Review: Everybody's Fine

It's a fact that Robert DeNiro hasn't been on form in recent years from dodgy crime thrillers like Righteous Kill through to 'industry satires' like What Just Happened anything he's been in has failed to make an impact. In Everybody's Fine he changes tack somewhat to play a recently widowed father of four who is himself suffering from health problems following years of making plastic casings for telephone wires. After all of his children cancel on him for a family barbecue he takes it upon himself to travel around the country and surprise each of them. Of course contrary to the title none of them are 'fine' his artist son isn't home and has instead fled to Mexico, his advertising exec daughter is divorced, his conductor son is in fact playing timpani and his Las Vegas dancer daughter's life isn't what it seems to be. The film is also played out as a road movie as DeNrio is unable to fly due to his condition he has to take buses and trains therefore we get to see his various conversations with random strangers on the road.

For me this is the best thing DeNiro has done in years his performance is subte and believable and may mark the start of a new part of his career. He is the life blood of the film and you real feel for him as each of his children decieve him. As his two daughters Kate Beckinsdale and Drew Barrymore are respectively reserved and ditzy and neither have much to do ditto Sam Rockwell as the conductor while Melissa Leo's female trucker is reduced to one scene, for me I would've liked to see more of her because her short interaction with DeNiro was one of the highlights. Waking Ned director Kirk Jones' style is very bizzare and the film doesn't seem to flow instead being a sequence of scenes connected by DeNiro's character. There is also a bizzare and weird segment in which DeNiro confronts the younger versions of his four children at a dinner table. It is hard to feel sympathy or anything for the children as they all seem selfish and unwilling to communicate with their loving father. Overall this film is worth watching just for DeNiro's performance and a quite good soundtrack while everything else is just 'fine'.

Review: The Lovely Bones

Having only been able to get a few chapters through Alice Seabold's book of The Lovely Bones I approached Peter Jackson's adaptation with some trepadation. For those not familiar of the story it involves a 14 year old girl who is murdered by a neighbour and watches the events of the investigation and it's effect on her family. There are really two parts to this film the segments with Suzie in the afterlife of 'The inbetween' and those in the suburban surroundings involving Suzie's family and her killer. If there was a director who would be able to capture the imagination of the book then it would be Peter Jackson. His stunning art direction almost manages to capture the book's vision of Suzie's inbetween however not enough time is given to these segments. Meanwhile the tense scenes where Suzie's father tries to prove to the police that it was in fact their neighbour who killed his daughter are better constructed even if some of them are a little dull.

For me the film's main issue is its failure to hit the real issues the themes of life and death and the abuse that the neighbour has caused his many younger victims is glossed over. This is mainly down to the film's 12A rating which prevents the mention of rape specifically and also of the more gruesome scenes involving the discovery of Suzie's body. Having read some of the book and watching the film with someone who managed to get the entire way through there were noticeable chunks missing from the film which formed part of the enjoyment of the story. Of the performances Saiorse Ronan is great as Suzie Salmon even though the role is a hard one to play she does it with the maturity of someone beyond her years. Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci is rightfullly creepy as the killer even if though I did prefer his turn in Julie and Julia over this is still nice to see him finally get some recognition from the academy. Mark Wahlberg is also very watchable as Suzie's father and Susan Sarandon adds light relief as the grandmother but Rachel Weisz has less to work with as Suzie's mother.

Overall the film is well performed but ultimately it's a bit light and over the top and doesn't reflect the grit and passion of the original story, Jackson tries his best but this one just fails to hit the mark and leave a lasting impression.

