Film Reviews by GI

What can one add about such a beloved slice of classic Hollywood as this? A film that is so rich in detail that it's worth watching just to study the mise-en-scène throughout. James Stewart, in his first role since returning from duty in the Second World War, is perfect, an actor who could play comedy, action, hard man and softy with believable precision that it's so easy to forget just how good he was. And Donna Reed, not only a tremendously beautiful woman but an actor of class and skill. Stewart plays George Bailey, an ambitious man who lives in the small town of Bedford Falls where his family run a small building and loan company. The company is coveted by the town's odious rich man Potter (Lionel Barrymore) but he is continually foiled from acquiring it by George who gets stuck in the town after his father dies. He finds happiness in love with Mary (Reed) and raises a family but is always a little disappointed with his life and then a chain of events leaves George facing ruin and he contemplates suicide. But he is given a very special gift by a strange old man, the chance to see the world as if he had never been born. This is a film about community, about morality and ultimately about materialism and even if it is a film that exemplifies the 'male gaze' dominance of Hollywood this is a remarkable piece of cinema. I can see why this remains a popular Christmas film, because it's themes resonate today even if they are only observed subconsciously and because ultimately it's a film that gives you that warm feeling long after it's over.

A big, spectacular war film, one of those all star ones that were once very popular prestige movies like The Longest Day (1962), The Battle of Britain (1969) and Tora Tora Tora (1970). Here director Richard Attenborough reconstructs Operation Market Garden, the huge 1944 allied airborne invasion of Holland designed to end the war before Christmas. It was a massive failure for a variety of reasons not least that the German resistance was much more intense than had been envisaged. The film is wonderfully entertaining and cleverly edited as it has to follow several key events within a strict timeline. This is managed very well and for the most part all the various scenes fit very neatly to explain the entire operation. Arguably one or two of the episodes in the film could have been excised to create a tighter narrative including a pointless story featuring James Caan as a US soldier who threatens a senior medic to save his young officer. Attenborough, although an occasionally clumsy director, does create a very detailed history of the operation here and the combat and battle scenes are realistic and gripping without resorting to excessive bloodshed or violence. The attempt to overplay the cultural differences between the British and the Americans seems a bit too much when viewed today (for instance only the Americans get to swear, the British are all far too polite!) but this can be forgiven. The cast includes Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Edward Fox, Dirk Bogarde, Anthony Hopkins, Robert Redford, Elliot Gould, Ryan O'Neal and Laurence Olivier. Overall a cracking war film and one to check out if you've never seen it.

This is one of the great, classic war films, a Boys Own Adventure that gained seven Academy awards. It's epic in structure, with stunning cinematography and a top cast of Alec Guinness, William Holden and Jack Hawkins. The surviving members of a British battalion are marched into captivity led by their commanding officer, Colonel Nicholson (Guinness). The POW camp commander Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) has been ordered to build a rail bridge over the nearby river and intends to use the prisoners as slave labour. After a tense battle of wills between the two Colonels, Nicholson decides that the bridge will be built with pride by his weakened soldiers as a mark of their patriotism and pluck. But a commando mission is en route to blow it up led by Major Warden (Hawkins) and Shears (Holden), an American who escaped from the POW camp. A fantastic and entertaining film that is one of those that everyone should see. The plot involving a confusion of ideals and loyalties is a clever one but at its heart this is a wartime adventure story and not a serious film that studies the plight of British POWs under the Japanese (indeed Holden looks like he's well fed and healthy throughout!). Whilst this is based on real events it is only a loose version of what actually happened. It certainly is a variation on the British war hero idea and the addition of the American in Holden was to ensure a good box office (Steve McQueen was similarly used in The Great Escape). Simply put tis is a cracking war film and well worth seeking out if you've never seen it.

A comedy/horror that combines the High School teen film with slasher movies via a body swap narrative. Homaging just about everything you can think of Vince Vaughn plays the serial killer, a sort of Michael Myers/Leatherface/Hannibal Lector, who roams around murdering in gory ways. When he attacks Millie (Kathryn Newton), a teenager bullied at school and grieving the loss of her dad, using a stolen ancient knife that happens to have magical properties they end up in each others bodies. You can probably guess the set ups thereafter as they've all been done before in body swap films and of course there's a time limit to get swapped back or they'll end up permanently trapped in each others bodies. Vaughn plays it quite well once he's a girl in a man's body though there's some scenes that are all a bit silly. The film pushes the gore and there's some unnecessary big time bad language just in case you haven't worked out that the killer is really really nasty. It pushed the unpleasant to the detriment of comedy and so wasn't funny enough and many of the support characters are clichéd..

