IT : CHAPTER TWO - Tuesday 10th September 2019.

'IT : CHAPTER TWO' is Rated MA15+  and here it is - the sequel to the hugely popular and successful 'IT' supernatural horror film of 2017 based on the 1986 Stephen King novel of the same name, which I saw earlier this week. That first instalment raked in US$701M at the global Box Office off the back of a production budget of US$35M making it the highest-grossing R-Rated horror film of all-time, the highest-grossing horror film internationally and the highest-grossing horror film of all time. The film also received positive reviews, with many Critics calling it one of the best Stephen King adaptations, and along the way it picked up eight award wins and a further 43 nominations from around the awards and festival circuit. This film saw its Premier screening in Los Angeles at the end of August, and went on general release in the US and here in Australia last week. Off the back of a Production Budget of circa US$70M, the film has so far grossed US$221M and has generated for the most part positive Press. Both instalments have been Directed by Argentinian Andy Muschietti.

It is 2016 and we open up at the Derry Carnival at night, with fair ground rides, side stalls and attractions aplenty to occupy anyone and everyone. At the carnival we are introduced to Adrian Mellon (Xavier Dolan) and his boyfriend Don Hagarty (Taylor Frey) who are attacked by a group of homophobic youths on their way home. Beating the pair up on the street out of view from the general public, the youths man handle a semi-conscious Mellon over a bridge and into the fast flowing river below. Hagarty, distraught, gives chase to his struggling boyfriend only to see him rescued from the river by Pennywise, who in turn kills him. Hagarty looks on helpless and horrified from the opposite riverbank. And so, twenty-seven years after the Losers Club defeated Pennywise the Clown (Bill Skarsgard), IT returns to terrorise the town of Derry, Maine once again. Later that same night Mike Hanlon (Isaiah Mustafa) overhears the incident on a Police scanner of a dismembered body found down by the riverbank, and rushes to the scene.

Mike quickly realises that 'IT' has returned. He calls the other members of the Losers Club who have now all gone their separate and independent ways and have carved out successful careers for themselves away from Derry, all except Mike who has remained in Derry throughout all the passing years. He calls Bill Denbrough (James McAvoy) now a successful mystery thriller writer based in LA and married to a famous Actress; Richie Tozier (Bill Hader) now a successful stand-up comedian also based in LA; Ben Hanscom (Jay Ryan) now a successful architect living in Nebraska and having slimmed down and toned up from the fat kid that he was; Eddie Kaspbrak (James Ransone) who is now a successful risk assessor working for a major firm in New York City; Stanley Uris (Andy Bean) who is now a successful accountant working in Atlanta; and Beverly Marsh (Jessica Chastain) who has become a successful fashion designer working in Chicago. They all take Mike's call, although need prompting to remember who Mike is as most are forgetful about their childhoods and disturbed by the calls, but agree to return given that they all swore a blood oath to reunite in Derry if Pennywise ever resurfaced. Stan, however, commits suicide after his call by slashing his wrists while taking a bath at home. Without knowing of Stanley's recent death, the Losers reunite at a local Chinese restaurant in Derry and slowly begin to remember their past over a few beers and a meal together, but then become terrified by a relentless onslaught of disturbing visions and horrific taunts implanted in their sub-conscious but seemingly very real, created by IT.

Once outside the restaurant after the horrifying visions have subsided, Beverly tries to connect with Stanley only to reach his distraught wife who informs her that he committed suicide. Richie and Eddie have already seen and heard enough, and decide to leave while Mike reveals to Bill that he met with a Native American tribe who showed him a vision of IT arriving to Earth from the stars decades ago, and informed him of the 'Ritual of Chud', the means to destroy IT forever. Bill and Mike are able to convince Richie and Eddie to stay and finish what was started. Henry Bowers (Teach Grant), having survived his apparent death, had been confined to a mental hospital for killing his father and two friends back in 1989, and with the help of IT, he escapes, intent of seeing off the Losers Club finally, one by one.