Review: Crazy Heart

Last year Mickey Rourke picked up plaudits and awards (but not an Oscar) for playing a self-destructive character who loved what he did and was once great but had fallen on hard times and was now taking smaller engageemnts at crummy venues for not much money he was estranged from his child but was motivated to start his life over with a new woman who is a single mother with a son while at the same time suffering medical woes. That film was The Wrestler and it was interesting and thought-provoking and Rourke was rightly touted as an Oscar favourite. This year Jeff Bridges is the Oscar favourite for playing a self-destructive alcholic country music musician who was once great but has now fallen onto hard times and is picking up gigs in small venues such as bowling alleys and not getting paid much for them he has a son who he hasn't seen in years but finds redemption and starts to turn his life when he meets Maggie Gyllenhaal's journalist who is a single mother with a son and has to stay with after finding out about his medical problems. But Crazy Heart is a lot gentler than The Wrestler at no time is Bridge's Bad Blake but in dire jeapordy or is his country music or noterity ever portrayed as a bad thing. Instead the one thing that is killing him, is his drinking and we have this shoved down our throats right from the get-go as Blake leaves a Bowling Alley gig to throw up out back.

The film's other main focus is on Blake's three seperate relationships. The first is a unlikely romantic liaison with Maggie Gyllenhaal's character which results in him bonding with her son. The second is with his former protegee Tommy Sweet who has since become a megastar something that Blake resents and the third is with his good friend played by Robert Duvall. Bridges makes Blake captivating at all times and manages to have chemistry with all three of these characters in slightly different ways. It is if The Dude were an acoholic rather than a pothead and played Country music he would be Bad Blake but Bridges plays the role with such conviction that an Oscar is surely in the bag. Meanwhile Gyllenhaal is also impressive, if in my opinion a little miscast, as the wannabe journalist who has to juggle professional ambitions with motherhood and is unsure of Blake's stability. Robert Duvall's role is very small indeed and while you can see that he and Bridges enjoyed spending screen time together the role doesn't befit someone of Duvall's experience. Meanwhile Colin Farrell is also very good as Tommy Sweet even if his singing can't hold a candle to that of Bridges but maybe the point is that Blake is more talented but because Tommy is more photogenic he has been able to have the better career.

If you're not a fan of country music be aware the film has a LOT of singing in it and Bridges does it all himself. Overall a good film that explores themes of jealousy, addiction and fame but not necessarily in a hard-hitting or cutting way. Crazy Heart maybe would've been better if it had a few sharper edges as it is it is a very well performed film but at the same time very gentle and unwilling to tackle the tough issues.

Review: Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll

It's always tricky capturing the essence of a well known musician on screen especially for fans of said musician. The actor has to give you an accurate portrayal of the character but at the same time not lapse into impression. Thankfully Andy Serkis manages to do that with his portrayal of 1980s punk legend Ian Dury in this film. Serkis' Dury is both the narrator and subject of the story and to that effect a lot of the original songs are introduced by Dury in the manner of the Emcee from Cabaret. The film's first ten minutes are frightfully frantic and a little disjointed featuring the birth of Dury's son Baxter and several songs its hard for the audience to comprehend but once Ian meets his new love Denise and his new keyboard player Chaz Jankel, things settle down. Although Dury's musical success is touched upon the real focus of the film is that, of how his treatment from others in his childhood reflected on the way he treats the ones he loves. Therefore we are given insight into his life at a home for disabled boys and the nightmareish orderly Baxter. But one thing remains clear that Dury loved his music and those around him even though he couldn't always show it.

In the lead Serkis is absolutely amazing and hopefully this will be the role he'll be known for instead of that of Gollum in The Lord of The Rings films. He performs all the songs himself with help from the original Blockheads to make the numbers as realistic as possible. Naomie Harris also shines as Dury's much younger girlfriend Denise after years of playing scary voddoo giants in Pirates of the Caribbean and unbelievable Jamaican Cops in After the Sunset she finally shows us the actress that was promised in Channel
4's sdaptation of Whtie Teeth. Olivia Williams has a less thankful job popping up every now and then to play Dury's long-suffering and estranged wife. There's also brilliant support throughout from among others Mackenzie Crook, Noel Clarke and Ralph 'Chris Finch from The Office' Inneson as well Toby Jones as Baxter and Ray Winstone cameoing as Dury's father. But it is young Bill Millner who once again shows us why he is the star of the future again playing a young boy unsure of his way in life, this time Ian's son Baxter Dury. The film brilliantly shows his idolisation of his father despite Ian's nature and sometime abandomnet of Baxter.

