Valkyrie: Movie Review

Valkyrie: Movie Review

Rating 6/10
Cast: Tom Cruise, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Eddie Izzard, Terence Stamp, Kenneth Branagh
Director: Bryan Singer
Historical thrillers are a difficult beast.
Inevitably when concerned with real events, you almost always know the outcome.
So, when it was announced Tom Cruise would be involved in a film about the assassination of Adolf Hitler, attention switched to what Cruise would bring to the role (given history tells us Hitler ended his own life)
When we first meet Cruise as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg during World War II, he is voicing concerns about how Hitler's actions are damaging the view of Germany abroad.
Within minutes, he's ambushed in the Tunisian desert, and shipped back home - albeit without an eye, his right arm and several fingers.
Elsewhere, Kenneth Branagh's character General Henning von Tresckow (acting as part of a cabal who want the downfall of Hitler) is planting a bomb in some liquor which is taken onboard Hitler's private plane.
When that assassination attempt fails, it soon becomes clear the shadowy movement who want shot of Hitler will have to try something different.
Enter von Stauffenberg - who becomes pivotal in the plotting after being brought into the group by Bill Nighy's General Olbricht.
It soon becomes clear the group's only thought as far ahead as how to assassinate Hitler - not what will happen to Germany after it - so von Stauffenberg starts to mastermind the post assassination operation and plays a major part in the attempt to end Hitler's reign on July 20, 1944.
Valkyrie is an interesting conspiracy film - there will be some purists who'll be irritated by the mix of accents (all of the key players are American or English and don't attempt the German accent - despite them being seen to write in German) but to get hung up on that would be a major mistake.
Bryan Singer's film portrays a Germany which was in part radically in conflict with itself as it tried to separate duty for the country from moral responsibility.
Hitler's image is omni-present throughout the film - be it in paintings on walls or in radio broadcasts - he has limited screen time which makes every scene he's in particularly tense.
And thanks to Singer's subtle eye for detail, tension is a major part of Valkyrie.
It's interesting how some of the main players and instigators of the coup d'etat suffer from such indecision after the plan's set in motion - although with their lives at stake, it's easy to see why.
Cruise himself brings a steely determination to the von Stauffenberg role - but it's never anything less than human. While he teeters on becoming like Hitler as the coup unfolds and during the bomb attempt's aftermath, it's clear this man's passion is what is driving him - not a ruthless streak.
The tension in Valkyrie leads to some edge of the seat moments - one scene sees an order for Goebbel's arrest issued as the same arrest order for von Stauffenberg comes in - and a lot of that stems from the decisions made by some when faced with horrendous pressure and moral decisions.

Overall, Valkyrie is another step up for Cruise whose image has radically suffered during the past few years - and a sign that underneath all the couch jumping and Scientology debate, there really is a good character actor lurking in there.

Slumdog Millionaire: Movie Review

Slumdog Millionaire: Movie Review

Rating8/10
Cast:Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Anil Kapoor, Ankur Vikal
Director:Danny Boyle
So it's finally here.
The film which

• a) Is The most awarded of the season
• b) Is The one which is picking up plenty of Oscar buzz
• c) Is the most likely to sweep the board
• d) Was destined to be released straight to DVD

Do you want to go 50/50 or ask the audience?
To be honest, it's highly unlikely you won't have already heard ofSlumdog Millionaire- based on thenovel Q And A by Indian author Vikas Swarup, it is as close to a feel good film as you'll get at the moment.
It's the tale of Jamal Malik, a former street child (The Slumdog of the title)
At the start of the film, he's just one question away from taking the top prize on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (hosted by Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor)
But Jamal's in a bit of a pickle - one which a phone a friend option won't get him out of.
Accused of cheating, he's being brutally tortured by the police who are desperate to know how one slumdog can know all the answers to such a wide ranging set of questions.
But Jamal starts to proffer up the reasons why he knows what he does - and in flashbacks, we see how life and destiny have taken their toll on him; as well as shaping his present day life.
From his relationship with his brother Salim to the love of his life Latika, this film winds together coincidence with reality so convincingly that you can't help but feel that Jamal's life is strongly controlled by destiny.
It's hard not to praiseSlumdog Millionaire- on close inspection, you can see why this film is doing so well with the critics.
It's about the triumph of life; and in these deeply uncertain economic times when life can be changed by the dropping of the exchange rates and the ongoing recession, Slumdog gives the viewer a feeling of the victory of humanity.
However, that being said - it's not an easy journey to get there.
Director Danny Boyle's latest is at times a love affair to a country and city (Mumbai) which has recently hid the headlines for the most hideous of reasons; terrorism.
But the squalor in which the film begins and the abject poverty will open many people's eyes to the reality of life in Mumbai.
It's difficult not to get swept away with the film - but it does require you to slightly suspend any reality because of how the questions on WWTBAM directly connect to Jamal's experiences.
Dev Patel (who you may know from TV dramaSkins) throws in a world weary turn as Jamal in the latter parts of the film.
However, it's the child actors (Ayush Mahesh Khedekar and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail) who portray him and his brother in their early days who shine - and blow Patel out of the water.
Even when they face capture from a local crime lord who captures street kids to ultimately blind them to make money from begging, the two young boy actors are great at conveying a degree of innocence as well as a nagging desperation to break free from their life of squalor.
Ironically this film itself was nearly shut down and sent directly to DVD - so in some ways, its continuing acceptance at award ceremonies is a direct parallel to the journey made by Jamal himself.

