The Wolf of Wall Street

Undeniably a Martin Scorsese feature.  In your face for three hours with little spared in the way of sex, drugs and corruption.  And lots of laughs in spite of the subject matter which is Jordan Belfort, the Wall Street broker jailed for fraud, laundering and excesses.  He is now out as a motivational speaker.

This is the third film in a row that I have seen about greed and by far the best.  Where Luhrmann and Coppola fell down is with the mechanics of film making.  Despite the length of this film and despite the lack of great characterisation, the pace is great and there are some excellent scenes, both serious and comic that keep our attention.  Leo Di Caprio seems much more comfortable here than in Gatsby and is ably supported by Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie.  Joanna Lumley and Matthew McConaughy have good cameos. Like the other films, there seems no repentance on the part of Belfort for his actions and one wonders if it is so obvious that this behaviour is immoral.  Anyway, this may not be Scorsese’s best but it is a very competent work.

★★★★

The Bling Ring

Sofia Coppola has her own particular perspective but that does not necessarily translate into good film making.  Her latest film based on a real story has one abiding merit.  It reflects the public obsession with public fame on the basis of material goods and having your name in the media for whatever reason.  The film is about a group of teenagers who break into the homes of the media famous in LA to help themselves to personal belongings and clothes.  It may seem unbelievable but the houses were not secured nor alarmed – Paris Hilton allegedly left her keys under the mat!  So, you have a group of wannabes who wannabe in the place of other wannabes who have made it.  Whatever it takes to do it.  The film therefore reflects the shift in values among one sector of society thanks to the decades of consumerism and the more recent self-publicising tools of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  The film raises a lot of questions especially the unrepentant attitude of the criminals, led by Emma Watson who sees the moment of notoriety as a chance to exploit to get more fame.  We see it everyday now.

As a film however it is not so impressive.  There is a lot of repetition of the robberies, filler scenes trying on clothes and taking selfies (I know this is true to life), some fairly dull dialogue and no attempt to explain some of the unbelievable facts.  It seems to be a rather quick pastiche of the story rather than a crafted piece of art.  I was glad when it ended.

★★

The Great Gatsby

Baz Luhrmann creates a version of this film that is extravaganza galore, a sort of Lord of the Rings style excess of sunny days, flappers and the Charleston, New York from photoshopped old picture books and Disney castles.  It’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang meets Gone with the Wind.  And much more.  While the challenge to our imaginations of the famous novel are no bad thing the question is – does it make good cinema?  Yes, up to a point.  Visually it is great.  What falls short it seems to me are elements of the original style and narrative and aspects of the characterisation.  The second half of the film which focuses more on the story and less on the fireworks seems to drag more and is ultimately less satisfying.  While Leonardo Di Caprio holds the centre well enough with Tobey Maguire as the naive narrator/neighbour, neither really shine.  Carey Mulligan is, in my honest opinion, unable to breathe much life into Daisy and it is Elizabeth Debicki without much to do as Jordan who stands out more.  Yes, prices for costumes and artistic effects, a good modernised soundtrack as we would expect from Luhrmann and that is about it.

★★

August: Osage County

A rather torrid movie with raised decibels and strong language set in Oklahoma.  Violet and Beverley are a 60 something couple whose marriage has degenerated into tolerated companionship.  Violet has mouth cancer but smokes and pours pills down her throat.  Beverley drinks and at the beginning of the film commits suicide.  Back home come the couple’s three daughters and Violet’s sister and husband plus other hangers on for a couple of days of screaming slanging and secret spilling.  Violet was abused as a child and takes all this out on her family who in return for the most part give as good as they get.  It is not an especially nice film with its subject of humiliation and antagonism and it shows its origins as a stage play rather too much (static talking scenes). It feels somewhat stretched in credibility too.  Nevertheless, it is very watchable especially thanks to a great cast.  Meryl Streep as Violet has an overwritten part and acts out every ounce of it – perhaps a little too much but she does bring credibility to the character.  Julia Roberts is superb as Barbara, the only daughter who stands up to her.  Margo Martindale and Chris Cooper shine as the sister and brother-in-law and Abigail Breslin and Julianne Nicholson also add class.  I was not so convinced by Juliette Lewis’s appearance here.  Overall, it is a competent film but you feel rather flattened by the end.

