Filed under: Published film reviews | Tags: film review, Ridley Scott, Robin des Bois, Russell Crowe
Richard The Lionheart and his right-hand man, Loxley, are slain in France when returning from the Third Crusade (1199). It’s left to one of their archers, Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe), to return Richard’s crown to London and Loxley’s sword to Nottingham. There, compelled to pose as Loxley, Longstride finds himself embroiled in politics and tackling a French plot that’s abetted by the traitorous Sir Godfrey.
It’s been a long time since there’s been a summer release that feels like an event film, and this is it. Darkly shot and Medieval in feel, Director Ridley Scott’s (GLADIATOR) film is a huge production that’s simply fun. It cost $200 million dollars to make and it’s already earned this money back in its release in the states and the UK alone.
While Crowe’s accent meanders (though never as bad as Kevin Costner’s, nor is there a mullet in sight), his often-seen scowl is replaced, here, with a twinkle in his eye and a sense of bonhomie. As an aside, Crowe spent four months learning how to shoot a bow and arrow, and can hit a target from 45m.
This film is action-packed but not juvenile – grown up without taking itself too seriously – and a summer ‘event film’ release that leaves you wanting more. (12A)
Filed under: Published film reviews | Tags: Chris Cooper, film review, Lena Olin, Pierce Brosnan, Remember Me, Robert Pattinson
Rebellious and sensitive New York rich kid Tyler (Robert Pattinson, Twilight) picks up Ally, a working class kid from Queens, on a dare. Little does he know that he’ll fall madly in love with her, creating a situation that will force their respective family traumas to the surface.
Despite their different upbringing, each has serious father issues: he thinks his big shot father doesn’t give a damn, and she’s burdened by an overprotective father who’s a city cop. And both of them have serious trauma from their past: for him, the suicide of his brother, and for her, the murder of her mother.
With a few months free from acting as the agonised teenage vampire Edward Cullen, Pattinson undoubtedly wants to prove himself in a more serious film. Whatever your opinion is of The Twilight Saga, there is much in this film to be impressed about, though Pattinson may not be at the forefront of your mind – he plays the role well in the sense that he’s mopey and distant, but he’s pretty much the same character as when he plays the vampire. That aside, while the story is arguably clichéd, it’s played with conviction, and it’s a loving tour of both the wealthy lanes and the seedier branches of New York City.
Filed under: Published film reviews | Tags: film review, Green Zone, Matt Damon, Paul Greengrass
Officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon) is posted to Iraq to justify the US invasion by finding weapons of mass destruction. When his search proves fruitless, he begins asking tricky questions, and soon even his own side are out to kill him.
Director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum) has always had an eye for hot topics: in the 80’s he wrote a book about an inside story of the M15 so explosive that Thatcher tried to ban it. In this film, Greengrass has combined politics and popcorn – the film provokes thoughts while it thrills with breakneck-speed action. Damon is perfectly cast; he’s playing a patriot, not a left-leaning hand wringer, but a soldier trying to do his duty and struggling with the malice and incompetence around him; and he shows not just the blows to his body, but also to his mind.
This is an honest and smart blockbuster that dares to deliver on several levels.
Filed under: Published film reviews | Tags: Ewan McGregor, film review, Pierce Brosnan, Robert Harris, Roman Polanski, The Ghost Writer
If you’re in the mood for nail-biting suspense, then THE GHOST WRITER is the movie for you.
A ghost-writer (Ewan McGregor, Trainspotting, Down with Love) is hired to complete the memoirs of a former British prime minister (Pierce Brosnan, Matador, Die Another Day) and uncovers secrets that put his own life in jeopardy.
Director Roman Polanski (Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown, Death and the Maiden) is back to form with this stylish, edge-of-your-seat political thriller, that plays extremely well whether you’re into politics or not. Polanski’s trademark themes, such as black humour, paranoia, the pervasiveness of evil, and a preoccupation with ‘foreignness’, are all showcased in this film that looks as chilly as its story.
With plot twists that will keep you guessing all the way to the conclusion, it’s a pleasure to see an intelligent thriller that’s extremely well acted.
Filed under: Published film reviews | Tags: film review, Gabourey Sidibe, Lee Daniels, novel "Push", Sapphire
Sixteen year-old Precious is obese, illiterate, physically and mentally abused, and pregnant (again) by her father. When an incident at school finally attracts attention, Precious grabs the lifeline offered by a teaching programme for problem girls.
