Film Reviews by PV

I HATED this film. Mike Leigh gets far too many plaudits from the cinephile crowd - his films are often dull leftwing rants. Also, he tends to hate working class people who try to better themselves (most of his films show this) but lately he has been trying to redress the balance: that is why here Jim Broadbent and his wife Gerri - the most irritatingly smug woman in the world - are shown as working class persons 'made good' - all caring sharing and wonderful. Only a middle class son of a wealthy doctor like Leigh could come up with such nonsense! The more I think about this film the more I hate it! It is outrageous that Leigh gets taxpayers' money to make this crap when far better filmmakers and writers can't get funding. This should have been a BBC2 drama - at best. I'd rather pay not to watch this drivel again.

This is a wonderful film - highly entertaining and unusual. It keeps up the pace and has a cracking twist ending - though the writer of the novel should get the credit for all that! The acting is top notch - the drunk assistant especially - the flashbacks work well, and the scenes are interesting. My only gripe would be the romantic subplot - this kind of thing works better in novels than films. When that plot strand came along it intruded a bit into the story - but not enough to spoil it. Why can't more films - from anywhere - be like this? Five stars!

Well, what can I say? This film is French, so obviously it's pretentious piffle, as is the tradition. I would have given this flight of fancy 1 star - but the animation sequences are good, as is some acting, and there are a few good one-liners. And Paris looks pretty. Otherwise, this is only for lovers of Gondry and cinematic Frenchiness. At least it's not as bad as 'Tokyo', another load of prententioua French faffing about and nonsense.

This is that rare beast: a French film that is actually entertaining. OK so it's all very soapy and family-orientated. But it is entertaining and there are some great lines in some funny dialogue. I think this is French trying to be cool American - but perhaps no worse for that. Not brilliant but it passes the time happily enough.

The film is a real comedy find! (as is 2012: The Rapture).

Terrible script, worst 'feen toon' I've heard for ages (written by the producer - never a good sign...), histrionic emo-acting, the usual American sloppy spiritual themes (Christian, Tibetan...), the usual anti-British tone from this German director, and the ticky boxy ethnic and national quotes - no doubt to try and sell the film in China, India etc.

Yes, the special effects are good. No big deal, these days. Seen it all before...

The funniest thing is when they show archive TV news clips to show riots happening around the world - the one from London is the famous, much-showed image of a woman being knocked down by a police horse in the poll tax riots os the 90s! I laughed out loud at this point!

Emmerich was the director, wasn't he, who made U571 which claimed the Americans captured a U-boat (actually, the British did)? And didn't he also make The Patriot which showed the British committing atrocities which were actually committed by the gestapo in WWII? The guy is probably upset that we won the war eh...

But what I really want to know is: will we ever have a white man playing the president of the USA ever again I wonder... Or perhaps even a bad, 'unsaintly' black man? Or are Americans to guilty about their undoubted racial crimes to do that?

Hollywood tripe. Watch it and scream with laughter!

This film works. Why? It's got a GREAT script - and the fact that the director, the actors and everyone else remembers that is why it works, even though it's a bit dated now. It was updated in the 70s or 80s - but this first version is better. It is genuinely creepy - far more than any horror movie - and keeps the audience guessing. The tension crackles right till the end. One of the best films ever made - in France or anywhere. Watch it and learn.

I enjoyed this film. It's so unlike so many US films, and I enjoyed it for just that, for a start. I liked the sinister tone - though the country hick scenarios are perhaps steroetyped a bit too much. I liked the way the film had much of the colour sucked out of it - like the nordic addict hillbilly characters' faces! It drags a little in the middle, but generally keeps the pace going OK: the plot points come dead on cue and power the plot along in a way movies like this usually fail to do. I liked the gruesome scenes too - believable, up to a point. The one thing that irritated me - and this is common in movies filmed by women - is the way all the male characters are portrayed as baddies and all the women as goodies - gentle little things who are such victims of men and suffer so much. Sexist is the word! Patronising too. The female equivalent of a male director only using women as eye candy. But anyhow, it's WAY better than the kind of silly romantic 'comedies' most female directors seem to make. Different and worth watching.

I really enjoyed this. It's a light, nostalgic, semi-autobiographical film by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant - but it's nothing like The Office (thank goodness!). There are some lovely scenes - I liked Gervais as the father and the racist grandmother! And, despite being too young for the 70s, I loved the music! Sure, some was from the 80s in a 70s movie - but a little poestic licence is fine. All in all, this is way funnier than most Hollywood comedies. Not perfect or spectacularly funny, but well worth renting.

I thought this was a great comedy! Well written, good characterisation, good acting. I laughed several times - and that doesn't usually happen when I watch Hollywood 'comedies'.

It's also based on a book (good sign) and is actually farily intelligent - which is really unusual for Hollywood comedies these days.

