For It Is Man's Number

Friday, 5 December 2025

A Christmas Angel Match (2025)

While I watch many movies in December that I wouldn't watch at any other time of year, I still try to search high and low for the real gems. That's hard when it comes to the many TV movies churned out by companies wanting to supply people with some distracting cheer and warmth to play out while they wrap gifts and decorate their home. Sometimes you get something good though, whether it's a film with some unexpected laughs or a film that benefits from a stronger premise than the standard "busy professional woman is forced to spend some time in a small town, where she meets and falls for a laid-back small-town man who reminds her that there's more to life than just a career".

Meghan Ory plays an angel named Monica, a bit frustrated when she ends up forced to work alongside another angel named Michael (Benjamin Ayres). The two of them make connections between mortal human beings, and Christmas is a great time to do that, but they have a very different approach to the job. Monica is more about using classic moves to establish something deep and meaningful. Michael believes that fun is key to love. Can they work together to succeed in matching Patrick (Francesco Filice) and Daisy (Lindura)? It's vital that they do, and Gabriel (Michael Dickson) keeps reminding them of that, particularly as they seem to be struggling to get on the same wavelength.

Directed by Christie Will Wolf, someone with a whole heap of Christmas movies under their belt, and with Ory also working as a writer, as well as her work in front of the camera, this is a film that feels well-crafted and, unlike so many others, reassuringly slick. It's obviously still restricted in certain ways (the budget, the main messaging that needs to be delivered), but it's generally good fun, helped by two charming leads.

Ory is very enjoyable here, doing well to make her fastidious and set-in-her-ways character less annoying than she could be. Ayres has the easier role, the angel who enjoys watching and experiencing the human experience, and he moves through every scene with a consistently positive and fresh outlook. Filice and Lindura are less interesting, but it's fun to watch them being manipulated by our angelic match-makers, Dickson is suitably calm and smiley as Gabriel, and there are perfectly solid supporting turns from Amanda Jordan, Linda McCurdy, and S. G. Simpson.

You can tell every moment has been written to slot in between ad breaks, you can sense a familiarity in the score, and there's nothing here that moves too far away from what you'd expect. It's all elevated by a little bit of something extra though, whether that's the simple and effective depiction of heaven/angel world, the interactions between our leads, or even just the fact that it adds a couple of nice touches to explain some of the rules governing the conduct of angels. I genuinely enjoyed it, and would watch it again.

6/10

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Thursday, 4 December 2025

Elf-Man (2011)

A Christmas vehicle for Jason 'Wee Man' Acuña (who will already be familiar to fans of the Jackass franchise), Elf-Man is a bit of silliness that makes up for the low budget and cheese with a couple of fun performances and some little jokes that actually work as intended.

It's coming up to Christmas, of course, and Eric Harper (Mackenzie Astin) has to get some last-minute errands done before settling in at home. Eric has been very busy making a scientific breakthrough that could change the energy usage of many homes. This makes him a target of a trio of robbers (Jeffrey Combs, Dave Coyne, and Larry Nichols), which also endangers his children (Ryan, played by Blake Kaiser, and Kasey, played by Carly Robell), grandma (Marty Terry), and the woman he is hoping to start a new relationship with (Amy, played by Mirelly Taylor). Things don't look good. Fortunately, there's an elf (Acuña) available to help them, but only if he can believe in himself as much as the others believe in him.

I'm not going to tell you that Elf-Man is actually any good. It cannot do enough to distract from the lack of resources, especially when there's a need for some special effects, and the acting is a mix of complete amateurism and absolute ham (Combs being the hammiest, and I don't mean that as a criticism). The simple tale tries to have a bit of something for everyone, considering the central message, the jokes, and the cast, but there's a chance that most end up hating it. Except me. I didn't love it, but I was amused by a few moments.

Director Ethan Wiley has a few other movies under his belt, having started his directorial career with a couple of horror sequels, as does his screenplay co-writer Richard Jefferies, but it's hard to think of anyone being able to do much better with what's available here. Considering this is a vehicle for him, a big hurdle is the limited acting ability of Acuña. I like the guy, but he's definitely not a great actor.

A few other cast members do better though. Combs is the star, showing why he's had such an enduring career that has gained him a loyal fanbase. He's aided by fun turns from Coyne and Nichols (the villains are often the most fun parts of this kind of film). Kaiser and Robell do okay as the two children, Taylor and Astin aren't too bad, and Terry just has to spend the majority of the film looking a bit bemused. She's not great, but she's saved from being the worst in the film by Acuña, who is completely unable to both act and react naturally within any scene.

There's the expected sweetness here, but the most fun comes from a running gag about the quality of grandma's baking, as well as any scene that has Combs overacting in a way that takes him closer to being a fun cartoon. Coyne being hilariously inept at disguising himself is also fun, as is an interaction between Nichols and a friendly police officer. None of these little positives are enough to make the film one I could recommend to many others, but I definitely didn't find it as painful as expected. Regardless, I'll be a bit generous with my rating. It is Christmas, after all.

4/10

Wednesday, 3 December 2025

Prime Time: 12 Toys Of Christmas (2025)

If you think that it's easy to make a cheesy Christmas movie then you should try to watch a bad cheesy Christmas movie. There are many of them to choose from, and I guarantee you that most of them are made by people who thought they could do the job in their sleep. 12 Toys Of Christmas is one of the bad ones. It's kept watchable, just, by the fact that Stephanie Perk is a perfectly fine, if bland, lead. There's very little else to make this worth your time though.

Perk plays Olivia, a woman who heads off to visit her grandmother, Magdalena (Debbie Javor) in Hungary. Not bothered by the fact that her Hungarian grandmother has no Hungarian accent, because why would she, Olivia spends her time finding out about her decased grandfather, and his Christmas tradition of doling out hand-made toys to select individuals. Olivia is helped by Andras (Gábor Kékessy), which helps to distract her from the fact that she also has a job to do for her demanding boss, Francesca (Nina Josephs).

Writer Alys Murray has a few other Christmas movies to her credit, which puts them on a better footing than writer Ric Forster, who seems to have made use of a familiar cast to churn out a whole heap of what seem to be live-action teen magazine stories in features that he also directed. As for director Adamo Halmo, this is their first feature. I doubt it will be their last, but we can live in hope. No, that is not me being nasty for the sake of being nasty. This is a film that reeks of laziness and disdain at every turn. You can almost hear Halmo saying "cut, that take will do, people who watch these movies will put up with any shit." Admittedly, there's some truth in that, but it's still nice to think of people actually making even the minimal effort to present something cheering and sweet.

