Film Reviews by RP

Well, it's about the politics of a foreign country – but I guess that a similar storyline could well be told about almost any election campaign, or at least the Hollywood version of one. And (of course) the tale is somewhat predictable. Clean-cut candidate has (of course) a sexual secret, idealistic young press secretary is (of course) wet behind the ears and is (of course) set up by both the obligatory baddie opposition and also (of course) by the grizzled and experienced campaign manager on his own side. But (of course) the idealistic young press secretary learns the dirty tricks of the trade and (of course) turns the tables on the grizzled and experienced campaign manager.

I always find George Clooney a little on the smarmy side, but here he is perfect in the role of the political candidate – and he also directed, and the result is a rather good film of its type. Ryan Gosling is good as the central role as the idealistic young press secretary, and the always excellent Philip Seymour Hoffman. In fact, all the roles are well acted. But it's yet another film about US politics (albeit a rather good one) and to this Brit viewer it's something I seem to have seen so many times before. 3/5 stars.

A superb 'angry young man' film from 1959. Set in a 1940s post-war Yorkshire town, Joe Lampton (played by Laurence Harvey) takes an accounting job working for the local Council. An orphan from a working class background, he wants to move upwards in the local society and sets his sights on Susan Brown, the daughter of a powerful local businessman. He joins the local amateur dramatic society and has an affair with Alice, an older woman played superbly by Simone Signoret. Although patronised by Susan's boyfriend and family, Joe succeeds by getting Susan pregnant and marrying into money. But his love lies with Alice – who dies in a car accident after drowning her sorrows on news of Joe's forthcoming marriage, leaving Joe with a deep sense of guilt which lasts past his wedding day.

The star of the film is without doubt Simone Signoret who won a 'Best Actress' Oscar for her performance. The film also picked up the BAFTA for Best Film and another Oscar for best screenplay.

Laurence Harvey is an actor who I can't usually stand. Having said that, he really is right for the role of Joe Lampton who is not only a social climber but a 'user' of others, a bit of a coward, and altogether a not very nice chap. Apart from the somewhat dodgy Yorkshire accent (despite his English sounding name, he was Lithuanian via South Africa) his role is well played.

There's plenty of period detail (much smoking, every man wearing a suit to work and in the pub, boys in short trousers, cobbled streets etc).

By today's film-making standards the film is perhaps a bit 'stagey' but it really is excellent. Highly recommended – 4/5 stars.

Apparently this is a remake of the 1973 film of the same name and directed by George Romero, who gets credited as Executive Producer. It suffers from what might be called 'the remake syndrome': it's simply not original. Mystery affliction send locals into a murderous rage. Sounds familiar? Sounds like '28 Days Later'? Sounds similar to other zombie-type films? You're right – it does sound familiar and it is, although these aren't zombies. This time the affliction / infection comes from a biological weapon and there is a bungled military attempt to contain the outbreak. Only the two lead characters escape (of course), everyone else perishes (of course), and there is (of course) the inevitable hook at the end which leaves room for a sequel (of course). It's not a horror film, it's not a scary movie, it has few if any shocks or surprises and it's all very predicable. Of it's type it's not bad, just very average, and I've seen a lot worse – so I'll give it 3/5 stars.

Gritty, gripping, scary, brutal, plenty of f-ing and blinding – perhaps not the best film to watch with your mother. Told in flashback, it tells the tale of an 11 year old girl procured by an experienced prostitute for an older, powerful man, and the bloody events that follow. The casting is excellent and the performance by young Georgia Groome is outstanding as is that of the lead actress, Lorraine Stanley. The film is genuinely disturbing in both the subject matter and the events – it tells a tale of the dark underside of London society. The downside is that the storyline, the subject matter and the characters are relentlessly dark and if you're looking for light entertainment then you won't find it here. Watching, it's hard to tell that it was filmed on an extremely low budget: the writer/director, photographer and cast should be congratulated on an excellent film. And please note: there are no Guy Ritchie mockney gangsters among the hard men here. Highly recommended – 4/5 stars.

I've watched quite a few 'kitchen sink' dramas from the 1960s over the last few months – and here's another. Partially based on the experiences of author Nell Dunn and first produced as a BBC TV 'Wednesday Play' directed by Ken Loach, this is the film version directed by Peter Collinson. Packed with well known names from the British acting fraternity, it tells the tale of posh Chelsea bird Suzy Kendall who goes south of the river to live in run down Battersea and experience a slice of 'real life'. She meets new boyfriend Dennis Waterman, makes friends with factory girls Adrienne Posta and Maureen Lipman, and moves into a cheap bedsit and soaks up the atmosphere. But the mood changes to a much darker tone with a backstreet abortion, motorbike death, a stolen E-Type Jag – and the realisation on both sides that there is a real lack of communication across the class barrier. There's lots of period detail (a functioning Battersea power station, casual racism, thriving street market, smoking, fashions, hairstyles, mods and rockers, knees up in the pub etc) and a soundtrack from Manfred Mann all of which I can relate to personally. It might be seen as somewhat dated and it's generally an underrated film – but I can highly recommend it. 4/5 stars.

