AMERICAN SNIPER
* * * *
MyTimesPlus Screening // 2015 // In U.K. cinemas now
"Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle's pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and turns him into a legend. Back home to his wife and kids after four tours of duty, however, Chris finds that it is the war he can't leave behind."
(ALL IMAGES SOURCED FROM www.imdb.com)
I can't remember the last time I saw a film where the audience of a full, packed screening stood up and left as the credits rolled in complete silence, but following the MyTimesPlus advance screening of American Sniper on Tuesday you could have heard a pin drop as everyone filtered out into the foyer. As far as films surrounding the Iraq War go there have been better ones made in recent years - The Hurt Locker is the most obvious comparison - but Clint Eastwood is well and truly back on form here after last year's disastrous Jersey Boys, and the 84 year-old director has created a tense movie about the legendary U.S. sniper, Chris Kyle.
Morally it's a bit muddled, and Eastwood never really seems to commit to a specific narrative surrounding the war - it doesn't feature as much gung-ho Americana as I anticipated, but at the same time there's very little conflict over whether America's actions are correct in the circumstances. All decisions rest on the (beefed up, 40lb larger than normal) shoulders of Bradley Cooper, and while on the one hand it's a study of one man's singular experience of the war, it still comes off as a little naive not to engage in the discussion beyond that, particularly as the film's pretty much guaranteed to be a success and watched by millions all over the world.
However, there's no getting away from the fact that ignoring the wayward morals it's a genuinely great film. Cooper is fantastic as protagonist Chris Kyle, carrying the film through smaller character driven scenes with a nuanced emotional intensity, and slotting into larger set pieces with bravado and a undisputed air of patriotism. He makes Kyle a sympathetic character in unsympathetic circumstances, and as he undertakes acts of violence in the name of his country Cooper somehow makes his character's decisions seem temporarily understandable. Although he shines on the battlefield, nestled behind a rifle on a rooftop, it's in the scenes with wife Taya (Sienna Miller) back on home ground that Cooper excels. He keeps the turmoil and emotional impact of war just under the surface, occasionally allowing them to briefly escape and hint at how much damage so many tours and kills have done to the man America hailed as a hero.
American Sniper isn't an exceptional film, nor is it ground-breaking, but more than anything it's refreshing to see a plain, run-of-the-mill war film full of tension and decent battle scenes in the middle of a season of arty, intense films. Yes it's been nominated for lots of American awards but at the end of the day it's simply the type of good film that allows you to switch off for two hours and be visually entertained. January's so saturated with nominated movies it can be easy to forget, but isn't basic entertainment kind of the point of film?
GET SMART
* * *
Sky Movies // 2008 // DVD
"A highly intellectual but socially awkward spy is tasked with preventing a terrorist attack from a Russian spy agency."
Jonny English must hold a pretty special spot in my heart as not even Steve Carell can top Rowan Atkinson when it comes to playing a bumbling, ineffectual and ludicrous spy. Get Smart has its moments of hilarity - and definitely isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination - but pathetic so-bad-they're-good secret agents have been done so much better in the past.
UNBROKEN
* * *
2014 // In U.K. cinemas now
"After a near-fatal plane crash in WWII, Olympian Louis Zamperini spends a harrowing 47 days in a raft with two fellow crewmen before he's caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp."
Unbroken is a strong offering from director Angelina Jolie, showcasing yet another brilliant, restrained and attention-grabbing performance from man of the hour Jack O'Connell. The true story at the heart of the film is remarkable, and such a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in times of abject horror that it seems unbelievable. If it wasn't for archive footage during the credits it would be incredibly easy to chalk the entire film - and arguably weak Coen brothers script - up to Hollywood over-exaggeration in the hopes of enticing academy members into bestowing numerous accolades on the POW drama. Yes, it's heartbreaking and awe-inspiring to the end, but after a wonderful start the film unfortunately loses steam and begins to unravel, lessening the impact of what could have been an epic and gut-wrenching adaptation of a true story.
