The Fairy ****

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Posted: 27/06/2012

The dynamic trio of filmmakers, Dominique Abel, Fiona Gordon and Bruno Romy who gave us the delightfully enrapturing Rumba in 2008 have brought their dance/mime format back for another outing, The Fairy (La fée). Theirs is an old-fashioned, visual performance art that translates brilliantly on screen and is simply delightful to watch and totally unique in today’s action-stuffed, 3D cinematic arena.

In The Fairy, Abel plays hotel clerk Dom who leads a solitary life running a hotel at night. One evening he is interrupted eating his dinner and watching a film by a series of guests. The first is John, l’Anglais (Romy) who in pigeon French, asks for a room to stay in but has an unwanted four-legged friend in tow. The second is Fiona (Gordon) who claims to be a fairy and grants Dom three wishes. Dom falls for the enigmatic Fiona after two of his three wishes come true. But after a midnight swim, Fiona disappears and Dom searches all over Le Havre for the fairy.

The style of this film will not be to everyone’s taste but it’s such a compelling use of mime, dance and expression, in the place of a lot of speech that it’s like watching seasoned clowns at a circus perform to tell an old-fashioned fairy tale. There is a touch of the farcical about it all, a sort of balmy Gauloise eccentricity that is so deliciously endearing and sweet.

As in Rumba, you instantly fall for the characters’ distinct individuality and the awe-inspiring choreography that goes into the simplest-looking of routines. It’s clear that the trio favours the skills of the silent film era, and after The Artist, audiences are more pre-disposed to exploring this. In addition to the cinema vérité framing, there is a wonderful use of long shots to put the ridiculousness of the whole situation in context – one in particular involves the exterior of the hotel and flapping, ruffled curtains as Dom struggles to catch his breath. These wide frames serve to concentrate our attention fully and force us to use some imagination too.

The Fairy’s good-natured kookiness is solely down to the engaging facial gurns from Abel and Gordon who with one look deliver the film’s emotional context in that one moment. The pair is so agile that watching them contort themselves into various gravity-defying shapes is equally astounding to behold. Whereas everything around them seems utterly illogical, these moments where they come together in dance serve as the film’s anchor points of poise and control, so that the whole affair does not spiral into lunacy.

Abel, Gordon and Romy are a breath of fresh air today, a love letter to cinema of a by-gone era. This is both their box office draw for those in the know and their curse as their films need to be seen to be fully appreciated, plus explaining their context always feels like undervaluing the work that has gone into them. For pure entertainment and high-spirited comedy value, The Fairy is as good as any gone before as a quirky introduction – once you have seen one of their films, you’ll never forget it that’s for sure.

4/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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Lay The Favourite *

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Posted: 24/06/2012

If the experiences of sex industry worker, amateur boxer and sports-betting expert Beth Raymer really did happen as they do in her memoir, boy has she lived a full life already by the age of 36. Perhaps reading her book will shed some light too, on Stephen Frears’ screen adaptation of the same name, Lay the Favourite, that feels like a barrage of disjointed, far-fetched scenarios smothered in rapid-fire, betting-heavy jargon, leaving everyone a loser.

Rebecca Hall plays ex-stripper Beth who goes to Las Vegas to do something meaningful, and ends up becoming a sports-betting expert overnight when gambling guru Dink Heimowitz (Bruce Willis) goes with a hunch and gives her a job working the sportsbook system to their advantage. After falling for the older guy, Dink – and making an enemy of his high-maintenance and jealous wife, Tulip (Catherine Zeta-Jones), spurned Beth then falls for visiting journalist (Joshua Jackson). However, she makes the mistake of leaving Vegas to work for Dink’s shady New York counterpart Rosie (Vince Vaughn), and soon lands in trouble in the illegal gambling stakes. Beth turns to Dinks to bail her out.

