THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK : Tuesday 9th November 2021

I saw 'THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK' earlier this week at my local independent movie theatre, and this MA15+ Rated American crime drama story is Directed by Alan Taylor whose previous film making credits take in his debut 'Palookaville' in 1995, 'The Emperor's New Clothes' in 2001, 'Thor : The Dark World' in 2013 and 'Terminator : Genisys' in 2015. In the meantime he has also Directed multiple episodes of 'Homicide : Life on the Street', 'Sex and the City', 'The Sopranos' and 'Game of Thrones'. Co-Written by and based on characters created by David Chase this film serves as a prequel to Chase's HBO crime drama series 'The Sopranos', and takes place during the 1960's and '70's in Newark, New Jersey. The film has garnered largely positive critical acclaim, has so far recouped US$12M off the back of a US$50M production budget, saw its World Premier showcasing at the Tribeca Film Festival in late September and went to general release in the US on 1st October along with a month-long simultaneous release on HBO Max. 

In 1967 a young Tony Soprano (William Ludwig) is travelling with his uncle and mentor Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola) to greet Dickie's fathers 'Hollywood' Dick Moltisanti (Ray Liotta) off a cruise ship with his new young Italian bride in tow Giuseppina (Michela De Rossi). Moltisanti in a 'soldier' in the DiMeo crime family which comprises of Johnny Soprano (Jon Bernthal) and his brother Junior (Corey Stoll) amongst others. Over dinner later that evening with the newlyweds, Dickie and his wife Joanne (Gabriella Piazza), Dickie can hardly tear his eyes away from Giuseppina. 

A few days later a black taxi driver is unceremoniously dragged out of his cab and set upon by two uniformed white Police Officers which sparks the Newark riots of mid-July 1967. One of Dickie's black henchmen, Harold McBrayer (Leslie Odom Jnr.) takes part in the riots by throwing a molotov cocktail at a Police patrol car which erupts in a ball of flame. Harold kills a young black man, Leon Overall (Mason Bleu) stealing from their business, forcing him to escape the heat to North Carolina. Before leaving, he asks Dickie for a loan of US$1,000 saying that he will repay it, but instead Dickie gives him US$500 as a gift.

Later, at a carnival, Tony witnesses Johnny and Junior being arrested. Subsequently, Johnny is sentenced to four years in prison for assault with a deadly weapon. During an argument, Hollywood Dick kicks Giuseppina down a flight of stairs in their home. Dickie, in speaking with a downtrodden Giuseppina the next day finds out. He confronts his father later that night in the garage of their house, and an argument breaks out with the pair seated in the front of the car. The argument turns into a physical altercation where Dickie repeatedly slams his fathers head against the steering wheel in a fit of rage, accidentally killing him. He moves the body into the passenger seat and drives the vehicle through the riot torn streets to one of his father's businesses, douses the lifeless body and the building with petrol and sets it alight to make it look like it was destroyed in the riots. Wracked by guilt, Dickie visits his father's twin brother, Salvatore 'Sally' Moltisanti (Ray Liotta) who is serving a life sentence behind bars for the murder of another made man in his own family. Dickie's says he wants to do a 'good deed' hence his wanting to strike up a relationship with Sally, which his father had previously always forbidden. Dickie also starts a relationship with Giuseppina as his mistress. Meanwhile Tony has been suspended from school for starting up an illegal gambling operation, and so Dickie makes him swear a pinkie promise to do the right thing and follow the rules. 

We then fast forward four years to 1972, and Johnny is released from prison and Harold returns to Newark because the prosecuting Police Officer died and the case just dropped by the wayside. Harold starts up his own black-led criminal operation and begins by killing one of Dickie's men and stealing their protection money. Giuseppina has an affair with Harold after a fight with Dickie. Dickie and his crew locate one of Harold's crew, Cyril (Germar Terrell Gardner) in an auto repair shop late at night and torture him using an impact wrench to the mouth to gain the name of the man who ordered the hit, and then kill him. Before he died, Cyril blurted out Harold's name. In retaliation for Cyril's death, Harold and his gang engage in a drive-by shooting with Johnny's crew, during which one is killed. Harold and Dickie have a standoff, but they flee the scene when they hear Police sirens approaching.

