Film Reviews by JD

If you watched the Rockford files in 1974 and liked them you will not be disappointed to review them, partly because the only thing you will remember is the theme tune and the characters. Nobody can remember a plot from 39 years ago.

If you didn't watch them before they are dated, the fashions are ludicrous, the acting is awful and the editing of sequences amateur. You may even find the dreadfulness of it funny. I enjoyed them for the nostalgia and recommend them to 50ish year olds.

Judi Dench plays a superbly creepy character. It will make the hardest squirm. Cate Blanchett is also good in the slightly easier role of an air head, easily manipulated teacher. Nighy shows a new side. The children are satisfactory but didn't quite come up to the awesome level of the main actors. It is a brilliant account of a dreamy dizzy blonde caught in a web of her own but then caught in a far more complex web.

Who would have thought that if 4 actors of the caliber of Ledger, Bale Gere and Blanchett played the same (male) person that the female would give the best performance. A bit of panto perhaps? The name Bob Dylan is never referred to which feels as if the film couldn't afford the royalties. Most of the film shows Dylan as a heavy smoking arty intellectual who turns most questions round to the enquirer. Hardly riveting stuff. I found it pretty boring even though I liked Dylan in the 70's. He is hardly relevant now and the film should have tried harder to appeal to those of us who are not disciples.

I'm no Irishman but Blanchett's accent wavered. Often close but rarely spot on. Better than Brad Pitt's in Snatch (and much better than his Austrian accent in 7 years in Tibet). Why spoil a film by trying to copy the accent? Some of the drug scenes are a bit overdone and unconvincing. The 18 certificate is well earned for sickening violence. Blanchett's acting is of course otherwise awesome and it is easy to see the huge courage of the journalist the the film is devoted to. There cannot be many who would stand up against the drug barons with so much to lose. Worth watching for historical importance and thrilling performances.

A simple cheap film, no gimmicks / CGI / big explosions just a good story, brilliantly acted full of real life emotions and terrible decisions. A proper film, I wish there were more like this. Set in Italy, the script was written by 2 Poles, the director was to have been Polish but following his death was taken on by a brilliant German starring an Australian at the peak of her form. There is an American actor in it but he does well. The centre of the story is about drugs, money and corruption but also about how the central character struggles with all her demons as they accumulate. The last scene is gorgeously serene, a brilliant way to end a film.

Fiennes character is pretty unbelievable and not one to be identified with easily. He is a very neurotic priest raised by a fervent and oppressive father. He is intelligent but extremely pathetic. He is led into gambling and becomes addicted. The moral of the film is with regard to gambling addiction and religious morality. He meets another addict who is not religious to further the morality issues. Fiennes character is so tremulous and feeble that it is difficult to get involved with his issues. There are several story /plot points, particularly towards the end, which are so unlikely and unbelievably scripted that there is a great temptation to abandon the film. Fiennes does seem to be over-acting in many scenes but maybe it is just an extreme character is portraying. Either way not easy going.

Judging from the previous 6 reviews this is a Marmite film. Personally I found it self-indulgent and feeble. The impression is that the actors are deliberately portraying amateur / ham acting characters for humorous effect. Within the film are films which are even more amateur in style. The heavy weight presence of Michael Gambon and Cate Blanchett must have made this an expensive waste of talent. Goldblum, Wilson and Murray are, in my opinion, extremely over-rated, Murray in particular in this case is exposed for his lack of acting skill. Gambon has a minor role, but Blanchett could not, on her own, pull this out of the pit of desperately childish, pitiful, titillation. This might have been cutting edge cult humour if it had been made in the 60's but we expect a lot more now.

An amazing film. I imagine that it is factually accurate, if so I didn't realise how close to the wind Elizabeth sailed around the time of her coronation (before and after). The acting is sublime. There are no duff actors in the cast but even this pick of the bunch are on intense form. I was totally immersed in the ebbs and flows, the seductions and deceits, the vain and the cunning and the power struggles. There is no weak point in the film. I am surprised however that there are currently no other reviews and it was a 4 star rated, this is main stream brilliant.

Horror is not a respectable genre but Blanchett and Reaves can do anything with any genre. Their performances are stunning. Reaves character is utterly repugnant and hateful but somehow you admire him for playing it so well. Blanchett plays a witch/tarot card reader/heroine character so well it almost makes you side with the paranormal. Good punchy drama with a few horror bits but don't let that put you off.

This has become an institution of witty and incisive British comedy soap. All the agonies of family life beautifully laid out in a comedy format. I don't think this is the best of the Outnumbered series but it far outranks most soap comedies.

Bruce Willis has perfected the action comedy and this has all the best elements of this in plus some romance drama. It is horribly slap stick and slightly overacted but never too sickly. Blanchett gives it some class and pulls it into a respectable film of a more universal appeal than the adolescent 50 year old men genre.

Although this is a pretty good plot everything feels excessive. The characters are all extreme. Spacey's character is extremely pathetic and Blanchett's extremely hedonistic, the reaction of the islanders to the departure of a visitor is wildly extreme and the effect of the wind on a house unbelievable. Talking of which Dench's accent is so variable as to be amusing. The returning from the dead scene is stretching credulity to beyond breaking point. Essentially poor direction but quite enjoyable.

Matt Damon is unbelievably good. His character is about as horrible as it is possible to be; but he manages to keep you interested in his perspective and think about his motives. This film will haunt your dreams/nightmares but there is a strong and important moral lesson. The only criticism that occurred to me is that all the other characters are extremely privileged, but it is based on American young adults living in Naples and Rome. The plot would have had to be quite different to accommodate less wealthy characters.

Essentially about the French resistance towards the end of the 2nd WW. This starts before the recruitment of Charlotte Gray and ends 6 months after she left. It is gripping, sad, and poignant. A great cast with good chemistry portraying a book of Sebastian Faulks. Amazing, powerful and unmissable.

This is a gem worth finding. I had never heard of this film before but I wish someone had recommended it before. I had never seen such dark humour until recently (7 psychopaths etc). It very nearly becomes slapstick early on but Al Pacino, who is always good, is totally f*****g stella. He transforms it into comedy of such deep dimensions I was amazed there was anything like this in 1975. This is the saddest most agonising, laugh out loud film you will ever see.