As well a being well-crafted the film is ultimately entertaining shocking scenes are interspersed with laugh-out-loud moments. While the hits just keep on coming from the titular track and other famous hits such as Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick and Reasons to be Cheerful to less well known numbers you will be toe-tapping and humming long after you leave the cinema. This had me gripped from beginning to end and so far has to be my early contender for film of the year.

Review: Brothers

An adaptation of the Danish film Brodre, Brothers follows the exploits of Tommy and Sam Cahill the former a jailbird reprobate and the latter an army captain serving in Afghanistan. When Sam goes missing presumed dead, Tommy tries to change his ways and connect with Sam's wife Grace and their two young girls but things get a little too heated and the two share a brief kiss. The whole film is a little melodramatic and everything takes a little too long to sort out. Grace and Tommy are obviously going to get it on and when they do its only a brief kiss meanwhile we know that Sam is going to return to his wife and family so we are never kept in suspense at whether he will survive or not. In fact the film's only shocking moment comes during Sam's capture, other than that the film is entirely predictable.

Another problem I had was in the casting of Tobey Maguire as Sam, even though he is 34 he still looks about 20 and too young to father a ten year old girl meanwhile Natalie Portman is too glamourous and pretty to be believable as someone who has had two children. Saying that Portman is very good and seems to be having a career renaissance indeed after a few bad career choices, she seems to be back to the standard she showed in films like Closer and Garden State. The same can't be said for Maguire, whose Golden Globe nomination is a complete surprise, who is friendly at the start and completely crazy at the end. Jake Gyllenhaal is completely beliveable and compelling as Tommy and is the best of the three leads. There is also great support from Sam Shepherd and Mare Winningham as the brothers' parents and a small but powerful cameo from Carey Mulligam as the wife of another soldier.

With such a veteran director as Jim Sheridan on board I expected the film to be better and while some of the film's moments were quite entertaining for the most part I thought the emotion was too over the top and the situations too contrived for me to be ultimately satisfied.

Review: Nowhere Boy

For those who are expecting to hear all their favourite Beatles hits when they go to see Nowhere Boy at the cinema they will not hear them. For while this is the story of the formation of The Beatles and features the first meeting between Lennon and McCartney it is primarily the story of John Lennon's complicated relationships with two women in his life. The first is with his mother, who abandoned him aged four, they reconnect when he's seventeen but the relationship is played much more between friends and ocassionally lovers. In fact I found some of the scenes between Lennon and his mother rather uncomfortable to watch but I'm guessing that was the point. The other relationship is with Lennon and his Aunt Mimi, the woman who raised him for most of his life. Mimi is initially cold but you can see that under the facade there is a woman who really cares. The contrast between the two women is seen through the way they dress and their homes while Mimi wears plain colours and has a plain home, John's mother always wears bright clothes and her house is full of music and always cheerful.

The film only really gets going when Lennon decides to form the band and the music begins. From then the combination of the band story and the family life flows a lot better. Sam Taylor-Wood is a competent director and the film never really lapses into sentimentatlity or nostalgia instead telling the story of a boy who just happened to be John Lennon. Aaron Johnson does really well in the role of Lennon, Johnson never does an impression of Lennon but at the same time does gives us flashes of the man he becomes, he also bares an uncanny resemblance to Lennon especially when wearing his famous glasses. Ann Marie Duff is given the hard task of portraying Julia Lennon and just manages to make her likeable and make us understand why she left John. The star of the show for me thugh was Kristen Scott Thomas, an actress who I could watch in just about anything, as Aunt Mimi she gives a brilliantly layered performance of a put-upon matriach who shows her feelings in a different way to most.

