A Few Best Men

Australian-British comedy by Stephan Elliott, director of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert from the writer of Death at a Funeral.  Just the sort of manic farcical tonic for a wet afternoon.  The film which pairs an ambitious Australian politician and his family with four student prankster types from London at the wedding of the politicians daughter with one of them is the catalyst for a crazy series of misfortunes and mishaps almost completely sabotaging the wedding.  Some of the jokes are a little forced but as the momentum starts to build up, the piling on of hilarious situations does raise a good laugh peaking in the best man’s completely inappropriate speech.  Xavier Samuel appears again, this time as David the groom, Laura Brent is his bride but it is the supporting crew that shine, especially Kris Marshall and Kevin Bishop as two of the incompetents, Olivia Newton John as the bride’s racy mum and Rebel Wilson as the “rebellious” daughter.  Not a great film and not up to Priscilla but it has its enjoyable moments and luckily it is slickly paced.

★★★

Adore

The hand of novelist Doris Lessing can be seen in this film. It is her short story that is the basis for this slightly disturbing film set in Australia about two best friends who fall in love with each other’s 20 year old son.  There is something rather contrived about the whole scene but the actors manage to create a watchable film that throws up questions about taboos and secrets.  It doesn’t end terribly convincingly and many viewers may imagine other denouements but there it is.  Robin Wright in particular and the always dependable Naomi Watts do good work as the “perfect mothers”, Xavier Samuel and James Frecheville as the young hunks are also up to the job but I did feel direction, camera and music tried a little too hard.  Nice NSW beach scenes but all a little bit distant from reality.

★★ +

Margaret

This rather unheralded film turns out to be a sprawling gem.  The story of Lisa, an idealistic adolescent attending private school in New York and witness to a road accident that has her pushing for justice and poking her nose in wherever under the guise of seeking justice and expiating her sense of guilt at having contributed to the accident.  The emotions she feels naturally and those which the case generate quickly lose control and get shot all over the place, in her personal relationships, at school and especially with her actress mother who has at best a prickly relationship with her.  It is an absorbing tale, made richer by the way New York is viewed and by the sensitivity and intelligence of director and screenplay scribe Kenneth Lonergan.  He even brings the film to a close with an opera signifying the emotional unconscious present throughout this work.  It is long, doesn’t always work (the mother’s relationship with boyfriend (Jean Reno) is an awkward piece) but overall there is plenty to keep one engaged.  Most of all it is the acting that impresses.  Anna Paquin does her best work as an adult as Lisa – a superb performance holding the film together as a rather unlikeable but completely credible teenager.  J Smith-Cameron is great as the mother – she is apparently better known as a theatre actress, Allison Janney, Mark Ruffalo have cameos in which they shine, Matt Damon convinces as the unsure teacher Lisa has a crush on, Kieran Culkin as the boy she debuts with is also great and Jeanne Berlin plays the friend of the accident victim so well that we wonder why we have never seen her before.  Well recommended all round.  And strangely many critics didn’t like it precisely because it is messily authentic.

★★★★ +

Los Amantes Pasajeros/I’m So Excited

Pedro Almodovar returns with a film about a stricken plane and a crash landing.  That basically sums up the film.  On one hand it is an attempt to recreate the camp comedies of his early days, lots of promiscuity and kitsch scandal with three very gay cabin crew lip synching to the Pointer Sisters’ hit at a key moment.  On another level it is a satirical bite at Spanish society, the huge amounts of corruption and graft, the unholy alliances, the money and sex with all the action taking place in business class and tourist class drugged to the hilt.  That may be a great analogy but the problem of the film is that it comes across as leaden and seldom ignites any enthusiasm. The script comes out flat and the actors and technical crew seem like they are acting in a poor drawing room comedy.  Cecilia Roth and Javier Camara do what they can but this is not a convincing final product even though it may bear up for better analysis in the future.  It’s simply that it fails to excite its audience.

★★

The Names of Love

French film that won some awards a couple of years back.  A sort of Woody Allenesque comedy featuring odd couple, Arthur Martin (Jacques Gamblin) who specialises in animal diseases like bird flu and Baya Benmahmoud (Sara Forestier), a flighty free spirit who sleeps with her political opponents.  Both come from weird families and the cast of minor characters fits well with the general theme.  The clever script takes digs at politics, religion, psychology and all sorts of modern cultural phenomena in France.  While it is not laugh a minute stuff, there is enough here to keep you entertained and as a movie I quite enjoyed it. Forestier won the César for best actress here and she creates an unforgettable character.

★★★ +

Out in the dark

An Israeli movie that packs a punch giving us the scenario of a gay love affair between a Palestinian psychology student (Nimr) and an Israeli lawyer (Roy).

Nimr almost has to go to Tel Aviv clandestinely until he gets a study pass and stays over to see Roy.  Roy works with his father but is somewhat directionless until this love absorbs his entire life.  The big problem is that Nimr has a brother smuggling arms for the Palestinians and is part of a group targeting Arab gays as being vulnerable to Israeli security.  This latter organisation put pressure on Nimr wanting him to spy for them at the university in return for not revealing his sexual orientation to Nimr’s family.  Of course, everything does come out in the open and Roy makes frantic efforts to try to get Nimr a permit to live in Israel or to help him leave the country so they can be together.  It is a typical story of love thwarted by national and social laws and conventions with the merit of portraying life in Israel and Palestine today.  Human beings have a lot to answer for. Nicholas Jacob and Michael Aloni are effective in the lead roles and while there are some gaps in the credibility of the story and some áreas that needed more exploration, this film by Michael Mayer is a solid one with a strong social message.

★★★★

 

Newcastle

Australian surf movie of sorts – a sort of update of Puberty Blues but more arty and dark in places.  It has a rivalry, a tragedy, the usual shenanigans of young surfer types who inhabit the beaches in and around Newcastle.  Nothing new in this story of Jesse and his brothers, Victor, the older one with his unfulfilled promise and Fergus, the younger gay more geekish brother who has never really learnt to surf.  The merits of this film lie more in technical aspects and mood than in plot or acting.  The photography by Richard Michalak is superbly trance like and there is a haunting beauty in many scenes, even of quite ugly ships anchored offshore.  I quite enjoyed this film of Dan Castle, a homage to the beaches of his youth but little stretched my mind.

★★

Life During Wartime

Todd Solondz is not everyone’s cup of tea with a bleak and at times shocking look at dysfunctional family life.  Here he retakes the characters of Happiness, recasts them and carries on looking at the issue of forgiving and forgetting with Bill the father and convicted pedophile back in town and attempts to restart relationships occupying many of the female members of the cast.  There is always a child’s eye view, this time the bar mitzvah boy Timmy (Dylan Snyder) asking awkward questions.  Allison Janney and Shirley Henderson do well as the two main sisters if you can get past Henderson’s babyish voice and her fantasies of dead lovers. Ally Sheedy makes a nice little appearance, Ciaran Hinds is effective as the pedophile Bill and there is a great cameo by Charlotte Rampling as a bitter bar-room bitch.  Despite all this and despite some very well directed and poignant scenes and a suitably faded scene setting, it is not a film to like so much nor want to see again.  Maybe just a few scenes.  Its just all a bit cold and dark.

★★★ +

Another Woman’s Life

Juliette Binoche does not always choose the best vehicles but when she acts in them she lifts them enormously.  This rather odd “comedy” is about a woman who wakes up one day with ten years of her life forgotten.  She has had a child in the meantime, become a successful business woman, treated friends and family badly and is divorcing her husband.  Her last memory is in fact starting the romance.  I had serious questions as to the point of the film since apart from a degree of remorse when she discovers her bad behavior and some moderately comic scenes as she tries to bluff her way through business meetings, there seems to be no other clear message. Binoche and Mathieu Kassovitz do what they can with this first film by Sylvie Testud but it fails to really inspire.

★★