Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Director: Nicholas Stoller
Starring: Jason Segal, Kristen Bell & Russell Brand

Another enjoyable comedy from the Judd Apatow stable that finds comedy within the common heartache of being dumped from a relationship.

Following on from the success of 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad comes Forgetting Sarah Marshall, another comedy from producer Judd Apatow. Forgetting Sarah Marshall this time spotlights another Apatow collaborator, Jason Segal gets the opportunity to move from supporting role to lead actor. Segal, like Seth Rogen in last year’s Knocked Up and Superbad, not only stars this time around but wrote the screenplay and finds Segal talented enough to not only provide us with many great comedy moments but also strikes the right emotional tones and anyone who has found themselves on the receiving end of a break up from a relationship will find much to empathize with.

While Forgetting Sarah Marshall is funny, it does not quite succeed in reaching the levels achieved by last year’s Apatow comedies. Much of this could be due to the relative inexperience of Segal and of director Nicholas Stoller. Stoller is a first time director while this is Segal’s first writing effort and first time as a leading man whereas Rogen and Apatow had more writing and directing experience between them before they made Knocked Up and Superbad. Early scenes in Forgetting Sarah Marshall suffer a little from some uneven editing which moves the scenes along a little too quickly often cutting punchlines short (including some otherwise funny uses of nudity) and skipping back and forth from present day to past events a little erratically but in time the film finds its footing and aside from the occasional scene that’s runs too long, the film itself flows more smoothly.

On the acting front we have little to worry about from Segal. Segal comes across as very natural. He plays the loveable loser role well and his character’s responses to his situation are simultaneously funny and recognizable. At first it may seem that there is not much about his character, Peter that would make us root for him. He’s a nice guy if slobbish and lacking the inner strength to achieve his goals but the more time we spend the more of his positive qualities we see and the more he sees in himself making his ultimate destination in this film all the more emotionally rewarding.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall also benefits from some strong supporting talent. Back are former Apatow collaborators Bill Hader, Paul Rudd and Jonah Hill, all providing funny performance, Hill especially. Russell Brand also makes his Hollywood debut as the hedonistic popstar boyfriend of Peter’s ex, the title character Sarah Marshall. What initially feels like a one-note performance develops becomes one of the strongest comedic performances in the film and Brand impresses. The only criticisms I have in the acting department is with the female characters. Kristen Bell (of TVs Veronica Mars) and Mila Kunis (That 70s Show) do their best with the roles they have as former and potential love interests for Segal, but their roles underwritten considering their importance to the plot. Sarah Marshall (Bell) is written a little too stereotypically needy and career driven in early scenes that when she later begins to doubt her decisions it becomes a little difficult to feel supportive of her while Rachel (Kunis) is unevenly portrayed as being both caring yet even a little crazy at times which puts doubt over whether her character is good for Segal’s until much later.

Overall though, this is a very funny film. Segal proves he has what it takes to write good comedy and support a film and hopefully will see improvements as a writer that will eventually see him as a talent equal to friends Apatow and Rogen. Forgetting Sarah Marshall is not as good as earlier Apatow productions but it’s a worthy addition to their catalogue and will certainly entertain audiences.

Rating: 3/5

In Bruges

Director: Martin McDonagh
Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson & Ralph Fiennes

A quick witted, darkly humorous gangster movie that is much more than described and feels like a breath of fresh air in what had become a stale genre.

To dismiss In Bruges as a Gangster Film, a British Gangster Film no less, would be to ignore what is one of the funniest films of 2008 while remaining a touching human drama. The story revolves around two Irish hitmen, wizened old timer Ken (Brendan Gleeson) and inexperienced first timer Ray (Colin Farrell), as they arrive in Bruges to hide out after a hit goes wrong. As they await further orders from their boss back home, they are ordered to stay in Bruges and enjoy the sights. While this suits Ken, the younger Ray struggles with boredom in a strange town he doesn’t know and brands a s***hole and is left to struggle with own demons over what happened during the botched hit. The choice of town, Bruges (it’s in Belgium), is a quiet medieval town filled with historical sights and other cultural places of interest but very little in the way of modern entertainment.

