The Wife: DVD Review

The Wife: DVD Review

Slow-burning and blessed with two powerhouse leads, the adaptation of Meg Wolitzer's 2003 novel, The Wife is definitely a film for those older in years looking to reflect.

Close and Pryce are husband and wife Joan and Joe Castleman, whose lives are irrevocably changed when Joe gets a call offering him a Nobel peace prize, to be awarded in Stockholm for his writing.

As they head off to the ceremony for the literary award, Joe's agog at what's ahead and Joan is the supportive long-suffering wife who sits in the background, happy to keep him on schedule and out of the limelight.

But as the ceremony nears, tensions rear between the two as their history is thrown into the spotlight.

The Wife is a perfectly fine piece of drama, that bogs itself down with its flashbacks and exposition.

The desire to explore this blowhard husband and the stoic wife stutters as it jump between the past and now, with the best part of the work coming in the present as the powderkeg nears explosion.

It helps that Close and Pryce spar well, and equally gel; their portrayal of a long marriage and of decisions made in the past help anchor the piece as it chops and changes. If Close is strong in her delivery, stoic and still in her building rage and regret, Pryce is equally dismissive and oblivious to what's around him.

Close is very much the patient glue which holds the drama together, a nuanced turn that anchors proceedings as the reflections play out. The wry delivery of some of the lines also provide plenty of barbs as well, with the screenplay built very much on the three-act play approach.

Ultimately, The Wife soars when it deals its hand of the present day fallout of the past. And a clever examination of some of the final wording proves delicious in many ways as well.

But The Wife flounders in its execution of the past, and confuses the reasoning adopted by some of the lead characters; it remains enigmatic and like a stageplay in its execution - though overall, that's no bad thing. 

Cold War: Film Review

Cold War: Film Review

Cast: Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot
Director: Pawel Pawlikoswki

Ending with a truly extraordinary final shot, Pawlikoswki's love story Cold War is a paean to the golden age of cinema and the universality of a romantic tale.

Shot in black and white and set in post-war Poland, it's the tale of composer Wiktor (Kot) and auditionee Zula (Kulig) who are attracted to each other, even though their fates should not be intertwined.

Landing a role in his troupe, Zula bewitches Wiktor, and as they cross Eastern Europe touring, their lines become more blurred, and their roles in each other's lives stronger than expected.

Cold War opens with local villagers singing and proceeds to let the cameras linger on the musical numbers and the committed performances of the singers. In fact, as it progresses, you could almost feel that Pawlikoski's more determined to archive local folk music and lore, before the story of Wiktor and Zula kicks in.

It is transcendantly shot; every frame oozes class as the black and white gives an eternal veneer to what plays out, but equally, the leads demand your attention to.

Kot channels inherent tragedy and frustration as Wiktor, the man for whom circumstance proves ruinous. Equally, Kulig has the kind of charm that lights up a love story throughout the years, and gives more than enough clout to the arc as it plays out.

Ultimately, Cold War will thaw even the most hardened of hearts as it dances the line between wondrously shot musical moments on stage and then veers toward the emotional intimacy of a relationship that shouldn't be.

Steeped in pathos, and riddled with seductive tones, Cold War is a luminous film that possesses a timelessness which is hard to deny.

A Simple Favor: DVD Review

A Simple Favor: DVD Review

Better known for his comedies like Ghostbusters, Paul Feig turns his directing eye to an adaptation of the 2017 novel from Darcey Bell.

Attempting to make it film-noir, but still imbuing it with comedic sensibilities and campy touches, A Simple Favor is the story of vlogger Stephanie Smothers (Kendrick, by far and away the best thing in this film) a nerdy widower and mother-of-one who strikes up an unlikely friendship with upmarket fellow Emily Nelson (Lively, suitably bitchy when needed, but unable to fulfill some of the film's requirements).

Entranced by Nelson's drink-during-the-day mentality, Smothers and Nelson become BFFs. One day, however, when Smothers is left to pick up Nelson's child, she doesn't return, prompting fears she's gone AWOL in the most sinister of fashions....

As Stephanie investigates, she begins to discover something sinister...

A Simple Favor works on some levels, and fails on some others.

The aforementioned comedy touches don't quite gel with the desire to go a bit darker here and there, and Kendrick's Nancy Drew type digging is sometimes foiled by an unevenness of tone, which, while not fatal to proceedings, can occasionally deliver a whiplash which is hard to shake.

Thankfully, Kendrick holds a lot of this together, going the full gamut from nerdish outsider caught up in the bitchiness of small-town school-gate gossip to empowered crusader, inspired by Emily's laissez-faire dismissal and attitude to life. Kendrick more than delivers, peppering her preppiness with the kind of touches employed in Pitch Perfect.

Lively isn't quite as strong, and while Emily's boozy detachment is a hard one to play, she doesn't quite hit the convictions needed late in the piece. Equally, Crazy Rich Asians' star Henry Golding delivers a too-nice-to-be-true turn that complements, but doesn't elevate what's going on.