Gabourey Sidibe’s Precious maintains an impassive attitude, making all the more affecting the flashes of emotion she exposes when pushed (PUSH is the title of the novel the film is based on). Mo’Nique, better known as a stand-up comic, plays a mother so monstrous she’d fit into a horror film. In smaller roles, Mariah Carey gives a strong performance as the social worker who uncovers the truth about Precious’ ‘home’ life, and Lenny Kravitz charms as a compassionate nurse.
Even as this is a triumph for indie filmmaking from Producer (Monster’s Ball)-turned-director Lee Daniels, rarely has one been so relieved to have an uplifting outcome.
Filed under: Published film reviews | Tags: Dennis Lehane, film review, Leonardo Dicaprio, Martin Scorsese, Max Von Sydow, Shutter Island
1954: US Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) travels to an offshore asylum for the criminally insane to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a murderess from her cell, but he also wants to confront an imprisoned arsonist he believes was responsible for the death of his wife. Once there, Daniels comes to believe that psychologists Cawley (Ben Kingsley) and Naehring (Max von Sydow) are involved in unethical experiments. The story of criminal investigation turns in on itself as our hero suffers contradictory flashbacks and drug-induced hallucinations.
SHUTTER ISLAND is the nearest thing to a horror film Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull) has made since Cape Fear. Based on Dennis Lehane’s novel, it has one of those tricky plots that keeps pulling the rug out from under the hero and with Scorsese’s masterful direction, it’s engaging Film Noir mystery combined with gothic melodrama.
Filed under: Published film reviews | Tags: Ewan McGregor, film review, I Love You Phillip Morris, Jim Carrey
Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) is happily married and a member of a local police force when a car accident causes him to reassess his life. Steven realises he’s gay and decides to live life flagrantly, even breaking the law if it gets him what he wants. When he’s jailed for fraud, he falls in love with inmate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). His obsession with freeing Phillip and their building a perfect life together, prompts Steven to attempt, and often succeed at one impossible con after another.
For those of us who find Carrey often ‘too-too’, this is a stunning turn for him as an actor, a dream role that combines his old-school comedic tricks with an emotional honesty that feels genuine and earned. Directed by the writers of Bad Santa (John Requa and Glenn Ficarra), this is one of the blackest and funniest comedies of the year.
Filed under: Published film reviews | Tags: film review, Natalie Portman, Sam Shepard
Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire, Spiderman) begins his latest tour in Afghanistan when his chopper is shot down and he’s presumed dead. As his family, including his wife Grace (Natalie Portman, V for Vendetta, Star Wars III), brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain, The Day After Tomorrow), and father (Sam Shepard, Blackhawk Down, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) mourn his loss and try to move on with their lives, Sam unexpectedly returns home; this film is essentially about the consequent family dynamics.
While the Danish original is better when it comes to pacing and depth, this is an affecting and sturdy remake that brings a powerful story to an even wider audience.
Filed under: Published film reviews | Tags: film review, George Clooney, Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is a suave but haunted jetsetter bent on reaching ten million air miles as he goes from city to city laying off the workforce on behalf of cowardly bosses. His life is just how he wants it – no emotional ties and plenty of material perks – until he falls for Alex and is saddled with work-partner Natalie.
It’s a consumerist fable set against bleak corporate downsizing with Clooney a ‘career transition counsellor’ who is thriving in the chaos of recession. Topical, eh? Heavy? This is a film saying something important about its times. But in the hands of director Jason Reitman’s (Juno, Thank You for Smoking) hands, it is smart, silky, sensitive, funny old school movie magic – an emphatic statement that Hollywood can still make excellent movies.
Filed under: Published film reviews | Tags: Clint Eastwood, film review, Morgan Freeman
Struggling to mend a divided country, President Mandela (Morgan Freeman) fixes upon the idea of South Africa winning the 1995 Rugby World Cup to unite white and black.
The subject of the film is a rugby game, but the story is about the political and cultural tension at the time. Many of Mandela’s countrymen felt it was a bad decision to embrace the loathed Springbok rugby team (Captain’d by Matt Damon) as a symbol for future unity of his country, because they were white and wore the colours of apartheid. However, Mandela was insightful enough to see that sport is a version of life and politics a kind of sport, and both require teamwork.
Another Clint Eastwood directed film (Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven, Gran Torino), this film is noble, elegant and warm-hearted.
Victoria Jelinek 