Sunday 29 September 2013

Blue Jasmine

Blue Jasmine sees a New York socialite relocate to San Francisco after discovering her husband is both a fraudster and a philanderer, except the change in lifestyle does not turn out to be the smoothest of transitions. What sounds like the premise for a half-baked Sarah Jessica Parker vehicle is actually a Woody Allen film about the emotional and psychological struggles of starting anew. Expect anxiety ridden characters and awkward clashes between genders and social classes. Heading a cast on top form is Cate Blanchett as Jasmine, a hopelessly self-absorbed individual who never quite elicits our sympathy, but nonetheless gains our compassion thanks to her fragility and tragic lack of social skills.


4/5

Thursday 26 September 2013

About Time

A Richard Curtis film that isn’t cheap and predictable? There’s a first time for everything. The one sheet and TV ads will have you think About Time is merely Notting Hill with time travel, but there are surprisingly profound twists and themes to be mulled over throughout this enjoyable rom-com (less emphasis on the “com”). Regrettably, Domhnall Gleeson spends the first half doing a '90s Hugh Grant impression, but once he settles into his role and the chemistry with the lovely Rachel McAdams and the ever laudable Bill Nighy blossoms, it will be very hard for you not to fall in love with this film.


4/5

Tuesday 17 September 2013

Rush

You’ve got to hand it to Peter Morgan, the man knows how to write a good screenplay about rivalry – especially when it’s between two ambitious male figures. The Damned United centred on Brian Clough’s ill-fated obsession with eclipsing Don Revie’s achievements as Leeds United’s top manager. Frost/Nixon instead told the story of two men down on their luck, desperately trying to reinvent themselves and outsmart each other in a series of fraught TV interviews. And in Rush, the attention is on historical Formula 1 rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda, two egocentric and fiercely competitive drivers with polar opposite characters.

Unlike Asif Kapadia’s excellent documentary Senna, there was always a risk Rush might turn out like a by the numbers biopic, one that follows the tried and tested from-rags-to-riches-to-rags-and-back-to-riches-again narrative arc. Luckily, Morgan’s script steers clear from such conventions partially thanks to its authenticity (the real Niki Lauda has already commended the film for its adherence to true facts), but mainly due to the fact that it’s fundamentally a two-hander. What makes the film even more compelling to watch is that, like the characters they play, both Daniel Brühl and Chris Hemsworth have a lot to prove to their audiences.

Hemsworth, who in the space of two years has starred in three blockbuster hits and has already garnered a vast female fanbase, is clearly keen to flex his acting muscles and show the world he’s more than just the God of Thunder or a poster on a girl’s bedroom wall. A cynical-minded viewer (or the afore-mentioned girl’s boyfriend) could argue that, as the impeccably chiselled, womanising Hunt, Chris has got little to do other than show up and let his good looks do the acting, but that would be an unfair call. He is gradually acquiring more range with each film he does and while he never truly gets under the Shunt’s skin, Hemsworth does manage to convey the requisite amount of charm and playboy bravado to do justice to the one time maverick. Some might say this is an overall superficial portrayal, but it’s hard to imagine the real James Hunt would complain about being depicted as a magnetic trouble-maker.

On the other hand Daniel Brühl, who has made a name for himself starring in European productions, probably thinks he could do with some much deserved recognition in the American film industry. That said, there’s nothing opportunistic about his approach to the role, as Brühl manages to inhabit Niki Lauda to the point of achieving something of a chameleonic resemblance to the real life Formula 1 veteran. Blunt, anti-social and analytical to the point of resembling a cold-hearted asshole, Lauda could be very easily dismissed as the villain of the picture, the hurdle Hunt needs to overcome by the end of the movie. But in Brühl’s hands, he comes off as an introverted, misunderstood figure who invests all his attention into racing quite possibly as a way to conceal his insecurities as a man. The scene in which he stands up to Hunt by trying to put an eloquent spin on his bestowed moniker, The Rat (“They have great survival instinct!”), is quite possibly the most deceptively heart-breaking you’ll see all year.

Adding further pathos to this compelling rivalry is Ron Howard’s direction of the F1 races, which are easily the most thrilling ever committed to film, as tyres screech, engines rev and water splashes in slow motion in the rain-drenched sequences. And for those who are wondering, the Nürburgring incident is recreated in all pain-inducing detail, with the make-up artists doing an impressive job at recreating Lauda’s third degree facial burns.


But perhaps what makes Howard’s film stand out is its central message, i.e. that a wise man can learn more from an enemy than a fool would from his friends. A tad cheesy, maybe? Perhaps, but when delivered as a bookend to a film this good and supported by two absorbing performances, it certainly doesn’t feel forced. A great Formula 1 film that fires on all cylinders.

4/5

Thursday 5 September 2013

Elysium

You could call it the District 9 effect. Ever since Neil Blomkamp’s prawn-infested masterpiece took its triumphant bow back in 2009, every year we’ve seen similarly themed science fiction films (i.e. low on budget but big on ideas) hit cinemas, usually before or just after the blockbuster behemoths roll into town. In December 2010 it was Gareth Edwards’ Monsters (with a miniscule budget of $500,000), a slow-burning love story masquerading as a creature feature; in April 2011 Duncan Jones retold Groundhog Day as a techno thriller with Source Code ($32 million); and in September 2012 Rian Johnson put a dark spin on the time travel sub-genre with Looper ($30 million).

And now, the man who (arguably) started it all is back with yet another intriguing high-concept SF flick that almost feels like a coda to what has been, quite frankly, a summer of relentless mass destruction – try counting the films featuring explosions and obliterated buildings and you’ll get the picture. True, Blomkamp’s Elysium does feature the odd bang here and there and its $115 million budget is considerably larger than the previously mentioned entries (although still nowhere near the inflated sums of most of today’s blockbusters), yet somehow it still manages to feel like a personal project.

Set in a dystopian 2154, the plot sees the human population split in two factions. The ultra-wealthy live on Elysium, a luxurious satellite orbiting the Earth where every household is fitted with highly advanced medical machines that can cure any injury or disease known to man. The rest of us are confined to Earth, now poverty stricken and emaciated by countless wars. It is here where we meet Max De Costa (Matt Damon), an ex-convict who gets a fatal dose of radiation poisoning during an industrial accident. Given only 5 days left to live, he decides to break into Elysium so he can get a hold of the necessary medical equipment that can save him.

Usually the best science fiction movies are the ones that to some degree reflect the society of the time in which they were filmed rather than the one in which they are set, and in terms of subtext Blomkamp is not exactly being very subtle, as Elysium can be viewed as a social commentary on the financial inequality that plagues many of today’s nations. Factor in that most of the population on Earth is of Hispanic origin, with families trying to reach the divine satellite undetected on small, clunky spaceships and the dots pretty much join themselves. There are no prizes for guessing which real life superpower nation Elysium is standing in for.

So liberals will lap up Matt Damon’s fight for equal access healthcare, but there is also a lot to admire in the amount of detail Blomkamp has put into brining his twisted vision of the future to life. For instance, examining the design between the immigrants’ afore-mentioned derelict vessels and the rich’s slicker, more dynamic vehicles is like comparing a first generation Fiat Panda with the new Jaguar F Type. Another highlight is the suggestion that one day all parole officers will be static dummies playing automated messages and dispensing pain-killers. Even Max’s spindly exoskeleton makes sense, in an implausibly practical sort of way.

Unfortunately the film is lacking in the character department. District 9’s Wikus Van Der Merwe made such a compelling protagonist because he was an insufferable bureaucrat that managed to gradually win us over thanks to his tragic metamorphosis. By stark contrast, Max is your standard underdog on a heroic quest and comes off a bit, well, vanilla. Speaking of Wikus, Sharlto Copley pops up again, this time as a cackling, OTT serial rapist/killer/litterer whose idea of conveying villainy is flipping the birdie to innocent bystanders. And while her presence does not affect the overall quality of the film, Emma Tremblay's character may well be the most photogenic chemo patient ever portrayed on-screen.

What no one is disputing however is Neil Blomkamp’s status as an emerging visionary filmmaker. Watching the opening minutes of Elysium feels like seeing a confident auteur at work and there’s no doubt that, if he keeps up these levels of quality, he’ll someday be mentioned in the same breath as other masters of Science Fiction, such as Ridley Scott, Paul Verhoven or even James Cameron.


3/5