A fairly typical rise and fall of a rock star story set in punk era Britain and showing the urban decay and social unrest prominent at the time. Hazel O'Connor in a break out role not only as an actor but also musically stars as Kate, a young punk singer/songwriter who is anti-establishment and writes politically charged punk rock songs that she plays in grubby pubs. Phil Daniels, in a typical role, is the cheeky chappy wannabe music promoter, Danny, who convinces her he can make her famous. Eventually that happens of course, in fact pretty quickly despite Danny being a complete twit and Kate bizarrely not wanting a record deal which she sees as becoming part of the machine. Anyway she of course does make a record and becomes a sort of Bowie-esque rock god soon becoming disillusioned and drug fuelled to keep he going. The film has some interest although it's all a little clumsy in structure and O'Connor is a little wooden. The director Brian Gibson creates some set pieces involving riots with far right nazi yobs and uses a death at one such event as a plot device to hurry along Kate's fall from grace. None of this works very well as the film is in far too much of a hurry but it's an interesting enough addition to the rock music film and the vision of the bleak side of Britain at the time. Jonathan Pryce supports in an early role and the resulting soundtrack album is excellent.

Whilst not exactly a Christmas themed film it is nevertheless a great watch over the Christmas season with the film bookended by scenes set in the winter. Basically a witty and cleverly scripted comedy of manners adapted from the bestselling novel by Helen Fielding who co-scripted with Richard Curtis. The story homages Pride & Prejudice even giving the main male character the name D'Arcy and of course it's a sharp exploration of modern relationship struggles. The casting of American actress Renée Zellweger as the titular Bridget raised some eyebrows considering that she is quintessentially English but doubters soon saw that she is excellent in the role even gaining an Academy award nomination, in fact its nigh impossible to imagine anyone else in the role. Bridget is a thirty something woman, single, despairing of ever finding true love and sinks into the depression of over eating, smoking and drinking. He snobby mother (Gemma Jones) is always trying to pair her up with the sons of her friends including the very serious Mark D'Arcy (Colin Firth) who Bridget considers rude and cold. However she does fancy her boss Daniel (Hugh Grant in a brilliant performance as a real cad). Coincidentally Mark and Daniel hate one another for reasons that become a key plot point. Bridget is socially inept but deep down a warm and quite lovely character. All this cues a hilarious relationship comedy that uses parties as the conduit for people to meet, bond or re-evaluate their opinions of each other. The novel is a modern classic (well worth reading if you haven't) and this adaptation is a superb comedy that nails it's themes very accurately. A joy to watch over Christmas.

A family fun filed Christmas comedy treat. It has all the ingredients that you want from a seasonal family film and above all it's genuinely hilarious mostly due to Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern as the hapless burglars who encounter resourceful 8 year old Macaulay Culkin who is intent on protecting his family home. But overall the film is focused on family and its importance especially at Christmas. Essentially a situation comedy where the large Chicago based McAllister family of Dad (John Heard) and Mum (Catherine O'Hara), their five children and various members of the extended family head off to France for a big Christmas holiday. The trouble is in their haste to catch their flight they inadvertently leave young Kevin at home. At first he's rather pleased about this and indulges himself but then begins to miss his family. But he's given plenty to do when he decides he has to foil the attempts by the 'wet bandits', as the daft crooks like to call themselves, in their efforts to raid his house. By setting booby traps which they fall easily into the film has a slapstick style that is really funny. There's also a nice side plot involving a mysterious neighbour (Roberts Blossom) who the McAllister children believe is a murderer. The film has a warm, good fun vibe and manages to deal with issues of sibling rivalry and gives a Childs eye view of what family life can sometimes feel like. A real treasure and a film that is a must see every Christmas time.

Director Guy Ritchie and star Jason Statham sort of made each others careers or at least increased their bank balances together and they have reached a point where both need a to regain some originality. This is a gutsy thriller that reunites them although it plays more like one of Statham's exploitation violent B movies than the laddish, cockney crime capers that Ritchie made in his unique style. This will be great entertainment for those that like their crime thrillers bloody and action packed but the story is a little threadbare and hackneyed with a little too many flashbacks and clever plot connivances for its own good. In fact it would probably have been a better film with a more gifted and nuanced actor in the lead. Statham plays 'H' a new employee at a security truck company. He's a cold fish, enigmatic and not popular until he takes down, with unprecedented skill, the bad guys who try to rob his truck. It soon becomes clear he's more than he appears and of course has his own agenda. It takes far too long to get to a clear position of what he exactly is up to but along the way there's plenty of gunplay. Scott Eastwood hams it up as a bad guy, Andy Garcia has a cameo and overall it's an efficiently made film that is a simple one made convoluted to give the impression it's better than it is.

