Serena: Movie Review

Serena: Movie Review

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Toby Jones, Rhys Ifans, David Dencik, Ana Ularu
Director: Susanne Bier

Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence re-team after the success of American Hustle and The Silver Linings Playbook in this Depression-era set tale, taken from the book by Ron Rash.

Cooper is George Pemberton, the owner of a timber empire, who's dealing with the possibility that his empire is being threatened by plans for a national park. However, there's a ray of light when he meets Serena (Lawrence) and decides they will be married.

Once the daughter of a tree empire owner, Serena proves to be very much Pemberton's equal in business and in love - but her arrival into the Smoky Mountains proves to be polarising, particularly when a former lover of Pemberton's and their illegitimate child comes back into the spotlight.

Serena aims for melodrama among the mountains, but ends up feeling like a melodrama with a muddled Mills and Boon pastiche thrown in for good measure.

The film's sat languishing on the shelf for a couple of years (it was shot before American Hustle) and while Cooper and Lawrence have that trademark chemistry, the adaptation of the book just fails to ignite any cinematic spark or drama that would have been inherent.

The whole feel of Serena is one of a mournful tale, from a long opening sequence of smoke hanging around the misty mountains to the simmering tensions and jealousies within, there's clearly enough material to make this work, yet it never quite takes off and soars into the drama that it clearly wants to be.

Part of the problem is that the revelations and actions of the third act feel forced in and don't resonate as perhaps they should; character motivation is simply shoe-horned in and never really feels plausible as the ideal passion-filled marriage apparently disintegrates.

Equally, the leads fail to really hit the notes needed for their characters; Lawrence feels oddly miscast and while she looks the part (all porcelain white face and crimped blonde bob), she lacks the usual subtlety needed to reach some of the emotional and psychological depths needed as she goes from sweetheart to Lady MacBeth. And Cooper reaches for dramatic but seems to be more sleep-walking than anything in this. Even an unrecognisable Rhys Ifans as a vengeful Golem-type character fails to hit anything other than a dirge.

While the film's beautifully shot, with the community at logger-heads over the foresting issue, there's a feeling that the haze in the mountains has also settled on the director and her cast in this over-cooked adaptation, which dulls more than dazzles thanks to a distinct lack of sympathy for the leads.

Rating:

Million Dollar Arm: Blu Ray Review

Million Dollar Arm: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Sony Home Ent

It's Slumdog Jerry Maguire in this latest from the Disney stable, which is based on a true story.

Mad Men star Jon Hamm is JB Bernstein, a sports agent whose repertoire of talent is waning and whose business is facing potential ruin due to a lack of big star names on his books. Along with his friend Aash (Mandvi), the two are looking at disaster.

But, when JB hits on the idea of merging a talent contest with the hunt for an Indian cricketer who could turn his arm to baseball, suddenly the world opens up.

So, heading to India, with a cranky retired scout (with a performance pretty much phoned in byAlan Arkin) in tow, JB's dream looks like becoming reality after initially disastrous try-outs when he comes across two with potential, Dinesh and Rinku (Slumdog Millionaire's Mittal and Life of Pi's Suraj Sharma).

However, shifting them back to the USA to be tutored by Bill Paxton's baseball coach, throws up more problems than JB could have predicted, leading him closer to the abyss - both on a personal and professional front.

Million Dollar Arm had some real potential as it came out swinging onto the screen.

It's your typical underdog, sports story and should, in theory, have hit a home run.

But it's marred by some incredibly lazy, borderline racist, stereotyping that leaves a nasty taste in your mouth. Its patronising and condescending Americanised view of Indian life and their habits is quite uncomfortable in places and provokes worry that it'll create unrealistic expectations of foreigners within some audiences and propagate some stereotypes.

That distastefulness aside, this way too long fish-out-of-water story does have its moments when it works; more notably in the quieter times and in the interactions of Dinesh and Rinku. There's a sentimentality and softness to their feelings and reactions to life around them that's entirely plausible and isn't milked by Gillespie for maximum effect (unlike anything else to do with their culture and heritage.)

Hamm's reasonable enough as the nonchalant facade begins to fade, though he lacks the powerwatt performance of Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire to keep you rooting for him. Perhaps, that's intentional, but Hamm doesn't overdeliver on the personal crumbling and falling apart path that he's inevitably got to tread. A romance with his house tenant (played by Lake Bell) starts off as a little implausible but gradually wins you over with her down-to-earth viewpoint cutting through his sports BS.

Skewing noticeably older, Million Dollar Arm is a queasy piece of film-making. Its sickly sentimentality rubs rather oddly up against the uncomfortable stereotyping within and left me feeling more angry than inspired.

