Netflix And Chill: Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical (2022)

First thing's first, I am not going to keep referring to Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical as Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical. That's too much for me to type out every time, and I am trying to get this review written as quickly as possible, having fallen behind schedule yet again. I'll just call it Matilda, and there's no need to be confused as I won't be comparing it to the previous film version, Matilda (1996). Secondly, I want to start this review by saying that I enjoyed Matilda. It made me smile, and I enjoyed the musical numbers while they were happening. I didn't love it though, and I was really hoping to love it, especially considering the people involved.

Alisha Weir plays Matilda Wormwood, a little girl not treated nicely at all by her parents, played by Andrea Riseborough and Stephen Graham. Matilda is actually delighted when she is required to start attending school, but her delight starts to fade away when she finds out that the school is run by the child-loathing and super-strict Agatha Trunchbull (Emma Thompson). Thankfully, there's a ray of sunshine in the form of Miss Honey (Lashana Lynch), as well as something changing within Matilda that makes her think she could encourage the pupils to take a stand against the formidable Miss Trunchbull.

Based on the stage musical by Dennis Kelly and Tim Minchin, itself based on the book by Roald Dahl (of course, hence the overlong title), Matilda has a fine pedigree. The stage musical has, as far as I am aware, been a great success, which isn't surprising when you think of how talented Minchin has been, and how successfully he has blended music and comedy, for many years now (no offence to Kelly, I am just not familiar with much of his previous work). You also have Matthew Warchus directing, a man who has worked in theatre, but who also delivered the crowd-pleasing Pride almost a decade ago. So the talent behind the camera seems to be as good as you would want for this.

In front of the camera is a bit more of a mixed bag. The adults are all quite wonderful though. I have heard the criticism about the casting of Thompson as Miss Trunchbull, but I have always viewed many Dahl characters as unsubtle caricatures. With that in mind, I could envision almost anyone in the make-up and costume required for this character, and I think Thompson is enjoyably cruel and spiteful in the role, as full-on nasty to the children as the story demands. Graham and Riseborough are also entertaining as they treat their child in a genuinely horrible way that comes close to unbalancing the tone of the film, but everything is helped by the moments in which Matilda quietly gets some revenge. Lynch is as sweet and lovely as Miss Honey should be, and Sindhu Vee is delightful as a librarian who has been friends with Matilda for quite some time, and finds herself engrossed in a story that Matilda relates to her daily, one "chapter" at a time. As for Matilda herself, Weir is okay in the role, although I think her precociousness is slightly overdone and a bit irritating (which may just be the difference between approaching this material as an adult and approaching it as the younger age group it is aimed at). Very few of the other children get a chance to stand out, with the notable exception of Charlie Hodson-Prior as Bruce Bogtrotter (THE eater of cake in a scene that will be stuck in the memory of anyone familiar with this tale), but all of the supporting players do well enough in their roles.

So it's all pretty good throughout, but lacks one vital ingredient to make it great. Surprisingly . . . it's the songs. As of right now, and I watched the film a week ago, I remember part of one song. One. It's the enjoyable song that all the kids join in on while Bruce is being forced to eat an entire cake. There are other songs I enjoyed, particular highlights being "School Song", "When I Grow Up", and "Revolting Children", but it's as if the clever and witty Minchin was too busy making them clever and witty to also make them memorable. Maybe an extra viewing or two will lock them into my brain, it's tricky for a relatively new musical to worm into your ears from the very first experience, but I'm not motivated to rush into a rewatch. There's also the problem of the staging of the musical numbers, each one presented in a way that reminded me of this being adapted from a stage show. It's not an easy thing to pin down, but I watched the film and thought "okay, yes, they would have the playground set, the dinner hall set, a classroom, Matilda's house, and a couple of extra special pieces" whenever the film moved between main locations, and particularly when it used the environment as part of the musical numbers.

A good cast, a child-friendly tale of good battling evil, and some clever lyrics make this enjoyable enough. There's nothing great here though, sadly, although I can imagine enjoying this much more when seeing it performed as it should be, live on stage. I suspect I'm in the minority with my view, but I think I enjoyed the 1996 movie more (okay, ONE comparison, but that's it).