For the Ritual of Chud to be successful, each Loser must find an artifact of some personal significance from their past. Beverly goes to her old home and finds the love letter Ben wrote for her, though she still believes Bill wrote it. A Mrs. Kersh (Joan Gregson) now lives there - a seemingly sweet and gentle old lady who invites Beverly in for a nice cup of tea, but minutes later it turns out that Mrs. Kersh is anything but, as an insidious monster manifests itself and rampages through the house attacking Beverly who hallucinates other visions of Pennywise before finally escaping.

Bill meanwhile comes across a second hand shop where in the window is his old bike from when he was a kid. He goes into the store and is greeted by the shop keeper played in cameo by Stephen King who sells Bill back his bike for US$300 - steep, but as a successful author he knows that he can afford it. Bill then cycles back to his former house and goes to the storm drain where his younger brother Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) was killed in October 1988 and recovers his paper boat before meeting a boy named Dean (Luke Roessler), who tells Bill that he lives in Bill's old house and often hears voices coming up through the drain in the bath. 

Ben goes to the town's high school and finds his old yearbook page, which Beverly was the only person to sign. Eddie goes to a pharmacy and recovers an inhaler. Richie goes to an abandoned arcade where he finds a game token, but afterwards is confronted in the town's park by Pennywise whose taunts him with threats to reveal his dirty little secret to the world. After all have managed to evade individual encounters with IT, the Losers use a shower cap retrieved from their secret forest childhood clubhouse for Stan, and Mike finds the rock that started their fight against the Bowers gang all those years ago.

Back at the guesthouse where all but Mike are staying, Bill and Beverly share a kiss before a skateboard caked in blood and with a message written on the underside comes rolling down the staircase. Bill recognises the board from his earlier encounter with young Dean, and realises that IT is going after Dean, and chases him to the carnival in an attempt to save the boy. He sees Dean disappear into the Clown Funhouse, and into a maze of mirrors and glass panels. There he comes across Dean but on the other side of a glass panel and therefore out of reach, as Pennywise appears on the other side of Dean, also separated by a glass panel. Pennywise repeatedly slams his head against the glass panel so cracking it and so giving him access to the boy, who then devours him. 

Traumatised by his failure to save both Georgie and Dean, he returns to the run down abandoned house at 29, Neibolt Street, to murder IT alone. Bowers attacks and wounds Eddie by stabbing him in the face with his knife, but survives and in turn pulls the knife from his severely bloodied cheek and stabs Bowers in the chest. Mike is at the library waiting for the other Losers to rendezvous with him there, and is attacked by Bowers but is killed by Richie arriving just in time. The rest of the Losers depart for the Neibolt house to aid Bill, as they had always vowed to stick together to thwart IT.

Once inside the house, it is seen to have fallen further into a state of disrepair and seemingly horrors awaiting at every turn and in every decrepit room. After confronting various horrors all conjured up by IT, the group descends into an extensive cavern buried deep beneath the house and through the sewers in order to complete the Ritual. 

In forming a circle, holding hands and repeating a chant directed by Mike, the group seem to have early success, until IT reveals that he is able to withstand the Ritual, unaffected. IT takes on a giant, spider-like form with Pennywise's head, and pressures Mike into revealing to the Losers that the Natives who attempted the Ritual in the past all died in the process. 

The Losers are then all individually thrown into nightmarish scenarios that they must endure, but from which they all manage to escape from before arriving back inside the cavern from whence they came. Richie is hypnotised and elevated by IT's hypnotic 'deadlight' eyes and is about to be killed, but Eddie comes to his rescue and is immediately impaled by IT's razor sharp spider legs in the process. 

The Losers regroup and come to the realisation that IT can be killed if they stand up to IT, face their fears, show IT that they are no longer afraid and make IT feel smaller than he actually is. They surround and berate IT repeatedly with a barrage of insults making IT shrink physically and weaken mentally until they are able to tear out IT's heart and crush it so extinguishing all life from IT. At this point, the cavern begins to implode and Eddie dies from his injuries despite Richie's attempts to save him. The remaining group now need to race against time to exit the rapidly crumbling cavern and get back to the surface before it all comes crashing down around them and on top of them. They do so just about, and exit through the front door of 29, Neibolt Street, before the house collapses in on itself in a heap of old timbers and dust. 

