Film Reviews by GI

A very entertaining action thriller that fits the pattern of similar films like the Bourne series and more specifically Taken (2008), where the narrative follows an unassuming guy who happens to have a 'special set of skills'. So whilst this doesn't really offer anything particularly different it boasts Denzel Washington who gives the main role some carefully crafted detail and the action sequences are done with commitment and panache. Based on an 80s British TV series this follows OCD suffering McCall, a quiet and kind man who works at a Boston DIY store. He helps his colleagues but lives a life based on a set routine and his past is a mystery. When he befriends a local prostitute his past is awakened when she is badly beaten by the Russian gangster who is her pimp. McCall was a special forces covert operative and decided years ago to drop off the radar and when he kills the gangster his boss sends a ruthless enforcer to find out who is behind it. The story builds to a great climax, the violence is gruesome and yet grittingly exciting and sets itself for the inevitable sequel. Great adult fun and an all round solid action thriller.

A dark, deliciously funny Irish comedy thriller starring the inimitable Brendan Gleeson as a cynical policeman, Gerry Boyle, who has an easy life covering his 'patch' on the remote western coast of Ireland. He's unconventional to say the least and lives a life avoiding any stress and takes everything in his stride and basically says and does what he likes. When the FBI arrive hunting an international drug trafficking gang Gerry is bemused especially as he knows more than they do and Agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) can't make up his mind if Gerry is stupid or very, very smart. Wonderfully written this is a laugh-out-loud adult comedy, dry and clever. It's a well crafted film and Gerry Boyle is a superbly written character, far subtler than at first obvious. The final denouement reveals just how sharp a creation he is. This is great stuff and so good to see a cop thriller taken into the zany directions this goes with it's casual racism, it's cynical viewpoint on police corruption and the IRA. It's touching too. A great little film.

This new adaptation of the famous D.H. Lawrence novel exudes sensuality and avoids falling into cliché or self satire by the committed performances of the two leads, Emma Corrin and Jack O'Connell. They carry the entire film which is full of eroticism and rampant sex often shown in a nostalgic soft focus especially where the two make love in the fields and woods as they become one with nature. The story is well known, Constance (Corrin) weds a rich landowner she thinks she loves as he heads off to the western front returning emotionally damaged and partially paralysed. At their large country estate she soon becomes frustrated and bored as her husband throws himself into managing his mining empire to the detriment of the miners. She's shocked when he suggests she gives him an heir by becoming pregnant by a secret lover but her sexual attraction to the quiet and dignified Oliver (O'Connell), the state gamekeeper, results in them starting an affair. The narrative centres on the hypocrisy of the class oriented society. Constance' husband is happy for her to have a child by another man but he has to be from the right strata of society hence he's horrified when the affair with one of his 'staff' becomes known. The fact that Constance has fallen deeply in love and has discovered herself through the relationship with Oliver pushes her to step outside the normalities of society. This is a quite a powerful romance and a celebration of love and better than I expected. Worth checking out.

A British social realist romance set in Bradford, a tale of an unlikely relationship set amongst the conflicts of class and race and the difficulty of parenthood and middle age. Ali (Adele Akhtar) is a genial and likeable British Asian from a well to do family who own property. He basically collects rents all day but he and his wife are separating and for family sake they are hiding their break up. One day he casually meets Ava, a loving widow who dotes on her children and grandchildren. She sees the best in people and her and Ali soon click. Both are lonely and strike up a gentle romance despite the problems from their respective families. The two central performances are excellent and the film exudes a gentle everyday normality that gives it a real feel for truth. Nothing much happens in the narrative but in many ways this is what is intended. There's the expectation of violence from Ava's racist son but this is quickly diffused leaving a film that is simply about tenderness between two lonely people.

One of Hollywood's greatest comedy films and a career best from Bill Murray as the curmudgeonly TV weatherman who believes he deserves greater recognition than he gets from the TV station. He gets sent to a small town that annually celebrates the coming of winter with a traditional festival where a groundhog predicts the weather. This is something that Murray cannot tolerate and he deeply resents the task. He also covets Andie MacDowell as the show producer but she finds him rude, bigoted and unpleasant. Then in a magical twist Murray finds himself reliving the same day over and over again which at first scares him, then he exploits and finally he gets to learn some interesting life lessons. The film is focused on trying to push that kindness is the gold nugget of humanity and that it trumps career success and materialism and is the path to true love. In that sense this is a magical film and leaves a warm feeling. Like Field of Dreams (1989) the use of fantasy and magic creates a story of wonder, fun and makes for some real hilarity. Equally it uses fantasy as a message of life like It's A Wonderful Life (1946) and this is a film best enjoyed at Christmas. This is a a comedy masterpiece and definitely a film every film fan should make sure they see.

A very novel and delightful romantic comedy with John Cusack at the height of his stardom. His screen charisma works brilliantly here especially as he's able to manage the light farce type comedy intermixed with the darker aspects of this story. He plays Martin who we see in the opening scene is a professional hitman. He's cool, calm and confident and has a brotherly relationship with his secretary (played by Cusack's real sister Joan) who senses he's unhappy. She urges him to go to his high school reunion and reconnect with his past. But Martin is reluctant as he walked away ten years ago from his hometown even standing up his girlfriend, Debbie, on prom night. But circumstances with his arch rival (Dan Ackroyd) results him going home and where he soon meets old classmates and Debbie (Minnie Driver), who is rightly interested in where Martin has been. There's some great action scenes and shoot outs that are not only funny but exciting too as Martin finds he's become a hunted man and falling back in love with Debbie. The whole thing is just a riot and a sensitive, hilarious romance too. Minnie Driver shows she has a real flair for comedy and with Cusack they make a great screen couple and Alan Arkin is hilarious as Martin's therapist. A superb little film that will have you laughing out loud.

Jeremy Saulnier's brutal crime thriller is simply excellent. Perhaps influenced by Assault On Precinct 13 (1976) it is on the basic level a siege narrative but it's all done with such panache and a gritty tension with the addition of gruesome and at times shocking violence. It also boasts Anton Yelchin in his last role and a good British cast that includes Joe Cole and Imogen Poots. But of course this is a film that has Patrick Stewart in a sinister performance as the chief bad guy. Here he plays DArcy, the owner of a club situated in a remote wooded area of north west USA, he runs an ultra right wing movement of thugs from there too. He's a cold, frightening character portrayed as a calm, in control psychopath. The story centres around a punk rock band who are on the road looking for gigs and the chance of a record deal. They end up playing at Darcy's club but as they're about to leave they witness the murder of a young girl and find themselves trapped in a room inside the club. The narrative plays out in some unexpected ways as the young band hope to negotiate their way out but Darcy has evil intentions. You will gasp at the shocks that come but the film is nothing short of a great thriller. Here's a relatively small film that is a real gem.

A strangely unexciting post-apocalyptic sci-fi film despite the impressive visual effects. Tom Hanks plays Finch, a lone survivor in a world decimated by the loss of the ozone layer. By day he forages for food for him and his beloved dog and at night he builds a droid which is later named Jeff, played by a motion captured Caleb Landry Jones. When lethal storms build Finch realises he must head west. Along the way he ties to teach Jeff how to be more human and ultimately programs him to protect the dog. What is weird here is the obvious lack of any real danger even though there are references to avoiding other survivors and at one point they are pursued by a car, the occupants of which are never seen and the car eventually disappears never to be seen again! Hanks channels the loner such as he did in Cast Away (2000) and there are similarities to Silent Running (1972). In some ways the narrative picks up on the theory by scientist James Lovelock that AI will be the next evolutionary change but the film doesn't specify this and I'm only guessing. Watchable but a little too tame and overly sentimental with that curious lack of jeopardy that the film needed.

The somewhat wretched genre of video game movies isn't improved upon with this ultra gory, badly acted action fest. I suppose if you're a fan of the game you might be impressed or at least enjoy this although it's probably best watched late at night after a few beers. I'm guessing though that playing the game is a far more fulfilling experience, if you're a gamer, than watching a story about the characters. In essence this is just a comic book style superhero film with two batches of sweaty, muscle bound warriors, one of good guys and one of bad guys. There's a monster or two thrown in for good measure. Loads of swords, punch ups and special effects all amounting to nothing more than a violent, silly teenage film despite the adult violence. For fans of the game only.

This is a fairly typical British farce from the 50s and a pretty lame one really. It carries on the type of British humour that was very popular and later transitioned into the Carry On series and it's very similar to the style of the early films in that series. This one has a dark edge to the story where a hapless vacuum cleaner salesman (George Cole) stumbles across a plan by a professional killer (Alastair Sim) who intends to kill a pompous politician (Raymond Huntley) by putting a bomb inside a radio. Everyone converges on a pub/hotel called the Green man where things go from daft to downright silly. If you're a fan of these films then this has a nostalgic element that will appeal and Sim is always worth watching but this is by far not his best film. Fans will spot a host of British character actors too.

