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Reviews
Gran Torino (2008)
Clint at his best in a superior offering about aging
shades of Eastwood's mentor, Don Siegels' the Shootist (1976) abound here in what could be Eastwoods swansong. Like john Wayne in the aforementioned film, the presence of this films leading star and the connotations associated with the characters from his previous fifty of work, and perhaps more specifically his body of work from 1964 to 1993. Misfit, no nonsense cops, war veterans, bounty hunters and bare knuckle boxers are mashed together create one of Clint's best characters Walt Kowalski.Clint growls his way through the film playing the recently widowed Korean war Veteren who must contend with the local immigrant population. his own family have all but deserted the cantankerous old man, his only solace is found in his 1972 Gran Torino. After a a young Hmong boy , Thao tries to steal it he sets about trying to reform the boy, which leads to him becoming embroiled in the local imigrants problems with the neighbourhood gangs. Those expecting action will be sorely disappointed, but what Eastwood the director does deliver is a poignant, yet never overly sentimental drama. The climax manages to be tense, terse and soberingly realistic
Five Minutes of Heaven (2009)
small scales study of "the troubles" in northern ireland
Oliver Hirschbiegel, director of contemporary German classics The Experiment(2001) and Downfall (2004) turns his attention to the troubles in Northern Ireland. Liam Neeson is cast as a former UVF member who carried out an assassination on James Nesbitts brother. The pair are about to meet for the first time since the murder, Hirschbiegel ratchets up the tension to an almost unbearable level for the first three quarters of the film. The change of pace after the television interview sequence allows the film to play out as a reconciliation peace for both leads characters. Due to its short running time it never feels overlong. Neeson delivers his best performance in years Nesbitt is also quite impressive.
Jack (2005)
ambiguous , multi layer modern tragedy
An excellent Irish short film which makes one wonder why we fail to successfully make features in this genre (modern psychological drama/chiller) The narrative of this film unfolds in two different strands - which converge at two key points, the later of which is the climactic (and memorable) finale. the first strand follows a young couple Jack and Lyndsey, whose relationship may or may not be in decline, leaving a party after a long day boozing (for Jack at least)The films other protagonists are a pair of nameless robbers who, after robbing a house find themselves with a broken down getaway car. They wait in the bushes, and then, the two story lines converge. To give anymore away would be too much of a spoiler- check it up on you tube. Suffice it to say the finale is brilliantly edited by john Fitzpatrick,strikingly shot by graham Cantwel and altogether spellbinding in its bloody execution.