★★★★

Stoker

Leading Korean director Chan-Wook Park makes his first English language film.  It is a thriller that starts quietly and subtly and becomes increasingly violent and disturbing.  From the point of view of direction it seems to be a carefully constructed work, impeccably photographed.  We are left until the end in doubt as to the motivations of the characters and even then there is vagueness.  By the end, the sense is that the film is really quite light but does manage to keep our interest.  This is particularly due to Mia Wasikowska in the lead as the 18 year-old India. Nicole Kidman does a good job as mother while Matthew Goode is also effective as Charlie, the uncle who mysteriously arrives.  A small part is well acted by yet another Aussie, Jackie Weaver.  In all, a work that lays the foundation for better to come.

★★★

No

Pablo Larraín is a Chilean director of great promise who takes the story of the plebiscite in 1989 which saw the end of Pinochet’s rule and brings it to the screen.  Famous playwright Antonio Skármeta made it into a play first.  As a film it comes across as a type of docudrama blending old footage with new in the style of a grainy old newsreel.  The story is in itself novel – how by means of advertising strategies the anti-Pinochetistas managed to win with the “No” vote – a tremendous ask given the situation.  It is seen through the eyes of creative adman Rene (Gael García Bernal) whose insistence on a happy campaign wins the day. It helps to have some knowledge of the context as at times the film seems to drag.  But as an example of how selling is now at the heart of politics it is a master class.  García Bernal is a very watchable actor and does a good transmitting the undercurrents at play.  I learnt quite a bit from this movie but felt that it was probably a bit simplistic.

★★★

The Butler

Loaded with stars and rather much your Forrest Gump meets The Help, this film by Lee Daniels is a rather sanitised look at recent US history through the eyes of a black butler who serves under something like 8 Presidents at the White House. Forest Whitaker is good enough to sail over the rather obvious screenplay and some of the more cipher-like moments and is ably assisted by Oprah Winfrey.  Some of the cameos are good like Lenny Kravitz as fellow butler but others range from odd – Alan Rickman as Reagan to quite unappealing – Jane Fonda as Nancy. Somehow I always felt rather manipulated by this film and that it plodded rather obviously to its long foreseen conclusion, the arrival of Barack Obama.  An exercise more than anything else.

★★+

The Book Thief

Based on a best-seller about a young girl in WW2 Germany who is farmed out to foster parents, learns to read and becomes a fanatical reader.  The Ann Frank twist comes when the family hide a Jew in the basement and then on top of it all we have Death as the Narrator.  All this makes for a sort of sanitised movie about the Nazi period.  Much of it seems to take place in light snow or winter sunlight and we are generally spared all gore.   I found the film long and rather unconvincing despite the talents of Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson and Sophie Nélisse in the lead roles.

★★

Captain Phillips

Paul Greengrass of United 93 fame knows how to make real events into thrilling cinema.  This tale of the 2009 hijacking of an american container ship by Somali pirates is a smoothly executed work, with enough twists to keep us hooked.  Maybe more of the causes and context could have been explored but that seems less Greengrass’s intention: here he shoots a David and Goliath story of tension and violence.  Tom Hanks gives one of his better performances here and indeed the final scenes when he is in shock are among the best he has done and the best we have seen this year.  Oddly, he was overlooked for an Oscar nomination.  Newcomer Barkhad Abdi as the lead pirate matches him all the way and gives us a convincing performance as the cocky pirate.  Much of the acting rings true, authentic and non grandstanding.  I am not sure the movie as a whole is so authentic and even-handed as it could be but it does entertain and excite.

★★★★+

20 Feet from Stardom

A look at the largely unheralded careers of backing singers and how talented and influential they are in producing some of the best hits ever.  Definitely interesting material which moves along smoothly and gives us a good impression of how life is for these people.

★★★