Rating:

Fast and Furious 7 trailer speeds in

Fast and Furious 7 trailer speeds in

Continuing the global exploits in the unstoppable franchise built on speed, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson lead the returning cast of Fast & Furious 7.  

James Wan directs this chapter of the hugely successful series that also welcomes back favourites Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Elsa Pataky and Lucas Black.  

They are joined by international action stars new to the franchise including Jason Statham, Djimon Hounsou, Tony Jaa, Ronda Rousey and Kurt Russell.  Neal H. Moritz, Vin Diesel and Michael Fottrell return to produce the film written by Chris Morgan. 

The Rover: Blu Ray Review

The Rover: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

How do you follow a critical smash like Animal Kingdom?

By staying in Australia and going into an apocalyptic world if you're director David Michod.

Starring Robert Pattinson and Guy Pearce, this is set 10 years after a mysterious "collapse" turned everyone in Aussie a little feral and made the law of the gun the law of the land.

Pearce is Eric, whose life is somewhat of a mystery but who's determined to get back his beloved car when a band of outlaws fleeing from an event unknown make off with it, having crashed their own means of transport. Setting off after the group, the grim faced Eric comes across the injured Rey (Pattinson) and finding out he has a link to those crims, he makes him his passenger to ensure his aims are met...

An unusual road movie The Rover may be but it's also an unconventional buddy film as well as Rey and Eric head deeper into the post apocalyptic outback. While Michod never explains exactly what's happened, the inferences are easy to read - and particularly given Eric's state of mind, there's some debate over whether the "collapse" refers to his outlook and life as well as the global one.

Stark imagery is posted throughout the film, and glimpses rather than dwelling on them do much to show the true horror of what's gone on - particularly powerful are the hideous brief views of people crucified on power poles is one of the most terrifying that's on show.

Michod's crafted together something here which hits some highs but also hits a few narrative lows - a showdown at a ranch is dismissed when the tension's being ramped up, leading to issues over escape and what happened next. Equally though, the bleak cold bloodedness of Pearce's Eric is frightening, with only a couple of clues seeded as to why he's so keen to get his car back. The final shot seems like a cruel joke in many ways, a joke played on the audience who's invested time in this road movie - but it's symptomatic of the slightly skewed take on the world that Michod's created.

While Pearce is impressive and grimly stoic as the determined and wearied Eric - witness his face when he's asked by one character what there is to get worked up about these days, Pattinson is the opposite, all tics and vocal jumps as he channels what's lovingly labelled a halfwit by some in the movie.

There are a couple of moments when The Rover doesn't fire as best it could - including a tense build up to a shoot out at a farm which simply cuts away as the dramatic beats reach a crescendo. It's moments like that which provoke frustration with The Rover, but perhaps demonstrate how much Michod is willing to stray from expectations. 

Rating:

Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series: DVD Review

Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by Madman Home Ent

With a cast list reading like a Who's Who, Freaks and Geeks is the TV series that launched a thousand faces, made only one series and then had ripples throughout the TV world.

Set in an American high school and all horror that that encompasses, the piece is a funny, poignant and heart-breaking journey as we follow the Weir siblings Lindsay and Sam through the daily tribulations of the high school routine; from bullies to small victories at proms during the 1980s.

Freaks and Geeks really nails the outsider feeling but also presents a cast that are particularly relatable to anyone who's been through the school system (which is pretty much all of us). As well as the joys of spotting a pre-famous cast, there's an ease of story-telling and a heart which becomes compulsive viewing.

The series has gathered a devoted cult following through the years and it's easy to see why - from slackers to geeks, there's the whole emotional gamut to run through here - issues are raised and explored and never in a movie of the week after school special feel.

There's just something unique about these 18 episodes - if you're serious about TV, it's a set you can't afford to be without.

Newstalk ZB Review - The Dead Lands, St Vincent, and 22 Jump Street

Newstalk ZB Review - The Dead Lands, St Vincent, and 22 Jump Street

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/saturday-mornings-with-jack-tame/audio/darren-bevan-at-the-flicks/

Ghostbusters I and II: Blu Ray Review

Ghostbusters I and II: Blu Ray Review

Rating: PG
Released by Sony Home Ent

Who ya gonna call?

If you don't know the answer to that one by now, you clearly need to get these two Blu Ray releases as soon as is humanly possible.

Re-released in its 30th anniversary, it stars Dan Akroyd, Bill Murray and Harold Ramis as three psychologists dealing with an outbreak of ghosts and ghouls in New York. Also starring Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis, Ghostbusters still holds up as one of the absolute bests of the genre - a comedy horror that's a blast no matter how many times you see it.

Remastered and still a great treat, this double pack is worth your time - without a shadow of a doubt.