Film Reviews by jM

If a film spends most of its footage silently demonstrating how unfulfilling and boring anyone's life is, as they carry out their daily chores, then it is unsatisfying and boring for those watching it. What makes it worse is the fact that most of what dialogue there is murmured or whispered so that it is for the most part inaudible. When most videos today provide the option of switching on subtitles, it is absolutely unforgivable that this is unavailable for a film like this with actors indulging in the modern fetish for muttering and whispering.

Quite apart from the tedium  of watching this confused narrative, which wandered all over the place without any real coherence for the watcher, one cannot help but think that this a pretentious, self-absorbed film by its director. 

One of the most convincing films/series about the complications of the war in Afghanistan. Focussing on a Norwegian special forces unit, the episodes set in the war zone were tense and realistic, but did not overplay the violent action. Most of the series, however, dealt with the political ramifications and complications of the actions of the unit, whose actions were aimed at carrying out political initiatives. At the personal level leading members of the unit had to engage with their different challenges after their return to Norway. The acting was absolutely superb and the conflicting emotions off all were subtly expressed.

I am not quite sure what all the fuss was about or why this film was deemed Oscar-worthy. Zellweger made the usual Zellweger faces and the film as a whole focussed on a very limited, and depressing, part of Judy's life. What was missing was a narrative which explained the descent from stardom to disaster. The brief glimpses of her early years as a child-star implied too facile an explanation for the grimness into which Judy descended.

This may have been an attempt to show the problems of running a bar with scantily clad waitresses, but it meandered along seemingly without a comprehensible story-line, incoherent dialogue, and banal characterisation. Can't imagine what the message was supposed to be.

Beautifully and sensitively portrayal of a teenaged boy, aspiring to be a ballet dancer, who underwent a sex-change. While there would be a temptation to push things to extremes, the wonderfully underplayed role on the young actor left you in no doubt at any moment how he was feeling without his expressing his emotions verbally.

Very sensitive film about the impact of an abusive relationship in her youth on a young single mother and subsequently on her daughter. The acting was convincing, that of the mother, as she progressed to her later years, particularly so. Virginie Efira's understated reaction to all the painful incidents to which she was exposed conveyed the depth of her personal pain more effectively than an excess of emotion.

A very touching portrayal of what life is like for refugees in Lebanon. While the dialogue is spare, the acting is outstanding, in particular the young boy who struggles valiantly to deal with impossible circumstances. His relationship with the toddler, whose reactions are completely natural and must have required many hours of patient camera-work to capture, is moving and almost heroical.

From a relatively quiet start, the film gradually raises the tension in a way which is completely absorbing. In what is virtually a one-hander the lead actor carries his role off with conviction and we watch as he has to interpret and reinterpret the various emergency calls which he receives until he arrives at the awful truth.

Despite some less than enthusiastic reviews in the media, this was a wonderful and charming little film, based on a true story. It may have been a bit formulaic and predictable, it was no less enjoyable for that.  The music and the gentle humour was outstanding and the acting excellent.

I simply cannot understand why critics heap their praises on a film which is so dull and with such a shallow plot. My wife and I had turned on the subtitles, but we might as well not have bothered since there was so little spoken dialogue. This strikes me as a vanity project for Ramsey, appealing to a such a very audience.

What a remarkable film! Using actors with disabilities, this film encourages its audience both to see the funny aspects of the situations which develop, but also to think seriously about the questions it raises.

While the acting was convincing and the cinematography was impressive, a challenging issue was rendered dull by a presentation which lacked energy and imagination. Had this been a stage performance the numerous long silences would have put the audience to sleep.

Despite the grim violence of certain scenes, this was an honest and critical portrayal of history. And it did have a positive, redemptive message, despite the fact that the attitudes of some would never change

One doesn't have to watch characters saying and doing virtually nothing for an hour and half to understand the impact of the loss of a loved one. Pretentious to sat the least!