What Richard Did

11 May

What Richard Did

 

Director: Lenny Abrahamson

Writers: Malcolm Campbell (screenplay), Kevin Power (novel)

Stars: Jack Reynor, Roisin Murphy, Sam Keeley

Motion Picture Rating: 15

Runtime: 88 minutes

 

 

I have a 17 year old nephew who is considerate, sensible and sociable, but I worry about him. His access to almost any type of adult accoutrement is vast. He is wired into the Internet 24/7 and is seemingly bombarded with images of sex, drugs and the rock n roll lifestyle ad nauseam (if not the real things). It is incredibly different to how I entered adulthood circa 25 years ago. He is sensible enough to navigate it all, but I still worry that he will be caught out.

There are many commentators that express concerns about the over-sexualized and celebrity entranced consumer kids of today. This film review will not add much to the debate, but its subject is highly relevant. What Richard Did has been described as a ‘wake-up call for Ireland’ and as a ‘defining moment for Irish youth culture’. As such other film critics have viewed the character of 18 year old Richard, his lifestyle, ambitions, close friends and errant behaviour as symptomatic of serious social change. Those critics seemingly worry about Ireland in ways that I worry about my nephew here in England.

Richard Karlsen is 18 and this film follows him through that summer that sits intoxicatingly between finishing school and heading to university. Richard (played by Jack Reynor) is the alpha teenager of his group. He plays rugby at a high level, is a good looking lad and has plenty of friends and a fair amount of respect from them and their parents. That group is well enough off and flits between Dublin and holiday homes on the Wicklow coast. They drink and party, camp out and fool around with each other and keep away from adults. It’s that summer.

The film hinges on an unsavoury incident at an out-of-control house party in Dublin. Richard is drunk and lashes out at a lad paying too close attention to his girlfriend Lara (Roisin Murphy). Jealousy, pride and anger hinted at before pour out of him. In the blink of an eye everything changes, for the worse. The second half of the film deals with the aftermath and as such is about shame, grief, and the bonds of friendship.

This is a powerful and moving film. It is incredibly well made with excellent photography, smart editing and a wonderful score. The director Lenny Abrahamson is clearly very talented. At its centre is a rather mind-blowing performance by Reynor as Richard. He is exceptional and has to become a major star. His acting, like the film, is very natural. Richard is calm, slightly brooding, and unsettlingly confident. He, like many 18 year old boys, is difficult to fathom and Reynor nails the performance. What Richard Did may or may not define a generation, but it feels topical and it certainly carries quite an impact.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Cloud Atlas

6 May

cloud atlas

 

Directors: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski

Writers: David Mitchell (novel), Lana Wachowski (written for the screen)

Stars: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving

Motion Picture Rating: R

Runtime: 172 minutes

 

 

The novel Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell sold in great numbers and was said to be impossible to film. Life of Pi by Yann Martel was the same. Now both have hit the big screen and are coming to the secondary market buoyed along by advances in computer generated imagery (CGI). Without computing power it’s hard to see how either film would get made and for Cloud Atlas the challenge also required multiple directors. The Wachowskis (Andy and Lana) worked with Tom Twyker and together they produced a big movie.

Cloud Atlas is about how our actions through time are connected so that we shape others’ lives with the decisions that we make. The themes are large and the canvas larger still. Cloud Atlas spans centuries, continents, societies and more. The main actors appear in each so that the likes of Tom Hanks gets to play a post-apocalyptic hunter gatherer, a Victorian doctor, a Scottish hotel manager and a modern day Irish author. There are six inter-weaving stories in play and the film jumps between them. Multiple directors were probably the only way to make the film.

Considering its size, Cloud Atlas is not that difficult to follow. It also moves along at a fairly decent clip and both are achievements not to be underestimated. In fact, this is a better film than I expected. It is well filmed and has high production values. The core message is less than subtle – the karmic return of good citizenry – but even that recurring theme is not exactly hammered home.

There are faults in the film that prevent it reaching greatness. The acting and the casting is patchy. Ben Wishaw and Jim Broadbent are excellent in every incarnation and their storyline – the former aiding the latter in composing music in the 1930’s – is about the best thing in the movie. Elsewhere Hanks, Halle Berry, Donna Bae and Hugo Weaving are good in some roles, but poor in others and Hugh Grant is badly miscast and downright awful in every part. Watching Hugh play a cannibal warrior in post-apocalyptic Hawaii is a horrible experience.

