Film Reviews by AG

Excellent film. Fine acting all round. Deserved a better exposure - I ahd not heard of it and took a chance. Nice Nick Hornby screenplay. Not lavish, unlike the overhyped La La Land, but a much more pleasing experience. 1950s location spot-on.

A very unsavoury movie. Are we supposed to admire the hero for his prowess at killing another human being with a telescopic viewfinder? The whole gun emphasis of the film - killing deer etc - is despicable. (spoiler) The hero/legend gets his comeuppence in the end by a deranged ex-veteran but surely going to a rifle range for recovery from trauma is madness. It is like taking an alcoholic to the pub and treating him to unlimited booze in order to cure them. Violence begets violence. The firearms idolitary in America inevitably leads to gun deaths. Sorry, this leaves nasty taste in the mouth.

Mike Leigh is a brilliant film maker. Whatever he does is always interesting. I recall his very early TV efforts 'Nuts in May' 'Abigail's Patrty' and have been hooked since then.... haven't caught 'Turner ' yet. My favourite, at present, is Sally Hawkins in 'Happy-go-Lucky'. I saw it on Cinema Paradiso DVD and when it was over I immediately watched it again with subtitles so that I could catch all the dialogue. 'Career Girls' is OK and has many of the Leigh hallmarks but just didn't quite engage with these characters. I admired Mark Benton's quirky, disturbing role and Andy Serkis' brief cameo as London b(w)anker. The girls were good but I could not get emotionally involved about their adolescence and angst-ridden formative years.