Enemy (2013, Dir. Denis Villeneuve, Canada/Spain) (Cert: 15/R) ***

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon

History professor Adam Bell (Gyllenhaal) leads a pretty unextraordinary life between his teaching and his relationship with his girlfriend, Mary (Laurent) living in a sparse Ontario apartment. One day, by recommendation, he rents a movie and comes to discover that one of the extras is his exact double. Andy tracks down his doppelgänger and a game of trading lives begins.

 Enemy is an adaptation of the book The Double by Jose Saramago, but also bears striking similarities with Dostoyevsky’s story of the same name which was adapted into a film by Richard Ayoade around the same time as this film, so the two make obvious companion pieces but still exist entirely on their own stylistic idiosyncrasies. If Ayoade’s The Double lends itself to Terry Gilliam’s Brazil (1985) with its ramshackle anachronistic futurism and mad comic energy, Enemy is more akin to the works of David Cronenberg. The Ontario setting both gleaming with futuristic glamour yet somehow still mired in pollution and grime and odd stylistic flourishes that definitely recall Cronenberg’s work (the credit typeface is reminiscent of Shivers (1975) and the strange dreamlike rendering of the film-within-a-film mildly recalls Videodrome (1983)) but director Denis Villeneuve isn’t simply a copycat and what he presents has moments of fascination.

The film is dominated in many ways by the aesthetics. We are presented with two central characters in Adam and Anthony, both played by Jake Gyllenhaal, and their lives are represented by their surroundings. Adam’s world lurches between being in turns spartan and ugly with its dated and harsh architecture and the screen constantly being bathed in a polluted and faded yellow tone. He drives a dilapidated car and he seems to live a very empty life. Anthony, an actor, leads a more glamorous life with a clean, almost clinical, home-life and rides around on a motorbike but is really the less sympathetic of the two, though neither are great people.

Jake Gyllenhaal really stands out in his duel roles. With last year’s film Nightcrawler winning him a great deal of critical recognition, Gyllenhaal’s history of playing troubled characters has morphed into him becoming  the go-to guy for the unstable as both of his roles here are as men who are sane, but seem on the verge of a breakdown, bringing about an intensity to Gyllenhaal’s performances.

The film also seems to excel when it plays with its more surrealistic qualities. The premise is already rather surreal but there are additional layers on top of it that give the film an often quiet nightmarish quality whilst some sequences such as a sleeping recollection of a movie early on in the film are very memorable. However, there are drawbacks especially in the seemingly-inevitable issue when you play around with the notion of the doppelgänger that there’s a tendency to get characters  confused. Enemy averts this more than might be expected but it can be an issue and the film demands rapt attention because of that.

Enemy is not a lightweight film with its oppressive setting and dank and depressing atmosphere as well as the sleaze and corruption in the society in which the film seems to be set. It’s also not lightweight because of its principal premise. This is a film that wants you to think and even though it isn’t the hardest film to get your head around it demands an audience watch and try and watch the mystery unravel even if their role is really pretty passive. It’s an interesting film but not one of those mysteries that warrant further exploration.

SNEAK PREVIEW: Testament Of Youth (2014, Dir. James Kent, UK) (Cert: 12a/TBC) ***

Starring: Alicia Vikander, Kit Harrington, Taron Egerton

Being from a prosperous family at the beginning of the 20th century, Vera Brittain (Vikander) wants to make a name for herself and use her smarts to study at Cambridge. Despite some objections, she gets her wish and her smarts are cherished by romantic family friend, Roland (Harrington). However, the arrival of war in 1914, separates Vera from Roland as well as her brother Edward (Egerton) and she decides to rule her own destiny all the more.

There can be little doubt that Vera Brittain is a fascinating enough character to base a film around. The 20th century political activist was certainly shaped by the experiences of her life in a very large way and we see a good portion of them shown here in Testament Of Youth, a portrayal of Brittain’s twenties in the midst of World War I. Being the character that she is, and her backstory a clear iron will is what’s required in the performance and Alicia Vikander ably supplies it with an often stirring sense of determination and resolve.