As you can imagine the music in the film is brilliant and overall artist Sam Taylor-Wood paints a picture through her direction. It is the best recount of a musician ever but as a debut feature and as a biopic it is better than most.

BAFTA Predictions

So it's the BAFTAs tomorrow and here's my predictions, most of which I expect to be completely wrong, of the films I think will win tomorrow.

Best Film, Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay - An Education
Any British film that does well in the American awards usually will scoop the Best Film BAFTA, The Queen and Atonement both did this as did Slumdog Millionaire last year (but that was Oscar bound anyway). I think that An Education is the most likely film to win the award and rightfully so it is beautifully presented and there are some brilliant performances in there most notably from Carey Mulligan who is one of the only certanties to win tomorrow. As Oscar favourite Sandra Bullock didn't even garner a nomination, Mulligan has to be the favourite here and as she's a Brit its more than likely she'll win. The third award I reckon the film will get is a Best Adapted Screenplay award for Nick Hornby. Having just read Lynn Barber's memoir from which the film was adapted I think Hornby's done a wonderful job adapting one chapter of the book into an entire 90 minute film. If An Education doesn't win Best Film it will probably go to The Hurt Locker and An Education will win Best British Film instead.

Best British Film - Fish Tank
Another tight category and as I just said if An Education doesn't win Best Film it will win this award. Of the other films I don't think Nowhere Boy will win and even though Moon was one of my favourites of the last year I don't think it will triumph here. Instead I think it's between satirical The Thick of It spin-off In the Loop or social realism council flat set drama Fish Tank. I enjoyed both of them but judging by previous winners which include East is East, My Summer of Love and This is England BAFTA usually recognises films depicting real issues in Britain rather than comedy films which never fare well at awards shows.

<Best Actor - Andy Serkis (Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll)
There are two possible winners of this award. Oscar favourite Jeff Bridges may win but as the big British favourite this awards season is Colin Firth he'll most likely win. But I think it's worth taking a punt on Serkis who totally captures the role of troubled rock icon Ian Dury in this biopic. He inhabits the role and makes it his own, not a total impersonation but adding elements of Dury's character and some of Serkis' own magic. Maybe it's just because I've just seen the film (review coming soon) and really enjoyed it or because BAFTA sometimes surprises us but I think Serkis is in with a shot.

Best Supporting Actor - Christian McKay (Me and Orson Welles)
I am also taking a punt with the Supporting Actor Category, while Christoph Waltz is destined to win the Oscar for his role as the scary Nazi in Tarrantino's Inglourious Basterds I reckon this award may go to one of the Brits who has been overlooked in this category elsewhere. As much as I loved Alfred Molina as the fuddy duddy father in An Education my instict tells me that McKay is more likely to win for portraying Orson Welles in this charming, if a little light, story. As with Serkis' Dury, McKay's Welles is more than an impersonation and McKay really makes you feel like you're watching Orson Welles. His Welles is brash, loud and not always easy to like but at the same time McKay is able to make Welles the most compelling character in the film and for that I think he may win the BAFTA and it's just a shame that Oscar overlooked him.

Best Supporting Actress - Mo'Nique (Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire)
I don't think there's any contest here, while Up in the Air's Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga have been nominated elsewhere they don't stand a shot here. Similarly the British contigent Nowhere Boy duo Ann-Marie Duff and Kristen Scott Thomas are also here to fly the flag for the Brits. But as the abusive and tortorous mother in Precious, stand-up comedienne Mo'Nique was absolutely horrifying and terrific in equal measure and I don't think there's anyone else who can win this awad.

Review: Youth in Revolt

Michael Cera has carved out a niche for himself in films such as Juno, Superbad and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist as the slightly dorky guy who always wins the girl round with his naive charm. Although he mis-stepped last year with the dire Year One he returns in a film in which he plays the same character once again. But this film has one particular difference in that he has very few laugh-out-loud lines and also that he has no headline support. Before he always had a Jonah Hill, an Ellen Page or a Kat Dennings to rely on but here he's all on his own. For the most part the humour is very subtle as Cera veers between central character Nick Twisp and alter ego Francois Dillinger in order to get the girl of his dreams. The Dillinger character is inspired and you can see that Cera greatly enjoys playing someone with a little more backbone and is able to seduce a girl with a couple of dirty lines.