There's enough drama in the truth that it's disappointing that Jolie doesn't manage to get this across, instead relying on an admittedly excellent O'Connell to carry the film with little assistance. He may steal every scene he's in, but under the surface there's not much to the character and thus his actions seem hollow and largely go by unexplained. Time restraints and editing may be to blame here - I don't know - but I feel Jolie could have gone for the jugular in terms of emotional impact and really milked Zamperini's personal strength and his burning desire to stay alive in the face of overwhelmingly negative odds. It's such a shame that such an astonishing true story has been reduced to something rather forgettable.
It's an exhausting film to watch. Zamperini is pushed to seemingly impossible limits, testing both the physical strength of his body (47 days starving at sea in an inflatable life raft immediately followed by a period tortured in a Japanese POW camp) and the resilience of his mind. Throughout everything his spirit remains unbroken, but here it's hard to believe how one man could be so strong in the face of such harrowing loss and emotional turmoil. It's only believable because you go into the cinema knowing you're watching a true story - Jolie has taken the truth and made it appear to be an underwhelming fiction.
However, it's not all bad. O'Connell is once again on top form as Louis Zamperini, and Domhnall Gleeson is excellent in his supporting role as Phil - Zamperini's fellow life-raft survivor. The shots of the ocean and scenes of the raft being circled by sharks and thrown around in a storm are gripping and genuinely terrifying at points. Unbroken isn't the sweeping, epic film I expected but instead one that starts with high hopes and then coasts along for the final hour. It's worth a watch but was sadly rightfully snubbed during awards season.
THE HISTORY BOYS
* * * * *
2006 // DVD
"An unruly class of gifted and charming teenage boys are taught by two eccentric and innovative teachers, as their headmaster pushes for them all to get accepted into Oxford or Cambridge."
I don't think I'll ever tire of the wonderfully written, beautifully crafted and expertly acted The History Boys. It's a gem of a film that hits all the right notes, with stellar performances from one of the best ensemble casts of young actors and a stand-out turn from the late, grate Richard Griffiths. It'll strike a particular chord with anyone that's studied history, an undertaking that Russell Tovey summed up perfectly with, "history, it's just one fucking thing after another."
Plus, it contains one of my favourite film quotations of all time:
"The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - that you'd thought special, particular to you. And here it is, set down by someone else, a person you've never met, maybe even someone long dead. And it's as if a hand has come out, and taken yours."
THE OFFICE
* * * *
Netflix // 2005-2013 // DVD
"A mockumentary on a group of typical office workers, where the workday consists of ego clashes, inappropriate behavior, and tedium. Based on the hit BBC series."
It may not be a film, but The Office has taken over my life for the last month or so, and given how I've forgone watching films this week in order to finally finish season 9 I thought it was worth a mention. I'm not an enormous lover of television, and aside from the odd show I religiously watch every week I'd pick a trip to the cinema or downloading a classic film off Sky Movies over catching up with a show any day. However, I am also partial to a good binge every now and then (Game of Thrones and Orange is the New Black come to mind here…), and recently had been looking for something to have on in the background as I baked and worked my way through my ever increasing to-do list. That's where The Office came in.
For the last month it's taken over from Princess Diaries 2 and Chicago as the thing I put on when there's nothing else on to fill the silence and mainly use as a background noise. For me the main appeal has been that it's enjoyable, but I've never had to stop everything to seriously concentrate on it. It's the sort of programme that's ridiculously easy to watch, and I've managed to successfully dip in and out of it - doing things for a couple of episodes, then sitting to actually watch the important ones - without missing any major plot points and still get swept up in the story and the characters.
I loved it. Having never seen the original BBC version (I can't tolerate Ricky Gervais) I'm not in a position to compare the two, but needless to say I adored this one. The writers find humour in the utterly mundane, make unlikeable characters bizarrely charming, and ensure that even though Michael Scott (Steve Carell) must be the most annoying boss in the world you know working for him would be an absolute blast. In all honesty I think it was two seasons too long and it majorly lost its way after Carell left, but it's worth persevering with as it never stopped being funny, sweet and unashamedly ridiculous right to the end.
As far as guilty-pleasure, easy-watching comedy shows go, The Office has to be one of the best, and I really don't regret spending so long wrapped up in the world of the Dunder Mifflin paper company.
So, what have you seen this week? Is there a television show you obsess over and think should be the next on my list to watch? Let me know in the comments below!
No comments:
Post a Comment