Film Reviews by GI

A dark, gothic styled romance that has a horror film vibe. Starring Sarah Miles, who was a significant 60s and 70s actor, as Ann, a woman riven with grief over the death of her husband four years earlier and the struggle of bringing up her moody, adolescent son Jonathan (Jonathan Kahn) without the help of a husband. She's lonely but lives in a large house on the Devon coast and runs a successful antiques business. Jonathan is under the control of a sadistic school bully who initiates him in causing cruelty to animals. When Ann begins a passionate affair with an American sailor, Jim (Kris Kristofferson) she finds love and happiness but Jonathan, increasingly disturbed especially as he watches their lovemaking through a hole in the bedroom wall, begins to resent Jim. A story of sexual awakening and forbidden passions. The children in this film, especially the sadistic bully (Earl Rhodes), who controls Jonathan and four other boys of their 'gang', are the dark heart of this film as they witness adult things they cannot understand. The bully hints at being the victim of sexual abuse at home as they embark on a ritualistic plan. The film has a feel of dread mostly portrayed through Jonathan who embodies the cinematic evil child persona, all smiles but malevolent looks like Damien from The Omen (1976). This is an interesting film worth seeing for Miles vulnerable and on-the-edge of breakdown performance.

A somewhat looser edge and story has left Spectre judged as a weaker film than its predecessor and the criticisms may well be right but this is still an admirable addition to the 007 canon. From the opening set piece in Mexico City, shot in only 3 takes, this is an entertaining action film and plot wise the links with Craig's previous three films as the iconic spy are all in place. James Bond has committed himself to following the last order of his beloved M (Judi Dench) but by doing so has gotten himself suspended from MI6 just as there's a political plan to close down the 00 section. But committed to his mission Bond goes rogue and discovers that there is a huge international criminal organisation making moves to control the intelligence agencies of the west and its boss has a connection to Bond that goes all the way back to his childhood. There's a real feel for the old Bond movies in this film, more so than the others and whilst Craig's Bond is still a 'blunt instrument' and more often described as an assassin than a spy the action scenes are all homages in one sense or another to the Sean Connery era, for example the very gritty fight on the train that harks back to a similar fight in From Russia With Love (1963) and the baddie having a massive installation that Bond has to destroy such as in You Only Live Twice (1967). The cast are on form with Ralph Fiennes now in charge as M and getting stuck into the action, Naomie Harris as Moneypenney (a little underused), Ben Whishaw getting more screen time as Q and Christoph Waltz and Andrew Scott as the baddies and Léa Seydoux as the love interest. This is all great fun and now we know this isn't the end of the story with Craig's last outing as Bond in 'No Time To Die' now available but Spectre can take its place as one of the really interesting James Bond films.

An underdog sports movie with a big heart and real warmth. This tells the story of Australian jockey Michelle Payne, played by Teresa Palmer, who was the first woman to win the tough and prestigious Melbourne Cup race. Michelle is the youngest of ten children raised by their widower father, Paddy (Sam Neil), who is a grumpy, pernickety yet a big hearted dad and also renowned horse racing trainer. Michelle wants to become a championship jockey in a world dominated by men and against her father's advice and wishes she embarks on getting to the top. Along the way she has to deal with the rampant sexism and misogyny as well as serious injury. This is a feel good film, funny and dramatic and you don't need to be a fan of horse racing to enjoy this (I'm certainly not) because ultimately this is a story of extraordinary achievement against the odds. Recommended.

The script for this great British comedy was never intended as a 'Carry On' film but was later retitled to be part of the series and, for me, it's the very best of the entire franchise. The structure of basic episodic sketches was abandoned here for a feature length comedy story that is hilarious and very clever. Sid James takes the lead role of Charlie Hawkins, the owner of a traditional taxi company and the only one in town. He's passionate about the business much to the chagrin of his long suffering wife, Peggy (Hattie Jacques) who feels Charlie loves his firm more than her. When he fails to turn up for their anniversary dinner she decides to take action and secretly starts her own rival cab firm with all glamorous ladies as the drivers. Soon the new firm is taking all the business and Charlie, not knowing Peggy is behind it and desperate, decides to try and sabotage them. This has a great story, brilliantly told with some really funny and bawdy scenes, and it gets the heart of British society's old fashioned views on married women working. The Ford motor company donated it's new car to be used in the film, the Ford Cortina, sending sales through the roof. Very much in the Ealing Comedy style this is a wonderful early 1960s comedy film with a wonderful cast including Kenneth Connor, Liz Fraser, Charles Hawtrey and Jim Dale makes his first appearance in the series.

