Cemetery Junction

Finishing off my review of Ricky Gervais’ awful The Invention of Lying, I stated “roll on Cemetery Junction”. So, has the wait been worth it and does Gervais get back on track? Well, the answer is yes to both, though not in a resounding sense. Cemetery Junction is similar to the final episode of Extras. Low on laughs, with the main focus on dramatic aspects. However, this film does work and though it’s no great shakes, its definitely a likeable little film. Of course, The Invention of Lying was Stephen Merchant free, whereas Cemetery Junction has Gervais reunited with his old mucker. You may grit you teeth that this is yet another coming of age tale, but one written by these two should prick your attention enough to want to indulge. Most films of adolescent awakening are based in one horse towns, and this one is no exception. In the Cemetery Junction of the title we find three friends, Freddie, Bruce and Snork, who’s lives revolve around chasing skirt, drinking beer and fighting. When Freddie (Christian Cooke, who, particularly at the end of the film, bears an uncanny resemblance to a young Roger Daltrey) takes a job at the local insurance company, he initially sees it as a way of moving on with his life. However, he is frustrated by Bruce’s (Tom Hughes) and Snork’s (Jack Doolan) reluctance to move on with theirs. Before long Freddie himself is realising the insurance world of polyester suits and gift bowls is perhaps not all it’s made out to be and the appearance of an old flame (Felicity Jones) throws a further spanner into the works. Where the film scores highly is its portrayal of the 1970’s. The dark days of the Three Day Week and along with the sets and fashions, including a thumping soundtrack, we really do get an impression of a certain time and place. Though less successful is Freddie’s family and their comments regarding foreigners. It’s obviously meant to show the feelings of certain people of the time, but the statements come across as too shoe-horned in. The film also does well in capturing the (then?) dull world of insurance, from the desperation of door to door selling, through to the sterile word of awards dinners. At one such get together Ralph Fiennes (excellent as Cooke’s boss) delivers a speech to a long term employee which is both hilarious and darkly sad at the same time (a Gervais / Merchant calling card if ever there was one). The film does lean heavily towards the drama, but the few jokes that hit the spot are hilarious and you’ll be chuckling at the Noddy gag for days to come. The end may seem obvious in hindsight, but you are kept wondering up until the last reel.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
This may be too slight for some, but it’s heart is in the right place and coming from the cynical pen of Gervais / Merchant that’s saying something. Rating: 7/10.

Remember Me

Here comes the pout show ladies and gentlemen…it’s the new Robert Pattison film! However, despite the dodgy poster (yep, RP looking broody), he gets to do some “acting” in this film, and he’s not half bad. In the film Pattison plays Tyler Hawkins, a New York student with a rebellious streak, who after a run in with the police, is egged on to date the arresting officer’s daughter (Emilie de Ravin) in an act of revenge. The fact she’s studying at the same university as Hawkins is a handy coincidence. Plus, can you guess what happens next? However, put all cynicism aside for the moment and go with this one. Director Allen Coulter’s film centres on the themes of love and loss and he tells it in a convincing manner, which considering his vast experience of prime-time US TV drama, isn’t much of a surprise. Though the film does centre on Hawkins relationship with Ravin, it also branches out into their own relationships with their own respective families. The characters are all fairly caricatured, but, crucially, they are all believable and well acted across the board. Even Hawkins’ stereotypical annoying film flatmate doesn’t grate. In addition, Coulter splashes a few chuckles across the film and a long running gag regarding a dead bolt gets the punch line it deserves. Make no mistake though, this is a drama (though occasional scenes do touch melodrama) and though the screenplay does rely on a number of coincidences and chance encounters, even this can’t prepare you for the shock twist towards the end where Coulter finally reveals his cards and just about pulls it off. So, if you fancy seeing a decent Robert Pattison film, which won’t include a cinema full of shrieking teenage girls, check this out. Oh yeah, he still pouts a lot though.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Contrived no doubt, but this is well acted with an unexpected dénouement and is a pleasant surprise, overall. Rating: 8/10.

Clash Of The Titans

Just mention of the name Louis Leterrier will have most right-minded film goers wince. Though the original Transporter film has developed a cult following, his CV since then has been mediocre and its unclear, especially after the disaster that was The Incredible Hulk, how he got the shot at this re-make. That aside there’s 3 things to know about this film: 1) It’s not a patch on the original (duh) 2) The 3-D is utterly pointless and 3) If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen the film. Anyway, if you don’t know what this is about, it’s basically a beginners course (aided with the obligatory voice-over) in Greek mythology, with some nasty (and bloody large) scorpions thrown in. It’s all a bit of a mess though. Acting wise, Sam Worthington and Gemma Arterton play it too straight, whilst Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes ham it up. This is definitely a backwards step for Worthington, not helped by an accent stuck somewhere in a triangle betwixt Sydney, London and Los Angeles. Leterrier tells the story as best he can, but there is zero empathy with any of the characters, meaning the audience will just be shrugging their shoulders when it comes to life and death situations. In addition, some of the action sequences are edited in the Leterrier style, meaning that sometimes its impossible to tell whats going on. But for some reason, this isn’t quite a total disaster. The film zooms along at a frenetic pace and does make good use of CGI. In fact, there is a fair bit of ingenuity shown in some of the monsters here. However, even though the effects (3-grating-D aside) are great, the film lacks the charm of the original. Then again, charm and Leterrier are separate bed fellows indeed.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Rubbish, but still enjoyable enough to be passable. Trash of the Titans, perhaps? Rating: 5/10.

Whip It

Drew Barrymore has perfected the slapstick persona in her films over the years, and its no surprise to find her in a film about roller derby being on the end of stray elbows, sly punches and undertaking general pratfalls. What is surprising is that Barrymore is the director of said film. Adapted from the novel Derby Girl by roller derby athlete Shauna Cross (who takes screenwriting duties here), Whip It tells the story of Bliss (Ellen Page), a teenager from a one horse Texan town who finds excitement in the sport of roller derby in nearby Austin. As Page is the main character in this little gem, there have been lazy comparisons with Juno. I’d say though that the characters here are a lot more believable and this film doesn’t suffer from the underlying smugness of that effort. What we do have though is a lot of fun as Bliss becomes a roller derby hero in Austin whilst trying to keep her new found fame secret from her parents (superbly played by Marcia Gay Harden and Daniel Stern). The dialogue is smart enough without being eye-rolling and the scenes of drama are well acted by all involved. On the down side, as this is a coming of age tale a number of scenes will be over familiar and a romantic sub-plot slows things down to a crawl at times. Barrymore gets decent performances from all involved (taking a back seat in effect, as her part is only a minor one) and the actual roller derby contests are directed at a frenetic pace. Additionally, at the roller derby itself, ring announcer Jimmy Fallon and Bliss’s manager Andrew Wilson provide a number of laughs. Overall, this film is more fun than not, and much like the world of roller derby, isn’t that the idea in the first place?

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Despite its standard teenage storyline, the original setting and Barrymore’s nice direction means this is a step up from your average indie. Rating:7/10.

The Bounty Hunter

I try and give all films a fair chance, leaving all pre-formed opinions at the door. However, for a film like this, which has an awful concept, an awful trailer and an awful poster it can be quite tricky. Therefore, I watched this film whilst also keeping an ear out for other peoples reactions. I didn’t laugh once. I heard three other people (out of about thirty) laugh during the whole running time. That fact there pretty much does the review for me. However, to earn my keep (not that I get paid for writing this rubbish, of course!), the film is about a reporter (Jennifer Aniston) who skips a court date in order to following up a juicy lead. A bail is then put on her head and a bounty hunter (Gerard Butler) is sent after her to bring her in. But wait….the bounty hunter is her ex-husband! (you can just see the “pitch” now, can’t you?). Suffice to say, scrapes are gotten into, snidey comments are exchanged and the audience wonders how they can ask for a refund. This has always been Aniston’s shtick, but Butler seems to like this kinda thing as well. His CV is filling up with turkeys quicker than you can say “Gamer”. Add this to the rom-com pile of shame.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
The most low concept “High concept” (for a rom-com) film you’ll see for quite some time. Rating: 2/10.

The Blind Side

The Blind Side tells the true story of Michael Oher, a homeless teenager who is taken in by a caring family and eventually becomes an American Football player. It’s a fascinating story which (much like I Love You Philip Morris) means that the film is still an intriguing watch, even if the film per se isn’t a barnstormer. Ironically, for a film that has bagged acting awards its John Lee Hancock’s subtle direction that is actually more of an influence. No mean feat considering his last big picture was 2004’s ill received The Alamo. Hancock tells the story in an efficient fashion and tires to focus on the main plot points and doesn’t even bother to address a number of loose ends. Don’t be fooled into thinking there’s any fancy tricks here, but its what’s needed in the circumstances. I’ve never paid much attention to the Oscars (which real film fanatic does?) but Sandra Bullock’s victory for best actress (playing the head of the family that takes Oher in) shows just what a farce the whole thing is. Nothing against the girl (rather this than the usual rom-com dross) but is this performance really worthy of an Oscar? Quinton Aaron as the near silent Oher is harder to analyse. Is this great acting or non-acting? Future roles will give us a clearer picture. There’s a good chance that this film that will play differently on each side of the pond. The film aims for realism by having a number of real life cameos by college football players and coaches. This, and the numerous references to the sport throughout the film, will probably go over the heads of most Europeans. However, this doesn’t distract from the storyline itself which will give you plenty of food for thought.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Feels a bit pat and movie of the week at times, but unfussy direction, Bullock not hamming it up for once and an enticing true life tale mean there’s more plus points than minus. Rating: 6/10.

Kick Ass

I’d say Matthew Vaughan has a 100% record so far as a director. Granted he’s only helmed two films, but both Layer Cake and Stardust were both above average efforts, with the key being they were both drastically different films. Now Vaughan gives us Kick Ass, an adaptation of the Mark Millar & John Romita Jr comic book, and a film that has elements of his previous two films in terms of fantasy and gangsters. In Kick Ass Aaron Johnson stars as Dave Lizewski, unlucky in love and unlucky in life. However, after a mugging pushes him over the edge he decides to fight back as masked vigilante Kick Ass. Before long he has “super powers” (courtesy of a nifty plot strand) and he’s a cult hero. Its not long before he’s attracting trouble himself though as opposed to stopping it. First thing to say is, whether you like the film or not, you can’t deny it’s entertaining. Vaughan directs the numerous action scenes like a veteran . The main highlight of the film though is the excellent acting from all the main protagonists. Johnson more than carries his weight, as well as amusingly looking more like John Lennon than he ever did in Nowhere Boy. Mark Strong carries menace and digs out his American accent again as the films main baddie, though Christopher Mintz-Plasse is guilty of some serious hamming up as his son. And Nicolas cage is a riot as avenger Big Daddy, along with hilarious Adam West speech and mannerisms. Screenplay wise Vaughan sticks with Jane Goldman from Stardust but it doesn’t succeed as well as before and from the mid-point onwards the story does feel contrived at every turn. There are a few additional quibbles as well. The first is the tone which veers wildly at times. Though the crunching violence is mainly of a cartoonish level, a scene of torture at the end is uncomfortable to watch. Speaking of the violence, the gore dished out by the 11 year old Hit Girl has had some stuffed shirts up in arms, but you’d have to be pretty uptight to take such scenes seriously (though Vaughan does make the error of thinking that children swearing is funny (it never is)). Secondly, Lizewski’s “comedy” side kick geeky mates fail to raise many laughs and a sub-plot where the hot girl only starts talking to Lizewski when she thinks he’s gay seems to have wondered in off a lame sitcom. Overall though its Vaughan who has the last laugh. He’s directed another decent film and made some decent coin as well after all the majors turned him down originally.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
I’m not sure this is the spectacular success it’s being made out to be, but it is spectacularly violent, sparodically funny and an overall welcome addition to the Vaughan CV. Rating: 7/10