While Cera has the lion's share of screentime there are some decent supporting turns notably from Jean Smart (Lana in Frasier, Martha Logan in 24) as Nick's alcholic and detatched mother and The Hangover's Zack Galifianakis and Ray Liotta as her loser and copper lovers respectively. The always reliable Fred Willard pops up from time to time as he strips off and does mushrooms while Steve Buscemi is rather uninspiring as Nick's father. The other characters are rather one dimensional - Justin Long as the stoner brother, the Indian best friend, the dickhead ex-boyfriend and the horny schoolgirl are all incidental while even Portia Doubleday's love-interest is a bit weak and at times you wonder why Twisp bothers.

Director Miguel Arterta always brings something new to the genre he works in as we previously saw in The Good Girl and Chuck and Buck. Here the visual style changes several time and different animated styles are used especially in scenes involving journeys. When this first happens it seems distracting and then interesting but by the end it feels a little repetive. While Youth in Revolt has an original feel with some old school themes there's something about it which doesn't put it up there with Superbad or Juno. Part of that may be the unsatisfying conclusion or the fact that there isn't enough heart to make us connect to all of these characters. Still better than most of this year's comedies thusfar.

Review: Invictus

In his 80th year, Clint Eastwood doesn't seem like he's going to run out of steam any time soon. After impressing with his last four outings (Flags of Our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima, Chanegling and Gran Torino) you would think he would mis-step but no Invictus is just as good as these previous films. The film revolves around Nelson Mandela's first years as president and in particular his attempts to unite South Africa during the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Mandela along with Sprinbok captain Francois Pienaar unite in a campaign to make the black Africans root for the Sprinboks during the World Cup. As we see throughout the film there is an uneasy alliance between both sides of the country even Mandela's security force is now mixed and his original guards are ultra-suspicious of the men who once bullied them. As the film goes on and draws to its conclusion we see that Mandela's plans seem to work and the final scenes in particular see the unity that has happened thanks to the World Cup.

As Mandela, Freeman greatly deserves his Oscar nomination, although at times he can't keep up the accent he still is able to portray the man with great dignity and gives him an almost godlike aura. I for one am not impressed with Matt Damon's Francois who often seems like he stays on the outside of any debates and really doesn't inspire throguhout the film so I'm unsure of all the plaudits he's been recieving. The better performances come from Tony Kgoroge as the head of Mandela's security and Adjoa Andoh as his loyal secretary. Eastwood could be accused of hero-worshipping Mandela at times and apart from a small bit concerning his personal life not much is made of his family situation which is a shame.

This is almost exclusively a film about Nelson Mandela and rugby and non-rugby fans (I include myself in that category) will be greatly put off by the 30 minute plus action that the game recieves not all of it is necessary in telling the story and it ramps up the runtime. But overall this is an impressive re-telling of an event that reuntied a country and Eastwood marks himself out as the right man to tell this story.

Review: Precious - Based on The Novel Push by Sapphire

Although it is backed by Oprah Winfrey and stars a stand-up comedian and two well known musicians in supporting roles, Precious is definitely one of the most hard hitting films of the last ten years. Precious, the lead character, is certainly someone we can root for. Pregnant with her second child, again a product of rape courtesy of her father, and regularly the victim of physical abuse from her mother she is probably on the lowest rung of the social scale. Then hope appears in the form of a special school and an inspirational teacher called Blu Rain (one of the film's only mis-steps but then it is based on a book) plus a gang of new wise-cracking pals. But Precious is no fairytale and there are hardly any happy endings despite hope coming in the form of a new life and education, Precious the film shows us that we can't always be happy.