Slumdog Millionaireis probably likely to sweep the Oscars later this month - it won't have you leaving the cinema with a giant grin on your face (although the montage over the closing credits is worth staying for) but I can guarantee you will enjoy the journey and you'll probably go home feeling grateful for whatever lot you have in life.

Role Models: Movie Review

Role Models: Movie Review

Rating 7/10
Cast: Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Elizabeth Banks, Robbie J Thompson
Director: David Wain

Danny (Paul Rudd) and Wheeler (Seann William Scott) are two energy drink salesmen on a tour of Los Angeles schools.
The pair sell (and drink) Minotaur energy drink - but despite that, they're diametrically opposed when it comes to towing the company line.
Wheeler loves the job; whereas Danny detests where his life has gone for the last 10 years - and things get worse for Danny when his relationship with Beth (Elizabeth Banks) falls apart.
So one day, on an energy drink and bitterness high, the pair end up trashing a school statue as well as assaulting a policeman and land themselves on the ultimate downer - a day in court.
However, Danny's ex Beth comes to the rescue and manages to get the pair 150 hours of community service as opposed to jail time.
The only problem is they end enrolled in a programme called Sturdy Wings (a kind of older brother scheme) - and matters get even worse when they meet their charges.
Danny's paired off with Augie (a post McLovin Mintz-Plasse) who's obsessed with live role playing re-enactments - and Wheeler's given a fifth grader named Ronnie (Thompson) who's blessed with a predilection for breasts and an extremely foul mouth.
Trouble is, after just one day with their charges, both Danny and Wheeler feel it'd be easier to spend time in jail rather than deal with the pair again&.
Role Models shouldn't work - it shouldn't be funny given you know what kind of character Seann William Scott plays (think variations of Stifler from American Pie)
And yet it does - sure, it's foul (you'll be shocked at how often you laugh at Ronnie spouting such obscenities as he does - including one very funny outburst involving a swear word and Miss Daisy) and yeah it's not the most sophisticated plot and you can see how the character arcs will end a mile off; but I just found myself laughing out loud at this.
That's mainly due to Paul Rudd, who wrote the script.
His turn as Danny is spot on for delivery as he fights exasperatedly against community service - his comic timing is a lot more subtle than the continual adolescent that Seann William Scott always plays.
Mintz Plasse is amusing as Augie, the nerd who lives in a fantasy world to escape the realities of home - but as Augie bonds with Danny, it's Augie who teaches Danny about respect and morals.
Also, it has to be said this film belongs to fifth grader Ronnie - whether it's because of his foul mouthed ways or the assured way he delivers his lines, he's a star in the rising (as long as he doesn't get typecast as a potty mouthed kid)

Role Models won't win awards for subtlety; it won't win awards for its obvious characterization - but it may win you over a whole lot more than you were willing to admit when you're in the queue buying the ticket.

