See How They Run (2022)

While you may not know the names of director Tom George or writer Mark Chappell, See How They Run is a film otherwise overflowing with familiarity, from the cast to the central play, "The Mousetrap", that is the focus of a murder investigation. There's nothing new here, but it's all done with a delightfully warm and affectionate approach to the standards of the whodunnit.

Everything starts with the murder of a sleazy and obnoxious director (Adrien Brody), and it soon becomes apparent that there are a large number of suspects, all of them involved with that hit play called The Mousetrap. Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) is put on the case, forced to work alongside the young Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan), and the two could not be more different in their approach to the whole thing. The Inspector is trying to discern various facts as he continually pieces together a mental puzzle being crafted in his mind, while Constable Stalker is starstruck by everyone she meets, but also attempts to write absolutely everything down in a small notebook she assumes will eventually contain enough evidence to point to the killer. Working together, they might just solve the murder, but that would require them to be able to tolerate one another for the duration of the investigation.

I really enjoyed See How They Run. I can see why many might view it as something too insubstantial, or even a bit too smug (considering a number of cast members are portraying real people who were involved with The Mousetrap), but it hit a sweet spot for me that some other recent works in this sub-genre managed to miss. Although the script is clever and witty, it  ever feels as if it is pointing to itself and demanding brownie points for doing such a good job, and the direction lets every main scene play out without underlining every gag or grinding to a halt in order to nudge and wink at viewers. This might all sound ridiculous, but I could mention different movies that have been guilty of making these mistakes, and it really gets in the way when you’re just hoping to be amused and entertained.

Everything is helped by the fact that the cast all pitch their performances perfectly. Rockwell and Ronan are a fantastic pairing, one being cynical and just wanting to make time for drinking alcohol and the other wide-eyed and quite naive at times, but also smart and brave when not being overwhelmed by the celebrity-studded situation. Brody has fun with his screentime (limited screentime, obviously), and there are too many other enjoyable turns to highlight just one or two. Reece Shearsmith, Ruth Wilson, David Oyelowo, Shirley Henderson (an inspired choice to play Agatha Christie), Charlie Cooper, Tim Key, and Harris Dickinson (getting to play Richard Attenborough) are all brilliant, and many of them too preoccupied with their own lives and careers to spend too much time properly caring about a murderer possibly still being among them.

There’s a delightful score from Daniel Pemberton, nice period detail throughout (I am not sure if it is all entirely accurate, but it definitely feels crafted with care), and a mix of gags that should please both fans of The Mousetrap and those just wanting to enjoy a film without having to “do any homework” (as I have yet to see The Mousetrap, I found myself in the latter camp). The more I think about it, the less I find to fault.

I hope others enjoy this as much as I did. And, yes, a small part of me hopes they can figure out a way to use these two leads in another theatre-based murder mystery. Maybe Arsenic And Old Lace could provide the same amount of fun.

8/10

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Mubi Monday: True Things (2021)

Although I cannot claim to be the biggest fan of Tom Burke, I AM a big fan of Ruth Wilson. That is why I was keen to see True Things as soon as I heard about it, considering it sounded like an intense drama focusing on a heady physical connection between Burke and Wilson.

The story is quite simple. Wilson plays Kate, a young woman who works in a benefit office, with all of the stress and moments of abuse that can entail. She has been warned about her excessive amount of sick time, but her life seems to be unsuited to maintaining any sense of normality and order. One day, and in what would seem to be a clear breach of rules, Kate feels an instant attraction to a claimant named Blond (no other name is given for the character, played by Tom Burke) and it soon looks as if she has found the escape she clearly desires.

Adapting the book by Deborah Kay Davies, writers Molly Davies and Harry Wootliff (the latter also sitting in the director’s chair) deliver an engrossing character study that feels painfully believable throughout, yet also manages to avoid being so mired in realism that it turns boring.