The remaining Losers return to the quarry where they once swam together and jump in from the cliff top high above the lake to wash off the dust, the dirt, debris and blood. Sometime later, the Losers all individually receive posthumous letters from Stanley, detailing that he thought he would've held them back, but knew they could defeat IT if they were brave enough without him. Mike is seen to be packing up his belongings into his car as he decides to move out of Derry to start a new life.

Also starring as their younger selves are Jaeden Martell (aka Jaeden Lieberher) as the younger Bill,  Sophia Lillis as the younger Beverly, Jeremy Ray Taylor as the younger Ben, Finn Wolfhard as younger Richie, Chosen Jacobs as younger Mike, Jack Dylan Grazer as younger Eddie and Wyatt Oleff as younger Stanley. All those portraying their younger selves reprise their roles from the first film.

I did enjoy 'IT : Chapter Two', but not quite as much as Chapter One and felt that it meandered somewhat and at a running time of two hours and 49 minutes could have done with  little more scrutiny in the editing suite I thought. That said, Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise remains as menacing and as devilishly dastardly as he did in the first instalment, and the now adult members of the Losers Club are well cast and seem to share a nervous chemistry that just heightens their on-screen presence, interspersed with flashbacks to their younger selves that serves to recapture the essence of the first film. Director Andy Muschietti doesn't hold back on the gore, the monster effects, and the horror scares that you can see coming from a mile away but still deliver the necessary jolt to maintain the interest throughout. Certainly worth the price of your movie ticket to see the conclusion to the story that comes full circle, albeit a little too long, melodramatic at times and just a tad predictable in places.

'IT : Chapter Two' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

IT : Tuesday 12th September 2017.

'IT' which I saw earlier this week is the Stephen King penned remake of the 1990 two part television mini-series, based on his acclaimed and best selling 1986 horror story 'It'. Since 2009 this film has been in development, with Cary Fukunaga first announced to Direct and Co-Write the film, but subsequently dropping out in 2015 due to disagreements with Production Company, New Line, over the direction that he wanted to take the film in. Subsequently Argentinian Director, Andres Muschietti was announced to Direct, whose previous credit was his debut feature with 2013's supernatural horror offering 'Mama' with Jessica Chastain and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. 'It' was released in the US last week too, and cost a budgeted US$35M, and has so far grossed US$218M breaking numerous Box Office records in the process too. The film has been critically acclaimed as perhaps the best and most faithful to the source material of all Stephen King's works thus far committed to celluloid. As the end credits tell us, this is 'IT - Chapter One' - the first instalment in a two part series.

The film kicks off with a rain soaked day in October 1988 in the small community of Derry, Maine with young teenager Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher) making a sailboat out of note paper and waxing it to make it waterproof, for his young seven year old brother Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) to go and play with in the pouring rain. Georgie releases the boat into the gutter and it sails away at a rate faster than he can keep up, eventually washing down into a storm drain.

As young Georgie peers after his lost boat into the narrow drain inlet, he is startled by a man dressed as a clown who introduces himself as 'Pennywise, the Dancing Clown' (Bill Skarsgard). The clown states that the storm washed the circus, and him, down into the sewers, and he offers the young lad his boat back, saying that he should reach in to take it. As Georgie reaches in to the drain to retrieve his boat, his arm is bitten off at the shoulder by Pennywise. Falling backwards out of shock, and scrambling around in the pouring rain, Georgie is dragged backwards by his legs into the storm drain . . . never to be seen again, with his blood quickly being washed away by the torrents of rainwater.

Fast forward to June 1989 and its the last day of term at Derry High School. Bill and a few of his best mates Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Grazer) and Stanley Uris (Wyatt Oleff) run into school bully Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton) and his gang, who are intent on picking on the much younger lads and making their life a misery. At the same time Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis) is picked on for being the school slut and has a confrontation in the female toilets with another highly opinionated ringleader of a pack of girls. Recovering from this and exiting the school building she runs into Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Ray Taylor), a new kid at school, who is also bullied because of his weight problem, but he harbours a secret crush on Beverly. The pair chat for a while, she signs his year book, and they go their separate ways.

