Amsterdam: Movie Review

Cast: Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Robert de Niro, Mike Myers, Timothy Olyphant, Taylor Swift, Michael Shannon, Chris Rock, Rami Malek, Anya Taylor-Joy, Andrea Riseborough, Zoe Saldana

Director: David O Russell

"A lot of this really happened."

A simple story made more complicated by all its various elements and stars, at its heart, Amsterdam is the New York-set tale of the friendship between Bale's Burt, a doctor working pro bono for veterans post the first Great war and Washington's Harold, an attorney.

Years after they became friends from serving, the doctor and the lawyer are asked to investigate the death of their former captain.

With his daughter (Swift) suspecting foul play, the two find themselves framed for murder, and on the run from their past....

There's an element of the chaotic in the American Hustle director's shaggy dog story that doesn't quite gel in ways that it should.

Portions of the film feel like a screwball caper comedy as Bale and Washington's characters try to clear their name - but a serious injection of the more truthful elements of the original story come into play, making the tone at times feel more uneven than instantly compelling.

At its heart, Amsterdam is a story about family and also protecting kindness, but the route to the somewhat saccharine ending is a circuitous one, even if it is stuffed with stars along the way. And yes, it has things to say about the world's current sorry state - even if the message is not a new one, or one presented in a clever way.

Past reflections on Robbie's free-spirited artist Valerie's affair with Harold in Amsterdam provide some emotional heft and contribute largely to the friendship between Burt, Harold and Valerie as they slum it in an extended gap year after the war.

Bale's crazed-hair and over pronunciation of words makes his former veteran a spiky and unpredictable presence, but his baleful approach to some of the more emotive elements of the film prove to be tremendously effective when it counts.

Equally, Washington and Robbie prove to be an earnest pair of star-crossed lovers, whose paths cross and unravel in unexpected ways.

But it's Russell's helming of Amsterdam's spiralling story that proves to be polarising. 

As the real events of the 1930s plot and conspiracy begin to crash dramatically into the story, the film's desire to be taken more seriously proves to be a difficult mission to undertake, given how almost comedic proceedings have become.

While Rock's character gets to vent against white man ideals (in something that feels like an extension of his offscreen persona and comedy), other side characters don't fare as well. Taylor-Joy and Malek feel like cyphers rather than fully-fleshed out characters, and Riseborough and Saldana's contributions feel like they could have done with more screentime.

It's some of the problem of Amsterdam - the stuffing is simultaneously too much for its 130 minutes, yet not quite sufficient enough to be nourishing.

Perhaps a sharper focus and a less sappy ending could have helped this film immensely, but while it has its flaws, Amsterdam also has its own singular and vicarious pleasures worth indulging in.

Memory: Movie Review

Cast: Liam Neeson, Guy Pearce, Monica Bellucci
Director: Martin Campbell

A turgidly dull movie, Memory is the kind of film that makes anyone with any credibility feel like Liam Neeson is killing off his career with a string of utter duds.

In this lamentable "thriller", which draws from the Neeson sub-genre of a hitman who has a special set of skills, Neeson is hitman Alex Lewis, whose latest job should be his last. But when he finds out the case in El Paso involves child abuse, he goes rogue.

Deciding to take revenge on those involved, Lewis' path crosses with FBI Child Exploitation Task Force Agent Vincent Serra (Guy Pearce) who's been working on the case for nearly a year. But as Lewis' memory starts to fade, is he going to be able to complete the job in time?

Kiwi director Martin Campbell has been renowned for good work before (chiefly Goldeneye and Casino Royale), but here, it's the material which is less than ideal and the execution of it which becomes more and more tedious as the film goes on.

You'll wish your memory was failing you in parts of this film, but in truth, most of it consists of either sequences you've seen plenty of times before, or action that's without any kind of suspense and feels like it exists solely to protect a ticklist of requirements.

Neeson doesn't help things much here either. Whether it's The Ice Road, Honest Thief, The Marksmen, he's done all this before - and the more he mines this kind of role, the more you feel he's not even bothering to phone it in.

Memory is an awful film - it's the absolute dregs of streaming in many ways - it exists solely to fulfill contractual obligations and is despicably dull and interminably plodding throughout.

Memory is streaming on Prime Video from October 7.

The Lost City: Blu Ray Review

Essentially rehashing the tropes of a trashy romance novel, The Lost City flips the narrative to muted effect.

When reclusive author Loretta Sage (Bullock) is forced to go on a book tour to promote her latest trashy fantasy novel, The City of the Lost D, she's kidnapped by eccentric billionaire Ashley Fairfax (a truly game and energetic Radcliffe) who believes she has the key to the actual lost city.

However, the cover model of her books, the long-blonde haired Alan (Tatum, playing for comedic laughs initially in a Fabio-like wig before softening for the obligatory romance) decides he can be more than just a himbo and sets out to rescue her.

The Lost City obviously riffs on Romancing The Stone with a swap of the characters and a touch of Indiana Jones thrown in for good measure.

While the leads have reasonable chemistry and Bullock once again demonstrates her prowess for physical comedy, The Lost City's underwhelming script is the major issue for the film. From obvious adlibbing to lines that somehow feel flat, the film's flair for the muted is obvious from the start.

There are a couple of exceptions here.

Brad Pitt makes fantastic use of his very limited time on screen, with a cameo appearance that utilises all of his evident charisma. Daniel Radcliffe's villain of the piece is also a lively injection into proceedings with his energy a welcome presence - even if his intentions are a little on the crazed side.

