Film Reviews by GI

A film about jigsaw puzzles may not sound very cinematic but here under the detailed direction of Marc Turtletaub and the warm, beautiful performance from Kelly Macdonald it's a real delight. A family drama that is gentle, heartwarming and elegant. Agnes (Macdonald) is a suburban housewife and mother to two teenage boys. She quietly tends the family and home without complaint and is clearly taken for granted by husband and sons. The clever opening of the film says it all as we watch her plan a birthday party, decorating the house, baking a cake and serving guests drinks only for the film to reveal it's actually her own birthday. One of the gifts she receives is a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle and Agnes finds she has a real knack for them completing it very fast and then repeating it several times. Eventually she decides to buy another and discovers a shop in the city where she also sees an advertisement by Robert (Irrfan Khan) seeking a partner to enter the national jigsaw tournament. She decides to contact him and her horizons begin to broaden. The puzzles are a symbol of the door opening for Agnes as she discovers something just for her, a new zest for life which highlights the boredom she has at home. Her family start to see a change in her which causes her husband especially some considerable anxiety. This film has a warmth and magnetism that makes it rather pleasant and appealing. It's definitely one to check out.

Sam Peckinpah's last film is arguably his most disappointing. A conspiracy thriller with a convoluted plot and very under written character development making it a lacklustre affair. Even Peckinpah is reported to have hated the script but he hadn't made a film for five years and was in very poor health and so it's suspected he wanted to get back in the director's chair and so took the job. This is basically an espionage story with a political edge that Peckinpah would have liked as he was always keen on attacking the establishment. Here a disaffected CIA agent, Fassett (John Hurt), convinces a controversial TV presenter, Tanner (Rutger Hauer) that his three best friends are all Soviet agents. When they all gather with their wives for an annual get together at Tanner's house, Fassett's true agenda is gradually revealed. The cast are good and includes Dennis Hopper and Burt Lancaster but this is a thriller that leaves you baffled by who is actually trying to do what! It many ways this has stylistic flourishes that are pure Peckinpah, especially the action scenes, but it's a weak film and only of interest because of this director who in his heyday was a genius.

A confusingly edited science fiction thriller that appears to have had some strange editing decisions made leading to a film that has promise but ends up being rather frustrating. The premise is interesting though. Nine years after an alien invasion where humanity has had to surrender and is are now controlled by the superior alien species who hide underground. The narrative focuses on how the survivors are now coping with some part of the regime that runs the world and others part of a growing dissension. The plot set in Chicago, follows a young man, Gabriel (Ashton Sanders), who's brother led a group against the system, and Mulligan (John Goodman), a top cop who hunts down rebels and tries to lure Gabriel into giving him information partly as Mulligan and Gabriel's late father were friends. There's a growing conspiracy to commit violence on the establishment which eventually brings the invaders out to try and catch and kill the rebels. All this muddles through a film that is bizarrely put together with the nuggets of a great story and visuals trying to make this something better. If you stick with this and give it some focus there is a decent story to unravel it's just that this could have been some much better.

A gentle, unassuming, humorous relationship drama that's a little talky, avoids a neat conclusion yet is unpretentious and really quite heart warming. Zosia Mamet gives a delightful performance full of mixed emotion as Diana, a would be writer who purposefully breaks up with her boyfriend Ben (Matthew Shear) because she's off to London for a year and feels a long distance relationship would be a distraction. Three years later, having returned to New York, she is surprised and conflicted when she discovers Ben is the tenant of the apartment below hers. As the two tentatively reunite their relationship undergoes some very confusing emotions. The film could do with a few more laughs but as an example of a millennial love story it's perfectly watchable.

This is a fun heist thriller with a great cast and a rollicking good story all wrapped up with visually spectacular set pieces including car chases and a twist and turn plot. It's just one of those big budget Hollywood blockbuster type films that works well and appeals to all generations and ages. Four highly skilled illusionists are brought together by a mysterious benefactor as an act called The Four Horsemen. They soon achieve a huge fanbase but when they appear to have robbed a bank as part of their elaborate act the FBI and Interpol begin investigating them. It soon appears the four set up massively complex illusions to steal money from undeserving rich people and distribute it to their audience. The cops are assisted by an expert in debunking magic tricks but the Four Horsemen always seem one step ahead. There's some great magic tricks showcased during the story and the film has a fast paced narrative that keeps you entertained throughout. Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco and Woody Harrelson are the Four Horsemen with Mark Ruffalo and Mélanie Laurent as the cops aided by Morgan Freemen and Michael Caine in a cameo. A solid feel good thriller.