After Tony (Michael Gandolfini) steals the answers for a school exam, the school counsellor tells Tony's mother, Livia (Vera Farmiga), that he has a high IQ and that on the Myers–Briggs scale he demonstrates the personality traits of a leader. The counsellor also tells Livia how Tony told her about a time in which his mother hugged him after his father was committed to prison and read to him from a book until he fell asleep and how it was one of his best memories ever. The next day, Livia tries to show her affection for Tony by cooking him up a burger for his dinner, but she mentions how her Doctor wanted to prescribe her antidepressants. When Tony suggests taking it, she retaliates against him. Tony subsequently asks Dickie if he could get the drug Elavil for his mother, but Dickie is reluctant.

Following the wake of Johnny's man who was shot and killed in the drive by shooting, Junior slips and falls on the rain soaked steps of the church. This results in Dickie laughing out loud uncontrollably in his face at his pain and suffering, so infuriating Junior. Dickie reconnects with Giuseppina and promises her a beauty parlour for her to run as a business joint venture between them but he acting as a silent partner and completely hands-off. This is her dream come true. During a walk on the beach, she confesses to her affair with Harold. Dickie is so besides himself with rage that he drowns her in the ocean. Dickie again visits Sally, who says that everyone close to Dickie ends up dead eventually. He goes on to say that the best Christmas present he could give to Tony, is to stay out of his life. Dickie listens to Sally's advice and begins to avoid Tony, refusing to see him or answer his calls. 

Later that night, one of Dickie's henchmen Silvio (John Magaro) encourages Dickie to reconcile with Tony, and Dickie relents and agrees to a catch-up at a local cafe the next morning at 9:00am, before the planned hit on Harold at 10:00am having learned where he is staying. However, before he can arrive home, Dickie is shot in the back of the head by an unknown assailant while unpacking Christmas gifts from the trunk of his car. Junior is seen later limping across the street to answer a ringing payphone. The voice at the other end simply says 'it's done' and hangs-up. The next morning at 9:00am Tony is waiting patiently at the cafe for Dickie to arrive, which of course he never does. At Dickie's wake, it is revealed that Dickie did acquire the Elavil for Tony, and had it in his pocket when he was killed. Tony looks despondently down at Dickie's corpse and imagines another pinkie promise with him, like the two had done all those years ago. Some time later, Harold has moved into a white neighbourhood, his organised crime operation reaping its rewards. 

For someone who has never seen a single episode of 'The Sopranos' I was neither wowed or disappointed by 'The Many Saints of Newark', but I was expecting more development of the young Tony Soprano and the experiences, influences, motivations and emotions that made him into the character that would become the leader of a criminal organisation. Instead what we get at the end is a young mid-teenage lad Tony Soprano, on the edge of adulthood, who could go either way - down the straight and narrow, or into a life of underworld crime - the jury is still out on that one, or maybe that was the whole intention! What we do get however, is a more intimate look inside the world of Tony's favourite Uncle Dickie Moltisanti, from his rise up the ranks as a result of the death/murder of his father, the murder of his mistress, the relationship with his fathers twin brother, his clashing with Harold, to his untimely death orchestrated by Junior with only fleeting glimpses of his influences over Tony. And how does Dickie explain away the death of his mistress, known to many of his cohort, who was last seen drifting away in the ocean? As a stand alone movie this works fine, but 'Goodfellas', 'The Godfather', 'The Irishman', 'Carlito's Way' or a whole host of other American mobster films you care to mention, this ain't. Perhaps as a three or four part mini-series this could have worked better with greater emphasis placed on the development of the young and impressionable Tony Soprano. The casting is however, spot on with special mention going to Alessandro Nivola, Ray Liotta and Michael Gandolfini who really carry the film through every scene. 

'The Many Saints of Newark' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE FRONT RUNNER : Wednesday 6th February 2019.