I will be the first to admit however that I have a particularly tough time with costume dramas. Their often all-too-mannered and melodramatic set-ups and executions just don’t seem to grab me, with rare exceptions. I must admit that Testament Of Youth scores above average for me on a subjective level, since the subject matter and the setting for the film certainly provide an extra bit of punch to the proceedings, but it never quite loses those staid trapping entirely.

I already mentioned Alicia Vikander’s great performance but that’s rather overlooking Kit Harrington’s portrayal of a nice young man whose innocence is ravaged by war and his emotions torn. It’s a tall order for an actor and Harrington clearly puts the effort in. Some of the smaller parts are also worth noting with Miranda Richardson being characteristically as Vera’s no-nonsense college professor with a hidden heart of gold, Joanna Scanlan provides comic relief as Vera’s long-suffering chaperone (much like her turn as Catherine Dickens in The Invisible Woman, Scanlan seems made for these kinds of films) but I have problems with two of the starriest names in the cast, Emily Watson and Dominic West as Vera’s parents. Both are fine actors, but Watson’s given a rather flat role to play and one she could probably do it in her sleep whilst West occasionally lurches into over-acting given the nature of the scenes he has to play. I feel more screen-time  for both actors could have alleviated both of those problems.

The way the film deals with the war first-hand is perhaps its strongest asset. What we see as an audience is mostly behind the lines in the hospitals and nursing stations that provide a truly horrific vision of the wartime experience (the sheer destruction is actually thrown into the film effectively early on as Vera’s surveys a list of war casualties in the newspaper. The names are all in a small print list that seems to run on for several pages). There are glimpses of life in the trenches and authentic-looking it is as well, but the monstrosity beyond is shown in an even fiercer light perhaps none more so in the medical facilities afforded to captured and wounded German soldiers who are treated with contempt and inhumanity.

Early on in the film, Harrington’s Roland mentions Vera’s passions running just under the surface and I think that’s true of this film. It’s very handsomely put together with some brilliant designs and visuals whilst the subject matter alone provides power but is let down by the occasional need it seems to have to remain elegant and genteel. Perhaps I’m being guided a little bit too much by my own prejudices, but I do like this film. It’s just a shame to me that isn’t just that little bit more daring.

Testament Of Youth will have a UK-wide release on the 16th of January and an US release at some point in 2015.

Into The Woods (2014, Dir. Rob Marshall, USA) (Cert: PG/PG) ***

Starring: James Corden, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt

Once upon a time in a magical kingdom, a baker (Corden) and a local woman (Blunt) wanted a baby but couldn’t have one. Not until one day when a hideous witch (Streep) arrived at their door and offered them the chance to have a child if she fetched for her four items to break the curse that turned her ugly.

Stephen Sondheim’s 1987 musical Into The Woods is far from his most famous works (at least in the UK) so given its age and lack of infamy, this new Disney film comes across as something of an oddity. Why does it exist? Why has it been made now? How does this stand in comparison with Disney’s other work in terms of themes and ideas? It’s a puzzle. It’s a puzzle that doesn’t provide a wholly finished product answer but it also at times impresses and even delights in its telling…perhaps a little too much.

In The Woods is a very visually-oriented film that shows Disney continuing down a path of darker re-evaluations of their work, previously seen in Alice In Wonderland (2010) and last year’s Maleficent. For the first time however, Disney seem to have gotten the tone right. The film isn’t particularly more “mature” than everything before it, rather it seems to combine somewhat weighty material for Disney around a fanciful story, like the best fairy tales do. As the film turns its hand to various interwoven stories (Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Jack And The Beanstalk) the tales are given twists. Some still remain fairly conventional such as Rapunzel and a slightly more violent spin on Cinderella; is it coincidence that Disney has previously adapted those stories with Rapunzel-based film Tangled (2011) and a Cinderella adaptation from 1950 as well as another later this year.

