Film Reviews by TB

Russell Crowe, for the first time since Romper Stomper, plays a villain. But even though he tries his best and there is the traditional overacting that in this genre of film is expected, the end result is only mediocre. It is a very well made film in terms of the stunts, and there are suitably nasty moments to ratchet up the tension.

Even though it sounds like a slight, one of the best things about this film is that it is short and not bloated in its runtime. At just under 90 minutes, everything zips along relatively quickly and despite some slight flagging in the beginning third, (like spending an inordinate amount of time focusing on the female lead character’s failing home and professional life,) it never overstays its welcome. 

The special features on the Blu-Ray are also welcome and the behind the scenes documentary is extensive and also takes into account that this film was released during the pandemic, highlighting the challenges it faced.

As a film, don’t go in expecting a masterpiece, but rather an overall decent thriller that you can watch, laugh and wince at, then post back and get your next rental. 

David Ayer has been involved in some great films (Harsh Times, Training Day, Fury, End of Watch) and some not great ones (Suicide Squad, Sabotage,) but in his great work, there is always a strong sense of comraderery and brotherly bond. When this is done right within the workings and pace of the film, it reaps massive dividends, particularly in Harsh Times and End of Watch. But when the story/other film elements around these characters is rubbish, those parts are much more accentuated. And this in a nut shell is the problem with The Tax Collector.

The two lead actors are great in their own ways. Without doubt, this is Shia's film. He is a coiled spring of anger, violence and tension, always in the background and ready to suddenly explode. As much as Bobby Soto has great charisma and also really commands the screen in scenes where he is on his own, whenever Shia is around, you are instantly drawn to him. The two actors work extremely well together and this is what stops Tax Collector from sliding completely into ignomy. But they are only able to do so much.

The rest of the film is just a clichéd mess, despite one storyline really going in an unexpected direction. And the film also has a really nasty streak to it, in the graphic violence which is just randomly thrown onto the screen to try to make an impact but ends up just being horrible. Two scenes in particular are so gruesome that the intended payoff is completely lost and I just sat there thinking, "What was the point of that?" Unlike the violence in Fury, which was absolutely critical to the story and also really forced you to confront the horrors of war, this does the opposite. Not only is it horrible to watch, but it serves the opposite purpose than it intends.

A final funny bit of trivia about this film is that, to get into character, Shia LaBeouf had his entire chest tattooed. And despite inking almost a third of his body for the role, for 99% of the film, he wears fitted suits with none of them on display... Then when they are finally shown, they are also partially obscured... Whilst I love the commitment, as one critic put it, "Hasn't he heard of Henna?!?!"

I watched this film as it had not only Stephen Dorff but also Helen Mirren in it, as well as what seemed to be an interesting premise and the casting of Mirren as a contract killer, which looked like an interesting angle to be explored.

But this film is awful in almost every way you can think of. The acting is wooden, nothing is believable and some of the elements are so far-fetched you start laughing, Whilst I won't give away the plot, the only detail I will mention is that the many scenes of intimacy between Gooding Jr and Mirren, who are stepson and step-mother, really don't work...

Whilst I will always praise films trying to break out of the mould and do something different, when a film is this much of a car crash and so wrong in so many ways, any kudos for trying something new is voided.

Avoid

This film is and will always be one of my top 10 of all time. Not one element isn't perfect. The performances are phenomenal. The locations beautiful. The script a work of genius. The direction inspired. The soundtrack flawless. When people talk about films transporting them to a different world, this is what they mean.

I love how it cannot be pigeonholed in a genre: it's a gangster film, but it's not a gangster film. It's a love story but it's not a love story. It's a heist movie but it's not a heist movie. The most accurate label you could give it would be thriller, but even that completely undersells it.

Whilst the premise sounds like a standard clichéd film, (retired gangster living in Spain is called upon by an old foe for one last job,) this is simply a vague outline of the plot. This is a movie where the beautiful and tranquil life that the main character has built for himself is suddenly and brutally torn apart.

Gal (Winstone) is a retired safe cracker who has left the London gangster scene, where he was a minor celebrity, and moved to Spain, leaving behind the life that landed him in prison and in the end threatened to destroy him. He is married to DeeDee (Redman,) an ex porn star, and the love they have is the central bedrock of the film. You totally believe the deep and passionate connection they have, which makes the later events that much more powerful. They are joined by life-long friends Jackie and Aitch (White & Kendall) in this idyllic life, which is then shattered…

Don Logan (Kingsley,) from the moment he appears on screen, dominates everything. A monster in human form. A man who, in Kingsley’s own words, is “The unhappiest man in the world.” And whilst that may seem like a vague and somewhat tame description, in many ways it gets to the heart of Logan as a man. The resentment and jealousy boil out of him, as he looks at the perfect world that Gal has created, knowing that he will never have anything close to this because no-one would ever want to be with him.

And this knowledge of how people feel about him is both his power and his weakness. His ability to be able to make the people around him do what he wants is only matched by the self-hatred and miserableness of knowing those same people despise him and look forward to the day they never have to see him again. And when that is coupled with Logan’s desperation to be accepted, it combines into a melting pot of violence and anger.

The other genius of casting Sir Ben Kingsley, which this film exploits perfectly, is how to most people he was always seen as Gandhi, the polar opposite of Logan. And this was even in the mind of Ray Winstone, who in a subsequent interview remarked, “Nothing against Ben Kingsley, but I couldn’t see myself being beaten up by Gandhi!” But within 5 minutes Kingsley on screen as Logan, this previous image is totally erased.

The subsequent story and battle of wills between both Winstone and Kingsley but also the other characters, and the culmination of this in the underwater bank robbery, is perfection. In particular, the confrontation in the kitchen, as the tension reaches unbearable levels, is a masterclass in minimal staging producing maximum impact. And this was shot in one take…

To summarise, this film is a masterpiece, and I don’t use that word lightly. Over the space of 90 minutes, you are entertained, horrified, scared, disturbed and laugh out loud. In short, everything that great cinema should be, especially if you like the most creative swearing ever put on film…

After many well-publicised addiction issues throughout his life, which is referenced on the Blu-Ray special features, Ben Affleck has used these experiences to great effect as Jack Cunningham. The story of a former basketball player turned alcoholic social outcast has many of the standard sporting cliches, but these never hinder the film from being a good, engrossing story.

Affleck himself certainly looks the part, using his massive hulking frame (from his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman,) to illustrate the emotions Cunningham goes through and add dramatic heft. And needless to say the many scenes of Jack drowning in booze are given additional emotional impactfulness from the experiences Affleck has doubtless been through. Gavin O'Connor, who has before directed great movies with brilliant performances, again shows his ability to get the most from his cast and the rest of the film elements, (cinematography, soundtrack, supporting performances,) are all good too.

A solid film and perfect for Friday night watching

This is my first experience with John Le Carré's work, but I have for many years heard his name mentioned with reverence for the powerfulness of his writing and characters.

But I didn't first hear about this series because of Le Carré's novel or characters, but rather that this series was the most blatant attempt possible by Tom Hiddleston to be cast as James Bond. And that is, from his performance, the predominent thing which I can say about him in this. He is straining every sinew to basically yell out from the screen "I can be Bond!!!" This is not to put down Hiddleston's acting abilities for a second and certainly the chemistry he shared with Elizabeth Debicki was powerful and drove the love story forward. But the audition aspect was always lurking in the background. And for me, in many ways that overshadowed everything else with his performance, especially when sharing the screen with Hugh Laurie and/or Tom Hollander...

These two actors literally dominate the screen for every second they are on it. Laurie is so far away from his roles in Blackadder and Jeeves & Wooster that you question whether they were played by the same person. Like Sir Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast, Laurie's Richard Roper is a sociopath; utterly evil and without mercy, no hint of humanity or morality as he sells weapons of war to the highest bidder. Roper also knows exactly what he is and the depravity he is responsible for, but dismisses it as purely business.

And Hollander is the coiled spring, who straight away sees through Hiddleston, constantly circling him and goading, leaving him and us to wonder when he was going to strike. The mix of violence, threat and sexuality all combined perfectly and his BAFTA award was richly deserved. Hollander is such a talented actor with these types of roles that you wish he was cast more in them. When both him and Laurie were on screen, you relish the spectre of two actors at the top of their game.

The rest of the cast, as well as the locations and production values are also great. It was clear that there was a large budget for this production and Susanne Bier puts every penny of it up on the screen. The colour palatte in particular and the cinematography were first class. Locations were also varied and well-used.

Whilst many people may be watching for Hiddleston, within minutes of Laurie and Hollander appearing on screen, it flips 180 degrees and despite his best efforts, they are who you'll remember

Whilst I have not seen the first three John Rambo films, I had seen Rambo many years ago, mainly because some of my friends who had seen it thought it was so stupidly violent that it almost became satirical. And when watching it myself, several times I did laugh, as it was like watching a computer game re-enactment with gallons of “tomato soup” style blood spraying about everywhere. One of the only positives about Rambo (the film) was the light that it shone on the horrific genocide that was happening in Burma/Myanmar.

