Eddie The Eagle
Falling somewhere between Cool Runnings (1996) and Billy Elliot (2000), Eddie The Eagle stars Taron Edgerton as Michael "Eddie The Eagle" Edwards; a most unlikely contender for the ski jump at the 1988 Winter Olympics at Calgary. If you're looking for the no-holds-barred definitive account of Edwards' story, you may want to look elsewhere. Eddie The Eagle is a pretty sweeping fictionalisation of Edwards' story, taking the tale of an admittedly unusual British athlete's training for The Games and turning it into a pure underdog story complete with an equally fictitious washed-up former jumper played by Hugh Jackman who becomes Edwards' mentor.
His third feature film, director Dexter Fletcher (probably best known for his acting roles in shows like Press Gang) seems to be carving his own niche as a feel-good, light filmmaker off the back of the undoubtedly eccentric but equally charming Proclaimers musical Sunshine On Leith (2013) and that has issues and assets. The film is undoubtedly fluffy. As fluffy as a rabbit sitting on a giant marshmallow. There's a slickness to the production that definitely edges a little too close to cheesiness and a broad happy-go-lucky silliness that also teeters towards the worst elements of Richard Curtis' work (Tim McInnerny, an actor who I'm rather fond of, is saddled with a somewhat exaggerated snobbish Olympics official) but it's to the credit of the cast and crew that for all its artifice, Eddie The Eagle is still a great film.
You'll watch it knowing that the film is going for your heartstrings and funny bones and will push the limits of tasteful film-making to do it, but like its protagonist, the film somehow pulls this off. The writing is just constructed well enough to go for those beats that respond with an audience. It should be seen as cynically manipulative but instead, it's charming and moving. Somehow, Eddie The Eagle is a film that seems to try too hard to be liked, but rather bizarrely does deserve to be liked, if not loved. Also in the cast are Keith Allen, Richard Benson, Jim Broadbent and Christopher Walken. (Pick Of The Week)
The Huntsman: Winter’s War
Christopher Hemsworth is back in this sequel to Snow White And The Huntsman (2013). Here, we get a little bit more detail on Hemsworth’s backstory and a love with fellow Huntsman (Huntswoman?) Sara, played by Jessica Chastain, separated by the frosty Queen Freya, sister to Charlize Theron’s wicked Queen Revanna and played by Emily Blunt. Whilst the original film tempted with a darker, grittier take on the Snow White tale but ultimately fell short of delivering the goods, Winter’s War delivers much of the same, though re-tooled to appeal to fans of both Frozen (2013) and Game Of Thrones.
The key issue is one of dissonance. A film that desires for tougher meat but never really breaks from the safe fairy tale conventions and a cast that equally seem at odds with how to deliver it. Hemsworth and Chastain do have a little chemistry and could, in a unified film, make their partnership work but their earthier performances are somewhat undermined by the flamboyant set-dressing and even more flamboyant Charlize Theron and Emily Blunt who are too theatrical to truly take seriously. Nick Frost and Rob Brydon are perhaps the best thing in this film as a pair of trolls along for the journey (similar can be said for Alexandra Roach and Sheridan Smith as their female counterparts, though their parts never really get fleshed out to their full potential).
If The Huntsman: Winter’s War knew what direction to take, it could work. Gritty action-fantasy, Princess Bride (1987) influenced parody or just a shameless fairy tale, each could work in their own way but, as is often the case, the film tries to please too many people and probably won’t please enough. Maybe in time, this franchise will find its feet. Also, listen out for Liam Neeson as the narrator and a small supporting role from Ralph Ineson.
Ran
Currently being rereleased following a new 4K remaster, Akira Kurosawa's 1985 epic Ran is widely regarded as the Japanese auteur's last truly great film. Taking its cue from William Shakespeare's King Lear, Ran stars Tatsuya Nakadai as Hidetora Ichimonji, an ageing warlord who proposes to divide his land between his three sons, only for deception and manipulation to lead to war and madness. Whilst Lear is partially the ur text for Ran, the film is fed through Japanese conventions of the Jidaigeki genre (stories set in Japan's feudal period, usually concerned with Lords, samurai and the like) and the country's theatrical tradition of kabuki and noh giving the performances, especially Nakadai and co-star Mieko Harada as a scheming mistress to one of Hidetora's sons. Though Kurosawa was starting to go blind during production, the film is stunningly presented with colourful motifs and sweeping vistas alongside one of cinema's greatest battle scenes and a strong running thread of nihilism.
It's a long film and can be somewhat imposing to people unfamiliar with Japan's history and culture, but it's still a work well deserving of its reverent reputation.
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