Film Reviews by GI

A rather engaging and beautiful film about family and forgiveness, brilliantly acted and quite heart warming without falling too much into cliché. Jennifer Lopez plays Jean who is forced to flee from her abusive boyfriend, Gary (Damian Lewis) and with nowhere to go she takes her 11 year old daughter, Griff (Becca Gardner) to the rundown ranch of her former father in law, Einar (Robert Redford). This is a risk because Einar blames her for the death of his son in a car crash and he is unaware that he had a granddaughter. The film charts the gradual healing of their relationship and the bonding of Griff and her Grandfather helped by Einar's friend, Mitch (Morgan Freeman). The tension of the film comes from Gary eventually showing up. The cast all gel really well together and the Lopez and Redford have a strong screen charisma as they navigate around their emotional conflicts. It's ultimately a story about reconciliation and a rather lovely one too.

A moody, almost gothic drama set in a remote and close knit Irish fishing village. It boasts wonderful cinematography and top performances. It's a story of emotional complexity about guilt, loyalty and maternal love in a slow burning plot that surrounds prodigal son Brian (Paul Mescal) who returns out of the blue to the village after having left years before for Australia. His mother Aileen (Emily Watson) is overjoyed about his return although his failure to keep in touch has left wounds. His return is unexplained but he seems determined to take up his old oyster farming and fishing trade. But when local girl Sarah (Aisling Franciosi) accuses him of rape Aileen unhesitatingly provides a false alibi, a decision that throws her into turmoil and threatens the community. This is a tough story told with conviction. Mescal is excellent as the handsome Brian, confident but with hints of repressed arrogance and resentment. Watson excels as the mother with perhaps a hint of an unhealthy affection for the son she has pined for and turns out to be exactly what she has always feared. A dark story, beautifully told.

A slick dark mystery thriller that excels at the build up of tension mainly through the clever structure of the film that shows events through the eyes of various different characters until the denouement at the film's climax. The set up is enthralling. At the sometime on the same night seventeen children all from the same High School class disappear leave their homes and run off into the night and essentially disappear. Only one child from the class remains. As the investigation begins the distraught parents focus their anger and suspicions on the class teacher, Justine (Julia Garner) and she is the first character with whom we see events surrounding the incident. We then see different perspectives from one of the father's, Archer (Josh Brolin), a local drug addict (Austin Abrams), a local cop (Alden Ehrenreich), the headmaster (Benedict Wong) and finally the one child that didn't vanish (Cary Christopher). These converge and intermix to reveal the mystery which has a supernatural and somewhat gory conclusion. It's certainly a film that draws you in and keeps you hooked even if the final reveal is a tad underwhelming as if some surprise expected is never delivered. But this is a film that shows the director Zach Cregger is a talent to watch. Amy Madigan also costars.

A thoroughly delightful and warm coming of age comedy set in Medieval England. It's a story of teenage rebellion, self discovery and empowerment that resonates strongly with today. Bella Ramsey plays the title character. She's the fourteen year old daughter of the local Lord (Andrew Scott) who has run up some serious debts and sees marrying Catherine (her nickname is Birdy) off to a rich husband will solve his money problems. Birdy soon has other plans and sets out to sabotage any attempts to match her with the suitors that turn up. The film covers major issues of young girls reaching maturity and the historical tradition of treating women as mere chattels. Ramsey plays Birdy as a fun loving child confused by the sudden world of womanhood thrust upon her and it's all done in a sharply funny script backed by a great cast. Scott is excellent as the emotional father frustrated by his inability to control his daughter but who eventually reminds his love for her. Billie Piper plays Birdy's heavily pregnant mum and there's other support from Lesley Sharp, David Bradley, Paul Kaye, Ralph Ineson and others. A really surprising and wonderful film.

A Vietnam based comedy drama that struggles to balance the humour with the seriousness of the subject matter. Based on a true story of beer swilling New York wastrel Chick (Zac Efron) who gets annoyed at the TV reports that show American troops in a bad light and is even more angry when his sister joins an anti war protest group. It's 1967 and several of Chick's buddies are serving in Vietnam with one missing in action. Whilst drunk he decides to visit them and take them some local beers and bizarrely finds it quite easy to do so. Travelling on a cargo boat he surprisingly finds his friends quickly and on the journey has his eyes opened to the realities of war. Including the lies told by the American authorities to the public as to what is really happening. The humour comes when he's assumed to be a CIA operative and basically assisted along his path as a consequence although he eventually witnesses a real CIA man doing some questionable things and ends up briefly on the run. It's this strange concoction of humour and then sudden nastiness that jars somewhat. Efron gives a committed and solid performance assisted by Bill Murray as the WW2 veteran bar owner back home and Russell Crowe as a war journalist. Crowe is somewhat wasted here as he offers some wisdom on war and takes Chick under his wing in Saigon but basically just waddles around taking pictures. The film has some pacing issues and is a bit overlong. It's interesting in parts but it's an American story that tries to make a hero out of a bit of an idiot.

A slick Second World War drama telling the story of an unsung genius (a bit like Alan Turing in The Imitation Game), in this case James Stagg, the chief meteorologist involved in the D Day preparations. Andrew Scott plays Stagg as a stoic, abrupt, socially awkward even rude man who ends up standing alone in his prediction that the weather will be hugely detrimental if the invasion of Europe goes ahead on the 5th June as planned. Brendan Fraser plays General Eisenhower in a smart performance that includes Ike's notorious temper. We also have Damien Lewis as a prickly 'Monty' who never misses an opportunity to remind Ike who has the more battle experience. The cast is rounded out by the always fantastic Kerry Condon as Ike's secretary who offers the drama some female intuition and sympathy to soften the male posturing. Adapted from a successful stage play, the origins being evident in the film's styling, there are several tensions set up as Stagg stands alone against a rival American meteorologist, against Monty, and deals with Eisenhower's doubts. Of course we all know the result in that eventually the decision to delay the invasion was taken. It's an interesting story, well told, and inevitably there's some looseness around the real facts. Scott works hard with the character and there's often subtleties in his portrayal as Stagg is also struggling with the absence from his pregnant wife. There's the inevitable D-Day beach scenes, very reminiscent of Saving Private Ryan (1998), although less bloody. For a film about forecasting the weather this is very well done, with a strong cast and definitely worth watching.

A suitably eerie and atmospheric folklore horror set in the wilds of Ireland and with Dakota Fanning bringing a little star quality to a film that has so many similarities tother o films of this type. So you have the deep, dark forest into which people stumble, inexplicably of course, and lots of dark shadows and strange creatures that are up to something. Directed by Ishana Shyamalan, daughter of M. Night, who here emulates his style in bringing atmosphere and mystery but also the need to over explain the plot. Fanning plays Mina, an American living in Ireland, who has a disturbed past, and who breaks down in a forest that doesn't appear on the maps. She gets lost and bizarrely wanders off the beaten track only to find three others led by Madeleine (Olwen Fouéré), who tells her she can't leave the forest as they are imprisoned by ancient creatures that study them at night. Mina is having none of it as you'd guess and plots her way out discovering various facts etc on the way. The film takes far too long to show you much although there's long conversations to fill in the gaps. There's some intrigue but overall it's an average pagan style horror that we've all seen before.

Based on a true story this crime thriller has a creepy edge and builds some really clever, tense and worrying scenes with Eddie Redmayne playing serial killer Charles Cullen in a very unsettling performance. Jessica Chastain plays dedicated nurse Amy, a single mother who is also managing a serious heart condition for which she needs surgery. She has to hide her condition from the hospital management for fear of losing her job and still has to work a few more months before her health insurance activates. She is therefore relieved when new nurse Charlie arrives and befriends her, helping her with her children and her condition. Then unexplained patient deaths occur. The police find they are obstructed by the hospital who fear lawsuits and loss of reputation. Eventually Amy breaches her contract by assisting the police and is shocked when she discovers Charlie is the main suspect. As well as telling this terrifying story of Cullen, who it is believed killed hundreds of patients, the film delves into the culture of the American health system that has hospitals suspecting Cullen but simply firing him and then allowing him to get nursing jobs elsewhere. Both the lead actors are excellent here and aided by Kim Dickens as the hospital administrator and Noah Emmerich as one of the detectives. Solid drama that is worth checking out.

A by-the-numbers biopic about the first African American navy combat pilot, Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors) and his friendship with fellow aviator Tom Hudner (Glenn Powell) that culminates in Brown's death during the Korean War. The film is a mixed bag with a very slow, even tedious first half as the script takes an endless time to set the scene and build the relationships and striving, lamely, to show the casual racism that Brown receives from just about everywhere. Eventually the aerial combat scenes are introduced and they are good and exciting but it's all too little, too late really. Essentially this is flag waver, well acted, but entirely predictable and routine stuff.

An epic historical drama that boasts one of the biggest cinematic battles ever recreated for the big screen. In addition it has two powerhouse performances from Rod Steiger as Napoleon Bonaparte and Christopher Plummer as the Duke of Wellington. Naturally, as with all such films, one can debate and become bogged down in historical accuracy issues and some prior knowledge of the battle does help understand the course of events. But accuracy really doesn't matter as this is a masterpiece of war themed film and it's certainly a lot better than the more recent Napoleon (2023). Filmed in Russia, at a fraction of the cost for such a huge production, it's stirring stuff without having to resort to gratuitousness and it effectively recreats the horrors of the battle in the 19th century. Steiger as Napoleon gives an emotional and theatrical performance and the film gives us his inner thoughts and doubts whereas Plummer as Wellington is the cool aristocrat who only occasionally lets his emotional guard down usually when he witnesses the death of friends or the horrible aftermath of the slaughter. Both are excellent A film to discover if you've never seen it.

