Nebraska

07/09/14

The last time they were handing out Oscars, this low-budget picture by Alexander Payne managed to rack up six nominations, without actually winning anything. In retrospect, it’s easy to see why it was so highly regarded. From the note-perfect performances of the ensemble cast, through to the ravishing black and white images of cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, (landscapes which evoke memories of Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show – praise indeed) this is a fabulous little film that surely deserves to find a wider audience on DVD.

Veteran actor, Bruce Dern plays Woody Grant, a cantankerous old curmudgeon living in Montana with his fabulously potty-mouthed wife, Kate (June Squibb.) When he receives a promotional flier in the post notifying him that he may have won a million dollars, he becomes obsessed with the notion of travelling to Lincoln, Nebraska to collect his ‘winnings.’ Since he can’t actually drive, he keeps trying to walk there, even though it’s a distance of around a thousand miles. His son, Will (David Grant) tries in vain to persuade him that he’s wasting his time, but finally decides to drive him there, if only to spend a little quality time with the father who, because of a lifelong addiction for alcohol, has been notably absent for much of Will’s childhood. Will decides to break up the trip with a visit to Woody’s family en route. But when news gets out that Woody is going to be a millionaire, old rivalries and feuds come bubbling to the surface…

Alexander Payne doesn’t make many movies but this one must rank as his finest achievement. Both Dern and Squibb turn in standout performances, the dialogue is bleakly funny throughout and for once, here’s an American movie that’s prepared to examine the shabby underbelly of a recession-stricken USA. Nice too to see Bob Odenkirk as Will’s older brother, Ross, a role that’s very different to his sleazy turn as Saul in Breaking Bad. Plaudits too for finding a genuinely heart-warming (but never cheesy) conclusion to a story that you know from the outset, is not destined to end happily.

If like me, you let this one slip away on the big screen, here’s the perfect opportunity to catch up with it. You won’t be disappointed.

5 stars

Philip Caveney

Before I Go To Sleep

06/09/14

Another day, another literary adaptation. This one is based on S.J. Watson’s above-average page turner and it’s one of those situations where having read the source novel proves to be a distinct disadvantage. There’s a big ‘reveal’ towards the end of the story which simply doesn’t work if you’ve read the book. (Think Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, a devastating ending in the source novel that’s completely defused when you know what’s coming.)

Christine Lucas (Nicole Kidman) wakes up to find that she doesn’t know anything. (Well, we’ve all done that.) She is introduced to her caring husband, Ben (Colin Firth) who explains that some years ago she had an ‘accident,’ and now her short term memory is so badly affected, she remembers only what happens in any given day. Every night when she goes to sleep, her memory is wiped and she has to start all over again. She receives a call from a Doctor Nash (Mark Strong) who tells her he’s been working with her on her memory and instructs her to look for a hidden video camera, which records her day-to-day progress. He also tells her that her problem wasn’t caused by an accident at all but by a brutal attack…

What worked so convincingly in the novel doesn’t translate successfully to the big screen. Though the film is well acted by its key players and there’s workmanlike direction from Rowen Joffe, seeing everything in visual terms only serves to accentuate how risible much of the storyline actually is. An ending which I found rather pat in the book, is presented here as double cheese with extra cheese, and prompts difficult-to-answer questions about some of the character’s motivations.

If you’ve read the book, you’ll almost certainly be disappointed by this lacklustre interpretation. If you haven’t, you’ll probably think of it as a moderately successful thriller. Either way, this isn’t going to rock your world.

2.8 stars

Philip Caveney

The Invisible Woman

01/09/14

This slow-burning biopic focuses on Charles Dickens (Ralph Fiennes) and the clandestine affair he conducted over many years with young actress Nellie Ternan (Felicity Jones), whilst steadfastly maintaining the outward appearance of a respectable family man. It’s a handsomely mounted production, directed by Fiennes himself, that appears to have taken much of its look from the great Victorian painters.