'THE FRONT RUNNER' which I saw at my local independent movie theatre this week, is an American biographical drama film Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written for the screen by Jason Reitman whose previous Directorial outings include 'Thank You for Smoking', 'Juno', 'Up In The Air', 'Young Adult', 'Labor Day' and 'Tully' more recently. Based on the 2014 Matt Bai book 'All the Truth Is Out: The Week Politics Went Tabloid', the film surrounds Gary Hart who is an American Politician, Diplomat, Lawyer and Author and was the 'front-runner' for the 1988 Democratic Presidential nomination, representing the State of Colorado in the US Senate from 1975 through until 1987. The film Premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in August last year, was released in the US in early November, has so far taken under US$3M at the Box Office and has received mixed Reviews.

The film kicks of in 1984 and here Hugh Jackman portrays Gary Hart, the former senator of Colorado, who loses out on the Vice-President nomination to Walter Mondale. Hart comes in second place but quite a way down the rankings. Not to be down trodden or brow beaten, Hart decides to run for the top job at the Whitehouse in the 1988 Presidential campaign. In the intervening years Hart has spent his time campaigning, raising his profile especially among the younger voting demographic whom he seems to share a connection with, and fine tuning his position on policies that matter to working class America and the future lifeblood of the nation.

With his 1988 campaign ramping up, and the press constantly on his tail, he is interviewed in a diner having cooked up burgers for everyone as a publicity stunt, by A.J. Parker (Mamoudou Athie) a Washington Post reporter. The conversation turns personal when A.J. starts enquiring about his married life and his marital beliefs - a subject that Hart was notoriously guarded about. The interview concludes with Hart abruptly excusing himself and inviting the media to follow him around at the weekends when he is not campaigning and enjoying some family time. This would give an insight into Hart, the family man, and his beliefs, albeit Hart qualifies this by stating that it will be a fairly boring exercise for anyone who chooses to do so. Needless to say Bill Dixon (J.K. Simmons) Hart's long term Campaign Manager is against the notion, but is over-ruled by the would-be President of the United States.

Hart had announced his candidacy to run for the Oval Office in mid-April 1987 and the story here unfolds over three troublesome weeks thereafter in which Hart would go from Hero to Zero. Hart's political challenges begin when he is invited one weekend to enjoy a party on a cruising motor boat down Florida way - perhaps appropriately named 'Monkey Business'. There Hart meets a woman, although their 'interaction' is never revealed to camera, and we never to get to view the mystery woman until later on in the film when allegations of an extra-marital affair emerge.

By late April, The Miami Herald claimed that an anonymous informant had telephoned the paper to say that Hart was having an affair with a friend, provided details about the affair, and told the reporter that Hart was going to meet this person at his Washington, D.C. townhouse that weekend. As a result, a team of Herald reporters followed Donna Rice (Sara Paxton) on a flight from Miami to Washington D.C., then staked out Hart's townhouse that evening from their vehicle parked across the street, and the next Saturday, and observed a young woman and Hart together. The Herald reporters confronted Hart on Saturday evening in an alley behind his townhouse about his relationship with Rice, which Hart vehemently denied.

The Herald publish the story a few days later in early May stating that Hart had spent Friday night and the majority of Saturday with a young woman at his townhouse. Later the following weekend  Hart's media campaigners denied any scandal and condemned the Herald's reporters for intrusive reporting.

By now Hart's aides had caught up with Donna Rice and were keeping her 'safe' from the prying eyes and the influence of the press, with her being 'babysat' by Irene Kelly (Molly Ephraim) one of Hart's campaign schedulers. However, the next day attempting to make a covert getaway at the airport to fly home to the safety of her parents, the young woman is identified by the media as Donna Rice. She later gave a press conference also denying any sexual relationship with Hart, and he insisted that his interest in Rice was limited to her working as a campaign aide.

Needless to say the scandal spread rapidly through all media channels during the course of that week. Hart faces facts with his wife Oletha 'Lee' Hart (Vera Farmiga) whom he had been married to since 1958, had two young adult children and had been separated from twice over the years but always managed to reconcile their differences. Lee vows to at least temporarily stand by her man, and goes to the media showing a united front.