Ultimately, the outlandish twists of the noir and the comedy slightly foil some of the final suspense, and there's a little too much garbled exposition at the end delivered without breath or pause.

These are minor niggles though, and there's much to be said for the stylish execution and the sassy French OST.

A Simple Favor is a smart watch in places, but the tonal mixes, while never fatal, do make the overall effect less powerful than it could have been - and it's saved solely by an exceptional Anna Kendrick. 

Crazy Rich Asians: DVD Review

Crazy Rich Asians: DVD Review

In truth, Crazy Rich Asians is a masterpiece of staging and hollow spectacle.

It's a tale as old as time itself, one which dabbles in fairy tales, and enigmatically weaves some very familiar threads in among opulent gaudiness. It's almost satirical in ways, if it wasn't such a blatant  and shallow piece at heart.

It's your classic girl (Wu) meets boy (Golding), girl dates boy for a year, blissfully unaware that said boy is part of a mega-rich family and who tries to introduce girl to her snooty mother (Yeoh), who's dismissive of the differences between the two.

Along the way, throw in some very familiar and very obvious cultural issues and jealousies, stir it all up et voila, Crazy Rich Asians.

And yet, if the tale is an all too hoary rote one, the rom com greatly benefits from some truly globally impressive cinematography (it's like a tourism board advert for Singapore at times) and some directorial flourishes from Chu himself.

Whether it's showing off the excess, drowning the screen in swathes of local culture (hello, extended street vendors montage) or thrusting to prominence the Asian way of life and actors, it's clear why Crazy Rich Asians is having a moment to shine.

Like the subject matter, it's a little indulgent and overlong, and certainly, some of the sequences feel like they could have been excised from the 2 hour run time, and in parts, it has to be said that some of the narrative feels weaker than it ought to be, an excuse to join together the dots of its paper thin characters, and kill some time prior to the next luxurious sequence.

But Wu shines, as does Yeoh, with what little they have; and Humans star Gemma Chan brings more than enough to the table as the subject of potential sequels.

In this obvious tale of family clashes and of tradition, Crazy Rich Asians rightly deserves the applause it's getting for bringing the culture to a wider audience, and by telling a very familiar story complete with broad brush strokes in what will be to many, unfamiliar surroundings. It's the very essence of representation and is also somehow the epitome of where 2018 has marked the turning point.

But for cinema purists, looking for a little more perhaps, Crazy Rich Asians could do with an expeditious trim, a plumping of some of the elements of its Jane Austen edges and a bit more of a killer hook. Here's hoping the sequels manage this - and more.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

2019 is upon us, and here's wishing you all a 2019 that's practically perfect in every way possible!

Happy New Year, and all the best to you and yours for 2019!

Thanks for your support in 2018

Thanks for your support in 2018

As we hurtle toward the end of 2018, it's time to reflect.

So, thanks everyone, distributors of film, games and home entertainment for all your support in 2018.

Here's hoping 2019 is as great too!

Bird Box: Film Review

Bird Box: Netflix Film Review

Cast: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, Sarah Paulson, John Malkovich, Tom Hollander, BD Wong
Director: Susanne Bier

Netflix's latest, the post apocalyptic Bird Box, based on Josh Malerman's book, triumphs greatly early on in terms of unease and atmosphere.

However, as the story of the epidemic goes on, and regardless of how it's supposed to be a parable for motherhood, it begins to lose its way with logic falling quickly by the way side.

Bullock delivers a strong performance of survival as Malorie, a mother-to-be, whose life is changed when the first signs of an unseen epidemic land. This epidemic is so terrifying those who see it commit suicide, but as Malorie tries to survive and find a path to a safe house down a river, she finds the terrors within are as bad as those on the outside.

Flashing between timelines, Bird Box makes great fist of its premise, bringing chaos and terror in its opening gripping 20 minutes. Bier wonderfully realises the chaos and the horror of the unknown and unnamed unseen threat. Plausible, hysterical and genuinely unsettling the fear is palpable and Bullock's Malorie's sense of survival as a heroine is admirable.

But as the film goes on, the slipping between narratives starts to expose some of the cracks in logic of the events around as inconsistencies begin to cripple the narrative. And an underwhelming finale doesn't help matters either. Add in the fact the future timelines more or less reveal what has happened to everyone doesn't help do anything unfortunately but rob the film of its tension.

However, Bullock's resilience as an actress comes to the fore, and she impresses throughout, imbing Malorie with a strength that's obvious from the beginning. Rhodes and Malkovich also deliver strong performances, and Hollander's unctuous turn is stunning in its calm and execution.

Ultimately, Bird Box is a claustrophobic dystopian mixed bag; it delivers on atmosphere, falls on its own sword with logic and world-building, but delivers a thrill ride that is both up and down, rather than a consistent tone throughout.