With the drama, contemplations on how to reconcile themselves with God over the things they do and coming to terms (Ray especially) with what occurred recently and with the choice of locale, In Bruges might have otherwise turned out to be a quiet, sedate drama if not for the humor and occasional violence that also occurs. The humorous tone is immediately irreverent, occasionally offensive but delivered in a way that it provokes laughter in a way that may make you feel guilty afterwards. The humor feels very true, very honest as our characters are just human and prone to the same prejudices as we can be. If you would think that comments involving dwarves, the mentally handicapped or stereotypes of Belgians and Americans might offend you then you might want to steer clear of the film, otherwise you can relish in the fact that this is what people are like and if you yourself don’t voice similar remarks then you’d likely know people who do. It helps that our main source of humor lies with the character of Ray and the performance delivered by Colin Farrell.

Farrell has spent recent years developing his role as a Hollywood leading man (Alexander, Phone Booth, SWAT etc…) that you forget he used to be more effective in smaller productions playing average guys (Intermission being the last such instance). Here, in his native accent, he excels as Ray, a young gangster who botches his first job and is stricken with guilt yet is undoubtedly young preferring a night in the pub to a night of “culture” who still finds a childlike fascination in Dwarves (or Midgets as he refers to them) and lacks the tact most develop later in life in regards to voicing their opinions delicately. Farrell possesses a nervous energy, all frowns and furtive glances that makes him believable yet also quite likeable despite his politically incorrect commentary and his reliance on violence when he can’t think of a way to defend himself verbally. We know we shouldn’t like a guy like Ray, or Ken either for that matter, but during the course of the film you grow to care about them. Much of this empathy is also due to Brendan Gleeson’s portrayal of Ken, the experienced hitman looking after Ray who is looking for a quieter life after years of crime. Ken is a man of honor, he feels bad about the people he’s killed but consoles himself some over the fact that his victims were bad men too and their deaths often justifiable. He enjoys the quiet atmosphere on Bruges and while he sometimes struggles to cope with the impatience of Ray, he sees the guilt Ray struggles with himself and feels protective of him.

Between the humor and the occasional moments of violence, we see a believable and touching connection develop between Ken and Ray which serves to make later scenes more emotionally powerful when their boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes delivering a performance somewhat similar to Ben Kingsley’s in Sexy Beast but with a little more humor and heart) arrives in Bruges to clean up Ken and Ray’s mess by looking to kill Ray.

While the finale of the film involves several shoot outs, it manages to maintain a darkly humorous tone throughout and the effectiveness in how Ray and Ken’s relationship has been portrayed earlier in the film, along with the reveal of what went wrong during their last job to disturb Ray as it has and also the relationships Ray and Ken develop with other characters (Ray finding romance with a local dealer, his encounters with a dwarf actor full of his own prejudices) serves to make the violence that occurs during the film’s finale all the more shocking and effecting. There is also a tragic inevitability felt throughout the film that despite its humor, the film couldn’t have ended any other way without undermining the feelings of honesty demonstrated throughout the director’s handling of his subject matter.

Overall, this is a very good film. In Bruges delicately balances drama, humor and violence while demonstrating that there is still life in the British Gangster Film and that Colin Farrell is much more enjoyable when he’s not restricted by the confines of Hollywood.

Rating: 4/5

Street Kings

Director: David Ayer
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker & Hugh Laurie

A solid cop drama boosted by a script by acclaimed crime novelist James Ellroy and featuring a strong turn from actor Keanu Reeves.

Street Kings (originally title The Night Watchmen) is not your typical Keanu Reeves film. The opening 10 minutes of this film will convince you of that and that you are seeing a different Keanu Reeves. Opening with a hung-over Reeves, coughing/puking into his toilet, then arriving at an arms deal to sell weapons to Koreans while spitting venomous Racial slurs, getting beaten, then following them to their home and gunning them down in the name of the law. What we see is a crooked cop and a deeply racist one at that. What we also learn is that his actions save two girls who have been kept prisoner a raped. Justice is done but it’s violent and accomplished by breaking the law and covering for it later. It is a powerful, punchy opening and grips you immediately.

It comes as no surprise then to find that this film is written by crime novelist James Ellroy whose prose is famous, and acclaimed, for its punchy dialogue, morally suspect anti-heroes, corruption and for using violence almost as punctuation. The material is also what director David Ayer is well known for. Ayer, the writer behind Training Day who also adapted a James Ellroy story for the film Dark Blue is known for looking at the darker side of law enforcement, condemning corruption but endorsing a more aggressive method of crime fighting as being almost necessary to accomplish real results. So, no new ground covered then? Maybe not, at least not by Ayer or Ellroy. What does feel new is Reeves.

Keanu Reeves, while a popular actor, has not been judged critically as an actor capable of demonstrating much depth in his characters. A little unfair perhaps but Street Kings is one of his strongest roles to date. While Reeves has played cops before (Point Break, Speed) and has even dabbled in Anti-Heroes (Constantine), he’s never been this dark, this complex. Reeves character, Ludlow, is a cop in the Vic Mackey (on TV’s The Shield) mould. A cop who will happily break the law to get his suspect, even without evidence to back him up. Part of a squad of similar cops led by Forest Whitaker, he seems to be unredeemable but as we find, there are lines he won’t cross, lines of honor. When a former partner who is reporting him to Internal Affairs is gunned down in Ludlow’s presence, Ludlow investigates and uncovers evidence that there is more to the attack than believed and that while he might break the laws to apprehend crooks, there are those within his department willing to do use those methods and also profit from it. So, a racist cop, a violent cop, but not one to take a bribe. It’s a fine line to separate Reeves’ character from the villains but a line nonetheless and while it makes Ludlow our anti-hero and we root for him to survive, it doesn’t necessarily excuse his own character flaws. Reeves then manages quite well to tread that line between likeable character and sympathetic one. He manages to convince us that Ludlow is a force for good without actually being good himself.

While Reeves is good and carries the film well, the supporting cast varies in terms of quality. Hugh Laurie appears as an Internal Affairs officer investigating Reeves and others in his team. While good, Laurie merely re-hashes the American accent he utilizes in his role in TV’s House and doesn’t receive enough screen time to really develop his role beyond that of cop that tries to turn Reeves on his team. Chris Evans also appears as young cop looking for some action who gets pulled in by Ludlow to help investigate the death of his old partner and expose the corruption within his team. Evans role is underwritten and his motivations are underdeveloped which is a shame as recent performances (i.e. Sunshine) demonstrate an actor on the rise. Rounding out the remainder of the supporting cast is Forest Whitaker as Ludlow’s boss and suspected mastermind behind events. Whitaker’s turn is solid, using his physicality to intimidate while adding a bit more depth to a character that could have suffered under a different actor.

Overall, this is a strong cop drama. While the ground covered isn’t original for either the director or writer and the plot follows a fairly predictable path to it’s conclusion, it benefits from a strong performance by Reeves and while the film’s writer has written better, his dialogue is better, stronger than most cop dramas manage. Street Kings is still a film worthy of being seen and one with plenty to recommend about it.

Rating: 3/5

Son of Rambow

Director: Garth Jennings
Starring: Bill Milner, Will Poulter & Jessica Stevenson

A wonderful little indie-comedy about childhood friendship and the emancipating power of the imagination.

Son of Rambow has been released at the perfect time. Following the latest installment in the Rambo movie series and also following the release of another indie-film about the power of imagination in filmmaking in Be Kind Rewind, Son of Rambow (with it’s endearing, childlike spelling mistake of it’s namesake’s hero) succeeds at beating both films in terms of it’s creativity, heart and ability to entertain.

The film tells of the unlikely friendship that develops between Will Proudfoot (newcomer Bill Milner), a put upon child from a religious family than forbids TV, music and literature from its members, and Lee Carter (Will Poulter), the troublesome boy raised by an uncaring older brother and wanting to make his own film for the BBC. The friendship begins with Lee Carter bullying Will into helping make his film. Will being naïve, unaware of some dangers and ultimately forgiving, accepts and so begins a partnership that develops into a close friendship.