Impressive cast aside that’s the film’s obvious hook from the lively poster, Frears’ tale of betting and corruption in Vegas is a bizzarely perplexing and incoherent flat mix of Show Girls and Two for the Money (which played the high-stakes gambling card far better). It never satisfactorily explains why its ditzy lead (Hall) is such a betting hotshot on first sight, or why the surrounding mish-mash of characters fall so easily for her charms? Indeed, first incredulous thing first; even though every father should encourage their daughter’s choices in life, Beth’s (Corbin Bernsen) at the start seems unnaturally, overly thrilled at his daughter’s dream of becoming a Vegas cocktail waitress – as though she’s just announced she’s running for office in Nevada.

Even though the pace of the film has the Frears’ nibble filmmaking hallmark – perhaps to his detriment with this tale, the resulting insider language of bookkeeping and odds-making will wash over the majority of us to become a monotonous, numerical babble, with a couple of whoops of joy and groans of despair (from the characters). There is very little excitement for us to be party to, as there is no pause for breath or real lighter moments for us to engage in, except when displeased Tulip sashays into view, ready to pounce.

In fact Brit gals Zeta-Jones and Hall prop up this tedious tale while Willis mumbles in the corner and occasionally throws a strop to liven things up and Vaughn plays ‘Vaughn’ (again), the same East Coast, machine-gun-mouthed, wisecracking guy with absolutely no variation on smart-mouthed delivery. The only vaguely interesting factor is watching Hall as Beth in an against-type role for a change. But even this wanes and then grates along with her insipid, over-enthusiastic screen personality.

With so many TV sports screens, flashing stats, fast-talking and vacuous characters that register very little purpose on this planet to warrant the big sting at the end, Lay the Favourite (betting jargon that means sitting in front of computer screens, placing bets, playing the odds and living it up, apparently), is a surprising turn off of talent not worth betting on for a profitable night out’s big-screen entertainment.

1/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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The Five-Year Engagement **

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Posted: 24/06/2012

Where do you go after showing all your naked glory in Forgetting Sarah Marshall? For Jason Segel, fresh from The Muppets, you head back to familiar Apatow territory to play the big, misunderstood softie in need of some good lovin’. Although The Five-Year Engagement isn’t as clichéd as some rom-coms, it still suffers from some contrived moments as Segel and co-star Emily Blunt experience the pitfalls of postponing their characters’ marriage vows, much to our hilarity.

After meeting at a costume party, dressed as a fluffy pink bunny and Princess Di respectively, Tom (Segel) and Violet (Blunt) progress down the road that leads to a memorable engagement in the San Francisco restaurant where chef Tom works. They then do what any couple does and start planning their big day. However, Violet, a trainee psychologist, gets offered a position on the other side of the United States at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. As this is only meant to last a couple of years, the couple postpone the wedding, and a few years grow into more years. As time passes, and Violet relishes her new position, Tom gets more and more frustrated with Ann Arbor life. It threatens their relationship and their plans for the future.

This has Apatow stamped all over it, with grown men still struggling to come to terms with growing up and ‘forced’ to take on adult responsibilities, and the female characters who have to pick up the ball and run with the consequences. While this is also the charm of the producer’s films for avid fans, this film feels yet like another exploration of all that is ‘not fair’ with adult life at a far slower pace, allowing the average male viewer a chance to empathise but not offering much else in terms of originality.

Although it, thankfully, doesn’t rely on lots of set-pieces and mishaps along the way – it doesn’t altogether avoid them either, the time spent does almost feel like real-time (years and years) that by the time a happy resolution is found, you are past caring – even if it makes you chuckle anyway, perhaps with relief?

The initial jarring point is the pairing of Segel with Blunt that feels slightly unbelievable, to be honest. It’s questionable whether there was ever chemistry enough in the characters’ relationship to last the test of time, as their initial meeting seems unconvincingly, even if it’s kind of cutesy. There is a distinct lack of energy in parts: There are snooze-fest moments, which neither excite nor propel the narrative forward as you feel almost like a gooseberry watching as the couple next door muddle over the day’s events. Indeed, the opposites attract theory is tested to the full when Tom goes off-piste in deepest, forested Ann Arbor, setting up for a pointless and unfunny crossbow joke, not to mention portraying the area like a red neck haven of lunacy.