I knew a little about Rambo as a character, in terms of his PTSD and flashbacks, as well as the severe trauma he dealt with which shone a light onto the very real issues faced by many members of the armed forces. But as well as this very real side, I was also aware that Rambo was a by-word for gratuitous violence, wooden acting and the “American” warrior stereotype. Unfortunately, this does not change in Rambo: Last Blood at all, instead introducing many much worse new things into the mix.

The most frustrating thing about Rambo: Last Blood is that, unlike a lot of people, I thought the opening 20 minutes was really good. The PTSD element of Rambo’s character was explored quite profoundly, and as has been pointed out by many people, when Stallone is given the right material, he is an extremely good actor. I totally bought into the difficulty and mental torture the character was going through and how despite his best efforts, these horrors stayed with him. The horse-riding scenes were also well-shot and there was a very good foundation set in the beginning. Unfortunately it then nose-dived.

I won’t talk in detail about the plot, but what started as a good film then just becomes the most bigoted, racist and xenophobic piece of work I’ve seen in years. Almost anyone who isn’t American/close with Rambo at the beginning of the film is shown as being evil and violent, one scene in particular set in a brothel is simply there to keep ratcheting up the message that these people (in this case Mexican characters) are human vermin who do horrible things to defenceless young women; and in the final showdown, which is basically an 18 rated version of the Home Alone traps and designed to be the pay-off, instead just leaves you in no doubt about just how rancid the messages in this film are.

The final thing to mention is that David Morrell, who wrote the original Rambo novel, after seeing this movie, totally disowned the Rambo film franchise, stating “I felt degraded and dehumanized after I left the theatre. Instead of being soulful, this new movie lacks one.”

Before I write this review, I first have to lay my cards on the table: I am a massive Ewan McGregor fan. Since Shallow Grave, he has made some of my top 10 films of all time. He consistently takes chances, tackling roles many actors wouldn't even consider. Even films which are not great as a whole (Deception,) still are interesting because of his work. Young Adam is a film which doesn't feature in many people's top 10 lists of his films, but which absolutely should, because in many ways, to me it is a masterpiece. 

It is a film which depicts a tough, poor Scotland, filled with people who are not cardboard cut-out stereotypes but completely believable: hard working, short tempered, determined, intimidating. The streets are filled with mist and people walk with their heads low, the grime hanging in the air and the coldness of the winter coming out of the screen, which then gives way to the sleazy and treacherous underbelly. It is a world which the author Alexander Trocchi knew well. In many ways Young Adam is a biography of his life, although you could say that even the film is restrained compared to his experiences, notably his pimping out of his wife to fund his deteriorating and destructive heroin addiction. 

One of the best things about this film is how it emphatically pulls no punches. This is a film in which deeply unsympathetic people scam, cheat, lie and sleep with each other; there are no winners in this world and the film never shies away from that. The sex is graphic and honest, the dialogue hard edged and raw. The young son, in many ways the only innocent in this film, is destined to a life of hard graft, with little reward. You feel sorry for what you know he will have to adapt to. 

Ewan's character, Joe, may be the protagonist, but he is an antihero to the extreme. Prone to long silences, deep in thought, he may come across as an intellectual, but as the film goes on, his immorality and complete disregard for anyone and everyone is laid bare. This is a man who moves into a new property and immediately sleeps with his landlord's wife, compromising their family. But he also knows what he is and does not shy away from the consequences. When faced with the potential to get a family with a decent and hard working woman, he tells her "I am not someone you want to marry."

Adding to this excellent performance are superb supporting ones. Whilst Tilda Swinton got high praise and a Scottish Bafta for her role, Peter Mullan and Emily Mortimer also do some of their best work. As the brooding Les, Mullan is perfect, his ability to bring an underlying threat and violence second to none. Whilst at first almost a father figure who takes Joe under his wing, he then has his life casually destroyed by the very person who he has opened it up to. Emily Mortimer is perfectly cast as the innocent but eternally hopeful Cathie and Tilda Swinton is brilliant as well, as the tough as nails Ella.

For some, (including a friend of mine who I highly recommended this to and tried watching it on a Sunday afternoon expecting a fairly light-hearted watch,) this film will be heavy going. But I cannot recommend it enough. If you want a brilliantly made, perfectly acted and atmospheric film, rent this.

A masterpiece

When I first watched The Town many years ago, after about half an hour I turned it off, as I was in the wrong frame of mind to watch it and at that time, it wasn’t gripping me. But after seeing it re-released on 4K and also having watched both Argo and Gone Baby Gone, I wanted to give it another shot and I’m really pleased I did.

The film is really good, with moments of high tension, as well as great performances. The robberies were all staged excellently and the smaller, quieter moments also hit home as well.

Ben Affleck is great in the central role, and the supporting cast are also excellent. Chris Cooper turned up for one scene and made more impact in 5 minutes than some actors manage in an entire film. For me, there were 2 stand-out performances; Jeremy Renner as psychopathic Jem, who rightly was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars, ratcheted up the tension whenever he was on screen and you never knew what his character was going to do.

And finally, Pete Postlewaite as Fergus “The Florist.” This was a poignant and sad moment for me as not only did he, like Chris Cooper, only have a very small amount of screen time which he did wonders with; but this was one of his last performances before his death and it was clear how ill he was and deservedly he was nominated for a BAFTA.

The only frustration was that the 4K Blu-Ray did not have the Extended version, which is meant to completely change the dynamic of the film and also has a completely changed ending, which is Affleck’s preferred one.

I had been wanting to watch this film for a while, due to my interest in cinematography coupled with Ang Lee’s very public endorsement of super-high frame rate shooting. Amusingly enough, even though this is at 60fps (frames per second) for the 4K Blu-Ray disk, the actual released film was 120 fps, which only a few cinemas in the world were able to show.

Whilst some people have criticized the film for looking more like a computer game than a film, due to the hyper-reality quality of it, I absolutely loved it. I can see exactly what Lee was trying to achieve and for me this film totally works in terms of how it is shot. Compared to Public Enemies, which was shot in the same hyper-real way but looked absolutely stupid due to it being set in the 1930’s, this absolutely clicked for me.

It’s a shame that the film itself wasn’t the home-run I wanted it to be. There is nothing much wrong with the premise; the performances, especially from Vin Diesel, Garrett Hedlund and Kristen Stewart are great, and the staging of scenes, especially in Iraq, are brilliant. But it just didn’t work as a film, it felt disjointed. And although that may have been the point, for me as much as it is a technical marvel, unless you’re watching the 4K UHD Blu-Ray, less-violent films like this play every weekday during the afternoon slot on Channel 5 and have pretty much the same impact.

After the disappointment of series 2, I had heard good things about series 3 and was also excited by the casting not only of Stephen Dorff but of course Mahershala Ali, who had just come from winning his second Oscar for the magnificent Green Book.  

But despite all the critical elements being in place, (great cast, returning writers and musicians, generous budgets,) for me, it just doesn’t work. For one thing, there is no major action scene in any of the 8 episodes, which after the masterpiece of the single cut in series 1 and the flawed but still exciting shootout in series 2, is a glaring omission. The closest we get is a bar brawl that lasts 30 seconds, which has great humour and good fight choreography, and leaves you wondering why they didn’t put a standout sequence in.

The chemistry between Ali and Dorff, and also the relationship between Ali and Carmen Ejogo is well acted, but again not enough to overcome the key issues with the series. 

The squandered potential here is the worst thing, as it’s almost like there’s a fantastic series in this one, trying to get out. And at times it shows these glimmers, but doesn’t ever really progress from there. Better than series 2, but not by much. 

Despite having stellar reviews from the major film publications, I have to agree with the thoughts of pretty much everyone who has posted here: this film is dire.

I originally rented this as I'd watched one of Simon Amstell's stand-up shows (Do Nothing,) which was funny in parts, even though the angsty shtick gets a little wearing after a while. But when you compare that show with the film, the angst is almost subtle at the live gig.

The lead character is just insufferable. Pretty much every sentence he says, he either immediately says something to make you think "Why did he say that?" or "Please shut up, I'd rather go and talk to a plant." Couple that with the fact that when Benjamin interacts with anyone else, he will keep interrupting them, or start talking over someone then when they stop, he stops, then when they resume their sentence he will interrupt them again.

I think that Amstell believes that that is where the comedy comes from, but when you get half an hour into a film and you are at the stage where you don't want Benjamin to open his mouth, there isn't much point in continuing watching.

The only shame for me was that some of the interactions and small intimate moments had the potential to, had they been directed by someone else, be beautifully realised. But instead, we get a protagonist with verbal diarrhea, who incessantly worries about ruining situations which he then sets about ensuring comes true.

My score has no bearing on the actors technical ability, as I blame the directing and screenplay.

The first things I heard about Gotti were all negative. The critical pile-on, with many reviewers proclaiming it to be one of the worst films ever made; the 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes and the connected fall-out. To me this was quite strange, because unlike a film like Dirty Grandpa (which got bad reviews and with good reason,) there was almost nothing in the story which would warrant that kind of derision. And notable film critics like Mark Kermode have acknowledged that there is this kind of perceived action by them, even though he disagrees with it.