The best Christmas films, whether they are cinematic features or Hallmark movies, give us an idealised version of the season. There's a good helping of cold snow, good helpings of warm cookies and hot chocolates, plenty of seasonal lights and trimmings adorning the buildings, and characters that at least feel as if they belong in the onscreen world. 12 Toys Of Christmas somehow gets too much wrong in a way that leaves nothing feeling right. The characters never feel natural, which may be the biggest problem, and that means that everything around them just feels like exactly what it is: set dressing.

As I already said, Perk is fine in the lead role. And when I say fine I mean mostly harmless. And when I say mostly harmless I mean . . . present. Kékessy is a bit weaker, but just has to remain handsome and kind throughout. Javor feels like she was asked to join in for a day or two, not told anything about her character, aside from the fact that she was a grandmother, and then wandered through an extra scene or two without any decent direction. Ferenc Köles isn't bad as the comic relief, although he doesn't live up to the name of his character, Hilarius, and Míra Korb is thankfully not overused as the obligatory "sweet" child.

While occasionally competent, this is an ultimately joyless experience, and if there's something you want to avoid in your Christmas movie then it's a feeling of joylessness. Even when compared to the many other movies this wants to sit alongside, 12 Toys Of Christmas is poor. Choose from one of the hundreds of better options instead.

2/10

Tuesday, 2 December 2025

Bad Tidings (2024)

2024 was a very good year for the stars of Bad Tidings, which meant the timing seemed perfect for this Christmas movie. Chris McCausland was very popular on Strictly Come Dancing, raising his own profile as well as challenging perceptions and inspiring others by becoming the first blind winner, and Lee Mack seemed to become a permanent household fixture on TV, thanks to his presence on one or two comedy panel shows and his stint hosting The 1% Club. Putting them in a movie that had one being a capable blind man and one being a bit of a sarcastic grump didn't seem like a bad idea.

Co-written by Laurence Rickard, Martha Howe-Douglas, and McCausland, this is best described as a cross between Home Alone and any film about feuding neighbours. Mack plays Neil, a man who becomes more and more obsessed with his neighbour, Scott (McCausland). Neil believes that Scott is deliberately trying to wind him up, especially when it comes to his Christmas decorations. He can't complain too much though, because then everyone would accuse him of picking on an innocent blind man. Scott isn't as innocent as he appears though. Whatever their differences, Neil and Scott need to team up and work together when the plot contrives to have them being the only two people at home as their street is targeted by some opportunistic robbers.

While there are a few chuckles here and there, especially in the third act, I was really hoping for a bit more from Bad Tidings. It's good enough, but it just never hits the heights you might expect from the two talented leads, especially considering the fact that the film feels tailored to play to their strengths. A major factor may be director Tim Kirkby, who has spent a large part of his career filming TV comedy and stand-up work. Kirkby struggles to keep things moving smoothly enough, making the 80-minute runtime feel a bit overlong when you think of the wasted potential.

Both Mack and McCausland do well enough in the main roles, both very comfortable in roles that don't require them to stray too far from the onscreen personas they have presented for years now. Rebekah Staton, Ben Crompton, Emily Coates, and Josiah Eloi play the family of robbers, and they're fine, and the only other cast members worth mentioning are Sarah Alexander and Millie Kiss.

Maybe my lukewarm response to this is due to me getting my hopes up. I'd seen the advertising and thought I'd be in for something a bit superior to other TV movies of the season. While it's certainly a step away from the star vehicles we get from America, it still aims to be a relatively inoffensive distraction for those just wanting something that can be viewed while wrapping presents and/or sitting down with a nice big cup of hot chocolate. I enjoyed the Christmas special of The 1% Club Christmas Special more though.

6/10

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Monday, 1 December 2025

Mubi Monday: Babyteeth (2019)

I have found myself saying this quite often lately, but here we have another movie that takes some very familiar elements and blends them in a way that allows them to feel relatively unique. Babyteeth has a married couple who are going through a rough patch, it has a young woman being quite captivated by the personality of someone who would be labelled as "from the wrong side of the tracks", and there's also a storyline about someone struggling to live a normal life while being affected by cancer.

Eliza Scanlen plays Milla Finlay, a schoolgirl unlikely to see full adulthood, thanks to the cancer attacking her body. Her parents (Anna, a musician, played by Essie Davis, and Henry, a psychiatrist, played by Ben Mendelsohn) are struggling to find the right balance between protecting their daughter and allowing her to enjoy all that she can in her life, which is why they end up being more patient and considerate when Milla brings home a new friend, an older drug dealer named Moses (Toby Wallace). A number of the main characters here use drugs for different reasons, but there might be a time when they can instead find their high/calibration in some other way.

The first, and only (at this time), film directed by Shannon Murphy, working from a screenplay by Rita Kalnejas, adapting her own play, Babyteeth is one of those little films that seems unremarkable, and perhaps even a bit trite, until you start to be won over by the power of the many effective moments scattered throughout the runtime. On the one hand, I wish someone had pared this down by a good 10-20 minutes (it clocks in close to the 2-hour mark). On the other hand, there are no scenes I would necessarily vote to throw on the scrapheap. This is a story that is crafted well and lifted up by a great cast.

Davis and Mendelsohn are almost so appreciated nowadays that it seems redundant to praise their performances, but they absolutely make the most of material that gives them great individual moments, as well as some great moments together. There's no way to single one of them out, and they somehow manage to even take things up a notch in some powerful final scenes. Scanlen is perfect in her role, managing to convey her positivity and quirkiness without being stuck in a "manic pixie dream girl" rut. The constant presence of her cancer works against that, of course, but that shouldn't take away from how well she pitches her performance. Then we have Wallace, giving the kind of performance that makes me immediately want to check out more from his already-surprisingly-expansive filmography. Emily Barclay also does well to make a strong impression with her relatively small amount of screentime.

I enjoyed Babyteeth for every minute of the runtime. It sets everything up quickly enough, allowing viewers to spend most of their time watching the main characters connecting and interacting in both good and bad ways. The best thing about it is the way that it seems to hold back from judging people who find themselves in an unimaginably difficult situation, creating space and time for self-reflection as we ponder the beauty and ugliness of a universe that contains more wonders and delights than any of us could hope to see in a century, never mind whatever limited lifespan we're allotted by a cosmic roll of the dice.

9/10

Sunday, 30 November 2025

Netflix And Chill: The Carrier (2014)

There may be some people out there who like the sound of The Carrier AKA The Bag Man, a neo-noir crime flick that features a cast of familiar names - John Cusack, Robert De Niro, Crispin Glover, Dominic Purcell, Rebecca Da Costa, Martin Klebba, and Sticky Fingaz. I advise you now to push that positivity aside. This is a horrible mess of a film, and it's clear that most of the people in front of the camera turned up for a paycheck that they knew wouldn't require them to break a sweat.

As much as it pains me to do so, I'll give a very brief plot summary here. Cusack plays Jack, the carrier of the title. He's transporting and taking care of something on behalf of Dragna (De Niro). The only rule is that he cannot look to see what's inside the package. Hiding out at a remote motel, manned by a curious man named Ned (Glover), Jack soon gets himself mixed up with some trouble swirling around Rivka (Da Costa).

Apparently written by James Russo, and then worked on by Paul Conway and director David Grovic, this is about as painfully lazy and irrelevant as it's possible for a movie to be. It feels as if it would have been easier to slightly enjoy back in the mid-1990s, but this was released two decades later. None of the cast are on top form, with one or two acting as if they're trying to give a career-worst performance, the dialogue could have been written by someone who was handed a variety of soundbites snipped from a variety of much better crime movies, and the 108-minute runtime is at least 20 minutes too long.

Few people have squandered their talent in the latter part of their career more than Cusack, who has given many performances by now that convey his complete disdain for his main career. This performance belongs in that category, although I don't blame him for being unable to work up any enthusiasm for the material. Da Costa has to look lovely, and occasionally be in danger, which she does. I'm not any big fan of her, but she does okay with what she's given. The best person, and someone who brings some fun to the proceedings, is Glover though, and the film is good whenever he's around. Purcell also does pretty good, it's a shame that he's not in the movie more, and both Klebba and Mr. Fingaz are perfectly fine. De Niro, sadly, is not. He doesn't seem to loathe the thing as much as Cusack, but he certainly doesn't do more than the bare minimum.

It's odd to think of how much work had to be done here to make this as bad as it is. The screenplay is dire, but it could have been saved by a charismatic lead performance. The charisma isn't here. Cusack actually inverts any charisma he once had, creating some kind of monochromatic negative photo version of himself. And I'll eat my own hair if I encounter anyone who feels invested in this long enough to care about how the third act plays out.

The only good thing I have to say about this is that I at least hope to never have to rewatch it.

2/10

Saturday, 29 November 2025

Shudder Saturday: Good Madam (2022)

Directed by Jenna Cato Bass, who also worked on the screenplay with, it appears, everyone in the cast, Good Madam is a drama with a nice shading of horror that will work for those who can accept and enjoy movies that make use of some genre trappings to reckon with some major societal issues and/or injustices. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to anyone just looking for a horror movie, but it's a rewarding experience for those who can handle their art with some creepy and unnerving imagery used throughout.

Tsidi (Chumisa Cosa) doesn't have anywhere to stay. She ends up visiting her estranged mother, Mavis (Nosipho Mtebe), a woman who has spent her life in devoted service to a a white family, and the Madam (Jennifer Borraine) at the head of it. Madam is now bed-ridden, but Mavis remains just as devoted and acclimatised to the way of life that is the only one she has known for many years. Tsidi resents what she sees, especially when it stirs up the memories of her own upbringing, an experience she doesn't want to pass along to her own young daughter, Winnie (Kamvalethu Jonas Raziya).

In case you didn't extrapolate from that plot description, Good Madam is an exploration of apartheid in South Africa and the ongoing ramifications of that. Watching Mavis go about her usual day is like watching a recently-released prisoner acting too bewildered by the entirety of the world and choosing to keep themselves in a small indoor space where they feel safe and a bit more in control. It's a reminder that history isn't just history. It can be massive generational trauma that reverberates for decades.

Cosa is brilliant in her role, constantly striving to move forward through a life that seems intent on holding her back. Raziya and Mtebe are also very good, each one seeing the world around them with very different eyes. Sanda Shandu plays a vital part in the proceedings, and his character helps to embody what our lead is fighting against. Erasure and oppression are obvious when part of major events, but they are allowed to continue whenever people stop resisting the pressure.

I assumed that Good Madam was going to be a bit of a struggle for me to get through, considering the subject matter. Well, that was wrong. Very easy to get into, with the characters quickly established and the main theme twisted around every scene like a double-helix of DNA, and even one or two moments that delivered some standard horror imagery (although still not enough for anyone wanting a good helping of bloodshed and thrills). If you've had your interest piqued by any of this discussion then you should definitely make time for this. If not, however, there's nothing in the film that will win you over.

8/10

Friday, 28 November 2025

Noir-vember: Leave Her To Heaven (1945)

I love Gene Tierney. I love Gene Tierney so much that there's a chance I start every review of any Gene Tierney movie by stating my love for her. It doesn't make it any less true though. I've seen a fair few Gene Tierney movies, but there have been some blind spots that I should have seen long before now. Thankfully, I have friends to remind me of the many movies that I should make a priority, and last week I was told that I should definitely fit Leave Her To Heaven into my viewing schedule.

Tierney plays the beautiful and captivating Ellen Berent, a woman who captures the heart of a writer named Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde). Things move along quickly, a bit too quickly for the ex-fiance of Ellen, Russell Quinton (Vincent Price), and it's not long until the happy couple are living in wedded bliss. Well, there's the happy couple and Danny (Darryl Hickman), the polio-crippled younger brother of Richard. Ellen doesn't like to share though, and that isn't necessarily a good thing for a healthy relationship. It's also not a good thing for those who may take up some of the time and attention of her husband.

Based on a novel by Ben Ames Williams, Leave Her To Heaven is a good enough story that it would have been a great film in many different forms. It's directed well by John M. Stahl, who shows the right amount of confidence in the screenplay and his stars, and the writing from Jo Swerling does well to move viewers from a fairly standard opening act to the wild and heightened melodrama of the finale.

Nobody really puts a foot wrong in front of the camera, although Hickman has to lean into the vulnerable and innocent "patient" persona as he tests the patience of Tierney's character. Speaking of Tierney, she conveys her willpower and steely resolve so well that it's easy to imagine her carrying the whole movie on her own. She essentially plays someone who is truly monstrous, but the edges are softened slightly by the fact that she's, well, Gene Tierney. She's ably supported by Wilde (even if he has to be a bit of a damn squib), a delightful Jeanne Crain, and a suave Price. There are a few other people populating this tale, but that central quartet is the reason for it being such a memorable and enjoyable experience.

While I wouldn't place this alongside the absolute best Tierney films you could watch, that's only due to other specific titles setting a very high bar indeed. This would definitely be jostling with a few others just below the very best though, and it's certainly something you come away from with no questions about why it is so highly thought of. The runtime may be a bit longer than most noirs from this era, it's 110 minutes, and the bright colours may seem incompatible with the growing darkness of the plot, but don't let either of those things put you off. This is a classic. I'd love to spend much more time picking out specific highlights, but that would ruin the experience for anyone else yet to get around to it.