Frozen River: Movie Review

Frozen River: Movie Review

Rating 8/10
Cast: Melissa Leo, Misty Upham
Director: Courtney Hunt
2009 is shaping up as a good year for smaller independent films.
After the highs of Let The Right One In I thought I'd have to wait a while for another good "arthouse" film.
However, I was wrong.
Frozen River (which has seen a Best Actress nomination for Melissa Leo) is the story of Ray Eddy, a New York trailer mum whose struggle to meet the bread line sees her lured into the world of illegal immigrant smuggling.
When her husband leaves her, taking the down payment for a new trailer home to live in, Eddy (a stunning Leo) finds herself with no choice but to trade in illegal immigrants by teaming up with a Mohawk girl (Misty Upham) who lives on a reservation on the US Canadian border.
The pair begin making runs across the frozen St Lawrence river in Ray's car - with each journey bringing them closer to their goals - but in more danger from being caught.
Frozen River is an extremely compelling, and ultimately horrifying piece of film from first timer Courtney Hunt (who also wrote the screenplay).
Leo's Eddy is struggling left right and centre - as Christmas approaches and after her son inadvertently sets light to their trailer by trying to defrost the water pipes, she's got little choice but to team up with Lila, the Mohawk girl, despite her distrust.
Both women bring a quiet desperation to the roles - Lila has a family she never sees and Eddy has a family she's struggling to keep; Eddy's son resorts to stealing credit card numbers to try and help her make ends meet.
However, they also exude an inner strength and a determination to do right via their respective families - which makes each journey a more pain staking emotional one than they initially realize.
There's tension all round - each journey brings the pair a new peril - and in one particular case, they dump a package from an illegal family out in the snow; only to find out later that the package contained an alive baby.
From there, it's a desperate scrabble to find the infant and see if it survives.
Despite the glum nature of the film, it never wallows in mawkishness; each is doing what they have to to survive - and as time goes on, the two form a bond and friendship after an initial distrust and resentment.
While Upham does well in her role as Lila, it's Leo who shines - her world weariness shows on her face and in her resignation; yet she's never a quitter, she continues to fight on - she may be familiar to some from her turn in the 90s as a hard bitten detective on the stunning TV cop series Homicide: Life on The Street, but here she easily demonstrates why the Academy has rewarded her in 2009.

Frozen River is a triumph - it's a compelling and engrossing film which will lure you in when you least expect it and will leave you emotionally devastated at its conclusion.

Revolutionary Road: Movie Review

Revolutionary Road: Movie Review

Rating 7/10
Cast: Kate Winslet, Leonardo di Caprio, Kathy Bates, Michael Shannon
Director: Sam Mendes
1955 American suburbia.
Winslet and di Caprio are the April and Frank Wheeler; married and apparently happy within Revolutionary Road and middle America.
The pair have chosen a life away from the city and are living in the Conneticut suburbs raising two children and conforming to the norms of what's expected of the time.
April is a home maker, who aspires to be an actress despite what some of her peers think of her acting; Frank heads to the city everyday, joining the rest of the cattle commute, to work and provide for his family.
One day, April realizes enough is enough and she tells Frank they need to get away to Paris (the one place he says he's always loved) to feel like they're living again.
However, while Frank's initially in favour of the idea, he changes his mind after his workplace recognizes his talents and promotes him&..
Can the couple pull together and pursue their dream - or will the reality of escaping crush them for good?
We've all seen this façade of suburban happiness before - specifically it's de rigeur in TV2's Desperate Housewives (returning soon).
But Revolutionary Road, as well as seeing the first pairing of di Caprio and Winslet since Titanic, is a bit more than that.
Director Sam Mendes sets up a view of life which is too perfect by far - but right from the get go, there's always this hint that underneath the suburban façade, there lies a bubbling simmering tension which borders on resentment.
The first time we see April and Frank, it's cut between their initial meeting and an argument over whether April can act - for every moment of happiness, there's a psychotic outburst awaiting around the corner. Each of them is engaged in some kind of affair - and neither is happy all of the time - or indeed any of the time.
And that's one of the problems of adapting this 1961 novel by Richard Yates - most of the time it borders on kitchen sink melodrama, albeit of the darkest kind.
There are some nice touches - Michael Shannon's character John Givings, while having less than 15 minutes in total of the 2 hour running time, makes an immediate impact on the story.
His institutionalised character is brought under the Wheeler's wing by April's friend (and realtor) Helen (Kathy Bates) as she looks to them for guidance and because they appear the perfect happy couple.
However, John is the only one who can see exactly what is going on in the Wheeler's marriage and how they're falling apart - the scene when he comes round for dinner is electrifying as everyone tries to keep a grip on reality.
Ultimately, Revolutionary Road is a dark piece about the point at which the reality of a dream sets in and at what point does the panic of pursuing that dream - when the Wheelers announce to friends what their plans are, they're scorned and almost ostracised as they've expressed something different to what's expected.
Winslet gives a terrific and tragic performance as April; di Caprio at times simply appears to have tantrums like a spoilt teenager when handling angry outbursts.

Revolutionary Road is a dark, sullen and moody piece and one which it's easy to see why Winslet got a Golden Globe for her thanks to her subtle characterization.

