jack-upland Reviews

The Riddle (2007 Video)

An appalling film

[3/10 · 2 October 2010]

The worst part of this is the story, which rapidly deteriorates from a partly promising premise to an abysmal end. Rather than making the main plot more interesting, the subplot involving Charles Dickens renders the narrative nonsensical. I think I know why those famous actors and actresses were involved: they are hacks who could sleepwalk through their parts and have been involved in enough good films that the occasional putrid offering doesn't matter. There could have been a good film in this, involving modern and Dickensian London, but that would involve an intelligent writer, which this script utterly lacked. The real "riddle" is why such a uninspired and uninspiring story idea ever was made into a film...

The Limey (1999)

Disappointing

[5/10 · 2 October 2006]

"The Limey" is a disappointing movie. It is one of those movies that tries to give a new twist to an old genre and fails. If those involved had spent less time constructing evocative cinematography and more on an interesting, original plot, it could have been good. Of course, the central theme of a fish out of water is not new, nor is a narrative based on a quest for revenge. The theme of the relationship of a jailbird and his neglected daughter is not fresh either, having been dealt with in Clint Eastwood's "Absolute Power". Still, the material has some power. The two main actors, Terrence Stamp and Peter Fonda, put in good performances. Unfortunately the dialogue is inauthentic. Stamp's character, the "limey" overdoes his cockney lingo and inexplicably repeated uses the American "wrote me" instead of "wrote to me" which is normal to British English. All in all, the movie fails as a thriller and cannot be carried merely on self-consciously arty cinematography.

The Poughkeepsie Shuffle: Tracing 'The French Connection' (2000 TV Movie)

Interesting Background

[7/10 · 10 December 2005]

This documentary provides interesting background to movie 'The French Connection'. For instance, the director William Friedkin never wanted Gene Hackman to take the lead role of Popeye and Fernando Rey who played Charnier, the French smuggler, was chosen by mistake (he is actually Spanish). The documentary takes us through the torturous process which led from the actual drug bust which formed the basis for the movie, through several different screenplays, to the final Oscar-winning production. It provides differing views on the film-making process, including a critical view of the 'difficult' Friedkin. Its portrayal of Friedkin as a wunderkind, makes me wonder why his subsequent career - apart from 'Exorcist' - has been less than successful. Problems with the documentary include the overacting of the presenter and the lack of proper introduction for some of the talking heads.

The Big Chill: A Reunion (1999 Video)

Fairly Interesting

[6/10 · 7 December 2005]

The retrospective documentary for the zeitgeist movie 'The Big Chill' is fairly interesting. It provides insights into the film-making process for the uninitiated: such as the difficulty actors experience having to respond to music (dance, sing, beat time) when the music isn't actually playing, and the time taken to film the dinner table discussions. It describes the bond the cast formed in staying at the fairly isolated location for the duration of the movie which clearly underlies the strength of their ensemble acting. Unfortunately the documentary doesn't show the flashback scenes which were cut out of the movie (in which Kevin Costner, then a relative unknown, played the dead friend, Alex), though it explains the rationale for doing so. There are some mildly amusing anecdotes thrown in as well, but overall nothing spectacular.

Serenity (2005)

Too Derivative

[6/10 · 30 September 2005]

I know that "Star Wars" is not the be-all and end-all of SF movies, but for me "Serenity" was too derivative of this inevitable benchmark. Here the Empire is replaced by the Alliance, ruled by a Parliament with utopian designs for humanity. (Perhaps this is intended as a critical commentary on the moral dualism of Lucas's vision, but it's too referential for my tastes). The rebels in this instance are the Independents, who have been defeated. A former rebel, Captain Mal, reprises the Han Solo role as an outlaw adventurer in his beloved though ramshackle ship. He reluctantly helps the anti-Alliance cause by giving shelter to River and her doctor brother. They loosely parallel Princess Leia and her brother, Luke, while the secret that the Alliance is after is not the plans of the Death Star encoded in R2D2, but the dark secret of a dead planet, embedded in the mind of the psychotic psychic River. In their pursuit comes a nameless sword-wielding philosophical assassin, who is strongly reminiscent to Darth Vader, including forcing Mal's friends to betray him (with a sequence which parallels the Cloud City episode).

The movie saved by its strong humour and cerebral approach, particularly to the issues of good and evil. Contrary to much of the press, it is Mal not River who is the central character - obviously people are influenced by the "Buffy" comparison. River is almost an afterthought in the second half of the movie - perhaps this is because the story line needed a TV series to explore all its details.