9/10

Thursday, 27 November 2025

Noir-vember: Fortune Is A Woman (1957)

A film noir that focuses on an insurance investigator who has his head turned by a beautiful woman. I must admit that I thought I knew how everything would play out when I pressed play on Fortune Is A Woman. It's not hard to predict the beats when a noir sets itself up in ways that lead to comparisons with one or two of the all-time greats. Surprisingly, things didn't play out exactly as I thought they would, although I did start to get in step with everything as the second half unfolded.

Jack Hawkins is Oliver Branwell, the aforementioned insurance investigator. When sent to deal with one Mr. Tracey Moreton (Dennis Price) he encounters an old flame, now married, Sarah Moreton (Arlene Dahl). After some conversation that includes some talk about arson, Oliver moves on to other work, although he enjoys being reconnected with Sarah. Things sadly get a bit too coincidental when Oliver spots a painting elsewhere that he believes belongs to the Moretons, just before there's some arson and a death, leading to a large windfall for Sarah.

There are a number of reasons to watch, and enjoy, Fortune Is A Woman, with the dialogue and plotting being quite an obvious draw. Adapted by Val Valentine from a novel by Winston Graham, the screenplay written by director Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder maintains a great feeling of fun and a frisson of danger for the majority of the runtime. A big plus, however, is the inherent British politeness of the character played by Hawkins. There are at least two occasions that have him ready to fall on a sword that hasn't necessarily been placed directly in front of him.

Aside from Hawkins, who is a delight in his role, Dahl is also very good, and is allowed to work within an area of pleasing ambiguity while viewers try to figure out who is the real villain of the piece. Price is fine in his small role, Violet Farebrother is very good as his mother, and there are enjoyable performances from Ian Hunter, Geoffrey Keen, Bernard Miles, John Phillips, Greta Gynt (a scene-stealer), and even Christopher Lee, sadly only in the film for a couple of minutes.

There's a comforting cosiness to this. It's not one of those many noirs that will have you awaiting the ending with dread. It does still have stakes for the main characters though, and there's at least one corpse thrown into the mix. I had a great time with it, and the pacing of the 95-minute runtime is helped by the way in which the plot is almost broken up into a number of mini-vignettes (the set-up, the crime, and some investigative work only takes you to just over the halfway point, there is a bit more bobbing and weaving on the way to the end credits). The very last scenes may feel a bit underwhelming, but they don't do enough to spoil everything that came along before them.

7/10

Wednesday, 26 November 2025

Prime Time: Riff Raff (2024)

I cannot recall the last time I watched a film that was SO reliant on the cast to keep viewers engaged and entertained. Of course, most movies rely on the cast. Riff Raff has nothing else going for it though. Nothing. And the cast are largely used to play popular screen incarnations of their typical personas.

Ed Harris is Vincent, married to the lovely Sandy (Gabrielle Union). He enjoys a quiet life, which seems set to get a bit quieter with his step-son, DJ (Miles J. Harvey), getting ready for college life. That quiet is interrupted, however, by the arrival of Vincent's son, Rocco (Lewis Pullman), Rocco's pregnant girlfriend, Marina (Emanuela Postacchini), and Vincent's ex-wife, Ruth (Jennifer Coolidge). Is it just a surprise visit to spend some quality time together? Or has Rocco done something to incur the wrath of two violent criminals, Leftie (Bill Murray) and Lonnie (Pete Davidson)?

This was written by John Pollono. I won't be rushing to watch anything else that he's written. It was directed by Dito Montiel. I also won't be rushing to watch anything else from him. All they have managed to do here is mash together a selection of tired and predictable tropes, made no effort to freshen things up, and then bagged a cast they assume will paper over the many cracks in their work. I like a few of these cast members, but few people would be good enough to paper over this many cracks.

The best person here is actually the one I don't know very well, Harvey. Harvey is wonderful, believably hanging around in that slight limbo between early teenage years and young adulthood. He's so good here that the film notably suffers during the scenes that he's not involved in. Murray and Davidson are often good fun in movies, but they're used here to do very little more than be Murray and Davidson. The same goes for Coolidge. Harris brings his hefty amount of baggage to his role, which helps do more for his character than anything in the screenplay, and Union tries to remain a bright spark amidst all of the murkiness. Pullman and Postacchini are both decent, even if the former is slightly mis-cast, but both deserve much better than what they're given here.

There's nothing here to recommend this to all but the biggest fans of the cast, with the exception of Harvey's performance. The dialogue isn't as witty or weighty as it thinks it is, the plotting is tiresomely predictable and unsatisfying, Montiel doesn't bother to add any style to any scenes, and the ending puts some characters in peril without doing enough to get viewers to care. It avoids being unwatchable, mainly thanks to the competence of the performers, but it also avoids being any good.

4/10

Tuesday, 25 November 2025

Noir-vember: Framed (1947)

This is the stuff. This is what you want when you start to swim through the murky waters of lesser-known noirs. Framed is enjoyably fast-paced, very blunt, and hits a lot of the expected tropes. It's also helped by the stoic Glenn Ford in the lead role, as well as a fine turn from Janis Carter.

Ford is Mike Lambert, a mining engineer who we first see finishing up a job as a truck driver. That job ends with him crashing into someone's car, thanks to some faulty brakes. His employer doesn't want to pay up, or accept any responsibility, but Mike demands his pay and then passes a compensatory amount over to the man who had his vehicle damaged. Stuck in town for a little while, and hoping to find a job in his main field, Mike eventually meets a woman named Paula (Janis Carter). Paula helps him out when he is arrested and ordered to pay a $50 fine, but she sees that as an investment to get Mike roped into a scheme that she has involving the vice-president of the local bank, Steve (Barry Sullivan), and a prospector named Jeff (Edgar Buchanan).

With a tight and lively screenplay from Ben Maddow, director Richard Wallace does plenty to keep viewers distracted from the fairly low budget here. It helps that everything begins with the old standby of the "stranger coming into town", and the pacing feels planned around the introduction of the various characters. There's Mike, the crash that makes his moral compass clear, then Paula, then Steve, Jeff being optimistic about a find that he needs money to properly mine, and one or two other individuals who present some key evidence on the way to a final scene that should lead to some kind of satisfying conclusion, whether it's for our hero or villain.

Ford may not be the most charismatic performer onscreen, but he does well when required to be fairly decent and blunt, making him a good choice for the lead here. Carter is a delight, delivering the kind of turn that makes her character a very entertaining and convincing femme fatale. Sullivan and Buchanan both do well enough, and it's also worth mentioning the main sequence featuring Barbara Woodell and Jim Bannon as our hero pretends to be an investigative reporter looking for some answers to report on a crime that isn't as clear cut as it first appears.

Having honed his skills throughout the first half of the 20th century, Wallace may not be a director many would think of as being worth checking out, but his filmography has a number of treats scattered throughout. Framed is one of them. It's not the best, and lacks the star-power and real darkness of many others I could mention, but Wallace does well with what he's given, and I can imagine many other film fans will enjoy it just as much as I did.