However, the media coverage came to dominate Hart's campaign. Opinion Polls conducted in the direct aftermath of the media frenzy found that 55% of Democrats believed that Hart had been truthful, and 44% of them were unconcerned about the issue. The polling of voters was even more positive. Further polls had very similar results - of those polled, 67% disapproved of the media writing about a candidate's sex life, and 60% stated that Hart's relationship with Rice was irrelevant to the Presidency. This buoyed Hart somewhat but he was still caught off guard when at a press conference he was asked again by A.J. more pointed personal questions that ended with him being asked if he had ever committed adultery, to which in front of the gathered press, and his wife, he could not honestly answer.

A week after the story broke, Hart made the decision to suspended his campaign after the Washington Post, at the decision of the Editor Ben Bradlee (Alfred Molina), threatened to run a story about a woman Hart had dated while separated from his wife, and to which they had photographic evidence, much to the chagrin of A.J. This ultimately led to Lee and his daughter Andrea (Kaitlyn Dever) becoming similar targets of interest for the tabloid press for a short period of time. The film concludes with the Hart's relaxing on the deck of their home with the voiceover of Gary stating his decision to pull out of the race to the Whitehouse. Before the closing credits roll, we are told that Gary and Lee remain married to this day.

'The Front Runner' moves along at a reasonably swift pace, but there is little to maintain any real interest here. After all, whilst this was considered a scandal at the time (at least in the eyes of the media), the American population thought a lot less so, as did his wife ultimately, and compared to the antics of the current sitting President, Hart would almost be considered angelic, and the accusations brought against him a non-starter. But this was thirty years ago and time and opinion has moved on apace since then. Jackman plays the wannabe President with conviction and believability, but the remaining cast members are also rans, and the story is done & dusted before it really gets going, charting the three weeks leading up to him pulling out of the race, which in reality is less than two weeks, and the accusations were never really proven with Hart and Rice both denying any sexual relations. And furthermore, Hart's career, whilst not reaching the dizzying heights of the Oval Office, remained in the political, legal and writing arena right up until January 2017, so I guess its fair to say that all's well, that ends well Mr. Hart. It's a very brief snapshot in time of a 'scandal' (if it can really be called that) that really impacted just one man (to an extent) and his family rather than the establishment, that seems in many respects to have been over before it really got going and has since been banished to the history books. You can easily wait for this to watch it on BluRay from the comfort of your own lounge, on via your streaming network of choice.

'The Front Runner' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-     

What's new in Odeon's this week : Thursday 9th June 2016.

As reported last week, started in 1954, this year sees the 62nd Sydney Film Festival launching on 8th June with 'Goldstone' opening the festival at Sydney's State Theatre, and closing with 'Love & Friendship' on 19th June. In the meantime, there are films in competition, special screenings, European Cinema, international documentaries, family films, short films, a retrospective of ten Scorsese films selected by David Stratton, and more. There are twelve films in the Official Competition, which is 'presented in recognition of the most courageous, audacious and cutting-edge new cinematic creations from around the world' and celebrating 'that rare but thrilling kind of film that truly moves the art form forward'. This years chosen dozen up for a stab at a cash prize of AU$60K are :

• 'APPRENTICE' - English/Malaysian, Australian Premier, Directed by Boo Junfeng
• 'AQUARIUS' - Portuguese, Australian Premier, Directed by Kleber Mendonca Filho
• 'CERTAIN WOMEN' - Australian Premier, Directed by Kelly Reichardt, with Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern and Michelle Williams
• 'THE CHILDHOOD OF A LEADER' - English/French, Australian Premier, Directed by Brady Corbet, with Robert Pattinson, Liam Cunningham and Berenice Bejo
• 'THE ENDLESS RIVER' - Australian Premier, Directed by Oliver Hermanus, with Clayton Everton, Crystal-Donna Robers and Nicolas Duvauchelle
• 'GOLDSTONE' - World Premier, Directed by Ivan Sen, with Aaron Pedersen, Alex Russell and Jackie Weaver
• 'IT'S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD' - French, Australian Premier, Directed by Xavier Dolan, with Vincent Cassel, Marion Cotillard and Gaspar Ulliel
• 'LAND OF MINE' - English/German/Danish, Australian Premier, Directed by Martin Zandvliet, with Joel Basman, Louis Hofmann and Roland Moller
• 'LETTERS FROM WAR' - Portuguese, Australian Premier, Directed by Ivo M. Ferreira
• 'NOTES ON BLINDNESS' - Australian Premier, Directed by Peter Middleton and James Spinney, with Dan Skinner and Simone Kirby
• 'PSYCHO RAMEN' - Hindi, Australian Premier, Directed by Anurag Kashyap
• 'VIVA' - Spanish, Australian Premier, Directed by Paddy Breathnach

In Special Presentations exclusively at Sydney's State Theatre are fifteen films all receiving their Australian Premier, these are 'Blood Father' with Mel Gibson; 'Captain Fantastic' with Viggo Mortensen; 'Demolition' with Jake Gyllenhaal; 'Down Under' getting its World Premier for Director Abe Forsythe; 'Elvis & Nixon' with Michael Shannon and Kevin Spacey respectively; Richard Linklater's 'Everybody Want's Some'; the Jim Jarmusch tribute to Iggy Pop and the Stooges 'Gimme Danger'; 'A Journey of a Thousand Miles : Peacekeepers'; 'Julieta' by Pedro Almodovar; 'Maggie's Plan' with Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore and Greta Gerwig; 'Mahana' by Lee Tamahori with Temuera Morrison; 'Saint Amour' with Gerard Depardieu; 'Sing Street' by John Carney with a thumping 80's soundtrack, big hair, wide lapels and fashion faux-pas we'd rather forget; 'Suburra' - an Italian Mafia/political/religious thriller; and 'War on Everyone' by John McDonagh with Alexander Skarsgard and Michael Pena. For more on the 2016 Sydney Film Festival you can go to : www.sff.org.au

This week however, there are just three new films to get you out to your local Odeon kicking off with a sequel to a franchise that has been going strong for thirty or so years featuring your favourite pizza chomping heroes in a half shelf doing their ninja best to save the world . . . again! Then a supernatural horror sequel based on a real haunting in a London suburb back in the 70's as investigated by psychic investigators that its seems the genre and this franchise owe much to. And wrapping up, an English language Spanish dramedy offering featuring badass aid workers, a corpse, a well and a length of rope.

As always, when you have sat through your movie of choice in the week ahead - be it one of these as Previewed below, or any one of those Reviewed or Previewed in previous Posts, share your views and opinions with your like minded cinephiles by leaving a Comment in the space provided below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you. In the meantime, enjoy your film.

'TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES : OUT OF THE SHADOWS' (Rated M) - the 'TMNT' or 'Ninja Turtles' go back thirty plus years to 1984 when they first appeared in comic books published by Mirage Studios. In case you didn't know, they are four fictional teenage anthropomorphic turtles who are named after four Renaissance Italian artists - Donatello (Donnie), Michelangelo (Mikey), Leonardo (Leo), and Raphael (Raph). They were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei (Splinter) in the art of ninjutsu. Over the years there have been a long succession of comic books, animated television series, an anime series, live action series, and the first round of feature films in 1990 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' then 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze' in 1991 and 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III' in 1993 with a CGI animated feature 'TMNT' in 2007. Fast forward to 2014 and Michael Bay Produced a reboot at a cost of US$125M which made just shy of US$500M which Jonathan Liebesman Directed, making a sequel almost inevitable. And so two short years later, here it is with Michael Bay once again Producing with the Director credit going this time to Dave Green with a US$135M budget. The film opened in the UK on 30th May, in the US on 3rd June and has so far recovered US74M of its outlay.

So this time around we have our intrepid gang of four pizza loving, scene stealing, vigilante do gooders in the half shell who go head to head with an escaped from custody Shredder (Brian Tee) who then teams up with Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) an unhinged scientist with god-like tendencies hell bent on world domination. To do their dirty work are two henchmen Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (Stephen Farrelly) who are turned into powerful animal mutants using a mutagenic compound given to Stockman by the evil alien warlord Krang (Brad Garrett), who also has his own agenda for planet Earth that our turtle friends must contend with too. But what these bunch of nasties clearly didn't count on were the four ninja turtles and there own allies in the form of April O'Neil (Megan Fox), Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett), Casey Jones (Stephen Amell) and Police Chief Rebecca Vincent (Laura Linney) who together, are gonna save all humanity!