Considered by many to not live up to the first three films this is worthy of re-evaluation. Admittedly the series peaked with 'Ultimatum' but this fourth film is still a first rate action thriller and highly entertaining. It's fast paced and an adrenaline rush especially the fight scenes and the climactic car chase through Las Vegas. There are elements of the story and plot that are on the same lines as the previous films where former CIA agent Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is still trying to piece together his old life. After many years hiding in the shadows Bourne is contacted by his old ally Nicky (Julia Stiles), who has left the CIA. She has uncovered a secret plan by CIA boss (Tommy Lee Jones) to use a new popular software programme run by a 'Mark Zuckerberg' type entrepreneur (Riz Ahmed) to spy on anyone using it. She's also uncovered information about Bourne's past. But soon Bourne finds he's being hunted by an old enemy (Vincent Cassel) and he has to unravel a conspiracy at the top of the CIA. Alicia Vikander supports as an ambitious cyber expert wanting promotion in the CIA. If you are a fan of the Bourne films then this lives up to what you've come to expect. It features an older Jason Bourne who is a reluctant participant in the events and the hand held camera style of director Paul Greengrass is still great stuff and has fixed the series style since he took over the reins. If you weren't convinced on first viewing give this another go it's worth your time. Action cinema at it's best.

This is what grand, spectacular epic cinema should be like. This is a historical romantic film that shuns history to tell a story of adventure and love on a poetic scale. Much derided for its historical inaccuracies but who cares, cinema is foremost about entertainment and film makers have to have an eye for the dramatic and besides the truth is often neither of those. With elements of the fantastical director Mel Gibson tells a remarkable story of love, revenge and patriotism in the 13th Century where Scotland is under the tyrannical rule of Edward The First of England (Patrick McGoohan in a deliciously nasty performance). Orphaned commoner William Wallace (Mel Gibson) returns from France to his home in Scotland to marry the love of his life but when she is murdered by the English his rage turns into leading a rebellion. The story charts his leading the rebel army in the Battle of Stirling and his invasion and sacking of York and finally his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk. The battle scenes are bloody and exciting but it's in the passion of Wallace driven by a desire for freedom and grieving for the loss of his woman that the film excels. It really is an exceptional film, with a beautiful score by James Horner, a host of great actors in support including Brendan Gleeson, Sophie Marceau, Catherine McCormack, Brian Cox and Ian Bannen. The film is clearly influenced by Spartacus (1960) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and the devoted Catholic in Gibson can't resist channeling the crucifixion in the film's climactic and unpleasant execution scene. But that aside this is epic cinema at it's very best, exhilarating, touching and wonderful to look at and it's always worth a revisit and definitely a film you must see if by a chance it's passed you by.

Director Stanley Kubrick's last film before his untimely death just after its completion. This is an adult relationship drama that dips into a gothic mystery story, it's bizarre, enthralling and a film that asks more questions than it answers. It's also essentially a Christmas time film and offers something very different than what one might expect from a yuletide movie. Tom Cruise plays rich and successful Manhattan doctor, Bill Harford. He and his beautiful wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman) along with their seven year old daughter live in a plush apartment and skirt the edges of the top echelons of the New York society. After attending their rich friend's party a few days before Christmas they have an argument during which Alice confides to Bill a sexual fantasy she once had about a man she saw on holiday. This sends Bill into a suppressed fit of jealousy which results in him having a series of sexually charged experiences in the night time city culminating in his finding out about a strange party that he manages to gain admittance to. The results of this will change his life and his relationship with Alice. Like most of Kubrick's films the narrative begs a variety of readings and this film is often thought to be a revelation about a secret 'elite' that exists and controls society. There's the obvious alluding to Freemasonry here but whatever way it's viewed it certainly goes into some surprising and somewhat weird directions. But there's also humour too and Kidman especially has never been better than she is here. This is a film that is mysterious and enigmatic but definitely a film that hooks you in and makes you want to unravel it's secrets. If you've never seen this then it's recommended.