This is an unusual type of film and should be applauded for its ambition. It is watchable and the CGI work is stunning at times. There are flaws of course, but I was happy to go with the flow and to sit back and to mostly enjoy it. Although it is by no means a masterpiece, Cloud Atlas is better than most big budget movies and proof that unwieldy novels can be re-assembled for the screen.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Hitchcock

2 May

hitchcock

 

Director: Sacha Gervasi

Writers: John J. McLaughlin (screenplay), Stephen Rebello (book)

Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson

Motion Picture Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 98 minutes

 

 

Alfred Hitchcock was a prolific film-maker. He had hit films in the silent, black & white and colour eras. That durability was quite extraordinary, especially for a tubby chap from the east end of London. To get and to stay there he developed a tough exterior and made some enemies. That’s the Hollywood story more or less and this biographic film is set in and around the studios and sets of la-la-land in 1959. That’s the year that Hitchcock put his own money behind Psycho.

The opening of the film is smart. It is clever in a Coen brothers’ way, but then Anthony Hopkins opens his mouth and starts his Hitchcock impression. Pitching the voice somewhere between Tommy Cooper, a Hopkins’ hero, and Michael Caine, the result is distracting. Later on he adds some native Welsh tones and I spent most of the film trying to unpick the jumble. It’s a pity because opposite him Helen Mirren puts in a great performance as Hitch’s long suffering wife Alma Reville. In an average film, she is splendid.

Besides Mirren, there is not a lot to commend here. Hopkins is eager, but not convincing as the larger than life director. We get to see his famous darker side – the insecure, lecherous and domineering Hitchcock – but Hopkins never lets it rip. The overall tone is strangely muted considering how controversial the film Psycho was. That is the other big beast on display here, but perhaps the only insight on the making of the seminal horror film is Alma’s crucial influence on casting and the script.

This is a fairly quick and easy film to watch. The late ‘50’s setting is fun and the supporting cast are solid enough (Johansson, Huston and Collette). Mirren is the best thing in it and yet there is little to challenge hearts or minds in this film which is surprising as Hitch and many of his films were nothing if not provocative.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Lincoln

29 Apr

lincoln

 

Director: Steven Spielberg

Writers: Tony Kushner (screenplay), Doris Kearns Goodwin (book)

Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn

Motion Picture Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 150 minutes

 

Spielberg was always going to make this film and he was always going to cast Daniel Day-Lewis as the 16th president of the United States. His vision was finally realized and award nominations duly followed. Whilst not a masterpiece, Lincoln is an achievement for all concerned and the timing is interesting. American politics today is of little succour or interest to most of its citizens and long since gone are senior political figures to inspire the nation. Abraham Lincoln was inspiring, a role model. Compared to the leading politicians of modern day Washington, he is a giant.

The stature of Lincoln is emphasized from the start of this film. He is shown in shadow, sitting high on a makeshift stage, a tall looming and brooding figure. He towers over his family. He seemingly carries an enormous burden on his large angular frame. It is classic Spielberg, and it is classic Day-Lewis. He is Lincoln in every detail and his performance rightly won awards. It is exemplary and intelligent work and Day-Lewis carries the film with grace.

The story is that of Lincoln’s fight to abolish slavery during the last year of the American civil war. He wants to end the war, but he also wants to end slavery for which the south are in part fighting. It is shocking to see and hear southern politicians explaining their moral and natural right to keep slaves. It is repugnant, but only 150 years ago that such debates took place. Lincoln plus Tarantino’s Django Unchained shed light on a relatively taboo cinematic subject. Is that a coincidence? I am not sure, but Steve McQueen’s film Twelve Years a Slave is coming soon so there seems to be a wave that’s building.

In fairness to Spielberg, his Lincoln is not a belligerent piece of work and is more concerned with Lincoln the man and Washington politics than slavery and the civil war. It surprised me just how small and quiet this film is. There are few scenes shot outdoors and ‘action’ is limited to full-blown filibustering. This is a film about politics and about beliefs. As such it is very heavy on the dialogue and, apart from about 20 minutes around half-way, it carries that dialogue well. The acting is strong across the cast with Lincoln’s 3 backdoor fixers finely played by James Spader, Tim Blake Nelson and John Hawkes. Only Spielberg can attract such a stellar cast.