7/10

Monday, 24 November 2025

Mubi Monday: House By The River (1950)

If you're like me then hearing the name Fritz Lang has your mind going immediately to two all-time classics of cinema. At the very least. Lang helmed some enduring masterpieces. You could even say that he Brigitte Helmed at least one of them (hey, it might be a weak pun, but I felt the need to share it). There are so many more movies throughout his filmography that are also worth checking out though, and House By The River is one such example.

Unable to control himself when the housemaid, Emily (Dorothy Patrick), comes close to him while dressed pretty and smelling nice, author Stephen Byrne (Louis Hayward) makes an unwanted advance. Being loudly rebuffed, he sets out to keep Emily quiet as a neighbour moves around outside. Which leads to murder. Stephen then concocts a story to garner the sympathy and assistance of his brother, John (Lee Bowman), and the two of them set out to dispose of the body and conceal the crime. Soon making use of the "disappearance" of Emily to gain some publicity for his books, Stephen starts to become more brazen, and it soon becomes clear that he can easily shift the blame to his brother if the finger of suspicion is pointed his way. It could be his wife, Marjorie (Jane Wyatt), piecing things together though.

Based on a novel by A. P. Herbert, this was one of a good run of thrillers and noirs written by Mel Dinelli, and I highly recommend checking out their first half dozen or so movies (at the very least). It's a delicious and dark premise, especially when the second half shows Stephen being "inspired" in his writing, and the two brothers being inextricably tied together by the crime is a great way to give viewers a way to easily root for one and against the other.

It's hard to remember to credit Lang, but the fact is that he does such a good job with the direction that the film never feels forced or awkward, despite the contrivances being dotted around the plot to keep raising the stakes on the way to a strange, but very entertaining, final sequence. Lang steers the whole thing with a steady hand, allowing for it to jump between a feeling of very dark comedy and very palpable danger.

Hayward is very good in his role, always getting close to full-on panto villain without becoming outright laughable, and he's helped by some solid supporting performers. Bowman may have a decent amount of screentime, but he has to be the growing conscience of the film, meaning that he doesn't get to have nearly as much fun. He's easy enough to like though, as is Wyatt, and both deserve so much better than the apparent fate awaiting them in the third act. Patrick doesn't get many scenes, obviously, but does well enough in her role, and Ann Shoemaker, Jody Gilbert, Peter Brocco, Howland Chamberlain, and Will Wright all deliver enjoyable character turns.

Like some other Lang movies I could mention, although they are movies that aren't the first ones to be brought up when his filmography is being discussed, this has an excellent mix of superior visual language, dark content handled with a light touch, and sheer entertainment. Recommended.

8/10

Sunday, 23 November 2025

Netflix And Chill: No Country For Old Men (2007)

Sometimes you revisit movies and they hold up even better than you remembered. I find that happens to me often when I go back through the filmography of the Coen brothers. I'd seen No County For Old Men before (I would call it an essential viewing, but almost all of their features feel like essential viewing), but it had been a very long time. All that was left in my mind was a fading echo, sometimes made louder again by a clip shown online or a meme. Revisiting it this week was a real pleasure, and a reminder of how often I can seek cinematic comfort in so many of their works.

Josh Brolin plays Llewelyn Moss, a man who thinks he may be in luck when he stumbles across a bag of cash left at the scene of a drug deal gone wrong. Nobody would just accept that much cash going missing though, and Llewelyn soon finds himself being pursued by the relentless and ruthless Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem). Other people are also interested in where the money is, but the main game of cat and mouse is played out by Moss and Chigurh.

Adapted from a novel by Corman McCarthy, this is a bleak and brilliant slice of neo-noir that somehow allows the characters to continue feeling very much alive and ready for anything thrown their way . . . until death puts an end to their plans. The Coens take their time, especially in moments that show Chigurgh either killing people or letting their fate be decided by a coin toss.

While it would be easy to spend all of my time praising Bardem, he does such a great job of portraying such an iconic character, everyone does well in their respective roles. Brolin is solid as the guy hoping to turn a bad situation to his advantage, Kelly Macdonald handles her accent well in the role of his wife, Carla, and both Tommy Lee Jones and Garret Dillahunt get some good scenes as two law enforcement officers who end up on the very edge of a horrible mess. There are also welcome roles for Woody Harrelson, Stephen Root, Barry Corbin, and Beth Grant.

It's hard to think of anyone watching this and not being able to appreciate it as a cinematic masterpiece, but I would say that about many of the Coen brothers movies. You have to accept a slower pace, as well as some idiosyncrasies, but the whole thing feels like some gorgeous piece of classical music all about life, death, chance, and fate. It doesn't necessarily build to a crescendo, but there's certainly a build up to something tremendous before the music then starts to gently fade out.

No Country For Old Men is a modern classic. If you don't agree with me then maybe you can agree that, to paraphrase a character in the film, "if it ain't, it'll do till one gets here."

10/10

Saturday, 22 November 2025

Shudder Saturday: The Noonday Witch (2016)

It's tough, it really is. Making a horror movie that isn't a standard horror movie means that you risk upsetting both horror fans and non-horror fans alike. And when you're using some genre tropes to explore loss and grief then you end up being compared to some other films from the past decade or so that already took viewers on a very similar journey. So I went into The Noonday Witch with fairly low expectations.

Anna Geislerová is Eliska, a woman who moves to a fairly isolated home with her young daughter, Anetka (Karolína Lipowská). Eliska is trying to cope after the death of her husband, but she hasn't yet told Anetka that daddy won't be coming home. She maintains a lie about him working away. It is only a matter of time until the truth comes out though, surely.

Based on a bit of folklore, which is why Karel Jaromír Erben is credited for his poem, The Noonday Witch is the result of the direction and writing from Jiri Sádek, Matej Chlupacek, and Michal Samir. The end result is good enough to rate their collaborative work as a success, despite it veering close to those other movies alluded to in the opening paragraph (and, yes, I know some people will be rolling their eyes now, but I do think this is different enough to be worth your time).

Maybe it is the setting, the particular lore being used, or just the many scenes set in bright daylight, but The Noonday Witch manages to feel surprisingly unique as it covers what could easily have been dull and over-familiar ground. It could have been better, I wish there had been some more moments of raw emotion and creeping unease on the way to the predictable ending, but it does what it sets out to do very well. Anyone going into this with any high expectations is bound to be disappointed though.

Geislerová and Lipowská are both very good in their roles. They have a couple of excellent people supporting them, but the film really rests upon their shoulders. Believable as parent and child, and equally believable as two individuals processing their emotions in different ways, the two leads help to keep you invested in something that wouldn’t work with anyone less convincing.

