Moonlight

There are films that make you think for days after you’ve experienced them, Moonlight is one such film.

The film is based in three parts, each representing a time, and the corresponding name, in Chiron’s life. The first part is named ‘Little’ where Chiron (Alex Hibbert) is hiding from fellow schoolkids where he is found by local drug-dealer Juan (Mahershala Ali). Taking pity on the boy, Juan takes him back to his home and with his girlfriend Teresa (Janelle Monáe), feeds him and tries to learn more about him. The next day he returns Chiron to his mother, Paula (Naomie Harris) and it transpires that Paula is a drug addict and that Juan is her dealer. 

The second part is named ‘Chiron’ and focuses on Chiron (Ashton Sanders) as a teenager where bullying is taking place, he’s dealing with his seriously unstable mother and is developing a relationship with classmate Kevin (Jharrel Jerome) that becomes a catalyst for significant turning point in Chiron’s life.

The final part is called ‘Black’ and this is a much hardened Chiron (Trevante Rhodes) that is presented to us. A successful drug-dealer in the mould of Juan, he receives a call from Kevin (André Holland) out of the blue apologising for his actions and inviting him to visit. 

I’ve waited a few days before writing this review because this is a film that deserves the time and space to take it all in. It’s an exquisitely beautiful film. It has depth, it has soul and it weaves its stories like a tapestry. The acting is great, and although Ali is only in the first part, his influence continues strongly throughout. This is a film that thoroughly deserves all of the plaudits received and I eagerly await to see what director Barry Jenkins does next.

Verdict: A stunning, gripping and sensuous film dealing with a difficult subject with beauty and sensitivity. I agree with Mark Kermode when he says ‘I doubt that I will see a better film than Moonlight this year’.

Hidden Figures

A film about maths and computers doesn’t really sound too appealing, but add to it a significant historical event, a momentous step forward for racial and gender equality and some standout performances and you have something worth watching.

The film focuses on three women's stories who all work for NASA. Katherine Jackson (Taraji P Henson) is a mathematician whose talents sees her promoted to a role in the Space Task Group which is trying to get the first American to orbit the earth. Working with director Al Harrison (Kevin Costner), she has to deal with blatant racism and sexism from her colleagues, in particular from head engineer, Paul Stafford (Jim Parsons). 

Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) is an unofficial supervisor in the computer section who is denied the appropriate pay and job title by her condescending boss Vivian Mitchell (Kirsten Dunst). A threat to her and her team’s roles from the new IBM 7090 computer implores Dorothy to study and teach her team a computer programme language to assure their futures at NASA. 

Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) is their colleague who aspires to be the first black female engineer at NASA, only to be told she can’t participate in the training because she can’t take night classes at a local segregated school. With the support of influential NASA engineer Karl Zielinski (Olek Krupa), she takes the case to a local judge to allow her to attend the night classes.

Although all three stories feature in the film, the Katherine story is given the most prominence which, I can understand why given that her story was the most closely linked with the first US astronaut to orbit the earth. But I do think that the other two were equally as deserving of the screen time, I would have liked to have seen more about the court case brought by Mary for example.

My other concern is that this does feel like a light TV film, albeit a very good one.

That said, this is a great film. Full of fun, verve, pace, humour and some brilliant one-liners, it presents a serious subject in a light, easy and relatable way. I loved the outfits and the general look of the film and all of the performances are excellent, fully deserving of the accolades awarded.

Verdict: A film that will be shown in schools for years to come, for very good reason, but I can’t help thinking that this subject and this particular story needed a film with a little more depth and gravitas.

The Lego Batman Movie

The Lego Movie was the big surprise hit film of 2014 for me. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it so much but loved the story, the incredible animation and, of course, that song, so I had very high hopes for The Lego Batman Movie…

And it did not disappoint at all. From the first sarcastic observation about opening scenes in a film to the satisfying ending, this is a film that delivers on all fronts. With an excellent Will Arnott channeling his inner Christian Bale to great effect and Zach Galifianakis clearly loving voicing The Joker, this film was actioned-packed, full of great gags and one-liners.