What the writers (including Segel) are also guilty of is devoting more time to some supporting characters – and rather annoying ones, like the token best buddy, Alex (Chris Pratt), who isn’t funny, wise or a significant enough, even though this character is a must in the Apatow plot – to the detriment of others. Winton Childs (well-played by Rhys Ifans), Violet’s amorous boss obviously has a shadier side that could have been tapped into more for twisted comedy value.

One funny scene actually involves Muppets impersonations between Violet and her sister, Suzie (Alison Brie), speaking entirely in ‘Sesame Street’ voices as not to scare the kiddies by the content. But even this drags a little and like other scenes, feels totally constructed, rather than more ‘naturally flowing’ like the rest of the film is aiming for. Indeed, although it feels less like a comedy of slapstick episodes, it does revert to some to inject some fizz.

As endearing as Segel and Blunt are, The Five-Year Engagement feels like just that; five years of your life spent waiting for the inevitable, with not as many laughs along the way to support the ups and downs of the relationship. Like the characters, we wish the actors well with this release, but we don’t think it will last the distance at the box office.

2/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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Red Lights ***

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Posted: 17/06/2012

Headline-grabbing cast of Sigourney Weaver, Robert De Niro, Cillian Murphy and rising ‘horror/thriller star’ Elizabeth Olsen, Buried director Rodrigo Cortés’s new film, Red Lights, promises another intriguing delve into the supernatural unexplained. It pitches the sceptics and the believers against each other as it twists and turns and convolutes its story of exploration.

Psychologists Margaret Matheson (Weaver) and her assistant Tom Buckley (Murphy) study paranormal activity and try to blow the lid on the psychics’ methods once and for all. After successfully questioning the acts of some, they are faced with the world-renowned psychic Simon Silver (De Niro) who not only has a large following and respect, but has amassed a fortune, and who has resurfaced years after his toughest critic mysteriously passed away.

What starts out a fascinating and ambiguous premise of supernatural study on film, expertly acted by the stellar cast, falls victim to its own paranoid disbelief at the end, as Cortés feels the need to reiterate pointers in glaring flashbacks in his finale, rather than leave a cerebral air of mystery. Indeed, he does well to challenge all our perceptions within his narrative but is also guilty of tripping himself up in his quest to unravel the world of the psychic – or ‘red lights’ (facts that prove a psychic is a fraud).

What Cortés does deliver is a powerful sense of doubt along the way on both sides of the argument – as well as some confusion as the theories become overly complex, while leaving other answers unexplored and hanging in the ether. One example in particular, is when Buckley visits Silver’s sinister quarters, and the blind psychic gives a chilling monologue. Rather than filling you with further intrigue, it merely feels wordy and wasted in its power from the ever-dynamic De Niro.

Thankfully for the writer-director, like the coin trick that Murphy as Buckley does on Olsen’s student character, Sally Owen, we are always momentarily blind-sided by the engaging performances, stopping us giving up all together on the film’s ideas. It’s a shame as Red Lights has so much more potential to give than it delivers, and you wonder whether a more experienced screenwriter who have moulded it all far better, letting Cortés concentrate on its direction.

Cortés is a highly talented and exciting filmmaker, using all the tricks of his trade to conjure up tension, mystery and intrigue. However, the doubt is in his writing skills in pulling off compounded plotlines, and if it wasn’t for the acting talent that his latest film has attracted, Red Lights would have fallen at the first hurdle – however curious we may be at its subject matter.

3/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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Rock of Ages ****

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Posted: 17/06/2012

Sometimes being entertained happens in the most unexpected way. On first thought, a musical in itself is enough to make the toes curl, but one sold on dodgy rock anthems of yesteryear, overly camp costumes and cringe mullets will divide opinion further. However, go into Rock of Ages without any high expectations or an ounce of experience of the stage musical, and Hairspray’s Adam Shankman certainly knows how to put on one of the silliest, futile but crowd-pleasing shows in the town.