Later we see Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs) making a delivery to a local Butcher's shop. He has a close terrifying encounter with Pennywise before nearly getting mowed down by Henry Bowers in his car. Bill meanwhile has a theory that Georgie was washed down into Derry's intricate sewer system and would have washed out in an area known as The Barrens. He enlists the help of his mates to check out the exiting storm drain at The Barrens to look for signs of Georgie. Ben visits the school library even though it is now officially the Summer Holidays and studies up on the history of old Derry, learning of the towns mystery with unsolved murders, unexplained disappearances, and strange goings on that have been occurring for centuries. He is lured down into the library basement by a dancing red balloon gliding across the floor and has a close encounter too with Pennywise in the form of a rampaging badly burnt headless boy.

Later Ben runs into Henry Bowers gang, and narrowly escaping them by tumbling down a steep embankment he runs along a riverbed and ends up at The Barrens where Bill and his mates are investigating the storm drain exit. With Beverly's help they get first aid supplies to help clean up Ben from his ordeal at the hands of Bowers. The next day, the group spend swimming in a quarry lake, and afterward while relaxing in the sunshine they recount their experiences with the mysterious and menacing clown. Afterwards Eddie passes by an abandoned ramshackle old house on Neibolt Street, and comes face to face with the clown carrying a bunch of red balloons who then manifests itself into the rotting corpse of a leper who gives chase after him.

Stan later has a terrifying ordeal with the clown who assumes the identity of an animated painting of a disfigured woman that has always given him the creeps; and Beverly hears the distant voices of children calling up to her from the plug hole in her bathroom sink. Upon closer examination she is held fast by her own cut hair as it wraps around her head, her arms and her legs and steadily pulls her in towards the plug hole before an eruption of blood coats her from head to toe and the entire bathroom too. Later that night Bill is awakened by strange noises elsewhere in the house and is lured down into the basement where he confronts Georgie lurking in a corner . . . but it's not Georgie, it's Pennywise from whom he narrowly escapes back up the stairs.

Some weeks later 'The Losers Club', as the now gang of seven affectionately refer to themselves as, have a moment of clarity as they realise that they are all being besieged by the same horrific entity, who seems to feed off their own fears, insecurities and anxieties, and turns these against them. While in Bill's garage viewing photographic slides of old Derry superimposed over a map of current Derry, Ben announces that there is a 27 year pattern going back to the turn of the century of unexplained and mysterious occurrences in their town resulting in death, destruction and disappearances. The slideshow they are watching of the old and new town maps indicates that Derry's Well is the central hub from which the towns sewer systems branches out. That Well is located in the ramshackle abandoned old house on Neibolt Street, and it is this conduit that allows Pennywise to move about town quickly and unseen.

Bill, Richie and Eddie venture upto the Neibolt Street house while the others stand guard outside. Pennywise attempts to pick the three boys off one by one, by luring them into different parts of the house with varying visions. Eddie falls through a hole in the floor to a room below, fracturing his arm in the process. Pennywise emerges from a fridge, and is about to kill Eddie when he is impaled through the head by a metal spike courtesy of Beverly, causing the clown to make a hasty retreat down the Well, but not before slashing Ben in the stomach with his clawed hands.

Outside the house Eddie's over protective and over bearing mother arrives and quickly whisks him way, horrified by the boys antics. Richie, Stan and Mike elect to have no more to do with Bill and his plans to locate Georgie and thwart Pennywise, because its all too dangerous and its the Summer Holidays and they are supposed to be enjoying themselves. Later on, Beverly is abducted by Pennywise, after she knocks out her father for fear of being raped by him. Bill visits the house to find her unconscious father on the bathroom floor with blood oozing from his head, and deduces that Pennywise has Beverly. He quickly rallies The Losers to mount a search and rescue mission.