I enjoyed this film, but I was not blown away by it. Day-Lewis is extraordinary and the production values (in costume, sets, music) are extremely high. Lincoln is a polished piece of work and retells a crucial part of US history. It should be utterly absorbing, but that is not quite the case. It is worthwhile, comes from the heart and is acted beautifully, but I cannot say that it is fully engaging or uplifting. And for a Spielberg film, so long in getting made, I find that a little surprising.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Jack Reacher

27 Apr

jack reacher

 

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Writers: Christopher McQuarrie (screenplay), Lee Child (based on the book “One Shot” by)

Stars: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins

Motion Picture Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 130 minutes

 

 

I have not read any of the 17 Lee Child books featuring the character Jack Reacher, but I was aware of the controversy surrounding the casting of Tom Cruise. Reacher is described as being 6’5” tall, as having a 50” chest, of weighing approx 110 kgs and being a dirty blonde. That’s the Cruiser down pat right? Hardly, but Tom is anything if not confident. And he really does give this a good go and apparently surprised the most ardent of Reacher fans.

It is easy to see why Cruise chased this role. Reacher is a cool character, created for 40-something fanboys to admire. Jack Reacher says very little, he’s as hard as nails, a gentleman with the ladies, beholden to nobody and he delivers some great one-liners. I am sure that Lee Child looked to mash up James Bond, Jason Bourne and any of those Seagal / Van Damme / Norris b-movie fighters of yesteryear when he first sat down at his typewriter. His work is not culturally significant or particularly novel, but it is entertaining enough judged by this film.

The start of this adaptation is very good. It’s exciting and interesting as a lone sniper sets to work terrorizing city folk. The entrance of Reacher is handled cleverly and I was pleasantly surprised by how tight the first ca. 30 minutes were. Unfortunately the plot misfires thereafter and the whole film becomes rather daft –there is a large, shadowy and evil company involved and Werner Herzog appears as a sort of crazy super villain. The plot has too many holes in it and Rosamund Pike is horribly miscast as the city’s public defendant.

All in all Jack Reacher is a solid character and this is a solid piece of Saturday night entertainment. It is all too obvious and has mostly been seen elsewhere before, but Tom Cruise gives it a lift. The action is good and there are some witty lines. As this is film number 1 from 17 books (and counting), I got the feeling that the film-makers tried too hard to cram in too many Reacher cod philosophy quotes and anecdotes. Yes he’s a solitary ex-soldier living ‘off the grid’, but we don’t need reminding every 5 minutes! Subtlety is largely missing from this affair. Maybe in the next one?

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Bernie

10 Apr

bernie

 

Director: Richard Linklater

Writers: Skip Hollandsworth, Richard Linklater

Stars: Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, Matthew McConaughey

Motion Picture Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 104 minutes

 

Who is Bernie Tiede? That’s the key question to this mockumentary style film by Richard Linklater. He appears in Carthage, East Texas and walks into a job as assistant mortician. Thereafter he walks into the lives of almost all of the 7,000 townspeople leaving the vast majority with smiles on their faces. As well as being skilled at making up the recently deceased, Bernie sings in the church choir, directs the local theatre group, starts an arts festival and organizes a pageant for senior citizens. He is cheery, enthusiastic and great with people, especially the little old ladies. Having helped to arrange their husbands’ funerals Bernie likes to keep a caring eye on the widows.

Bernie is a strange little man and this is a strange little film. The fact that it is a true story makes it doubly so. Linklater read an article in a Texan newspaper about the real Bernie and immediately saw it as a movie. Having worked on the script with the journalist, he then made a perfect decision and cast Jack Black in the lead role. Black’s portrayal of Bernie is a thing of weird beauty. Black is exceptional and his acting blows away any preconceptions that you might have about him. He completely embodies this friendly mortician; he walks, talks, consoles, organizes, sings, and dances and throughout the film he never breaks character.

The widow who Bernie focuses on is called Marjorie Nugent and is played acidly by Shirley MacLaine. She is a mean old lady and none too popular in Carthage. Bernie believes that there is good in everyone and he slowly ingratiates himself with the wealthy widow and gets her to open up more to the community. Together they go on overseas trips and soon enough Bernie is giving Marjorie financial advice and practically moving in. Their relationship is odd. It’s not sexual and it’s not of a mother / son dynamic. They are mismatched friends that come to rely on each other, but with Marjorie, and her money, dominating.

