Film Reviews by JR

What a brave film - including illicit recordings of police brutality during protests over the murder of a girl in police custody for not wearing her hijab correctly. If I understood it correctly, it involved the steady corruption of a once honorable, compassionate and moderate man when he receives a higher office and has to condemn protesters to the death penalty. Fear for the family is palpable and the ending is very tense. We were quite shaken after viewing it. There is not much graphic violence, which is seen blurrily from a distance, but as an illustration of life under a repressive regime, it is chilling.

There is a quiet tension achieved over the gradual suspicion that the nuns are not as loving as they might appear and the power over lives that they held and appeared to relish. Cillian Murphy's performance lacked variety. The relationship with his wife was not explored or how she felt about his compassion. His adoption as a boy was unclear and perhaps critical as it explained this compassion. He could perhaps have shown some anger or more unease about his daughters and their growing attractiveness to boys. A good film that could have been better.

Managed ten minutes before abandoning it in horror.

Might appeal to horror fans but it was simply weird. Strange photography too as if filmed in a hall of curved mirrors.

Can't imagine how it got financed and released.

Excellent film with superb acting. Amazing that it was based on true events. I did find the determination to include as many diversely ethnic characters a bit distracting from the reality of the period but everyone was very well portrayed. The incompetent male police treating the female investigator as a glorified tea lady was perhaps a little overdone - but then it might be very true of that time.

Obviously a question of taste, but I found the bottom humour pitiful. The costumes were outrageous and I did laugh at the velcro scene before abandoning after 15 minutes.

Disappointing. Nice period details (flower-power era) and depiction of children but rest of it shouty, sweary and confusing. Interesting study of patriotism and political ideology gradually being challenged but felt that there was a much better film in there somewhere.

A slow start but somehow it held interest. A compelling story, well told. Exploration of unchecked sadism and inhumanity, prejudice, ambition, shady politics and hard work. Some gentle humour and moral questions too. All set in a harshly beautiful landscape.

This is beautiful film for lovers of fine dining and cooking. It is not for action movie junkies!

THe film opens with about fifteen minutes of food being lovingly prepared and presented. There is minimal dialogue and no music. The scene is unhurried and calm and is beautifully photogrqphed. This sets the tone of the rest of the film which continues with gentle humour, a low-key but tender love affair, and delightful scenery. At one point the film continues past what appears to be a natural conclusion, but the extra minutes are worth it.

A gem!

A slow film that seems to paint a dismal picture of Helsinki and the dead-end jobs people have to do to survive.

The loneliness of the two main characters is explored, and, although neither lead is portrayed in a sympathetic light the viewer ends up caring. The wink at the end is worth waiting for. Probably not a film for those who like action movies!

There were some delightful moments in this gentle film and the scenery was wonderful. The acting was excellent and the young girl was particularly charismatic.

The film was obviously trying to compare the pull of city life verses traditional life in a remote village and perhaps draw attention to the disappointments that occur in modern life. In trying to make these points in a subtle way it perhaps missed an opportunity to be more forceful.

This film is very slow- long lingering shots of the father on the balcony plus lots of shaky home movie clips as they record their holiday together. There is some suspense as the girl gets drawn into a more grown-up world but basically, it is shots of a holiday in Turkey. The grown-up girl seems rather wistful and sad. It is an interesting study of a father-daughter relationship but there is a better film in there somewhere!

The filming style took some getting used to as it used a lot of odd angles and there was a lot of mumbling. However, the rather tragic story was told well. Tom Hanks was amazing as the cunning and rather creepy agent. Most of him was prosthetics and he was acting with his bulked-out body and eyes. The young man playing Elvis was also brilliant.

It was an entertaining film but over-long.

This was very entertaining. Enjoyable romp with Nicholas Cage sending himself up in a most amusing way.

Stupid plot and lightweight film carried by the sheer acting ability and charisma of the two leads. Worth seeing for Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts alone but don't take it seriously!

The film opened with the reclusive Nicolas Cage clearly fond of his pig. When it is stolen he begins a search and went back to his old haunts - a city and gradually it is revealed that he was once a highly-regarded chef. The reason for his life-style choice of supplying truffles instead of cooking with them is not really clear. There is a strange and cruel fist-fight scene of no relevance at all. The dialogue is mumbled.

The film is unsatisfactory on every level and a waste of a couple of hours.