Review: Gravity

Danny Leigh, the critic who appears on Film 2013 every week, made an interesting observation about blockbusters when he talked about Gravity last week. He made the point that a lot of the time when you hear a huge amount of hype surrounding a film you usually become cautious, as you sense a PR wave crashing down around you. What he said however, and what I wholeheartedly agree with, is that with Gravity you really do have to believe the hype.

Directed by Alfonso Cuaron and starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, Gravity is an audiovisual treat that keeps the viewer entranced from start to finish. It is rare that a film has such a compelling story while at the same time tempting the tastebuds with a CGI all you can eat buffet, but Cuaron achieves this feat. And then some.

We join Dr. Ryan Stone (Bullock) and her astronaut companion Matt Kowalski (Clooney) as they float in the space around their shuttle, fiddling with space-screws and space-hammers (the keen readers amongst you will spot the deficiency in my scientific knowledge here). All of a sudden a freak accident befalls the crew, and their seemingly tranquil floaty lives and plunged into nerve-jangling peril.

The story has many twists and turns and I won’t ruin any of them for you here, but what I will say is that Cuaron exhibits a refreshing willingness to play with his characters and twist them around – one moment there is one clear leader, then next another takes the helm. He perhaps could also be said to have somewhat of a sadistic streak in his behaviours towards his characters – one senses his childhood Action Men were thrown around the living room and garden with reckless abandon as he re-enacted epic battles and horrific catastrophes, both domestic and interstellar.

The actors themselves: well Clooney is fine as usual, he plays the cheeky chappy veteran to a T but then he is a cheeky chappy veteran now. I really would like to see him stretch himself a little in his films, but hey, what do I know. It is Sandra Bullock who steals the show here. From reading around on the web (details too long to include here) it is apparent that she really was uncomfortable when making this film – strapped into spacesuits for long periods of time, with cameras hurtling around her face at 30mph, and this really shines through. She really does give the impression of a helpless young woman trying desperately to save the day, and her range here is impressive. An Academy nomination surely beckons.

I will say that the film is not for kids and not for the fainthearted, but if you are a fan of rollercoasters and tense psychological thrillers then really do not give this film a miss. I personally have not been as glued to my seat during a film for a long time, and the poor mangled claw that my girlfriend used to call a hand can testify to the literally gripping tension that Cuaron paints across the screen. Find this film in 3D and watch it as soon as humanly possible.

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STAR WARS EPISODE VII DECEMBER 18 2015 SDKJSBJHFBAKJBFJHSDBFKJABD

Review: Le Week-End

A bit of Parisian class from me today as I have a petit look at Le Week-End. Directed by Roger Michell (who directed Notting Hill don’t you know) and starring Jim Broadbent (Hot Fuzz), Lindsay Duncan (About Time) and Jeff “life…finds a way” Goldblum, the film follows Nick and Meg Burrows as they celebrate their 30^th wedding anniversary in the French capital.

Once the obligatory shots out the window of the Eurostar and marital exchanges about currency and passports are out of the way, our protagonists arrive in Paris and (after a slight false start) begin to spend both money and time aplenty throwing themselves into everything the city has to offer. With the kids having left home and careers at a crossroads, both have their reasons to express themselves and be free.

After the first twenty minutes of the film there is a certain feeling of “oh, here we go again” about this kind of story, but Michell (and Hanif Kureishi’s brilliant script) at this point bring us off the beaten path and onto an altogether rockier trail. As keen walkers will attest though, it is the paths that are hardest to traverse that reward us with the best views and the best stories to tell afterwards.

By delving deeper into their characters’ motivations, histories and values Michell and Kureishi manage to conjure up something altogether more whole. Their understanding that a relationship is both the sum of two parts and yet is simultaneously greater than that lets the viewer share both the depths the characters plunge to and the heights they soar to as we share in their story. Admittedly some of the exchanges have a slight dearth in originality, but then the point of a film like this is that these are real people who do bicker and quarrel with each other over little things like toothbrushes and choosing restaurants.

Broadbent and Duncan are superb in the main roles, giving us the full range in two perfectly proportioned performances. Broadbent’s usual bumbling old fool bit has an added bite to it that is pleasing to see, while Duncan impresses yet again as a domineering yet caring matriarch. Typecasting does exist for a reason you know – one would hazard a guess that the script was written with these two in mind. And Jeff Goldblum, well I mean, what is there to say that hasn’t already been said about this unstoppable behemoth of a man. In a role that consign mere mortal actors to be forgotten, Goldblum steals scenes at will, showing once again that he could well be the actor of his generation.

I would certainly recommend Le Week-End then to viewers of any generation – as my companion put it to me afterwards it was strangely easy to relate to despite not even being married. Not the easiest film to watch, but if you want easy then go and watch Pingu.

Until next time.