Filed under: Published film reviews | Tags: Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovitch, Morgan Freeman
Lonely and bored retiree Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) wants excitement, but a band of assassins who attack his home isn’t what he had in mind. Having a past with the CIA, he gets a few of his ex-cohorts together, all of them designated by ‘the powers that be’ as ‘Retired: Extremely Dangerous.’
It’s a scenic trip to collect a few of the old group, starting out with a visit to Joe (Morgan Freeman) in a New Orleans retirement home and Marvin (John Malkovich) in the Florida Everglades. Then they collect Victoria (Helen Mirren) who’s running a B & B. Age hasn’t drained their skills of survival.
RED is a comic thriller, adapted from a darker graphic novel. Fans of the comics will find this film lighter and likable. Willis is still playing the sardonic, wisecracking, good-at-killing guy, but it works well. In fact, it’s the charismatic cast that keeps the ball rolling as well as the fact that they, and the movie in general, do not take themselves seriously. A surprisingly entertaining and humorous film.
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 