However, the Jack And The Beanstalk portion of the film still falls even further back on the fairy tale’s roots (pun…sort of intended) and Little Red Riding Hood really goes for the jugular. The film-makers apparently wanted to obscure the paedophilic overtones from the original musical. They failed. What results is one of the most bafflingly sort of “adult” moments I’ve seen Disney give and actually pull it off even if they didn’t intend to. Perhaps this is because the original tale is heavy on the same themes and it brings comparisons with Company Of Wolves (1984) a film that centres on that aspect of Red Riding Hood.

The very real problem with Into The Woods is not style over substance but style overpowering substance. The film is so overtly visual that it makes the story hard to follow not helped by the rather haphazard structuring. Throughout the film there’s a constant sense of desperation to keep up with the story and always feeling a few steps behind. It’s a shame because whilst the film is two hours long (pretty lengthy by Disney standards) there’s a feeling that more could be explored with the characters who are played largely likably. Some of the casting choices are a bit unusual but ultimately work well with brunette Anna Kendrick being an unusual choice for the traditionally blonde Cinderella and some such as Chris Pine’s Prince Charming or Johnny Depp’s brief appearance of the predatory wolf seem absolutely tailor-made. In her screen debut, a very perky Lilla Crawford is also enjoyable as Red Riding Hood with her performance  and especially singing voice being a little too theatrical, which I think (or want to think) is intentional.

Meryl Streep is, as always, a force of nature on a seemingly literal level as the witch. Arguably the most respected film actress of the modern age, here Streep is in full-on hammy panto mode. It’s a ludicrous performance that lacks subtlety. One thinks she could do better, but she’s still fun to watch all the same. James Corden isn’t at his best here, opting to showcase his more dramatic inclinations rather than what he’s honed as a comedy actor. I’ve not always been fond of James Corden’s work, but I do think he’s talented and I’m happy that he seems to be breaking into the American market, but this is not a great show for him.

It surprises me that Into The Woods has been as a big a hit as it has. Made at a time when fairy tale deconstruction was still novel (the musical debuted in 1987, the same year The Princess Bride was released theatrically) it could’ve floundered in this post-Shrek period where it’s almost expected for fairy tales to get an ironic wink. It’s far from perfect but the talent involved at least sees the film through to being worthwhile.

Foxcatcher (2014, Dir. Bennett Miller, USA) (Cert: 15/R) ****

Starring: Channing Tatum, Steve Carrell, Mark Ruffalo

After winning gold at the 1984 Olympic Games, Mark Schultz (Tatum) is at a loose end and struggling financially. Much to Mark’s relief, an eccentric multi-millionaire and wrestling enthusiast John du Pont (Carrell) wants Mark and his brother Dave (Ruffalo) for his national wrestling team based out of his large estate. But the offer turns out too good to be true when du Pont’s personal quirks turn rather menacing.

Foxcatcher is based on a true story that rocked the sport of wrestling  and America in 1996 but remained something of an obscure tale outside of those circles and whilst Bennett Miller’s account does take certain liberties with the reality (something that has rubbed wrestler Mark Schultz up the wrong way) the story of the Foxcatcher wrestling team is a fascinating one that is, even with the alterations, well realised.

In another sense, alterations do make the film stand out. Namely, the alterations around actor Steve Carrell as John du Pont. Best known for his work in comedies, Carrell’s work takes a darker turn here reminiscent of the unusual but great casting of Robin Williams in One Hour Photo (2002). Like Williams, Carrell always had a flare for drama such as the pathos as a suicidal Prouse academic coming to terms with his homosexuality in Little Miss Sunshine(2006), but this is far darker stuff and Carrell, complete with prosthetic nose and thicker features works wonders.

The trick with Foxcatcher isn’t the out and out sinister nature of du Pont himself or the surroundings but something far more subtle and slow-burning. This has its reward as the film seeps into the consciousness and completely enthrals and entraps but it is a slow ride to get there and many looking for a more intense experience may be left wanting especially with the more grounded performances of Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffallo but the film well put together and its slow pace helps give the film that encroaching sense of unease.

The film’s setting does provide challenges all their own. The film takes place later and over a longer period than shown in the film and the details certain characters are changed to suit the plot. Perhaps most notably, du Pont’s mother plays an integral part of the plot, coldly played by Vanessa Redgrave and setting up some of John du Pont’s backstory and partially-explaining his own…peculiarities (eg: firing a handgun in the gym, wanting to be referred to as “Golden Eagle”) when in reality, Mrs. du Pont died before the establishment of the Team Foxcatcher depicted in the film. Still, that depth provided by her works well into the plot and provides colouring or du Pont who seems often less than sane (the real du Pont was later declared mentally ill, but not technically insane) and his interactions with Mark Schultz (often seeming to be shown as not the sharpest tool in the shed) have a noticeable layer of homoeroticism to them, easily achieved in such a physically intimate sport as wrestling.

When I heard the film was going to be made, I already knew some details of the du Pont case and thought it would be a fertile subject to explore and, even if what is there is often untrue or exaggerated, I got a good and interesting story that with the aid of an ambient score by Rob Simonsen a film that as informative as it is, really hits ground not at an intellectual level but at the level of the instinct of dread and foreboding. 

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies (2014, Dir. Peter Jackson, New Zealand/USA) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) ***

Starring: Richard Armitage, Martin Freeman, Luke Evans

After managing to wrest a vast dwarf treasure from the clutches of the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) a band of dwarves and a Hobbit accomplice named Bilbo Baggins (Freeman) have even greater dangers to face when other groups want to claim the treasure for their own and one of the dwarves, Thorin Oakenshield (Armitage) a would-be king starts to succumb to insanity.

Peter Jackson’s return to Middle Earth after his Lord Of The Ring trilogy (2001 – 2003) has been divisive to say the least with one of the biggest criticisms being that of using a similar structure of three very long films that worked fine with Lord Of The Rings (a three-part tome of such size that Jackson’s epic productions are actually remarkably efficient) but translates less well to The Hobbit, one book of fairly average length that has been stretched out. Personally, I’ve always found the Hobbit trilogy to be perfectly entertaining and valid. Whilst it may not have quite the grandeur of Lord Of The Rings, its breezier and jollier tone helps it avoid the occasional drudgery that occasionally inflicts on Jackson’s admittedly brilliant earlier films.

However, it is surprising that Battle Of The Five Armies isn’t quite the long conclusion that might be expected. Okay, the film is two hours and forty minutes long; significantly longer than your average Hollywood blockbuster but it’s thirty five minutes shorter than The Return Of The King (2003) with Jackson seemingly taken a tiny bit of that criticism for making his movies too long to heart.

As a result, Battle Of The Five Armies is a light relief from being too overbearing but also results in it not being as grand a finale as expected. Much of the film focuses on the dramatic elements surrounding Thorin and until the final half our lead in the trilogy up until that point, Bilbo has taken a backseat. Martin Freeman does a good job but his mannered everyman style is admittedly less suited to such a conclusion as the small yet thunderous Richard Armitage or Luke Evans’ slightly swashbuckling hero giving the film a more sombre tone but still lighter than the likes of Lord Of The Rings with a recurring supporting part Ryan Gage as a cowardly stooge and the presence of comedians Stephen Fry and Billy Connolly.

However after the build-up comes the concluding battle and it showcases one of Jackson’s greatest skills as a filmmaker; a man who can take an action set piece and make it extraordinarily long without getting tiresome or confusing. It has a natural build and evolution even if it does take some rather unusual turns with the ideas of plausibility being strained towards the final stretch of the battle.

So, as a concluding chapter to Peter Jackson’s second Middle Earth trilogy, all that can be said is that it’s satisfactory. Personally, much like Lord Of The Rings I feel Jackson spent most of the best material in part one and the highlights trickled in the latter two films, but there’s still fun to be had. It’s got drama, humour and is very much in keeping with the tone of the older trilogy which makes for nice accompaniment. History will probably not judge these films as an equal to Lord Of The Rings, but for setting up that story, this film and its two siblings work fine.

In Brief: Reviews For Birdman, Exodus And Unbroken

Birdman (Or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance) (2014, Dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu, USA) (Cert: 15/R) ****

Starring: Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone

Being hyped as the comeback for Michael Keaton, who I thought never really went away, Birdman follows actor Riggan Thompson (Keaton) an actor best known for playing the superhero Birdman now looking to make a comeback adapting, directing and starring in a broadway play. Falling somewhere between mainstream comedy and bizarre art cinema, Birdman is commentary on the nature of celebrity and "admiration" in the modern world as well as something of a take on the current superhero movie trend. This is after all, a film starring Batman (a magnetic Keaton) alongside The Incredible Hulk (a brilliantly off-kilter Edward Norton) and Gwen Stacey (a more grounded but still impressive Emma Stone). 

A percussive score underlines the film as a sort of "jazz cinema". The film is free-wheeling as actors play off of eachother and showcase their skills. The film also continuously dives between reality and (probably) fantasy. Whilst the film may be a little too odd for some tastes and it the conclusion does drag, Birdman is a very impressive artistic achievement that also manages to be genuinely funny and entertaining.

Exodus: Gods And Kings (3D) (2014, Dir. Sir Ridley Scott, Spain/USA/UK) (Cert: 12a/PG-13) **

Starring: Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Isaac Andrews

Ridley Scott's take on the story of Moses is definitely not lacking in scale and definitely wants to have some grandeur, but it mostly fails to live up to the potential to be something more than a bland ancient history movie beyond a large scale (here in an admittedly depth-enhancing 3D). Some of the old Ridley Scott magic is present (a shot of white horse racing against crashing waves of the parted Red Sea is the kind of stuff Sir Ridley does best) and the film takes an interesting stance on the nature of God and morality, but the a-list cast seem to pulling in different directions, adopting wildly different accents and approaches (Bale's Moses seems to have a hint of De Niro to,it, oddly) with the unexpected casting choice of John Turturro being the only real highlight. As a fan of Ridley Scott's early work, I hope he can turn this downward spiral of quality back.

Unbroken (2014, Dir. Angelina Jolie, USA) (Cert: 15/PG-13) ***

Starring: Jack O'Connell, Domhnall Gleeson, Takamasa "Miyavi" Ishihara

The directorial debut of Hollywood megastar Angelina Jolie, this film on the struggles of Olympic athlete and World War II prisoner Louis Zemperini (played by Jack O'Connell) shows certain promise from Jolie and her ability with aesthetics, comparable to Clint Eastwood (Jolie having starred in Eastwood's Changeling (2008)) but suffers from lagging action sequences and a scale of hardship difficult to capture on well on film given that long periods focus on both drifting in a lifeboat and suffering in a POW camp. Both make for good material individually, but need trimming when stacked together. The film's also awkwardly structured, especially at the beginning. 

Not bad for a first shot as director, and Jolie certainly can direct actors, but perhaps a little too ambitious and without enough discipline making the film ultimately, a bit of a slog.

My Top Ten Favourite Films Of 2014.

My Top Ten Favourite Films Of 2014 (and a few honourable mentions that didn't quite make the top ten but deserve recognition). There are a couple of films on the list that were made before 2014, but I'm sticking with my annual rule of qualifying by UK release date, not year of production.

10. The Guest
(Darkly-comic slasher-influenced thriller that built on my enthusiasm for the team of Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett. Dan Stevens steals the show as our handsome, polite and definitely psychopathic lead and clearly having the time of his life. I dare say he's my favourite new star of the year.)

