Film Reviews by DW

Even if you're not an observer of modern Irish politics, you'll find some shocking proof of governmental collusion in a recent Irish tragedy.

This is a deep & conclusive investigation into the deaths of 6 apolitical men spending an evening together in their local pub to watch their national team beat Italy in the World Cup. Apart from "wrong place, wrong time" their only distinguishing feature was that they were all Catholics. Slowly, irrefutably this film reveals the criminal involvement of the police & security services, all condoned by the government of the day.

My question is this: if illegal collusion on this scale can be hidden from all but diligent investigators, how many more examples have taken place & probably continue to do so?

You're entitled to be dubious about the motives behind my condemnation: my Mother was Irish so I inherited a degree of Irish awareness, that's all.

Unhurried & understated, this is a fascinating story of love & dependency. The plot line is easy to accept as being realistic whilst absorbing. I'm glad I ignored the negative reviews.

This is an unusually long film (about 2 hours) & it's prolonged by extremely slowly-spoken dialogue incorporating frequent unrealistic pauses. It's a hell of a challenge to watch, believe me! I normally avoid films in which all of the actors are unknown to me but I now regret allowing this one to slip through that particular filter. i suspect some of the names I'd like to have seen just weren't interested to participate. Good choice.

The plot exclusively follows one track, the business problems of a business man. There's no back story, no flash backs, no illicit romance; there's nothing to detract from a relentless trudge to the end. Some of the scenes depict human relationships in a most unrealistic way. We are treated to the inevitable scene in an American barbers shop with its dubious customers & the often-seen scene of a husband so,so slowly shaving whilst looking thoughtful until his wife appears behind him in the bathroom mirror to show her caring side. Rubbish but not even original rubbish.

The car chase (car & fully loaded oil tanker) is pathetically unrealistic but have you ever watched a car chase that wasn't?

Watch it a your peril...............or take the dog for a long walk!

One astar is is one too mant.

This has been, by far, the most enjoyable thing I've watch for a very long time. The HBO Miniseries are always of a reliably high standard but it was the starring role of Frances McDormand that appealed to me most. Through all 4 episodes she is in terrific form doing what she so uniquely does best.

Overall, the pace is enjoyably slow & time is taken to build up the characters & their relationships. Big jumps in time occur so it's intriguing to see how certain situations develop over time.

I've given 5 red stars to the 1st three episodes but I'd like to up that to 5 gold stars for episode 4 in which the scenes involving Bill Murray (who plays the part of Jack Kennison) were just the most watchable performances I've seen in ages. If I was an acting contemporary of Frances McDorand or Bill Murray I'd be dead keen to act with them & I'm sure the superlative performances from the other supporting actors creates the synergy that develop between really good actors.

If you don't watch it, you'll kick yourself!

"And the award for most retrograde British film 2018 goes to Funny Cow". I thought we'd left behind this type of cinematic "entertainment" years ago. From both sides of the camera, everyone involved should be made to sit down & watch "Kes" on repeat until realisation dawns. Then they should analyse the cinematic brilliance that brightly shines in Mike Leigh's films.

I've been watching British films for 6 decades & this is the biggest load of old tosh I've seen for very many years. In my opinion (the only one that matters to me) the cast was entirely made up of "one-trick-ponies" who can give only one "signature" performance. Consequently, the banality of the script didn't present any of them with a challenge to show any wider acting ability. Doris the tea lady could have done a far better job!

This "watch & enjoy every scene" film is a current example of British film making, at it's best. So good that I wondered if the actors had been chosen first & then the script was then written around them to give us examples of perfect casting. The slimmed-down Timothy Spall is better than the former"family-sized" version.

It's my habit, when I've really enjoyed a film, to sit right through the closing credits. In this case I was emotionally moved by the long closing song. If I told you it's title it would be a sort of "spoiler" so I'll just tell you that it's beautifully sung by Elkie Brooks who, like Timothy Spall, goes on getting betterer & betterer! (There's a version of it on Youtube but it's been shortened so doesn't carry quite the same level of emotional pull.

"Highly improbable rubbish" is the kindest description that I can be bothered to give for this C-class movie.

I wonder how many people feel able to watch it right through to the end; certainly not me!

I'd like to say "Thank you" to the people who gave Billy Bob Thornton the backing he needed to get this great story onto our screens. I was watching in fascination as the story developed & I marvelled at his portrayal of Karl. Since this one was made, he's gone on to win praise for many more films but I hold this up to be his best.

Footnote.

American child actors (like "Frank" in this film) are far more skilful than their British counterparts.

Brilliant, bloody brilliant!

Stay focused from the start if you want to work out who is who: initially it's a bit confusing. Not to worry because one character gives full details a bit later on at which point it all drops into place.

All the ingredients were there for a major piece of entertainment: a credible story line, humour, sadness, ruined lives, a great team of supporting actors, a poignant ending plus Robert Duvall & Billy Bob Thornton turning out superb performances. They are two giants in this film though they are only briefly share the limelight in one-to-one scenes.

In a couple of scenes there is some pretty dodgy body "make up" but I'd still score this film 99 out of a 100.

Please don't waste your time watching this appalling rubbish!

I think someone thought "Let's make it as a ghost movie so then we don't need to bother about a credible plot".

Give us a sequel, please!

"Docu-drama" is nowhere near good enough to describe this cracker of a film. Dependable Timothy Spall once again fails to disappoint; he just seems to have got even better since he shed all that weight. I thought that his "played down" characterisation of Ian Paisley was masterful in that it gave Colm Meaney plenty of room to provide a fascinating counter balance as Martin McGuiness. Inspired casting.

You won't need Irish political awareness to appreciate this fine film but it won't hurt if you have some idea of the background to this meeting of two Irish giants. (I'd love to know what Ian Paisley Junior thought of it).

Anyway it inspired me to give thought to how things developed for these two men so I'd like to see "The Journey 2".

I was caught like a disbelieving rabbit in the headlights, right through to the end of this rubbish. Don't let that happen to you, is my advice.

The best (& only good part) were the locations, both internal & external. After an up-tempo opening scene, it plummeted to the depths via "fresh from drama school" acting, an instantly recognisable plot & the inevitable ending which was obvious within 5 minutes of the start.

Poor old Jon Voight (apparently wearing lipstick throughout so here's a sarcastic "well done" to the make up department) for whom the the rich qualities of "Midnight Cowboy" must have seemed just a proud memory.

This memorable film is like a well-crafted short story; at the end you're stimulated to wonder what preceded it & what might follow the satisfactorily open ending. I knew I was hooked when I realised I was watching most of it with a soppy grin on my face.

Plus, the lip sync episode is terrific because it's so entertaining & the lyrics tell us about this special brother & sister relationship. (It's a song by Starship but I'll leave you to find out which one).

I like a nice long film providing it holds my attention; this one did. If you like to be entertained & the "price" of your ticket is to suspend your belief in realism, so what?

This is not just an "off the studio shelf" US cop/thriller film in that some themes of human nature are looked at untypically closely. Sit back & enjoy would be my best advice.

Four 50 minute episodes with a common theme. Not so much "true crime", more the results of it. This is an observational documentary so you don't see Werner Herzog, the film maker though his commentary is important.

Not for everyone but if you enjoy this sort of thing, why not give it a go.