Out to own today:
Central Intelligence
 | “I wish you were my son, if I was medically able to have children,” Principal Kent (Phil Reeves) One surmises that in the era of Snowden and Wikileaks the espionage genre would find a resurgence. And the action-comedy element has not been left on the shelf. SPY and (THE BROTHERS) GRIMSBY are of recent note. Unfortunately, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE is not as funny as the former and not as riotously wrong as the latter. Chortles come regularly, but do not raise the roof. Here, the final result has the continual nagging feel of a first draft. Even the outtakes and goofs, during the end credits, are not particularly amusing, and counterproductively confirm the paucity of material. [To read more, click here.] |
Maggie's Plan
 | “I might save it like mad money style,” Tony (Bill Hader) Later, lecturer/author John (Ethan Hawke) calls “like” a language condom. Rebecca Miller delivers an arch indie comedy with aplomb, alternating between highbrow wordsmith chortles and rom-com relationship skewers. The director brings along genre ambassadors Greta Gerwig-Hawke-Julianne Moore-Hader-Maya Rudolph for the ride; doing a DIE HARD or a GROSSE POINTE BLANK, where even minor characters get great lines and feel more than space filler. After dramas THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE and THE BALLAD OF JACK AND ROSE, Miller now flexes a comic artistic muscle so naturally it’s as if she has been doing it her whole career. [To read more, click here.] |
Learning to Drive
 | “You can let go the death grip now,” Darwan (Ben Kingsley) to Wendy (Patricia Clarkson) What is the key to a satisfying romantic-comedy/drama? Surely, beyond the chemistry between the leads, which of course must be a given, is that there is no guarantee of the protagonists ending up together. From HIS GIRL TO FRIDAY and THE PHILADELPHIA STORY to ONCE and 500 DAYS OF SUMMER, they rise above the crowd delivering the same old by staying in the mind. What does it say about me that finds a downer an upper? Stay with me, there is logic. How many blissful couples do you know? Perfect, uncomplicated happiness in mainstream cinema creates unachievable wish fulfilment. By showing that another person cannot complete you, but still have a positive impact, is realistic and reassuring. [To read more, click here.] |
The World of Kanako
 | “I’ll find her,” Akikazu Fujishima (Kôji Yakusho) THE WORLD OF A KANAKO is a brutal, brilliant cinema experience, like virtually no other. Hold on to your butts, forget bland lifeless computer generated carnage; this is the real rollercoaster ride. A man tears apart Japanese society looking for his daughter. The anti-TAKEN, the opposite of Liam Neeson’s gee-whiz superficially wholesome-ish assassin, Kôji Yakusho could not be more distant to his noble samurai rebel leader in 13 ASSASSINS. His Akikazu Fujishima is a person of non-existent patience. Akin to Robert De Niro’s David ‘Noodles’ Aaronson in ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, articulation only comes through violence. [To read more, click here.] |
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