This particular Batman doesn’t do relationships so finds it challenging when he inadvertently takes on a young orphan Dick Grayson/Robin (Michael Cera) and is encouraged by his butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes) to spend time with the boy. Alongside this, he has to work with the new Police Commissioner of Gotham, Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) to try to defeat The Joker and his veritable rogues gallery of villains and save Gotham from being blown up.

The film is full of references to previous onscreen Batmans, especially the campy 60s version which was a delight to see. The music was a pastiche of every Batman soundtrack you can think of (particularly The Dark Knight Rises) and the film takes great pleasure at poking fun at other DC characters and particularly at previous Batmans.

Verdict: Although it doesn’t have the catchy song of The Lego Movie, this is a fun, hilarious and brilliantly done film that will please adults and kids alike.

Lion

I tend to write my reviews usually straight after having seen the film, but occasionally a film requires more thought and time to process. Lion is such a film.

The film focusses on a young Indian boy, Saroo (Sunny Pawar) who along with his older brother Guddu (Abhishek Bharate) spend their days trying to earn money for their mother Kamla (Priyanka Bose). 

After convincing Guddu to let him accompany him as he works overnight, five-year old Saroo is separated from his brother and ends up on a train going some 1600km away from his home town.

After trying to make himself understood and struggling to work out how to get home, Saroo ends up in an orphanage and is eventually adopted by Sue (Nicole Kidman) and John (David Wenham) and is taken to Tasmania in Australia to start a new life.

Fast forward twenty years and Saroo (Dev Patel) is about to embark on a new chapter in his life as he moves to Melbourne to study hotel management where he falls for Lucy (Rooney Mara).  

Saroo begins to start questioning his identity and is haunted by the fact that he has such a privileged life in comparison with his biological family. Overwhelmed with thoughts of the family he left behind,  Saroo strives to find out where he came from and how to get back there.

First of all, this is a wonderful film. All of the performances are fantastic, particularly both of the actors playing Saroo. The younger Saroo is just an absolute joy to watch, so engaging, endearing, charming and wonderful. 

I was pleasantly surprised at the strength, depth and quality of Dev Patel’s performance, having only seen him in Slumdog Millionaire and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel previously, I was not expecting very much. But he was excellent and really portrayed the dilemma and struggle that this young man went through with aplomb.

This was definitely Nicole Kidman’s best film for a very long time and her portrayal of Sue was sympathetic and powerful and I was genuinely moved by her character’s motives for adoption.

Verdict: A beautifully shot and acted film about a truly beautiful uplifting, true story. A genuine Oscar contender and I would love to see it win big this year. Please go and see.

Gold

Oh Matthew, Matthew, Matthew…

After the excellent Dallas Buyers Club and brilliant True Detective, I thought we’d put the rubbish films of the 2000’s behind us and I was really looking forward to seeing what McConaughey did next…

Gold is loosely based on a 1990’s mining scandal and tells the story of a struggling Nevada hustler and alcoholic Kenny Wells (Matthew McConaughey) who teams up with geologist Michael Acosta (Edgar Ramírez) to mine for gold in Indonesia. 

The finding of gold leads to huge financial success for Wells and Acosta and as his company is floated on the stock market, Wells has to deal with corporations and businessmen who are after his success. As the story moves on, it appears that Acosta may have been lying to everyone about the gold.

Let’s start with the good things: Ramírez is good as the charismatic, cool and committed Acosta. Whilst there’s no chemistry at all between him and McConaughey (I’m assuming it was supposed to be some kind of bromance), he played his part very well. Bryce Dallas Howard is lovely as Well’s longterm partner, Kay, which is played with a real sweetness and genuine likability.

That’s the good bits, now onto the bad…

The overweight and balding McConaughey is awful and it's the combination of his hammy, trying-too-hard acting and the fact that this character is so, so, so unlikeable. So over-the-top, lacking in charm and with zero engagement with the audience.

Another weak element is the story, the writers tried to turn a financial scandal into a fairytale and it is actually quite insulting to the audience that they are expected to go along with this.

Verdict: A flat, dull mediocre-at-best film with a ridiculously over-the-top performance from McConaughey. Best avoided. 