A famous Second World War adventure film that sits as one of the multi star vehicles that were popular in the 60s and designed to be the cinematic attraction that could woo people away from their television sets. Director John Sturges was adept at big budget films such as this and reunited several of the American stars he's worked with on The Magnificent Seven (1960), namely Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and James Coburn (attempting an awful Australian accent). But it's a nice mix of British character actors led by Richard Attenborough along with the American western stars including James Garner, that works really well. Sturges directs and edits this big story expertly especially in the final third. The film loosely tells the story of a famous escape by allied air force officers from a German POW camp using tunnels and managing to get 76 prisoners out under the watchful eye of the guards. The film is roughly set in three acts, the planning and building of the tunnels, the actual escape from the camp and the adventures of the various escapees as they attempt to get to a safe haven. It's in this last part that Sturges keeps the action going as we follow several diverse storylines. There's the famous stunts (McQueen getting to ride a motorcycle and that big jump!), humour, sadness and ultimately big tragedy. It's a thoroughly entertaining and spectacular film and has become a Christmas season favourite for some reason (there is a rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas at one point). Despite the big names it's the smaller characters that are the most memorable especially Donald Pleasance as a forgery expert who is going blind and Angus Lennie as Ives, an RAF officer who begins to suffer mental breakdown due to his incarceration. A film to watch once a year, to sit back and simply relish the sheer entertainment of the whole thing. Don't get bogged down on what is true and what isn't, that's all irrelevant, this is just brilliant fun.

David Lean's fantastic version of the Dickens classic. A wonderful story and a remarkable depiction of Dickensian Victorian England. At its heart this is a romance, a story of deep passion but also a film about family, friendship and the danger of ambition and materialism. It's a wonderful story from a great English novel and though it's been filmed numerous times for cinema and TV this remains the best adaptation. With it's use of chiaroscuro lighting especially to simulate the imagination of a frightened child and with a fantastic cast of British actors this is still a real treat and perfectly captures a vision of England of the 1830s. John Mills plays the young orphan, Pip, who is apprenticed to the blacksmith and husband (Bernard Miles) of his elder sister. As a child he had, out of fear, assisted an escaped convict and later was sent to the dark and mysterious house of the eccentric Miss Havisham (Martita Hunt) to play with her ward Estella (Jean Simmons). As he comes of age he learns that a secret benefactor has decided to make him a gentlemen and in London he meets the now beautiful and adult Estella (Valerie Hobson) and falls for her although she has been groomed to deceive men. The film captures the class divisions on which English society has culturally been built, one of snobbery and privilege. Lean went onto make a second Dickens adaptation, Oliver Twist, in 1948 and showed that he had a magic eye for detail and structure. This is a superb film from when the British had a film industry in which to be proud.

A political comedy drama that is a condemnation of particularly, American politics and the ridiculous amount of money spent to win at all costs. Steve Carell, always worth checking out, is Gary, a liberal minded political strategist who sees an opportunity for the Democrats when he sees a YouTube video of a local man challenging the Republican town mayor's policies. Gary heads to the small Wisconsin town to convince the man, Jack (Chris Cooper) to stand for mayor in the forthcoming election. But as soon as he starts the campaign his arch rival, Faith (Rose Byrne) arrives to ramp up the competition for the Republicans. As their rivalry heralds more resources and importantly cash are utilised as Gary and Faith want to win at all costs. There's a clever narrative twist in the tale and the film has some good natured humour as it delves into the American political system played out in a tiny community. A very watchable film worth checking out.

Science Fiction disaster and survival film that rattles along at a steady pace, is tense, exciting, visually spectacular none of which lets up for it's neat 90 minute running time (90 mins is also narratively relevant as watching this will reveal). Sandra Bullock holds this all together as Dr Stone, an American NASA scientific engineer, who, with a space shuttle crew, are conducting repairs to the Hubble Telescope. Disaster strikes when the debris from a damaged satellite hits them before they can get away, killing the crew except Stone and one other (George Clooney). He's the experienced astronaut and quickly comes up with a plan to get them home. But things go from bad to worse. Even if you've seen this it's still an exciting adventure story and even though it was filmed in 3D for cinema screenings, watching in normal format takes nothing away from the film (in my view 3D was just a gimmick designed to attract waning audiences, which added nothing to film as an art form). There's some nice twists and turns in the plot making this a very entertaining thrill ride.

Probably John Ford's most sentimental film. It is certainly an emotional one and for a staunch conservative Ford kept faithful to the socialist ideals of the original novel. Viewed today it still resonates around the plight of the poor against the greed of the rich and historically it reveals the devastating affects of the Depression in 30s America. Essentially a road film narrative it tells the story of Oklahoma farming family, the Joads, forced from their tenancy by the advancement of farming technology who head west to California where they hear there's work aplenty picking fruit. Led by the family matriarch, Ma (Jane Darwell), and supported by her eldest son Tom (Henry Fonda), who is on parole from prison, the large family travel in a run down truck laden with all their possessions. Along the way they encounter hardship, bigotry, corruption, death and near starvation but also kindness and hope. It's ultimately a sad story albeit a powerful one and Ford directs with his usual majesty often with his trademark static camera and stark lighting. This is an impactive film and an important one which holds up very well today. It's a significant classic made by one of America's greatest filmmakers and a true masterpiece. Certainly a film all cinephiles should ensure they see.