Disappointingly this is a routine sequel that has its fun moments but has been forced to rely on loads of gonzo fights for its entertainment value and these become wearisome after awhile. The first film had the central narrative premise that a boring, dishevelled family man was secretly a former top government assassin but that's obviously lost here so this just becomes an episodic further adventures of type story. Hutch (Bob Odenkirk) is still a struggling father and husband but has promised his wife (Connie Nielsen) that he's given up the violence but unfortunately he owes a lot of money and so is forced to carry out dodgy missions. Feeling guilty he takes the family to a sleazy theme park for a holiday and takes his dad (Christopher Lloyd) along too. But on arrival he soon discovers the place is a hive of criminals and corrupt cops who he then has to deal with! Sharon Stone is great as the evil baddie but ultimately this is about long action sequences that have all been done before as you watch Hutch take down just about everybody. It's ok and worth a watch if you enjoyed the first film but this one is forgettable.

A ridiculous and narratively confusing spaghetti western that attempts to emulate the style of Sergio Leone and fails utterly. Even the music score blatantly uses similar melodies from Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) and occasionally it'll suddenly burst into an Elmer Bernstein style. The story makes little sense as it follows a gunfighter who loses his memory after being wounded in the head but who, for some reason, fails to ask who he is when he bumps into people who clearly know him! Richard Crenna plays Noon, a vengeful man skilled in gun and fist, who teams up with Stephen Boyd's outlaw to kill a bunch of bad guys at some point getting his memory back just in time for the final battle. That's about it really. It's poorly structured, badly acted and is little more than a B Movie western made in Europe.

This is the second of three science fiction films that Dutch director Paul Verhoeven made in Hollywood starting with Robocop (1987) and culminating with Starship Troopers (1997). Taken together some style and thematic similarities leap out. The most obvious is their over-the-top violence, almost cartoonish in presentation which adds to the subtle humour that Verhoeven injects into these films. Another is the sheer weirdness of his vision for mankind's future, where some humans have increased psychic abilities and in Total Recall the appearance of extreme mutations. Loosely adapted from a Philip K. Dick novel this is set in the late 21st Century and follows humble construction worker Doug Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who is married to the beautiful Lori (Sharon Stone) but is plagued by repeated dreams involving Mars, now colonised, and a brunette woman. On a whim he decides to buy a memory implant that will recreate an adventure in his mind as if it really happened and he chooses an adventure as a secret agent on Mars. But it all goes wrong when it appears he has a hidden past that the implant reignites in his memory and soon he finds he's being hunted by assassins. This is a full on action film, very bloody shoot outs litter the film and the story has some neat effects (for it's time they were v advanced) and it twists and turns in the plot to keep you guessing. It's been much debated as to what is actually going on as the story is based around memory and dreams but there are plenty of clues for the attentive viewer, not least the visit by Dr Edgemar (Roy Brocksmith) who basically reveals the final third of the film and Quaid's visit to ReKall for the implant has some big reveals too. Although the film is essentially studio bound it's still an enthralling vision of Mars and the future and it has a strong cast that includes Ronny Cox and Michael Ironside. It's certainly weird at times bordering on the perverse but that's what you expect from Verhoeven. It remains hugely entertaining so well worth a revisit and definitely one to see if you've never done so.

A British social drama that exemplifies the misery that family gatherings can induce when old animosities and copious alcohol flows. Writer and director Ben Wheatley, with acknowledged contributions from the excellent ensemble cast, has created a virtually plotless drama that is all about character and relations uniting into a restless storm of disquiet and anger. The often underrated Neil Maskell plays Colin, a middle aged married man, who has rented a big country house for his extended family to celebrate the New year. From the very start tensions begin when his mother (Doon Mackichan) semi deliberately trips over the entrance step and makes a big fuss about it. Colin's completely unsympathetic expression sums up the dynamics at play which is then made worse when his dad (Bill Paterson) takes him aside to ask to borrow more money from him after a previous loan has disappeared on a dodgy business deal. Colin's refusal adds to the unrest that is building. But it all threatens to boil over when Colin's estranged brother David (Sam Riley), secretly invited by his sister (Hayley Squires), turns up with his new girlfriend. It's gradually revealed why David is not welcomed by Colin. This is a well acted, humorous and very British comedy of manners drama. Sometimes it feels that it drifts a little too much but perhaps that's the idea to show that these sort of family interactions are often unresolved and emotional messes that never fully sort themselves out.

Roger Moore's screen work will probably always be focused around the seven James Bond films he made beginning in 1973. But it's in the films he made outside the Bond franchise that really showcase his abilities and potential as a screen actor. This psychological mystery thriller is arguably his best performance highlighting a dramatic range and the ability to diversify which was perhaps stifled by his James Bond persona. Here he plays Pelham, a gentrified London executive, who one afternoon, on his drive home, is overcome in a strange way and crashes his car. Badly injured he momentarily dies on the operating table and is resuscitated where two heartbeats are briefly evident on a heart monitor. After recovering Pelham becomes more disturbed and paranoid that there is a double who is infiltrating his life. A double who seems more confident, sexually active and ambitious than him. His family, colleagues and friends start to think he's having a nervous breakdown. This is a classic retelling of the famous Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde narrative and, with it's hints of the supernatural, this is a compelling thriller made better by Moore's performance as two sides of the same character. It's a film, recently restored, that is worth seeking out as a clever British film of this period.