Not unmissable, not one I will rush to recommend to anyone after a guaranteed great movie night, but still good enough to make me feel glad that I finally got around to it.

7/10

Friday, 21 November 2025

Noir-vember: Chicago (2002)

The fact that Chicago is as good as it is seems to be a testament to the songs, the staging, and some of the casting. I don't think Renée Zellweger feels right in the main role, and I never have, but she does well enough to try and keep up with absolutely superb turns from Catherine Zeta-Jones, Queen Latifah, Richard Gere, and John C. Reilly.

Things start with Zeta-Jones, playing Velma Kelly. We see her performing a routine, "All That Jazz", that she used to perform with her sister. She's now a solo act, having murdered her sister. She hopes to do alright in the long run though, having the allure of celebrity on her side, as well as a smooth and brilliant lawyer, Billy Flynn (Richard Gere). She ends up begrudgingly moved out of the spotlight, however, when Roxie Hart (Zellweger) is jailed for the killing of her lover. Roxie may not have had any profile before the crime, but she sure knows how to create one now, especially with a little help from Matron Mama Morton (Latifah). Cold-blooded and ambitious, Roxie not only wants to escape an appointment with the hangman, she wants to turn her celebrity status into something that lasts after she gets out of prison. But getting out of prison will also depend on, yes, the suave Billy Flynn.

Adapted for the screen by Bill Condon, who has the benefit of great source material to work from, Chicago holds up as one of the best musicals of the 21st century, and, despite the period setting, works very well as a look at the constant allure of celebrity and the way famous people can take advantage of their position to manipulate a narrative. Director Rob Marshall does a hell of a job with his first cinematic release, arguably delivering a debut that he never bettered (although I am saying that before having seen absolutely everything in his filmography).

I don't want to feel as if I'm being overly rude so I'll just say that Zellweger remains the weakest part of the movie, albeit perfectly fine when supported by the many others doing much better work. Zeta-Jones loves every minute of her vamp character, and the film sizzles when she's onscreen, Latifah is a lot of fun, and gets a great number that introduces her character, and Gere is such a perfect fit for his role that it's unsurprising that he ends up involved in the two of the most well-staged numbers in the film. Reilly plays a wonderful sap, somehow making you feel sorry for him every time he is used and betrayed, and there's also room for enjoyable moments that involve Taye Diggs, Dominic West, Colm Feore, Lucy Liu, and the inimitable Christine Baranski.

But let's face it, a musical lives or dies by the musical numbers. This is what makes Chicago such a satisfying watch. The songs are catchy, the choreography is inventive and fun, and it's very rewatchable. "All That Jazz" might be the one that everyone knows, and was the only one I was familiar with when I first watched the film, but "When You're Good To Mama", "Cell Block Tango", "We Both Reached For The Gun", "I Can't Do It Alone", "Mr. Cellophane", and "Razzle Dazzle" are all brilliant in different ways, not to mention the other numbers that help to make up the runtime.

It really is a shame about that bit of mis-casting, but the rest of the film is so good that it still comes very close to being a bit of a modern classic. Maybe one day I'll be able to overlook my biggest problem with it. Not today though.

8/10

Thursday, 20 November 2025

Noir-vember: The Mark Of The Whistler (1944)

The good thing about The Whistler movies is that they all tend to be pretty short, this one is 62 minutes, they lack any pretension, and you could easily marathon the movie series in a day. The bad thing about them, or maybe I should just refer to it as a weakness, is The Whistler himself, a presence who doesn't really seem to be necessary to guide us through the storyline. Mind you, I enjoyed his narration here more than I enjoyed it in the first film.

The story is enjoyably simple. Richard Dix plays Lee Selfridge Nugent, a man who sees an opportunity to change his life when he reads a newspaper notice about a large sum of money being left for a different, and unrelated, Mr. Lee Nugent. Taking the time to work on his backstory, Nugent then gets himself along to the bank and presents himself as the recipient of the money. He is nervous as he considers his chances of being successful. But he is unaware that other people may want to catch up with Mr. Lee Nugent.

Based on a story by Cornell Woolrich, it's George Bricker who gets the writing credit for this second movie in The Whistler series. Bricker does a good job of packing a lot of exposition and character development into each scene, leaving director William Castle free to just focus on keeping everything clear and enjoyably fast-paced as the story zips from scene to scene. Castle doesn't have to use all of the extra tricks that he used in the previous instalment, now having the luxury of a more dense screenplay and an "established brand" (with the first film proving to be a successful transition from an audio to a visual medium).

It's fun to see Dix take on a lead role that feels so far removed from his lead role in the last movie, and he seems to enjoy having a lot more to work with this time. Porter Hall is amusing as someone who might be able to help our lead, but only if he can make a decent profit for himself, Paul Guilfoyle is enjoyable in the role of a street vendor named 'Limpy' Smith, and Janis Carter lights up a few scenes as a determined reporter named Patricia Henley. There are also a couple of menacing performances from John Calvert and Matt Willis, both working better when trying to observe Mr. Nugent before their motivation is made clear.

I've yet to be convinced by the need for The Whistler himself, but the rest of the film makes this an easy one to recommend. It's a great blend of fun and danger, as well as being another classic noir premise (someone pretending to be someone that they're not in order to collect a large sum of money) given that ever-so-slight twist by having it presented to us by The Whistler. I don't expect the rest of the series to keep entertaining me as much as this, but I was pleasantly surprised that this was a step up from the first movie. And I'll be pleasantly surprised if another one or two subsequent instalments match it.

7/10

Wednesday, 19 November 2025

Prime Time: Play Dirty (2025)

Another attempt to successfully adapt some of the "Parker" books, written by Donald E. Westlake, into something that could be viewed as a profitable movie property, Play Dirty has the bonus of being directed by Shane Black, who also worked with Charles Mondry and Anthony Bagarozzi to create the screenplay. Unfortunately, it's the Shane Black of recent years, and not peak Shane Black. And he's decided to give himself a challenge by putting Mark Wahlberg in the main role.

Parker (Wahlberg) is involved in a heist that ends well, until his team is killed off by someone who betrays them. Aiming to get another payday lined up, as well as some revenge, Parker ends up helping Zen (Rosa Salazar) with a planned robbery that will once again get him targeted by the powerful and dangerous Lozini (Tony Shalhoub). Lozini has his goons, but Parker has Zen, Grofield (LaKeith Stanfield), Ed and Brenda (Keegan-Michael Key and Claire Lovering), and Stan (Chai Hansen). And he aims to stay one or two steps ahead of everyone else.

This should be great. It's a perfect marriage of material and writer-director. So the fact that it isn't feels like a confirmation that things started to go wrong when the casting decisions were made. Wahlberg can be good in movie roles, and I've enjoyed him in many other features over the years, but it has become harder and harder to view him as some kind of cheeky charmer with every opportunity to be reminded of how he puts himself across in everyday life. Not that Play Dirty necessarily wants the character to be viewed that way, but, then again, the film doesn't ever really settle on what it wants.

This is a mess, disappointingly inconsistent as it lurches from one unsteady set-piece to the next. Parker is sometimes ready to quip and wink at others, sometimes just intent on being dead-eyed and murderous. The characters around him have the potential to be a fun mix, but most of them are either underused or not used in the right way. This should have been a home run for Shane Black. He barely avoids a strike out.

Salazar is a great fit for her role, and arguably the highlight of the film. Other standouts include Hansen, Chukwudi Iwuji (who plays someone caught up in the unfolding scheme), and Nat Wolff as one of the main generals to Lozini. That maybe tells you all you need to know. Wahlberg has a bit of presence, but no charisma, Stanfield is crying out to be allowed to have more fun with his role, and both Key and Lovering seem to have been picked for one scene that makes decent use of them.

There are similarities between bad action movies and bad comedies. Cast the wrong person in the lead and you're scuppered. Punchlines aren't effective if nobody cares about the setups. And you can't cover up your mistakes by simply making things louder and busier on the way to a weak and completely mishandled ending. Play Dirty is a bad action movie, but it occasionally mixes things up by also being a bad comedy. The opening sequence is decent, and had me getting my hopes up for the rest of the film, but it quickly goes downhill from there.

I think it's unlikely to happen, but I'd love to see Shane Black take things down a notch and bring us a stripped-down and low-budget detective film for his next feature. Something that would sit nicely alongside his best work, but also sticks to a grittier tone that might still surprise his fans.

3/10

Tuesday, 18 November 2025

Noir-vember: He Ran All The Way (1951)

Based upon a novel of the same name, written by Sam Ross, He Ran All The Way is a very enjoyable and brisk noir that should appeal to those who have enjoyed the similar, and better-known, (The) Desperate Hours (released later, 1955, and remade in 1990). This is the kind of noir that maintains a decent bit of grit, but also has you hoping for some turn in the third act that might allow some of the characters to change their apparent fate.

John Garfield plays Nick Robey, a young man who takes part in an armed robbery and shoots a policeman. Desperate to evade the authorities, Nick ends up ducking into a busy swimming pool, where he meets Peg Dobbs (Shelley Winters). There's a bit of a connection, but only while Nick needs to stay hidden in the crowd. Once out of the pool, however, Nick gets the idea to escort Peg home, aiming to lay low there a while until the heat dies down. That gets a bit trickier when Peg's parents (played by Wallace Ford and Selena Royle) enter the home. They also have another young boy in tow (Tommy, played by Robert Hyatt). It's not long until everyone figures out just what Nick is up to, but maybe Peg won't mind the opportunity to help a man she sees to have taken a liking to.

Adapted into screenplay form by Hugo Butler and Guy Endore (although the bulk of the work was done initially by an uncredited Dalton Trumbo), He Ran All The Way doesn't waste much of the relatively short 77-minute runtime. We see Nick getting himself into seriously hot water and the rest of the film shows us his attempt to get out of that situation. Sometimes he looks unwilling to harm people he has just met, sometimes he looks ready to dispose of anyone he even suspects of getting between him and his pending freedom.

Garfield is suitably on edge for most of the runtime, initially sympathetic, but soon hardening as he feels the world closing in around him. Winters is wonderful in her role, soft and naive and loving without ever seeming like a world-class dope. Both Ford and Royle do well in their supporting roles, as does Hyatt, and together they represent a very typical family unit that you don't want to see kept in a dangerous situation any longer than necessary.

I've not seen any of the other films directed by John Berry, and no other titles immediately jump out at me, but his handling of this material makes me think I could do a lot worse than check out more of his output from the 1940s and 1950s (aka his most prolific period). If there's anything else like this gem in the mix then I'll be a happy viewer.

7/10

Monday, 17 November 2025

Mubi Monday: El Planeta (2021)

Written and directed by Amalia Ulman, who also gives herself a starring role in her feature debut, El Planeta is a strange and brilliant look at a mother and daughter duo hustling their way to what they hope is a better life just beyond the next interaction. Neither main character ever seems too cunning or malicious, but . . . maybe that just goes to show how good they are at what they do.

Amalia plays Leonor, the daughter of María (played by her real mother, Ale Ulman). The two of them spend their time grifting, but never really managing to provide themselves with anything more than just the most fleeting of pleasures. That would be enough for them, in an ideal world, but this isn't an ideal world. Bills need paid and people need others to help maintain the ever-moving cogs of society.

Presented in black and white, and taking place in a modern age that we can all recognise as being on a downward spiral from some economic highs of decades past, El Planeta does a great job of observing and critiquing modern life while keeping the two main characters stuck firmly in it, despite their ongoing attempts to act as if they're not just as restricted as so many others around them.

Both Ulmans are great in their respective roles, and the two act more like siblings than mother and daughter. Director Nacho Vigalondo has fun in a cameo role, and both Zhou Chen and Carlos Carbonell do well in moments that require them to be slightly enchanted by the young lady trying to figure out her next bit of con work and/or theft.

Amalia Ulman does well to balance everything, making use of her smart writing and the winning performances from herself and her mother. We don't necessarily view the characters here as good people, but we also don't necessarily view them as being bad. They're just trying to exist in a way that feels more natural to them, which just happens to be in conflict with what the world expects of them. Ulman doesn't make any judgements, although we see moments with other characters doing that . . . which actually leads to viewers judging those doing the onscreen judging.

Maybe if things worked out the way that those with money keep insisting it should then El Planeta would have a different vibe. That hasn't happened though. We're working harder for less money, overall, and trickle-down economics doesn't seem to allow money to trickle anywhere below the 1%. So it ends up being strangely satisfying to watch people who refuse to allow their lives, or the image of their lives, to be dictated by how much money they have to hand. There may be no such thing as a victimless crime, but it's hard to condemn people for coveting, and pursuing, a lifestyle that has been sold to them every minute of every day for the last few decades.

8/10

Sunday, 16 November 2025

Netflix And Chill: Perfect Stranger (2007)

While I picked Perfect Stranger as a viewing choice because I believed it would fit alongside the many noir movies I have been watching this month, I knew that I shouldn't go getting my hopes up. Released in 2007, meaning it could have good or bad performances from the two main leads (Halle Berry and Bruce Willis), and appearing to be skirting the erotic thriller sub-genre without being either erotic or thrilling enough to have been involved in any conversations I have had over the years about those movies, it's safe to say that I set the bar low when I pressed play on this. And it still let me down.