A large part of that is due to the central performances. Wilson has never been less than great in anything I have seen her in, and this continues here. Her character is sad, lonely, sick, sometimes nasty as she lashes out defensively, and just desperate to have what so many other people have in their lives. As it looks increasingly likely that her best chance for that is happening, she also becomes more nervous and worried, diving into much deeper water before she is able to get back to the surface and properly breathe again. Burke is the polar opposite. Inconsiderate, confident, unconcerned by where others are at in their lives, but able to turn on a fleeting amount of charm that he knows will be enough to keep his current sexual partner happy to have his company. The character isn’t a million miles away from one or two others that Burke has played recently, and he portrays him with ease (with such ease, in fact, that he should be wary of being stuck with too many of these roles). Hayley Squires does well in her smaller role, playing the kind of good friend who will have fun when it’s the right time to have fun, but will also call out some problematic behaviour.

The style of the film is as you’d expect. This isn’t something you would expect to be full of montages and needle-drops. The camerawork is intimate, and also very rarely static (mimicking the constant agitation of Kate), and everything is done to keep things grounded and keep things focused on the performances. Wootliff knows how to soften the edges of the scenes that feature some raw just between our leads, without making them feel completely neutered, and she always does well in criss-crossing the strands of love and sex to juxtapose the reality (seen by viewers long before it is really seen by Kate) with the romanticised version of events.

While obviously not for those who are seeking out a bit of cinematic spectacle or simple thrills, both things I also enjoy (as you should already know), True Things is a satisfying journey alongside a fascinating character. You root for Kate to really open her eyes, to start doing the right things, for the sake of her own health, and you just hope that the final destination makes all of the turbulence worthwhile. I felt that it was. Others may disagree.

8/10

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Netflix And Chill: I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House (2016)

Oz Perkins has now made three movies, one of which I have yet to see. His directorial debut, February AKA The Blackcoat's Daughter, is one that many people stumbled across, only to find that they were very impressed by it. It was an atmospheric work, one that jumped around time and space, piecing together a puzzle that revealed a spooky and sad picture.

I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House is another atmospheric work, and also jumps around time and space, AND ALSO pieces together a puzzle that reveals a spooky and sad picture. It shows Perkins to be more confident in his abilities, and more confident in the patience and abilities of anyone viewing his film.

Ruth Wilson plays Lily, a nurse who ends up working in the home of Iris Blum (Paula Prentiss). Iris has written some enjoyably creepy work, but Lily doesn't normally read such stuff. She's too easily scared. But she decides to check out something that Iris wrote, something that she thinks may be tied to the real history of the house in which she has found herself.

Dark and oppressive, yet also light (thanks to the nature of the lead character), I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House is a traditional ghost story in almost every sense, apart from the way in which certain scenes are lined up alongside one another. It's all very much on a par with the kind of atmospheric tales you know and love from Henry James and Shirley Jackson, but Perkins also does himself a favour by not including absolutely every trope and creaky door you might expect.

Wilson gives one of her best performances in the main role, and she never really does less than very good indeed in her work. She's there to do a job, to care for someone who has nobody else at her side, and she often walks through the house like some kind of illuminated will-o'-the-wisp. Prentiss has a lot less to do, the film belongs largely to Wilson and Lucy Boynton (playing Polly, another young woman who is inextricably linked to the house), but does just fine.

Perkins has a great knack for taking the elements of a particular subgenre and reshuffling them in a way that allows his films to feel both fresh and veritably overflowing with blood drained from many tales that have been told before. Perhaps not the best kind of film for those who have enjoyed some mainstream bumps and jumps, this should still strike a chord with horror fans who can enjoy a modern spin on some gothic melodrama and tragedy.

Beautifully constructed, nicely scored (by Elvis Perkins), perfectly cast (there's even a nice small role for Bob Balaban), and effectively spooky, this deserves to be seen and appreciated by patient viewers.

8/10

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Dark River (2017)

If there's one thing that British cinema can do it's explore damaged individuals in a cloudy, tempestuous, dreary landscape that reflects the mindset of the featured character. And here we have Dark River, a film that begins with news of a death and quickly reveals that there isn't all that much life left in a couple of people who are resolutely clinging onto this mortal coil.

