Rock of Ages

A musical based on the rock songs and legends of the 80’s that would work especially well on stage one feels.  As a film it is decidedly uneven but thanks to an increasingly uptempo pace and the great songs it ends up being watchable without being a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination.  Most of the plot revolves around two young people trying to make their way in Hollywood.  Juliette Hough is sort of Aguilera like in her role and Diego Boneta makes up for credibility with his charm.  It is the supporting cast that shines here.  Tom Cruise leads the fun as a maniac eccentric rocker Stacy Jaxx, Alec Baldwin is a nightclub owner with his number two, the insane Brit Russell Brand.  Catherine Zeta-Jones is an ambitious politician’s wife and Paul Giammatti is fine as Jaxx’s manager.  Mary J Blige adds her acting and singing talent to the mix. The Baldwin/Brand scenes are great and while most of the twists are implausible, the enthusiasm of the film wipes away our scepticism. I’m sure they all had loads of fun.

★★★

Blue Jasmine

A real return to form by Woody Allen in which he takes the bare bones of “A Streetcar named Desire” and updates it to today.  Jasmine French  is coming down to earth with a bump.  She is forced to stay with her low class adopted sister in San Francisco as she has lost everything to the state as her husband was discovered to be a massive business swindler.  He goes off to jail where he subsequently hangs himself and her Park Lane lifestyle is over.  With her airs and graces she lands up in sister Ginger’s living room and can’t help but look down on her sister’s life and friends.  Trouble is Jasmine has never really had to work for a living and becoming a dental receptionist and studying computing is all too much for her.  She freezes in the attempt and it seems that she is really only successful pretending to be things she isn’t.  Allen has lots to say about the state of society these days, the vacuous rich, the poor with little prospect of really advancing, etc.  And then there are both the allusions to Williams’ play and the humour and wisdom mined from the characters themselves.  Cate Blanchett is excellent as Jasmine in one of her most complete and compelling screen roles.  She covers the whole gamut in this movie.  Sally Hawkins does a pretty good job too as Ginger and Alec Baldwin as slimy Hal is also fine not to mention a host of supporting actors.  Good script, good direction and editing.  What more could you want?

★★★★+

Mariachi Gringo

Edward is stuck on a farm in Kansas with ultra conservative parents and some suggestion that he is being medicated for emotional issues.  Basically he wants to get out but doesn’t know how until one day he walks into the El Mariachi restaurant in town and befriends the owner who is a mariachi singer.  He teaches Ed a thing or two and then encourages him to go down to Guadalajara to learn from the authentic mariachis there.  To the horror of his family this is exactly what he does and finds liberation, love (of sorts)and a place in the world. He works in a café and studies when he can finally auditioning for a local mariachi band and being accepted as the “mariachi gringo”.  Shawn Ashmore is sound in the lead role, Martha Higareda as the girl who helps him in Mexico is a fresh face and Lila Downs as the local mariachi diva is excellent.  The photography is great as is the music and while this is definitely a small film it is both professional and has a good message without any falseness.  A heart-warming little film by Tom Gustafson.

★★★+

Christopher and his Kind

This BBC telemovie has had some wider arthouse releases due to the fact that it portrays an interesting moment of history.  Based on the memoirs of English writer Christopher Isherwood, it takes place in the Berlin of the early 30’s and the rise of Hitler.  Isherwood was there with his friend WH Auden and, as he said, “to meet boys” – Berlin being a more liberal place for homosexuals in that time.  This experience gave rise to several of his novels, especially Sally Bowles, which later became the inspiration behind Cabaret. Finally, Isherwood escaped back to Great Britain and after failed attempts to save a boyfriend from having to stay in Nazi Germany he went off to the US for the rest of his life.  The book and later film “A Single Man” covers aspects of that period of his life.

This work is a competent one, with Matt Smith warming to the task as Isherwood.  Imogen Poots is spot on as the cabaret singer Jean Ross and Lindsay Duncan as his aristocratic mother strikes the right note.  There is a nice balance of candour and subtlety in this work so while it is no earth shaker it gives us a well-made historical drama.

★★★+

The Way

A film with something of a difference.  Emilio Estevez directs his father as a doctor whose son dies in an accident on the first day of his pilgrim’s walk to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.  Arriving to collect the body, Tom decides on the spur of the moment to make the walk in a sort of homage to his son and a means to assuage his grief.  He strides out determined to be alone in his pain but is befriended by other walkers and ends up with three companions – a rag bag group comprising Joost, a hearty Dutchman, Sarah, a bitter chain-smoking Canadian and Tom, a crazy Irish travel writer failed novelist.  In different ways they adapt to each other and develop compassion and some understanding for each other.  It is a film about faith and trust and the need to rely on others.  It is quite slow but nicely shot and with a good soundtrack.  I can’t say that Martin Sheen set me alight in the lead but the overall effect is that of a thoughtful, competent work.

★★★