Film Reviews by GI

A four way relationship comedy that looks at the stress of middle age marriage with the cast on excellent form and with a witty script that is both hilarious, cringeworthy and ultimately a little sad. Seth Rogen gives one of his best performances as Joe, a failed musician who now teaches at a small music school, is depressed and has a bad back. He's married to Angela (Olivia Wilde who also directs) and their marriage is under strain with her filling her time with redecorating their apartment about which Joe is entirely uninterested. Much to his consternation Angela has invited their neighbours from the apartment above for an evening soireé ostensibly to apologise to them for any noise caused during her renovations but Joe intends to complain to them about their very noisy sex which keeps them awake. The neighbours are Piña (Penélope Cruz) and Hawk (Edward Norton) who are a sexually liberated couple and very cool. The evening goes in some very unexpected directions with the subject of sex dominating the conversation and Joe and Angela face some very difficult revelations. The script is zesty and adult themed and the comedy comes mostly from Rogen's quips and pithy one liners. It all twists and turns and the visitors open honesty causes some funny clashes of culture. It's all great fun and while the entire film takes place in the apartment it never seems dull or confined. If you enjoyed Carnage (2011) you will like and get this film which is very appealing and it's great to have an uninhibited adult comedy to enjoy.

A moving and thought provoking social drama set in 1950s America and a story of sexual awakening & repression, anti-semitism and conformity. Many of the issues the film raises are relevant today. The story is narrated by Marcus (Logan Lerman), a young jewish teenager who lives humbly with his parents in New York. They are thrilled when he earns a scholarship to a prestigious college in Ohio. Marcus' intelligence has allowed him to question matters around society and religion that his parents have simply accepted and he struggles at college when he is automatically roomed with two other jewish boys. But it's in his relationship with fellow student Olivia (Sarah Gadon), a beautiful girl who unashamedly introduces him to the pleasures of sex where he emotionally struggles the most. However she has troubles of her own and their relationship causes them angst as they negotiate the college's rules and regulations that Marcus identifies as stifling and repressive. Tracy Letts gives a formidable performance as the college Dean and the two leads are superb. A very interesting drama that is interestingly structured. It's sad and eye opening and well worth checking out.

A drama that explores the underground poker playing world told through the eyes of Mike, a talented player, who loses big to a Russian gangster (John Malkovich) and quits the game encouraged by his girlfriend (Gretchen Mol). But when his wayward friend (Edward Norton) is released from prison he soon lures Mike back into the world. Soon he finds he's in big debts to bad guys and the only way is to play poker to get the money. This inevitably leads to a return game with Malkovich's Russian. It's a reasonably entertaining drama, a little unevenly paced and Norton's character disappears with no conclusion to his fate which seems odd. The support cast are exceptional and include Famke Janssen, Martin Landau and John Turturro. A little predictable but well acted.

This is a reasonably funny sports comedy that focuses on redemption of a quite narcissistic main character and it's a little chaotically structured with some very sudden moves into silliness. Melissa Rauch, who also is the main writer here, stars as former Olympic Bronze medal winning gymnast, Hope. She's bitter that her career was suddenly cut short by injury and she feels she was dumped by her coach. Hope now lives in her small town living off her celebrity and constantly haranguing her caring Dad (Gary Cole). She's also very jealous of the bubbly Maggie (Haley Lu Richardson) who looks set to becoming the town's next famous gymnast. Hope is tricked into coaching Maggie in the expectation of big money and by doing so learns the happiness that comes from being kind. There's a romance side story that is kinda sweet and a rivalry with smarmy coach Lance (Sebastian Stan) with whom Hope has a one nighter in a bizarre sex scene. This is an entertaining film, a little clichéd at times and with a good message although the comedy is intermittent and Hope's foul mouthed character is often a little too harsh to be funny enough. Worth checking out though.

Well the visuals and effects are strong and at times quite impressive but the script, plot and acting is dire. This is derivative and steals from Predator, Jurassic Park/World Series' and even possibly a bit of Platoon is thrown in there for good measure. It's certainly overly long and poorly edited with pacing being a big issue too. Set at the height of the Vietnam War a platoon is sent into a remote valley to search for a missing special ops unit (that's the Predator bit), after a bit of moaning and groaning and creeping through the jungle they discover it's inhabited by dinosaurs. This leads them to an abandoned research station, a morphine addicted soviet scientist and finally to discover the soviets have a dastardly plot with some kind of machine to infest the world with dinosaurs!! Being heroic Americans the five or six men (I lost count) decide to bring the entire thing down. Oh and there's a couple of loved up T-Rex to entertain too. It's a load of tosh wrapped up prettily but it's really childish stuff.

Despite its slow burn pacing this is a riveting drama studying PTSD, survivor guilt, relationship abandonment and lost love. It's an adaptation of the final passages of Homer's Odyssey where Odysseus finally returns home after 20 years absence. Played with unbeaten, sinewy energy by Ralph Fiennes, Odysseus is washed up on his island home and taken in by a humble pig farmer. He keeps his identity secret not knowing how he will be received nor what has happened in his absence. He gradually finds that his wife, Penelope (Juliette Binoche), has shunned a host of suitors who hang around his castle awaiting her to choose one of them. His now grown son who he has never met, Telemachus (Charlie Plummer) is suffering with his life and urges his mother to take a new husband. But over the course of the film Odysseus' true identity becomes known and he tries to understand if to or even how to take up his former role as ruler of his island home and can he rekindle his marriage and gain the love and respect of his son. This plays out like a Shakespearean tragedy, violent, emotional and enigmatic it's a fierce drama full of restrained energy and I really enjoyed it.

Chris Evans directorial debut is a charming if a bit cheesy offbeat romance and Evans and costar Alice Eve have a lovely onscreen chemistry. He plays Nick, a busking trumpet player who is stranded in New York one night when he chance encounters Brooke (Eve), who is desperate to get home to Boston but who has missed her train. Both of them are carrying personal issues and as the night progresses they help each other and very gradually fall in love. The film resists the temptation for a clear cut predictable happy ending relying instead on emphasising that one in a million moment when two people meet and are perfect but might not realise it or will let the chance go. It's a pleasant enough film with two delightful stars and worth an evening's watch.

William H. Macy's directorial debut is a moving and committed drama about grief that has a sudden plot twist that changes the film into one that delves into a particularly American tragedy. Billy Crudup excels here as the successful advertising executive, Sam, whose life is thrown upside down by the sudden death of his student son. Falling into alcoholism he retreats to a life of isolation. But after two years he is given a set of recordings which are his son's songs and they are surprisingly good. Through an 'Open Mic' session in a local bar he unites with a young musician, Quentin (Anton Yelchin), they bond and form a band with Sam's son's songs the centrepiece of their act. He begins to find a sense of life again until a dark truth comes back to haunt him. An emotional film that will divide audiences over the strong tonal shift as the story unfolds but ultimately a well performed and interesting drama that is worth checking out. Laurence Fishburne and singer Selena Gomez have supporting roles.

This overly long, often tedious and with some quite bad acting western is redeemed by the stunning cinematography of the late Halyna Hutchins with its stunning richness even in the dark and gloomy interiors as well as the revelations of the wide vista of the countryside. It's reminiscent of John Ford's eye and the work of Clint Eastwood. Indeed Eastwood's contribution to the western especially since the mid 70s is homaged here as well as some imagery that recalls Sergio Leone. The film is let down by a slow paced story and one that has kinda been almost overdone in the western genre. That is the curmudgeonly and violent elder that returns to save a younger member of the family. John Wayne excelled in this role and Big Jake (1971) is an example and there are references to The Searchers (1956) to be seen in this film. Alec Baldwin (in what appears to be a passion piece) plays the title character who arrives to save his grandson from the gallows. They are forced to flee towards Mexico pursued by the law and an assortment of bounty hunters and chancers after the reward. The trouble with this film is that it's unevenly paced, Baldwin doesn't exude the character needed for the role of the ex-outlaw with a reputation. Eastwood had this, Wayne had this and even Jeff Bridges in True Grit (2010) had this, but Baldwin seems too cursory and lightweight to carry it off. The only solid performance is Josh Hopkins as the grieving lawman who leads the chase. It's worth a look if you're a western aficionado but overall this is a disappointing film.

With it's graphic sex scenes this drama that thematically looks at the issue of desire is a slow, somewhat tedious experience and seems to attempt to formulate the idea that literally everyone is thinking about sex the entire time and often unable to attain sexual pleasure. The story focuses on Cécile (Déborah Révy), a young woman grieving for her recently deceased father, who seeks to have somewhat bizarre sexual encounters with just about everyone she meets. A side plot involves Alice (Hélène Rimmer), a repressed young woman obsessed with a local boy but unable or unwilling to commit to a full relationship. These two main characters eventually meet up with Cécile basically curing everyone's sexual problems. It's ultimately a boring film interspersed with sex scenes and other than an example of explicit sex filtering into mainstream cinema it's instantly forgettable.

The belated third in what is looking like a series forming. If that's the case there's going to be a need for some change in direction because here we have a rehash of the same type of stories from the first films. The convoluted plotting with a major set piece 'magical' sequence to sort out the baddie and along the way loads, and I literally mean loads, of exposition to fill in the plot. This makes the film seem dull and directed at an audience that is presumed to be not paying attention. What started as Four Horsemen is now a whole host of them, new and old. They all form up to take down Rosamund Pike's South African diamond dealer who funds terrorism etc around the world for her own profit etc etc. You know how it all ends because that's what's happened in the two previous films. There is much more of a Harry Potter meets Indiana Jones meets Mission Impossible in evidence in this film and whilst it's all presented very well it's a hackneyed story with little that's new or that seems original. I think it's time to move on.

An overly complicated plot dulls this big budget sequel. It's visually spectacular and all very Mission Impossible in its styling but it suffers from the need to be bigger and more convoluted than the first film. The cast are having great time and the magic tricks are the best part of course. Over all though it's a disappointing sequel mainly as the story is a bit hackneyed and too obvious. The Four Horsemen are on the run and in hiding after the events of the first film with one of them now replaced (new character Lula played by Lizzy Caplan as Isla Fisher was unavailable to return). Mark Ruffalo's FBI agent, but really the fifth Horseman, pretends to be looking for them but all the while there's a devilish revenge plot by Michael Caine's villain from Film No.1 aided by his son played by Daniel Radcliffe. There's some neat set pieces especially one in a very secure vault but part of these film's trademarks is that nothing is at it seems and here this is taken a little too far so that it becomes expected and ultimately a bit tedious. There's fun to be had here but it lacks the originality of story to measure up to the 2013 original.

Despite the obviously committed performance from Catherine Keener this study of PTSD is a laborious affair that seems to deliberately hold back on it's story as if to annoy the viewer. Keener plays Lee, an American war photographer, who has arrived in Sicily having been held in captivity in Libya and suffered as a result. Her trauma leads to annoying behaviour and she receives some patient responses especially from the hotel manager on whom she makes childish demands. As she wanders the streets she encounters a refugee girl who needs an abortion and the girls resemblance to a girl she photographed in Libya leads to her helping her. Ben Kingsley has a very small cameo. It's a dull film and that's sad as Keener is a very talented and riveting actor.

A career defining performance from Denzel Washington, which actually seeds more nuance and complexity every time you watch this gritty cop thriller. It's part psychological thriller, part character study and a sharp condemnation of the American law enforcement system riddled with corruption. Ethan Hawke costars as Jake, a rookie LA narcotics detective who has been selected to join an elite unit led by Detective Alonzo Harris (Washington). Jake is very honoured to be a part of his team and the film's plot follows Jake's first day as he's introduced to Alonzo's methods. They begin gently enough building to pushing Jake into more and more uncomfortable scenarios with him being unable to assess if he's just being tested. He eventually discovers that Alonzo has a malicious agenda. Brilliantly scripted and directed this remains the quintessential modern police thriller, it redefines the American cop as anti-hero. A superb film and a must see.

This is another drama that looks at the plight of young men seduced by the military dream of camaraderie, glory and action but in reality leaves them emotionally and physically damaged by the trauma of combat. This story, based on real events, follows three friends who return from a tour in Iraq in 2007 having been part of several very bloody encounters. Despite their apparent joy at the return to love does each is suffering from acute PTSD and survivor guilt. Miles Teller gives a committed performance as the main character and NCO who feels responsibility for his two comrades but also wants the family life with his wife and two children. The film does threaten to drift into crime thriller territory but thankfully recovers itself to concentrate on the subject of the American state committing it's young men to war but fails to provide the facilities for them to later deal with the pain and anguish they have undergone. It's all been done before and better but this is watchable albeit it doesn't get to grips with this subject to the depth required.