Film Reviews by Steve

Cult social comedy which excels due to its quirky, quotable script and once-in-a-lifetime performance from Richard E. Grant as WIthnail, a volatile, unemployed actor who suffers the agony of his more stable friend (Paul McGann) finding work and leaving him behind. This is eccentrically nostalgic, poignant, and really very funny.

There is scarcely a plot; this is a character piece elevated by inspired casting. Like almost all UK comedy, it's about class. Withnail is a minor aristocratic wastrel and his companion a more rooted middle class stalwart. Comparatively! The support performances are legend and might have stolen the picture. But for Grant.

Writer-director Bruce Robinson based it on his own experiences at the end of the '60s, with the demise of the counterculture. The evocation of the period is profound, including a well chosen soundtrack. Plus the roster of drink/drugs. The photography is evocative, the squalor is palpable and the sentiment is... quietly heartbreaking.

Particularly the pitiful resolution. Not everyone will relate to its squalid defeatism. And with such a loose narrative, there are longueurs Yet the friendship of the out-of-work actors and the sensation of youth running out of road, may resonate more widely. There really isn't anything else like this.

Nothing dates faster than a story about young people. And in the '60s, Hollywood was still getting started on the idea of a generation stuck somewhere between childhood and maturity. It's the old fashioned attitudes, particularly towards gender roles, which is the problem with this version of Neil Simon's hit Broadway comedy.

Jane Fonda and Robert Redford are young professional newlyweds who move into a ramshackle, fifth storey apartment in Greenwich Village. Imagine the rent! This is about their period of adjustment- to married life, the bride's straight-arrow mother (Oscar nominated Mildred Natwick) and their Bohemian neighbour (Charles Boyer).

The two stars were in their 30s and a little old for the roles. But it's still fun to see them just before they were massive. Fonda plays the sexy kook as she often did back then. Redford is maybe more beautiful but concedes the spotlight. Their main conflict is due to the husband being too buttoned up and the wife more spontaneous.

The script deals in shouty backchat more than hilarity. Yet it scores as a Technicolor time capsule of '60s Manhattan, much like Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). They even got Johnny Mercer to co-write the theme song. It's not as memorable but the period lifestyle of post-grad New Yorkers- plus the stars- makes it still worth a visit.

The extreme violence is the only sensible reservation to the status of Steven Spielberg's classic adventure as the ultimate family blockbuster. Including the startling body count. Its success is partly due to the lavish production; another level from anything similar in Hollywood's deep history. And it's way better than the many sequels.

This quality is unrecognisable from the old time serials which were its inspiration. There's the dense atmosphere of the sumptuous photography, the rich, evocative set design and period costumes. And the famous music score. There are state of the art special effects, stunts and action sequences, all without a flicker of cartoonish CGI.

The casting of Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones is another bullseye. He's the pre-WWII archeologist/adventurer in a quest for some ancient, arcane MacGuffin, while skirmishing with grotesque Nazis and on-off romancing feisty Karen Allen. Plus he gets to wear the legendary screen outfit.

 Any kid blessed with a strong stomach and not easily scared, will love this... But as an action film for an adult audience, it eventually falters because there isn't much interest in the overarching narrative and the many cliffhangers arouse diminishing returns. The best precedes the opening titles. Make sure you see this before you are 16!

Emotive real-life polemic aimed at the chemical industry and the docile compliance of the US government, which informs us that if regulation is left within the scope of free enterprise, then the ruin of its workers and the environment is just a number on a spreadsheet. This is Hollywood activism, and clearly a labour of love.

It restates that our institutions are controlled by a wealthy, entitled few, who when challenged will fold to protect others like themselves. And how arduous and self-destructive it is to oppose them. Mark Ruffalo plays Ron Bilott, a corporate lawyer who was one of this in-group, but crossed the line. Though it cost a decade of his life.

Courageously he didn't turn his back on malfeasance when everyone else did, and he was expected to. It's a credible performance, backed by an impressive support cast, including some of the actual people involved. Though this is too polished for social realism, and Todd Haynes directs us to an intense emotional epiphany.

This kind of story goes back at least as far as the fictional eco-thrillers of the 1970s. But this is so much more compelling because of the true horror of laissez-faire government and the degeneracy of vested interest. Laboriously, the lawyer won his case, but this is only a beginning. Now these forever chemicals are in us all.

Clever black comedy which is pitched more as a satire on US politics than a copy of the standard high school blueprint. So it's not really about tribal teenage subcultures. This is more of an attempt to explain the sociopathic grotesques who occupy positions in the White House.

Reese Witherspoon gives her signature performance as Tracy Flick, an ultra-ambitious senior and Tea Party cutout who runs a scarily efficient operation to become student president. Mathew Broderick is a liberal, harassed and hypocritical civics teacher who means to thwart her and save mankind from her ruthless egotism.

This is all more insightful than genuinely funny, but there's some imaginative detail that invites repeat viewings. And a quality script. There are decent ensemble performances, including Chris Klein as the idiot jock who runs against the Flick machine. A sort of sweet Labrador.

Broderick has the central role and he's fine, but Witherspoon's inspired, star-making portrayal has escaped the film to enter wider public consciousness. Given when this was released, it's possible that Tracy owes something to Monica Lewinsky. Now, her passive-aggressive Stepford Wives persona is everywhere.

Boy meets girl is the greatest story ever told, whether it ends in matrimony or heartbreak. With the touristic pictorial of Los Angeles, some decent sub-Sondheim showtunes and the boisterous photography/editing, there is potential for an optimistic musical romcom... in CinemaScope! And such ultra-vibrant colour!!

The opening number is a blast, and for about 30m it delivers a rousing dose of adrenaline. But eventually a lack of real quality shows though the conspicuous technique and feelgood tropes. And resentment takes root that this owes its heart and soul to Jacques Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964).

Then the climax leaps right off the meta highboard... Which would have been interesting in '64 but now is a bit will-this-do. And in a musical which generates so much nostalgia for the studio era, the stars- Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling- start to seem ordinary. Partly because they are stuck with the humdrum dialogue.

It's a musical romance, a tale of serendipity. We go to this sort of film exactly for the conventions. So the recycling of standard genre situations is expected. And like the Demy classic, it takes place in a sweet spot somewhere between dreams and magic. But it's also the kind of ersatz knockoff its old-school jazz enthusiast hero would have deplored!

Well mounted cold war spy thriller adapted from the debut Jack Ryan novel by Tom Clancy. Politically it was soon unmoored from history, as the Soviets are portrayed as sinister automatons, even though this was released during the time of Glasnost. Whereas the CIA operative (Alec Baldwin) is a smart jock with an adorable child.

He must untangle the motives of a commander (Sean Connery) of a next generation Soviet nuclear submarine who has gone rogue off the coast of Florida. So both the US Navy and the Red Fleet seek to blow the Red October out of the water for contrasting reasons rooted in cold war paranoia. 

Ryan is convinced the skipper wants to defect, but what if he is wrong? Actually, there are unmissable echoes of Dr. Strangelove (1964)! Mostly this is US propaganda with their secret services as the affable, knockabout good-guys. But it has value for the authentic seeming underwater scenes on the hi-tec attack subs.

And it's great to watch Connery as the whiskery naval captain in the period he was cast for an implied nonconformist authority, as well as his roguish star charisma. There's also a deep cast of distinguished (male) character actors. And for a blockbuster, the realism of its sealed, hermetical combat zone is uncompromised.

In which Ryan Gosling completely absorbs the late '60s urban samurai persona of Steve McQueen... And director Nicolas Winding Refn appropriates the existential alienation of Walter Hill's classic LA neo-noir, The Driver (1978). As the title suggests, the story mainly deals with motivation. And how far will the protagonist go?

The answer is, all the way. The set up implies this is a gangster film. Gosling plays an emotionally frozen getaway driver who is thawed by Carey Mulligan's lonely jail widow. Which brings him into jeopardy with the mob. But despite the car chases and extreme violence this is really an arthouse review of urban sadness.

Its weakness is the plot, including the banality of the stolen suitcase of laundered mob money. This is all about the nocturnal noir atmos. Most of this is technique, with the turned up room ambience (the sound mix is excellent!), the impassive performances, the soundtrack of '80s-style techno and the neon of the naked city.

Crucially, Gosling has the star charisma to sustain all this numb despair. Mulligan is miscast and the rest of the cast scarcely register. And despite the narrative wrong-turns, the director's craft also makes this a decent ride. Even the framing and the tracking shots crank up the tension. One of the standouts of the 2010s noir revival.

This slow-moving revenge western is a good fit for Clint Eastwood's impassive star persona following his collaborations with Sergio Leone. And like their Spaghetti Westerns, there is a mythic element, hinting these events occur in a state of purgatory... And it's extremely violent! There's some ostentatious style too, though not on a similar level.

Plus, it creates a realistic impression of the old west. Much of this was constructed by co-writer Philip Kaufman who was intended to direct. It is adapted from a novel by a KKK activist, and apparently he politically neutralised the script before Eastwood had him sacked. This is actually quite liberal in its portrayal of Native Americans.

Eastwood plays a rancher who gets tangled up in the bloodletting at the end of the American Civil War when his family is murdered by Union soldiers. It doesn't tell the history coherently- or accurately. So five minutes on Wikipedia is useful. Or a US High School education. In revenge, the farmer/gunman returns this violence on his enemies... 

Chief Dan George stands out as a Cherokee maverick. Clint gives his standard 1970s performance, but regrettably spits tobacco juice all over the support cast, livestock and scenery. What were they thinking? Its status as a classic of Americana feels exaggerated, but the landscapes- in Panavision- are stunning. And the anti-war theme is welcome.

Superior frontier western which perhaps revisits too many standard situations for genre agnostics but is well directed by Anthony Mann on the dramatic peaks of Oregon, and in glorious Technicolor. And there's an impressive cast list led by James Stewart as a reformed outlaw.

Now he's guiding a wagon train west to open up new farmland. But their mission evolves into a parable on greed as gold is found in the territory. Stewart is too much of an everyman to play a morally ambiguous anti-hero.  Arthur Kennedy is better as the slippery desperado from his past.

There are signs of studio interference with some bizarre casting, especially the salon-fresh glamour of Julie Adams and Rock Hudson who are more natural in swimwear than period costume. Their roles are add-ons anyway. And it's disappointing to see black actor Stepin Fetchit still doing his idiot schtick on the other side of WWII.

Yet there are progressive themes not usual in '50s westerns, more often seen in the Mann/Stewart cycle. But this is not realism; it's an episodic adventure for genre fans, with a shoot out and a punch-up and some dubious comic relief... and it's enough fun to feel even shorter than its already brief running time.

With the ascendency of digital technology, there is a consensus on what an action picture looks like, with the hyperkinetic editing, the ostentatious camera swoops, the muted colour tones and much of the frame completed in post-production. Even a second rate director can turn out a blockbuster in the customary style.

Now, what matters is the 'why?' What Alfred Hitchcock dismissed as the MacGuffin. Director Marc Foster has cranked out standard multiplex product, but lucked upon a pretty decent doomsday premise- from a 2006 novel by Max Brooks- which is especially resonant since the Covid pandemic...

A deadly global virus is spread via commercial trade routes which creates hoards of mindless carriers- yes, zombies! Except the few survivors trust the experts will plot a way forward. Well, backed by the military. Naturally, society breaks down, but at least there isn't a counter-uprising of anti-vaxxers...

Brad Pitt brings some star charisma as the burned-out UN enforcer pressed back into service. There's an adequate support cast for a zombie film though lumbered with banal dialogue. The CGI elevates many exciting action set pieces. It's an end of the world dystopia with some brains. And not merely those devoured by the undead. 

Simply beautiful romantic drama adapted from Patricia Highsmith's 1952 novel. It is set within that period, but is also like a hallucinatory dream. An inexperienced shopgirl (Rooney Mara) has a muted, but life-changing affair with an older married woman (Cate Blanchett as Carol) struggling through a hostile divorce.

