tony-o-brien Reviews

Feed (2005)

Very poor effort

[1/10 · 17 August 2006]

Now this had the makings of a good movie - it's an original idea but it's handled so ineptly that you wonder why anyone bothered. It contains elements of Silence of the Lambs, Saw and others, but is in no way as gripping or entertaining. The acting is uniformly dreadful and the leading man was so lacking in charisma I can't even remember what he looks like (and I only watched the movie last night!). The direction is ham-fisted and the plot has so many holes in it you could use it as a colander. The editor is obviously from the "slash-and-burn" school of editing, and the use of the coloured filters, far from adding atmosphere or tension, simply annoyed the hell out of me. Overall, one to avoid.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)

Charmless and chaotic

[1/10 · 18 January 2006]

Let me just say, for the record, that I have been a Hitchhikers fan since the 1st radio series all those years ago and love all its many iterations - except for this utter dog of a movie. I'm sorry but just can't compare to the TV series, which had charm, wit, elegance and a certain Englishness that marked it out as something special. This movie is all over the place and I'm really disappointed that it was so bad. The acting is, for the most part, wooden - the actors seem to be just going through the motions. Martin Freeman is a poor choice for Arthur Dent - that character is supposed to be middle-aged, what's Martin Freeman, early 30s perhaps? SPOILERS!! The plot has changed into something unrecognisable and incoherent, and major changes have been made to some of the characters, the worst of which is the travesty of Zaphod's heads. Look, Zaphod had TWO heads, not simply an extra one buried under his chin somewhere, but TWO ACTUAL HEADS. I know this might seem minor but it's an important point in letting us know just how "alien" Zaphod is.

Anyway, I've got the original TV series on DVD so I'll watch that when I want a laugh.

The Constant Gardener (2005)

Close, but no cigar

[24 November 2005]

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but I just wasn't grabbed by this movie at all. It was slow, disjointed and wasn't sure exactly what it wanted to be. Political thriller? Docu-drama? Mystery? Love story? I know, I have seen movies that HAVE been all these, and I'm not saying that a movie HAS to be one thing only - but Constant Gardener just didn't gel for me. The jumpy camera work, which I presume was meant to give the movie a documentary feel, was simply annoying. Also, I just don't see what all the fuss is about Ralph Fiennes - IMHO he gives his character all the emotional depth of a sausage (in common with many of the other roles he has played), and the best thing that can be said about Rachel Weisz's performance is that it wasn't dire.

To sum up - a plodding attempt to tug the heart-strings that doesn't really work, spoilt by dodgy camera work and so-so performances from the leading actors.