An absorbing and more contemplative even mournful take on the zombie film, a sub-genre that just won't lie down! If you want excessive gore and huge jump scare moments then you won't find that here. This is more about a journey of love and regrets and a political commentary on modern militarism, it's less about horror in corpse reanimation. Daisy Ridley stars as Ava, an American physio therapist, who volunteers to help in body retrieval on Tasmania after an experimental weapon was accidentally detonated resulting in the deaths of a half a million people. She also has another agenda, her husband Mitch is in Tasmania, and she is determined to find him. The grisly task of searching properties for the dead is aggravated when some of the corpses appear to either reawaken or aren't completely dead. When one is found the military step in and quickly deal with it! Ava eventually defies the rules and heads off into prohibited areas in search of Mitch aided by a fellow worker (Brenton Thwaites). This Aussie production is an enjoyable take on the zombie film. In many ways its slow pace may not be acceptable to some and there are parts of the narrative that have been explored before. If anything the film is flawed by it's lack of explanation as it never gets down to trying to show why some of the victims are dead and some seem not to be, nor why, of those, some are aggressive and others not. This is more about Ava's journey as she has to encounter different people and how her humanity is affected. For me I thought it was a blast and well worth checking out.

A rather pointless addition to this series coming fifteen years after Tron: Legacy (2010) and here we have the digital world penetrating the real world in some sort of attempt at making something about AI as it's very topical. The problem here is that there's little story to take this anywhere towards something exciting and fresh and it could be argued that by sticking for the most part in the real world Disney can keep the budget under control. Jared Leto is the nominal star here playing a computer program called Ares. He's under the control of Dillinger (Evan Peters) who is trying to build the technology to bring digital weaponry and super soldiers (ie Ares) into the real world for use by the military and thus make a lot of money for himself. His mum (Gillian Anderson) tries to tell him the error of his ways! The trouble is Dillinger can only keep these digital bits and bobs here of 29 minutes which is a hiccup to his plans. Then he discovers rival company led by Eve (Greta Lee) has discovered a 'permanence code' so brings Ares and another program back to kill her and steal it. There's coming and going between the real world and the digital world and the usual Tron light cycles and flying machines from the previous two films all return. Jeff Bridges gets a cameo as you'd expect. The film wastes the acting talent here making certain characters totally characterless!! The worst of it all is there's a coda suggesting another film is being considered. It needs to be a lot better than this.

A haunting, atmospheric psychological horror film with a pagan vibe and an eerie central performance from Alice Krige. She plays Veronica , a haughty and once famous film actress who has had a double mastectomy and travels with her personal nurse, Desi (Kota Eberhardt) to a remote Scottish Highland retreat for her convalescence. She is none too pleased to find the isolation she seeks is to be shared with a flamboyant artist (Rupert Everett) and his sycophantic followers but holed up in her 'cabin in the woods' Veronica, haunted by past traumas, begins to experience a strange connection with the ancient woodlands and is haunted by dreams of witch burnings and ghostly apparitions. In many ways this is a study of female trauma and revenge. At one point Desi is assaulted by a local lad that sort of mirrors the past pain of Veronica. Some may find this a little too slow burning for their taste but it's certainly original and visually stimulating with a 'folk horror' feel. Malcolm McDowell has a cameo.

This drama based on real events is thought provoking and provides an element of almost incredulation that not only did this happen in the modern world but it's sadly happening again. This tells the story of Joy (Elizabeth banks), a suburban housewife in Chicago in the late 1960s who is diagnosed with a potentially life threatening condition with the only chance for her survival is to have an abortion. This is refused by the all male board of the local hospital. In desperation and in secret from her lawyer husband she contacts an underground group of women who help others in need of abortion. Eventually Joy becomes an active member of the group led by Virginia (Sigourney Weaver). The overall story is interesting although told in an occasionally drifting way as if it's filling time but the narrative focuses on Joy as she changes from frightened and naïve housewife to dedicated activist, even outing the male doctor (Cory Michael Smith) the group uses as a fraud. The film skips over what is termed as the big raid which we don't get to see only getting information on the aftermath. That's a shame as the story builds a tension about them getting caught with a clever scene when Joy is visited by a Detective at her home. But that aside this is an interesting and very watchable drama that's worth checking out.

Basically Die hard on a ship with Steven Seagal in arguably his best film. The film benefits from solid direction and two charismatic villains played by Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey. It is however a routine action film with the usual gutsy fight scenes and hampered by the wooden Seagal and the decision to have a love interest thrown into the mix. The story is simple really. A US Navy ship is taken over by a group of ex-militarty mercenaries led by a disaffected CIA agent. They plan to steal the missiles and sell them to the highest bidder. They didn't bank on the ship's cook being a highly trained Navy Seal. So in short this is another of those films where a humble man has a special set of skills and has to use them again to save the day. Entertaining but very clichéd when watched today. Fun though if you've never seen it.