There appears to much in common between the two boys, both missing father figures (Will’s died, Lee’s disappeared after his birth) but this shared history is acknowledged by neither and allows the friendship to develop more realistically for less obvious reasons. Will, having never seen a film before, finds an outlet for his repressed creativity (his imagination largely confined to doodling in his Bible or toilet cubicles) when he sees a pirated copy of Rambo at Lee’s home. The effect this has on Will’s impressionable mind is illustrated in a beautiful and stunning dream sequence where Will saves his dead father while battling scarecrows and flying dogs while imagining himself as Rambo.

Based, in part, on director Garth Jennings’s own childhood experiences, the following scenes as Lee and Will embark on their filmmaking career, with Will as star and stuntman, is filled with great humour (there are many hilarious sight gags) and also great warmth. Jennings’s also captures the look and feel on 1980s England superbly, particularly school life in the 1980s which includes a brilliant Disco scene within the school’s 6th Form. Jennings’s decisions in his casting of unknowns into the roles of Will and Lee also succeed. Will Poulter convinces as the troubled child of a broken home whose bullying nature feels genuine in light of his background while Bill Milner steals the whole film as Will Proudfoot, brimming with childlike enthusiasm beyond what his small frame seems capable of containing.

There are the occasional indulgences that sometimes interrupt the flow of the story, the inclusion of a French exchange student who gets involved in the filmmaking and becomes an obstacle between Will and Lee is given too much screen-time and representatives of the religious order that Will’s family is a part of is sometimes portrayed a too one-sidedly oppressive but this is otherwise a fun and uplifting film and even when the boys find their friendship tested and inevitably realize it’s is time to grow up, it comes naturally and still maintains plenty of hope for their futures without feeling too saccharine.

Overall this is an entertaining comedy which can be enjoyed by children and adults alike.

Rating: 4/5

Leatherheads

Director: George Clooney
Starring: George Clooney, Renee Zellweger & John Krasinki

An entertaining comedy thought not quite the screwball classic that actor/director George Clooney was aiming for.

George Clooney is a man in high regard. Often referred to as being an actor in the classic mould who has the charms and talent of old Hollywood stars like Cary Grant and Clark Gable. These comparisons are generally well deserved. Clooney is also held in high regard in relation to his filmmaking based on the critical success of his earlier directorial efforts Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Good Night and Good Luck. Clooney’s choice for his third film is a screwball comedy. Considering the comparisons made between Clooney, Grant and Gable, this would seem them perfect use of Clooney’s abilities as an actor and his experience with period pieces would seem suited to his skills as a director and he does succeed quite well at using those skills effectively. Clooney does exude charm and further demonstrates a skill for physical comedy and the period detail and atmosphere of the film is top notch however, while Leatherheads is charming and is funny, it’s not funny or charming enough to join the ranks of classic Hollywood comedies such as Bringing Up Baby or The Philidelphia Story.

If there is fault to be found in concern to why the film does not fully achieve its ambitions as a screwball comedy, that fault is to be found in the tone and pacing. The witty banter between Clooney and Zellweger is good but lacks the energy of Grant and Hepburn while the pratfalls that occur during football games portrays a Clooney that sometimes seems at odds with the charmer we see in other scenes. The film also slows down on too many occasions when it should speed up and Clooney tries to add a little too much, serious, commentary on the changes that occurred in professional football during the 1920s when he could be focusing on the comedy that can be mined in those changes.

Overall, this is an entertaining comedy. Clooney is good on screen as usual and Zellweger looks like she was born to appear in films from this period. John Krasinski (from the American version the The Office TV series) manages to hold his own fairly well when working alongside two bigger Hollywood stars and there are some very good sight gags and occasionally witty banter. Not Clooney’s best film to date but entertaining nonetheless.

Rating: 3/5

Vantage Point

Director: Pete Travis
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox & Forest Whitaker

A decent action/thriller based around a neat gimmick, but possessing little that would entertain beyond the first viewing.