Ruth Wilson plays Alice, a woman who, after being informed of the death of her father (Sean Bean), heads back to the family farm for the first time in years. She wants to get it all back in order and move forward with the whole endeavour, which doesn't impress her brother, Joe (Mark Stanley), who has spent many years getting his hands dirty while his sister stayed away. It's not long until the two siblings butt heads, with anger and resentment bubbling up to create a mixture that could explode at any time.

There aren't really any surprises in Dark River, in terms of the main plot developments. Most viewers will know what is coming from the very first scenes. That's not a problem, however, when the film is carried by two performances as fantastic as those from Wilson and Stanley. The former is a bit ahead of the latter, but both do excellent work here. You get a selection of supporting cast members, and Sean Bean appears here and there in flashbacks/visions, but the film really belongs to the two leads, and they make the most of the opportunity.

Director Clio Barnard (adapting the novel by Rose Tremain) takes what could have been an unrelentingly grim experience and manages to make it more bearable, somehow, showing the surrounding land to have more to it than just what is visible to the uninformed viewer, the necessarily hands-on relationship that the leads have with the environment and animals, and the strong bond between brother and sister that is still there, despite all of the heated emotions that they direct at one another.

Dark River covers familiar territory (funnily enough, one movie that came to mind while I was watching this was another with river in the title, Mystic River) but does enough to separate it from other works. A large part of that is down to the central performances, but an equally large part of it is down to the fact that so many moments show this as being from someone, either in the source material or the translation of it, who actually understands how people can react to others around them while trying to process an intense trauma from their past that will never leave their thoughts.

Sometimes you get angry enough to lash out at those closest to you, sometimes you are a jangling bag of nerves, and sometimes you just wander in a field until you fall down, lying there while the rain continues to pour down upon you while your breath hitches and you hope the end may have come at last. This movie shows all of that, and more.

8/10

You can dip your toes in the water here.
Americans can get it here.

How To Talk To Girls At Parties (2017)

It's the 1970s and three young lads (Enn, played by Alex Sharp, Vic, played by Abraham Lewis, and John, played by Ethan Lawrence) want nothing more than to revel in anything that retains the essence of pure punk and be allowed to revel in the company of girls that they fancy. Lost on their way to an after party, they end up in a building that houses a number of aliens. But they don't realise that the inhabitants are aliens. Enn meets the lovely Zan (Elle Fanning), who then runs away with him to see more of the outside world, and to experience some punk.

Based on a short story by Neil Gaiman, this is a blend of genres that will be familiar to anyone who has had the pleasure of reading his work. Gaiman loves to throw together different ingredients to create his own new recipes, and I am sure that the source material of this is very enjoyable. It's unfortunate that the film doesn't get things right when translating the material to the screen.

Director John Cameron Mitchell, who also worked on the script with Philippa Goslett, doesn't seem to know what to do with the story. Unable to decide on whether to focus on some comedy, the sci-fi elements, or the romance, or even the desperate need of the youngsters who found a voice in the sound of punk, he fails to find the right approach to anything, and is unable to compensate for it with required style and energy. To make a film that is so based around punk rock without a sense of energy is just, well, it would seem to be a difficult thing to do. Yet Mitchell manages it.

The script works when providing shorthand notes on the alien life cycles, but falters in so many other scenes, either by not making the dialogue sharp enough or just giving characters lines to say that feel tonally jarring compared to other moments in the film. Not that it's entirely unsuccessful. There ARE some genuinely good moments (most of the scenes featuring Nicole Kidman are great, and the very end of the film is surprisingly effective) but they make the lesser scenes all the more disappointing.

The youngsters all do decent work, even if Fanning feels less convincing when she's called upon to try her hand at singing like an actual punk, but it's the older cast members who help to save this from being unwatchable. Kidman, sporting a decent British accent too, is absolutely wonderful as an older punk who has sacrificed a hell of a lot in the hope of being present during great moments in punk history, Joanna Scanlan is good as the mother of Enn, and Ruth Wilson is great fun as a dangerous alien who seems to enjoy all of the life cycle her species goes through.

Some people may get more out of this than I did, of course, but it was hugely disappointing for me. Not being sure of the tone and focus is one thing, not making the best use of Fanning is another, but to not even have a good enough soundtrack to detract from those failings . . . well, that should have been avoided at all costs, considering the wild, strong spirit at the heart of the whole thing.

