For It Is Man's Number: sam rockwell

Showing posts with label sam rockwell. Show all posts

Friday, 10 April 2026

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die (2026)

There's no way that this should have been as bad as it was, considering the talent involved. I have enjoyed a couple of other recent movies from writer Matthew Robinson, and I've also been a fan of Gore Verbinski. A cast that includes Sam Rockwell, Juno Temple, and Zazie Beetz? Sign me up. Alas, this is a half-developed decent idea in search of a much better movie.

Rockwell plays a man who bursts into a diner, reveals that he's wired up to explode, and claims to be from the future. Everything has gone horribly wrong in the future, but Rockwell just needs to find the right group of people to help him save them all from a powerful AI overlord. That group of people ends up including Susan (Temple), Ingrid (Haley Lu Richardson), Mark (Peña), Janet (Beetz), Scott (Asim Chaudhry), Marie (Georgia Goodman), and Bob (Daniel Barnett). Each one of these individuals has something to make them an essential part of the plan, hopefully.

There are so many interesting ways this could have gone. You have potential timeloops, you have evil tech that might be able to tap into unlimited power, and you have Sam bloody Rockwell in a starring role. Unfortunately, the only one of those three things to work here is Rockwell, who gives another performance so enjoyable that I wish he would get more star vehicles worthy of his considerable talent.

Robinson does very little with the screenplay, apparently ensuring that the whole thing can be made with a reasonably low budget. I understand his thinking there, especially when the premise is so bonkers that you know it's not going to be breaking any box office records, but limited resources is no excuse for limiting creativity. Just look at any great sci-fi or horror movie made by people who often had a lot less to work with.

Verbinski doesn't seem to know what to do. It's been a while since he's had to show some self-restraint, perhaps he's forgotten how to do it. Perhaps he was never able to do it in the first place. There are certainly some moments in the second half of the film that show him making some horrible decisions that highlight failings in the screenplay. Robinson may have handed in a weak framework, but Verbinski moves it all around and ensures that it will collapse under the weight of his directorial additions.

Aside from Rockwell's winning turn at the centre of the madness, Temple, Richardson, Peña, and Beetz all do very well with what they're given, as do Chaudhry, Goodman, and Barnett, although they are given a bit less. Tom Taylor is also good, and given the chance to show a fair bit of range with the events that befall his character, while many others fill out the supporting cast without being given any chance to make a strong impression amidst numerous scenes that are often too busy and chaotic.

The 134-minute runtime is overlong, especially with a final sequence that proves to be so unsatisfying, and I struggle to think of anything to recommend here, the cast notwithstanding. I guess the title applies just as much to viewers as it does to the film, but it's only the last two words that I suspect most people will be able to follow as instructions.

3/10

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

Thursday, 4 September 2025

The Bad Guys 2 (2025)

It's always a good sign when everyone returns for a sequel, and I cannot spot anyone major missing, either behind or "in front" of the camera, from The Bad Guys 2. Considering I enjoyed the first movie enough, thanks in no small part to the style and the voice cast, I was optimistic about this. That optimism was not misplaced.

Some time has passed, of course, and the bad guys are spending their time trying to be good guys. That's hard when you have earned the kind of reputation that they have earned though. It's even harder when someone is pulling off the kind of robberies that would seem to be very much in line with the M. O. of the bad guys. Hoping to crack the case and change the opinions of people who won't let them move away from their past, Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Shark (Craig Robinson), Tarantula (Awkwafina), Piranha (Anthony Ramos), and Snake (Marc Maron) quickly put themselves in a situation that makes them look even more guilty than ever, much to the frustration of Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz).

Just as fun and lively as the first movie, The Bad Guys 2 is a pretty perfect sequel. It may not surpass the first film, but it's a very close call. And it made me laugh hard with a couple of perfectly-executed fart gags I assume will go down equally well with younger viewers. Pierre Perifel is now happy to share directing duties with JP Sans (who worked in the animation department for the first film), and Etan Cohen is now happy to collaborate with Yoni Brenner on a screenplay once again born from the books by Aaron Blabey.