Based on real events and people although it plays fast and loose with history this remains an inspiring story of dedication and the power of the human spirit. Starting in 1919 during the national trauma following the First World War it tells the story of Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross), a young Cambridge undergraduate of Jewish heritage and a talented speed runner, and Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), a Scottish rugby player, devout christian and very fast runner who both have ambition to win gold medals at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. Abraham's driven by the need to overcome racial prejudice and Liddell believing his talents come from God become gentle rivals as they prepare for the final contest. This is a period drama that won four Academy Awards including best picture and famously had writer Colin Welland heralding this as the start of a new British New Wave of cinema. Sadly that didn't happen but this is an example of contemporary British film at its very best. Wonderfully recreating the 1920s and with scenes filmed in Cambridge (my home town) this also has a great support cast including Nigel Havers as a fellow athlete and Ian Holm as athletics trainer Sam Mussabini, whom Abrahams employed much to the chagrin of his college masters. As well as the fantastic story of athletic brilliance its also a story of the times with class and religion being key issues. If you've never seen this then it is one of those films everyone should see at least once.

This is a powerful drama about trauma and identity, it has an eerie feel as it moves from melodrama to thriller. At first this appears to be a film about loneliness and past regrets as it follows Julie (Ann Skelly), a young veterinary student who has discovered she is adopted. She has found her birth mother is Ellen (Oral Brady), a successful TV actor, but Ellen instinctively rebuffs Julie eventually revealing that there's a dark reason for this. But Julie is persistent forcing Ellen to confront her painful past. Julie finally learns who her real father is and tracks him down by pretending to be Julie (her birth name). Eventually this bringing the past back into the present forcing all of them to confront their relationship with each other. The film nicely balances thriller with real world drama in an atmospheric film that draws you in. A suspense film that deals with some very real issues and it's very good indeed.

A tender, beautifully played film that could have been mawkish but manages, due to the fantastic performances, to be an intimate and sad drama about the love of a father for his young son. James Norton is John, a window cleaner and single father to his toddler Michael (Daniel Lamont). John is dying of brain cancer and with no family is desperately trying to find a suitable family to look after Michael when he's gone. Social Services are helping him but John's also desperately trying to shield Michael from the reality of the situation. Norton's performance has real depth and empathy, he nicely underplays it avoiding the trap of cliché. Daniel Lamont as little Michael is a natural. Admittedly some of the prospective new parents that John sees are a bit cartoonishly awful but overall this is a remarkable story of a selfless parent desperate to give his son the very best life. A quite lovely film.

From the use of the score of Magnum Force (1973) you can tell right from the outset this violent action thriller is homaging the shoot em up films of the 70s. Apart from Dirty Harry there's some John Carpenter on show here too. It's all hyper gunplay and extreme characters that battle it out in a small town police station. An 'on the run from the Mob' conman, Teddy (Frank Grillo) gets himself arrested by exuberant young police officer Valerie (Alexis Louder) thinking jail is the safest place. But he hasn't banked on contract killer Bob (Gerard Butler) doing the same thing in order to kill him. The trouble starts when a rival bad guy shows up and one of the cops is on his payroll. This cues lots of shooting and violence inside the police station. No one can be trusted of course and you're never fully sure who the real baddies are. If you like this sort of thing it'll help pass a couple of hours but it's hardly very original and Butler needs to find something far more interesting than just these violent actioners.  

The film that has been described as the best Hitchcock film that Hitchcock never made and it's still often thought of or mistaken for an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Director Stanley Donen created a neat, humorous and light hearted, twist and turn plot thriller with the ever suave Cary Grant and the delicious Audrey Hepburn. She plays Reggie, a naïve socialite who is left penniless and stranded in Paris when her husband is found dead. The police suspect her of being involved in his death and soon three mysterious men begin hassling her claiming she knows the whereabouts of $250,000 her husband has stolen from them. She is helped by the handsome Peter (Grant) whom she meets by chance and Bartholomew, a CIA agent (Walter Matthau). But no-one seems to be who they say they are. The story rattles along, it's charming, funny but with some very dark edges not least the opening scene of Reggie's husband's death. Grant switches between malevolence and playboy giving his role some real depth and he and Hepburn have great screen chemistry. With James Coburn and the great George Kennedy as bad guys this remains a film that is highly entertaining.

Goldfinger (1964) is often considered Sean Connery's best Bond film, his third. Skyfall will no doubt be Daniel Craig's most revered outing as the iconic British agent, also his third film. It's certainly a highly entertaining action adventure furthering Craig's emotionally damaged take on the role with 007's drive mixed with his self doubt and focused on the only meaningful relationship he has with the matriarchal M played superbly by Judi Dench. The film has everything you want in a Bond film, it's a globe trotting plot with a deformed and warped baddie in the guise of Javier Bardem playing Silva. There's some really breathtaking chases sequences from the get go and the script is clever and brings in pieces of Bond's history, not only from the novels but also from the earlier films, even the iconic Aston Martin DB5 is dusted off. When a mission in Turkey goes awry James Bond is presumed dead. Then when MI6 is attacked and there seems to be a plot to assassinate M 007 reappears to help track down a former British agent who is intent on revenge for being abandoned years earlier. Albert Finney makes an appearance in the film's gritty final battle scenes and Ben Whishaw is the new Q and Naomie Harris the new Moneypenny. The Craig Bond films have been a classic reboot of what had become a tired franchise and with the films now having a consistent link with one another there is a great story beyond the story in the actual film. This is a first class piece of action entertainment and definitely a film to enjoy time and time again. Everyone has their favourite Bond but sometimes it's just good to sit back and enjoy them for what they do as individual films. This one ticks all the boxes.