The TV series 24 has a lot to answer for. From its massive success and its reinvention of television action dramas, 24 have spawned many imitators both on TV and on the big screen. Vantage Point seems to be the latest in this series and while more entertaining than most, it can’t live up to its influences.

The story revolves an assassination of a president, a bombing and the inevitable conspiracy that these acts reveal. The gimmick is that the scenes are played out again and again, each time from the viewpoint of a different character that witnesses the events and each one possessing information the others don’t that allow audiences to put the pieces together and see the conspiracy. The gimmick itself is fairly successful; starting from the some moment in time with each character, playing out its scenes then the film rewinds back to start and begins again with a different character’s experience. There is entertainment in trying to guess what will be revealed in the next scene although the film and the editing move at such breakneck pace that many questions are actually left unanswered (to probably be revealed on deleted scenes when the film is released on DVD) and some scenes actually contradict others (one perspective sees Secret Service agents open fire on a character yet in later perspectives they have disappeared and someone else does the shooting). It seems that the director was overconfident in his ability to be clever by overlooking some glaring plot holes.

The film still manages to be very entertaining. Action sequences are mostly well done including a great little car chase towards the end and the characters, while having little time to really impress, are fleshed out more from the abilities of the cast than from the script with Forest Whitaker adding warmth to his tourist and Sigourney Weaver adding an almost “seen it all before” weariness to her TV news editor and Dennis Quaid fills the role of action sequence fairly well, even though his near invincibility in some sequences seem at odds with someone of his age. Some actors and characters do suffer in the editing. Matthew Fox is given little to do until the end and little is given to tell us about what his background is and the villains of the film are mostly stereotypical bad guys spouting clichéd dialogue.

Overall, the film is entertaining, if flawed. It has, however, little substance that would warrant repeat viewings and few too many inconsistencies to be truly satisfying. If you miss this at the cinema you’d probably be better served by sticking with 24 at home.

Rating: 3/5

Drillbit Taylor

Director: Steve Brill
Starring: Owen Wilson, Nate Hartley & Troy Gentile

A fun comedy, mostly aimed at younger viewers but featuring a likeable performance from Owen Wilson that will entertain most audiences.

If you are not a fan of Owen Wilson, then it would be doubtful you would be going to see Drillbit Taylor. However, if you are a fan then there is plenty here to satisfy you even though its plot being aimed at younger audiences means it won be quite as entertaining to older audiences as some of the actor’s previous efforts.

After standing up for a kid being bullied on their first day of school, Ryan (Gentile) and Wade (Hartley) also find themselves becoming the focus of the school bully’s attentions. Not confident enough to fight for themselves they look to hire a bodyguard to protect them and ultimately come across Wilson’s Drillbit Taylor, a charming, but homeless army deserter. Playing on his usual loveable loser persona, Wilson’s Drillbit Taylor initially sees the kids as a chance for a quick buck by scamming out of their money with made up life lessons and martial arts training but upon seeing the kid’s suffering firsthand and realizing his own accountability in that suffering, he finds himself genuinely wanting to help. Of course this is made difficult when he is unaccustomed to handling responsibility.

While the plot takes predictable turns and the lessons each character will learn can be guessed right at the start, it is the performances of the cast, Owen Wilson in particular, that make Drillbit Taylor enjoyable. Wilson isn’t adding anything new in his performance here but is still as charming and funny as usual while also offering greeting card sentiment and motivational speeches to the kids in deadpan style. The performances of Troy Gentile and Nate Hartley as Ryan and Wade are also highly watchable with Gentile in particular showing promise for a future career in comedy. Stephen Root puts in an amusing performance as a clueless principal and producer Judd Apatow’s wife Leslie Mann makes an appearance as a flirty English teacher who becomes involved when Wilson’s Drillbit talks his way into a substitute teacher job to be able to protect the boys without revealing his true purpose as a bodyguard. The only weak point in the casting is David Dorfman as an, unnecessary, addition to Ryan and Wade’s circle and manages to do little more than annoy and distract from other characters.

Overall, while not the best comedy of 2008 or of Owen Wilson’s career, there are still plenty of enjoyable moments and performances to make this film worth watching.

Rating: 3/5