21 Jump Street (2012) review

Boys are back at prom (image:xdesktopwallpapers.com)

In a word: juvenile
Movie Pieces Rating: 3/5

Kinda fun flick focusing on two dumb cops who go back to high-school as part of an undercover job only to find the world they knew is topsy-turvy. In the new millennia nerds (not Jocks) are cool, kids fight for environmental causes, wear backpacks (not ripped T-shirts) and have ambition. Being a sporty slacker is no longer cool.

For Schmidt (Jonah Hill), this is great news bringing a chance for a “do-over” of his disastrous school days as – on the hunt for a drug ring – he becomes part of the coolest group in school led by hipster Eric (Dave Franco). For Jenko (Channing Tatum) the change is not so welcome. Once King of his school due to his lunkish good looks and sporting abilities, here his oafishness relegates him to the lower echelons of the new school social system – aka Chemistry Club.

Based on the original film, starring Johnny Depp, this is updated for the 21st century with vomit aplenty, edgy humour and plenty of in-jokes (mainly based on referencing the previous film and on the gulf between Channing Tatum’s on-screen social pariah status and his “real world” singing, dancing, directing, multi-muscled, golden boy.

There’s not much to the plot beyond the chance for Schmidt and Jenko to make a bust and redeem themselves in the eyes of their gruff, insult-throwing, boss Captain Dickson (Ice Cube – yes Ice C’s back). This is best when Jonah Hill (an acquired taste) holds back on the shouting and Tatum gets to show his prat-falling skills, but it’s decent Friday night fare.

Mr Turner (2014)

Portrait of the Artist: image via eOne Films

In a word: earthy
Movie Pieces Rating: 3.5*/5

Adding fictional adornments to known facts, Mike Leigh bases his biopic on a relatively short period of J.M.W. Turner’s life. He focuses on Turner in his later years of life when he’s established, confident in his art and concerned primarily with his practice and the improvements he can make to it.

A fictional, yet hyper-realistic (19th century Europe is strikingly re-created in all its grimy, grubby glory) account of the cantankerous artist’s life. Turner grunts, spits, and paws his way through life caring little for rules, etiquette or, seemingly, for the feelings of anyone apart from his dear old dad.

It’s a masterly construction from Timothy Spall – to create someone so vigorous, so singingly alive, so singular – the trouble is that there’s not much else in the film to match up to it: not the narrative which (true to Mike Leigh form) is slightly formless and meandering; and certainly not the supporting characters all of whom struggle to make much of an impression in the story in their own right – mainly acting as ciphers for elements of Turner’s personality: his creative genius shown by how easily he annoys and trumps Constable, while the offhand cruelty he dishes out to his loyal (fictional) housekeeper, played by Dorothy Atkinson, is a sign of his unrepentantly selfish artistic nature.

Just like peeking through a spyglass into someone’s house you get a series of proceedings but little context. More background and a touch more light and shade and this film would move beyond a sketch and into a fully-realised study.

Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens Trailer…it’s here!

I’d love to say I was waiting up all night for this one with bated breath…but, in fact, I came to it hours late following a tweet from a friend.  What price my Star Wars fan membership now, eh?

And yet, having been over-excited for episodes I, II and III (all of which were sorely disappointing) it’s hardly surprising a fan of IV, V and VI might hang back – waiting to see just what direction JJ would be heading in.  With relief I can say he’s no George Lucas.  No signs of cute irritating fluffy anthropomorphised characters and over-blown CGI.  This new universe is crisp, colourful, fast and furious. There are cool gadgets, new vistas, mysterious arrivals and exits and yet a familiarity of tone that is reassuring (for us old geezers who liked things as they were first time around).

Well done Mr Abrams.

(Of course) The Fans have their say:  Star Wars VII Fan Art
The George Lucas Trailer version
The Lego Trailer version
The “of-course-Cumberbatch-is-in-Star-Wars-7” version (fan art via Cosmic Book News)

Gone Girl (2014)

Gone Girl stars Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike (image via WikiCommons)

In a word: twisty
Movie Pieces Rating: 4.5*/5

Nestled in the movie release calendar, next to the superhero tentpoles and the Young Adult adaptations, a deliciously grownup, multi-layered film like Gone Girl feels like a long-forgotten gem.

Amy and Nick Dunne are the dream team. A high-flying New Yorker couple who move to Kevin’s sleepy home-town when his mum gets sick. One day – on their anniversary in fact – Kevin comes home to find signs of a violent break-in and his wife missing. But it’s not long before he’s cast into a nightmarish world when suspicion falls on him, and their whole life together comes under scrutiny from police, neighbours and, the inevitable media circus.

Ben Affleck is perfectly cast as the cocky, slightly too charming husband who seems to get less trustworthy with every word he utters. Rosamund Pike is a revelation as Amy, the Hitchcock blonde-esque child star, who is seen completely differently by each person who knows her. She is fascinating, yet unknowable which gives every second of her screen time an “edge of the seat” quality.

Like Argo, which also stars Ben Affleck, Gone Girl (an adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s bestseller) is an entertaining thriller that gallops through its running time with more twists and turns than you could shake a fist at. And like Argo it also shares complicated themes and characters that avoid the simple good/bad dichotomy that most modern thrillers fall into so easily. As an audience you can’t slack off while watching Gone Girl – you’re constantly tested on what you’re seeing, and prevented from taking an easy value position. That might sound rather worthy or like hard work but far from it. Gone Girl is intelligent, clever filmmaking but it’s wickedly enjoyable at the same time.

Reviews I rate: Gone Girl
Cinephile: David M. Keyes’s Gone Girl review
Variety: Justin Chang’s Gone Girl review

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

Image via elisa-gallion.deviantart.com

In a word: better
Movie Pieces Rating: 3/5

Like Star Wars I, I and III are to the original Star Wars films (I, V and VI) so The Hobbit films are to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. That is to say; simplistic, slightly self-indulgent and playing to the multiplex.

Having loved the Lord of the Rings trilogy I wanted to enjoy these Hobbit films, but ever since the announcement that the slim Hobbit novel was going to be stretched into 3 gargantuan films I knew that Peter Jackson had stepped towards the dark side. Like George Lucas he’s turned each new film into a marathon slog: no longer beautiful, intense trips to a world that could (almost) exist, now we’re stuck in panto land – full of pratfalls and trumpeted plot points, snarls and arch looks.

Given all that moaning, “Smaug” is actually far less tiresome than the first Hobbit movie. Thankfully the dwarf songs are gone, and their absence is balanced by the presence of Legolas (the very welcome return of Orlando Bloom). Funny how the wig maketh the man (and how elves maketh the film). Benedict Cumberbatch’s dragon is hypnotic and the narrative fairly hurtles by. But it’s still a long way (there and back again) from the heights of LOTR…

The Drop (2014)

That Cute Pup. (Image source: thedrop-movie.com)

In a word: twisty

Movie Pieces Rating: 3.5/5

A dark (rom)comedy? Or a violent thriller with some humour and a hint of romance on the side? It’s hard to say just what this film is as it bounces around between comedy, thriller, romance and action film. Sometimes all within the same scene.

That it’s watchable is entirely down to two elements: Tom Hardy and “That Cute Puppy”. Hardy is never not interesting on screen and here, in a low-key but pivotal role as unassuming bartender Bob Saginowski, he is captivating. Bob is working for Cousin Marv (James Gandolfini) – bar owner with a nasty temper and a grudge from losing his bar to Chechen mobsters who’ve turned it into a “drop bar” – somewhere criminals can launder money unhindered on set nights through the year.

Life for Bob is relatively uneventful – until, one night, he hears whining from bins in the street and meets “That Cute Puppy”, otherwise known as Rocco the pewter-grey pitbull. For Bob, a man who clearly doesn’t like to get involved in other people’s lives, Rocco represents trouble. He’s lonely, he’s desperate for love and attention and he’s had a rough life. Not unlike silent Bob. Enter stage left the lovely Nadia: owner of the bin that Rocco is found in; dog-lover, feisty but kindly, local. Nadia helps Bob get to grips with Rocco and soon they’re both pretty keen to get to grips with each other.

Except it’s not that kind of film. There are dark things, unsettling things, lurking in the shadows and all too soon the tiny sliver of happiness they’ve found hits various obstacles: neighbourhood thugs, the Chechens on the hunt for potential money-skimmers and, most ominous of all, Nadia’s slightly pyschotic ex – Eric Deeds.

The Drop – the first screenplay from famous Boston author Dennis Lehane is rather uneven in tone which makes it all a bit unsettling as it lurches between sweet nothings and casual killings, but Gandolfini and Hardy are perfectly matched and newcomer Matthias Schoenaerts as Deeds who ratchets up the tension withoutever overplaying his part. Familiar, patchy but interesting. And of course, there’s always “That Cute Puppy”.

Notes:
1. Although this is the first screenplay Dennis Lehane has written, he’s a celebrated author with several film adapatations of his works (Gone, Baby, Gone, Mystic River and Shutter Island)
2. Rocco (That Cute Puppy) was actually 3 puppies – of different ages – to ensure continuity across the filming period.

 

 

 

Obvious Child (2014)

Hipster Cycle Image: OhHarro Funny Junk.com

In a word: ironic

Movie Pieces Rating: 2.5/5

It’s another romantic movie for people who sneer at romantic movies. If you liked Frances Ha! you’ll like this. Unfortunately, I didn’t. And I didn’t.

Hipsters are tiresome. Wherever they’re from (New York City in this case) and whichever form they take, this is A Fact. Even more so, perhaps, when they’re in their down-on-their-luck, sad sap guise: hopeless at life, wide-eyed like a child (at 30), ditzy and ever-so-slightly clumsy…”I’m not cool at all. Honest…”. But their quirky street art collection, their quirky hair styles, their quirky clumpy shoes, their quirky home lives and their friends with studiedly alternative lifestyles make them all too easy to spot. So if you like guerilla knitting, handlebar moustaches and skiffle this is likely to be your jam.

Donna Stern, comedienne by night and bookseller by day is a slightly more together version of Frances. After an awkward break up she has a one night stand and *shock, horror * finds herself pregnant. So, what to do when you’re a liberated woman who hasn’t learnt control over your birth control? What she does next takes up the rest of the film. Spoiler alert; there’s a lot of mooching, moaning, quasi-feminist deliberation and a fair bit of faffing. But Donna’s quite sweet and Max, the guy who knocks her up, is really very decent. And there’s some sort of narrative progression towards the end – which is more than you get in most mumblecore movies.

If he was real (and I knew him), I’d tell poor Max (the sweet, kind guy who’s walked into this Brooklyn-set drama) to run as far and as fast as he can and find himself a woman who appreciates a nice man. Donna will dump poor Max as soon as the first beardy guy who plays the accordion / sitar / triangle comes along. She won’t be able to help herself. It’s the (hipster) law of nature.

 

 

Locke (2014)

Yep, it is that good…
(Image via Wikipedia)

In a word: fraught.

Movie Pieces Rating: 4/5

Over the course of one night the mighty Tom Hardy tries to deal with one almighty cluster f*ck. Of his own making.

This film takes Tom Hardy, alone in his car with only the M6 motorway*, and the incessant calls he makes on his mobile phone to share the screen time and turns them into a bleakly tragic tour de force. Tom plays Locke. An ordinary man who’s spent his life trying to do the right thing. Trying to be the good man, husband and parent that his own father could never be.

And we watch as job, marriage, relationships all start unraveling over the course of one night.

This taut, tense, film should be hard work – we’re thrown right into the thick of it – with one drama kicking off after another in almost real time. This could feel unbearably claustrophobic but stays compelling due to a master class in acting from Hardy and off-screen phone cameos from some of Britain’s most interesting acting talent. Olivia Colman is a particular standout but listen out for other familiar voices. Only Hardy’s accent – meant to be Welsh (why exactly?) but skipping the length and breadth of the British Isles – strikes a slightly duff note.

To have spent your life doing the right thing and to keep on trying even though the one mistake you’ve made is turning your life into house of cards…it’s sad, nail-biting and thoroughly engrossing.

Notes:

– That motorway, that you grow to hate, is for the most part, shot in London’s Docklands.

– Locke was filmed in just under 2 weeks.  During one of Hardy’s rare breaks.

The Theory of Everything Trailer… AKA well I never, Stephen Hawking is a Brit!

I suppose the “ph” should have alerted me to the fact years ago, but to be very honest, what I know of Stephen Hawking is purely surface level: brilliant, brave, driving science beyond disability. And, of course, American. It’s the voice, y’know…

This trailer for the new Hawking biopic, The Theory of Every starring the very English Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones, promises to tell the story of the man, not the (misunderstood) myth. And it looks really rather splendid.

The Fault in Our Stars (2014)

Image via incredibru

In a word: pragmatic

Movie Pieces rating: 4/5

This is a sweet film that tries very hard to escape the restrictions of the “teen-with-a-disease” genre conventions and, for the most part, succeeds. The (admittedly photogenic) pair at the heart of the film are refreshingly down-to-earth, cheery, brusque and unsentimental.  And this attitude runs through the film, acting as a counterbalance to the potentially mawkish storyline.

Hazel (an engagingly naturalistic performance from Shailene Woodley) and Gus (the cute but not saccharine Ansel Elgort) meet at a rather earnest support group for cancer patients and discover they share the same sarcastic sense of humour and refusal to be defined by their illness.  They strike up an easy friendship; Gus’s natural exuberance helping to draw Hazel out from her sheltered existence and Hazel’s love for literature (one book in particular) widening both their horizons.  They talk, they sing, they trade banter and they fall in love.  Slowly, sweetly and heart-breakingly.  Because by this stage, in this type of film there’s no getting around the fact that, this.is.not.going.to.end.well.  Still, apart from an odd, slightly jarring episode in Amsterdam, the slow decline towards the inevitable plays out more meditatively than manipulatively.

The Fault in Our Stars provides a fresh, albeit not ground-breaking, take on what it means to be a teen suffering / recovering from a life-threatening illness – the limitations on your ability to live what’s left of your life and the impact on those around you – and the delight of finding a like-minded ally to help lighten the load.

Notes:

– Adapted from the novel, of the same name, by John Green

– Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort played brother and sister in Diivergent – their previous film together

– Great soundtracks make a film and this one is no exception: Charli XCX’s Boom Clap and Ed Sheeran’s All of the Stars are perfect matches for this film.

Reviews I rate: The Fault in Our Stars

IndieWire: Kimber Myer’s The Fault in Our Stars review

Time: Richard Corliss’s The Fault in Our Stars review