But I was curious to see what the fuss was about, so I rented Gotti and watched it with a friend of mine, who also like me has strong opinions on films and doesn't appreciate rubbish. And by the end of it, we both had the same reaction: to say that this is one of the worst films ever made is idiotic. It absolutely is not. You can lament the fact that it is in many ways a copy of Goodfellas and doesn't do anything new with the genre, or that if it had been made when Joe Pesci was the lead and Scorsese was muted to direct, the result would have been quite different.

But this is a solid 3 star film, which was never boring, with a cast who were absolutely committed to what they were doing. I thought Travolta was really good as Gotti and from a behind-the-scenes viewpoint, he poured vast amounts of his own money into the project, such was his belief in it. His real-life wife Kelly Preston played his on screen wife, and the chemistry was great between them.

There was plenty wrong with the film, I don't shy away from saying that, but nothing which warranted the reaction it got. For me the most unedifying point was the end credits, where news footage was played with people lamenting the passing of what was a violent and nasty man who caused huge problems and carnage in his community.

The fairest thing I can say about this film is that it is great for a Friday night, when you get a takeaway and want to watch something which doesn't require too much attention, has some laughs, then at the end you think "Yeah, that was worth a look."

The first series of True Detective has often been sighted as the time when major Hollywood A list talent went from working on films which tell a story in a (relatively short) space of time to long, detailed TV series where characters were able to be fleshed out and the tension slowly being allowed to build. The first series to me is perfection in every way: acting, directing, script, cinematography and soundtrack. Cari Joji Fukunaga deserves every single plaudit he has been given, as the whole series was in many ways shaped by him. The reason I mention him in this review is that, even though he is given an executive producing credit, he is on the record as saying that he had absolutely nothing to to with series 2 and boy does it show.

Series 2 has all the right elements: a talented cast, Nic Pizzolatto returns and writes or co-writes all the episodes, the budget is clearly substantial and T Bone Burnett returns to do the soundtrack. But none of it really works. It is all a mess of ideas and poor direction, with characters that you could be interested in, had they been written better. The only person who managed to me to really stand out and ironically take what is often a thankless role (a mobster’s wife) and turn it into a character who shines is Kelly Reilly as Jordan. Reilly is a very skilled actress (Eden Lake) and she brings an emotional punch to the scenes.

I have high hopes for season 3, as it stars Mahershala Ali (who after seeing him in Moonlight & Green Book, is a flawless actor) and Stephen Dorff, who has been great in everything I have seen him in. But as much as I’m glad I watched season 2 to continue the “world” the True Detective started, I cannot recommend it.  

Films that have anti-heroes can often go two ways: the characters themselves (Hannibal Lecter, Mark Renton, Tyler Durden, Jordan Belfort) become icons and are instantly identifiable and loved for their characters, or are such abrasive characters that people just dislike them and become alienated. Then when you have to spend sometimes 2 hours or more with them, this hatred will really set in and the movie cannot work for you as the viewer. I speak from experience as I am one of it seems very few people who hated and hates Jake La Motta, so Raging Bull was a very long film for me. Conversely, I love Ewan McGregor’s character Joe in Young Adam, who for most of the film is just a duplicitous and unloveable person in almost every way.

This film has at its center an extremely unsympathetic character, who whilst at first you feel sorry for, slowly you just don’t care about and in the ending, you question her entire outlook and ethos. If I was to summarise the film in a short sentence, it’s a film about a group of horrible horrible people who do horrible horrible things to each other. 

But the journey, the slow ratcheting up of tension and the way that this world is portrayed, kept me hooked. Unlike many other films which I have turned off because I wasn’t interested to stay with the characters, even if I did like them, never once did I consider that with this. This film makes you feel many different things and at the end, you do feel genuinely unsettled and thinking about it for a long time afterwards. 

This film has become somewhat infamous due to an extremely upsetting and graphic sexual assault, which has not been cut by the BBFC in this country, a decision which I fully agree with. It is there to show the depravity of the characters and also is not in any way exploitative. Whilst many feel it overshadows the film or is a gimmick, I completely disagree with this. Also for the record, the director, Isabella Eklöf, went to enormous lengths to protect the actors and shoot the scene as safely as possible. 

Finally, for a small independent film/Blu-Ray, the range of special features is a welcome sight. There is a fantastic interview with the director, who goes into great detail about the various elements both in front and behind the camera, plus also a film festival interview and other features.