The central cast remain perfect in their roles (as well as those mentioned, Richard Ayoade and Alex Borstein also reprise roles from the first film) and there are equally entertaining performances from Omid Djalili, Colin Jost, Natasha Lyonne, Maria Bakalova, and a few others. Is the plot a bit obvious and predictable? Yes. It's also easy enough to let wash over you as each sequence packs in a fantastic selection of action and gags.

Perfect for kids (and those as childish as me), The Bad Guys 2 once again nicely reworks the standard heist movie tropes, adds even more peril, as happens in many sequels, and provides a very nice excuse to spend some more time with some very entertaining and cool characters.

And look, just in case anyone misunderstands how old or mature I actually am . . . let me just emphasise that it was a VERY good fart gag. Otherwise I wouldn't have felt the need to mention it here. Honest.

7/10

Tuesday, 26 March 2024

Argylle (2024)

The publicity and marketing for Argylle seemed to signify that it was going to be a fun spy romp for film fans. It would though, of course, because publicity and marketing is designed to get us all eager to buy whatever is being sold. Then the film was released, seemed to stumble at the box office (which may be putting it mildly), and one negative review after another started to make it clear that this wasn’t going to be a shining star in the 2024 movie calendar.

I am not sure why others seemed to hate this quite so much. I enjoyed it. I am not going to say that I loved it, and there are certainly moments that go a bit too far (in terms of the ridiculousness, the CGI, or both), but I had a fun time while it was on, and I would easily watch it again. It will never be top of my rewatch pile though.

Bryce Dallas Howard plays a writer, Elly, responsible for a successful series of spy novels about a special agent named Argylle. It is a world far removed from her own, where she simply likes to stay comfortable and spend time with her cat (Alfie), but worlds collide when she is approached by a real spy (Aidann, played by Sam Rockwell). People are after Elly, believing that she knows far too much about the world she is writing about, and there are twists and turns on the way to a final act that will ultimately reveal the true identity of “Argylle”.

It doesn’t matter if you are unfamiliar with writer Jason Fuchs, someone who has a limited number of full screenplay credits. The writing here is one of the least interesting components, and the plot is full of too many big holes throughout. This isn’t a well-constructed piece of work. It is a slice of silliness that seems designed to let director Matthew Vaughn have fun with some ridiculous set-pieces. That is how I saw it anyway, and that is how I managed to enjoy it. Not every action sequence works, but at least four of them kept me hugely entertained for the duration.

It helps that the cast is so good. Maybe I am missing a lot of the conversation happening around this, but I don’t think it can be underestimated how atypical Howard is for this kind of lead role. Does it make sense? No, but the way she is used here more than makes up for the lack of logic. She has to spend most of the first half of the movie looking dazed and vulnerable, but the second half gives her a lot more to do, and she acquits herself well. Rockwell gets one of his most fun roles in recent years, being the light-hearted and cocky pro that he does so well, and always ready to dance at any opportunity. Cavill is fun as the fictional avatar, even if he doesn’t suit the bad hairstyle he is given, and there is room for fun performances from Catherine O’Hara, Bryan Cranston, and, to a much lesser extent, and I do mean MUCH lesser, Samuel L. Jackson, John Cena, Dua Lipa, and Ariana DeBose.

I can see why this wasn’t a resounding success, mainly because of the plotting and the overuse of CGI, as well as a fairly lengthy runtime, and there are a few too many edits between Rockwell and Cavill as we are shown the action from the befuddled POV of our main character, but I just don’t see why it has been so lambasted. The big moments that work, in my view, work really well, including an action sequence on a train that is as energetic and inventive as I hoped it would be. Okay, the film doesn’t maintain that standard throughout, but it keeps trying, and Vaughn once again tries hard to complement his visuals with just the right soundtrack (although maybe it is obvious this time around that he is trying a bit too hard).

Admittedly a bit complicated and needlessly confusing at times, which stems from the lack of proper plausibility in the plot, this is a good film that tries to be great fun, but only succeeds occasionally in that regard. It’s a mess, sure, but a messy film isn’t automatically a bad film, and I remain in the minority of people who will insist that this isn’t actually a bad film.