Excellent film – but a bizarre story! Apparently based on real events, the film tells the tale of a bungled bank robbery / hostage taking / media circus one hot summer's afternoon. Sonny (played by Al Pacino) and Sal (played by John Cazale) are first time bank robbers – but find the bank has no money. It then emerges that Sonny (although married with children) wanted the money to pay for his gay partner's sex change operation. And not only his partner, but his 'wife' via a marriage ceremony performed by a later unfrocked Catholic priest. Bizarre! Whatever the storyline, believable or not, it is well told and the direction by Sidney Lumet brings the story to life and the acting is uniformly excellent throughout. The screenplay won an Oscar and Pacino won a BAFTA for Best Actor – it's that good. 4/5 stars - highly recommended.

Keanu Reeves has always been a little wooden in the acting department, as confirmed by the wooden persona he played later in 'The Matrix'. 'Point Break' is no exception as he plays a preposterous role in a preposterous story, managing it all with a straight face. He plays a naive FBI agent paid to learn to surf to infiltrate a gang of bank robbing surfer dudes. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow who went on to greater things with 'The Hurt Locker', it is perhaps the quality of the directing which keeps the silly plot together. It also stars Patrick Swayze who a couple of years earlier starred in another classic cheesy movie 'Roadhouse' – so bad it's good. 'Point Break' doesn't deserve the 'so bad it's good' tag, but comes pretty close. 3/5 stars – you may well enjoy it.

Stuck in a time loop in a small town in upstate Pennsylvania, TV weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) is doomed to re-live the same February day over and over and over again. How long? Seems to be 10 years+ of the same old, same old day, with the same old local characters – until he knows them, and himself, inside out. Despite the science fiction scenario, the film is a laugh-out-loud funny romance with Andie McDowell providing the love interest. Perhaps I've had a groundhog day experience too – I've seen the film many times now and it still makes me laugh. Great stuff – 5/5 stars. [Aside: Yes, Groundhog Day exists, Punxutawney exists (although the movie wasn't filmed there), and yes, the USA has some very strange customs...]

Hmm... I'm left with the question of whether this is fact or just wishful thinking. Back in 1956 posh young Colin Clark wangles a job (courtesy of family connections) as odd-job-boy / gofer / 3rd Assistant Director on the production of 'The Prince And The Showgirl', the film directed by and starring Laurence Olivier – and of course, Marilyn Monroe. The film tells the tale of one week during the production when Colin takes La Monroe sightseeing (countryside, Windsor Castle, Eton College, skinny dipping in the Thames) + spends the night chastely in bed with her. A likely tale! Still, it's all very prettily done, the acting is OK-ish, but suffers in comparison to the real thing. Kenneth Branagh comes across well as the stage actor that he is and plays Olivier as an irascible director. Judi Dench is excellent as always. But the portrayals of Vivien Leigh and (to a lesser extent) Marilyn Monroe don't seem to have that star quality and presence about them. Michelle Williams does a workmanlike job as Monroe (and indeed won a Golden Globe and also an Oscar nomination for her performance) but I found it a bit of a shallow portrayal and a re-hash of troubled star / pill popping / troubled childhood / little-girl-lost characterisation that perhaps we've seen too often before. It's enjoyable enough, well photographed in a pretty-English sort of way, but it all seems a bit lightweight. 3/5 stars. [Aside: The film is based on the diaries of the real-life Colin Clark, son of Kenneth Clark (of 'Civilisation' fame) and brother of Alan Clark, Conservative MP and of 'Diaries' fame. No wonder he managed to wangle a job – the Oliviers were friends of the family!]

I recently reviewed another film which had echoes of 'Rashomon' [Aside: the classic film directed by Akira Kurosawa way back in 1950] so I thought I'd add another... In 'Rashomon', witnesses to an event give conflicting accounts – and so it is with 'Courage Under Fire'. Here, Meg Ryan is being considered for the Medal Of Honor, the USA's highest award for bravery, sort of like the Victoria Cross, for her actions in the first Gulf War in 1991. Denzel Washington, who has his own demons, investigates and resolves the conflicting descriptions. What he uncovers does not reflect well on the members of Meg Ryan's crew, but she did act with conspicuous bravery and deserves the award. Generally I enjoy films with Denzel Washington and this one is no exception – but the US-centric story and the (to me) over-the-top patriotism rankled a little. The acting is good, the storyline good, the film good. But it's not excellent, so I'll give it 3/5 stars. Watch it if you like Denzel Washington or want to see an Matt Damon in a fairly early role.