Gabourey Sidibe is Precious and definitely deserves the awards she's been up for this season. In lesser hands we may not have cared for the girl in the way we do here. Mo'Nique is an Oscar certaintiy, from being a regular stand-up and a sitcom star as the abusive mother she is absolutely horrific. Although at the same time her comedy comes through in a scene where a social worker visits Precious' household and her mother has to changer her act in order to keep recieving her benefits. Paula Patton is able to keep Miss Rain from lapsing into cliche while Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz impress as a social worker and male nurse respectively.

The film isn't always a nightmarish ride and director Lee Daniels gives us some respite as Precious lapses into a fantasy world where she is a popstar and dates cute boys. There is also some humour from Precious' worldly and uppity classmates. The only critcism here is that this isn't a film for anyone in particular. While it's visually impressive and incredibly powerful I'm not sure where the audience for it is even so I would recommend Precious to anyone who is a fan of tough movies and can stand the weight of some of the content.

Review: A Prophet

Sometimes a film comes along and completely immerses you in its world. Some films like Avatar have to use a budget of several hundred million dollars to do it but others like France's A Prophet need very little. Set almost entirely in a French prison we follow Malik as he sentenced to six years behind bars for an unmentioned crime and quickly bullied by the Corsicans into murder despite himself being an Arab. We are there with Malik as he agonises over ethical dilemmas and has to decide whether to side with the Muslims or the Corsicans and whether to fall into a life of crime or rehabiltate himself through the prison school.

Every element of prison life is displayed here and done with very little cliche. Although we do get the same kind of characters we see in other prison dramas - the elderly gangster, the drug dealer, the corrupt guards they are fully rounded characters and we see their fears as well as their strengths. The film relies almost entirely on Tahir Rahim as Malki he is completly compelling and more than deserving of his Orange BAFTA Rising Star (but where are the Best Actor nominations?). Director Jacques Audiard is able to make us empathise with a criminal once again, as we go beyond the character and look at their dreams, he struck gold with The Beat that My Heart Skipped and he does it again here. Although this is Rahim's show Niels Arestrup is brilliant as the aging gangster and as quietly threatening as he was as the father in Audiard's previous film.

If you're looking for bangs and explosions look elsewhere but A Prophet is the only film this year that lets us explore a world full of real characters and gives us thrills without ever patronising us, A Prophet is destined to be one of the films of the year.

Review: The Boys are Back

Clive Owen is probably best known for his roles either shooting people (Sin City, Shoot 'Em Up, The International, The Bourne Identity) or brandishing swords (King Arthur). But he has also demonstrated range in such films as Gosford Park, Closer and Children of Men and in The Boys are Back he probably shows us his softest side yet. Owen's cocky sports journalist is widowed during the film and has to quickly learn how to look after a house and his young son. He is then joined by his older son from his first marriage and things become even more complicated. This is essentially a family drama with Owen giving it his all trying to be a 'fun dad' but also set boundaries.

Owen tries his best in the role, at parts he seems a little creepy especially when he constantly calls the boys 'sweetheart'. Meanwhile the child actors veer just the right side of annoying the older boy being particularly impressive in the latter scenes of the film. Another massive character is Australia itself and its surprising that the Australian tourist board didnt' have anything to do with the film from the first scene in which Owen is cruising down the beach we are clear of our setting and later scenes involving a road trip show us more of what Oz has to offer. The film is good in side-stepping a new romantic liaison for Owen instead focusing purely on his role as a father but the narrative device of the ghost of his dead wife giving him advice seems corny even though it does enable the underused Laura Fraser to appear in a few more scenes.

Ultimately Shine director Scott Hicks' film just seems a little light. There's nothing particularly awful about it but nothing that really sticks in the mind either. Good for a watch if there's nothing else on but it's never going to be up there with the director's previous work.