6/10

Friday, 28 April 2023

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

Friday, 20 May 2022

The Bad Guys (2022)

If there is one problem I have with The Bad Guys it’s the fact that a film featuring Sam Rockwell as a smooth and conniving thief should also be available in live-action form. But here we are, and this animated comedy crime caper should do enough to entertain most viewers.

Rockwell is Wolf, the head honcho of a crew that also includes Snake (Marc Maron), Tarantula (Awkwafina), Shark (Craig Robinson), and Piranha (Anthony Ramos). Busted during a big robbery, this group of baddies is allowed to escape jail time if they opt to place themselves in the care of the benevolent Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade). The Professor wants to show that baddies can change their ways, but a lot of other people are very doubtful, including Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz) and Police Chief Misty Luggins (Alex Borstein). There might also be someone looking to frame our main characters for one big job. Or maybe they will trip themselves up, especially as they took the Professor’s deal to simply avoid jail time while they planned their next big score.

Based on books by Aaron Blabey, The Bad Guys has a lot going for it. First of all is that voice cast, but I will get back to them in a moment. The script, written by Etan Cohen, with additional material from Yoni Brenner and Hilary Winston, is a great mix of cool and funny. Wolf is very much a charming gentleman thief, in the vein of Cary Grant or George Clooney, and he enjoys the thrill of each job, especially when it can lead to a long car chase. Each main character has an identifying prime trait, and many have a secret or two to be revealed by the finale. And if you have kids who don’t enjoy the energy or wit of the film, don’t worry, they will be amused by the upset tummy of Piranha leading to a couple of amusing fart gags.

Director Pierre Perifel has a nice body of work already, working as an animator on films such as the Kung Fu Panda movies and The Illusionist (to name just a couple of highlights). He certainly knows what he is doing. Every main sequence has just the right energy running through it, including a very enjoyable dance number, and there are lots of gags that make the most of the medium.

Let’s get back to that cast though. Rockwell has been a magnificent star for some years now and his voice is a perfect fit for the charming and fast-thinking lead. Maron, Awkwafina, Robinson, and Ramos all fit well with their characters, and they each make their scenes funnier in different ways. Ayoade, likewise, has a voice that fits his role perfectly, and both Beetz and Borstein are excellent as two authority figures who view Wolf and his gang very differently, the former hoping they can change their ways while the latter just really wants to lock them up.

Some people have commented on the little nods to Tarantino here and there, which is worth pointing out to film fans who may otherwise overlook this, but The Bad Guys is more interested in being an animal-centric riff on the “Ocean’s [Insert Number Here]” movies. And it completely works in that regard, with the stealthy thievery, action sequences, and gags all accompanied by a fantastic score from Daniel Pemberton (who has slowly become an absolute standout musical talent over the length of his career, and I hope we get plenty more from him).

Entertaining for all ages, especially if you can stay in touch with your inner child as easily as I can, this is recommended. It isn’t top-tier animated fare, but it is well put together and . . . well, it’s just a good bit of fun from start to finish.

7/10

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

Friday, 28 January 2022

The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2007)

A rare, but enjoyable, occasion when a film is rendered fairly impossible to spoil by the title, The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford is also a film that I find it fairly impossible to view as nothing short of a near-masterpiece.

Based on the novel by Ron Hansen, it is, boiling it down to the most basic components, exactly what it says it is. It's also so much more though, starting with a look at who Jesse James (Brad Pitt) really was, a man who sometimes enjoyed his reputation and sometimes had it tightening around his neck like a noose, and then showing the things that would fall into place to lead to that fateful moment that gave Robert Ford (Casey Affleck) his moment of fame.

Adapted into screenplay form by director Andrew Dominik, a man who has been drawn throughout his career to the idea of criminals buying into/creating their own hype and the knife edge of fame and infamy, this is a film with a few people delivering some of their very best work, and that includes Roger Deakins, a man with no shortage of great cinema moments to throw into contention for the best ever. Even by his own high standards, Deakins delivers something here that has a perfect blend of grit and beauty.