The story opens some years after Dickens’ death and finds Nelly, living under an assumed name and married to a schoolteacher, but still grieving for the ‘great love’ of her life. The school’s reverend (John Kavenagh) himself a Dickens fan, guesses her identity and encourages her to talk about her past, which is revealed in a series of flashbacks. Fiennes makes a good fit for Dickens, as he is the very picture of the man anyway and it’s interesting to see Jones, that most contemporary of actresses, in a period role, but it must be said that there aren’t many fireworks to be found in Abbi Morgan’s restrained screenplay. Dickens emerges as something of a creep and we never really learn enough about what motivates him to act as he does, repeatedly humiliating his wife of many years, Catherine (Joanna Scanlon) and his children, without so much as turning a hair. The story also examines the void between the great author’s true nature and the image he presented to his legions of adoring fans.

Thoughtful stuff, admirably played by a superb cast but ultimately, there’s not enough here to fully engage and entertain.

3.5 stars

Philip Caveney

The Keeper of Lost Causes

29/08/14

Based on the Department Q novels of Jussi Adler-Olsen, The Keeper of Lost Causes (awful title) is a slow-burning Scandi-Noir that seems a perfect fit for fans of The Killing and The Bridge – though judging by the audience of six that attended the afternoon screening we went to, not enough people have heard about it.

Nickolaj Lie Kaas stars as the unfortunately named Carl Morck, a headstrong detective who on one fateful investigation doesn’t wait for the appropriate back-up and gets one of his partners killed and the other paralysed. Hated by his colleagues and understandably pretty depressed (the recent break up of his marriage hasn’t helped matters), he’s given a new role by his hard-pressed boss and assigned the thankless task of reviewing cold cases and ‘putting them to bed.’ He’s also given a new partner, Assad (Fares Fares) a Muslim detective who has spent most of his career working on the cases that nobody else wants. For him, this is a promotion, but for Morck it’s a slap in the face. Eventually, his interest is aroused by a five year old case, that of a young woman, Meretes Lynggaard (Sonia Richter) missing presumed drowned. But something about the evidence offered by witnesses on the ferry crossing from which she disappeared doesn’t quite add up…

Unlike the detectives, we actually know what happened to her – her fate is revealed in a series of vivid flashbacks – and it’s not too much of a spoiler to say that she is alive, imprisoned and being treated horribly (what is it about the Scandi crime writers’ mentality that loves to see female characters tortured?) As Morck and Assad move inexorably closer to a solution, even after they’ve been taken off the case… the tension builds to almost unbearable levels. Cynics might argue that the two cops never seem to make a mistake; their intuition pays off every time, but that’s a minor quibble. This is a gripping thriller that deserves a much bigger audience than it’s likely to get in the multiplexes.

Anybody out there with spandex fatigue, this one’s for you!

4 stars

Philip Caveney

Big Value Thursday at the Frog and Bucket

28/08/14

On Thursday nights at the Frog and Bucket, the accent is on value for money and we certainly get that. For a basic admission cost of £9, there’s an ebullient host (Dave Ward) and four comedians. Drinks are relatively cheap for Manchester city centre and the interior of the club is clean and welcoming.

First up is Geordie comic, Seymour Mace, who looks like a cross between Eric Morecambe and Elvis Costello. He favours a sly, much put-upon persona, which doesn’t always connect with the crowd, but I really liked his closing routine where he imagined himself as a backing singer for Gladys Knight. (One of the Pips?) He demonstrated a flair for movement and visual comedy, something that he might want to develop more.

Liam Tulley is an impassive young stand-up who could do with a little more confidence than he’s currently showing. There are some decent gags peppered through his ten minute spot, but he has a tendency to rattle through the material, where a more measured delivery would reap dividends. That’s something that will surely come with experience.

Mike Milling is a different kind of comic entirely. A bearded, hyperactive chap in shorts, he leaps onstage and with a series of hand drawn cartoons, outlines his plans for a blockbuster sequel to Snakes On A Plane, Jack Russell’s in a Caravan. It’s faintly surreal and occasionally very funny, but once again, the short time slot works against him.