9. Gone Girl
(From one of my favourite performances of the year to another, if Rosamund Pike isn't at least nominated for something at the Oscars, it'd be a travesty. Slick, intelligent, layered and...yes, also pretty funny in places, this is typical Fincher goodness.)

8. Calvary
(The more subdued follow-up to Martin MacDonagh's 2011 film, The Guard, I actually prefer this film about a kindly priest in a small Irish town who finds out he'll be murdered within a week. MacDonagh beautifully balances Father Ted-styled humour and an emotionally engaging tale, supported by a wonderful lead performance from Brendan Gleeson as well as his son Domhnall, Aiden Gillain, Dylan Moran and Chris O'Dowd.)

7. Interstellar
(Whilst comparisons with Kubrick abound, personally I see Interstellar as more of Nolan's tribute to Steven Spielberg in connecting a sci-fi plot with a beautiful story about family. Mind-blowingly imaginative in its visuals and absorbing in its story, credit must also be due for making a science-fiction that is simultaneously "high-concept" yet accessible.)

6. The Grand Budapest Hotel
(I've seen Grand Budapest Hotel three times now and plan on making many return visits. A surprise smash from Wes Anderson, this colourful caper with an all-star cast, Grand Budapest Hotel also demonstrates Anderson's flair for being both zany and bittersweet. The film twists and turns at such a fast pace, it's hard to keep trackmof everything so great about the film, so for time's sake, I will single out Ralph Fiennes as giving a bravura comedic performance.)

5. Paddington
(There was a quiet low-key expectation for this film outing for Michael Bond's beloved bear to turn out to be a turkey. How wonderful it is then, that it's a very sweet, endearing and entertaining adventure. Ben Whishaw stands out voicing the titular bear and is instantly lovable. The film also skilfully manages to juggle the feeling and ideas of the original Paddington stories whilst giving us something new and exciting. Now, where did I leave my marmalade sandwich?)

4. A Story Of Yonosuke
(Bit of an obscure entry for this 2012 Japanese comedy that got a very small release in the UK in 2014. Set in Japan in 1987, the film follows the life of student Yonosuke (Kengo Kôra) and his misadventures in his social and love life. Mostly an easy-going film and surprisingly long (2 hours, 40 minutes) it may be an acquired taste but the work of actors Kengo Kôra and Yuriko Yoshitaka as Yonosuke's extremely sweet girlfriend won my heart pretty much instantly.)

3. 12 Years A Slave
(We all knew it'd turn up on the list. 12 Years A Slave came to British cinemas at the start of 2014 and went on to Oscar glory. A film about the American slave trade with a black British director (Steve McQueen) and star (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the film paints a suitably disturbing portrait of the lives of slaves amidst a deceitfully beautiful backdrop of the deep south. The film evokes the works of Herzog, Kubrick and Leone in parts but still stands its own ground wonderfully.)

2. The Bababook
(Just when all hope seemed lost for mainstream horror movies, The Babadook arrived like an oasis in the Sahara. Looking like Tim Burton's worst nightmare after gorging on The Exorcist (1973) and a David Lynch marathon, this Australian horror film eschews tired jump scares and gore in favour of terrifying atmosphere and greatly executed ghost story. Both the scariest and greatest horror film I've seen from the last few years.)

1. The Lego Movie
(Yes, it's a feature-length promotion for Lego and yes the ending is a little ropey but, my god, if it's not absolutely brilliant for most of its runtime. Visually stunning and with an extraordinary sense of imagination held together by wonderfully self-aware satire and a stunning amount of really great jokes. I laughed more at the first fifteen minutes of this movie than I have done at most comedies the whole way through! If you have kids, let them watch this. If you don't have kids, watch it. Just...go watch Lego Movie. Everything about it is awesome!)

Honourable mentions: Magic In The Moonlight, Locke, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Godzilla, Mr. Turner, The Imitation Game, Nightcrawler, Inside Llewyn Davis.