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

I Love You Phillip Morris

If there’s one thing we know about Jim Carrey is that he loves to ham it up. We also know he can play a dramatic role with aplomb, so the chance to play Steven Russell in I Love You Phillip Morris, a performance that requires a mixture of both, should be a shoo-in for the rubber faced one. The real life story behind Steven Russell’s life of cons, impersonations and prison escapes is amazing enough and hardly surprising it’s been ear-marked for the movie treatment. So storyline aside, does Carrey carry it off? Not quite. Despite getting the mixture of comedy and drama just about spot on, he doesn’t quite play it right. Russell is portrayed as not quite believing all the scrapes he’s got himself into and that his “success” is more down to luck rather than anything. No doubt he was helped by the stupidity of others in some circumstances, but Russell himself is clearly a very intelligent man, which doesn’t quite come across properly. During one of his incarcerations, Russell falls in love with the eponymous Morris (Ewan McGregor). Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a two hander though. McGregor is fine, but this is the Carrey show all the way. One problem the film does have though is trying to cram as much as possible into such a short(ish) running time. With no real indicators about where we are date wise in Russell’s life (and with Carrey not visibly aging on screen) it feels like 10 years plus of storyline all occur within a few months of each other. Overall though, this is a decent stab at portraying a, hard to believe in the first place, series of events.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
A bit flimsy in respect of the “source material”, but this is well acted, funny and still a fascinating story to research further. Though you might feel a bit conned yourself at a scene of outrageous emotional blackmail towards the end. Rating: 7/10

Shank

For those of us that live in the capital, a film about a futuristic London being over-run by teen thugs and chavs will almost seem like a current documentary (boom boom!). Joking aside, regardless of the fact this is a load of rubbish anyway, who actually wants to watch a film about the above? Pretty much most things grate with this movie. The teen anti-heroes, the awful acting, the lame dialogue, the Guy Richie-esque camera tricks and captions. It all adds up to an unappetising mess. Director Mo Ali may have had a kernel of an idea, but something went badly wrong from script to screen. Far too many plot holes as well litter the screenplay. For example, in a city in which food is now the most important currency and people kill to eat, how come one of the characters stumbles across a healthy and plump looking horse in one of the estates? The supposed moral message of the film (violence is wrong) is laughably lost at the end as well as, wait for it, the gang get what they want…through violence! Huh? The Warriors, this ain’t. Innit?

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
The cinematic flaws could almost be overlooked if the films message wasn’t so mixed up as well. Rating: 2/10

Shutter Island

I try and make it a serious aim to know nothing about a film before I go into it. That includes avoiding all reviews and all trailers. It can be a tricky business at times, but for a film like Shutter Island it paid off in spades. Martin Scorsese’s latest is an adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s well received psychological mind twister. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a US Marshall who, along with his detective partner, investigate the seemingly impossible disappearance of an inmate from a hospital from the criminally insane on the eponymous island. Suffice to say, to even say much more at this point would be to say too much, so lets just concentrate on the director instead. Though his best days are behind him, Scorsese is still one of the greatest film makers of all time and tells this somewhat complex story with all the tricks he has learnt over the years. Close-ups, jump cuts, reverse zooms, tracking shots etc. They are all employed to the full as Scorsese sets an unsettling and ominous mood as DiCaprio goes about his investigation. On the downside though, and a topic of conversation of many of Marty’s films over the years, is the editing. In the past Scorsese has even employed a few mis-edits for his own amusement, but Shutter Island is one of the worst edited films I have ever seen. Though, in a touch of irony, you could say it even compliments the pictures tone and story. Another bad point is the outrageously obtrusive score. It’s far too loud and far too OTT. You’ll be reaching for the earplugs during the opening scene when DiCaprio first enters the hospital. You almost expect the hospital to scream “Get Out!” Amityville style. DiCaprio gives a solid performance and there is decent support all round, especially from Ben Kingsley as the head of the hospital. The ending of the film may split some people, but it definitely will demand repeat viewings. And usually, there’s no greater compliment than that.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
If you go in totally blind you should be in for a decent treat. If you even have an inkling of what’s about to happen you may want to reduce the rating by a mark. Rating: 8/10

Green Zone

During my review of The Hurt Locker back in September 2009 I mentioned that movies based on the current Iraqi war were in abundence at that moment. I failed to mention that most of them ended up having a box office death. Paul Greengrasses Green Zone hasn’t escaped the same fate. There may a number of reasons for this, in particular the accusation that the film is “anti-war” and “anti-american”. However, its also possible for the reason that this isn’t a particularly great film and a long way towards the back of Greengrasses star studded CV so far. This is the first film for ages that I’ve seen that is based on a book that I’ve read. In this instance, Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s superb non-fiction account of life in Baghdad , Imperial Life in the Emerald City. However, the film is only “inspired” by the book, and despite trying to address some of the issues, actually bears little resemblance to the “source” material and eventually stumbles into a below par action film. Matt Damon stars as a Chief Warrant Officer on the trail of the much talked about WMD’s. Having trouble locating them he questions the reliability of the intel being given to him and his team. Unsurprisingly, he is given short shrift by the top brass. From then on we get a film akin to a John Grisham thriller as shadowy meetings and character clashes occur, albeit played out against a background of occasional action scenes. It’s all too mixed up though and Greengrass never seems clear as to what kind of film he wants to show. All talk and no-one will turn up. All action and he’ll lose the message he is trying to send. What is that message though? Being a Brit, Greengrass wisely avoids portraying the film as complete American incompetence, but the only real political statement he makes is one of short sightedness of top level management. Hardly a new revelation that. There are some plus points though, including the usual excellent cinematography and some decent acting from the actors portraying the Iraqis. In additional, Greengrass does capture the mayhem and hustle and bustle of Baghdad . However, by the time Jason Issacs and his Delta Force team turn up, and the film turns a bit Platoon, you’ll also start to experience some confusion yourself.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Not a bad film per se, but a major disappointment considering the talent involved. Rating: 5/10.