chesneytim Reviews

Dead in France (2012)

Brit wit in black and white

[8/10 · 25 August 2012]

An unusual movie this one: a socially dysfunctional hit-man called Charles (Brian Levine) decides to retire to Cannes and has best laid plans train-wrecked by the other Brits out in the sun. Levine plays straight-man to very funny Essex-girl Lisa (Celia Muir) and we're not sure to begin with what Charles is paying her for (it's a great early scene ). Charles likes her but doesn't know she's got a nasty mo-hawked tattooed squeeze from Liverpool (played by Denny - Darren Bransford). They try to scam Charles by renting out his Cannes house to French families and pocketing the proceeds. Charles has all of his savings stolen by a couple of con-men (Lee Cheney and James Privett) who are like a Cockney double-act and don't realize Charles is going to hunt them down to get back his money. Charles's big error is to let his younger rival Clancy (played by Kate Loustau) know he's retiring which makes Clancy come out to France to look for Charles and his money.

It says on the DVD that it's like Lock Stock or Tarantino but it's actually not really like them that much although there are shades of Tarantino in the cool funky soundtrack (Adam Langston): Maybe there's something a bit Coen brothers about it. What it is is budget black and white and truly original. It's also very funny - like one of the reviews says 'it makes you laugh your ass off.' Levine and McManus put together a nice script which only wobbles as everything unwinds, but the final twists are cool and surprising. There's one massive flashback scene which contains as much death and destruction as some action movies plus anyone with a cat or a hatred of profanity better think twice about watching this.

So Kris McManus has directed, shot and edited a smart, nicely-set-up rampage through a lovely part of the world with an unknown cast who do a smooth job.

It's real Brit wit. And the black and white doesn't hurt either.

Eastern Promises (2007)

Surprisingly good

[8/10 · 2 March 2011]

Caught this last night, missed it first time around: Viggo Mortensen holds this together well as the rising Ukrainian in London with a dodgy and impenetrable past and a penchant for blonde nurses and Russian motorbikes (cue Naomi Watts in a straightforward role). Nasty Russians in Lonsdon would have been too easy to overdo but Cronenburg has got it just right: Vincent Cassell's velocity of thought and action is scary, and his father, played brilliantly, as the lead Russian, is masterful.

The melodrama of the crimes themselves is kept wisely to the background and the focus is on how one small incident - a 14 year old girl collapsing and then dying, pregnant with multiple needle-marks in her arms, can have a myriad of unforeseen and potentially catastrophic consequences, especially for the innocents caught up in the underworld.

Mortensen is the star of this for sure: assured, even when naked and fighting, he is very likable despite his chosen path...and his excuse, that he is just the driver, is as dark as you can get.

Well worth a spin: this is a good movie and well deserves an 8.

The Reeds (2010)

Something lurking in The Reeds

[7/10 · 31 January 2010]

B+ effort for director Cohen who I haven't seen over here before. The leads are pretty likable and the movie looks nice in a theater: expansive without the expensive: it's got some production value in there somewhere.

As for story/plot, it certainly keeps you guessing, although perhaps I'd have preferred a few less red herrings and, like the other reviewer, I wanted more direction on whether this was going psychological, supernatural or simply natural. It sits somewhere in between the first two IMHO.

I haven't seen all the other Horrorfest offerings this year but know people who have: I suspect this is at the intelligent (British?!?) end of After Dark's offering and it's certainly got enough nasty bits to keep horror fans - including yours truly - happy.

Yup - worth the price of a theater ticket, maybe even the popcorn.

Up in the Air (I) (2009)

Up in the Air leaves it hanging

[8/10 · 31 January 2010]

A smart script and great actors don't require massive budgets or complex sets. This film is a typical Clooney venture into an intelligent world where he is a man with no soul and doesn't realise how empty he is until he runs into Vera Farmiga.

George is magnificent in the way he down-plays his role: is it a romcom? maybe. A drama? Maybe. But what it is - for sure - is a film about someone who makes a living out of firing people for those who haven't got the gumption to do it themselves. He's shown how out-of-touch he is with modern life by the geeky but cleverly played young gun (Anna Kendrick).

George spends his life up in the air, literally and metaphorically, and makes us ask the question of ourselves.

Intelligent film-making. Really liked it.

A Serious Man (2009)

Low-budget Coen

[6/10 · 31 January 2010]

Uncomfortable viewing. That's how I'd place this, but it's a good film nonetheless. It's filmed at an old-style, slowish pace, and that's slowish even for the Coen brothers, and I really do think that the top- tail plot device of the old man didn't quite work.

However, the normalcy of this film, the lack of drama, the sinister Sy and his mysterious death and the weirdness/left-field nature of people's reactions was good.

Where the film failed was where it ran into stereotypes such as the gun- toting neighbour, although I loved the scene where a certain Korean gentleman come a callin'...

This is Coen brothers without the stars and the budget and, unfortunately, without a lot of the brilliance, wit and pace of their other work.

Sorry guys: I just remember how I felt after Burn After reading, and this is not in the same class.