'THE CONJURING 2 : THE ENFIELD POLTERGEIST' (Rated MA15+) - another sequel of the supernatural horror kind is haunting a cinema near you this week and following on from the 2013 hugely successful 'The Conjuring' as Directed back then by James Wan and made for US$20M and grossing a staggering US$318M making it one of the most commercially successful horror films of all time, and critically well received too. That first film was set in 1971 on Rhode Island, and this follow up sees the same couple - paranormal investigators and writers Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga respectively) reprise their roles but travel from a self-imposed sabbatical to Enfield, in London, England in 1977 to help out Peggy Hodgson (Frances O'Connor) an overwhelmed and distraught mother of four who believes that something evil lurks in her Enfield Council house. Based on their own experiences and what they encounter within the house they believe that one of the Hodgson girls is possessed by demonic forces, and as they try to help, so they become the target! Based on a true story as investigated by the real Ed and Lorraine Warren into the alleged poltergeist activity in the Enfield house between 1977 and 1979, this sequel is once again Directed by James Wan who also co-wrote the Screenplay.

'A PERFECT DAY' (Rated M) - this English language Spanish comedy drama film is Written and Directed by Fernando Leon de Aranoa, and was screened in Cannes during the Directors Fortnight a year ago in May 2015, before its Spanish release in late August last year, and now it winds up on Australian shores. This tells the story of a bunch of aid workers based on the book by Spanish physician Paula Farias who worked for 'Doctors without Borders' in The Balkans back in 1995. Here Mambru (Benicio del Toro), B (Tim Robbins) and Sophie (Melanie Thierry) and joined by their interpreter Damir (Fedja Stukan) as they seek to retrieve a corpse dangling down a well somewhere in the former Yugoslavia after the conflicts there have ended and the UN Peacekeeping forces have taken up residence. What seems like a routine 'extraction' proves to be more challenging and complicated than they initially thought. Joined by Mambru's former lover Katya (Olga Kurylenko) and a young local lad Nikola they face obstacles, defy death, overcome the absurdness of war, challenge authority, and traipse through a war torn landscape in search of a length of rope to complete the 'extraction' before the corpse contaminates the valuable water supply at the bottom of the well. A slow burning film underpinned by a strong cast that has received mixed Reviews, one award win and another eighteen nominations from around the circuit.

Three films this week that offer up something for the kids and something for the adults, and with plenty of other choice doing the rounds and still on general release as Reviewed and Previewed on these humble pages, there is no reason at all not to get out to your local multiplex or independent theatre. I'll see you, at the Odeon.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

SOURCE CODE : archive from 24th May 2011.

Saw 'SOURCE CODE' last night and loved it -  original story, clever premise, well crafted and Directed by relatively new up & coming talent to watch Duncan Jones AKA Zowie Bowie AKA son of one David Bowie. This film was made for US$32M and grossed US$147M and along the way picked up an award and a handful of nominations from the awards circuit. Nonetheless it garnered positive reviews from this second time Director whose first offering was the acclaimed 'Moon' and next up has 'Warcraft' due for release in 2016.

And so to the story! Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a US Army chopper pilot whose last recollection was flying a sortie in Afghanistan. He wakes up on a commuter train at 7:40am heading for Chicago. All around him he is just an ordinary early morning traveller heading into the city with his travelling mate Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan). But something is not quite right - why is he there, who is he with, and why isn't he in Afghanistan? To the outside world and the person staring back at him in the toilet mirror though he is Sean Fentress - a school teacher - he gets agitated, then, the train on which he is travelling explodes, killing all on board.

He regains consciousness and is inside a cockpit communicating through a video link to Captain Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) who confirms his identity as Colter Stevens and commands that he remains on mission to locate the train bomber before another bomb takes out downtown Chicago in six hours time. In reality Steven's is inside the 'Source Code' - an enclosed self contained chamber developed by scientist Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright) that allows him to experience the final eight minutes of another persons compatible life but in an alternate timeline. Confused - stick with it, because it's worth it!

As each eight minute period comes and goes with increasing urgency and desperation, Stevens must relive those eight minutes but each time learn from the previous experience to find the bomber and prevent the tragedy.  He will die time and time again and witness the horrors of the explosion, the death and carnage, but his purpose is clear and his instructions explicit, even though he may not agree with them. But of course he doesn't know the full story nor yet does he see the full picture.