Hacksaw Ridge

I’m generally not a fan of war films, endless battles, gung-ho Americans and plucky Brits don’t tend to float my boat. That and the fact that my Dad used to make me watch Where Eagles Dare on a regular basis as a child means that war films are not my bag.

That said, I was fascinated by the story of Desmond Doss, a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, who was the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor, for service above and beyond the call of duty in the Second World War. 

The film starts with Doss’s (Andrew Garfield) childhood and shows the event that convinced him to never bear arms and reinforces his belief of the commandment Thou shalt not kill. We see the troubled relationship between his First World War veteran father Tom (Hugo Weaving) and the rest of the family which is only exacerbated when both Doss and his brother decide to enlist into the Army. Before doing so, Doss meets and falls in love with Dorothy (Teresa Palmer) who inspires him to study medicine so that he can become an army medic.

Problems begin when Doss arrives at Fort Jackson for training and quickly isolates himself from his fellow soldiers when he refuses to handle a rifle or train on Saturdays. His commander, Sergeant Howell (Vince Vaughn) and his captain, Captain Glover (Sam Worthington) try to coerce Doss into leaving after they fail to get him discharged on psychiatric grounds. Doss continues to train and is eventually able serve his country as an army medic.

The film goes onto follow the troop at the Battle of Okinawa in the Pacific where Doss makes his name. 

The battle scenes are gruesome and incredibly realistic (at least how I would imagine them to be), they are beautifully shot, choreographed and while I felt they lasted longer than necessary, they are unflinching in detail, more so than any other war film I’ve seen.  Some reviewers have commented that the battle scenes are ultra violent so to show Doss’s non-violence which I think is a fair point.

Some viewers may have issues with the blood, gore and severed body parts on screen, it was even too much for me at some points and I did have to look away on several occasions. 

Garfield is excellent as Doss and gives a strong, sympathetic performance of a man who cannot understand why he is being vilified for his beliefs and is worthy of his Oscar nomination. Vaughn was miscast as Sergeant Howell in my opinion, he just did not have the gravitas of a leader either in the training or battle scenes. 

Verdict: A gruesome, unflinching if slightly formulaic war film, but worth seeing. Lovely touch right at the very end which is worth sticking around for. The big question is, of course, has Hollywood forgiven Mel Gibson enough to give him the Best Director award? 

Denial

Before starting this review, I should probably reveal that I am the type of person who will spend months reading about a particular subject. Its a quirk of my personality that I actually quite like and make no apologies for. 

The reason that its important to state this before this review is that one of the subjects I have read almost obsessively about is the Holocaust from an ordinary Jewish person’s perspective. I openly wept at Primo Levi and Władysław Szpilman’s memoirs and find it very difficult to comprehend how anyone could deny such a horrific event.

So Denial was an obvious choice for a Tuesday night film viewing…

The film is based on the true-life libel court case that David Irving (Timothy Spall), a notorious Houlocaust denier and Hitler apologist, brought against Deborah Lipstadt (Rachel Weisz), a respected academic specialising in Jewish history. The suit was brought because Lipstadt had stated in her book Denying the Holocaust that Irving’s writings and public statements were Houlocast denial. 

As the trial is to take place in London, Lipstadt engages solicitor Anthony Julius (Andrew Scott) and barrister Richard Rampton (Tom Wilkinson) to fight the case whereas Irving decides to represent himself. 

The film takes us on a journey through the complex English legal system, differences between what feels right and what is the best way to win, via an emotional visit to Auschwitz, and ends up in the high court in a tense, eloquent and fascinating battle between Irving and Rampton.

Some people may find this film a touch stagey, but personally I thought it was excellent. All the main characters were played brilliantly with the battle of intellects between Irving and Rampton as thrilling as any action film I’ve seen.  

Verdict: An excellent, moving and inspired courtroom drama with real punch and particular relevance in today’s new ‘alternative facts’ world. 

T2: Trainspotting

I'm going to have to let you into a little secret… Although Trainspotting was released when I was 18, and I loved the music and recognised the iconic poster that was literally everywhere at the time, I actually watched the film for the very first time a couple of weeks ago. Only 20 years after it was first released…

In my defence, drugs were not part of either mine or my friends lifestyles at that time. So there was genuinely no interest for me in a film about four drug addicts in Edinburgh, however cool my peers thought it was.