I suppose it's for the US market and some people will consider it controversial and outrageous and offensive because it's about a gay couple; the Americans are puritans, so may have an issue. Personally, I find stupidity of the average dumb Hollywood 'comedy' infinitely more offensive!

The laughs mainly come from the fast pace, the bright script and the final twist.; but for me tha biggest laughs come from all the scams! It's a bit like a gay, 21st century Paper Moon.

This film is excellent - intelligent, well-acted and beautifully filmed. OK so it's a shame that the Americans only like British films if they're full of royalty and corsets and plummy accents; movies like Shallow Grave and Trainspotting were equally worthy of Oscars. But anyway...

A couple of historical inaccuracies in the mopvie though: the austere Queen Mary was a big reason for Bertie's stutter - the film blames George V his father entirely; also George V was actually 'put down' when on his death bed so his death would be in time for the Sunday papers deadline - they didn't show that. Neither did they show how George VI's speeches were edited (on metal discs) before broadcast to edit out the stuttering bits!

The most irritating thing though is when, half way through, Bertie says 'Excuse me' to the David character. NO NO NO! That is the American usage of the phrase 'excuse me' the British Engloish would have been 'I BEG your pardon?'! They got that SO wrong. No-one is the UK says that now - and certainly wouldn't in the 1930s! Some more language tics of the time would have been good too - and I don't believe the Queen Mother would have behaved as Helena B-C does!

But, all in all, one of the best British films of recent years; Colin Firth gets the accent just right, especially Bertie's R sound, not to mention the huge pressure on the man and his courage (and the courage of all stutterers). Rush is perhaps even better.

The most emotional part of the film though is hearing Chamberlain's declaration of war on Germany. People always forget that if the British had not stood up to Germany, the world would be completely different now - the US would have done a deal with Hitler for sure. Anything that reminds the world of that is good in my opinion.

This film was really excellent.

I know those used to MTV and action movies and who possess the attention span of a dyslexic puppy will hate it (so most Americans and teenagers then) - but it is worth sticking with through the so-called 'slow' build-up and story.

Why? Because it's a great story about great characters - AND is based on a novel. Those reviewers who thing this film 'too slow' so turned it off after an hour will probably have to ask a grown-up what a novel is...

Only boring people will find this movie boring...

I'd give this three and a half stars. Not quite four. Why? Because it's simply not that funny. There are SOME great scenes and gags, but not enough - and some of it is just plain farce - and unfunny farce at that. The characters are cariacatures and steroetypes too. However, I did LOVE the American author who struggles to write a word on the author's retreat! But I simply didn't believe that the main character could go from ugly duckling to admired beauty so easily - that kind of thing works on the page, in Hardy's original novel (Far From The Madding Crowd on which this is based), but not on the screen. Also, I had a problem with the wronged wife character - the writer and director clearly thinks the audience would sympathise with her or feel pity; all I felt was irritation and annoyance at how the woman was so pathetic and weepy and hysterical! Perhaps because the cartoon script in the Guardian that this is based on was written by a feminist? Maybe that's why. Anyway, this is worth a watch - and is funny in parts. One of the better comedies of the last year.

If you watch one film this year, watch this one.

Unlike the vast majority of trashy and crude, unfunny 'comedies' that spew out of the Hollywood teen-machine, (or the dull unfunny stuff that the subsidised British film industry usually produces), this film is FUNNY! it's really REALLY funny in its intelligent satire.

But probably, it'll only appeal to intelligent audience of course, so it's not a big hit really. Also, dumb Americans will be baffled by it (well, there are no explosions or crude visual gags involving bodily fluids...)

But, it is not simply cariacature - it has a dark, serious and timely theme. It also has guts: it has the courage to address the problem of Islamic extremism in the UK, a subject the BBC for example is too scaredy cat cowardly, weak, politically correct and desperate never to offend anyone religious/ethnic to ever address.

A WONDERFUL film!!!

I loved this movie so much I watched it twice in two days - and I rarely do that. I didn't like the last two Shrek films, and thought the first was only moderately funny, but I absolutely LOVED this one. Why? Mainly, the script. It is so tight it almost squeaks, and the action moves on in such a way that it is never ever boring. The animation is brilliant too - and I loved the witches! There are great lines aplenty and lots of injokes and adult jokes too - plus lots of colourful nonsens for the kiddies. This is probably the best family film I have seen since Toy Story.

The only thing I did not like was the music - al that awful modern dance music/rap/r + B - I HATE that kind of music. But it's a small complaint. I would happily pass on most movies to watch this one again - SO funny, but also intelligent with just the right mix of sentimentality mixed in. Fantastic film!

This excellent biopic wilol not doubt confuse some people - it is not straightforward and uses various devices to give an impression of this man's sad life. I liked this. I did not fond it pretentious or boring at all. And the acting is top notch - the actor playing Bronson gets it just right. I would recommend this film - and perhaps would even say it should be shown in schools so kids know that crime or prison is not glamorous at all! Recommended.