Mads Mickelson stars as the manager of an orphanage in India. He is approached by a potential donor, based in Denmark, and travels there to secure the funds the orphanage needs. But the CEO, Jörgen (Rolf Lassgård), has other reasons for wanting to engineer this meeting.
It’s an intelligent domestic drama that takes off in unexpected directions and keeps you engaged and surprised to the very end. Mickelson is terrific, as ever, as is Sidse Babett Knudsen as his ex-lover.
I enjoyed it because Renée Zellweger is always so watchable, but it’s very thin on plot. And the addition of animated sequences in which Potter’s art comes to life are clunky and awkward. I found them a little patronising, too. We can see for ourselves that she regards her characters as “living” things because Zellweger’s acting makes it clear. We don’t need it spelled out in such a literal manner.
On the plus side, Ewan McGregor is much better than usual. And there are some sweet moments detailing the couple’s romance. But ultimately Miss Potter feels like a branding exercise on behalf of the Beatrix Potter estate.
It’s a powerful and gritty story, subtly written and brilliantly acted. As well as the two leads, there’s Anthony Mackie as Frank, a local drug dealer who has his own problems.
It could have become sentimental and trite, but there are no easy resolutions offered and it remains disturbing and depressing.
The music is by Canadian band Broken Social Scene.
They communicate through letters left in the mailbox of a lake house in Chicago, somehow bridging the two-year gap but without being able to meet.
Trying to work out the various time/space concepts made my head hurt. It’s great that the film makes you think, but this tends to be at the expense of the storytelling. I wanted to focus on the relationship between the couple, and not get bogged down by the dodgy science. Other films, such as Back to the Future, deal with the conceptual stuff much more neatly so that it can be moved out of the way and not distract from the plot.
Another flaw is that – by definition – too much of the film has to show the two characters alone, talking to themselves. The best moments are those rare occasions when we actually see the pair together – or nearly together.
I really enjoyed The Lake House despite the fact that it fundamentally doesn’t work. Thankfully, Bullock is great, whatever she’s in, and she raises an average drama to something well worth watching – as long as you don't ask any questions.
In the weeks following the US Civil War, Colonel Morsman Carver (Liam Neeson) and a team of men attempt to hunt down a man he wants to kill (Pierce Brosnan).
Both leads are excellent. It’s probably the most actual acting Brosnan has ever done.
There’s a relentless quality as they survive a sequence of grim fates, but unlike its spiritual cousin Revenant it doesn’t become ridiculous or unbelievable.
There’s strong acting, and the singing by Rose (Miri Mesika) is particularly good. The plot has a few holes, or rather moments that risk tipping it into “trashy soap-opera” territory. For example, it’s hinted that a death was actually a murder, but then the plot continues as if nothing especially unusual has happened.
On the plus side, the modern day vs. flashback elements are handled extremely well, with both timelines sustaining equal interest. This isn’t usually the case in now-and-then film scenarios.
Clive Owen masterminds the heist. Denzel Washington is the detective and hostage negotiator, who finds that the case is stranger than his usual tasks. Jodie Foster plays a mysterious power broker who tries to help the bank’s founder Christopher Plummer protect something in his safe deposit box.
It’s edgy and dynamic, and also occasionally funny.
The music by jazz musician and trumpeter Terence Blanchard is oddly jarring at times, but it works.
The three leads are all at their best, although I would have liked more dialogue from Clive Owen.
A diamond smuggler working in Sierra Leone (Leonardo DiCaprio) begins to examine his motives after meeting an American investigative journalist and a local man who has been separated from his wife and son.
DiCaprio is compelling but not quite at his best. Maybe it’s his South African accent that makes him a little less convincing than usual. That said, his character development as the film progresses is extremely well done. I liked Jennifer Connelly as the journalist, too.
The film makes some strong moral points about trading in "conflict diamonds", but because DiCaprio’s character is presented as amoral it’s not as heavy-handed or judgemental as it might have been.
Helen Mirren plays the monarch. Martin Sheen plays Tony Blair, brilliantly capturing something of his personality.
It’s subtle and surprisingly funny, working as social history, gentle satire and an insightful character study.
Of course we’ll never know how accurate it is in terms of the private conversations within the palace, but the general trend of events is backed up by actual news footage (as well as our memories of living through that remarkable period).