When it comes to the cast, Affleck takes the top honours here. His character is never once likeable, and his presence often creates a sense of unease for those around him. Affleck plays it perfectly, showing us all the man who doesn't want to be seen directly by those he interacts with onscreen. His every attempt to charm backfires, whether it is due to him speaking "out of turn", taking a second too long to pick exactly the kind of smile he wants to offer, or sizing up any company to decide who he wants to side with if things suddenly go South. The next best performance may well come from Paul Schneider, pretty much the exact opposite of Affleck's character. I don't mind Schneider, but have rarely had cause to consider him as a really good actor. He really impressed me here. Other great turns come from names you expect to deliver great turns. Jeremy Renner does well, but both Garet Dillahunt and Sam Rockwell effortlessly remind viewers of why they are so welcome in any project they board. Sam Shepard, Mary-Louise Parker, Pat Healy, and Ted Levine all remind you of how good they can be, and Pitt excels as someone who has enjoyed making himself into a legendary figure he is now trapped by.

There are small mis-steps here and there, with one being a moment of narration that goes out of its way to tell us how Jesse James had a condition that made him blink more often than most people . . . before we see him throughout the movie hardly blinking at all. This seems, and is, a very minor failing, but it just seemed so odd to have had this detail pointed out that is then seemingly forgotten for the rest of the film.

While James is the figure at the centre of everything, however, Dominik takes his time to eventually lead viewers further and further into the mindset of Ford, showing the divide between the romanticised ideas of gunslingers making their mark and the reality of knowing how it felt to take someone else’s life with one pull of a trigger. I won’t say that you ever really warm to Ford, but the journey he goes on shows his brief ascension to “stardom” before heading towards an inevitably miserable and troubled existence. He is a man defined by one act, an act he tries to keep justifying for years, and everyone gets to form their own opinion of him.

It would be rude not to mention the soundtrack, from Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (with Cave also onscreen for one very memorable moment), and the whole feel of the movie is superbly authentic, but it is the visuals and lead performances that will stay in your mind after the end credits have rolled. They are right up there with the very best of the 21st century, and this is a film that deserves the praise it has received over the years since it was first released. You won’t forget viewing this, and I doubt the lengthy runtime will put anyone off from revisiting it when they want to bask in the quality and gorgeousness of it.

10/10

Friday, 28 May 2021

Joshua AKA The Devil's Child (2007)

A film with an alternative title that is as useful as it is incorrect, Joshua is a “bad seed” movie that sadly never settles on just the right tone it wants to have. It’s a creepy slow burn on the way to an unsettling final scene, but it’s neither subtle nor ridiculous enough to be as impressive or entertaining as it could be.

Sam Rockwell and Vera Farmiga are Brad and Abby, the parents of a newborn baby girl. The newborn already has an older brother, Joshua (Jacob Kogan), and it is established early on that the family unit isn’t as cosy and happy as some. Abby is suffering, the baby won’t stop crying, and Joshua gets weirder and weirder, and potentially more dangerous to those around him.

Directed by George Ratliff, who also co-wrote the screenplay with David Gilbert, this is a silly film, but only when you stop to think of the many ways in which the main characters could resolve their situation. To the credit of the film-makers, the pacing of the third act, as things hurtle towards a worthwhile “punchline”, helps you to overlook the many plot holes.

The cast also help, of course. I will watch Rockwell in anything, and he does well in his role here, and Farmiga is easily just as good a performer as he is (although she hasn’t had as many plum roles). Both are playing people under different pressures, and a lot of that is applied by young Joshua, even though they don’t always realise it. In that vital role, Kogan is pretty good, although his entire persona is defined as awkward and/or creepy. Michael McKean has a small, but welcome, role, playing the boss of Brad, and only really caring about anything that affects the profit margin of the business. And you have some decent moneys for both Celia Weston, as the gran, and Dallas Roberts, as the uncle Joshua enjoys spending time with.

It would be fair to warn new parents away from this, considering the unrelenting atmosphere of misery and stress that permeates the entire runtime, because the scenes that play out more realistically will resonate strongly with anyone who has, for example, struggled to get a baby to feed or sleep. Most people, hopefully, won’t have a little psychopath making their lives worse, but parenting can be hard enough, at times, when you cannot find an immediate solution to keep a child content.

