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Reviews
Green Street (2005)
Just plain stupid
I don't think I will get to the end of this film, its just plain awful. Why anyone thought it was a good idea is beyond me. The characters are just stereotypes of cockney wide boys who are addicted to violence, half the time their inane mumblings are barely audible. The script reminds me of badly thought through BA Film Studies students shorts that I had to mark. The whole thing smacks of desperation and is awfully uncinematic with far too many shots taking place inside dimly lit pubs and grimy streets. The dialogue is appalling and there just isn't any redeeming quality to these people. Now I don't have an objection to dark and gritty films, what I have an objection to are films that fail to portray a single redeeming quality. Honour amongst thieves or in this case, honour amongst hooligans just rings hallow.
Reuniting the Rubins (2010)
A British Woody Allen
Reuniting the Rubins places itself very much in Woody Allen territory, with one disaster after another striking Lenny Rubins as his unruly children and matriarchal mother reek havoc upon his travel plans. Yet all is resolved amidst much joviality and after numerous twists in which these endearing characters play out their various "missions" until, like a good tragic comedy, order and harmony are restored. Reuniting the Rubins is well written and beautifully observed slice of Jewish family life, and one doesn't have to be Jewish (I'm not) to appreciate the subtleties of character and the playfulness and fun that went into the making of this film.