A strong film with a purpose. It's touching, thought provoking and at times very moving. This is a drama that focuses on the life of Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author Isabel Wilkerson (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) whose bestselling book Caste:The Origins Of Our Discontents and how she came to write it is the focus of this docudrama. Isobel is shocked over the killing of a young black man who was doing nothing but walking home through a white neighbourhood and when her aging mother offers a view about the murder Isobel begins a journey looking at what drives people to hate and sees that it's more than racism especially after she studies how the Nazis used the segregation laws of the USA to construct their plans for the Holocaust. The film is structured with flashbacks to incidents in history but mostly follows Isobel's visits and interviews around the world, in particular India where she sees the awful caste system of bigotry still alive and thriving. You could argue this would be a more interesting documentary rather than a narrative exploration of the subject but it's still a strong film that should invoke shock and revulsion.

Chris Pratt takes on the nemesis of AI in this action thriller set in the near future with a story that has similar themes to the far superior Minority Report (2002). A crime ridden Los Angeles discovers a solution to its criminal problem by introducing 'mercy' courts, where an AI judge, believed infallible, acts as judge, jury and executioner. Alcoholic cop Raven (Pratt), a devotee of this new system, is soon to learn its flaws when he finds himself on trial for the murder of his wife. With no memory of the past 24 hours he's given 90 minutes to defend himself which essentially means for the run time of the film Pratt sits strapped into a chair while the AI judge (Rebecca Ferguson) taps into any CCTV, mobile phone or computer records needed for the trial and flashes them up on a screen. Raven basically investigates the crime through her. It's a gimmicky film prone to recreating computer game style footage which I find uncinematic. There's a couple of set piece chase scenes and Raven is eventually released to bring down the bad guy. It's cartoonish and totally silly. It's just another film trying to intensify the arguments for AI systems. A film that passes the time but is ultimately forgettable.

At times this is visually spectacular, almost Fordian in its grandeur images of the American landscape but it's also epic yet listless storytelling. The title tells you there's more chapters to come, indeed you get to see what looks like a very action filled Chapter 2 as a coda to this first film. But it feels very disjointed as it tries to weave various storylines together from the start of a new community in Apache country, which of course they are not happy about! To an early murder of a man by her husband, a section that then doesn't pick up again for sometime. This section begins a revenge hunt by some psychopathic brothers culminating in director and star Kevin Costner's appearance as a sort of stoic drifter forced to kill a man. There's also a wagon train section and there's no doubt these strands will tie together at some point but for a film this long it does feel like it's dragging and meandering without any real sense of a strong narrative. Many of the characters feel like standard western tropes including Sam Worthington's handsome Army officer and Sienna Miller's widowed woman gradually falling for him. There are some solid set pieces including an Indian attack on the tented township and some well directed action. But you do have to keep up with this as it jumps between the stories that span over fifteen years. It looks impressive and there is evidence that for Costner this is a passion piece. It is worth checking out and hopefully it will sit well with the next instalment.

A dark supernatural thriller with a murder mystery plot as the central core of the narrative. A strong cast for the time including Richard Burton who had just made a comeback to the big screen. He plays Morlar, a writer, who is attacked and beaten into a coma by an unknown assailant. The investigation is led by a French detective, Brunel (Lino Ventura) on secondment to the Metropolitan Police. Morlar continues to show amazing brain activity whilst in the coma much to the surprise of the doctors. Brunel traces Morlar's therapist (Lee Remick) who seems to hold the key to the case and reveals that Morlar believed he was able to make catastrophes happen by telekinesis. There's various flashbacks to reveal Morlar's story and two big set piece disasters including a plane crash which seem a little dated today but were considered gripping back in the late 70s. This film came a couple of years after telekinesis formed the central plot of Brian De Palma's far better horror film Carrie (1976). There's a complex theme around the spending of millions on arms and military to the detriment of looking after society making this a film to watch carefully. The Medusa Touch boasts a strong British support cast and has a darkness and tension that makes it watchable and intriguing today so it's worth checking out.

An absorbing relationship drama that cleverly avoids dipping into thriller territory making it a very interesting film about two damaged people finding one another. The intensity of the film is in its ability to reflect the messiness of real life and whilst the ending may leave some people frustrated it is the right one for this story. Jessica Chastain plays Sylvia, a care worker and recovering alcoholic who has a smart 13 year old daughter. She's a single mum and has a tough self reliance but always seems to be slightly on edge. At a High School reunion she is disturbed when Saul (Peter Sarsgaard) approaches her and follows her home. This bizarre act begins a train of events with both of them after Sylvia discovers that Saul has early onset dementia. She volunteers to help him. Their connection is what begins the release of past traumas and events with the eventual romance feeling unexpected yet inevitable. This is a delicate and mature drama with two excellent central performances and is worth checking out.