That aside, Joshua should have been deeply unsettling by and disturbing, or simply just bonkers and fun. Sadly, it is just disappointingly average.

5/10

Thursday, 16 April 2020

Trolls World Tour (2020)

Honestly, there are times when I just don't want to write a review of something I have watched. But I made my viewing choice, I wanted it to go on my blog, and now I am up at 0530 in the morning to write about Trolls World Tour because there are only 24 hours in a day and I was too tired last night to get this done ahead of time.

Following on from the horribly average, but I guess successful enough, Trolls, this sequel comes along to make you look back on that averageness with fondness, and yearn for those good old times when the worst thing a Troll movie did was rework some classic singalong tunes alongside some kid-friendly visuals.

This is horrible. Really horrible. If it wasn't for the charm of San Rockwell (yes, even in animated form, his charm blasts out of the screen and helps things along), I am not sure I would have given it such a relatively high rating.

The slight plot concerns the fact that our two main trolls, Poppy and Branch, find out they are one of a number of troll tribes. Each tribe is aligned with a certain type of music. You have the ones we already know from the first movie, pop trolls, and you also have ones that enjoy techno, classical, country, funk, and rock music. Queen Barb heads up the rock music trolls, and she wants to collect the one guitar string from each troll territory before bringing everyone together into one big world of rock.

Yeah. Although the main message here is about valuing individualism over conformity, it's hard to see beyond the fact that a) trolls are only individual when compared to other tribes, so that's a stumbling block for the main message, and b) rock is pretty much shown as an evil kind of music over all the others.

Everyone returns to the main voice roles they had in the first movie, and Kendrick and Timberlake are still just fine in the leads, although James Corden still gets a few lines to give him the potential to spoil things by being James Corden. Rachel Bloom is suitably loud and impetuous as Queen Barb, and there are cameo roles for Ozzy Osbourne, Kelly Clarkson, George Clinton, and Mary J. Blige (to show that the makers of the movie DO know some people who sing songs that aren't just upbeat pop tunes). I already mentioned Rockwell, but he's definitely worth mentioning again.

Walt Dohrn returns to co-direct, this time with David P. Smith alongside him (his first feature). Everything is as you'd expect from a sequel to Trolls, although maybe slightly worse in the obviousness of the various design choices and attempts to build different worlds.

Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger are back to write the screenplay, helped along by Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky, and Elizabeth Tippet. Five people. It took five people to write this piece of crap, and yet there still isn't enough here to make it worth your time. No great character moments, no funny lines of dialogue to single out, no redeeming value in the muddled message at the heart of it all. Even the soundtrack is just a big mess.

One to avoid, although I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who felt differently about this. It's one of those films that you find hard to consider anyone being a fan of.

3/10

You can buy this shiny set here.
Americans may want to go for this.

Thursday, 13 February 2020

Jojo Rabbit (2019)

Based on a novel by Christine Leunens, Jojo Rabbit is another film written and directed by Taika Waititi, and another great mix of humour and emotion. It may not be his best film, and it's easy to initially view it as his weakest, but I suspect that it will grow on most people, over time.

Roman Griffin Davis is Jojo, a young boy living in Germany towards the end of WWII. Every child has an imaginary friend at some stage, Jojo has Hitler (Waititi). He also has a real friend in the shape of Yorki (Archie Yates), a loving mother (Rosie, played by Scarlett Johansson), and lessons in the best way to serve Germany from the likes of Captain Klenzendorf (Sam Rockwell) and Fraulein Rahm (Rebel Wilson). Jojo's worldview is challenged when he discovers that his mother has been hiding a young Jewish girl (Elsa, played by Thomasin McKenzie) in their home.

I've seen some criticisms of Jojo Rabbit that seem to want to boil it down to "be nice to Nazis, because not all Nazis are bad" and I've seen comments being critical of opinions on the film that seem simplistic and naive. Both of these things are true, to some extent, and that stems from the way in which Waititi has wrangled his message of hope and optimism into a fun satire that is itself wrapped up in a layer of wide-eyed childish innocence and absorption. It may not be as simple as it seems, at first glance, but none of the more complex thoughts undo the central ideas of always maintaining the capability of love destroying hate.

Davis is superb in the main role, which will come as no surprise to anyone used to Waititi's knack for picking absolutely wonderful child stars for his project. Although not in it as much as I would have liked him to be, Yates is quite hilarious as the friend who isn't going to strain himself by thinking of the world events unfolding around him. Johansson is a solid anchor, and a pivot around which everything, and everyone, revolves. McKenzie is easily on par with Davis in her role, and the comedic turns from Rockwell and Wilson help, even underlining a couple of very serious moments in the third act. Alfie Allen does well in a small role, Stephen Merchant is very funny in his one main scene, and Waititi plays his sprung-from-the-mind-of-a-child version of Hitler very much like a version of him sprung from the mind of a child.

With the mix of quirky characters, the shot composition, and specific soundtrack choices, fans of Wes Anderson may occasionally forget that this is a Waititi film. It's been given a layer of artificiality that helps to create just enough distance between what we know of the atrocities committed by the Nazis and what we're being shown onscreen. The whole thing is a tightrope-walk, of course, but Waititi is up to the task. I can even see his reasoning behind some of the decisions made that I don't entirely agree with.

Imperfect and odd, Jojo Rabbit manages to do what it sets out to do. It makes you laugh, it provides some immensely powerful moments, and it sends you onward with a sense that there is always hope for humanity while individuals continue to hold on to their natural ability to, against some major odds, do the right thing.

7/10

Monday, 15 January 2018

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

I HOPE that anyone who knows me, even a little bit, knows that I am never a contrarian just for the sake of stirring the pot or getting people into a state of anger. In fact, I try as often as I can to ignore the extreme negatives and positives you can find everywhere on the internet and continue to just form my own opinion about movies, which is the way everyone should do it (then you can have more fun later discussing things with those who agree, and those who don't).

So I didn't make the decision lightly to label the much-loved Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri the worst film directed by either of the McDonagh brothers. You have to remember two things here. First of all, I am one of the few people who really enjoyed War On Everyone. Second, I am not saying this is a terrible film. It's still better than Transformers: The Last Knight, for example. Just not by that much.

The plot revolves around Frances McDormand's character, Mildred. She has been waiting too long to get any justice after her daughter was raped and murdered. So she decides to use three billboards situated on a fairly quiet road to question the work ethic of Sheriff Willoughby (Woody Harrelson). This upsets Willoughby and his staff (particularly the dim and abusive Dixon, played by Sam Rockwell), it upsets Mildred's son (Lucas Hedges), and it starts to turn the town against Mildred as they fail to understand why she would make such a statement.

The performances in this film are, for the most part, pretty great. McDormand does brilliant work, Rockwell is as great as ever, and Harrelson does well (when he isn't delivering lines in voiceover like he's reading the back of a packet of Coco Pops). Caleb Landry Jones is also very good, playing the lad responsible for leasing out the billboard space, Hedges is excellent as the teenage son watching his mother make a stand he doesn't see as being of any use, Peter Dinklage is a lot of fun as someone hoping to take Mildred out on a date, and John Hawkes is an a-grade asshole. The main weakness in the film is Abbie Cornish, who gives what feels like a half-hearted performance, hampered by the fact that she is also given the worst of the dialogue in the film and just seems far too young for her character (she plays the wife of Harrelson's character).

Direction is good enough, with McDonagh really pulling out the stops in a couple of moments that hammer home (almost literally) some of the damage that characters are willing to inflict upon one another, and there's definitely an interesting theme being clumsily explored here, but it's all almost undone by the script, surprisingly enough. While there are gems here, especially in the scenes that have McDormand interacting directly with the local law enforcement, there are also lines that drop in the middle of scenes like anvils looking for a Wile E. Coyote to squash into an accordion shape. And that's just individual lines I am talking about (poor Cornish, I felt genuinely sorry for a couple of the lines that she had to deliver, which could have only been made a bit less cringeworthy if McDonagh had given her any decent characterisation beforehand). As the film starts to develop in the overlong second half, everything starts to become more heavy-handed and also a bit, well, implausible and ridiculous. What began as a small, impactful, drama turns into something that feels unsure of how far it wants to take things, and in what direction it wants to go. Yes, this is in line with the main characters but it doesn't feel deliberate or well thought out. It feels careless, displaced, and even rather immature.

There's enough here to enjoy, and I feel sorry for those trying to dismiss the movie as something it isn't (I can't say any more because of spoilers), and I still encourage people to support the McDonagh brothers ahead of so many other writers and directors who never try to engage and challenge their audience, but this didn't work half as well for me as it seems to have worked for so many others.

6/10

Friday, 7 February 2014

The Sitter (2011)

Jonah Hill plays the worst babysitter ever in this comedy that's a lot lower on laughs than it should be, and certainly pales in comparison to the '80s greatness of Adventures In Babysitting. The script, by Alessandro Tanaka and Brian Gatewood, sets things up well enough, but then derails within the first 15-20 minutes, leaving director David Gordon Green hoping that the cast can salvage something from the situation. They can't.

As a favour for his mother, Noah Griffith (Hill) agrees to babysit three youngsters for an evening. There's young Blithe (Landry Bender), a girl who keeps trying to make herself appear much older than she is. There's Rodrigo (Kevin Hernandez), an angry young man who lies to let out that anger by blowing things up with cherry bombs. Last, but not least, there's Slater (Max Records), who has anxiety and identity issues. As if looking after the three kids wouldn't be enough of a problem on its own, Noah is called by his selfish girlfriend, Marisa (Ari Graynor), and asked if he could kindly pick up some drugs for her and meet her at a cool party. Being the irresponsible sort that he is, Noah takes the kids along while he meets drug dealer Karl (Sam Rockwell) and his right hand man, Julio (J. B. Smoove). And things start to go wrong.

If The Sitter was a completely laugh-free zone, with no potential to be entertaining, then it would be an easier film to dislike and completely dismiss (which is, I'm sure, how some people feel about it anyway), but the irritating thing about it is the uneven tone. Things start off amusingly enough, and it all looks promising as Hill meets the kids and tries to establish his take-no-shit stance from the outset, but then it all just becomes too dark once the kids are dragged along to a "simple" drug deal. From then on, the movie moves from one confrontation to the next, with things getting progressively darker and more violent. This may have been the intention of the writers, and director, but it's not the best outcome for a film marketed as a comedy.

Hill ticks the boxes here, in terms of his comedy style, while the kids are just a bit too angst-ridden and rebellious to be likable, although Bender just about manages to stay sweet while also being a smartass. Graynor is okay, but stuck playing a loathesome character, Rockwell is wonderful as Karl, Smoove is stuck with some of the most unpleasant lines from the script, and Kylie Bunbury brightens up the screen, thanks to the fact that she's allowed to play one of the nicest characters in the movie.

Ultimately, this is a film that's too flippant to be enjoyed as a comedy thriller and too dark to be . . . . . . . . . . . . . . enjoyed as a comedy thriller. There are some moments to enjoy, but they're few and far between.

5/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Sitter-Blu-ray-Jonah-Hill/dp/B004U5BH80/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1389127157&sr=8-2&keywords=the+sitter

Friday, 25 October 2013

Clownhouse (1989)

Clownhouse, it's a movie that's impossible to review without discussing the events that occurred behind the scenes. Writer-director Victor Salva was convicted of sexual misconduct with one of the young stars of the movie and spent a year in prison. This penchant for young boys has made viewing many of his films a strange, disturbing experience (once you know about the man behind the movies you can't watch the likes of Powder and Jeepers Creepers 2 in the same light), but it makes viewing Clownhouse - the scene of the crime, as it were - a particularly skin-crawling experience.

Having said that, everyone who knows me should know that I strive to view and review films outwith other factors that may distort opinion. I wasn't going to write the paragraph above, but then assumed that people would think I had viewed the film without knowing about the horrible background to it. Now that we've mentioned it, let's move on to just reviewing the movie because that's about the only thing I'm good for. Sometimes.

Nathan Forrest Winters, Brian McHugh and a young Sam Rockwell (making his film debut) are three young brothers who go to the circus and then return home. Unfortunately, this happens to be the night on which three dangerous lunatics have escaped from a nearby institution. Three dangerous lunatics who kill three clowns and take their place. Casey (Winters) has a major fear of clowns anyway, so when he starts seeing the creepier-than-usual clowns near his home his warnings aren't heeded. Especially not by the oldest boy (Rockwell). The clowns keep getting closer, and they're not out to make people laugh.

As previously mentioned, this was written and directed by Victor Salva, a director who seems to keep making movies that I enjoy. Clownhouse has a fairly good reputation among horror fans and it's easy to see why. The atmosphere builds throughout, becoming extremely creepy in the second half of the film, and the scares are often developed in a low-key manner as opposed to just making viewers jump (although there ARE jump scares).

The acting from the three lads playing the brothers is just fine. Rockwell, even at such a young age, gives a glimpse of the annoying/charming and cocky persona he would go on to make his signature role in later life, Winters is a bundle of nerves and McHugh is . . . . . . . . the other one (and is perfectly acceptable in the role). The three men playing the dangerous clowns? Well, let's be honest, their performance is made more effective by the fact that they're made up as clowns. Even before It traumatised my generation, we all knew that clowns were just damn creepy.

Clownhouse is a decent, though unspectacular, horror movie that plays nicely on that healthy fear most of us have had at some point - clowns (coulrophobia being the official term for it). Sadly, it's also a movie made all the creepier for all the wrong reasons, and a hard one to watch impartially once you know just what happened on the set.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Clownhouse-Nathan-Forrest-Winters/dp/B003I7EZYO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382304311&sr=8-1&keywords=clownhouse

Thursday, 3 March 2011

Choke (2008).

Sam Rockwell plays a sex-addicted conman named Victor Mancini in this adaptation of the novel by Chuck Palahniuk that is often as darkly amusing as it is offbeat and disturbing.

Starting off at a meeting for sex addicts (a scene that immediately, and inevitably, brings to mind the central character from Fight Club seeking solace in the various meetings he attended), we quickly get to know Sam Rockwell’s character as someone who really doesn’t care for anyone other than himself. Well, okay, there’s his best friend (Brad William Henke) who can’t stop playing with himself and there’s his hospitalised mother (Anjelica Huston) but everyone else seems to be weighed up in terms of potential dollars or potential sexual gratification. As things unfold, however, we find that there is something more to the man. This becomes much more noticeable when he finds himself drawn to Paige Marshall (Kelly Macdonald), a young nurse helping to care for his mother.

Director Clark Gregg (better known nowadays, arguably, for his appearance in the latest wave of Marvel superhero movies but who also wrote the screenplay based on Palahniuk’s novel) certainly shows talent here though he’s helped immeasurably by a central performance from Sam Rockwell that ranks up there with some of his very best (and that’s high praise indeed considering how much I enjoy almost every one of the man’s performances). Rockwell easily moves from venomous slimeball to manipulative smoothie to defensive manchild as the story demands and his bad qualities are just as watchable as the good. Anjelica Huston is also superb in a role that shows her playing a senile, elder figure in the present day and then a radical, off-kilter parent in a number of flashback scenes. Brad William Henke provides many of the easier laughs while Kelly Macdonald is very easy to like. Everyone in supporting roles, including the talented Mr Gregg, do very well.

Choke has a number of points that it makes well, some for comedic effect and some to provoke a bit of thought while you’re enjoying the onscreen antics (e.g. the whole choking scam that Rockwell utilises to make money, hence the title of the movie), and it does this without sticking them down our throat, no pun intended. And then in the next minute it gives us something as hilarious as a pretend rape that proves to be just too demanding for the “attacker”, who just can’t get anything the way that the “victim” wants it.

I REALLY liked Choke. It certainly goes way out there at times, especially in the sub-plot that reveals information about Victor’s father, but it’s always still just got one foot touching the ground, thanks to that central performance from Rockwell.

8/10