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[Di-RAMA \';"AR STOP-LOSS (15) 111min «u
'Stop-Loss' is the rule that stops American soldiers leaVIng a conflict even after they have completed their tour of duty. This fate hefalls Brandon King (Ryan Phlllll)l)(}i. a former star college footballer. x'xhose return from lrag alongside his fellow soldiers is met ‘.'/llll much fanfare. Writer—director Kimberley Peirce uses their struggle to reintegrate into their small Texas hometown to look at how a loss of faith in God. Uncle Sam and the notion of moral right affect the minds of young American soldiers.
\iVllllO In The Valley of E/ah and the forthcoming Grace is Gone hoth attempted to tell lrag war stories from Within the confines of the American horder. this film stems from a belief that American audiences have heen so effectiver fed WIN) images of hate tox'rards the lraui people that they struggle to have empathy \‘llih lragi characters. Peirce's solution is to turn Stop-Loss away from war lll()\.’l(} testosterone and steer the ston, i()‘.'.’£if(l$ the territory she so expertly essayed in Boy's Don't Cry -— the alienation and struggle of young. hiue-collar Americans in contemporary life. Consequently. the pace and tone of Stop—Loss is closer to Coppola's The Outsiders than Cimino's template husting The Deer Hunter. Peirce's accomplished filmmaking and fine performances oxercome the prer‘lictahiiity of a ltiil‘l'itil‘JC asserting that occasionally the war at home can he as tough as the hattlet’ield. 'Kaleem Aftah.
I Genera/ release from 25 Apr.
CRIMETHRILLER THE OXFORD MURDERS (15) 104min 0000
Having graduated from the kitsch sci-fi satire of Accidn mutante and the heavy metal horror of The Day of the Beast to the Hitchcockian black comedies Common Wealth and Ferpect Crime, Bilbao-born filmmaker Alex de la Iglesia turns his hand to the English crime tale with this intriguing murder mystery.
Based on the novel by Spanish writer Guillermo Martinez (penned very much in the spirit of Agatha Christie, PD James et al), the plot revolves around the discovery of the body of an old lady (Anna Massey) simultaneously by the marvellously monikered Arthur Seldom (John Hurt), a prestigious professor of logic at the famous university, and Martin (Elijah Wood), a newly arrived overseas student hoping to study under the prof. When a second body is discovered in suspicious circumstances it becomes clear to Seldom and Martin that this is the beginning of a series of murders and that the strange mathematical symbols that accompany the corpses are part of an elaborate puzzle they’re being invited to solve.
As mysteries go, lglesia’s English language debut is pleasingly challenging to crack. Just as the twin protagonists rack their highly educated brains for a solution only to develop ever more complex theories, so too the film works to confound the viewer with increasingly complicated plotting before all is revealed in the far from obvious dénouement. The relatively simple style in which the piece is made (gone are Iglesia’s Hitchcockian flourishes) might mean The Oxford Murders plays like an episode of Midsomer Murders (albeit it a particularly good one), but that approach serves to emphasis the absorbing plot and the quality performances from a decent cast, which also includes English-Spanish actress Leonor Watling, British Marple/Poirot alumni Julie Cox and (in a nice cameo) Spain-ofile filmmaker Alex Cox. (Jack Davis)
I General release from In 2:3 Apr.
HORROR P2 (18) 97min .0.
T72 is another example of the hait—and- switch technique hi. ