Begin Again ****

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Posted: 12/07/2014

begin-again

Once writer-director John Carney’s latest soul-searching drama set in New York initially sounds clichéd and egocentric, a sort of smug music set pandering to a trendy elite of snobbish music aficionados. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth, and the soundtrack grows on you as the characters’ and their search for acceptance do. This mish-mash of personalities really does compliment each other on their musical journey, making you back them on their endeavours.

Drunk and disgraced music exec Dan (Mark Ruffalo) stumbles upon a bar after one of the worst days of his life to find British songwriter Gretta (Keira Knightley) singing her song to a less than enthusiastic crowd. Her best friend Steve (James Corden) decides it’s the right thing for her to do following a break-up with rising star and now ex Dave (Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine). Dan is won over, and tries to win Gretta around to the idea that he can produce her, but Gretta’s not into being commercial – the route Dave has taken. The pair come up with the idea of recording an album on the streets of New York, a project that helps them both get back on their feet, professionally and personally.

Carney gets his casting pitch perfect, with Ruffalo giving one of his finest and most absorbing performances of his career yet as a broken Dan, a contradiction of emotions but passionate about bringing good music to the masses. Tinged with warmth, spirit and good humour, as the story progresses, Knightley’s rather guarded Gretta blossoms, with each character bringing out the best in each other through music. Knightley doesn’t give anything remarkably different from her usual prissy self in such a role but there is a noticeable change in maturity of character here that better suits her in this genre. Even Levine is highly commendable in his debut role opposite Knightley in some emotional scenes, while Corden tones down the cheeky chappie bit, again, finding thoughtfulness to his character rather than ploughing ahead in full comedic throttle.

It’s perhaps the film’s adoration of authentic ‘street music’ and the enthusiastic and enjoyable performances – Keira does sing in this – that will stick with you. This passionate drama has a cracking soundtrack worth catching. Ironic, considering the rest of the story is a well-worn one from the Big Apple about a hotchpotch of people trying to ‘find their way’. Carney does well to keep the focus on the music and not on the usual romance. In this sense there is something slightly unique to Begin Again for those wanting a little zest injected into the genre and some musical numbers that get you in the street party mood.

4/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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Transformers: Age of Extinction ***

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Posted: 12/07/2014

transformers4

It’s another Michael Bay robot-carnage fest in the fourth instalment, Age Of Extinction that only feels strangely different because of a more intriguing cast this time around. Gone are bland, boyish LaBeouf and the wisecracking US marines. In comes proven screen action hero, Mark Walhberg, Stanley Tucci as a megalomaniac corporate man and Kelsey Grammer as the rogue government spook – all posing an interesting choice for such a franchise.

Prepubescent boys need not sulk though, as the leggy hottie is still there in blonde Nicola Peltz playing Tessa, Wahlberg’s sultry teen daughter in the prerequisite crotch-skimming denim hot pants (first introduced by a Bay upwards ‘pins’ pan for full, lingering effect) – bet Wahlberg is feeling the days of playing the hot young interest are gone. Oh, and the cheesy script’s even whiffier. BUT the unbelievable truth, folks, is Transformers 4 does entertain, however much the naysayers want to knock it, and that’s because the cast redeem the whole alien-human affair.

Wahlberg is down-on-his-luck Cade Yeager, widower, father to pouty 17-year-old Tessa and inventor (regurgitator of metal cr*p, basically). A chance find at an old cinema, left derelict after the previous robot war in Chicago (nod to Transformers 3), turns out to be more than just a rusty old truck. Unfortunately, this puts Yeager and his family on the government fugitive list as Autobot sympathisers – since the war, we learn no bots are to be trusted again and nobody should be harbouring them either. Father and daughter, along with the latter’s racing-driver boyfriend Shane (Jack Reynor) go on the run and eventually help save Transformer and humankind (again) with the help of the Autobots-in-hiding from an intergalactic bounty hunter, among other foes, all set in Hong Kong.

