Film Reviews by GI

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.

This sequel to The Bourne Identity (2002), shot is an almost documentary style with hand held cameras is the most direct influence on the later Bond reboots with Daniel Craig. It's fast, exciting and an extremely gritty action film and really sets the tone for the entire Bourne series that followed. It certainly ups the game from the originality set in the first film to the way action cinema would be portrayed. In many ways it's a far better film than its predecessor with some of the most earth shattering car chases and occasional shocks in the story. Here we find Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) is hiding out in India with his girlfriend Marie (Franka Potente), he's still trying to piece together his old life with flashbacks and dreams but he's ever watchful for danger. Framed for an assassination in Berlin and finding he's again being hunted by the CIA in the form of boss agent Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) he goes on the attack. The film delivers a big challenge to the then redundant Bond franchise with it's world hopping story, the use of gadgets although here every one is based on a real piece of equipment so there's no fantastical stuff, and it's brilliant espionage story involving corrupt Russian gangsters, murdered politicians and double agents. A fantastic film. If you've never seen this then it's a must.

Whether Die Hard fits into your personal idea of a Christmas film or not it's definitely one that is best watched over the Christmas period, it feels odd to watch it at any other time. This is a film that is a key action film and set a standard which has been followed ever since. But it's not action for action's sake and the film has a real panache, it never takes itself seriously and there's a good deal of humour liberally spread throughout. It made a star of Bruce Willis and cemented his wisecracking, cynical screen persona ever since. More importantly it brought Alan Rickman to a wider public audience as an actor of significant skill and personality. The story takes place on Christmas Eve when NYPD officer John McClane (Willis) arrives in Los Angeles to visit his estranged wife Holly (Bonnie Bodelia) for the holiday. He joins her at the Christmas party taking place in the large hi-rise building of the company where she is one of the top executives. But soon after his arrival the building is taken over by a ruthless team of raiders led by German terrorist Hans (Rickman). Their motives are unclear but appear to be political and in the confusion of their arrival John manages to slip away and then becomes a serious problem for Hans as he continually frustrates their plans. The action set pieces are mostly chases throughout the building which is portrayed like a labyrinth with bursts of violent action when John has to escape the raiders attempts to catch and kill him. The humour comes from his sarcastic abuse of Hans and the mostly comic incompetence of the police surrounding the building outside. Overall this is exciting, tense and good fun and it remains a firm Christmas favourite and it's always a joy to watch at that time making a nice contrast to the Christmas romcom etc.

This romantic comedy/social drama is a British film worthy of a fresh audience. In many ways its a companion piece to Billy Elliot (2000) in it's setting within a north England mining town dealing with the collapse of community due to pit closure although this film is more political than the later film. Set in the fictional town of Grimley where the coal mine is the lifeblood of the community. The mine survived closure during the infamous 1984 strike but now in 1992 it again faces closure despite being profitable. The story follows the colliery brass band led by Danny (Pete Postlethwaite) who believes 'only music matters' and he bullies and badgers his band to win the local tournaments with a dream of making it to the national championships. But many of his players are struggling with the likely loss of their jobs including Danny's son, Phil (Stephen Tomkinson) and young Andy (Ewan McGregor). The arrival of ex local girl, Gloria (Tara Fitzgerald) perks them all up as she's a humble but gifted trumpet player and very attractive too much to Andy's delight. But the pressure of debts, job losses and the potential of the mine and the brass band ending makes the chances of getting to the finals doubtful unless Danny can get them all behind the idea. This is a serious drama with some superbly written comedy thrown in, it has sadness and romance all in the mix making it a delight. There's a great British cast and you may recognise the famous speech that Danny makes at the film's ending as parts of it were sampled in Chumbawumba's great pop hit Tubthumping. Either way this is a great little British film and well worth seeking out if you've never seen it.

Huge car chases and gunfights with stunt work galore doesn't detract from the fact this is a ridiculous, stupid and pointless film. It tries desperately to be funny, it tries equally hard to be exciting and it fails on both counts. The shame of it is that so much money was obviously spent on this that could have been used to make several really good films. Ryan Reynolds continues to play the same cynical, hard done by character he has formulated for himself over the last few years, since Deadpool (2016) and Samuel L Jackson simply plays Samuel L Jackson. Reynolds, who has the physique and potential to be a very good action star, is a trained bodyguard who has lost his 'rating' in the bodyguard world when he a big client was killed. He blames his wife for this for some reason and blah, blah, blah it matters not because he ends up having to protect international super hitman Samuel L. Jackson who is to be a witness against nasty Russian baddie Gary Oldman (who plays Gary Oldman Bad Guy and gets to speak Russian). This cues loads of banter, bloodshed and property destruction no doubt to the delight of children who are too young to see this awful film. What a load of ol' tosh and there's a sequel!! Jeez.

A beautiful and thoughtful film. This is modern film making at its very best, the film is note perfect and it's like a romantic visual poem. It really is a triumph. Set over the Christmas season of 1952 it follows young Therese (Rooney Mara), who works in a big department store in New York and dreams of being a photographer. One day she is mesmerised by the beautiful Carol (Cate Blanchett) who is in the store buying Christmas presents. Through various means they become friends and Therese becomes captivated by Carol much to the chagrin of her lovelorn boyfriend and the anger of Carol's estranged husband (Kyle Chandler). As their relationship develops into love Therese becomes heartbroken when Carol is forced to choose between her and losing access to her daughter. This is a story of love, sexual awakening and desire. It's a wonderfully told tale and both the stars give mesmerising performances. There's a beauty, sadness and a sense of hope throughout the film, which is shot in a wonderful colour palette that recreates the 1950s superbly. This is a film to enjoy on a quiet Christmas time evening where you can absorb the sheer genius of it. An intense, brilliantly crafted romance that works on every level.

The action thriller that effectively influenced all that followed it including the James Bond franchise and the Mission Impossible series not to mention the John Wick films, and basically all action espionage type movies. It set a new style and standard for gritty action, fights and a down-to-earth realism with it's car chases, plot, camera use, editing and setting. Its very loosely adapted from a celebrated novel, indeed the choice of Matt Damon is a big departure from the Jason Bourne of the book where he is a much older character. I'm sure everyone has seen this but it's very worthy of a rewatch where you'll notice that it still stands up against modern action films including the latest 007 No Time To Die. The plot is neatly convoluted where a half dead man is found floating in the Mediterranean. He has amnesia with only a Zurich bank account number as a clue to who he might be. Discovering his name maybe Jason Bourne he sets out to try and find out who he is and gradually finds he has some very unusual skills. With the help of a young woman, Marie (Franka Potente) he soon finds he's being hunted. With a great support cast of Chris Cooper (always excellent), Brian Cox and Clive Owen this is a fantastic spy thriller. It started a short series, all of which are excellent (with the exception of The Bourne Legacy where the actual Bourne character isn't involved - a rather poorly conceived film in fact) and it made Matt Damon into a respected action star. A film to rediscover, it's just as good as when it was made.

