Mubi Monday: The Walker (2007)

Although this might seem to be a bit different from other movies we've had from writer-director Paul Schrader, The Walker is ultimately very much in his wheelhouse. It might wear some smarter clothes, and there may be a greater age range in his main cast, but it certainly looks at things through that Schrader lens.

Woody Harrelson plays Carter, a "safe" gay man who works as an escort to some well-to-do ladies in Washington D.C.  He accompanies them to various events, making himself the walker of the title, and also enjoys often playing cards with them. He is a trusted figure, which is why Lynn Lockner (Kristin Scott Thomas) turns to him when she discovers the corpse of a murdered man. Not just any murdered man, but someone she was close to. To save her from any potential embarrassment, tricky questions that could cause problems for her husband, Larry Lockner (Willem Dafoe), Carter decides to claim that he found the body. This makes things problematic when the investigation quickly turns more serious, and Carter realises he may have got himself mixed up in something quite dangerous.

A murder mystery where viewers won't really care about the mystery element, this is a film that I hadn't previously heard of, unusual for me when it comes to the filmography of Schrader. By the time the end credits rolled, I could understand why. There's nothing here that stands out, nothing here to make this memorable in any way. And the sad thing is that a SUPERB cast is largely wasted.

Harrelson is good fun in the lead role, better in the few quieter moments that he has, as opposed to the scenes with him being relentlessly cheery to those around him, and Thomas is effectively vulnerable and quiet during the times when events threaten to overwhelm her. Having kickstarted the chain of events for Carter, her character soon disappears for a while, but her presence continues to overshadow everything. The other main women are played by Lauren Bacall, Lily Tomlin, and Mary Beth Hurt, all giving great performances, and all sorely underused. Dafoe is underused, Ned Beatty has a small role (underused), William Hope has a main scene or two (guess what . . . underused), and there's a solid turn from Geff Francis, playing a detective, that surprisingly gives him just enough screentime to make the best impact. Moritz Bleibtreu also gets a fair few scenes, but his character, and the performance, just doesn't work as well as the other people who should have been allowed to shine a bit brighter.

You should like The Walker, but only because it doesn't have much to actively dislike. There's enough here to enjoy, but it feels like a tray of samples, as opposed to a full, satisfying, meal. Schrader being a bit more restrained than usual ends up working against himself, especially when he is still keen to dissect guilt, the masks that people wear, and just how often no good deed goes unpunished. 

5/10

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The Pink Panther 2 (2009)

Following on from the 2006 movie, obviously enough, Steve Martin returns to the character of the bumbling Inspector Clouseau in this amusing sequel that I think is just as good as the previous movie. Be warned, however, that I seem to be the only person who thinks this way. Most other people would like to take both films and burn them on a small pyre before returning to their happy place with some help from the classic films starring Peter Sellers.

This time around, a number of audacious thefts have been committed by The Tornado, a legend in the criminal world. Nobody knows who The Tornado is, but a dream team is assembled to put a stop to the crimewave. That dream team consists of Vicenzo (Andy Garcia), Pepperidge (Alfred Molina), Kenji (Yuki Matsuzaki) and Sonia (Aishwara Rai Bachchan). And Clouseau. When he's not busy driving Dreyfuss (played by John Cleese this time) up the wall, upsetting the lovely Nicole (Emily Mortimer) and sparring with his assistant, Ponton (Jean Reno), he's either showing how much of a calamity he is or, strangely enough, how sharp his mind can be.

A few people jumped ship in between the previous film and this one, which isn't ever a reassuring sign, but if you enjoyed the first film then I can't imagine you hating this one. Oh, you're unlikely to enjoy it as much as I did (so I have discovered), but there's plenty of fun to be had. The script, by Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber and Steve Martin, has plenty of decent lines peppered throughout and the direction by Harald Zwart is competent enough for something this lightweight.

The cast all look suitably worn down by Martin's chaotic character, with Andy Garcia especially good fun in his role and Aishwara Rai Bachchan having fun as the distractingly beautiful member of the team who is also an expert on The Tornado. John Cleese is okay as Dreyfuss, though he never seems quite as exasperated as Kevin Kline did in the previous movie (who never seemed quite as exasperated as Herbert Lom, the actor most associated with the role). Martin, Reno and Mortimer are all very good, and the supporting cast includes Jeremy Irons, onscreen for just a few minutes, and Lily Tomlin, playing someone who tries to help Clouseau adjust his attitude to women and people from other nations.

There's no denying that this is Steve Martin wayyyyyyyyy past his prime, coasting along and working with material that's often beneath him, but I still find it enjoyable and entertaining. Part of that will undoubtedly be down to just how highly I think of Martin. But part of it might be, just MIGHT be, down to the fact that the film isn't actually as bad as most people make out.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Pink-Panther-Double-Pack/dp/B008N6EUNG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1376507915&sr=8-4&keywords=the+pink+panther+2

All Of Me (1984)

The last of the collaborations between director Carl Reiner and actor Steve Martin, All Of Me is almost as good as any of their previous efforts and holds up as yet another hugely entertaining piece of inspired lunacy from the two men.

The plot of the story is as ridiculous as it is loaded with comic potential. Martin plays Roger Cobb, a lawyer who wants to take his career to the next level. As a bit of a test, he is asked to handle the affairs of Edwina Cutwater (Lily Tomlin). Miss Cutwater is dying, but she has a plan to live on. As she shuffles off the mortal coil, she will have her soul placed in a bowl and then transferred into the body of the lovely, young Terry Hopkins (Victoria Tennant). Roger Cobb finds this idea insane, but it all proves most troublesome when things go wrong and the soul of Miss Cutwater doesn't get to Terry. The bowl is instead knocked out of an open window and lands on . . . . . . . . . . . yes, Roger. When he comes to he soon realises that something is amiss (no pun intended). His body is not entirely his own. The man and the woman will have to work together in the same body to fix the situation, preferably before Roger loses his girlfriend and his job.

The script, written by Phil Alden Robinson and adapted by Henry Olek, from the novel by Edwin Davis, is full of great lines and great characters, but most of the praise has to go to Martin for his physical performance. His turn here holds up, in my opinion, as one of the best physical performances in the modern comedy genre. Tomlin may be heard more than seen, but she's on good form as the spoilt, tired woman who is used to getting everything just how she wants it. Then there's Victoria Tennant. She's okay, nothing more and nothing less. Jason Bernard is great fun as a blind musician who is also a good friend to Martin's character, Dana Elcar is a lot of fun as Martin's boss and Richard Libertini is amusing and sweet as Prahka Lasa, the man with the power to transfer souls into different receptacles.

Reiner keeps things moving along nicely, there's a decent soundtrack (including some nice use of the titular track), and one or two big set-pieces make up for the fact that the script may not be as sharp as their previous works. Well worth your time.

8/10

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