The evening’s headliner is Jeff Innocent, a Londoner and his evident professionalism sets him apart from his fellow comics on tonight’s bill. We’ve caught his act before at the Comedy Store in London, where he came on dressed in combat gear, looking very aggressive and proceeded to charm everyone by being the exact opposite of what we expected. His approach to comedy is clever and he delights in confounding expectations. He’s certainly on fine form tonight, describing himself as the ‘jewish Bruce Willis’ and pointing out how confusing it must be for people who expect him to be a racist only to discover that he’s really quite the opposite. He works the crowd expertly and is rewarded with hearty laughter. He’s given the lion’s share of the running time and it simply zips by. Almost before we know it, the show’s over and it’s time to head home.

The ‘Frog’ has been Manchester’s foremost comedy club for something like 20 years and those looking for a night of good value entertainment could do a lot worse than trying their regular Thursday night sessions.

3.5 stars

Philip Caveney

Carrie

28/08/14

Why do they do it? Brian De Palma pretty much nailed this idea in 1976, but as is the way of things these days, somebody has decided that they can put a new spin on it. Except that director Kimberly Peirce completely fails to do that. Apart from a few tiny changes (Carrie’s mum owns a dress alteration business, Sue Snell is pregnant and Carrie’s first period humiliation is shared on Facebook) this is pretty much a shot-for-shot retread of De Palma’s film, minus the fancy split-screen, slo mo tropes that are his (brilliant) signatures. And apart from a bit of contemporary tweaking, they’ve even used Lawrence Cohen’s 1976 screenplay.

And then there’s Chloe Grace Moretz in the title role. Don’t get me wrong, I think she’s fabulous, but she’s too groomed, too wholesome to play the awkward, naive outsider Carrie White. Her transformation into a beauty on prom night is supposed to be a revelation, but she’s easily the best looking person in the film from the opening shot onwards. And while Sissy Spacek may have been too old for the role in the original, by golly, didn’t she convince at every step? Julianne Moore is a better fit for batty, sex-obsessed Momma White, and she cranks things down a couple of notches from Piper Laurie’s histrionic original, but that’s not enough to justify spending so much time and money on this ‘reimagining.’ Oh and that famous final ‘shock?’ Don’t hold your breath.

To my mind, the only reason for doing something like this is to radically reinvent the material. This is decently made, decently acted and if you’ve never seen the famous original, then maybe it’s worth seeing. But why would you bother when De Palma’s iconic movie is still available on DVD?

3.4 stars

Philip Caveney

What If

26/08/14

There’s nothing startling about the premise of What If; it confronts the same fairly standard rom-com conundrums as countless films have done before: can a man and a woman really be ‘just friends’? And what happens to the friendship when they fall in love? So far, so humdrum – and yet, somehow, What If succeeds in feeling fresh and vibrant.

Some of this is down to the dialogue, which is endearingly believable. There are jokes about poo – but it’s not gross-out. Potential cliches are set up, and then undercut. The characters are as flawed and odd as real human beings – not simple amalgams of manufactured quirks.

Daniel Radcliffe, as the sweet but directionless Wallace, shows once again that he is more than a boy wizard. (He really can act, and has a pretty impressive range: from The Woman in Black to Kill Your Darlings and now this; I think he’s proved himself.) The awkward chemistry between him and Zoe ‘Ruby Sparks’ Kazan (as the horribly-named Chantry) lights up the screen, and the Toronto setting is also a welcome change.

A charming and very watchable film.

4.3 stars

Susan Singfield

We Are The Best!

26/08/14

Stockholm in the 1980’s is proving decidedly dreary for teenage girls, Klara (Mira Grosin) and Bo-Bo (Mira Barkhammer). Their respective parents are nightmares and even worse, everyone says that punk is dead… but they’re having none of it. When they chance upon a free rehearsal space, the girls decide to form a band, even though neither of them can play a note or even own any instruments. However, the space comes with a bass guitar and a set of drums, which is a start and together they write a cacophonous song called We Hate Sport. Then, at a school concert, their gaze falls upon classical guitarist. Hedvig (Lev Le Moyne) and they think they have found their potential third member. The trouble is she’s pretty square and even more problematic, she’s a… Christian.

From these humble beginnings, writer/director Lukas Moodysson spins a delightful and sometimes hilarious tale that personifies the very essence of the punk spirit. The three leads are an absolute delight as they stampede through a series of picaresque adventures, making awful music, getting drunk, falling out with each other and never losing sight of the conviction that they are ‘the best.’ A lovely film in every respect.

4 stars

Philip Caveney

I Declare War

25/08/14

It’s the summer holidays and deep in the woods, two teams of kids are engaged in an elaborate war game, the object being for one team to capture the other’s flag. They are armed only with sticks and catapults but their own imaginations turn their homemade weapons into state-of-the-art military hardware – and as the lines between reality and fantasy become ever more blurred, so the stakes are raised and allegiances shift back and forth, testing friendships to the limit. One team is led by the undefeated P.K. (Gage Munro) while on the other side, the decidedly unpleasant Skinner (Michael Friend) has launched a mutiny to take over the leadership. Meanwhile, the solitary female in the game, Jessica (McKenzie Munro) seems to be playing to her own set of rules…

This is a solid effort from directors Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson and its nicely acted by the ensemble cast of young actors, with hardly a false note throughout. There are perhaps some over-familiar nods to Lord of the Flies, but the film is never less than entertaining and suggests that the directors may have earned themselves a bigger budget for their next offering.

3.8 stars

Philip Caveney

Lucy

22/08/14

Once upon a time, Luc Besson was France’s foremost action director. Recently, he’s been more successful as a writer/producer, with guilty pleasures like Taken and Transporter to his credit, but it’s a long time since he directed anything of the calibre of Leon or The Fifth Element. Lucy is his attempt to swagger his way back into the big league and while it lacks the kinetic pleasures of his best efforts, it’s nonetheless an entertaining film with an intriguing premise.

Scarlett Johansson plays the eponymous heroine, a luckless student who finds herself tricked by her loser boyfriend into taking a suitcase stuffed with drugs to the hotel room of ruthless crime lord, Mr Jang (Min Sik-Choi). The assignment doesn’t go at all well and these early scenes of Lucy in the dragon’s den, intercut with images of prowling cheetahs hunting their prey, are confidently put together and the strongest moments in the film. Things get rather more complicated when Lucy finds herself the victim of a illicit operation with a bag full of drugs sewn into her intestine. When the bag ruptures, the contents spill through her system and (for reasons that aren’t convincingly explained) Lucy begins to use more and more of her brain’s capacity. Whereupon amazing things begin to happen…

Conveniently, Morgan Freeman is on hand as Professor Norman, an expert on human evolution, to deliver a lecture about what might happen should a human being’s brain power ever be increased. He is at pains to point out that at present, we only use 10 percent of our brains’ potential capacity. This is (apparently) complete nonsense, but don’t let that bother you too much, since it’s merely a device to enable Luc Besson to experiment with the old special effects. Apparently, taking too much of the mysterious drug can turn a meek young student into a kick-ass fighter, able to murder people without raising so much as an eyebrow and to make heavy objects move just by thinking about it.

I’ll be honest, this isn’t Luc Besson’s best film, not by a long shot, but it galumphs along like nobody’s business and it never drags. Meanwhile, Johansson is rapidly becoming this generation’s Marilyn Monroe – the camera adores her and she glides through the proceedings with such assurance, that the viewer barely has time to notice how silly the plot is. Ultimately, this is a partial return to glory for the Gallic action man, but we all know he can do better than this. Still, until another Leon comes along, this will have to do.

4 stars

Philip Caveney

Bouquets & Brickbats

Theatre – Film – Comedy – Food

Nebraska

Before I Go To Sleep

The Invisible Woman

The Keeper of Lost Causes

Big Value Thursday at the Frog and Bucket

Carrie

What If

We Are The Best!

I Declare War

Lucy