Bernie and Marjorie don’t have a happy ending. She ends up with 4 bullet holes in her back and he ends up facing a jury. The final act of the film deals with the court case that is a result of Marjorie’s death. The local prosecutor, played well by Matthew McConaughey, puts Bernie on trial and stirs up a hornet’s nest in East Texas. What is justified homicide if the victim was so damn mean? Is a valid defence the fact that the accused is so damn nice? Bernie is strangely gracious through all of it and even I struggled with my verdict. That’s the beauty of the film. You don’t really know Bernie Tiede so passing judgement on his lifestyle, relationships and misdemeanours is not easy.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Silver Linings Playbook

7 Apr

silver linings

 

Director: David O. Russell

Writers: David O. Russell (screenplay), Matthew Quick (novel)

Stars: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro

Motion Picture Rating: R

Runtime: 122 minutes

 

Here is another recent award winner that comes to the small screen on the back of major critical and box-office success. The director, David O Russell, is well liked by critics. He has an eclectic back catalogue that includes Flirting with Disaster (excellent), Three Kings (good), I Heart Huckabees (poor) and The Fighter (very good). He is not a prolific director, but like Gus Van Sant, another US ‘50’s born film-maker, he usually delivers something interesting and leftfield.

The subject matter here is certainly not mainstream. Both leads suffer from forms of mental illness and their journey towards living ‘normal’ lives is what drives the film forward. The setting is a working class neighbourhood of Philadelphia and the home of Pat Solatano, recently released from a psychiatric ward and back living with his parents. Pat beat up his estranged wife’s lover and suffers from anger issues. He is also horribly direct; what he thinks he says and it’s rarely complimentary and never dull.

Pat (Bradley Cooper) struggles with his similarly angry father Pat Snr (Robert De Niro) and his mother (Jacki Weaver) works hard to keep the peace. That is a believable set up and the three characters combine nicely. The father and son dynamic is one of the main themes and it is clear that Pat Snr’s lack of patience, superstitious nature and compulsive behaviour have influenced his son. Apples rarely fall far from the tree.

Whilst Pat is working on himself and seeking that elusive silver lining, he runs into Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence). She is a young widow who turned to promiscuity and prescription drugs to manage her grief. Tiffany shares Pat’s directness and the two immediately make an engaging pair. The film is mostly about their highly unconventional courtship and to that end Cooper and Lawrence play off each other brilliantly. Cooper is particularly good playing the bi-polar Pat and deserves equal credit with the more feted Lawrence.

This is a good film with excellent performances. For US mainstream movies it is brave in its subject matter and it is prepared to jump around in tone as per the real lives of the mentally ill. Pat is bi-polar and his mood swings colour the film with drama, humour and sadness in equal measure. The film that this most reminded me of is Good Will Hunting by Gus Van Sant and anyone who enjoyed that will like this. The locations are very similar, the unconventional camerawork is present, and there is an abundance of honesty and humanity on display.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

End of Watch

1 Apr

End of Watch

 

Director: David Ayer

Writer: David Ayer

Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña, Anna Kendrick

Motion Picture Rating: R

Runtime: 109 minutes

 

 

The US film and TV industry is firmly established around Los Angeles and unsurprisingly the local police force remains a popular subject. Almost all film genres have used the LAPD for inspiration including film noir, gangster, action and comedy. With allegations of corruption and brutality dogging the force since way back, a lot of the output has been critical. In 2011 Woody Harrelson was extraordinarily good in the film Rampart playing a racist, alcoholic and violent LAPD officer. In 2001 Denzel Washington won acclaim playing a rogue officer in Training Day.

Training Day was written by David Ayer and here on End of Watch he adds the role of director. He might not be concerned about saturation in LAPD stories, but I think that he is concerned about so much negativity. For whilst End of Watch reveals some bad behaviour that LAPD cops suffer from, Ayer builds a picture that empathises with the hyper-stressed police. He shows the domestic lives that cops cherish and that are difficult to maintain under the acute pressure of protecting and serving. In a lot of ways this is a different type of LAPD story.

End of Watch follows two officers that have been partners since leaving the academy. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Brian and Michael Pena plays Mike. The film tracks them inside and outside of the precinct, on quiet and on hectic patrols and away from the force altogether. Multiple cameras are used, as per movies such as Chronicle, and the result is a highly intimate and sometimes claustrophobic portrayal of being a cop in a high crime neighbourhood (South Central LA). The more ambitious cop Brian actually carries a small handheld camera with him on patrol and that, plus standard patrol car cameras, are edited in to great effect.

