Film Review: Red (12A)

THE PLOT

Bruce Willis is Frank Moses, a retired CIA agent whose life has become a little dull since leaving the agency with only Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker) at the pensions office to talk to. Suddenly it’s all change as Frank becomes the target of his former employers, for reasons unknown, embroiling his new love interest.

Making short work of the teams sent against him Moses sets about finding former colleagues to help him and find out why he’s a become mark. Teaming up with Morgan Freeman’s retirement home octogenarian, John Malkovich’s LSD induced paranoid and the best wet worker in the business, Helen Mirren, Willis and Parker break into CIA headquarters in Langley, VA for a bit of sleuthing. Revelations uncover connections with a high profile politician with some dark secrets that must never come to light.

THE REVIEW
This has been one of the most difficult reviews to write, in that there was nothing here to inspire. There was nothing great and nothing terrible here. Standard plot with ok performances delivered some funny moments (especially from Malkovich - as ever) but was overlong in the saddle. This is genuinely a case of the best bits being in the trailer.

THE VERDICT
Don’t rush to see this one at the cinema. This isn’t a stinker by any means, nor is it a good film. For all the promise of a great cast, this flick is disappointing, largely forgettable and will probably leave you feeling a little ‘meh’, for lack of a better description. Save the pennies for Christmas and give this one a miss.
TC

UK Release Date: 22 October 2010

AWARDS
Golden Globe Nominee - Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

Film Review: The Social Network (12A)

The internet phenomenon starts here

THE PLOT

This is the real-life story of the beginnings of the social networking giant Facebook. Harvard freshman Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is the socially maladjusted hacker-cum-tech-wizard responsible for the biggest social networking website in the world to date. He seemingly doesn’t see the irony of his obsession having come from someone who is, or should be, a loner.

Zuckerberg is an ambitious and status driven man who started out by bad-mouthing his ex-girlfriend on a blog following their break-up (which he never saw coming) and continued from there to build website facemash that very same night, as some way to get back at all Harvard women. Two hours, 22,000 hits and one crashed university server later and Zuckerberg had become legend, if not public enemy number one for the collective Harvard sorority.

Whilst landing him in hot water with the university administration, this stunt raises Mark’s profile and he’s approached by senior and well connected students Divya Narendra and identical twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (later to compete for the USA in the men's pair rowing event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics). This trio ask Zuckerberg to join a project to create a Harvard Social Network and perhaps restore his reputaion. Zuckerberg agrees and strings them along for weeks before finally, along with his only friend and CFO Eduardo Saverin (soon to be Spider-Man, Andrew Garfiled) he launches his own site, thefacebook.com. And so begins the rise of Facebook; and the lawsuits.

THE REVIEW
It is likely that the audience will identify with the characters as we all know the ‘type’ from countless films and novels, give or take, and almost to a man all the lead characters are awful but perfectly acted. The most likeable of the lead protagonists is Garfield’s loyal friend Saverin and therefore the most likely candidate for empathy, but only barely. Justin Timberlake features as real-life Napster founder and eventual Facebook president, Sean Parker, in an acting turn that is convincingly arrogant and suave. I was also surprised to find, as the credits rolled, that the Winklevoss twins were both played by Armie Hammer utilising some convincing film and editing trickery.

Finally, Eisenberg’s portrayal of Zuckerberg was… well… hard to peg. Good, undoubtedly, but his character had all the removed-from-society feel of Johnny Depp’s Scissorhands but without the quirky and drowning in arrogance. Such an unusual and perhaps misunderstood person was always going to be a hard central character to portray. The problem as I see it is that being such an odd character it’s hard to know how accurate this portrayal really is. But this is a relatively minor issue, for me at least.
This film has performed very well Stateside and may well do the same over the pond, but I can’t help wonder if that’s because, like Facebook itself, an element of voyeurism exists for the 500 million strong Facebook users, of which I am one. Is this possible voyeurism the real reason for the film’s success or is it the host of what I believe to be legitimate cinematic reasons; these reasons being great cinematography, good editing, strong script and excellent acting.

As a film lover I hope this film does well because of it’s many positive attributes not because of the subject matter (or Justin Timberlake’s bare chest!), but I suspect this will not be the case. I just hope that, having viewed the film, the audience can appreciate what is good here.

THE VERDICT
An informative and entertaining look at the origins of an internet phenomenon and it’s creators. Great performances all round and well worth a view. As simple as that. Don’t let the subject matter put you off, if you like film you’ll appreciate this.

TC

NOW SEE THE TRAILER...


UK Release Date: 15 October 2010

AWARDS
Golden Globe Winner - Best Motion Picture - Drama
Golden Globe Winner - Best Director - Motion Picture: David Fincher
Golden Globe Winner - Best Screenplay - Motion Picture: Aaron Sorkin
Golden Globe Winner - Best Original Score - Motion Picture: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
Golden Globe Nominee - Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama: Jesse Eisenberg
Golden Globe Nominee - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Andrew Garfield

BAFTA Winner - Director: David Fincher for The Social Network
BAFTA Winner - Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network: Aaron Sorkin
BAFTA Winner - Editing: The Social Network: Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter
BAFTA Nominee - Best Film: The Social Network
BAFTA Nominee - Leading Actor: Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network
BAFTA Nominee - Supporting Actor: Andrew Garfield for The Social Network

Academy Award Winner - Film Editing: Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter
Academy Award Winner - Music (Original Score): Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Academy Award Winner - Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
Academy Award Nominee - Best Picture: Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
Academy Award Nominee - Directing: David Fincher
Academy Award Nominee - Actor in a Leading Role: Jesse Eisenberg
Academy Award Nominee - Cinematography: Jeff Cronenweth
Academy Award Nominee - Sound Mixing: Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten

Film Review: The Town (15)

Ben Affleck brings the Heat to Charlestown

THE PLOT
Charlestown is a blue collar suburb of Boston, MA and the armed robbery capital of the US. Ben Affleck and Jeremy Renner are half of a tight crew who have grown up covering each others backs as they inevitably get up to no good in a no-good part of town.

The film starts with a clinical bank job that takes an unexpected turn to include the kidnapping of a young attractive assistant bank manager, Claire. Fearing she could finger them following her release Doug MacRay (Affleck) follows and befriends her find out what she knows. The only identifying mark Claire (Rebecca Hall) saw was a tattoo on Jim ‘Jem’ Coughlin’s (Renner) neck.

For Doug and his gang, this job has brought on the heat and an unlikely romance with Claire has him thinking that the next heist will be his last. Coughlin and Pete Postlethwaite’s Irish Godfather ‘Fergie’ Colm think differently.

Meanwhile the FBI and Boston PD have started to piece things together and begin to suspect MacRay’s crew leading to tense scenes and intense confrontation.

THE REVIEW
Ben Affleck proves his directing success with Gone Baby Gone (2007) wasn’t a one-off. One top of that, his presence in front of the camera was some of his most watchable to date. Jeremy Renner played the same sort of unlikeable, arrogant bastard we saw in The Hurt Locker (2008) and so was perfect for the part. Pete Postlethwaite, in a slightly larger role than his seemingly endless portfolio of brief but integral cameos, was unusually bland and clichéd. Having been a fan for years, and following a grin of pleasant surprise when he first appeared, I found this to be disappointing. And I didn’t get the feeling it was the script (also co-written by Affleck), but Postlethwaite himself. A small blip from an otherwise enjoyable flick.

The only major criticism, if indeed it can be considered one, is that the plot so closely follows Michael Mann’s Heat (1995) that it doesn’t feel the most original of films. Personally, I loved Heat and that’s no bad thing, but others may have an aversion on that basis. Like Heat, it’s also a longish film, although mercifully not 'as' long. But just like Heat there are some great chase sequences and gun fights.

THE VERDICT
Whilst you’ll feel like you’ve seen it before, this is a smart, well directed flick that is well worth a watch. If you enjoyed Heat you’ll like this.
TC

UK Release Date: 24 September 2010

AWARDS
Golden Globe Nominee - Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Jeremy Renner

BAFTA Nominee - Supporting Actor: Pete Postlethwaite for The Town

Academy Award Nominee - Actor in a Supporting Role: Jeremy Renner