As time progresses Stevens gets closer to the truth, the location of the bomb and the bomber, but he also gets closer to his travelling companion Christina with whom he begins to fall in love. He believes he can prevent the tragedy but because he is not travelling back in time, but simply reliving eight minutes in time he cannot change what has happened, merely understand it and try to stop it from occurring within those eight minutes. But, he chooses to test the theory but must do so before his time runs out, and before those controlling the 'Source Code' interrupt the proceedings.

One of the most intelligent present day sci-fi movie outings since 'Inception', and a great second offering from Duncan Jones. This film will leave you pondering the story, wondering at the ending, and debating the pieces of the puzzle just seen. If you missed this first time around catch it now on DVD, BluRay or download and enjoy Gyllenhaal for the reliable grounded solid performance he always gives coupled with a great story.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

SAFE HOUSE - archive from 18th February 2012.

Saw 'SAFE HOUSE' this week at my local independant picture house with a couple of mates. This latest Denzel Washington actioner is Directed by Daniel Espinosa and co-stars Ryan Reynolds, Brendan Gleeson and Vera Farmiga in a CIA cat & mouse romp set this time in South Africa. Also supporting is Robert Patrick, Sam Shepard, and Liam Cunningham who all add gravitas to the plot. The action comes at you hard & fast (Bourne style) and the plot is not dissimilar to something seen before (Mission:Impossible) but it is gritty (hand held camera work) and reasonably intelligent.

The story here surounds former CIA operative Tobin Frost (Washington) who has jumped the fence and turned international criminal. He has acquired a data storage devise from a rogue MI6 Agent and when together they are ambushed forcing Frost to surrender himself to the local American Embassy in Cape Town. He is quickly moved to the 'safe house' which is being guarded by Matt Weston (Reynolds) - a rookie agent recently promoted into this dead beat position.

Needless to say the 'safe house' gets attacked leaving a trail of bloody broken bodies, but Weston escapes with Front in tow. What follows is a cat & mouse game as Frost breaks free from Weston, Weston tries to re-secure Frost, Frost gains the upper hand, another safe house is revealed that provides for the ultimate showdown, and then Weston wins the day albeit not necessarily in one piece but retrieves the data storage device and learns what is contained therein - using it for his eventual gain.

Ryan Reynolds is quickly proving his acting chops and plays the reluctant hero well, but I can't help thinking that once again Denzel phone's it in with a part that he is all too comfortable with, and you have seen before in other roles before . . . and since! Brendan Gleeson is the devlish wolf in sheeps clothing as David Barlow (senior CIA and superior to Weston) but can he really be trusted and Vera Farmiga as Catherine Linklater is also with the CIA but really surplus to requirements and canon fodder in the end! 

This film cost US$85M to make and brought in a global box office haul of US$208M and it picked up one award win and seven other nominations. Entertaining enough, fast paced, well written, well acted out and worth the price of a ticket for an intelligent action drama of basic cops & robbers with a few added twists & turns that is set somewhere different for a welcome change!

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE JUDGE - Tuesday 14th October 2014.

I saw 'THE JUDGE' earlier this week down at my local multiplex. It would be fair to say that this film has garnered mixed reviews from what I have seen and read so far! This Reviewer, however, thought that this disjointed family courtroom drama passes as acceptable and worth a look, but don't expect riveting courtroom drama the like of which you may have seen in the classics including 'A Few Good Men', 'Twelve Angry Men', 'To Kill a Mockingbird', 'The Verdict', 'JFK', 'Erin Brockovich'  and 'A Time to Kill' etc. to name but a few.


What you can expect from this David Dobkin Directed film is reasonably strong performances especially from Robert Duvall as 82 year old father (Judge Joseph 'Joe' Palmer) and two of his sons played by Vincent D'Onofrio (Glen Palmer) and Jeremy Strong (Dale Palmer). The third son is played by Robert Downey Jnr. (Henry 'Hank' Palmer) who has the lead role, and in taking on this role is clearly trying to shake off his Superhero mantle for which he is probably best known. But, that said, as Hank Palmer - hugely successful cock-sure fast-talking big city defence lawyer who has a track record in defending the rich and famous for their crimes and just about always winning, he has that smirk, that swagger and that stance that is . . . Tony Stark! I like Robert Downey Jnr. as an actor, but I couldn't help thinking of 'Iron Man' every time I saw that cheeky grin, that over confident expression, and that relaxed demeanour no matter what on screen as Hank Palmer!