Bay’s saving grace is Wahlberg because he automatically instils credibility as a solid action figure, combined with reliable Tucci who has the devilish time of his life as Joshua Joyce, a Steve Jobs-styled power figure – even Grammer relishes his villainous part. As a result of the father-daughter insight – however comically wooden and clichéd the script maybe (deliberate tongue-in-cheek references at times), there feels like a bit more heart and soul invested: You even feel sorry for the premature ‘death’ of an Autobot ‘in the name of science’ too.

The unfortunate fact is Bay overcooks his climax battle scenes to the point that the tangled mesh of robot and crumbling building just become tediously samey and too drawn out (165 minutes to be precise). Indeed, it’s a bit of a novelty seeing downtown Hong Kong getting a trashing, instead of yet another US city, complete with a Bourne/Bond-styled high-rise-flats chase involving Wahlberg doing his best Spidey impression. However, what could have been an interesting bounty-hunting sub-plot giving hints to Optimus Prime’s (voiced again by Peter Cullen) origins gets submerged by crashing and bashing metal. That said there is usually an impressive action sequence to be had, such as the Autobots verses Joyce’s replicas on a highway. This looks great on an IMAX screen too. Oh, and the ending sets us up for another Autobot offensive – you even wish Optimus Prime would growl “I’ll be back…”

Bay delivers spades more of what Transformers fans want from previous films – those not yet fatigued by incomprehensible robotic lumps colliding, and gives us a cast to care about. Age Of Extinction will not turn the tide of cynicism surrounding the franchise but it may prick interest with Wahlberg and co at the helm, not to mention how Bay plans to get Autobot revenge, like some robo-Star Wars episode perhaps? There is still a tingle of excitement to be had.

3/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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Goddess **

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Posted: 06/07/2014

goddess

“Odd” does not begin to describe this film from Babe: Pig in the City writer Mark Lamprell. It’s not he story, per se, which seems remotely tangible and will initially strike a chord with many a former-career-woman-cum-stay-at-home-mum. But just who it’s targeting exactly remains a mystery, as it seems to suggest us women can’t expect to have it all, so be content with rearing the sprogs you’ve chosen to bring into the world.

Disguising this alarming ‘moral’ behind some music and the promise of Ronan Keating half-undressed (throughout over half of his scenes) in his debut screen role just doesn’t cut the mustard, frankly. Goddess initially conjures fantasies of another quirky, camp Australian smash hit like Strictly Ballroom, pre-viewing, but it just isn’t in the same league, however comical and entertaining some moments are.

Elspeth Davies (musical stage star Laura Michelle Kelly) is an English mum-of-two married to whale marine biologist James (Keating), now living the isolated country life in Tasmania, Australia. The other local mums aren’t that friendly and don’t involve her in their social activities, and James is always away. She often goes into daydream mode about her former life as a singer, recreating scenarios to keep her sane. Then James buys Elspeth a webcam so they can chat while he’s away at sea.

However, Elspeth soon finds James is not around much, so turns the camera on her, sending her ‘kitchen sink’ song-and-dance performances out there online. Her following grows and her routines are discovered by a city ad agency run by the dominant Cassandra Wolfe (Magda Szubanski) who wants her to be the ‘Goddess’ face of a new laptop range for women. However, Elspeth needs to be present and fully committed, requiring her to come to the city. In a quandary, though suddenly finding her voice, Elspeth realises there is a price to pay for ‘wanting it all’.

It’s the lingering moral that knocks this film’s rating, sadly. Kelly is (reluctantly) very likeable, however irritatingly bouncy and sickly sweet Elspeth is most of the time – there is a dark side though, thankfully. The scenes with the other mums are very familiar, adding that ‘ugly sisters’ element to what is effectively a present-day Cinderella tale where the fairy-tale goal is not love but the career. Whether Kelly can act is still debatable, but her singing and dancing can’t be faulted. Keating doesn’t have to ‘act’ as such, getting away with a lot in a debut role by merely showing some buffed flesh then doing a lone ‘Titanic’ number on the bow of a ship in one of the cheesiest scenarios this film has to offer.