The fifth Carry On film has the usual ensemble cast led this time by Sid James but it is structurally just a series of sketches of differing lengths bound together by the story of an odd job agency. This is run by Bert (James) and called Helping Hands. It employs the usual bunch of hapless characters who get into a variety of scrapes carrying out the tasks that the agency has been employed to do. Some of the sketches are very funny, others a bit silly and the final one is simple slapstick comedy. What makes this an interesting British comedy is that it deals with social issues including unemployment, women's status in the workplace, addiction to smoking and the British attitude to foreigners. All very relevant for the early 60s and still relevant today! The usual regular cast are present including Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims and Charles Hawtrey. Hattie Jacques has a smaller role than in the previous films as she'd been ill before production started and Liz Fraser, who appeared in some of the later films, replaced Shirley Eaton as the glamorous character. Again this film gives a shot of nostalgia for Britain in the 1960s and it remains a genuinely funny British comedy. If you are a fan then this is a worthy addition to the Carry On series and worth checking out. These early carry Ons deserve rediscovery.

A thoroughly over-the-top action thriller and exactly the sort of thing you expect from director Michael Bay. And yet it's simply great fun and entertaining if at times downright silly. It is certainly hi-octane from the opening car chase in Florence to the climax and as expected with bay it's an ode to weaponry and gunplay. Basically this is Bay harnessing the Mission Impossible franchise into his own take with added humour courtesy of Ryan Reynolds who plays the leader of a team of experts all with complex pasts they have left behind to become the righters or wrongs. They've even given up their names so Number 1 (Reynolds), who appears to have bankrolled the whole arrangement, has gathered together a team with various skills mostly to do with combat. His Number 2 (Mélanie Laurent) being the beautiful assassin type. In short they plan to depose a nasty tyrant who keeps killing his own people and replace him with his more caring brother but first have to rescue said brother. It all carries on with a bit of globetrotting and luxury locations, lots of explosions, and whilst some of it is a bit surreal it is definitely a real blast to watch. One of those pure action entertainment films and nothing more aided by Reynolds comedy persona.

A tough and uncompromising story of the destruction of morality caused by war. Hailed by Quentin Tarantino as one of the greatest Vietnam war films it tells the story of a five man patrol, all young men, led by Sergeant Meserve (Sean Penn), who kidnap a young Vietnamese farm girl from her home, take her into the bush where they rape and murder her. One of the men, Pfc Eriksson (Michael J. Fox), refuses to participate and is threatened by the others particularly Meserve. When they return to base Ericsson is determined to get justice for the girl but finds his senior officers just want to bury the incident. Supposedly based on real events this is a moving and frightening film with realistic combat and at its centre a vicious crime. As a story of how war, and in particular the Vietnam War, erodes emotional stability and destroys innocence in the young men sent to fight it is unparalleled. This is mostly embodied in the character of Meserve, a 20 year old NCO who has lost all sense of moral boundary, although Penn's portrayal is so scary that you can read that he was potentially capable of such crimes before being exposed to the horror of war. Penn captures his psychotic nature and his deep rooted cowardice in a very nuanced performance and Fox is excellent in a serious role that he nails perfectly. This is a film about brutality and of one man standing against many to do what's right. It has often been overshadowed by more celebrated Vietnam films such as Platoon (1986) and Full Metal Jacket (1987) but it deserves it's place as a key film about a war that America is still trying to come to terms with. A must see film.

An interesting variation on the theme of 'Are we alone in the Universe?' although here it's not aliens but the idea of multiverses. The idea is certainly clever but such a shame that the character motivations are firmly grounded in the materialistic, entitled world of the 21st century. Four friends living in an old rented house discover in the attic a portal that allows access to an alternate Universe. There everything is the same with little deviations which allows the four to exploit artistic and technological developments in the alternate world by making money in their real world. This all develops into greed and eventually murder and there's guns and violence. What a shame that the centre of the narrative becomes all about money rather than exploration. This turns the film into a fairly routine thriller with a degree of complexity, indeed keeping track of who's in which universe can tax the brain on occasion. Average stuff.

Routine action thriller in the cycle of deadly female assassins films. It's all fights and bloody shootouts with a revenge narrative. Maggie Q plays Anna, a Vietnamese woman trained from childhood to be an international contract killer by Moody (Samuel L. Jackson) after he rescued her from the massacre of her family. When he is killed Anna vows revenge and sets off on the rampage. There's plot twists and general mayhem all presented with fast direction courtesy of veteran action master Martin Campbell. There's nothing subtle about it and it doesn't offer anything fresh or particularly interesting. Michael Keaton adds some flair as a sort of bad guy and Robert Patrick supports. The fights are typically tough and Bournesque and the gunplay very 'John Wick'. Entertaining as far as it goes but instantly forgettable.