Gran Torino: Movie Review

Gran Torino: Movie Review

Rating 7/10
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Cory Hardricht, Brian Haley, Dreama Walker, Bee Vang, Ahney Her
Director: Clint Eastwood
Dirty Harry, The Enforcer, That chap from Unforgiven.
Clint Eastwood does angry and wronged well - and you still know despite his advancing years, you just wouldn't want to mess with him.
Gran Torino finds him plumbing these murky angry regions again - this time to a darkly comic and ultimately shocking effect.
Eastwood is Walt Kowalski, a Korean war veteran, whom we first meet at his wife's funeral in church.
He's not a happy man - aside from the obvious reason, Walt's disgusted at the lack of respect his grandchildren are paying their grandmother - from his grand-daughter's bare midriff to his grandson's spectacles, testicles, wallet and glasses sign of the cross; he's not impressed at all.
This resentment and simmering disgust towards mankind in general continues at his wife's wake when his new Hmong next door neighbours ask for help.
To be greeted with a torrent of racial abuse.
It's pretty unlikeable stuff to start off with - but gradually Kowalski comes to befriend the neighbouring family and starts to adopt them - despite the son trying to steal his beloved Gran Torino car as part of a gang initiation.
And it's when the gang life butts in, and the family's attacked that Walt has to put aside his prejudices and face the fact he has no option but to settle some scores....
Gran Torino is a fairly honest look at the American way of life - and how some have started to resent it.
Yet, despite an at times unflinching look in the mirror, this film will strike a chord with many.
Walt's unhappy his neighbourhood's been encroached by what he calls "gooks"; he's angry his own son tries to put him a home after his wife's death and he's downright pushed over the edge when the gang retaliates.
It would be easy to draw parallels with Michael Douglas' turn as an extremely peeved off worker in Falling Down; but Clint manages to pull Walt back from the brink of sheer nastiness with some well injected black humour and some much needed humanity.
If we're honest, we'll all see shades of ourselves in Walt's daily niggles - but some of the racist abuse and darkly comic moments seem to come from Kowalski's uneasiness at behaving at odds to what he was taught in the army - and what he saw in combat.
His dealings with his barber are a real highlight in the film - and show how interesting customer service can be.
But Eastwood brings an underlying tenderness and humanity to his burgeoning friendship with Thao and Sue Lor of the family. It's probably because of this that the film's hit such a chord with the American box office.
Unfortunately, Gran Torino loses some points for predictability - Kowalski has something to atone for from his war days - and the ending can be seen a mile off.

That said when it comes, it still packs a powerful emotional punch and Kowalski is another great character to add to Eastwood's repertoire.

Yes Man: Movie Review

Yes Man: Movie Review

Rating: 6/10
Cast: Jim Carrey, Rhys Darby, Zooey Deschanel
Director: Peyton Reed

Yes.
A simple word - but one which is fraught with so many issues so often.
Jim Carrey stars in this film, one which takes the idea of UK author Danny Wallace's much loved book  grabs its central premise and runs with it - albeit in a different direction.
Carrey is Carl Allen, a guy whose life is passing him by because he doesn't want to socialize with friends (he rejects every call which is coming in with an array of excuses); his marriage ended 6 months ago and since then Allen's spent his time working in the bank (where he's always been as a loan (dis)approver) and in Blockbuster renting films.
The flashpoint comes when Allen forgets his best friend Peter's engagement party and he starts to realize he has to do something after they walk away from him.
A chance meeting with a former schoolmate outside his bank, sees Carrey's character encouraged to take a seminar hosted by Terrence Bundley, (played by Terence Stamp) which pivots around the idea of saying Yes to everything which comes his way.
Practically bullied into saying Yes, Carl Allen starts to open himself up to more opportunities - and that's where the fun (and the problems) begins.
As a real fan of Danny Wallace's book, I had real misgivings about Carrey (and his manic tendencies) stepping into this role.
But director Peyton Reed (The Break Up, Bring It On) has managed to do a good job of reigning Carrey in and indulging him in only a few select scenes of idiocy.
Granted there are moments when saying Yes leads to Carl Allen finding himself in ludicrous situations (such as a sex scene with an elderly neighbour) but there's always the emphasis that staying positive in life will bring good things your way (such as when helping a homeless guy ends with Allen having a chance meeting with Zooey Deschanel's character Allison)
And Rhys Darby manages some good laughs as Carl's boss - even if he does appear to be channeling the same character as Murray the inept boss from Flight of The Conchords.
The end result is that the film is a likeable beast.
It may suffer at times by veering away from Danny Wallace's original intentions (Carrey's character is slow to adopt the Yes outlook); but with an occasionally sullen Jim Carrey showing a bit more depth, Yes Man succeeds in being good value entertainment.