Review: Up in the Air

It's unlikely that a director has three critically acclaimed hits in a row but after Thank You For Smoking and Juno, Up in the Air may be his biggest hit yet. That has a lot to do with Reitman and Sheldon Turner's adaptation of Walter Kim's novel and as well the lead performance from George Clooney. This is most definitely Clooney's movie although this is an archetypal smooth-talking Clooney performance it suits his corporate-downsizer Ryan Bingham as he travels round the country firing people and holding self-help seminars. Clooney brilliantly portrays a man who finds it hard to form emotional attatchments and pins his success on the air miles that he wants to collect. As the film deals with the loss of jobs, a lot of people have noted on how timely this film is because of the recession, but of course the book was written pre-recession so it is just good timing. Most of the firing scenes are pretty poignant with Reitman casting a lot of people who did lose their jobs during the recession. Although the theme of loss of jobs and identity is one explored in the film we also look at change both in the views of Clooney's Bingham and his company as his life is turned upside down by two women.

The first is Anna Kendrick's Natalie who is trying to change is out-dated travelling ways with new technology claiming she can fire people over the net and while taking her on the road to show her that this couldn't be done he falls for the female-him Vera Farmiga's Alex. Farmiga and Clooney form a great screen partnership and our reminiscent of the 1950s knockabout romantic comedies. Like with Ellen Page in Juno, both of Reitman's lead females are relative unknowns even though Kendrick previously starred in Twillight she wasn't a real name before this film and even I hadn't heard of Farmiga. Both women are accomplished in their roles with Kendrick presenting a well-rounded young woman who at first look is career-centric but at her heart just wants to be loved. While Farmiga's character is a very strong female who although melts Clooney's ice-heart in the film's final third stays quite icy herself.

The film's tone falls down a little bit in the third act with Clooney trying to re-connect with his sisters and her sister's husband-to-be played by Danny McBride while Kendrick all-but-disappears until the final scenes which is a shame. But just as you think we'll have a happy ending the film changes tack again and ends up being very unique. A modern film but with a very classic Hollywood feel that features three brilliant performances, a great director and ultimately a fullfilling screenplay.

Review: It's Complicated

In her 2003 mega-hit, Nancy Meyers adressed the themes of sexuality in older women. it saw star Diane Keaton garner an Oscar nom and a Golden Globe. After some glitzy Christmas magic in The Holiday, we're back to the same themes this time with Meryl Streep in the role of the divorcee looking for love in the right and wrong places. This is Meryl Streep's money picture after having done Julie and Julia her prestige/awards picture. It is a testament to Streep that she can still make films like this incredibly watchable and she seems to be able to have chemistry with most of her other cast members. Streep and Baldwin make a great double act and they bounce off each other very well as their ex-partners trade barbs and eventually end up in bed together. According to the trailer Steve Martin is embroiled in a love triangle with the pair but is role is very small although it is his best role in years and it is evident that he is a lot better in more adult roles than in the family fare that he is appeared previously. So then this is a film with three accomplished mature performance and a script that has something to say about growing old and the relationships between our past loves and our future matches.

The film falls down in its smaller details - the supporting characters are all dreadful. From Baldwin and Streep's creepy and overly huggy three grown-up children to Baldwin's new younger wife and her bratty son they add very little to the film. Meanwhile as the son-in-law The Office's John Kransiski tries to do something different from his TV character but fails. There is also an element of reclaiming youth and this is seen as all three main characters smoke pot during the film and there is also far too much drinking for a 12A movie for my liking. Meryl is also meant to be a chef/baker in the film but her job seems to be peripheral and it seems Meyers believes that a job is something people have but not necessarily do on a regular basis.

I would say that It's Complicated is just worth seeing certainly if you're a fan of the two leading men who both add to the film. If you don't like Meyers films then this won't be for you but if you like switch-off-your-brain frothy romcoms then go to see this.

