Normal (2026)

Seemingly happy enough to continue in his new role as unlikely action hero, Bob Odenkirk this time reteams with Derek Kolstad for a screenplay that is then entrusted to director Ben Wheatley. The end result is just about amusing enough for fans of the star, but it won't necessarily satisfy those hoping for something else in the vein of Nobody.

Odenkirk plays Ulysses Richardson, a man acting as temporary sheriff in the small town of Normal, Minnesota. It should be the kind of place where nothing much happens, but Ulysses is about to find himself in the middle of a very messy situation when a couple of bank robbers accidentally reveal a huge secret that connects everyone living in the area.

Aiming to be quirky and darkly comedic, Normal is, in some ways, exactly what you think it's going to be. When the violence finally erupts, it is as amusing as it is wince-inducing, thanks to the juxtaposition alongside the calm and quiet everyday town life. Odenkirk does well at being a calm presence, and is reluctant to fight so many enemies as he tries to figure out a way to end the carnage.

Wheatley has fun in the director's chair, adding another fun entry to a filmography that is now much more eclectic and unpredictable than it used to be. Wheatley was the guy who could deliver impressive low-budget thrills and drama, but he's spent the past decade or so moving smoothly and confidently between smaller-scale dramas and films like Meg 2: The Trench. I would say that his bigger films are far from his best work, but he's had enough success with them to keep being entrusted with decent budgets and a number of major stars, which means he doesn't have to care one bit about what I think.

Aside from the enjoyable lead performance from Odenkirk here, the cast also includes both Henry Winkler and Lena Headey, although both are sadly underused. It's a shame that there couldn't have been a few more big names scattered throughout, although people should recognise the likes of Brendan Fletcher and Jess McLeod in supporting roles, but I enjoyed the involvement of people like Reena Jolly, Ryan Allen, Billy MacLellan, and Peter Shinkoda.

Considering everyone involved, I don't think it's wrong to expect more from this. Everything could have been helped by a bit more tension running throughout every scene. There are very few moments that keep up the kind of momentum you expect to experience once guns start being fired, and the entire third act is a bit of an anti-climax. I still had some fun with it, but that was more to do with my love of Odenkirk than everything onscreen.

5/10

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Mubi Monday: Face (1997)

Another one of those films that I watched, enjoyed, and then almost immediately forgot about for well over two decades, Face is a British crime thriller that feels enjoyably removed from so many other British crime thrillers from this period. It helps that it appeared the year before Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels (a film that, for better or worse, would lead to many trying to replicate it), and the main cast are also a large part of the appeal.

The plot is simple enough. A group of career criminals work together for what should be a big payday. Unfortunately, the cash grabbed isn't as much as they had hoped it would be. That isn't the main problem though. The main problem is someone wanting to keep all of the cash, instead of sharing, which leads to theft, division in the group, and death.

Written by Ronan Bennett, this is a fairly straightforward film that feels like much more than that thanks to the writing of the characters and the central group dynamic. The people here all know what they're getting into, and all of them push back against the idea of being seen as any kind of enviable rebel, but they also continue to slightly delude themselves that they can enjoy the mythical notion of the "one big score".

Director Antonia Bird only helmed about ten features during her career, and most of those were TV movies, but everything she did was worth checking out (especially the film she would deliver immediately after this one, Ravenous). She does an excellent job here of turning a gritty Brit-flick into something interesting, and even occasionally surprising (especially during a face-off with the police that feels like a low-budget and small-scale homage to the brilliant shoot-out in Heat).

The cast certainly don't hurt either, with Robert Carlyle adopting an English accent and taking on the nominal lead role, heading up a crew made up of Ray Winstone, Steven Waddington, Phil Davis, and Damon Albarn. Yes, Damon "Blur/Gorillaz" Albarn, who I forgot was in this, but who also does a better job than many other singers who have tried their hands at acting. There's also a welcome supporting role for Lena Headey, who I will keep emphasising should have had many more rewarding film roles throughout her career, and small moments for Andrew Tiernan, as well as potential national treasures Sue Johnston, and Peter Vaughan.

Far from perfect, especially when there's a feeling that Bird is trying to force some ill-fitting style over the perfectly fine substance, Face is also pleasingly deceptive in the way that it moves from being fairly mild to a tiger with a burning tail for the third act. While I wouldn't make a case for it being a forgotten classic, it certainly deserves a bit more attention and appreciation than it has received over the past quarter of a century.

7/10

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Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)

The first feature directed by Navot Papushado without sharing those duties with Aharon Keshales( the two made quite an impact with their first two films, Rabies and Big Bad Wolves), Gunpowder Milkshake is a well-paced and fairly enjoyable action movie that boasts an excellent cast and some fun fights. It suffers in comparison to many other films that have been released in recent years though, ending up as something ultimately too insubstantial to be anything more than disposable fun.

Karen Gillan is Sam, a talented assassin who, as so often happens, ends up becoming a target when a job goes slightly awry. We find this out after watching some backstory showing us that her mother (Lena Headey) was an equal shining star in the same profession. Sam ends up looking after a young girl (Emily, played by Chloe Coleman), and she needs to enlist some help, in the form of weaponry and more assassins, to have even half a chance of staying alive for more beyond the next 24 hours.

I like pretty much everyone in this film. I'm saying that now because I think that's why I ended up liking this as much as I did, despite the clunky editing and ridiculousness undermining most of the set-pieces. Gillan is good in the lead role, and she looks capable enough while fighting off numerous enemies. Headey is equally talented, and the fact that she's never been given a lead film role worthy of her considerable talent is always bemusing to me. I would have been happy enough if Gillan and Headey were the two characters kicking ass here, but they're joined, albeit all-too-briefly, by Carla Gugino, Angela Bassett, and Michelle Yeoh. That's a hell of a selection of badass women, which boosts the movie, but also makes things slightly disappointing when sequences don't feel planned around their star power. Michael Smiley is fun in his supporting role, and Paul Giamatti adds another entertaining baddie to his rogue's gallery of villainous characters. Coleman just has to look young, cute, and vulnerable, and she does that perfectly well.

Having spent that much time listing, and praising, the cast, it's a shame that I can't find a lot of positives elsewhere. Papushado's direction is disappointingly straightforward, and the script, co-written by Papushado and Ehud Lavski, feels a bit too lacking in confidence (it's unsurprising to see this as a first feature from Lavski). The violence never seems truly threatening and the quirky comedy is clumsily shoehorned in, making you wish that the film would either ramp up the action or strive for more comedy, as opposed to positioning itself awkwardly between the two.

Technically, everything else is fine. Not great, not awful. Just fine. Nicholas De Toth may not do his best editing work, but it's in line with standard action movies that don't have the choreography and fluidity of the recent high points of the genre, and there's decent enough production design, music, etc. to keep everything simple, clear, and moving along at a good pace to make the 114-minute runtime go by quickly enough. Ironically, considering the two movies share Giamatti in a bad guy role, this might pair up nicely with the whackier Shoot 'Em Up. That film had the confidence to revel in some moments of inspired lunacy, however. This film, with one brilliant highlight that stands out as notable exception, doesn't.

6/10

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Netflix And Chill: Fighting With My Family (2019)

I first saw Fighting With My Family in the same few weeks that I also saw both Lady Macbeth and Midsommar, and the first thing to note about the film is that Florence Pugh is a chameleonic star. Watch all of the movies mentioned here, as well as the excellent Little Women, and you could easily be convinced that her roles are being portrayed by multiple different actresses.

There are spoilers ahead, I guess, although this is all stuff that will probably already be known to someone familiar with the main character.

Tweaked and made into something more obviously entertaining and enjoyable, Fighting With My Family is, essentially, the tale of how a young girl with a wrestling family turned herself into Paige, a WWE superstar who made her way through the NXT development program and became the youngest champion when she won the Divas Championship at 21.

Written and directed by Stephen Merchant, this is your typical tale of an underdog making good, someone who has trained hard all their life, but not been trained in the way to make themselves into a more sellable product when the big chance comes along. It's about family, as the title suggests, it's about not losing sight of the end goal as you chase your dream, and it's a reminder that, for all of the acting and showmanship on display, wrestling is a tough gig that takes a massive toll on mind and body as people aim to make the most of their peak years in the business. Merchant does an excellent job, even if he's not taking any risks with the way executes the material, and he clearly conveys what he responded to in the documentary that gave inspired this fictionalised depiction of an inspiring and heart-warming life story. You're not here for big surprises, you're here to smile and enjoy the journey on the way to a familiar and comfortable final destination.

Mixing athleticism, insulting face offs not entirely unlike rap battles, and some glitz and glamour, Paige is shown to be unprepared for everything else that goes along with the wrestling. She wrestles, that's what her main strength is, but she needs support to turn herself into the whole package. That comes from her trainer (played by Vince Vaughn), her brother (Jack Lowden), and the other women who are on the same journey through the NXT program.

Pugh is excellent in the lead role, just as believable and appealing as she has been in every other role I have seen her take on. And it would be easy to make a mis-step here, either get the attitude wrong or just not seem physically capable in the role, but you never doubt her strength and character, helped by the way the script is constructed, and the supporting cast around her. Vaughn has more fun in his role than he has had in a number of years, reminding you of what you like about him when he's given roles that suit his style. Lowden is equally great as the older brother with all of the heart and not enough of the star quality that the WWE was looking for. Nick Frost and Lena Headey are consistently hilarious as parents prone to blurt out the most inappropriate statements, in between selfish attempts to make the most of their daughter's success, and it's worth mentioning Ellie Gonsalves, Aqueela Zoll, and Kim Matula, playing three women who come into wrestling from the world of modelling and cheerleading. And you get some limited, but quality, screentime for Dwayne Johnson. Of course.

You may think you will hate this, especially if you have no interest in wrestling, but it's a perfectly enjoyable feelgood sports film, hitting a lot of familiar beats in a tale that is ultimately worth telling, especially for anyone chasing a dream they are told again and again is unattainable.

8/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.

Walk Like A Panther (2018)

You would think that, considering the amount of movies I watch, it would take a lot to actually make me angry and disappointed in a film. I have relatively low standards. I start watching every movie while rooting for it to do a good job. And it was the same with Walk Like A Panther, a movie reworking of an idea that writer-director Dan Cadan first used just over half a decade ago on TV.

The cast made me feel secure in my viewing choice. A lead played by Stephen Graham, a main role for Dave Johns, supporting roles for the likes of Jill Halfpenny, Robbie Gee, Julian Sands, and Michael Socha. I also knew that Lena Headey appeared at some point (it's a very brief cameo though).

The plot didn't put me off either. A group of older British wrestlers, long past their prime, have to put on the lycra once again to raise enough money to save their local pub. Lessons are learned along the way, and someone finally manages to stop living in the shadow of others and grab their moment in the spotlight. Well, that last sentence was what I assumed would happen, and it did.

You get some decent songs on the soundtrack, a selection of colourful characters, and the inevitable montage moments. What you don't get is a decent smattering of actual laughs. This is a comedy in which the comedy itself is notably absent, one or two lines aside.

The great shame is that Cadan wastes that great cast. Graham tries his best with what he's given, as does Johns (playing his father), but there's only so much that can be done with the lazy script. Sands is, admittedly, allowed to have the most fun that I've seen him have onscreen for a number of years but that's offset by the treatment of Socha, reduced to the angry idiot who wants to upset everyone around him until he sees the light. Stephen Tompkinson is the pantomime villain, and Sue Johnston and Jason Flemyng are among the many people wasted in much smaller roles.

Considering how long he has been close to this material, from the time it must have taken himi to develop the TV series to this feature, it's amazing that Cadan couldn't take the time to take the premise and spin some gold from it. Because the potential is there. But nothing is done to lift it even to the level of average. Nothing. If you can't create some decent comedy from the idea of aged character wrestlers getting back into costume for a fundraising match then that's quite an achievement. The fault seems to lie squarely with Cadan and I can only feel sorry for the people involved, who obviously thought the end result was going to be a much better film.

3/10

Walk Like A Panther is available in digital formats.

April Fools: The Parole Officer (2001)

While it wasn't his first movie role, The Parole Officer was certainly the first movie with Steve Coogan in it that tried to sell him as the main draw. It tends to be forgotten now, thanks to the large body of work that Coogan has built up, both on the big screen and back in TV land, but I think it remains a fantastic British comedy, very much an updated "little man against the odds" romp that brings to mind some of the Ealing Studios classics.

Coogan is the main character, a probation officer named Simon Garden who ends up witnessing a man murdered at the hands of the corrupt Inspector Burton (Stephen Dillane). The only proof that could take the heat off Simon, who is being set up with some incriminating evidence, and show that the Inspector actually did it, is a videotape. Unfortunately, that tape has been locked away in a secure bank vault. Simon rounds up a few people that he has helped in the past and tries to convince them that if they help him commit this robbery then they are, in fact, doing a very good deed.

It may never hit the comedy heights that some might want to see from Coogan, but The Parole Officer is a solid provider of chuckles from start to finish. The script, written by Coogan and Henry Normal, is based more around the characters than one-liners, but that's perfectly fine when the characters are so much fun.

Coogan's character isn't just another Alan Partridge, but there is a shade of him in there, as Simon Garden also lacks self-awareness, at times, and can be similarly awkward. The character does provide laughs, but he's often more of a straight man to the motley crew he assembles to help him in his crime, four people played by Om Puri, Steven Waddington, Ben Miller and Emma Williams - all on fine form as the rehabilitated criminals with the skills to help Simon in his task. Dillane is a very good baddie, and the lovely Lena Headey is as lovely as ever, playing a police officer and potential love interest. There are also a couple of nice cameos from Jenny Agutter and Omar Sharif to add to the fun.

Director John Duigan keeps things moving along nicely, moving between moments of banter between the would-be robbers, some tension, and then some more of the grand robbery scheme, with plenty of comedy puncturing everything. It's all done in a very genteel style, at times, but there are still one or two moments of crudity (and, they may be crude but they ARE funny), with the end result being a very satisfying mix of verbal wit, sight gags and, well, a bit of vomit.

It might not become a firm favourite, and you might never revisit it, but I think The Parole Officer is a very good film, so I'll keep championing it after everyone else seems to have forgotten all about it.

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Parole-Officer-DVD-Steve-Coogan/dp/B00005Y415/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1397247332&sr=1-1&keywords=the+parole+officer

300 (2006)

This is review number one, for those wanting to read a decent, standard review. Review number two can be found by scrolling to nearer the bottom of the page.

Based on the source material by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, 300 is a sword & sandals epic for the MTV generation. It's full of inaccuracies, can be interpreted in a number of different ways by people looking to drag the film down a notch or two, and almost every line of dialogue borders on the snigger-inducingly ridiculous (due to either the wording or the sombre delivery). It's also a rollicking good time, visually lush and rarely dull.

Gerard Butler plays King Leonidas, a fearsome Spartan leader who stirs up some trouble when he decides to stand up to the Persian army. He's not authorised to take the army into battle so just goes for a wander instead. With 300 men (hence the title). One fight leads on to another, and that's pretty much the entire movie.

Directed by Zack Snyder, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Kurt Johnstad, 300 is the usual stylish product that you'd expect from him. Many are quick to accuse him of making movies that are nothing but style over substance, but I think that he often blends the two very well. Oh, his emphasis is very much on the style, undoubtedly, but his movies often warrant further exploration beyond whatever lies on the surface.

300 remains one of his best movies, although his very best is still his feature debut (that fantastic remake of Dawn Of The Dead), and this is due to the enjoyable source material and to the solid cast.

Butler is all that is man in the main role, with a six-pack to make even healthier specimens than myself feel slightly inferior. He is, as all the actors are, believably tough and fearless in his role. Standing by his side in battle are the likes of David Wenham, Michael Fassbender and Tom Wisdom. Lena Headey is the strong and beautiful Queen who does her best to gain support for her husband while he's at war, Stephen McHattie tries to offer her some sound advice, and Dominic West plays a character who is clearly more of a conniving politician than warrior. And then there's Rodrigo Santoro, making quite the impression as the towering Xerxes, a man who believes himself to be a god, even in the face of such strong opposition from the Spartans.

You could say that this entire movie is just a small group of men fighting a much larger group of men and you'd be right. But there's also a bit more to it. It has enough content to encourage some interesting thoughts and conversations, even if all of those thoughts and conversations call into question a number of decisions made in the creative process.

Review number two: "This . . . . . . IS . . . . . . . . . SPARTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blu-ray-Region-Free-Gerard-Butler/dp/B000VE2NQ4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1380229438&sr=8-2&keywords=300

The Broken (2008)

Written and directed by Sean Ellis, The Broken is an interesting and impressive horror movie that takes a number of well-worn genre tropes and blends them into something more than the sum of its parts. It doesn't become entirely fresh and unmissable, but it deserves to be discovered by horror fans after something that doesn't feature zombies, ghosts/demons or found footage.

Lena Headey stars as Gina McVey, a radiologist who finds her life turned upside down one day when she spots someone who looks exactly like her. Exactly. As she follows the doppelganger to find out just what's going on she gets herself hurt in a bad car crash.Then things start getting stranger and stranger.

Heady does her usual good work in the lead role, and she's supported by a cast of varying quality - the great Richard Jenkins does well with his limited screentime, Melvil Poupaud is okay, as is Michelle Duncan, and Asier Newman makes a memorable impression as Daniel McVey, Gina's brother.

There are some well-signposted jump scares, placed in the movie as if the director was contractually obliged to include them, but the majority of the movie is more concerned with setting an uneasy, off-kilter, mood. Writer-director Ellis walks a nice line between the requirements (cliches) of the genre and many moments that provide some food for thought alongside the chills.

As events unfold, viewers might understandably feel slightly underwhelmed. There is at least one major plot point that many could see coming wayyyyyyy down the line and the tension builds up only to be deflated during the last 10 minutes or so. But this is not a film about individual scares or a barnstorming finale. This is a film about a journey, and that journey is an interesting one.

As the end credits rolled, I considered my rating for the movie and was initially going to settle on something that would signify it as average or just above average, but the more I thought about everything I'd just watched the more I realised I'd been quietly and consistently impressed. I don't expect everyone to enjoy it as much as I did, but I do encourage others to seek it out and give it a go.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Broken-DVD-Richard-Jenkins/dp/B001TDKJYO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377005833&sr=8-1&keywords=the+broken