Having now seen the film, I thoroughly enjoyed it and instantly understood why it was such a cult classic for so many people of both my generation and others.

So the pressure was on Danny Boyle for the sequel...

T2 is set 20 years after the original and begins with Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) in Amsterdam running on a treadmill (an interesting throwback to his running in the original) and then shows Begbie (Robert Carlyle), Simon ‘Sick Boy’ (Jonny Lee Miller) and Spud (Ewen Bremner) in their current situations which are pretty dire.

A mid-life crisis brings Mark back to Edinburgh and he first visits Spud who is still an addict which is pitiful and so so sad to see. He meets with the incredibly embittered and seething Simon who still holds a grudge thanks to the ‘betrayal’ that Mark committed at the end of the original film. To placate him, he agrees to help Simon to apply for funds to build a less-than-legitimate business with his girlfriend Veronika (Anjela Nedyalkova). 

The story also focuses on Begbie’s return to home life and subsequent difficulties in adapting to the modern world. Like Simon, Begbie is keen to settle a score with Mark. 

The film ultimately moves towards a dramatic showdown between Begbie and Mark.

The first thing to note is that it is definitely not like the original, it doesn't have the grit, energy or originality that was such an important part of that film. It feels like there was a very thin story being stretched out too long and there were some outright stupid moments which were just nonsensical.

That said, it was nice seeing all the characters apart from Begbie who has become so unhinged and removed from the real world that it was unpleasant to watch him, brilliantly played as though he was by Carlyle.

Bremner is quite superb at playing the vulnerable, quite desperate and sad Spud who through the course of the film becomes the real heartbeat of the story which as lovely as that it is, doesn’t sit right as the original story was always about Mark.

The music was a disappointment for me, I was fully expecting a cracking soundtrack to match the original, but this wasn’t forthcoming and there was only a few notes of the fantastic Born Slippy by Underworld played in the film, which was a mistake in my opinion.

Verdict: Some films just don’t need sequels, and while this isn’t the worst sequel ever by any stretch, it is unnecessary and doesn’t warrant a second viewing which is such a shame given the hype and expectation.

Jackie

As someone who loves history, especially from a first-person perspective, this film focusing on the aftermath of John F. Kennedy's assassination through the eyes of his widow Jackie was always going to be of interest. 

Possibly the most significant political assassination of the 20th century, the film focuses on the time between JFK’s assassination and state funeral where Jackie Kennedy (Natalie Portman) is struggling to balance private grief with public decorum as the transition to the Johnson administration is hurried along.

The interview that the former First Lady gave Theodore H. White (Billy Crudup) from Life Magazine just a week after her husband's assassination serves as the framing device of the film. This is where the steeliness and control that Jackie Kennedy had to rapidly acquire is first demonstrated. There are flashbacks of the assassination (which is recreated in all of its unflinching horror), the events leading up to the state funeral and of past happier times for the Kennedys. This approach works really well and gives a very rounded view of the events and gives the viewer the ability to see the different facets of Jackie's personality.

For me, I found the interactions with her priest, Father Richard McSorley (John Hurt) the most insightful and interesting as it felt as though the true Jackie was being shown. The relationship with the other Kennedys, particularly Bobby Kennedy (Peter Sarsgaard) could have been more explored as there was clearly more that could have been shown here. 

The cinematography is incredibly intimate and almost intrusive. Portman is in pretty much every frame with frequent lingering close-ups of her face which provides an almost claustrophobic and alienating effect for the viewer and allowed Portman to demonstrate her extraordinary acting skills. 

The film score (Mica Levi) deserves a special mention and is an absolutely sensational symphony of grief which carries the film beautifully.

Verdict: A stunning film with a wonderful film score and an almost certain second Oscar in the bag for Portman's poised, elegant and intelligent performance.

Manchester By the Sea

Casey Affleck is a bit of an unknown quantity for me, I can't recall seeing him in anything significant in recent times so was looking forward to seeing him in this award-nominated performance in Manchester By the Sea.

Affleck plays Lee Chandler, a janitor in suburban Boston who lives a reserved, almost monotonous life with stresses at work and a tendency to get involved with fights in bars. He finds himself unexpectedly responsible for his teenage nephew Patrick (Lucas Hedges) back in his home town of Manchester By the Sea. The film charts the grieving process for both the current situation and previous heartbreaks involving his ex-wife Randi (Michelle Williams) who still has strong ties with the wider family.

The film is almost choking with grief, emptiness and sadness. It is a character in its own right and is demonstrated beautifully by Affleck who has made the haunting lost look, that is so difficult to achieve, his own. The story feels very genuine with a clearly overwhelmed Lee who wants to do the right thing by his nephew but really has no clue if he's doing the right thing at all. I loved that Patrick was prepared to milk the grief to get what he wanted which most teenagers would in that situation. The relationship between uncle and nephew was beautifully portrayed and felt exactly as an adult and adolescent would normally interact.

I have two main criticisms of this film; the first is that there is far too much music. Normally film music is a joy and can really help dictate the pace of a film. However in this case, it was far too much of a distraction and it didn't added anything to the film. The cinematography and natural flow was good enough that it didn't require any additional music.

My second criticism was that there was not enough of Randi in this this film. I really wanted to know more about what had happened to her in the period that Lee was away and felt that she was sidelined when there was clearly more of a story to be told.

Verdict: A really good film about grief, families and trying to do the right thing. Affleck thoroughly deserves the accolades and nominations that he's currently receiving, however the music is an unwelcome distraction from an otherwise very well made film.

Split

M. Night Shyamalan and I have a tricky relationship... Like most people I thoroughly enjoyed The Sixth Sense, despaired of Signs and vowed never to watch another of his films after the truly awful The Village.

Having seen and been quite impressed by the trailer for Split, I decided to give Shyamalan one final, final chance and I was not disappointed.

The story begins with a birthday party and focuses on three girls, popular best friends Claire (Haley Lu Richardson) and Marcia (Jessica Sula), and introverted outsider Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy). Waiting for Claire's father to give them a lift home, they are abducted by Kevin (James McAvoy) where they are held hostage in a labyrinth-type underground lair.

After a while we meet the OCD-afflicted Dennis and the very prim, English accented Miss Patricia who are two of Kevin's 23 separate personalities. We then meet Hedwig, who is a nine-year old precocious Kanye West fan. This is where Casey sees an opportunity to find out more about what is going on and is the only person who tries to connect with one of the personalities. Through this, she finds out about 'The Beast' who is a 24th personality that requires 'untouched flesh' to feast upon and this is who the three girls are being offered up as a sacrifice to.

In the midst of all this are the daily therapy sessions that Barry (another personality), a New York fashionista has with psychologist Dr Fletcher (Betty Buckley). A leading researcher in the field of dissociative identity disorder, she believes that the disorder is a reflection of the brain’s vast superhuman potential rather than a disability. Although she raises some concerns about the more dominant personalities overtaking the 'good' personalities, she chooses to believe Barry when he says that everything is fine. 

There are regular flashbacks to a very young Casey that help explain why she is such an introverted outsider involving her relationship with her uncle which links in very well to the appearance of 'The Beast'.

I appreciate that I'm not giving too much away here, but the twists are good and I would hate to ruin it for anybody.

McAvoy is superb in this tricky role; a less talented and engaging actor would have really struggled with the many distinct personalities required and he performs the task with great aplomb. Taylor-Joy also deserves a lot of credit for her performance where she held her own against McAvoy and demonstrated a quiet strength that is gratifying to see in a lead female role. Buckley was excellent as sympathetic and understanding Dr Fletcher, which gave some balance to the film. 

Unfortunately Richardson and Sula were only there as token shrieking teens which is a real shame as I'm sure there could have been more done with their roles. 

The film has lots of twists, including one at the very end, which the more devoted and knowledgeable Shyamalan fans will enjoy and zips along very nicely with a near constant level of suspense throughout. There were some clunky moments here and there, but they are quickly forgiven. 

Verdict: An excellent return to form by Shyamalan aided by a tight script and a brilliant, brilliant performance by McAvoy. If you like a quick-paced, head-scratching thriller, then you will not be disappointed at all with Split.