Review: Nine

Nine was meant to be the big Mirimax Oscar hope this year. A starry cast including Daniel-Day Lewis in the lead flanked by Oscar winners Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Judi Dench and Sophia Loren where could it go wrong? Well nobody thought to write a constructive script for one. Nine deals with one man and the women in his life - his wife, his mistress, his best mate, his muse and his mother plus a prostitute from his past and a flaky fashion journalist. The first big problem is Daniel Day-Lewis usually a captivating presence in whatever he's in from My Beautiful Laundrette to There Will Be Blood he picks his roles well and is always suitable. But he struggles with an Italian accent and with a character who is essentially unlikeable and unmotivated and therefore hard to watch. He flits between all these women, most of whom find him utterly irresistable and I think at some point we're meant to feel sorry for him, something about his upbringing apparently has made him the man he is. Meanwhile the actresses are somewhat more succesful while Kidman and Hudson have little to do as the actress and journalist respectively, Penelope Cruz goes into crazy mode like she did to win her Oscar last year to play the over-horny mistress and Sophia Loren is adeuqate enough playing Lewis' late mother. Judi Dench has the unenviable task of being the comic relief and seems to be having great fun larking about as the sarcastic costume designer and confident to both Lewis and his wife. But it is Marion Cotillard who steals the show as Guido's wife it is her emotional journey that I felt was more captivating but that might have something more to do with the actress rather than the material.

Rob Marshall is most famous for directing Chicago which won the Best Picture award seven years ago. In that the musical scenes were done on a sound stage in front of a band as well as in the movie. Again he uses that tactic but it is not as effective this time. The main structure of the film seems to be female character appears sings and leaves again with only Cotillard getting more than one number and Dench and Cruz staying on after they've sung their numbers. The production values are very good and some of the songs are very memorable most notably Cotillard's second number and Fergie who impresses with the raucous 'Be Italian'. The film ultimately falls short due to a poor lead performance and not enough material to justify its just over two hour runtime. In fact with some off key singing, cultural sterotypes and plenty of dodgy accents its more akin to 1980s BBC sitcom 'Allo 'Allo than any recent big screen musical.

Review: Me and Orson Welles

It is comforting to know that, along with all your Avatars, Twillights and 3D cartoons, a film like Me and Orson Welles still exists. Focusing on the week before Orson Welles' controversial production of Julius Ceaser the film has a certain old school charm looking at the 1930s through rose-tinted goggles and the theatre as a grand instiution. The film is seen through the eyes of Richard the young boy who is cast in the role of Lucius and learns lessons about life and love. Although the film isn't exactly ground-breaking it still gives a lovely image of what it was like to live in New York during that this is achieved through the production design and the music selected. It is odd that this feels so much like New York as most of it was filmed either in London or on the Isle of Man. There is a real sense of commaraderie within the cast as we see younger version of Joseph Cotton and Harold Lloyd mixing with Welles.

As Richard, Zak Efron is actually quite impressive and keeps the singing to a minimum. In this film he finally sheds his 'teen movie' persona and although this isn't a serious drama film it gives him the oppurtunity to show how good an actor he is and indeed he has a very good sense of comic timing. Where I felt Efron was mis-cast was in his romantic scenes with Claire Danes as he definitely not her romantic equal. Danes is great in whatever she's in and as Orson's ambitious PA she is very likeable in a role that in lesser hands may've been mishandled. In supporting roles Ben Chaplin and Kelly Reilly are impressive as the jaded thespian and dramatic diva respecitvely. While Leo Bill impresses as the sarcastic Lloyd and James Tupper makes a fine Joseph Cotton. But this film belongs to Christian McKay who is a relative newcomer to screen acting but he shows no signs of being a newcomer. He is everything that Orson Welles should be overpowering, charasmatic and at times a little egocentric. McKay rightly deserves the nominations he has racked up during awards time and hopefully his role will get him recognised by the right people.

I am surprised such an old school film was directed by Richard Linklater who is more famed for films like Dazed and Confused, School of Rock and A Scanner Darkly. This sees him return to his Before Sunrise/Sunset films as once again he is able to present a charming story in a very presentable way. Me and Orson Welles is never going to be a memorable classic but as a piece of entertaining cinema and an account of a famous theatrical production it is very good indeed.