Another darkly humorous film directed by Sam Raimi, 'Darkman' is a sort of comic-book tale – yet not based on a comic. It also has the advantage of having big-name actors Liam Neeson in the lead role and also Frances McNormand who went on the win a Best Actress Oscar for her role in the Coen brothers' 'Fargo'. 'Darkman' tells the tale of Peyton Westlake, a scientist working on synthetic skin whose face is hideously burned when gangsters bust up the lab. Westlake survives to take revenge, using the synthetic skin to disguise his disfigured face – but there's a catch: the synthetic skin only last for 99 minutes before disintegrating... Yes, it's all most unlikely, but of its kind it's a rather good tale. Recommended – 3/5 stars. Or should that be 4 stars?

After the death of his mother from a drugs overdose, teenager Josh goes to live with his grandmother Janine (aka "Smurf") and her family in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Josh (aka "J") falls in with the criminal life of his uncles, 'Pope', Craig and Darren Cody who have bad habits such as drug dealing and bank robbery. The Cody brothers are under police observation and not only are they criminals but also appear to be a bunch of sociopaths and psychopaths with a tough and protective mother who has a close, almost incestuous, relationship with them. Pope's friend Baz Brown (played by Joel Edgerton, who played one of the lead roles in the recent 'Warrior') acts as role model and mentor to J but is shot by the police. Events spiral from bad to worse as the unpleasant, unpredictable Pope shoots two cops in revenge and suspects both J and his girlfriend of talking to the police... The film is slow moving but shows the unpleasant underbelly of life in a criminal family intermingled with police and legal corruption. J is forced to question where his loyalties lie: and when he decides, it makes for a strangely satisfying ending. 4/5 stars – highly recommended.

What a very strange film. I understand that it has achieved something of a cult status and I'm not surprised. The characters in it are governed by two different codes, sort of Samurai v Mafia and it's all about trust, loyalty and betrayal. The Ghost Dog character (played by Forest Whitaker) believes he owes a debt to one mafioso (Louie, played by John Tormey) whom he believes saved his life. But (in an echo of Rashomon) each character sees a different version of this event... Ghost Dog's best friend is a Haitian ice-cream seller who speaks only French and Ghost Dog speaks only English – yet they manage to understand each other. The film covers not only this communication and friendship, but also violence, revenge, racism – and yet it's all played with a tongue-in-cheek humour. From the bizarre premise that Ghost Dog is a somewhat portly yet efficient hit-man who communicates only by carrier pigeon, you can see that this is most definitely a weird film – in fact, the kind you ether love or hate. I'm still undecided, so I 'll give it 3/5 stars – but it may be worth 4...

Plucky underdog wins cage fighting contest. Err – that's it. With a troubled family background two brothers (an ex-US Marine and a high school physics teacher) enter a martial arts cage fighting contest for the $5 million prize. Teacher wants it to pay off his mortgage, ex-Marine wants it to give to the widow of a comrade in arms. Teacher - who it turns out was once a former professional fighter (what?!?) - is the underdog. Ex-marine is filled with rage, powerfully built, knocks opponents out with a single blow. Father (reformed alcoholic) trains ex-marine. The contest is supposedly for the best 16 fighters in the world, but (of course) these two unknowns get entered for it and (of course) destroy their opponents while (of course) picking up a few minor cuts and bruises until plucky underdog (of course) wins with (of course) his wife cheering him on. All so predictable and with a silly happy-Hollywood-style ending to boot. On the other hand it is quite well done and the British and Australian actors playing the lead characters even manage passable US accents, so of its type it's a fairly good example. But – shades of 'Rocky' – haven't we seen this so many times before? It's just a cliché that goes on for well over 2 hours. And even using 'Ode To Joy' from Beethoven's 9th Symphony as part of the fighting accompaniment is a cliché: 'Die Hard' did this. I know that this is a popular film but I can only give it 3/5 stars at best – it really is very average stuff.

Not my usual kind of film, but I rented it after seeing its high rating on IMDB – currently (April 2012) it has a score of 8.2. While I liked the photography and (some of) the Eddie Vedder soundtrack, I found it to be a over-long (2 hours 20 min) pretentious tale about the not-very-interesting travels of a poor little rich kid, who meets an assortment of well meaning but not-very-interesting characters while travelling round the US. He then ventures ill-prepared into the Alaskan wilderness and dies of starvation / poisoning while camping in an abandoned bus. It is based on the true story of Chris McCandless who graduates from college, spurns his parents (never communicating with them again), gives his money to charity, and embarks on lengthy travels like a latter day Jack Kerouac. Whatever his motives may have been, I found the film and the device of narration by his sister to be irritating beyond measure. Yes, I know many people like the film and it has won awards – but it's not for me. 3/5 stars –average at best.