All that said, to the story! The film opens in Chicago and Hank Palmer is defending a Client. In Court his mobile phone rings which he notices is his brother calling, but he allows it to divert to message bank, because his case is getting down to the wire. He retrieves the message, and asks the presiding Judge to approach the bench, asking for a continuance because he has just learned that his mother has died! And so Hank packs his bags, and on leaving the house in his vintage Ferrari kisses his young daughter farewell and argues with his beautiful wife with whom he is on the verge of a divorce.

His journey home to Carlinville, Indiana where he grew up with his two brothers, Mum and Dad is picture postcard stuff - by the river, wide streets, country-town feel, clean and well kempt, and fields of crops for as far as the eye can see surrounding the town. This is where father Joe Palmer has presided as 'The Judge' for 42 years, and where his wife of 50 years is about to be buried. Brothers Glen and Dale still live in Carlinville, but Hank got out a long time ago and has been largely estranged from his family for many years because as a teenager he was a rebel who got wasted one night on drugs and alcohol and drove home with Glen in the car, overturned it, hit a tree and brought a very swift end to Glen's very promising baseball aspirations. Joe has never forgiven Hank, and despite Hank carving out a very successful career as a lawyer in the big city there has been little love, respect or recognition between them since.

With the funeral over and the somewhat stilted family reunion done, Hank argues with his Dad, and leaves for the airport bound for home vowing never to return. On the plane just before take off the phone rings again, and again it is brother Glen with the announcement that Joe has been arrested for the murder of a local man in a suspected hit & run. Reluctantly Hank returns home to Carlinville, and what follows is a battle of wits between Hank and Joe over the details surrounding this 'accident', who should defend Joe and why, the gradual uncovering of what really happened as Police and Prosecution close in, and digging up the past so driving a further wedge that will eventually come full circle making each realise just how important these two legal eagles are to each other, despite everything! We learn that Joe's health is rapidly in decline, that Hank had a thing for College sweetheart Samantha Powell (Vera Farmiga) who still holds a candle despite the time and distance between them, that Joe and the man dead by his alleged hand had a connection that goes back over 20 years, and that Prosecution Lawyer Dwight Dickham (Billy Bob Thornton) has history with Hank as well going way back when, and is intent that justice will prevail, and that 'only the law makes men equal'!

By and large the performances are solid enough - the relationship between the three sons is fleshed out probably as much as it can be, the fractured relationship between father and son Hank is on again off again as they continue to frustrate, anger, confuse and rebel against each other in equal measure but of course come good in the end. Sometimes the melodramatics are overplayed, and with a running time of 142 minutes I thought this could have been cut by 20 at least to make the film more punchy, direct and compact.

I was most disappointed though by the lack of any real courtroom drama; jousting between Defence, Prosecutor and Witnesses; and tension as the case weaves back and forth. Billy Bob Thornton doesn't get enough meat in his sandwich to gnaw away at the case and hammer home his argument, and Robert Downey Jnr. looks too smug in his big city suit defending his ageing ailing Dad in a small town America courthouse! Given that the premise of this film is about a hot-shot lawyer son and his steady dependable pillar of the community accused Judge Dad and the murder trial that engulfs them, we should have expected more from inside the Courthouse and less of what goes on outside it!

In the final analysis this is an average offering that you don't need to see on the big screen. It is not an intense cut & thrust legal drama and it won't go down in the Hollywood History books as such, but it does have some redeeming features. The story is strong enough, but it could have been stronger; it is 20 minutes too long; it has an appealing cast of quality acting talent; and the story moves along at a reasonably good pace. It cost US$50M to make, and good on Downey Jnr. for giving us something different to look at than 'Iron Man 1, 2,3' and 'The Avengers' - more please, but shake off Tony Stark!

 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-