This is on the threshold of the Eisenhower decade so the forbidden liaison threatens access to her young daughter. There is some thematic content about the limited rights and freedoms of homosexuals, but this is more intensely the story of an affair. Director Todd Haynes captures the narcotic disorientation of new love

This is principally through the gorgeous expressionist photography. But also the period set design, à la Edward Hopper. And the irresistible performances of the two stars. There is nuance; this not just about their transformative sexual attraction, but also how this is impacted by class, wealth, background, gender, age...

There is an abundance of good taste, including the score, the fashions, the brief sexual content, the muted, sometimes nebulous colours, and the understated script. If that also implies the tempo is adagio, then that is also true. But this is a heartbreaker. More than the social issues, this is about the mysterious complications of desire. 

RoboCop- the cyber law enforcement agent played by Peter Weller- is essentially a hybrid of Dirty Harry and the Bionic Man. And RoboCop- the action/SFX blockbuster directed by Paul Verhoeven- is satirical, dystopian futurism, like Judge Dredd. Its theme of the corporate ownership of justice now applies even more than in 1987.

And its pre-digital effects and stunts look better than they ever did. In the shabby, near-future Detroit, society has collapsed due to violent organised crime and rapacious white collar greed. Weller plays a police officer killed by the gang of feral criminals which runs the illegal trade in narcotics.

So Omni-Consumer Products reanimate his corpse into an inexorable agent of law enforcement; part human/part machine. And who wouldn't want an omnipotent robot to wash the scum off the mean streets. Even if it ultimately reports to the board? Inevitable, the gizmo runs amok when the dead cop's memories reassert themselves…

There's a recycled plot and the cast can’t do much with a banal script; we mostly just see Weller’s mouth behind the mask, spitting out secondhand Arnie-isms. But the premise, even if not original, is still interesting and relevant. And it’s great see the state of the art effects just before CGI turned action pictures into cartoons. 

It gave us something we never knew we wanted; the Christmas action film. Bruce Willis delivers performances from either extreme of his range; vest on and vest off... But he's well cast as a stubborn New York cop who touches down in LA to save his marriage... then rescues his wife and her wealthy colleagues during a heist on their global corporation. 

It's a conservative Howard Hawks western set in a skyscraper. Public officials are incompetent or corrupt so the individual must protect what's his with a handgun. It's full of references to westerns, and the detective is likened to John Wayne. We get stunts and explosives, yet this is a blockbuster heavy with thematic content...

LA v NY... Gender issues... Corporate greed... The blue collar Irish-American Catholic takes down educated, white collar Europeans in a triumph of moxie over sophistication. Willis delivers the payoff one-liners with wry charisma and Alan Rickman sports the goatee of evil with relish. When these two are in conflict, this is a lot of fun.

The slim premise is overstretched and I'm ill-disposed to its politics. And stupid things happen all the time. But it's that sort of film. If you can suspend disbelief and disregard the overload of subtext, it's a high-octane action picture with some feel-good comedy and a hero you can root for. It's a classic of its genre.

Ultra-suspenseful western expanded from a short story by Elmore Leonard. There are many effective changes from the 1957 adaptation by Delmer Daves. That was a psychological noir mostly staged in studio interiors. This retains some of the mind games but is an action film shot on location. And is much more violent.

A killer outlaw (Russell Crowe) is captured after a bloody stagecoach heist and escorted across Apache territory to catch a train to Yuma for trial and imprisonment, while his psycho-comrades attempt to free him. The last guard standing is a rancher (Christian Bale) who needs the $200 fee to save his barren fields and suffering family

And the feeling of jeopardy builds as he nears the departure time and the murderer tries to get inside the farmer's head. The stars don't quite equal Glenn Ford and Van Heflin in the original and Crowe's smirk gets a bit tiresome, but they are fine. Ben Foster makes an impact as the pitiless gunman leading the remainder of the gang.

The muted colour photography brings atmosphere. There's a decent script with interesting subtext about frontier justice, and an Oscar nominated score. The idea is overextended but still compelling and James Mangold directs with some style. While this doesn't surpass the Daves classic, it's a thrilling western on its own terms.