Back at the Neibolt Street house, The Losers gain entry down the Well and emerge in a labyrinth of sewer tunnels. Stan is separated from the others and Pennywise attacks, but is fended off when the others arrive just in time. They emerge into a huge cavernous underground cooling tower which is filled with what appears to be a mountain of rotting circus equipment, the clothes and personal belongings of Pennywise's victims going back centuries, and hovering mid way up the tower are the suspended floating corpses of missing children. They rescue Beverly from her state of Pennywise induced suspended animation, just as Georgie emerges saying to Bill that it's time to go home. Bill is at first taken in, but then realises that Georgie really is dead, and recognising the ruse shoots Georgie through the head with a captive bolt pistol brought along by Mike, temporarily on 'loan' from his Grandfathers sheep farm. The lifeless body of Georgie then transforms into Pennywise.

The group descend on the clown beating it with a baseball bat, sticks, metal rods and whatever they can find lying around. Pennywise overpowers them taking Bill hostage and offers to trade them Bill for sparing the lives of all the other Losers. Richie seemingly agrees and then turns the tables on Pennywise, which gives The Losers the opportunity to brutally attack the clown and free their friend. Pennywise is mortally wounded, and Bill states that they are no longer afraid of him, that he cannot turn their fears against them, and so he is powerless now against them. The clown backs into the lip of a deep pit and starts to dissolve before falling into oblivion. Bill discovers the yellow raincoat of his younger brother with his name etched on the inside and breaks down, with his friends all comforting him.

One month later when the dust has settled and a degree of normalcy has returned to Derry, The Losers gather and make a blood oath to return to Derry 27 years from now, if It comes back and terrorises the town, and that they will destroy it once and for all.

'It' reminded me to some degree of 'Stand By Me' and the recent popular Netflix series 'Stranger Things' with common themes running through them. This film has some genuine jump scares to keep the tension and the suspense ramped up, and equally some moments of levity with laugh out loud moments, largely delivered by the fast talking potty mouthed Richie Tozier. The young cast are well matched and deliver convincing characterisation, and Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise delivers on the maniacal menace with aplomb, although as the film progresses and we see more of The Dancing Clown, the more predictable he becomes and therefore less scary. At 135 minutes running time the film moves along at a good pace and maintains the attention with equal measure of frights and early teenage coming of age emotion. A solid horror offering that does not disappoint given the social media attention the early trailers garnered and the subsequent expectations. Bring on 'It - Chapter Two', which is set up nicely with a post credits audio teaser.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL : Wednesday 18th May 2016.

'MIDNIGHT SPECIAL' - which I saw mid-week last week is Written and Directed by Jeff Nichols, and whilst essentially a Sci-Fi drama is is also a road movie, a chase film, and a kidnapping story all rolled into one that uses many touchstones from the movie classics of the 80's and 90's - as made by Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter and written by Stephen King. Made for US$18M it so far has recovered about one-third of that sum and deserves to do so much better however, as this is a top notch close encounter of another kind that has a strong cast, a solid story, a deft Directorial touch and a warmth, emotion and conviction at its heart. Sadly, this film is not on wide release and again I had to travel half away across Sydney to catch-it, but I'm pleased I did, and you won't be disappointed either. Despite its limited release the film has received much critical acclaim around the traps for its original premise, convincing performances, and its engaging entertainment factor.

As the film opens up we are in a cheap hotel room, and Roy Tomlin (Michael Shannon) is packing up to move on out under cover of darkness with a young lad Alton Meyer (Jaeden Lieberher) accompanied by long term friend Lucas (Joel Edgerton) - a former State Trooper. We learn soon enough that Roy is the birth father of young eight year old Alton and he is escaping from a religious cult in rural Texas where they lived happily for a number of years. Alton's mother Sarah Tomlin (Kirsten Dunst) has already fled having been excommunicated two years previously during which time she has not seen her son. Known as 'The Ranch' - the leader there, Calvin Meyer (Sam Shepard) is seen discussing Altons disappearance with two of his off-siders instilling in them the need to recover the boy within 72 hours at all costs. On the television news, beamed across the country is an alert for anyone to be on the lookout for Roy Tomlin who is believed to have abducted the young lad, although the relationship is unknown to the world at large it seems. In the meantime, the US Government, the FBI and other authorities have been alerted to young Alton, and also are hot on the trail.

