Film Reviews by GI

This is a quirky melodrama that never quite nails its colours properly and despite a gallant effort from Jake Gyllenhaal this film is muddled and a bit empty. He plays Davis, a successful investment banker married to his boss' (Chris Cooper) daughter. When she is killed in a car accident Davis' emotions are sent spiralling out of control as he tries to grieve like others around him and begins to question his whole place in life. This manifests in his continual need to break things or at least take them apart, including his house! He finds friendship, in the most unconvincing way, with Karen (Naomi Watts) and her wayward son, Chris (Judah Lewis) to help him re-establish his life. You're never quite sure where the narrative is going though and by the end you'll not really care either because it veers about and concludes rather mawkishly and disappointingly. Watts is underused and indeed disappears for a large section of the film making her casting seem wasted. Cooper is always good as the no nonsense father figure baffled by his son in law's attitudes and actions. But other than that this has the kernel of a good idea, the script is a bit odd at times, and overall the film is disappointing.

Craig Fairbrass, whether playing good guy or bad guy, has that persona that he's always simmering on the edge of volcanic violence. In Rise of the Footsoldier (2007) he erupted with frightening regularity, here, in Muscle, he is just as menacing but there's an equally scary restraint to his character. This is the story of Simon (Cavan Clerkin), a Londoner who has relocated with his wife to Newcastle, where he has a boring job and a dull life. He decides to join a local gym in an effort to add some change to his life. There he meets Terry (Fairbrass) who offers to train Simon, who is wary but eventually feels he has found a new friend. When Simon's wife leaves him and returns to London he hesitantly allows Terry to move in as a lodger. But Terry soon inveigles his way deeper and deeper into Terry's life, taking over the house and holding depraved sex parties and Simon is at a loss of how to get free of him. Shot in bleak black and white to simulate Simon's bland life this is a strange crime drama and the testosterone fuelled characters are all frightening and unpleasant. This actually makes the film an unrewarding experience and whilst there's complexities to Fairbrass' Terry he is when boiled down just another violent thug character. There is also some very explicit sex on display here in an orgy scene which actually adds to the grimy, disgustingness of the film. Overall this is worth a look but I found it all too unpleasant to enjoy.

A mesmerising drama with a haunting feel and first class performances. This is a tale of passion and lust with an added mystery element thrown in for good measure. Set Scotland in the 1950s and Ewan McGregor plays Joe, a rootless drifter who finds work on a coal barge run by Les (Peter Mullan) and his wife Ella (Tilda Swinton). One morning Joe and Les find the half clothed body of a young woman floating in the Clyde. As an investigation begins Joe and Ella begin a passionate affair and Joe may know more about the dead woman than he is letting on. The film has an interesting structure and tells the story with temporal shifts that reveals little each time the narrative moves to unsignposted flashbacks. It works really well, looks great and really captures a sense of life on the river in a decade where sex and relationships were conducted much more discreetly and with social stigma a risk for violations of acceptable conduct. This is a character study focusing on Joe and the film plays it from his perspective. He uses sex almost as a weapon to control and manipulate until he tires of his surroundings and almost seems driven to destroy happiness he sees around him. The film has a couple of jarring scenes that seem a little out of place but with Emily Mortimer in a supporting role this is a great British film that is well worth checking out if you've never seen it.

A heartfelt and well intentioned historical drama based on a true story. Set in the early 1930s it tells the story of a humble Foreign Office advisor, Gareth Jones (James Norton) who travels to Moscow to interview Stalin about the USSR's claims of an economic boom. Once there he slips his soviet 'minders' and travels south where he witnesses the state induced famine which is killing millions. The Soviets do their utmost to discredit him and what he eventually reports. This is a story of heroism and has elements of espionage and taut thriller to it. Norton gives a strong performance as the committed welshman who refuses to kowtow to pressure to change his story. The film begins a bit slowly but once Jones is ensconced in Russia the film takes on a survival narrative, with some haunting and quite shocking scenes, and then it picks up even further once he's back in England and attempting to get the Government to believe him. Vanessa Kirby co-stars and there's support too from Peter Sarsgaad, Joseph Mawle (as George Orwell) and Kenneth Cranham as Lloyd George. An entertaining and very interesting film telling the tale of an unsung hero, indeed he's something of a welsh legend. A film that is well worth an evening's watch.

This heartfelt blend of romance and football is the story of Manchester City goalkeeper Bert Trautmann (David Kross) who became famous during the 1950s and 60s famously playing the 1956 FA Cup Final with a broken neck. The film is a co British and German production and begins with Trautmann captured and made a POW where he is spotted by a local football manager (John Henshaw) for his goalkeeping abilities, falls in love and marries his daughter before getting signed to Man City. It's a tale of success against the odds and Kross plays Trautmann as an amiable, dedicated and driven man who has been shocked by his war experiences. The film touches on the anti-German sentiments of the times including the reaction of the big Jewish community's reaction to Trautmann's appointment. There is tragedy in the story too and overall this is a straight forward, entertaining drama that is really watchable although critics may observe it glosses over some areas of Trautmann's life that may have been a little more controversial.