Bacteriologist Walter Fane (Edward Norton) meets Kitty Garstin (Naomi Watts) in London and they quickly marry. Then Walter accepts a post in China, helping a village amid a cholera outbreak, forcing Kitty to go with him to punish her for her infidelity.
It’s beautifully shot and extremely poignant. There’s a historical/political thread, but the main focus is on the couple’s complicated relationship and the way it evolves.
The script is subtle and nuanced. Likewise, the graceful and restrained-but-powerful performances.
It’s 2027 and the world has gone to ruin. For 18 years, humans have been infertile. When the youngest person dies, it’s a major news event. Meanwhile, Theo Faron (Clive Owen) finds himself looking after a girl (Clare-Hope Ashitey) who – miraculously – is pregnant. He attempts to transport her to safety amid anarchy and violent hostility.
It’s a terrifying drama because it looks and feels so real. Maybe it’s the grim English locations or perhaps it’s the brilliant, deadpan script, but it’s utterly believable. Other details help – the old car that won’t start, or the pair of flip-flops Theo has to wear. The appalling treatment of immigrants doesn’t even seem like a prediction any more, after Donald Trump’s treatment of Mexicans and the UK Conservative government announcing plans to fly people off to Rwanda.
Clive Owen – always excellent – is really at his best here. Michael Caine is superb as an ageing hippy drug dealer called Jasper. And Julianne Moore is great as Theo’s estranged wife, although I wish she was in the film for longer.
It’s disturbing and thought-provoking, but with moments of humour too. A masterpiece.
In Boston. Irish Mob boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) places Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) as a spy within the police force. Sullivan quickly rises up the ranks, becoming a highly respected detective, and protects Costello by feeding him information. Meanwhile, the police assign undercover agent Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) to infiltrate Costello’s criminal gang. And both of them end up dating the same police psychologist (Vera Farmiga as Dr. Madolyn Madden).
It’s incredibly clever. The plot moves fast enough to make your head spin, but Scorsese’s storytelling gifts are such that it works.
The all-star cast also includes Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone and Mark Wahlberg. The soundtrack is terrific, although a repeat use of the intro to “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones in the same scene seems like an error.
As usual with Scorsese, you get everything – a masterclass in film-making. The characters are richly fleshed out. It’s thrilling. It looks visually stunning. And the script is really sharp.
It’s appealing escapism, but ultimately it’s light, forgettable fluff. The scenic locations look nice and there’s a lot of wine. But the wine sub-plot isn’t satisfyingly explained: was the lousy produce being used to jinx the sale of the estate or was it intended to obscure their better wines as part of a shady business trick?
An enjoyable enough two hours, it only works because Crowe is so charismatic and magnetic.
It’s a fairly exciting thriller with a few surprises. On a technical note it was odd that certain outside scenes were heavily filtered in the way that the bulk of the film wasn’t. In terms of the plot, it was difficult to believe that someone as old as Michael Douglas could still be doing a job so dependent on physical strength, coordination and reaction times. But then Clint Eastwood was even older in In the Line of Fire, which is a far superior treatment of similar themes. Also, the motives behind the assassination plot aren’t really explained and the characters aren’t really developed. The flawed presidential marriage isn’t explored. If the First Lady is unhappy enough to have an affair with her bodyguard, wouldn’t the president be at least aware that there were cracks in the relationship? And Keifer Sutherland’s initial dislike/distrust of Eva Longoria isn’t really referenced again after it’s first introduced.
Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and her pregnant mother live with the sadistic and psychopathic Captain Vidal (Sergi López), who is locked in combat with the local resistance fighters. Ofelia finds herself drawn into a strange fantasy world by a faun who assigns her three challenges.
It’s deeply strange, working on the level of political allegory as well as being a sort of horror story full of symbolism that invites multiple interpretations.
I don’t usually enjoy “magical” or fantasy stories, but it’s so unusual and imaginative that it draws you in. Plus, there’s some pretty strong stuff – torture, maiming, close-range shootings and constant threat.
The performances are hammy and one-dimensional. The “1940s” look is self-conscious and over-stylised, but also inconsistent. None of the characters engage. You end up not understanding what’s happening and not caring either.