So begins our road movie as we gain further insight into what makes Alton so special, and why so many are after him. It seems that while at 'The Ranch' the Tomlin's had to give up their son to be 'adopted' by Calvin Meyer (hence the name), and they practically worshipped Alton for the special otherworldly powers he possesses, and which they had seen manifested in various ways. The US Government have enlisted the help of Paul Sevier (Adam Driver) of the National Security Agency to help track down Alton and understand why a set of co-ordinates from a secret nuclear attack warning satellite were known to him and were being used by Calvin Meyer in his sermons. Roy and Lucas meanwhile know full well of Alton's special gift and have a preordained appointment three days from now at an undisclosed location where a possibly world changing event is to occur, and for which Alton must be present at all costs, and to which he is being drawn by a force not known by anyone else but him.

As the clock counts down on the given day, Alton's powers continue to manifest themselves when least expected, and these drain him of his energy and he grows noticeably weaker. Constantly on the look out for the FBI, the NSA, those from The Ranch, the Police and wary of television broadcasts and newspaper reports that could further identify them, Roy, Lucas and Alton travel by night and rest up by day  - a necessity also given Alton is intolerant to sunlight and needs to be shielded from it. After a number of incidents and near misses on their journey, the three arrive at the home of Sarah where mother and son are reunited. The next day, the four leave together, and along the way Alton senses an overhead patrol searching for him and urges the car to stop. He flees with Roy into the woods and finds a cave in which to hide overnight, while Sarah and Lucas continue to a motel nearby.

The next morning Alton indicates to Roy that he needs to see the sunrise, and although knowing the harm it can potentially cause Roy reluctantly agrees receiving reassurance from Alton that it will be alright. Moving into a clearing, as the sun rises behind the trees, the earth begins to shake violently and a dome of light then engulfs them. Later, they arrive at the motel where Alton is newly invigorated, energised and looking much healthier than he did just twelve hours ago, and he begins to explain that he now knows where his powers originate from, what he must do and where they must now go.

Later the four exit the motel room to continue their onward journey, but are ambushed in the process by two of Calvin Meyer's henchmen from The Ranch. They fire on Roy and Lucas, and manage to cable-tie their hands together and those of Sarah, and make off with Alton. Able to free themselves they give chase, but get caught up in traffic jam and soon discover that the vehicle carrying Alton had been halted by the FBI and Alton had been captured and taken away to a facility for questioning. Wired up to various monitors he is questioned by Paul Sevier whom Alton asked for specifically from behind a glass screen, and with whom he has had no previous contact. Alton demonstrates his powers to Sevier that he can now increasingly manifest at will, convincing the NSA Agent to co-operate and help him escape the facility to be reunited with his family so that his mission can be accomplished.

Making their escape at night and after Alton has caused a massive power outage across the whole facility so disabling security cameras, lights, gates etc. young Alton and Sevier make their getaway, meeting up with Roy, Sarah and Lucas at an isolated location where the boy can be reunited with those who will see out his mission. Travelling through open country on back roads the day has arrived when Alton's destiny becomes clear. Sevier had analysed the co-ordinates known to Alton and determined that they represent the meeting place that the family are now hurrying toward. With the FBI now laying a strict cordon around that location, Sarah and Alton continue their journey on foot as Alton increasingly senses that the place is close by. Roy and Lucas provide the necessary distraction in the vehicle.

As Sarah and Alton enter a clearing, the young lad walks on ahead, leaving Mum behind looking on - knowing that this is probably the last time she will ever see her child. Standing motionless the ground begins to shake, and a huge explosion of light creates a dome that covers most of the southeastern corner of the United States. Meanwhile, the vehicle that Roy and Lucas are travelling is set upon by FBI armoured pursuit vehicles ultimately causing it to crash and flip end over end several times coming to rest on its roof. This occurs as the dome of light is seen by Roy, Lucas, those authorities in pursuit and the entire population of that south eastern corner of the US - together with what is contained within the dome of light, which hitherto had been known by Alton and communicated to his parents and Lucas the day before after watching the sunrise. Within minutes the dome vanishes, and so too has Alton.