This is one the classic and best of the British cycle of war films made during the 1950s. It's certainly a key film set at the height of the Battle of Britain. Set in 1940 it charts the lives, loves and losses of a Hurricane fighter squadron in the south of England. Yes it's a bit of a flag waver and draws on the slightly mythical vision of care free young men, former public schoolboys, who treat war as a big adventure but equally this is a film that delves a little deeper into the conflict and the difficulties of managing such men. Jack Hawkins plays the Station commander, a tough, no nonsense leader with a big heart and John Gregson, the shy former student, eager to fight but lacking experience. What is especially good here is the faithful recreation of the daily lives of all the staff, from the mess waiter to the women who map the German attacks. Like all these film this has that nostalgic feel of a past time, a time of British class difference, of a masculine dominance (indeed there is the obvious misogyny on show albeit portrayed as a gallant English trait). Overall this is a great film made at the height of the British film industry. It's been painstakingly restored for DVD & BluRay and well worth seeking out if you like a good war film.

An entertaining if straight forward family fantasy action adventure. A more or less remake of Disney's own 1998 animated version of the story but without the songs (although they are referenced in the soundtrack). Set in 4th century China this tells the story of a young woman who steals her father's sword and answers a call to arms against an evil enemy but has to masquerade as a man. Full of brilliantly coloured set piece battles and fights this is good solid fun with everything well managed and staged for family viewing, so despite the swordplay this is a bloodless story and manages to avoid any complicated issues around a young woman in the company of a lot of men who don't realise her gender. The most interesting aspect of the narrative is the parallels between Mulan (Liu Yifel) and a witch helping the bad guys (Gong Li) and their struggles with finding a place in a masculine world. In any event this is well worth a watch with all the family.

Heartfelt, maudlin and occasionally a sweet drama about a man who returns to his roots in an attempt at discovering himself. Henry Golding is Kit, a British Vietnamese born gay man who left his home country aged six when his family escaped at the end of the Vietnam war. There's a thoughtfulness to this film, a tale about reconciliation with something that can't quite be reconciled, there's subtly painful reunions and a touching romance when Kit meets lewis, an American fashion designer and they begin a relationship. Overall I found the film a bit too melancholy and a tad boring but it's a restrained story with a good central performance.

Overstuffed, over long scifi actioner that is so derivative you can spot the rips from other films a mile off, so much so that the film sometimes feels like a series of scenes from other movies stitched together - Edge Of Tomorrow (2014) is the easiest to cite, but you have Starship Troopers (1997) , Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), A Quiet Place (2018) and even The Thing (1982) etc etc. Chris Pratt plays Chris Pratt alias Kit without the tone of comedy that makes him usually good fun in an action role, a former special forces soldier (of course he is!!) who's happy married life, with a young daughter, and as a teacher is shattered with the arrival of soldiers from 30 years in the future who announce that humanity is on the verge of extinction due to an attack by some alien monsters. Recruits are needed from the past and eventually Kit gets sent into the future to fight and it turns out he's a key role to play in the war. There's some time travel conundrums to drive the story forward and whilst there's some entertaining set pieces it all feels so hackneyed. Much of the story is piffle and great big holes can be driven through it, for example with mankind desperate for troops and with a time machine available, albeit with limited capability, the raw recruits receive no training and no information about their foe, this is no doubt so the audience can be suitably in awe of the aliens when they first appear. Believe me you'll be unimpressed. Big budget, loud and overall dull and disappointing I can see why Paramount sold it to Amazon Prime.

Here is a superb dark, mystery thriller from British director Alan Parker. A film that has a twist and turn plot, a great cast and a haunting atmospheric feel to it that draws you in. Controversial too, mainly due to a key sex scene that has an important part in the story but ultimately a brilliantly conceived tale that has a surprise ending. Mickey Rourke, at the height of his star potential, plays Harry Angel, a seedy private eye in 1950s New York. He's hired by a sinister, wealthy businessman (Robert De Niro) to find a former jazz singer who has breached his contactual obligations but went missing after being wounded during the Second World War. The search for this man takes Harry to New Orleans where he has discovered the missing man had connections with two women, the strange Margaret Krusemark (Charlotte Rampling) and the beautiful Epiphany (Lisa Bonet - in her first major film role). The trouble for Harry is that all his key witnesses keep turning up murdered. The film creates a dark, damp and cold atmosphere of New York and New Orleans with key themes of the inherent cultural racism of the times and a supernatural feel in the unravelling of the mystery. This is a bold, creepy and original film that really keeps you watching. If you've never seen this then it's well worth seeking out and even if you have and know what is going on it's worth a revisit.

With two superb central performances from Vanessa Redgrave and Timothy Spall this is a low key theatrical chamber piece that follows the complex relationship between the artist L.S. Lowry and his bedridden, cantankerous and neurotic mother. A rather sombre film which lends itself better to a TV viewing it is set in Manchester in 1934 before Lowry has been 'discovered' and paints only to please his mother who is constantly critical and at times downright nasty about his talent. The film is not without its humour and it is of interest in charting the troubled life of Lowry but its the performances that make it worth checking out.

Written by Michael Crichton (the creator of Jurassic Park) and directed by Robert Wise (a director who could turn his hand to any story, any genre) this is a great 70s film, one that has all the hallmarks of science fact - indeed the opening screen info makes out it's based on actual events - but this is actually a very suspenseful and interesting science fiction story. Cleverly made using real, in shot, effects and with a couple of controversial scenes it's a film worthy of rediscovery. A specialist team of four scientists are recruited by the American government to find out why all the residents of a small New Mexico town suddenly died. In a secret state-of-the-art laboratory they race against time to identify the cause, either a micro organism or virus never before seen, and which kills within seconds. With a relatively unknown cast this broke new ground with its depictions of technology (although the computer stuff obviously looks dated today). This is a contemporary film and not set in the future consequently in the early 70s this was a vision of advanced techno. There's an interesting theme over science vs politics and of course viewed today there are clear resonances to the Covid pandemic. Overall though this is a great piece of entertainment, made by a master director and well worth seeking out if you've never seen it.

This is one of the great courtroom dramas and like all good films like this it revolves around twists and turns throughout making it a suspenseful and riveting story. James Stewart (receiving his last Oscar nomination here) plays Paul, a small-town lawyer who'd rather be fishing, who accepts the case of Fred Manion (Ben Gazzara), an Army officer, accused of murdering a local bar owner. Manion doesn't deny the killing but claims he was temporarily insane at the time enraged because the victim had raped his wife, Laura (Lee Remick). The case revolves around whether she is lying and you're never sure who is telling the truth. This film was highly controversial and groundbreaking when initially made due to the detail around sex and the use of words including rape, bitch, sperm, penetration and slut amongst others. Viewed today it's a superb film, and is reputed to be very realistic and has been used in the training of young lawyers. Full of great performances, brilliantly written with a striking depiction of the power of words, with a famous score by Duke Ellington and brilliantly directed by Otto Preminger. If you love a good courtroom story then this is a classic, a masterpiece and a film to seek out.

A quite intense drama that deals with culture and family with Riz Ahmed further cementing his place as an actor (and writer) of note. Here he plays Zed, a British Pakistani rapper on the cusp of international success. Just before starting a world tour he returns to London to visit his family whom he hasn't seen for two years. There he has to reengage with his traditional and patriarchal father ((Alyy Khan) and he discovers many of his old friends consider he has 'sold out' to achieve success. But tragedy strikes when Zed is struck down by an incurable autoimmune disease. There's a complexity to this film and it can be read as a narrative about always moving forward and not going back but there are complicated themes included concerning the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan in dreams and hallucinations Zed experiences. To that end the film has a certain impenetrability that makes it, at times, an unsatisfactory film. Ahmed's performance is excellent (his rapping is good) but ultimately a film about culture that is a bit of an empty experience.

This is a very likeable British comedy drama that tells the story of the slightly wacky and bizarre Women's Liberation demonstration at the 1970 Miss World competition. The film has a charm because it plays out neatly balanced between the serious messages and the daftness of the whole thing. Keira Knightly plays Sally, a divorced single mother who has faced the in-depth misogyny in British life in trying to get a place in university. She becomes drawn to Jo (Jessie Buckley), a slightly fanatical feminist and her newly formed Women's Lib' group. Aided by Sally's more balanced approach they design posters and with the announcement of the forthcoming Miss World competition they decide on a demonstration. The odious organiser Eric Morley (Rhys Ifans) has managed to secure Bob Hope (Greg Kinnear) as the presenter but when he publicly ridicules the accusations of sexism Sally and her mates decide on a more radical attack. The film obviously attacks the ludicrous objectification of women's bodies in this 'cattle market' style event but it also, rightly and perfectly, reveals how the beauty competition did much for women of colour in other nations such as South Africa and this is exemplified especially by Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Miss Grenada, who maintains a dignity and moral seriousness in taking part. It also reveals the iconic Bob Hope to be a rather self centred, promiscuous git. This film is not a feminist rant, it alludes to the abuse that was a part of the beauty pageant world and shows the pioneering protest to open the debates on sexism. In that's sense this is a film that works very well indeed. Great support cast too including Keeley Hawes and Lesley Manville. A very enjoyable and well told film.