Small town girl Sherrie (Julianne Hough) and city boy Drew (Diego Boneta, he of 90210) meet on the Sunset Strip while pursuing their Hollywood dream of making it big in the rock business. But fame does not come easy at first and their fate has a destiny with flamboyant superstar rocker Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) and unscrupulous agents. Their rock ‘n’ roll romance pounds to the hits of Def Leppard, Joan Jett, Journey, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, Night Ranger, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Whitesnake and more.

The aim of this puffed up rocking panto is not to take it too seriously, and just enjoy the ensemble cast having a ball at being utterly outrageous. For those of you who spotted the younger, fresher ‘Jen Aniston’ dead ringer Hough in the remake of Footloose – notice a musical pattern here for former ballroom dancer Hough – can again sigh over her heavenly charms and sweet, naïve nature in this as she grapples with the evils of the big city like a lost, latter-day fairy-tale belle. It’s hard not to like all-American gal Sherrie who alongside Drew need as much encouragement as possible on the rocky road of love and navigating the cringeable, tongue-in-cheek script.

The film has its cry-out-loud funny episodes, such as the duet between Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin), the near-bankrupted owner of the hippest rock club in town, The Bourbon Room, and his ‘British’ sidekick Lonny (Russell Brand). To get to this particular gem of daftness, you have to endure an annoyingly insipid Brand in a far less interesting rocker role than his Get Him To The Greek one. In fact, the funniest thing about Lonny is not meant to be: his ever-changing accent from Liverpudlian to Brummie to Cockney, like some multiple personality disorder sufferer.

Baldwin and Paul Giamatti who plays devious agent Paul Gill offer the film’s variations of sleaze but are like immensely entertaining, sad old middle-aged men, while a ‘pinched looking’ Catherine Zeta-Jones gets into her old Chicago glad rags and high-kicking routine again will full gusto to play a prim politician’s wife with a hidden secret.

Star of the whole show is Cruise who adopts another screen-grabbing caricature, like the one in Tropic Thunder. Cruise knows how to pull off ‘weirdo’ in spades, dressed much like a spaced out version of 80s Guns n’ Roses legend Axl Rose with the sulky attitude of guitarist Slash. As conceited as Stacee Jaxx is, Cruise does try to go for the ‘little boy lost’ to the perils of fame effect so we naturally end up rooting for the rock monster. And boy, what antics: there is quite a raunchy number between him and Malin Akerman as music journo Constance Sack at one point that might make some parents accompanying minors blush in their presence.

Nevertheless, Rock of Ages is undeniably outrageous good fun with another standout comedic act from Cruise. If nothing else, those who remember the 80s the first time around will be head banging and toe tapping to the memorable beats while reminiscing about fashion’s biggest period of faux pas items. That’s the glee of the whole big, dopey, hairy, sweaty and loud fiasco.

4/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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Fast Girls ***

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Posted: 17/06/2012

It’s the classic ‘underdog done good’ feel to debut director Regan Hall’s commendable Brit flick Fast Girls, appropriately timed to target and drum up interested in London 2012 among the youth – perhaps a difficult group to reach and market the games to. At the same time as being fairly obvious, plot-wise, from the very start as to the outcome, it’s still an inspirational, feel-good film with some fun parts as we experience a real drive for success this summer.

Sprinter Shania Andrews (Being Human’s Lenora Crichlow in her first lead feature role) is fast and good enough to compete professionally on Team GB. Trouble is, she’s from the wrong side of the tracks with little family life to back her up and her dreams. After competing in a national trial, she finds she’s placed on the British relay squad, but has to face bitchiness from daddy’s little rich girl Lisa Temple (Lily James). But Shania’s biggest problem is closer to home and threatens to jeopardise her budding career in the fast lane.

As with many homegrown films of late, Fast Girls is no exception in reminding us again of the disenfranchised living in the shadow of the Olympic site – and rolling out the class differences of the haves and have nots. However, without dwelling on these differences that naturally surface, Hall focuses on Shania as a beacon of hope and perseverance. Crichlow gives her usual believable, assertive performance with a flavour of bad girl to it, making Shania a fully flawed but grounded character worth rooting for.

Indeed, no London-based, street-wise story depicting gritty hardship and determination would be complete without an appearance from Noel Clarke, only this time he’s a little older and wiser acting as embattled trainer Tommy. To be fair, the actor takes a bit of a backseat in this to let the girls shine. It’s the sisterhood that has some solid substance to it and with its sporty topic, and will unite the genders. Newcomer Lashana Lynch as opinionated, overly confident athlete Belle Newman stands out as one to watch among some rather wooden acting by others.

Fast Girls is an energising offering depicting 2012’s challenges and achievements while demonstrating that TV’s Crichlow is a strong feature film lead worth investing in. The film’s patriotic, lump-in-throat-inducing finale overcomes any thoughts of treading familiar Brit flick ground and obvious clichés.

3/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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A Royal Affair ****

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Posted: 17/06/2012

There is a heady and rousing whiff of corruption, scandal, passion and Enlightenment to delight the avid period drama fan in Danish director Nikolaj Arcel’s A Royal Affair. The fact that it is based on the true story of 15-year-old English princess Caroline Mathilde who was married off to unhinged King Christian in the 18th century gives it an added fascination and kudos than the average historical affair. And in a cinematic climate of superhero movies at present, a bit of Baroque decadence makes an appetising change.

En kongelig affære as it is known in Danish stars Alicia Vikander as the young queen Caroline, older and wiser beyond her years, who is married off to insane King Christain VII (Mikkel Følsgaard). The immature King behaves outrageously in society while holding his court to ransom, much to Caroline’s disgust.

It is the early 1770s when Enlightenment thinking is spreading fast across Europe and regal rule is being questioned by the socialists. In Denmark, one believer, a young German physician, Johann Friedrich Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen), successfully gets the position as Christian’s personal physician and begins to change the country’s way of ruling. He also starts a torrid love affair with the despairing young queen. Together they begin a revolution that changes a nation forever and seals their fate.

Visually, Arcel’s cinematography encompasses all the dark, dramatic mood of a Baroque masterpiece, perpetuating the emotional turmoil of the film’s characters further. Like a sedate Dangerous Liaisons the powerful mix of forbidden behaviour between a dynamic trio is a winning combination once more, so much so when the film has been so beautifully cast. Far from frivolous period dramatics, these three gradually feed off each others weaknesses and complexities, making what happens next an exciting mystery.

Serene Mikkelsen smoulders in this with his standard cool control, coupled with a seductive curl of the lip and flicker of flaming passion in the eye towards the angelic-looking and demure Vikander. What admittedly seems like an ill-matched pairing of acting talent at beginning becomes more accomplished as the story progresses. But the stage belongs to Følsgaard who pulls his character, Christian, to the bitter edge and back again, in a show of multiple personas, adding the only tomfoolery to an otherwise austere situation.

A Royal Affair is a beautifully nuanced and driven period drama at its finest with the added power of a true story behind it, making it a deserving box office hit to watch.

4/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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The Pact ***

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Posted: 07/06/2012

Writer-director Nicholas McCarthy has taken the bold route chosen by many fledgling horror filmmakers to turn his short, The Pact, into a feature-length film of the same name. While the premise of another spooky house and its creepy watchful eye seems old hat, McCarthy spins it into a worthy mind warp of intense proportions for his first debut.

Young, independent, family black sheep Annie (Caity Lotz) is forced to deal with her past in the wake of her dominant mother’s death, after her sister vanishes without a trace inside the childhood home. As Annie investigates further, she struggles to come to grips with a haunting family secret that lingers like an unsettling and ugly presence that threatens to consume her.

The Pact blends various genres, suitably employing all the usual chilling horror effects and ‘bumps in the dead of night’ with the utmost confidence. On the psychological thriller side, it deals with the supernatural within the context of loss and grief, and its ugly twist not only gives the film more substance than the normal, low-budget, spooky house affair but also has you readdressing all the triggers and clues from the start. It does make you work to figure out the punch line though – taking a lot longer than necessary to piece together the puzzle, complete with some overly confusing elements.