A mysterious psychodrama with a menacing atmosphere to it and arguably director Jane Campion's best film since The Piano (1993). It's a slow burning drama with a lethal ending that creeps up on you and takes you completely by surprise. Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons plays two brothers, Phil and Charlie, who own and run a ranch in 1925 Montana. Whereas Charlie is a gentile, quiet man Phil is a brooding bully, a boorish man who continually insults his brother but is emotionally reliant on him. When Charlie marries widow Rose (Kirsten Dunst) Phil is driven to outrage and begins a campaign to harass and ridicule her. But he is also oddly transfixed by her sensitive teenage son, Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and starts to teach him how to ride and 'man up'. Peter seems drawn to the attention that Phil gives him whilst also worrying about his mother who, under Phil's constant torment, begins to fall into depression and alcoholism. Cumberbatch is excellent in this film, capturing the complexity of the character of Phil, from his festering resentments to his strange sensitivities and behaviours. Dunst too is superb as the wife who is slowly driven to despair under the subtle but maliciousness of Phil. This is a film that creeps up on you, it cleverly avoids revealing itself, indeed you'll think you have worked out what'll happen but chances are you'll be wrong. It's a story where the pieces fall into place right at the end but are present from the beginning. This is a gothic tale, a film made with real artistry. I highly recommend it.

Even as the James Bond franchise tried to catch up to the standards for action cinema in 2006 with Casino Royale a year later came this, the third in the Jason Bourne series. It pushed the boundaries for gripping, fast paced action and combined it with a well constructed and tightly scripted story. Arguably this is the best of the original Bourne trilogy and in the hands of director Paul Greengrass it is a visceral cinematic experience with the use of hand held cameras to create a realistic cinema verité. The very clever linking of scenes from the previous film joins the dots in the storyline in a neat and very compelling way. The support cast are exceptional with Julia Stiles given more screen time as Nicky, Bourne's ally in the CIA; Joan Allen returns as CIA boss Pam Landy and there's a new bad guy in David Strathairn as the boss running a dodgy black ops unit that the hero has to bring down. Additionally Paddy Considine, Albert Finney and Scott Glenn have small but interesting roles. The film follows immediately on from The Bourne Supremacy with Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) still trying to piece together his life from fragments of memory. When he discovers a London journalist (Considine) has uncovered a story about a CIA assassination programme he heads to London to find out what he knows. This begins a chain of events that results in gritty action, car chases and a tense set piece in Waterloo Station. This is action cinema at it's very best, and this film has not really been topped. It's a must see.

An interesting science fiction drama that looks at the potential of genetic engineering of humanity and the social bias that could result. An idea that NASA has proclaimed makes this a very accurate sci-fi film. Set in the near future and the technology to not only identify from someone's genes what their future health may turn out like but also any chances of them having social inadequacies such as alcoholism results in people 'designing' their offspring. Non engineered people become a sub class and restricted to menial jobs. One of these, Vincent (Ethan Hawke) dreams of becoming an astronaut and so embarks on a risky operation to genetically impersonate Jerome (Jude Law), who is now a paraplegic after a car accident. But when a man is murdered at the space agency where Vincent works as Jerome the police begin to suspect an imposter has infiltrated the workforce who are all meant to be genetically superior. This is a thought provoking film that avoids clichéd action in favour of a tense, slow burning drama as Vincent has to try and avoid detection. It's a clever story and a film well worth checking out if you've never seen it. The support cast of Uma Thurman, Alan Arvin and a cameo by Ernest Borgnine adds to making this very watchable.

This is a quite exceptional thriller. It's essentially a revenge narrative with a vigilante theme built in but it steps beyond what you'd expect from that description to be a quite sensitive and morality questioning story that delves into the pain of grief and the effects of post traumatic stress disorder. It touches too on the issues of what society considers justice. Jodie Foster, in a performance that is as good as one she gave in The Silence Of the Lambs (1991), plays Erica, a New York radio show presenter, who is walking one evening with her fiancé when they are attacked by some street thugs. She is badly injured but the love of her life is killed. She struggles with her grief and the fear of venturing into the streets long after the event and to combat this she buys an illicit handgun. When she is faced with another threat and uses the gun she finds a new strength to carry on but soon guilt at what she has done starts to set in. Then by a quirk of fate she gets a lead on who killed her man. Terrence Howard is first rate as the detective that is investigating the killings she leaves in her wake. The narrative goes way beyond just another violent revenge movie and it's a really compelling and very watchable story that focuses on Erica's pain and the mental anguish she is trying to overcome. This is a fantastic film, a real achievement for Foster and one I highly recommend.