Big action adventure film based on the notorious mutiny that occurred in 1789. This is the third big film based on these events (the previous ones from 1935 and 1962 are both worth checking out) and here the attempt is to bring the story closer to the actual events. Anthony Hopkins gives a first rate performance as William Bligh, the commander of HMS Bounty, sent to Tahiti to trade with the natives for bread fruit. He asks his good friend Fletcher Christian (Mel Gibson) to be one of his officers and hopes to circumnavigate the globe on the journey. But plagued with bad weather the ship eventually arrives in Tahiti where Bligh unwisely allows the crew to spend several months ashore. The sexual freedom and relaxed life contrasts strongly with the harsh discipline of naval life and tired of the lackadaisical attitudes of his men Bligh sets sail for home intent on getting his crew back to being seamen. But Christian and other's miss the native women they have left behind and mutiny setting Bligh and those loyal to him adrift. The previous big budget films make the story a good guy (Christian)/bad guy (Bligh) narrative whereas the truth was far more complicated and this film tries to rebalance the story to show Christian was far more an opportunist and selfish than usually depicted with Bligh more a man to whom duty and law was paramount but he was fair and reasonable. Unfortunately the film doesn't quite go far enough here but that aside it's a really entertaining adventure with a first rate cast that includes Laurence Olivier, Edward Fox, Liam Neeson, Phil Davis, Daniel Day-Lewis, Bernard Hill and others. Hopkins is especially good here as the ambitious officer who tries to hold his ship together against the lures of sex and paradise. This is a film that is well worth seeking out with a young Gibson setting his stall as a major star.

Almost, but not quite, a British Brokeback Mountain and a very assured first film for director Francis Lee. Set on a Yorkshire farm portrayed as a bleak, somewhat inhospitable place highlighting that living in the country can be a harsh and lonely life and is not always the idyllic one it's thought to be. Josh O'Connor plays Jack, a disheartened young man who has had to take over the running of the family's farm after his father (Ian Hart) has had a stroke. With only his grandmother (Gemma Jones) and father, seemingly always unimpressed by Jack's efforts, as company Jack resorts to drink and sullenness. All of his former school mates have gone off to University and Jack's only comradeship comes from chance encounters in toilets with local gay men. But when the family hire Gheorghe (Alec Secareanu), a Romanian worker, Jack's life begins to find a meaning as they begin a passionate relationship. Lee's use of lighting from a harsh, cold look to warmer tones as Gheorghe begins to affect Jack is clever and signposts the affect of love. Gheorghe brings ideas to the farm and his presence affects all the relationships. There's an especially touching moment between Jack and his father. Interestingly the only bias Gheorghe experiences doesn't come from homophobia by the typical locals but from being an immigrant worker highlighting the Brexit issues that were focused on immigration especially in the north of England. A tender film, unsentimental with strong central performances.

A clunky, hackneyed redemption drama that has all been done before and far better too. Ben Affleck plays Jack an alcoholic construction worker who harbours mental traumas from his past (the reasons all get revealed eventually). He's a former High School basketball star and gets approached by his old school to take up the job of Head Coach of the school's failing and ill-disciplined team. And yep you guessed it his hard ass approach gets them winning and learning to be good boys all the time. But Jack finds it all a bit too much to stop drinking which gets him into a load of trouble but it'll all turn out all right in the end. Affleck seems to be sleep walking through the role here and the story never grips in any meaningful of watchable way. A disappointment.

This true story dynastic melodrama just about manages to avoid becoming too much of a soap opera mostly thanks to the committed and rather excellent performance by Lady Gaga. But there are moments of silliness, almost pantominesque in the characterisations and depiction of the rich Italian culture. This is the story of the fall of the fashion house Gucci. Patrizia (Lady Gaga) is the daughter of a humble transport business owner who one evening meets the lanky and shy Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) at a party. He is studying to be a lawyer and has no interest in the famous fashion business owned jointly by his father (Jeremy Irons) and uncle (Al Pacino). Patrizia and Maurizo fall in love and marry despite his father believing her to be a gold digger. She eventually persuades Maurizio to become involved in the family business and untold wealth comes their way but the company is riddled by tax scandal and corruption. Eventually their marriage sours but Patrizia will not relinquish her hold on her privileged wealth easily. This is an interesting story and director Ridley Scott recreates the 70s through to the 90s with his usual attention to visual detail. Both Lady Gaga and Adam Driver are superb throughout. There is some comic relief in Jared Leto's heavily prosthetically portrayal of Paolo Gucci, the sort of family fool, who causes all sorts of problems for the family although the performance is occasionally too much a cartoonish caricature. But this is a Ridley Scott film and well worth checking out.