4/10

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

The Lone Ranger (2013)

Here's an anecdote that will make sense to nobody outwith Scotland. When I was quite young I wrote in to the letters/joke page of the Oor Wullie section of The Sunday Post. I sent in a joke and received, if I remember correctly, a £5 gift token, and my name in print. The joke wasn't great, but I still kinda like it. See what you think.

Tonto is riding through the countryside one day and sees The Lone Ranger coming towards him, with a bin bag over his shoulder.
"Where are you going?" asks Tonto.
"To the dump, to the dump, to the dump, dump, dump. To the dump, to the dump, to the dump, dump, dump."

I admit, it may not work quite as well when written down. Anyway, let's move on.

There are some movies that just don't stand much chance with the critics. That can happen for a variety of reasons. The subject matter. The budget. Bad casting choices. And much more besides. The Lone Ranger was one of those movies. And I can think of two main reasons for the knives being drawn. One, the budget, which apparently went just over $200M. Two, the casting of Johnny Depp in the role of Tonto, the Native American sidekick to the main character. I don't care about the budget for blockbuster movies, personally. Once you're over $100M then everything tends to blur into one big, fat wad of cash anyway. I do agree with everyone who thought that casting Johnny Depp as Tonto was ridiculous, however, but realise that he's the only BIG name in the cast. That means that the decision is still dubious, but a bit more understandable. Yet it's still not a good enough reason to completely drub a film that actually has some moments of rollicking entertainment.

The story is, as if you couldn't guess, all about how a man (Armie Hammer) assumed the role of The Lone Ranger. With Tonto by his side, for better or worse, he eventually comes to realise that his idealistic approach to the law may not be beneficial to his health, especially if the criminals that he wants to capture are just working for more powerful, but hidden, villains.

Directed by Gore Verbinski, there's no denying that the film has a certain Pirates Of The Caribbean vibe to it. There are issues with the pacing, there are some big, entertainingly complicated, action sequences, and there's Johnny Depp being a bit kooky. The script, by Justin Haythe, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, packs in much more than it needs to. The Lone Ranger doesn't have to be a complex character. He's a good guy, plain and simple. Yet the writers here decide to focus on his steep learning curve, as he grows into the mask, and then amuse themselves with a framing device that allows them more room to play around with the narrative. It does make for a few good moments, admittedly, but could easily have been trimmed to save the movie a good 10-15 minutes, in my estimation.

Hammer is good as the hero. I like him a lot, thanks to his ability to temper the stoic heroic qualities required with some solid comedic talent. Depp - well, we've already covered his performance. He's not terrible, although many will disagree. Ruth Wilson is a tough woman who finds herself in danger, and she's okay, but given short shrift by the script. William Fichtner fares much better, playing the dangerous criminal known as Butch Cavendish, and Tom Wilkinson repeats the kind of decent performance that is often required of British actors in American blockbusters. Barry Pepper proves to be a highlight, once again. As he does in almost every movie that he appears in. And there are also small roles for James Badge Dale, Helena Bonham Carter, Harry Treadaway and Stephen Root, among others.

There are a number of scenes that feel a bit dull and lifeless, yet the movie really shows how great it could have been in a few extended set-pieces that raise up the energy levels and mix CGI, fantastic stunt work, and a healthy dollop of humour to provide the kind of exuberant fun that I wish more blockbusters would strive for. And the finale, accompanied by that rousing theme music (well, it's the final section of the "William Tell Overture" but many grew up with it as "the theme tune from The Lone Ranger"), is a surprisingly great piece of cinema, marred by some excessive FX work and both helped and hindered by a sense of ridiculousness.

I wouldn't be brave enough to say that this is a movie that you may be pleasantly surprised by. Okay, what the hell, I will. Give The Lone Ranger a try some time, and you might be pleasantly surprised. I certainly was.

6/10

http://www.amazon.com/Lone-Ranger-Blu-ray-Digital-Copy/dp/B00DJYJWVW/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1409322376&sr=1-2&keywords=the+lone+ranger