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tony-1310
Reviews
Last Chance Harvey (2008)
A comfy blanket of a movie
Old school acting and old school script that tells a delicate story about lonely lives salvaged when two people find each other. The joy of this film is being engrossed in the lives of the two very real ordinary people being depicted by two proper Hollywood stars. Both characters are not particularly likable but Hoffman and Thompson have you on their side from their first scenes. Plot surprises and life threatening peril are not needed here just a message, especially directed towards people who find themselves with grown up children, that their lives are still worth living and life can still surprise you so grab any last chance it offers. A proper treat for people looking for a bit more than summer blockbuster bangs.
The Damned United (2009)
Unworthy impression of the man that lacks insight about his genius
Brian Clough was one of Britain's greatest personalities. I am just about old enough to remember the buzz generated when he was interviewed on TV. Life and TV were grey but Cloughie was not. He sparkled and spoke his mind freely, where other pundits were too scared to do so; with so few channels many could not risk upsetting the status quo. For that reason a grateful nation admired and loved the bright young manager. Whatever his insight about football you respected it because he'd proved he knew what he was talking about. His teams won. And with limited resources he won big. This tells of the years Mr Clough achieved his greatest success and how through belligerence, pride, passion and belief he threw it all away. It does not however give insight into the man himself, which I believe should have been the core of the story. I am still non- the wiser as to what made Clough such a great team manager. Yes he had beliefs and conviction but his real talent was getting Derby County to play his way on the field, not his gift of TV chat. All of Mr. Clough success was based on his ability to motivate a team to outplay and outwit the wealthy and powerful. Watching the recent ITV Documentary 'Clough' calls attention to this point. Only one scene in the film touches on this, when he has a quiet word with players in the changing room before sending them out to do exactly what he'd asked against Leeds United. For me these scenes were real highlights I'd have liked more. Instead Dammed United leans heavily on the topsy-turvy relationship between Manager and Assistant Manager during this time to give the story narrative. To its credit this is not a film about football - but then even a few weeks after seeing it – I'm still not sure what it is about. It fails to give a insightful portrait of the man, manger or times. One last though is it did not make any attempt to compare today's soulless media controlled game with the old days – I'm sure Mr Clough would have had a lot to say about that.
Knowing (2009)
Blockbuster quality on meagre budget for those who are prepared to just go with it
Alex Proyas could turn out to be one of the most important big budget movie directors of coming years. He's demonstrated this successfully here by crafting an everyman-saves- everyone yar on a meagre budget, which performs well above the norm. The consensus view is that he has achieved this by avoiding big studio tinkering. This results in dynamic twists and turns that confound expectations – whilst still being a disposable dumb as nuts blockbuster flik - for those looking for big screen adventure. For most of the film Nic Cage seems a bit clueless as to what's going on – but fear not as this works a treat - as his character is also over taken by events he is powerless to control – so is Nic's acting, which fits well with his characters plight. The plot outline is nothing new, being a classic B-movie formula of mundane events that lead to major catastrophe – but Alex Proyas finds unique ways of telling and resolving the story and, without studio interference, introduces vivid flights of fancy that I for one did not see coming. I'm off to buy Dark City Director Cut on DVD.
Traitor (2008)
Quality Thriller shedding more light on terrorism than many recent efforts
It's likely that many people have not heard of this film, as the press coverage has been relatively low key. This does not however reflect the quality of what is on offer. This is a great brave film and deserves your time. This films strength is that it is prepared to show logical and well reasoned arguments used by terrorists to recruit and carry out bombing, rather than other films that have created lazily caricatures that simply depict them as nutters. I.e. it treats its audience as intelligent. I imagine that for many distributors this was seen as risky and those with a conservative viewpoint were hesitant in supporting it - hence the lack of recognition. Ultimately showing the evil at the heart of terrorism, the main theme is the difficult choices facing those protecting us, and the damage that these choices can inflict on those in the front line. To pull this off the actors and director needed to be on top of their game. The pace at some stages flags but overall it all hangs together well and much of the slower stuff is needed to bring value to the action. The set pieces prove to be compulsive and realistic and worth the wait, with the ending rounding off the story satisfactorily
Meet the Robinsons (2007)
Disney still feeling the weight of the past
Disney should be leading the pack. With this movie they have put both resource and effort into regaining the acclaim they've lost in recent times. In the UK an old Mickey Mouse short was included before the main feature, which highlighted how much more dynamism and vivid imagery is available to creative animators these days. On the other hand it also proved that charm, imagination and storytelling can not be computer processed quite so easily.
My seven-year-old daughter thought the film was "great" and wants to see it again. This makes a great deal of sense to me; this film has so much going on that repeat viewing, especially on DVD, would be rewarding for younger children. My 12 year old son view was that it was "OK"; my interpretation being that the plot was lashed together with little thought for pace and coherence in the hope that the colourful graphics and snappy (but unfunny) dialogue would cover up the plot holes. He was not captured by the Disney magic.
Disney needs to re-find the humour and storytelling that used to be their forte. Take a few more risks and use all that new animation technology to be more innovative, they could then be back on top of the game.