However, there's an inescapable feeling that The Lost City could have been more of a film with a stronger and tighter script - especially one that has dalliances with romance novels and their obvious pulpy intentions. You can see essentially where it's going from the start, but that shouldn't be a problem if a film uses the premise and weight of expectation to its advantage.

Ultimately though, The Lost City doesn't do that - it may offer a few scattered and scant laughs here and there, and it may coast by on its stars' chemistry, but in this jungle-set adventure, that can only take you so far before the feeling of ennui sets in.

Win a Lyle, Lyle Crocodile prize pack

To celebrate the release of Lyle, Lyle Crocodile exclusively in cinemas from October 6, thanks to Sony Pictures New Zealand, you can win a prize pack!

In each prize pack, there is the following: 

• Laptop decals
• A double pass to the movie
• Bag
• Mini microphones

About Lyle, Lyle Crocodile

When the Primm family (Constance Wu, Scoot McNairy, Winslow Fegley) moves to New York City, their young son Josh struggles to adapt to his new school and new friends. All of that changes when he discovers Lyle - a singing crocodile (Shawn Mendes) who loves baths, caviar and great music-living in the attic of his new home. The two become fast friends, but when Lyle’s existence is threatened by evil neighbor Mr. Grumps (Brett Gelman), the Primm’s must band together with Lyle’s charismatic owner, Hector P. Valenti (Javier Bardem), to show the world that family can come from the most unexpected places and there’s nothing wrong with a big singing crocodile with an even bigger personality.

Lyle, Lyle Crocodile is in cinemas October 6

Petite Maman: DVD Review

Girlhood and Portrait of a Woman on Fire's director Céline Sciamma returns to the big screen with a shorter film than previous outings - but one that still packs a quiet power.

It's the story of 8 year old Nelly, who's just lost her beloved grandmother and who's saying goodbye to the rest home residents where she lived as the film begins. Taken with her parents to clean out the childhood home, Nelly meets a girl her age as she builds a tree house in the woods.

They form an instant connection - but there's something deeper and more mysterious going on with Nelly's new friend soon needing hospital treatment and time for their friendship running out.

There's a smaller scale to this story, but Petit Maman has an astoundingly good lead in its child actors, who convey more than enough of a range of emotions from joy to trying to understand loss.

Petit Maman is a film of simple silences, natural sounds, and great poise from Sciamma; it carefully weaves a story that some may find wanting in parts, and others will be gripped by, as it examines grief and our relationships with the past.

But more specifically, Petit Maman is about the conversations with our closest family members, or ourselves - it spends time building a world that doesn't appear to cheat itself out of with easy answers, nor does it tie itself up in superstitions and hokum.

By keeping the film intimate, and quietly reflective, Sciamma's made a universal story of grief that everyone can engage with - and it's all the more enticing for it.

What's on DocPlay in October

Here's the best of what's coming up on DocPlay in October!

3 October

Marley

Bob Marley’s universal appeal, impact on music history, and role as a social and political prophet is both unique and unparalleled. Marley is the definitive life story of the musician, revolutionary, legend, and the man, from his early days to his rise to international superstardom. Made with the support of the Marley family, the film features rare footage, never before seen performances, previously unreleased music, and revelatory interviews with the people that knew him best.

6 October

Gurrumul

Celebrated by audiences at home and abroad, Indigenous artist Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu was one of the most important and acclaimed voices to ever come out of Australia. Blind from birth, he found purpose and meaning through songs and music inspired by his community and country on Elcho Island in far North East Arnhem Land. Living a traditional Yolngu life, his breakthrough album ‘Gurrumul’ brought him to a crossroads as audiences and artists around the world began to embrace his music. GURRUMUL is a portrait of an artist on the brink of global reverence, and the struggles he and those closest to him faced in balancing that which mattered most to him and keeping the show on the road.

10 October

Diego Maradona

On 5th July 1984, Diego Maradona arrived in Naples for a world-record fee. The world’s most celebrated football genius and the most dysfunctional city in Europe were a perfect match. Maradona was blessed on the field but cursed off it; the charismatic Argentine, quickly led Naples to their first-ever title. It was the stuff of dreams. But there was a price… Diego could do as he pleased whilst performing miracles on the pitch, but when the magic faded he became almost a prisoner of the city. The third film from the Academy Award-nominated, BAFTA-winning team behind SENNA and AMY, the film is constructed from over 500 hours of never-before-seen footage from Maradona’s personal archive. 

28 October

The Fire Within: A Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft

Mt. Unzen, Kyushu, Japan at 3.18pm on 3 June 1991, a pyroclastic flow – a cloud of superheated gases and particles – descended at more than 100 mph from the peak of the volcano, consuming everything in its path. It instantly killed Katia and Maurice Krafft, volcanologists and filmmakers from the Alsace region in France. They were too close. They were almost always too close. Written, directed and narrated by legendary German filmmaker, Werner Herzog, The Fire Within pays homage to the Kraffts, who left an archive of more than 200 hours of footage of their final journal, which is unprecedented in its spectacular and hypnotic beauty.  

31 October

The Hitler Chronicles–Blueprint for Dictators

More than any other Hitler biography, the Chronicles depict everyday European life between 1889 and 1945 in impressive images, many of them in color. Based on the most extensive compilation of archive material to date, with almost half of it previously unpublished sources, Hitler's life is shown in detail against the social backdrop of the first half of the 20th century in a contemporary interpretation.