DRAMA DANS PARIS (15) 93min ooooo
Dans Pan's is a homage to the many Parisian-set classics of the French New Wave, the most notable being Godard’s Two or Three Things I Know About Her and Jacques Rivette’s Paris Nous Appartient.
The opening straight-to-camera monologue by Jonathan (Louis Garrel), in which he tell us, ‘I know it is tacky to talk straight to camera,’ is inspired by the playful narrative techniques of Godard rather than Michael Caine in Alfie. It is pretentious, but run with it and the brilliance of Christophe Ma Mere Honoré’s romantic drama becomes apparent.
In best nouvelle vague tradition the story concerns guys with girl trouble. The rub of the story is revealed as Jonathan, with the Eiffel Tower over his shoulder, muses, ‘What would make someone jump off a bridge?’ Enter older brother Paul (Romain Duris from The Beat That My Heart Skipped at his winsome best). Paul has just moved back to Paris to live with his witty father (Guy Marchand) and younger brother after the end of his relationship with Anna (Joana Preiss). In an extended flashback montage sequence, in which chronology is treated with disdain, the highs and lows of Paul and Anna’s relationships are highlighted. Jonathan spends the rest of the movie trying to get Paul out of his slumber but only succeeds in sleeping with three girls in one day and demonstrating how his frivolous attitude to matters of the heart makes him the figure in need of a rain check when it comes to love.
Honoré’s playful, wild film is stuffed with references to the cinema of Rivette (particularly Celine and Julie Go Boating) and the literature of JD Salinger. It’s marvellous fun, and worth the entrance fee alone just to watch Duris in bed humming along to a song as he desperately tries to remember the words. Most exceptionally it hits a raw emotional nerve when depicting the frail and fickle nature of people in love. Multiple viewings only add to the experience of the finest Beaujolais Nouveau to arrive from France in years. (Kaleem Aftab) I Film/rouse. Edinburgh, Fri 8—Thu 74 Jun. GFT. Glasgow; Fri 1:3 Jun.
40 THE LIST /-‘21 Jun 9007
DOCUME NlAHY TAKING LIBERTIES (12A) 105min 000
The much touted idea of the outgoing Prime Minister's ‘legacy' seems to have diVided people of common sense »- he was a myopic /ealot who believed what he wanted to against established fact. or a cynical and deceitful manipulator wrth a neocon agenda. It's plain that director Chris Atkins falls into the latter camp.
His film. which ranges far and wade in its examination of the most dramatic erosion of cm: liberties since ("Mr temporary suspension for part of tne Second W >rlu \'\.’ar brings 2n some pretty \.'~/ell—estar)lrsherl facts about the record number of new criminal and civil offences created oyer the rast decade. and combines them ‘.'.’|Il‘ some dramatic bits of footage. Among these snippets are groups 0‘ peace 21(Ill‘.’lf§lf3 denied access to various apparently public spaces. and bits of am rsrrtg Etll'lllilllOll depicting such exer‘ts as the Magrra Car'ta rendered irr'elexant by recent legislation. Identity cards. \‘J-‘thl‘. have nexer prey 3nte<i a terrorist from detonatng a bornr‘ n any country that has them. but seem more a (l(}\.'|\‘,(3 to take a speculum to innocent people's personal and financial ll\.'(353. is a particular bugbear. while one way extradition a gieer‘.‘-<)r‘.ts; math the US and extraordrnary renditions are aiso featured.
If some of the material used is laminar to folk Interested .n. c y. lll)(?l'il(}f3. the film. n'xliich is corirical at times. but not as funny as it thinks .t is. might he an eye opener to folk not l‘()“l“£lll\, interested in such matters. So too. there are a far wider range of
passionately I'tter'ested llll(}l'\.’|(?\.'.’(}(?8
than you might expect. If Mark Tnorrras.
COME [DY GROW YOUR OWN (PG) 100min O.
ony Benn and Shami Chakrabarti are to he anticipated. the likes of Boris Johnson and Kenneth Clark. who both express concern about the issues raised that seems to transcend the usual Punch and Judy stuff. mark this piece out With a certain balance. (Steve Cramer; I Cameo. Edinburgh and se/ecte cinemas. Fri 8 Jun.
COMLIW FAMILY ARE WE DONE YET (PG) 91 min 0
Anyone liying in the deluded hope that portly rapper Ice Cube could be the next Cary Grant v-xill have their illusions shattered by this crude remake of HC Potter's 1948 classic r‘vlr Blandings Builds His Dream House.
Both a remake of the above and a seguel to 2005's one-Joke yawnfest Are 'r‘I/e There Yet? director Steve Carr's (Il’QElllVUIy bereft venture sees the groWiing sourpuss and his annoying stepkids pitched into the great outdoors as the put-upon Nick Persons struggles to make the family's new country home sen'iceable for his hotcha pregnant wife Suzanne tNla Long). That means oxcrcomrng assorted Wildlife icheeky racoons. fish and hires). fiXing architectural faults rbreakable floors. dodgy electrzcs. collapsing furniture) and dealing with Local Hero-style multi- tasker Chuck Mitchell rScruhs star John C McGinleyi.
Cabe's mean-spirited grimace at least prowdes gr'ayrtas as the indignities pile up, but Are lr'/e Done Yet? is pitched at slapstzck rather than satire. It may add up to a good pay-day for Ice Cube. but it's a had day for anyone unfortunate enough to \riev‘r such paltry fare.
{Eddie HEIFFISOH: I General release. Fri 8 Jun.
Directed by Richard I lie and Lyrics Laxton and scripted by regular Michael Winterbottom collaborator Franck Cottrell Boyce. Grow Your Own began life in the form of a documentan' project but has ended up as a mediocre. triumph-
against-theodds British comedy.
The fiUlllllg) a patch of land given over to allotments in an unnamed northern city is a non too subtle metaphor for contemporary British society. The vhite. wor‘king«class. predominantly male regulars are unhappy about the way refugee families are being gi\.en vacant plots by social f;(2l\’|(i(}f§ in a gardening therapy" scheme. Adding to these tensions is the determination by a mobile phone company to site a mast amidst this precioust tended greenery
The characters in (irow Your Own are types, reduced to one significant psychological trait: there's the simple Little John (FUNK? Marsaru. the cantankerous ex merchant searnan Kenny iAlan V‘.’illiams>. the heartless l)usinessworiran ()arla iSarah Hadland. the ti'aurnati/ed Chinese father (Benedict Wongi. Relying on a prosaic teleyrsual style. and predictable plotting. the filmmakers hammer home therr simplistic iriessage that we can all get along and live together in harmony. despite our differences. And auras it necessary to have '(‘roing Back to my Roots' for the closing song? (loin [)awsor‘.l I Film/rouse. lu'inhurglr anu se/ecteu' cinemas. /'-'r is Jun.