Friday's Film Reviews
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but when that beauty defies the social mores of a prejudiced era, it must be cherished in secret.
‘Belle’ is the enchanting dramatisation of a true story of fortitude across racial and class divides at a time when pompous men of privilege were vociferously debating the end of slavery in England.
The high-profile case at the centre of the debate concerned the crew of a ship called the Zong, who had thrown dozens of slaves overboard because they claimed they did not have enough supplies for the duration of the voyage.
When the ship reached port, the Zong’s Liverpool-based owners demanded compensation for the lost slaves but insurers refused to honour the claim.
The subsequent trial posed uncomfortable questions about the monetary value of human life.
Elegantly scripted by Misan Sagay, Belle is a beautifully crafted companion piece to ‘12 Years A Slave’ that traverses a moral maze through British eyes and reminds us that we have blood on our hands too.
The ensemble cast delivers excellent performances, particularly Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who possesses beauty and vulnerability on camera.
She catalyses smouldering screen chemistry with Sam Reid, and Tom Wilkinson brings pomp and circumstance to his pivotal role as a man with the power to chip away at the foundations of the legal firmament.
Dramatic momentum steadily builds to Lord Mansfield’s deliberation on the Zong case, watched intently by Dido and Davinier.
Like them, we’re spellbound by his ruling.
4/5
82%
In a career spanning more than 20 years, French writer-director Jean-Pierre Jeunet has chronicled the human condition – warts and all – through the medium of visually stunning and imaginative fantasies.
The charming Oscar-nominated ‘Amelie’ propelled him into mainstream and deservedly won Best Picture and Best Director at the 2001 European Film Awards.
‘T.S. Spivet’ is a similarly magical journey of self-discovery based on a book by Reif Larsen, who has co-written the big screen adaptation.
This endearing and occasionally heart-rending fable centres on a 10-year-old prodigy, who must travel more than 1,700 miles from his family’s ranch in Montana to Washington D.C. to collect a prestigious prize.
‘T.S. Spivet’ is peppered with Jeunet’s trademark visual flourishes.
When the eponymous tyke must make a spur-of-the-moment decision about telling a fib, Jeunet imagines T.S. standing at a crossroads with one signpost pointing temptingly towards the Mountain Of Lies and another urging him on to the Prairie Of Truth.
Light comedy and tragedy walk hand in hand, building to a crescendo of emotional outpouring that solidifies the bonds between T.S. and his kin.
Kyle Catlett is utterly adorable yet manages to sidestep the cloying cuteness of some child stars.
He anchors the picture beautifully with excellent support from Helena Bonham Carter, Callum Keith Rennie and the hilarious Niamh Wilson, who plays her fame-obsessed teen to a tee.
Art direction and cinematography are typically sumptuous, especially in 3D, which Jeunet treats like a playground to indulge his delightfully childish French fancies.
4/5
63%
On May 5, 1993, three eight-year-old West Memphis boys – Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore – went out to play on their bicycles and never returned home.
The following day, the youngsters’ bodies were recovered from a muddy creek in Robin Hood Hills: all three were naked, bound hands to feet with their shoe-laces.
The deeply religious community sought justice and the finger of suspicion pointed at 18-year-old Damien Echols, a heavy metal fanatic with an interest in white witchcraft, and his two friends, 17-year-old Jessie Misskelley Jr and 16-year-old Jason Baldwin.
After hours of police interrogation, Misskelley Jr confessed to the murders and the three teenagers stood trial.
‘Devil’s Knot’ pointlessly dramatises emotionally charged proceedings from the point of view of private investigator Ron Lax (Colin Firth), who was hired by the defence team to cast doubt on the guilt of the suspects.
Dedicated to the memories of Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore, ‘Devil’s Knot’ is a pedestrian reconstruction that lacks any sense of dramatic momentum or narrative focus.
Canadian director Egoyan elegantly contemplated themes of grief and shared loss in his mesmerising 1997 drama ‘The Sweet Hereafter’ about a bus accident that tears apart a community.
Here, he demonstrates none of the same sensitivity or acuity, trudging coolly through the facts as Oscar winners Firth and Witherspoon struggle in vain to conjure emotion from a linear, plodding script.
The film’s intentions are unquestionably noble but the execution leaves a great deal to be desired.
2½
25%
Friday the 13th of June will be exceedingly unlucky for cinemagoers who hand over hard-earned cash in exchange for ghoulish thrills and spills in ‘Oculus’.
Writer-director Mike Flanagan’s ham-fisted take on a haunted house creaks with predictability, and jump-out-of-your-seat scares are perilously thin on the ground.
The script, co-written by Jeff Howard, unfolds in parallel timelines set 11 years apart and the boundary between fantasy and reality becomes so blurred that it’s impossible to make sense of the on-screen madness until the end credits roll.
That said, it’s abundantly clear where Flanagan’s lumbering picture is headed and which two-dimensional characters must be slain, sparing them and us from swathes of risible dialogue that might convince some viewers they are watching a comedy.
‘Oculus’ doesn’t play fair, creating nightmarish dreams within dreams within dreams that test our resolve.
Pacing is sluggish and from the moment the siblings venture back into the house that brought them anguish, we know one or both of them are certain to leave in a coroner’s bag.
Gillan and Thwaites don’t have sufficient screen time to forge credible on-screen chemistry so it’s hard to invest our emotions in their survival.
A blood-soaked finale intentionally leaves the door ajar for a sequel, which should never see the light of day.
2/5
72%
For their follow-up to the 2004 film ‘Only Human’, directors Dominic Harari and Teresa Pelegri chronicle an unlikely romance on the streets of present-day Dublin.
Handsome and charming food writer Oliver (Richard Coyle) knows how to engage ladies but his brief relationships always end in misery.
His father Eddie (Lorcan Cranitch) and good friend Simon (Simon Delaney) offer Oliver advice but he blunders from one sexual mishap to the next, unable to decide what he is looking for.
One of these misadventures results in Oliver quivering stark naked beside the River Liffey with only his hands to spare his blushes.
There, he meets sexy Spanish passerby Bibiana (Leonor Watling), who already has a no-good boyfriend called Fernando (Gines Garcia Millan).
Despite the language barrier, Oliver and Bibiana strike up a touching friendship that kindles the sparks of romance.
N/A