Berry plays Rowena Price, an investigative journalist who finds herself at a low point when her latest story, one she has been working on for month, is nixed by her boss. Eager to sink her teeth into something else, Rowena is delighted to discover some rumours about Harrison Hill (Willis). He seems to spend a lot of his time guided by his libido, and may also be a killer. Helped with the tech side of things by her colleague and friend, Miles (Giovanni Ribisi), Rowena sets about getting as close as she can to Harrison. She could even be putting herself in serious danger. Although . . . is Harrison the one that she needs to be most wary of?

Director James Foley had an interesting career, and he was behind the camera for at least one classic. This is nowhere close to his best work, and I'd say that it's not even jostling for a place alongside his more average works. Perfect Stranger feels like a film that is all out of sorts. It's almost a decade too late, considering when it could have felt a bit ahead of the curve, it has a clumsy and unengaging screenplay from Todd Komarnicki, and none of the stars are able to grin and wallow in the potential sexiness and sleaze of the plot.

I didn't expect Willis to be very good here (it's after his peak acting period, and he was never at his best in other films I would place close to this . . . e.g. Color Of Night), but it's a shame that Berry is also unable to do anything with the material. While I have often argued that Berry stopped being sexy when film-makers started pushing her as "SEXY", she still has the huge advantage of being Halle bloody Berry. You wouldn't think that here though, which may be due to her being hobbled by both the screenplay and her co-stars. As for Ribisi . . . he just doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere within this film, let alone being the third main name in the cast. Gary Dourdan is welcome for a couple of brief scenes, but the only other person I want to mention is Nicki Aycox, playing the friend who sets everything in motion before mysteriously disappearing.

I pressed play on Perfect Stranger while wondering why I couldn't recall anyone ever mentioning it. I watched the end credits roll by with a very good understanding of why it wasn't mentioned. It's just bad. Not laughably awful. Not painful (not to me anyway, although that might just say something about my pain threshold). Just bad, and subsequently very easy to forget about. Some may think that the very end of the film saves it. I would argue that the very end just adds insult to injury.

3/10

Saturday, 15 November 2025

Shudder Saturday: Abraham's Boys (2025)

I have liked some of the previous directorial work of Natasha Kermani. I have also liked a lot of the writing of Joe Hill (including his collection, 20th Century Ghosts, that contains this story, although I cannot say that I remember it). Titus Welliver being in a main role will also get me to watch something. Which makes it all the more frustrating that Abraham's Boys was such a disappointing work. There's an interesting idea somewhere in the middle of it, but Kermani isn't able to explore it in the best way.

Welliver plays the Abraham of the title, and he's one Mr. Van Helsing. He's now married to Mina (Jocelin Donahue). They have two sons, named Max (Brady Hepner) and Rudy (Judah Mackey). Things might be good for them, but the work of a Van Helsing is never done, which is something the sons need to learn as they start to worry about their parents.

Here are the things I liked about Abraham's Boys. The performances from Welliver, Donahue, Hepner, Mackey, Aurora Perrineau, and Jonathan Howard (playing Arthur Holmwood). That is all. Okay, maybe I enjoyed some of the last scenes, but not half as much as I expected to. The strength of this film lies in the performances, and I think it would be very interesting to see this adapted into a one-man show, with someone as capable as Welliver carrying the entire thing on his shoulders.

That doesn't mean that I disliked everything else here. I just didn't find anything else very interesting or impressive. The visual style throughout is sparse and quite dull. I get that it is aiming to reflect the rudimentary way of life apparently preferred by the main patriarch, but it doesn't do anything to improve the weak and disappointing screenplay. Kermani seems to have too much faith in the central idea, but it's only good enough if used as a starting point for an actual journey. There's no journey here. In fact, it feels as if it spends 89 minutes going absolutely nowhere.

The strangest thing about this is that I can't see why Kermani was drawn to it. Maybe that's the problem. Maybe she viewed it as an interesting challenge, but was subsequently undone by it. Or maybe she just wanted to try something different. It's hard to see see any connecting threads between this and her previous two features though (note: I've not seen Shattered, the 2017 film she directed), and I would argue that she clearly works better when it's a screenplay with more of an overt female view of certain subject matter. Whether or not any of my theorising is correct, I can at least opt to blame Joe Hill for this. That way I can still look forward to whatever Kermani decides to do next.

3/10

Friday, 14 November 2025

Noir-Vember: The Whistler (1944)

Based on the radio program by J. Donald Wilson, The Whistler is a very economical and fun little noir from director William Castle. He wasn't yet the William Castle that we know and love as the master salesman, this was very near the start of his feature directorial career, but he certainly already knew how to deliver thrills to an audience. It helps that the runtime just about nudges right up against the one hour mark, making everything feel more urgent and fast-paced.

Earl C. Conrad (Richard Dix) is seen arranging for a hit man at the start of the movie. It soon becomes apparent that the target is himself. He remains grief-stricken after the loss of his wife. Things change, however, when he receives news that his wife may actually still be alive. It should just be a case of calling off the hit, letting those who arranged it keep the money, and getting on with a happier life ahead. The middle man is no longer available though, having been caught in a shootout with police just after arranging the hit. Conrad needs to find out who the killer is, and he then needs to convince him that the job is no longer going ahead.

Despite the framing device (The Whistler is an unseen character who comments on the events like some omniscient figure who enjoys being caretaker of some kind of criminal Twilight Zone), which feels strangely redundant, The Whistler is essentially everything you could want from an enjoyably basic and cheap noir. It's a solid premise, one we've seen many times (sometimes with slight variations to the methodology, of course), the cast are all working well enough with the material, and Castle does his utmost to put his stamp on everything. Everything is dark and slightly askew, a nightmare landscape that our lead character seems unable to escape.

Dix is decent enough, and we can stick with him as the hero because we're given clear motivation for his initial decision and subsequent turnaround (hey, isn't love always the most noble of motivators? or maybe that is just too cheesy for us noir fans to keep in mind). J. Carrol Naish is a suitably focused and dangerous killer, and it's obvious from early on that he won't be easily swayed to drop a job that he's already been paid for. The cast also includes Alan Dinehart (as Gorman, a friend of the killer), Gloria Stuart (a concerned secretary/friend named Alice), Charles Coleman (a loyal butler), Don Costello (the middle-man), and Joan Woodbury (a widow searching for some information that she might get from Conrad).

I can see why this would work better on the radio, despite being a decent little feature, but I got to the end of this film and wondered why we needed The Whistler to be part of the whole thing. Of course, that name allowed this one film to start off a series of eight features, which I'll definitely check out some time (especially as I now own them all). Maybe later instalments will allow The Whistler to play a more integral part in the proceedings. Or maybe not. I'll have to wait and see.

6/10