6/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share

Netflix And Chill: Pride (2014)

This is the kind of thing that we get every so often in British cinema. A little gem of a film that works as well as it does because of the way in which various characters manage to maintain a sense of humour in the face of overwhelming derision/hatred from others. Having finally reminded myself to give Pride a watch, my timing could not have been any better. Remember that saying about those not remembering history being doomed to repeat it? I hope more people watch Pride this year. Not only is it a wonderful and satisfying viewing experience, it's a reminder of why those being held down and pilloried by authorities should help to support one another, hence the importance of unions, and also serves as an important reminder of the attitude people used to have towards gay people, a rush to demonise someone unknown because they weren't familiar with the concept in their own life. There's a LOT that is shown in Pride that still goes on today, the only differences are the main targets.

Anyway, let's get to the crux of the tale. It's the mid-1980s. The miner's strike is taking a huge toll on small mining villages all over the country. The LGBTQ+ community are busy trying to be treated like the normal human beings they are, something about to be made even harder by the rise of AIDs (which was seen by many as a "gay disease", and I suspect many still think that way). Seeing how the UK government have directed their resources and threats towards the miners, when it had previously been so busy crusading against the imaginary gay agenda, one young man (Mark Ashton, played by Ben Schnetzer) has the idea of supporting the miners and raising some money for them. Others don't immediately see the point of his campaigning, especially as the many small towns that would have mining at the heart of them would tend to be most unwelcoming, and outright hostile, to gay people. Mark keeps at it though, eventually getting more and more people on his side, and the charity group he heads up soon start to make a positive impact on a struggling Welsh town. Dai Donovan (Paddy Considine), a main spokesman for the miners in that town, is very happy to meet and thank them, and invites them to be thanked by the rest of the townspeople. The rest of the townspeople, however, aren't as eager to admit that they are receiving a lifeline from the gay community.

While director Matthew Warchus may not have an extensive filmography, he tends to aim for quality over quantity, and while this is the first screenplay by writer Stephen Beresford to be made into a film, Pride couldn't feel much more comfortable and assured. A large part of that is down to the casting, which I will get to shortly, but Beresford knows how to make the most of the laugh out loud lines that he intersperses throughout the film, Warchus moves viewers swiftly through the timeline of events without giving anyone whiplash, and the whole thing manages to maintain a constant bittersweet tone throughout, especially if you have any idea of how things ended for the main characters. This is a "feel good" film, but that's an impressive achievement when you consider just how many things aren't necessarily going to lead to a happy ending.

Is it all factually accurate? I doubt it. I'd imagine that the heart of the story is true, and some liberties have been taken to give us a better mix of characters and some dialogue that emphasises what everyone was striving for, be it tolerance from others or an ongoing attempt to smash through the iron fist of Margaret Thatcher. Yes, it helps that this often aligns with my own political leanings, and it's a very political film that offsets that with a focus on the humans at the heart of the machine being turns by cogs of government and the law, but it's hard to think of anyone watching this and absolutely hating it. 

Schnetzer is fantastic as the lightning rod for everything that unfolds, helped by the fact that he is surrounded by so many familiar faces. The Welsh accents are all fairly well executed, and you cannot go wrong with a cast that includes Considine, Imelda Staunton, and Bill Nighy, all of whom are doing absolutely fantastic work, and all of whom have fun with their new allies. Menna Trussler and Jessica Gunning are also wonderful, being inspired to do a bit more with their time as they see how the LGSM (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners) live their lives, while Lisa Palfrey gets her teeth into the role of Maureen Barry, a character used as a personification of the intolerance and ingratitude that the LGSM come up against. George MacKay is Joe Cooper, a young man getting to grips with his own sexuality, and the film is helped by often placing viewers in a position to see his nervousness giving way to a sense of purpose and happiness, Dominic West steals a few moments, playing the flamboyant and carefree Jonathan, and there's also excellent work from Andrew Scott, Joe Gilgun, and Faye Marsay, the latter two portraying other core members of the LGSM.

What else can I say? There's a very good soundtrack, featuring a number of songs you'd expect to accompany this story, a hefty emotional weight to everything, and a real feeling of, well, pride in watching what can be accomplished by people connecting and working together instead of letting their lives be defined by what makes them different from one another. And there are few things funnier than Imelda Staunton's sharp retort to someone trying to be a smartass while she drives a bus donated to the community by the LGSM, but I won't spoil it by quoting it here. Enjoy it for yourself, and do it as soon as you can.

 8/10

Here is a link to Switchboard (the LGBT+ helpline).
And here is a link to the website for the Durham Miner's Association.

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews