Change Your Image
citizen-caveman
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
The Reckoning (2023)
Depressing, but relevant
The Reckoning is as serious as drama gets. It examines the culture that allowed Jimmy Saville to get away with so much depravity - depressing, but relevant.
An un-sceptical public believed the guy they saw on television was great. Ambitious careerists turned a blind eye, if they had eyes - as ratings rocketed, so did their careers. Countless vulnerable victims knew nobody would want to believe them.
Saville wasn't a one off. Other powerful predators have been exposed since. Same story, different predator. The Reckoning is universal.
Saville dodged justice the hard way in 2011 and ITV broadcast an expose the following year. Why the BBC waited until a decade had passed to make this drama is anyone's guess.
Steve Coogan really does a polished job of portraying a tedious character. His Saville is irksome. You want to punch him in the face.
If The Reckoning was fiction, nobody would believe it or want to watch it. A fictional Jimmy Saville would have been an implausible predator - getting away with so much witnessed by so many. Maybe that implausibility is partly what gave him opportunities? Truth is stranger and nastier than fiction.
The take away from all of this is don't believe what's on TV. Don't believe anyone's charisma.
The Last Heist (2016)
Everything a heist thriller SHOULDN'T be
In the main, cardboard characters collide with wooden acting.
That said, Henry Rollins demonstrates that he can overcome the obstacle of ropey material and still deliver a decent performance. What a shame he don't recognise ropey material in the first instance. Dressed like an undertaker, he does a capable job of playing the creepy, serial killer. Giving the best performance of all he elevates himself above cliché.
The story doesn't really hold together. In places, purpose-wise some of the characters' actions don't make any sense. They place themselves in harm's way to achieve no, apparently, useful goal. Both the good guys and the bad guys seem to be trying to trip themselves up in places.
A good heist, in the movies at least, should be tight and methodical, think Heat (1995). They get in, get rich and get away. Most robbbers don't want to run into the police and get caught. Presumably. These guys take all day. There is no sense of impending deadline, so there's no tension.
Conflict be shouldn't delivered in a way that makes characters unsympathetic. The robbers swear and gesticulate at one other too often to seem mature enough to be professional. Acting like juvenile delinquents makes them even more unsympathetic. This carry-on produces a sense of conflict but an irksome one.
I could go on but it's too depressing.
Overall, this lacks sympathetic characters and, because you cannot care about any of the characters, any real tension. It's slow, clumsy and clichéd. Television does it better.
13 (2010)
Simple but tense story, good in places but poor in others
Desperate to find a way to pay for his father's ever-increasing medical bills, the young and naive protagonist stumbles across a way that just might achieve that.
The involved set-up makes for a slow start. The next sequence gives an intriguing mystery. The sequence following this provides the guts of the film. Its fish-out-of-water nature exacerbates the tension; a piece of undiluted tension.
After this you get the feeling the film-makers run out of ideas and enthusiasm. The story-line is flat and goes downhill. The ending looks like the makers just wanted to wrap the production up and move onto other things.
This is a pity, because you feel that given more effort the makers could have produced, given the originality of its premise, quite a polished film.
Talhotblond (2009)
Love can make you blind, uncritical and, sometimes, homicidal
The subject matter is a must-read for anyone seeking companionship via the Internet.
Forty-seven year-old Tom Montgomery wanted to impress an eighteen-year-old girl online. So he pretended to be an eighteen-year-old only to find the eighteen-year-old girl was middle-aged just like him. But not until he killed a (genuine) twenty-two year-old "love rival". He ended one life and ruined countless others.
What impressed me the most was the dignity and composure of Dan and Deb Barrett, the parents of murder-victim Brian Barrett, when they were interviewed.
What impressed me the least is the style of narration. The voice- over pretends to be the murder victim Brian Barrett and basically sticks words into the words of a dead man. How can we really know if Brian Barrett would ever think and/or say these words?
Another, albeit minor flaw, of this documentary is that it does not provide some context for this tragedy. How common a problem is this? Chat rooms have been described as "theatres of dreams". A place where it can be hard to separate fiction from reality.
That said the message remains clear enough - do not emotionally invest with anonymous strangers online. If you can.
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014)
If you liked the original, you like this. Comic book film-noir, more style than story
This has all the tropes typical of film-noir: it's fatalistic, it has suckers meet femme-fatale, murky shadows and harsh lights.
What distinguishes the original Sin City from the classical noir of 1940-59 is the explicit violence (though not enough to be shocking) and the male- adolescent, perhaps puerile, manner which portrays women as dominatrices (tight leather, handcuffs, etc.). My favourite bit of course.
Sin City: A Dame to Kill for sticks with this winning formula (wins for me at least). And Jessica Alba as an exotic dancer too. (That part works best of all for me!)
The various story-threads are strong enough but not so original. What really sells the film is the delivery, its polish. Even though the film never takes itself too seriously, it remains emotionally engaging, you care about the characters.
Not a life-changing film but solid entertainment nevertheless.
Cleaner (2007)
Fairly watchable thriller but not gripping with no real surprises.
As thrillers should it kicks off at a decent pace which eventually slows once passed the inciting incident. It lacks any real intrigue however or subplots breaking up the monotony of the main arc.
Samuel Jackson stars as Tom Cutler and is the most engaging aspect of the film. An ex-cop turned crime-scene cleaner who is a widower raising an only daughter. This feels contrived to elicit the audiences' sympathy as to what happens to the protagonist. To some degree it works as it pulls you through the story wondering what will happen next thus compensating for the lack of intrigue.
Everyone gives credible performances adding to the polish of many scenes.
Closed Circuit (2013)
A well-polished conspiracy thriller.
The subject matter isn't fresh but stills retains relevancy. Thematically, it's the old story of who guards the guards. The film prompts questions about security, surveillance and accountability. Such accountability requires an open society and a free press prepared to ask hard questions.
Genuinely original rather than clichéd. The intriguing plot-line goes at a greyhound's pace. The plot is frequently complex but rarely baffling. It is said that dramatists economise. Closed Circuit (particularly the opening) is a solid of example of such economy. It is also very Orwellian; some of the story unfolds from the perspective of CCTV cameras which are intelligently utilised. The drama is competently acted though the characters largely lack any real depth. There's a few stunts but virtually no action to speak of. If you're looking for gun- play and car chases forget it. The surprises fizzle out towards the fairly sober ending.
Closed Circuit is a well thought-out film and relevant to the current political climate.
Daylight Robbery (2008)
A bank heist lacking tension and credibility, just about watchable. Most soap operas are more engaging.
It's a curious film because for some reason the tension never really takes off. One moment some customers are going about their routine, mundane business 'good morning sir, would you like that in tens or twentys?', 'tens please', 'certainly sir'. The next moment a mini-van smashes down the doors of the bank and masked men with guns shout at everyone to 'get the f*&@ down!'. And still the tension remains flat as a pancake.
The opportunities for conflict, and thus tension, abounds. The stakes are high: the lives of the hostages, the reputation of the police and the liberty of the robbers. You would expect all the parties concerned to be tense, very tense. Surprising then everyone seems remarkably laid back about the whole thing. The hostages do little more than huddle together in a corner with bags over their head, maybe the extras insisted on that. The police are passive rather than pro-active they observe wondering what will happen rather than figure out what to do next.
Operationally little of the story stands up. Why the British Transport Police would provide the incident control van and not the Metropolitan Police beats me. Can you really ram-raid a bank? Going into more detail means writing spoilers but I'm not into those. The planning of the job and its execution is so flawed that on a few occasions you wonder if the makers were actually trying to be funny. If they were, they failed. Badly.
This looks nothing like a group of slick professionals carrying a carefully planned robbery. Instead, it looks like a group of lads down the pub who were bored and decided to go rob a bank for a bit of a laugh. Except there are no laughs.
The acting is pretty flat, but what can you do with a script like this? The story lacks complexity so not much happens, it just plods on adding to the boredom. There is a hard deadline, albeit a ridiculous one, to meet, but the film gives no sense of it looming. The chief flaw is the interplay between the robbers. It lies in the no-man's land between a ragtag group on the verge of imploding and a top-notch team of solid professionals. Either option would be good but neither was selected. How they boring way they bounce off each other is mostly down to the flat dialogue. They're all good pals without a decent plan.
Daylight Robbery does has its moments, but they are few and far between.
The Lazarus Project (2008)
All about chances, choices and consequences
Basically it's all about chances, choices and consequences. More specifically how rare second chances in life are. Ben is a decent family man who still manages to get involved with crime. That said, he remains a sympathetic protagonist. The film asks some pretty deep questions and the slow pace provides an opportunity to reflect on them. The story is principally set in an institution amidst leafy countryside. A place Ben is not allowed to leave. Also given the surrealism in places there are echos of The Prisoner here. Ultimately, there are echos of another production as well. The Lazarus Project is unabashedly philosophical, and perhaps a spiritual, piece minus the sort of ham-fisted didacticism found in The Box (2009).
The Frozen Ground (2013)
Run-of-the-mill thriller with no surprises but with upsetting scenes
Alaska 1983 and a state trooper is moving in on a suspected serial- killer. The film is 'based on actual events' so where fact ends and fiction takes over is anyone's guess, unless you have much knowledge of the actual events.
'The Frozen Ground' is similar to '8mm' given the common themes, a detective goes after whoever is committing sexual crimes against vulnerable females, and Nicolas Cage stars in both central roles. Though 'The Frozen Ground' is an edge-of-your-seat thriller whilst '8mm' is a murky detective-mystery.
This can be hard to watch. There are graphic, and potential upsetting, scenes of women in much distress being humiliated and killed. The unflinching depiction of decomposed corpses. The possibility of the suspected killer walking away makes you feel angry.
The DP earned his money. There are some spectacular wide-shots of the Alaskan countryside giving a strong sense of place, an ambiance of desolation and that buying that wide-screen television was money well spent after all.
The acting all-round is solid enough and unconvincing but without any real spark.
Overall, 'The Frozen Ground' is engaging but no laugh a minute.
Compliance (2012)
Should have been a docu-drama
If it hadn't been ripped from the headlines the whole story would likely have been considered ridiculous. There again perhaps that why the hoax was so appalling successful. It's too ridiculous to be a hoax so nobody believed it was.
The subject matter is uncomfortable yet compelling, sort of like rubber necking a car crash. It's uncomfortable for any of us to think we could be taken in by such a hoax and go on to behave so appallingly towards somebody.
The film's strong point is that it becomes hard to dismiss the notion you would do something similar in the same circumstances.
The weak point is how the film explores the subject matter. The plodding plot line becomes predictable though never quite stale. It would be hard to write a plot spoiler for this film. If you were to watch the first thirty minutes then jump ahead another thirty minutes you still be able to follow what's happening no problem. (Yep, I did watch the whole thing.)
Actually I listened more than watched. A lot of the film is like a radio play with pictures thrown in. With the folks in the restaurant on the telephone explaining what they're doing and where to the fake police officer you could look away from the screen and still have a good idea of what is going on. Only towards the end does the film exclusively use pictures to tell the story.
A docu-drama would have permitted interviews that would provide a break from a somewhat monotonous plot line and add insightful context: why did the hoaxer do this? why did his victims comply?
That said, the film still managers to sell a powerful message to an audience that's become more sceptical by the end credits, namely don't unconditionally trust some anonymous voice at the end of a telephone no matter how convincing it sounds.
The Good German (2006)
Complex plot line but watchable
A gumshoe story set in a desolate, immediate post-war Berlin rather than the more usual sunny and prosperous L.A.
From the first frame the film mimics the look-and-feel of a 1940's movie. After Tully (Tobey Maguire) picks up Jake Geismer (George Clooney) at Berlin Airport a wipe signals the transition to the next scene driving through the bomb-shattered streets of Berlin. CGI makes anything look real. So the obvious choice to dispense with green- screening in favour of a projected backdrop of grainy film must be deliberate. All of which gives an ambiance of a 1940's movie, besides a sense of time and place. Some scenes, however, don't observe the sensitivities of the 1940 – anal sex most notably.
Being a detective story the plot line is inevitably murky and enigmatic. Coupling this with a love triangle makes the plot line more complex still. Yet, it remains sufficiently comprehensible to be intriguing rather than baffling. That said, it's no lazy watch, you need to pay attention and make mental note of what's happening.
Performances are good all round. Tobey Maguire's portrayal of Tully, the baby-faced GI who knows everything, is polished and initially stands out the most because he plays such a brash character compared to the rest of the cast. George Clooney comes over as world-weary and worldly wise – a sharp contrast to Tully. Except when Geismer stumbles across Lena Brandt (Cate Blanchett) the old flame he's been looking for.
The best line in the film is spoken by an extra. Geismer is watching two youths at the water's edge playing with a model boat. The unnamed officer walks up from behind and comments, 'kids, two months ago they were shooting at us.' This sort of thing throughout sustains the film's sense of time and place.
The Good German is a nice piece of teamwork that pulls together the screenplay, cinematography, acting, et al to make a very watchable film.
The Artist (2011)
A very original piece of story telling
A genuine original, clever, witty and engaging - rather like me in fact.
Original and witty in the way The Artist tells its story and that is what makes it so engaging. The story about some of the biggest stars of the silent era being unable to make the transition to talkies is as old as the hills. This way of telling that story it is as fresh as a daisy.
The way the audience engages with the film is noticeably different. In places you're almost lip reading. The Artist also underlines the point that is the story and how it is told that makes the film and not colour, FX, 3D, etc.
The theme is how the world inevitably changes as some people benefit because of some change while others do not as they are unable to adapt. George Valentin's (Jean Dujardin) flaw that leads to his downfall is his overly conservative attitude and refusing to believe the tastes of the paying public are so very unlike his own (reminds me of a few film critics). As the paying public quickly take to talkies George rapidly becomes a dinosaur.
Of course it is essentially a love story. Berenice Bejo does a great job of playing Peppy Miller the reason why George gets his life back together.
The Artist is an uplifting tale told in an original way. The fact The Artist makes use of the conventions of the silent era suggests that it is not entirely forgotten.
Safe House (2012)
Watchable but pretty unremarkable
Opens with a brief bio of Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds). His relationship with his partner is going smoothly unlike his career where he complains to his boss about passed over for promotion. Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) is a wanted man for selling secrets.
Action, espionage thriller that is claustrophobic and fast paced. Subtly is nowhere to be seen. The action sequences get monotonous - punch, punch, bang, bang, repeat, repeat.
Everyone performs well enough but it feels as though they are well inside their comfort zones. The performances are not memorable but the material they are working with is somewhat banal. The script is okay but the storyline lacks any real originality.
Safe House is watchable but not memorable.
Seeking Justice (2011)
A pretty good suspense thriller but not outstanding
Will (Nicholas Cage) and Laura (January Jones) Gerard are a close couple with everything going for them. Will is a liberally minded English teacher and Laura a professional musician.
When Laura is brutally raped Will is approached in the hospital waiting room by astranger who calls himself Simon (Guy Pearce). Simon promises revengein return for some undisclosed favours. Not being in a coherent stateof mind Will agrees. When Simon calls in the favour Will is in a clearer state of mind and tells him to forget it.
The story revolves around a secret organisation which is essentially a Star Chamber set up to deal with the perceived inadequacies (by some) of the legal system. Though it dispenses justice the nature of the organisation means it canbe abused. Though any legal system may not be perfect it has fewer flaws than an unaccountable kangaroo court whose power can be open to abuse.
Will is framed for killing an investigative journalist who knows too much about the organisation. Will sets out to clear his name and get his life back. As ever Nicholas Cage gives a great performance as he works out precisely who his nemesis is. Likewise Guy Pearce, January Jones et al deliver solid performances.
I was interested to see how Will would resolve his crisis but otherwise there was no real intrigue here. The action sequences are slick being overdone and drawn out. The chase through the spaghetti junction was pretty original.
Seeking Justice is a decent enough suspense thriller but with no real surprises (including the final twist).
Drive (2011)
Slick and stylish thriller
Ten seconds in it grabs you: less than a minute more you know what you need to about the protagonist. The rest of the opener is a get-away scene so slick you don't notice the exposition. After that the pace of the film slows down some.
Ryan Gosling's performance is understated giving the Driver an air of someone who is sufficiently self-possessed that he doesn't feel the need to prove anything. But the Driver is perhaps not wholly self-possessed. Whether his appetite for extreme violence is down to simply being ruthless or anger issues isn't clear. The central character is an enigma. He certainly doesn't have an appetite for talking much. There are brief, but lingering silences where you expect him to say something, which eventually he does but only speaks a few words.
Cary Mulligan does a decent job of playing the damsel-in-distress. Ron Perlman and Albert Brooks are off the shelf mobsters but their performances are solid.
This is an action flick whose spectacular stunts at times give an artificial feel to the film. The hand brake turn in the chase sequence is eye-popping but how does it help shake off the pursuers?
The violence is brutal without warning, always popping up out of nowhere to make you wince. In a country where guns are widely available there are a lot of sharp objects used instead. The violence of the antagonists make you wince more than that of the Driver perhaps to make the bad guys badder and thus making the protagonist more sympathetic. The music adds to the ambiance and moods of the film, especially the tension and menace at the beginning.
Overall, a good balance of drama and action with spectacular, if jarring, stunts. The drama is more convincing than the stunts. The violence will put off some people.
Rampage (2009)
If you don't like senseless violence - walk away.
Tense, often brutal and sometimes bizarre.
Quite who the anti-hero seeks revenge against isn't clear as he kills indiscriminately. The violence is effectively staged to portray Bill Williamson as a sadistic killer, he revels in tormenting his victims. Though the killing spree is prolonged it remains tense rather than monotonous.
Despite the overt brutality the film has its limits - only adults got mowed down by the dozen and not children. Something that would alienate any audience.
Bill Williamson comes across unsympathetically, as someone who spent a lot of time wallowing in self-pity instead of trying to sort out his life.
Brendan Fletcher does a great job of playing a robust anti-hero. A loner with few friends who he is prepared to sell out. The camera is rarely pointed at anywhere else besides Fletcher.
Rampage is original, loathsome to watch but somehow remains compellingly. If the film had any message it passed me by.