I really enjoyed this film - it moves along at a good pace, the story is fresh and original, and it is hard to pigeon-hole this film into any one category. The performances are solid, grounded and believable; and it contains all the elements you want from a movie - emotion, thrills, suspense, spectacle, surprises in equal measure that are not overcooked or added in just for effect. Make the effort and seek out this film where you can - you'll be pleased you did.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

ST. VINCENT : Thursday 12th February 2015.

This film was released in Australia on Boxing Day last year and it has taken me this long to see 'ST. VINCENT', but it was worth the wait I'd have to say! Directed by Theodore Melfi and made for US$13M it has so far made US$53M as at 3rd February, and this dramedy has garnered five award wins and another seventeen nominations including two Golden Globes for Best Film and Best Lead for it's starring Actor, Bill Murray.





This story introduces us to sixty-something old curmudgeon Vincent (Bill Murray), living in some down beat house in a Brooklyn back street, all on his lonesome and seemingly very happy with his lot. He drinks a lot, smokes a lot, eats not much, is shabbily dressed, bets money he can ill afford at the racetrack, is in debt, smooches about and listens to all his favourite tunes of yesteryear on his Walkman tape deck seemingly without a care in the world or any hangers on except his cat - that eats better than he does! We are quickly introduced to Russian Daka (his once a week physical contact with the opposite sex) who is a 'lady of the night' as she is later described, heavily pregnant and played by an almost unrecognisable Naomi Watts. She flits in and out of his life frequently, even in between 'turns' as though she is part of the furniture, and it's never fully confirmed if she is the girlfriend and if the baby she is carrying is his - although he is there every step of the way for her.

One day a new neighbour turns up with young son in tow. Mother Maggie (Melissa McCarthy, playing it down) is going through a bitter divorce and moves in right next door with Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher) who introduce themselves when the removalist truck they have rented backs into a tree knocks down a heavy branch and it lands on the bonnet of Vincent's car. He is none too pleased, and so the relationship begins. Maggie works as a hospital assistant and when expected to work back late one afternoon has no one to care for young Oliver after school and so it's Vincent very reluctantly to the rescue - begrudgingly and only for a small fee of $11 an hour . . . always the opportunist too it seems!

As time progresses Vincent's becomes the paid babysitter, and in time the two, young and old, form an unlikely bond. Vincent takes Oliver to the racetrack, to his local Bar, feeds him a sushi dinner at home (sardines straight from the tin, and crackers), and teaches him to defend himself against the bully at school. All of this of course is going on in isolation to Mum Maggie, who is clueless about the relationship that is unfolding. We come to learn more of Vincent's 'secret' past through the people that the pair come into contact with - his time spent in Vietnam, his sick wife in a nearby nursing home, Daka dropping in and out, and various others all on the periphery of his life.

It's an engaging story, but of course it's not all good for the two new friends! There is the inevitable parting of the waves when the two fall out and Mum comes to learn of what Vincent has been exposing young Oliver too as it plays out in a custody scene in court. But, what goes around comes around as Oliver's teacher - God fearing and down to earth Catholic Priest Brother Geraghty (Chris O'Dowd) tasks his young pupils with writing a story of a person they have contact with on why they should qualify for a Sainthood. The school class is given two weeks in which to do their research and then present their nominees on stage at school in front of gathered parents, friends and school staff.

Young Oliver secretly nominates Vincent and begins to research his past with the people he has come to meet through their friendship. It seems there is much more to Vincent than anyone really knows, and this beer swilling, cigarette chewing, cantankerous, opinionated, lazy loud guy who has seen a fair share of tragedy in his own life, must be more saintly than we realise.

There are some laugh out loud moments in this film, particularly at the beginning as things begin to ramp up and we get to know Vincent. It then sinks into some melodramatic moments before the final tear jerking emotional final chapter when all is good in the world and the stars align for Vincent, his new family and his new neighbours. It's a feel good film and Bill Murray gives a good turn playing Bill Murray as you would imagine him to be when he's not acting for a living! Given that this has been on general release now for about six weeks or so, you can catch it soon on DVD and BluRay and it's worth it for a night in and a film of human frailty, and a dose of heart and humour.

  
-Steve, at Odeon Online-