Cutting her teeth in TV’s Mad Men Lotz proves she is a reliable feature-film lead here, certainly drawing on her cop-style tactics in this made-to-fit role that appears to combine all her previous acting experience for her horror outing. Lotz has lots to carry on her capable shoulders as we experience each new development in the mystery through her eyes while managing to keep our attention. It’s a promising start for the TV-cum-film star, but possibly because there is very little else, character-wise, to draw on in this.

McCarthy’s claustrophobic, creepy camera angles heighten our paranoia, securing the weird distain we gradually feel for the four walls we’re ‘trapped’ in. In this sense, we sense the lead’s discomfort as much as she does. But in Annie’s drawn-out battle to find the truth, by the time she does, and does a Clarice Starling on us, we’re a little blasé about her eventual escape – of which is this obvious as the story sets itself up for a survivor to live to retell the family nightmare to the next generation.

McCarthy’s first feature is an effective debut mimicking the John Carpenter school of tension and curiosity, but not as snappily edited and fully realised as it could be. While it retreads well-trodden horror paths and shies away from any originality, it does favour heightening the mystery over goriness, relying on some impressive visuals for a full psychological effect.

3/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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Red Tails ***

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Posted: 07/06/2012

When you have a dream project, you want to do it the utmost service. The fact that Star Wars guru George Lucas is so passionate about the heroic feats of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American fighter-pilot squadron in WWII, means that he may be guilty of over-cooking the pudding while trying his hardest not to lean proceedings more towards a civil rights piece.

There is plenty to enjoy with Red Tails in terms of camaraderie and strength of spirit, but it feels a little too glossy and plays it too safe to the mark, rather than pushing the boundaries for a family film to recreate more of the obvious and most immediate dangers the airmen faced. In this respect, you can appreciate the criticism from some that it may trivialise some of the heroic real-life feats, in favour of playing dogfight video games.

It’s 1944 in war-torn Italy where an all-black fighter pilot group are based, tasked with the mundane flying jobs while the white pilots get to fight nose to nose with the Nazi enemy in the skies for Uncle Sam. Thanks to the tenacious nature of Colonel A.J. Bullard (Terrence Howard) in Washington who believes in his men’s flying skills, the Tuskegee Airmen become overnight heroes in delivering the US bombers to their target.

Lucas and co have put their trust into a virtually unknown cast of attractive males who instantly engage our interest with their joviality and easy spirit, regardless of the basic – sometimes stilted – lines of delivery. It’s obvious this is a Lucas venture, with a ‘boys and their toys’ perspective and love of action-packed stunts. With the polarised good guys and bad guys – complete with dastardly-looking Nazi henchman pilot, it’s impossible not to come down on the side of and root for the underdogs in grand story about overcoming adversity when you have talent.

But as the banter becomes second nature and the somewhat trifle unbelievable love story between arrogant but big-hearted airman Joe ‘Lightning’ Little (David Oyelowo) and a local white Italian girl – who both never experiencing any local racism during their tryst, thank goodness for the thrilling aerial fights to reignite the scene. They may well be on the CG-heavy side but they sweep you up in the pride-swelling glory of what these pilots achieved. Perhaps it doesn’t fully represent a truthful historical account but it cannot fail to make a good impression about loyalty and honour in a present-day world sadly lacking. In that case, it may spurn some to read up more about the history afterwards.

Naturally, there is a sense of impending doom that accompanies any such war film – someone must shrug off their mortal coil; it’s just the time it takes for this to happen that makes the wait for us (and the boys) all the more unnecessarily lengthy at times. The only dangers in the meantime are some of the boys’ bad habits, one of which bewilderingly causes catastrophe in the air but is hardly of earth-shattering consequence, considering the build up to it. Again, the immediate threat of danger is diffused, and this is where the film then falls back on the boys’ winning personalities to save the day.

Red Tails is a war action buff’s matinee delight. It could be argued that making a more gritty account would have detracted from the focus on the strong buddy element and group connection felt while watching these remarkable men. At the same time, those knowledgeable on the Tuskegee Airmen subject may feel a little short-changed. But it cannot be argued that theirs isn’t a story worth telling here – however diluted.

3/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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