This is an excellent film. I was unsure about the fly-on-the-wall set up during the first 15 minutes, but I was pulled in by the tension and action of some of the crime scenes and by the sheer camararderie of the two cops. Gyllenhaal and Pena become highly believable LAPD officers and the danger that’s put in front of them grows ever more disturbing. I found myself enjoying the company of these two guys, but starting to worry about their safety. That is quite a feat of writing and directing by Ayer and of acting by Gyllenhaal & Pena. Besides sympathising with the police, I also found myself slack-jawed at the casual violence portrayed in South Central LA, a truly nightmarish neighbourhood.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Sapphires

26 Mar

the sapphires

 

Director: Wayne Blair

Writers: Tony Briggs, Keith Thompson

Stars: Chris O’Dowd, Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy

Motion Picture Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 103 minutes

 

 

The Sapphires are a singing group made up of four related Aboriginal girls (three sisters and a cousin). The year is 1968 and the girls are about to have the adventure of a lifetime entertaining the troops in Vietnam. Under the tutelage of a somewhat seedy, and certainly disorganized, Irish manager the four girls drop the harmonized country and western ballads and take up rump-shaking soul music. Almost overnight they find themselves playing gigs, under fire and in a country that’s a whole long way from their Aussie outback home. It is a crazy story and it happens to be true.

Chris O’Dowd plays the wayward manager and the Sapphires include a successful solo artist in Jessica Mauboy (as youngest sister Julie) and well-known theatre, TV and film actor Deborah Mailman (as eldest sister Gail). The cast is good. O’Dowd gets some great lines and, playing the fool with gusto, he almost steals the film from the singing quartet. Actually all those involved put in full-blooded performances and there is a feel-good vibe through the film. In some ways The Sapphires is a little old-fashioned. And it has a familiar feel even though it is based on a unique tale.

Overall, it is difficult not to like this film. The soundtrack dazzles, the action moves quickly, and the girls mostly have fun. There are, however, a few problems that come from the speed of storytelling. Racism is front and centre at times, but promoted and dropped in quick order. The film-makers show the racist mistreatment of the black Australian singers and the black American soldiers, but don’t focus on it. The issue of forced adoption of young Aboriginal children is also important to the story, but sandwiched between rehearsals, gigs and parties. It is a difficult blend to manage and the film-makers do OK with it, but it is clunky at times.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

The Master

21 Mar

the master

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson

Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams

Motion Picture Rating: R

Runtime: 144 minutes

 

 

Paul Thomas Anderson is a fantastically talented film-maker and responsible for some of my favourite films. That is good going for a 42 year old with just 5 full-length features to his name. His films have been acclaimed internationally and his last one, There Will Be Blood, won a cluster of awards. The Master was also feted, but strangely not to the same degree. I have a feeling that to some critics Mr Anderson might be too talented for his own good.

This film tells the story of two men making their way in post WWII America. The first is Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) and the second is Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman). These are men living on the edges of acceptable society, but for different reasons and the characters must have been a joy to play by two of today’s best actors. Phoenix’s Freddie is fresh out of the army, a drunkard, a womaniser, and a rather sad and lonely character. Hoffman is the master and leads a group of believers in what has every hallmark of a Scientology like cult.

The story follows Freddie as a moonshining vagrant who stumbles upon the master and thus starts a most unusual friendship. Whilst the older man is refined, charismatic and confident the younger Freddie is uncouth, socially awkward and seems to live on the edge of violence. No doubt he is suffering from a form of post-traumatic stress from the army and that sense of military neglect is one theme of a multi-faceted film.

Freddie finds something of which he is seeking in the company of the larger than life Dodd. From a broken home, and struggling with his temper and oddness, Freddie enjoys the attention of the wise old man. For the master the attraction becomes clearer at a slower pace and is one of the most fascinating parts of the film. Although claimed to be a visionary and clearly capable of charming money from the educated and wealthy, Dodd still has some animal instincts like Freddie. It appears that he is also aware of the limitations of his vision so he tests himself by trying to convert the strange, angry and aimless drifter.

The acting by Phoenix and Hoffman is fantastic. Their scenes together are riveting and Phoenix genuinely looks haunted throughout. Amy Adams is also great in the role of Dodd’s loyal, but by no means side-lined wife. This is such a high quality film. In following Freddie and the master’s journey across America the photography is sumptuous – stunning locations shot in glorious 65 mm film. Paul Thomas Anderson has done it again. This is without doubt one of the very best films released in the last 12 months; a poignant and impactful film about a land of opportunity, about being American, the doubts that we carry and about man’s search for human connection.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

← Older Entries

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 25 other followers

%d bloggers like this: