Suffragette: Film Review

Suffragette: Film Review

Cast: Carey Mulligan, Ben Whishaw, Anne-Marie Duff, Helena Bonham Carter, Meryl Streep, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Sarah Gavron

There's no disputing the Suffragette's movement was a vital one.

But in the hands of Gavron and writer Abi Morgan (The Hour, The Iron Lady), the film version of the growth of the movement feels didactic and as washed out as the grey palettes employed in the visual execution.

In 1912 London, Mulligan plays Maud Watts, one of the early foot soldiers of the movement, but who's more a soldier of chance than of deliberate stance. Working at a local laundry and duly handing in wages to her husband (Whishaw), Maud one day finds herself in the middle of the growing civil unrest instigated by Emmeline Pankhurst.

With her interest inadvertently piqued initially in the movement, Watts is dismissive of what's going on and remains a passive viewer. But when tensions begin to escalate at home, she becomes more involved in the fight for equal rights.

Suffragette is a misfire in many ways.

It fails to really get to the core of what makes the movement so powerful and gives us a lead that would rather view what's going on while all around lecture her. Equally, it doesn't help that Gavron's characters outside of the trio of women are so caricature. All men are bad and therefore badly portrayed with such a broad brush that the message threatens to be lost in the cinematic execution.

Conflict at Watts' home is so obviously signposted that it's never a surprise when it shows and the only real surprise is how dire it gets; this is a film which is never anywhere but in the women's corner, firmly entrenched in their camp and their fight.

In among the shaky cam and Mulligan's Watts' passive viewing of events (her character spends most of the film as an impassive viewer, rather than willing participant), there's also cliched dialogue rolled out over the law not being respectable to women; but there are moments that shine. Chiefly Brendan Gleeson's investigating copper brings a compassionate tone to proceedings, casting doubt over treatments and offering some hope for men at large.

Streep's appearance amounts to little more than a cameo as Pankhurst addressing a rally and Bonham-Carter seems to have wandered off the set of Sweeney Todd with her turn.

While Suffragette clearly wants to pass on a powerful message, its execution is muddled and mired in its intentions. It is perhaps telling the only moment to garner any emotion in the screening was when New Zealand appeared top of a list of nations that granted women the vote in 1893 - and the real footage is rolled out from events of the movement.

Sometimes, a true story needs only the simplest of executions to soar; sadly Suffragette misses with every moment and fails to add to the legacy of the suffragette movement.

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Pixels: Blu Ray Review

Pixels: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Sony Home Ent

When it comes to Adam Sandler comedies, the bar is not exactly very high.

But to say Sandler looks incredibly bored and lifeless throughout this is a damning expression of disappointment given the fact that Pixels could have been very good.

Instead, this story flops along.

It's the tale of Sandler's former arcade gamer Sam who's thrust into saving the world by his buddy, the President, played by Kevin James (yep, folks it's the movies - where it appears anything is possible) when aliens attack based on a time capsule sent into space in the 1980s.

Along for the ride is Josh Gad, channeling his very best Jack Black, as fellow arcade geek and former King of Kong style nemesis, pint-sized Eddie (Game of Thrones star and Emmy winner Peter Dinklage, who hams it up as much as he can along with the swagger) - but none of them, bar Dinklage, bring any real heft to the proceedings.

Which is a shame, because Pixels is swathed in a kind of 80s nostalgia that's as comforting as it is familiar to many - the idea that the naive innocence of games way back when could see our ultimate destruction is one which appeals to me as a gamer.

Based on the short film Pixels by Patrick Jean, the production values and the 3D ethos certainly work in this blocky execution to brilliant effect - certainly by the final act where the Earth's overrun by gaming creatures from the past, there will be elements of the audience that will bathe in the reminiscence while the younger end will not recognise anything other than Pac-Man at a push.

All in all, Pixels isn't as bad as perhaps it could have been - it's perfectly fine family fodder that lives in a universe of its own making - but if anything it suffers from an apathy from its lead that's contagious. Not once does Sandler's character seem to remotely care what's happening and unfortunately, as a result, most of the audience feel the same. And while the computer elements are brilliantly visualised, the human characters - aside from Dinklage - are sketchily outlined and barely filled in.

Carve Pixels up to a wasted opportunity; another Hollywood idea that fell by the wayside and file it under "great idea, poorly executed".

Game over.

Rating:

The Belier Family: Film Review

The Belier Family: Film Review

Cast: Louane Emera, Francoise Damiens, Karin Viard
Director: Eric Lartigau

With Christmas upon us, the annual cinematic line up heads more towards lighter fare - and this French film which played earlier in the year at the French Film Festival is one of the contenders for your time.

It's the story of the Belier family, who run a farm for a living in a small village in France. But their lives are different from others as three-quarters of them are deaf; the husband Rodolphe, the wife Gigi and the son Quentin. The only exception and window to the world outside is 16 year old Paula (Louane Emera) who hears normally but who interprets for the family.

However, that bond between the Belier family is challenged when Paula signs up for a music class at school because she likes one of the boys who also signs up. Equally challenging is that she discovers her voice and has a chance to go on to greater things in a national audition - but that would mean leaving her family behind.

There are moments in The Belier Family that are clearly pitched for farce rather than the usual solemn disability flick. The parents are sex-crazed animals, with one of the earlier scenes seeing Paula stuck in the middle at a doctor's appointment and trying to rationalise with her father to use the cream while her mother presses on with her desire to copulate. Also, the script sizzles with zingers like one telling Paula her moping over the boy makes her "like Bella from Twilight".

But at the same time in among the occasionally off-kilter silliness and at times over-acting (chiefly from Viard as the mother), there are some genuinely moving moments - and a star-making turn from the Chloe Grace-Moretz like Emera as the family rock, torn by her own coming of age and her love and familial bond.

One of the scenes that delves deep into poignancy of the drama and tragedy is a family confrontation when the mother reveals her heartache in discovering that her daughter can hear at birth and how she was different by not being deaf like them - it's dripping in sadness and guilt that is universal and touchingly delivered, never over-milked for the moment.

However, there are also frustrations - a side plot involving Rodolphe going for town mayor forms the start of the film and then simply falls by the wayside is one of the chief casualties as this relatively predictable tale plays out.

Thankfully, anchored by a star-making turn from Emera (I defy you to hold back the tears as she unleashes her audition song Je Vole by Michel Sardou while simultaneously signing for her parents in the audience) which is perfectly pitched, The Belier Family hits the right emotional notes and soars. Balancing the awkwardness, frailty and vulnerability of the self-deluded confidence of a teenager while never losing any of her appeal and over-playing the conflict, Emera is the main reason to see this French feel-good film that'll remind you of following your dreams while never forgetting where you came from.

Rating:

Sisters: Film Review

Sisters: Film Review

Cast: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, James Brolin, Dianne Wiest, John Cena
Director: Jason Moore

Trading on the Amy Poehler / Tina Fey chemistry that's been such comedy gold at awards shows and seen them collaborate together before on film (Baby Mama), Sisters is at times a free-wheeling blast of frat and humour.

Parks and Rec star Poehler and 30 Rock's Fey play sisters Maura and Kate Ellis, who are summoned back home when their parents (Brolin and Wiest) reveal the familial homestead is being sold and they need to clear out their old rooms.

Poehler's Maura is the more sensible of the pair, a nurse prone to helping all and even imposing when her perkiness is not welcomed; Fey's Kate meanwhile is the party queen, a free-wheeler who's there for a good time and pays no heed to what lies ahead, despite having a daughter.

Returning to their home and overwhelmed by memories of their  Deciding to throw one last legendary Ellis party and revel in their reputation, the party is set in motion.

But with Kate and Maura swapping roles, things soon go awry as the chaos eventually escalates.

Sisters is never funnier than when it lets the central pair freewheel from the script. 

While it sags in parts and could have comfortably trimmed 20 mins off its run time, Sisters trades well on Poehler's perkily optimistic comic outlook and Fey's natural smarts give it a brittleness and freshness which allow for plenty of unexpected laughs and moments that will catch you unawares.

Gently mocking the move from your perception of how life was when you were 21 to now you're suddenly 42, Sisters manages to tap into both a sly mocking of the idea of growing up and the horrifying reality of how we choose to be civilised at these kinds of dos, rather than completely cutting loose.

Cleverly managing to avoid the plot's flimsiness by using the main stars' innate likeability, Sisters also uses the mix of Saturday Night Live cast and friends (Maya Rudolph's Brinda as the bitch determined to crash the party) to good solid effect. Even John Cena plays up the comedy chops he's already demonstrated this year with his appearance in Trainwreck.

Sisters may feel like it lacks an overall coherency throughout (attempts to inject some sentiment and emotion towards the end with Kate and her daughter border on pointless), but its cross-sex appeal make it worth a view - but don't expect to leave with any other impressions than those Poehler and Fey give you. They're clearly having a blast making it and their infectious chemistry and comic friendship will help you paper over the cracks that pepper it throughout.

Rating:

The Man From Uncle: Blu Ray Review

The Man From Uncle: Blu Ray Review

Rating: M
Released by Roadshow Home Ent

Eschewing typical blockbuster tropes for something more stylish and ultimately more original,Lock, Stock and Snatch director Guy Ritchie's take on the 1960s TV series which spanned 105 episodes and starred David McCallum and Robert Vaughn, sees the Cold War hot up again.

Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer)

Against a backdrop of freezing relations in the 1960s, Henry Cavill plays American spy Napoleon Solo (all sharp-suited and chiseled jaw) who's forced to pair up with Russian counterpart Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer, all scowling and simmering brooding tension) to work against a mysterious criminal organisation who potentially is about to launch a nuclear bomb.

Their only lead is Gabby Teller (Alicia Vikander, cementing her status as rising star) as they race against time to save the world.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E is a stylish affair, greatly steeped in 60s spy nostalgia and fashion, and feels like a veritable cha-cha-cha of a movie as it dances around the screen.

While the main plot involving the bad guys could certainly have done with a bit of beefing up and the femme fatale played by Elizabeth Debicki is unfortunately more vacant blonde than immediate threat, the execution of the taut action sequences is elegantly despatched by Mr Ritchie's directorial flourishes.

One such touch sees an island raid near the end of the film creatively confined to split screen moments, showing sections of the concurrent action and raid but never the full money shot - in a genre that's been dominated by CGI overkill or explosions a-plenty, it's a bravura detail from Guy Ritchie, a sign of the intelligence and smart framing that's been put to refreshingly good use on this film.

Equally, one water-set chase sequence plays with expectations to quirkily offbeat effect and succeeds in subverting the usual tropes of such films.
(Though, irritatingly in the denouement of the film, Ritchie replays some plot points to over-emphasise the subtleties of the plot and the hand-guiding is more counter-productive than inspiring given the scenes in question have barely just taken place)

Of the leads, Vikander is the essence of cool as Teller and certainly the plot twists and turns befit her towards the end given how she's sidelined early on; Cavill's stiffly precise American accent has traces of Robert Vaughn's original agent Solo but he plays a little too emotionless throughout - it has its benefits though when called upon to play some of the comedy moments that crop up from time to time.

As his Russian counterpart, Hammer spends a little too much time glowering and scowling to imbue Kuryakin with many other dimensions, but it's fair to say that perhaps both of the leads could have done with a little more softening and a little less aloofness to endear them to an audience. But with hints of bickering and tension, there are certainly elements of the buddy movie genre within, even if they're not fully realised or fleshed out and are a little too serious at times. Granted, the whole thing could do with a liberal sprinkling of chemistry to really make it come together and some uneasy tension between east and west to make it crackle.

In many ways, The Man From U.N.C.L.E feels like an extended pilot for a new franchise; back-story on the two leads is despatched by briefings that serve as both exposition and introduction, catching those of us unfamiliar with the original series up to date.

But it's in its execution that Guy Ritchie has set this rather unique film apart from all other contenders within a crowded genre.

Its lack of showiness when compared to the recent Mission Impossible Rogue Nation, which is all sound and bluster, sets it greatly and welcomely apart. Mixed with high fashion, sultry jazz and a 60s European OST as it globetrots, means The Man From U.N.C.L.E certainly has got the hallmarks of a refreshingly cool take on the increasingly tired action blockbuster genre.

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Win a Peanuts book

Win a Peanuts book

To celebrate the release of The Peanuts Movie on January 1st, we're giving you the chance ot win The Bumper Book of Peanuts by Charles M Schulz.

About The Peanuts Movie

Snoopy and Charlie: The Peanuts Movie

Charlie Brown, the world’s most beloved underdog, embarks upon an epic and heroic quest with his best pal Snoopy.  

From the imagination of Charles M. Schulz and the creators of the Ice Age films.   

Coming to cinemas everywhere January 1st.

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Win Spooks: The Greater Good on DVD

Win Spooks: The Greater Good on DVD

Thanks to the good people at Madman, I've got a chance for you to win Spooks: The Greater Good on DVD, starring Game of Thrones star Kit Harrington!

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About Spooks: The Greater Good

When charismatic terrorist Adem Qasim (Elyes Gabel) escapes from MI5 custody during a high profile handover, legendary operative Harry Pearce (Peter Firth), Head of Counter-terrorism, is blamed. Disgraced and forced to resign, Harry disappears without a trace.

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