September Film Reviews

Director: Christopher Nolan

Featuring: Leonardo Di Caprio, Marion Cotillard, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine
 

Christopher Nolan has produced an amazing Body of Work in just a few years – constantly inventive, playing with the form and structure of film but interested in character. He has got one of Al Pacino’s most finely nuanced performances in “Insomnia” (and turned Robin Williams’s cutesiness into something truly frightening in the same film); got a career best performance from Heath Ledger in the magnificent “Dark Knight” (which should have won him an Oscar); and even given Hugh Jackman some depth in “The Prestige”.
“Prestige”, like his mind-boggling “Memento” (soon to be out on Blu-Ray) was very tricksy, sleight-of-hand film-making. In “Inception” he takes that tricksiness to another level. Compared to this film, “The Matrix” is for kindergarten kids.
You’ll know the premise by now: DiCaprio is a corporate spy who steals ideas in dreams but is asked to do the reverse – plant an idea in the mind of a target.
This is an action film that also plays with your mind – it requires close attention from the outset. The action scenes are extraordinary. Because it’s dealing with a dream-world comparisons with the fight scenes in “The Matrix” trilogy are inevitable. But these are light years ahead, I guess because movie technology has developed so much more.
The internet is already buzzing with the “significance” of the names of characters: Ellen Page plays Ariadne, who in Greek mythology provides a way through the maze; another character is called Eames – Charles Eames was a celebrated architect. DiCaprio’s character is called Cobb, which comes from Jacob, the Biblical character who dreamt of a ladder to heaven.
In a way, for DiCaprio it’s a companion piece to Shutter Island [see DVD reviews] as in both films his characters are beset by notions of reality and unreality, loss and faith.
It’s a tough film to review as I don’t want to give away secrets. Think “Solaris” with great fight scenes and a nod to James Bond movies. It’s a glittering achievement though and absolutely essential viewing. In fact, twice is better.

Director: James Mangold

Featuring: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Paul Dano

Some films just reek of failure before they even get going whether it’s a shot by shot remake of “Psycho”, one too many returns to a successful franchise or any film starring Nicole Kidman. (Okay, that last one is just me, I admit it.) Why did this classy director (“Copland” anybody?) and classy stars allow the absolutely crap title of this film get beyond an initial draft of the film. It sets it down squarely in TV territory, even though it aint made for TV.
The idea of re-booting those 80s adventures like Die Hard or The Last Boy Scout – or even Cruise’s own Mission Impossible trio – is fine. But to do them as a rom-com stinks of Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn in “Bird On The Wire”. And you can’t get much worse than that.
I like Tom Cruise. A lot. He does good action – “The Last Samurai” is one of the most undervalued films of recent years – and he doesn’t mind messing with his star image. Witness Magnolia and that great turn in “Tropic Thunder” as bald, hairy, pot-bellied agent Les Grossman. And he’s been doing comedy since his break out performance in “Risky Business”.
And Cameron Diaz has great acting chops – although she only needs to grin and the audience loves her.
So as rogue agent Cruise takes Diaz hostage on a flight that he crash-lands you hope that we might be in for an update of Hitchcock’s adventure romances – 39 Steps or North By Northwest. Hitchcock is certainly referenced but this film lacks his nuance or his lightness of touch. There is PLENTY of action – it’s almost non-stop, in fact – but that means that in the end any pretence of characterisation fizzles out under fireballs and Uzi attacks. A big disappointment and a waste of these two fine actors and their undoubted chemistry – they were great doing Top Gear together….

Director: Jonathan Lynn

Featuring: Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, Rupert Grint, Rupert Everett, Martin Freeman, Eileen Atkins.

A British remake of the 1993 French film Cible Emouvante (now re-titled for DVD release – see DVD reviews), this has a touch of Ealing comedy and pleasurable performances from a solid British cast.  Nighy is the phlegmatic hitman hoping to retire, the gorgeous Emily Blunt is the kleptomaniac target who changes his life when instead of killing her he decides to save her.  A bunch of fine comic actors turn this simple premise into an entertaining time-passer but – as with the original - it’s by no means essential viewing.