Wolfe comes into her own as a larger-than-life caricature of fairy-tale proportions but again, surprisingly, is not as two-dimensional as you first think. That said her character, allowed to lazily perpetuate the myth that female success equals showing flesh in the ad world, is a little disappointing (however true the situation). It’s perhaps the fact that the film does not offer up a savoury solution to the ultimate female dilemma of ‘kids vs career’ that can’t redeem the whole thing and mars the enjoyment factor.

In this respect, the promise of a fun musical story of modern-day pressures of motherhood gets lost in latter-day sexist thinking. If Lamprell is being tongue-in-cheek about the latter, it doesn’t translate well enough to bring out the true ‘inner goddess’ of this film.

2/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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Cold In July ****

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Posted: 01/07/2014

cold-in-july

Horror director Jim Mickle (We Are What We Are) has done the near impossible with his latest flick, Cold In July, and turned the usual home-violation thriller into a fresh revenge movie with tangible emotion. No one is prepared for where the plot veers, even though one of its stars, Dexter actor Michael C. Hall is expected to employ those TV serial killer skills against the guilty when his young family is under threat.

This alone would have made a half decent thriller with Hall cast in the lead, but Mickle goes one stage further. In addition to all the menace hanging in the air like a thick fog, the film has the most catchy 80s soundtrack heard in a long time and is full of humorous 80s gimmicks that seem to settle events like a light-hearted breather before the characters deal with the next evil in their path to justice.

Hall plays mullet-wearing Richard Dane, a local businessman and father whose family experiences a break-in one night, resulting in the culprit being shot dead by Dane. However, it’s quickly discovered that the intruder was unarmed and is being written off to be someone else the police want to finger. Added to which, the supposed father of the dead man, Russel (Sam Shepard), begins to stalk the family, resulting in police protection at home. However, nothing is what it seems as Dane soon discovers mob links to the local police as they try to frame Russel, leading to a far more uglier truth being uncovered with the help of flamboyant investigator and Russel’s old acquaintance Jim Bow (Don Johnson).

It’s hard to do this film the justice it deserves without ruining the surprise twists and turns and curveballs it has to offer. Although there is an eerie malice at play, the company of the three unlikely compadres, Dane, Russel and Bow is somewhat appeasing as they bring justice to something far more sinister at play. In the downtime, we get an insight into what makes each man tick, resulting in the age-old saying of ‘never (ever) judge a book by its cover’, something that Mickle has toyed with in making this. This keeps the status quo sumptuously unique, sprinkled with a bit of humour and shock brutality.

Cold In July, like a retro western in mentality, challenges our rights from wrongs about what should/would be done in a similar situation, engaging us further. It’s like peeling back an onion – it pains you as each layer is exposed, leaving a bitter taste in the mouth but a tear in the eye as to how tragic things can get. There is also a sense of uneven ground as the usual authoritative avenues are not available, so the job lies in unfamiliar hands to deal with the fallout.

The casting is simply pitch-perfect, as is the acting, with Hall, Shepard and Johnson playing off each other, all very different screen characters but whose personalities just gel as they share a common purpose. For this reason alone, as well as a fresh plot and cracking soundtrack, Cold In July is well worth a view and will prove surprisingly memorable and very satisfying a long time afterwards.

4/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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Chef ***

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Posted: 01/07/2014

chef

This is the kind of film that should come with a warning: not just “eat beforehand” but “writer-director vanity project alert”. If you’ve never fancied Jon Favreau films, this one isn’t setting out to change your mind either. Chef is easily consumable though, and Favreau does have another competitor to contend with in each scene – the food.

It’s the same-old ‘road journey’ metaphor at play, learning from one’s mistakes when it comes to those that matter around us, while not losing that individuality and spirit that makes the character (hopefully) appealing. Writer-director Favreau also stars as notorious celebrity chef Carl Casper who loses his job at Riva’s (Dustin Hoffman) restaurant following the consequences of a bad review by food critic Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt).

Struggling to see his estranged kid, Percy (Emjay Anthony), at the best of times, Carl is at a loss as to what to do, even though he knows he’s got some great signature dishes to share and bundles of talent. A meeting with his ex-wife’s (Sofia Vergara) ex beau, businessman Marvin (Robert Downey Jr.) starts a catalyst of life/career-changing events with former sous-chef and good friend Martin (John Leguizamo) and his son in tow as they take the US by storm in a food truck.

The film’s plot is mapped out from the start –- it’s just a matter of watching the car crash of events leading to the moment of revelation. There is nothing new in this respect. However, the journey taken is by all means still an entertaining one, and Favreau’s big personality certainly suits that of his character. But just when things get a little predictable, out comes the food prep/cooking to keep you truly distracted, so it’s hard to tell whether the feel-good factor is a genuine investment in the film, or you’re being wooed by the culinary delights and balmy heat of the kitchen/food truck. It’s basically food porn with morals stirred in, and it’s as though Favreau has made a film about his passions with no apologies, folks.

There are some nice performances from the ensemble cast, with Leguizamo playing to type – that of the dependable pal, while Platt oozes amused malevolence as the critic. It seems Vergara and Downey Jr. (and Scarlett Johansson btw who plays a sexy maître d’) are just around to look ‘good’ while Hoffman brings an A-list name to his A-list restaurant. All offer solid but forgettable turns in this. Again, the ‘kid’ in the film gets even greater screen exposure than past gigs: meet Emjay Anthony as the ever understandable son, doing what kids do which is control the world via social media like some super villain deciding our fate. Those not in the know about the power of social media will learn a thing or two here, so there’s some interesting marketing ideas to be had.

All in all, it’s hard to knock a film that offers up a little bit of life-lesson-learning, emotional drama, and loads of mouth-watering food – unless the thought of sitting through over two hours of Favreau turns your stomach. On the whole, Chef is a funny, poignant crowd-pleaser that won’t leave a bad taste in the mouth and will fill you up nicely.

3/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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Edge Of Tomorrow 3D ****

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Posted: 30/05/2014

Edge-of-Tomorrow

Apocalyptic movies about the destruction of ‘selfish mankind’ are becoming ten-a-penny, where we’re getting quite used to seeing our famous city landmarks reduced to dark, gloomy ruins. It would be easy to knock Tom Cruise’s new action flick Edge Of Tomorrow by instantly placing it in that category. However, Cruise as been a little wiser in selecting this film than his other sci-fi efforts (Oblivion) as Edge of Tomorrow echoes Minority Report in clever concepts and time-bending antics. Plus we get to see our famous landmarks reduced to rubble again for good measure.

Earth’s defence forces are united and at war with aliens who have taken over Europe and are advancing on the British coastline. US Military officer Cage (Cruise) has been paramount in doing PR for the war effort but finds himself sent to the frontline to report on it by General Brigham (a grumpy Brendan Gleeson) for no apparent reason. Cage objects as he has never been in combat and tries to run but is arrested.

A bewildered Cage wakes up the next day at a base, stripped of his rank and reduced to Private status while being barked at by Master Sergeant Farell (Bill Paxton – in usual combat fatigues). He is placed in the first wave going over to France to fight in what will be a slaughter. However, something happens to him on the battlefield, after witnessing the forces’ most decorated soldier, Rita (Emily Blunt), getting killed. The subsequent effect is every time Cage is killed he returns back to the same day, waking up at the barracks. What he must do is use his Groundhog Day scenario to save Rita and find a way to end the war – while not getting injured.

Think Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day (1993), but without groundhog Punxsutawney Phil and as much humour (yes, there are some funny moments throughout this in the most tense of situations), and war-film retro but alien-futuristic in nature. The joy of this action sci-fi film is it doesn’t start out with the usual hero figure drafted in to the save the day with unlimited knowledge on tap, rather a coward in Cage. In fact, his psyche is rather as you would imagine the average recruit to the D-Day landings in 1944 being – basically, terrified.

What develops over repeated planned scenarios is an elite fighter and a survivor in Cage who battles on to find the solution while wearing his heart on his sleeve. The most memorable aspect is not the usual big-gun-ho battles and Transformer-like aliens coming out of the sand dunes, but a very personal journey by Cage as he grows from strength to strength while trying to keep one step ahead of the time-travelling puzzle.

Cruise seems to have perfected the personable action hero. What helps him further in this respect is the intriguing casting of Emily Blunt opposite him – the most unlikely female action hero. Not so – Ms Blunt can run, fight and deliver vengeance like the best of them (move over mean-faced Michelle Rodriguez). It is perhaps that as Rita, she still possesses certain vulnerability as her public persona breaks down to reveal a more private one that keeps the flourishing relationship subplot so viable and alive. And yet the screenwriters keep us guessing with ‘will they, won’t they’, which with hindsight the result is more the kind of emotional experience one might encounter with the weight of saving humankind on one’s shoulders.

Edge Of Tomorrow is definitely a film to experience first-hand – delving into it more reveals too many biological touchpoints, while trying to explain it to others makes the plot sound shallow and samey. The ‘rebirth’ ending alone will have tongues wagging in heated debate, not since the days of Ripley’s fate in the Aliens saga. It’s certainly made its mark as an intelligent sci-fi Groundhog Day flick with the token action and alien presence for good measure, a surprise hit at the box office this week.

4/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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X-Men: Days of Future Past ****

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Posted: 26/05/2014

x-men

If you can’t get enough of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, you won’t be disappointed with the latest instalment from X-Men director Bryan Singer who places the clawed mutant in cerebral confinement for the sake of peace with humanity. It’s an intriguing and wildly energetic attempt at marrying two X-Men ‘generations’ while going full-tilt down the sci-fi route with a bit of time travel and cyborg terror and a memorable splash of The Matrix slow-mo moves. And all works, enough to blanket over some gapping wormholes in plot, more thanks to the magnetic cast who do a splendid job once again.

The Days Of Future Past begins with what’s left of bleak, battle-scarred, apocalyptic Planet Earth in 2023 (just think Terminator rip-off), where man and his cyborg machines are pitched against the last remaining mutants. Charles Xavier’s worse fears of a war between mutants and non-mutants are realised. But there is hope: on the joint decision of Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen) who are united in 2023, Logan/Wolverine (Jackman) will return in mind to his body in 1973, around the time of the Paris peace talks that ended the Vietnam War.

Logan must find and stop Raven/Mystique’s (Jennifer Lawrence) deadly mission to kill the scientist, Dr Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage), responsible for creating the prototype cyborgs crushing the mutants’ resistance in 2023. However, Wolverine has to convince the younger Prof X, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto, then Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) to bury the hatchet and unite in saving all mankind and mutant in the future.

The plot sounds a little convoluted, in terms of where we are along on the timeline – plus there is a head-scratching moment when you try to figure out why certain mutants are still alive when they quite obviously were dead in the future – there are many time parallels. That said the end goal is the same: save planet Earth for all, so Singer and team had a convincing common goal to work towards. To be fair, the initial time-travelling element is more amusing than mind-bending (for us), and there is a certain degree of good-natured campness to the 1970s era. Jackman aids this and is simply stellar once more as Logan/Wolverine, our stoic guide and witness.

McAvoy as Xavier and Fassbender as Lehnsherr give the sheer intensity fans are waiting for as they clash while ‘coming of mutant’ to deal with their own evolving powers and the implications of them. It’s a thrilling watch, as 2023 Wolverine tries dealing with them while also dealing with his own fragile mental state. Lawrence provides the nubile blue catalyst in scenes but has less screen-time than fans might have hoped for.

Still, as budding mutants go, it’s confident Peter, aka Quicksilver (Evan Peters) who gives the most exhilarating and memorable action performance in Matrix-esque style – great on an IMAX screen. Again, logically, if Quicksilver’s that speedy at prevention, surely he could have put stop to the whole future demise, without the tricky enlisting of arch enemies Xavier and Lehnsherr? But where’s the fun – or film – in that?

As baddies go, Dinklage’s anti-mutant scientist/arms dealer Trask may be diminutive in stature but packs an almighty punch in presence, without resorting to any pantomime. He is merely the pragmatic businessman offering a solution, while the real troublemakers are the mutants themselves, infighting. This is perhaps why the franchise works so well and this film hits the right note: the internal battle of being ‘special’ that can be a gift but also a curse: The mutants are ‘flawed’ like us and desperate to fit in. Nevertheless, Magneto’s stadium-raising moment does smack of outright showmanship that seems to go against this compelling theory – and Singer and co have the means to inject a little action indulgence and you can’t blame them for doing so.

There is still a question mark as to why such deep-seated mutant anger within the films’ storylines that feels a given but is never fully explored. If the filmmakers weren’t too busy tying us up in time-travelling knots, then Days Of Future Past could have been the perfect opportunity to do this as the mutants are trying to save the day. However, this film has more than enough going on to fully satisfy viewers, plus it’s a real buzz seeing the characters/actors together again on screen, however distracting the surroundings.

4/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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Godzilla 3D ****

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Posted: 18/05/2014

godzilla

Marauding super monsters sent to remind Man that nature needs to take its course sometimes (and knock our cockiness down a few pegs) is the terrifying stuff of many an epic monster movie, as they wade through our cities like a toddler through LEGO structures. It’s easy to just repeat endless scenes of destruction and cause an assault on the eyes at the same time (Transformers, for example).

Godzilla (2014) has a ‘different’ take; one that has more significance and thought behind it, one that almost builds a character arc for the leading beast himself. Intriguingly, even though we don’t get to see Godzilla, one of the M.U.T.O. (massive, unidentified, terrestrial object) until a good 40 minutes in, standing tall in his full scaly glory, low-budget Monsters (2010) writer-director Gareth Edwards teases us with visual snippets to get a sense of every anatomical part of the beast in and out of water. The result is an exhilarating build-up – with not quite the storyline you initially expect (even though it’s the standard ‘saving the day and mankind’ variety).

The film begins in Japan, where scientist Joe Brody (Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston) who works at Janjira nuclear plant near Tokyo, picks up unusual tremors that don’t follow the usual pattern of an earthquake. His superiors are not keen to discuss. Brody suspects they and the Japanese government are hiding something bigger and more worrying, resulting in an accident that leads to personal tragedy. Returning 15 years later to the supposed radioactive site to follow through his theory, Brody gets arrested. His now adult son and US Army bomb expert, Ford (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) – who has a young family of his own back in the States – is asked to come and collect him. However, the pair uncovers more than they bargained for and mankind is under threat.

Edwards has put his special effects background to highly commendable use here, having honed his skills in the £250k Monsters that roused thrills in its suggestion of sinister monster activity, without visually showing everything. He does the same here, but wisely uses the far, far bigger budget, leading with the personal dramas of the main human characters to actually drive the story, rather than theirs being an after-thought while we wait for the next monster action scene. The best thing about Edwards’ version is he reverts back to the original production company, Toho Co.’s tale of linking global nuclear testing with covering up something bigger. Hence, Man’s arrogance at scientific superiority is challenged by nature; our punishment for that is the M.U.T.O.

Cranston is excellent as the obsessive, paranoid Brody; we get a real sense of his professional frustrations and personal pain. He’s also the man against the corporate machine, the non-conformist we all like to egg on to uncover the mystery. Where Godzilla feels like every other disaster movie is the inevitable US military might in force – as you might expect, considering where the film’s set. Even so, rather than all guns blazing – thought there are a lot, Edwards still manages to keep things focused on the personal angle, with Taylor-Johnson as Ford guiding us through his own familiar struggles while trying to save the West Coast. The schmaltzy ending is a given too. However, this can be forgiven because Edwards delivers on everything else.

As for the M.U.T.O.s, it’s like watching a nature programme rather than a ‘crashing n bashing’ action movie. We get a very real sense of how they function and reproduce and their objectives. At the end, we have an unlikely hero that is set to ride the wave of success on this obviously lucrative franchise from the open ending.

Godzilla (2014) is an epic monster movie reboot that looks great on an IMAX screen – though, again, it’s questionable whether 3D does anything of grander note in the apocalyptic-styled, gloomy design than add a bit of depth and more cost to the price of a ticket. Its focus on the characters’ personal journeys makes it far more satisfying. Better still, its monsters have a purpose other than providing target practice for the gun-ho military. There is even a sense of niggling injustice as man decides who is more important in the pecking order, stirring any animal welfare feelings in the process. Species verses species it is, but who has the right to decide who is more important in nature’s game? Yes, you can get more than a little philosophical after watching this, but don’t miss the start of greater things to come…

4/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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The Two faces Of January ****

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Posted: 10/05/2014

two-faces-of-january

Novelist Patricia Highsmith gave us the murderer Tom Ripley, introduced to film buffs in the acclaimed 1999 film The Talented Mr Ripley, a charming psychopath played by Matt Damon. Now our curiosity is further pricked some 15 years later with the promise of another big-screen-adapted period psychological thriller set on some sunny Mediterranean shores, The Two faces Of January. The cast is the obvious draw here, with the promise of another fine performance from Oscar Isaac of Inside Llewyn Davis fame, as well as boasting heavyweights Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst.

The Two faces Of January is a story of tricksters and those in denial, centring on American con artist Chester MacFarland (Mortensen) who spots another in action with a wealthy foreign lady in Greek-American Rydal (Isaac). MacFarland befriends Rydal after he becomes slightly obsessed by his entrancing wife, Colette MacFarland (Dunst). Once MacFarland’s days are numbered after he is tracked down by a third party, the American entraps the younger Greek-American into a deadly plan of escape that leaves tragedy in its wake.

Sumptuously filmed in a vivid contrast, Film Noir fashion that really sets the tone, even in daylight scenes, debut writer-director Hossein Amini’s (Drive, The Wings of a Dove) engrossing love triangle is never what it seems: The true thoughts and goals of the three lead characters are forever up for grabs. This delicately balanced dalliance plus superb casting drives curiosity to the very end within a classy premise.

The powerhouse acting of Isaac opposite veteran Mortensen is electric, like watching two alpha males circling each other, planning their moves while keeping as much control and faux respect left to last the journey they are bound together to make. Ironically, there is a nurturing ‘father-son-like’ relationship that fizzes beneath the surface menace too, that comes to fruition at the very end. Dunst is as on form as in Melancholia, and an alluring sight of conflicting character as Colette – yet another performance for fans to enjoy.

The casting is therefore a done deal, but the real success of this thriller is screenwriter Amini’s remarkable directorial debut, showing as much nuance and style in directing as any budding Hitchcock. His tense moments are claustrophobic – even outdoors – and he stimulates foreboding in the slightest camera angle framing his leads, setting them out like chess pieces in a backdrop. His additional writing skill means none of the above feels bloated, script-wise. Each word is significant, as is its delivery.

There is some head scratching to be had as to Rydal’s real father’s identity and a link that feels like a significant subplot driver but is never fully explored. Whether intentionally left ambiguous, there is a pictorial pointer that may leave some wondering what they have missed as it ‘seems’ important in the state of play.

This intellectual minefield of passion, treachery and crushing defeat is the perfect psychological cocktail. Amini has worked magic with cast and production that The Two faces Of January is merely the start of exciting things to come.

4/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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