bonus mini-review: Party-Saurus Rex: In a Toy Story-related short, Rex decides to do something out of character and party with the bath toys only for things to get out of hand. Fun and with some interesting ideas, but could've used the other familiar characters more.

The Host (2013, Dir. Andrew Niccol, USA) (Cert: 12a) *

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger, William Hurt

 

An alien race has reached Earth and has started to inhabit the physical bodies of almost all human lifeforms on the planet. There’s no war, hunger or corruption but there is also no sense of identity. Melanie (Ronan) is captured by a group people known as “Seekers” (who look for people who have not yet become hosts to the alien forms) but is able to make a bid for freedom with both her old and new identity intact.

 

Based on a book by Stephenie Mayer of Twilight fame, The Host is one of a line of science-fiction films which deal with the loss of self through an invading force. The obvious parallel to draw is to Don Siegel’s Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956), alas the film really does nothing to be comparable in terms of depth or intrigue to the 50’s classic, partly because it is such well-trodden territory but also for several other reasons. Being adapted from a book, The Host doesn’t take advantage of one of cinema’s strongest assets; the notion of “show, don’t tell”. Saoirse Ronan plays two lead parts fairly well, but everything is told through dialogue with both an internal voice (her old self) and an external (her new self) leading to some confusing exchanges that are also often unnecessary and could’ve been conveyed through body-language, tone of voice and gesture. The film also takes some definite leaps with science that seem to render even basic knowledge of certain subject irrelevant (apparently, an alien species that has travelled the universe considers Earth a big planet and apparently all you need to nourish wheat is a thin layer of dirt. I know that sounds strange in this context, but such a logical hole does become pretty clear). Aside of all the nobbish sniffing at Stefenie Meyer’s controversial literary career, this really is a poor effort.

Trance (2013, Dir. Danny Boyle, UK) (Cert: 15) ****

 

Starring: James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson, Vincent Cassell

 

Simon (McAvoy) has the important job of protecting pieces of art being stolen at an auction house. When attempting stop the theft of a painting, Simon is knocked unconscious, only for the gang stealing the piece to end up with just the frame and not the Goya painting they were intending to steal. Upon Simon’s recovery, the gang discover that Simon has no memory of where he put the picture, so a hypnotherapist (Dawson) attempts to unlock Simon’s memory and, unknowingly, the location of the missing art.

 

Trance may, initially, be something of a heist thriller with a slight sense of humour, but that quickly goes out of the window in favour of a deep, dark and convoluted psychological thriller. With such an intensive and complex story, it’s strange that the film really strikes more on a visual level. Practically every frame of the film is extraordinarily vibrant and engrossing with a colourful look. Rounding this off are strong performances from James McAvoy as our hapless lead and Vincent Cassell delivering a performance as a French master criminal, even if that’s often been Cassel’s raison-detre in his career. Rosario Dawson surprisingly dominates the picture mostly through the strength of her character, the film’s strongest. Ultimately, the film does get lost in its labyrinthine ideas and has a couple intricacies too many, which can prove frustrating. It could be better, but it’s a fascinating film all the same.

Safe Haven (2013, Dir. Lasse Hallström, USA) (Cert: 12a) ***

 Starring: Julianne Hough, Josh Duhamel, David Lyons

Fleeing on a bus, Katie (Hough) eventually arrives in a small town on the North Carolina coast, befriending a local store owner (Duhamel) and his two young children (Mimi Kirkland, Noah Lomax). As she tries to settle into her new life, a police officer (Lyons) is pursuing her on a charge of murder.

From Nicholas Sparks, who wrote The Notebook (which became a film in 2004) and acclaimed Swedish director, Lasse Hallström (ABBA music video director and also director of Chocolat (2000)) Safe Haven is what happens when female-targeted romance meets the thriller genre and the result is something of a mixed bag. Hallström’s trademark view of the beauty of rustic locales is perhaps the film’s strongest asset and as much as the romance and thriller combination seems like an ill fit, it works fairly well, thanks to some deft structuring. Safe Haven is not completely alone in this style and certain comparisons can be lent to Peter Weir’s film, Witness (1985), which also fused rustic romance starring a city-mouse protagonist with a cop thriller, and in fact there’s a romance sequence in Safe Haven which is very comparable to a similar sequence in Witness. However, the dialogue and characterisation lets this film down substantially. There is one good twist (not to mention a closing twist that is less impressive) but the characters are slightly one-dimensional, especially the villain, whilst the young boy character is a textbook example of a child character having dialogue that would seem more natural coming from someone a lot older. Towards the end, the always slightly flimsy plot does start to unravel quite quickly, but the film could’ve been a great deal worse than it was.See More

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013, Dir. Don Scardino, USA) (Cert: 15) **

 

 

Starring: Steve Carrell, Olivia Wilde, Steve Buscemi

 

Burt Wonderstone (Carrell, Mason Cook) and his friend in magic, Anton Marvelton (Buscemi, Luke Vanek) have been performing magic tricks on the Vegas strip for the last ten years. Their large-scale traditional magic show is quickly falling out of fashion in favour of the edgier work of a new generation of magicians, embodied in Steve Grey (Jim Carrey). When Burt and Anton go their separate ways, Burt has to find a way back to the top.

 

The film that comes to mind when watching The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is the 2007 comedy, The Magicians. Although both have differing stories, both are comedies based on showbiz magicians and both boast a decent leading cast (in Magicians’ case, David Mitchell and Robert Webb against Wonderstone’s two Steves, Buscemi and Carrell) and both are, given that, a bit of a let-down. In Wonderstone’s case, it’s just the feeling that it’s all been done before and with magic being a gimmick hiding the clichéd and predictable story. The plot’s twists and turns are always clear and many of the gags have obvious, and rather cheap, pay-offs. The film’s brightest spark is definitely the great performance of Alan Arkin as Burt Wonderstone’s idol. But, as mentioned, aside from a few chuckles and a cast that are often extremely good at comic performances as well a promising set-up of the old school of magic versus the new school, the film never truly becomes anything more than faintly amusing.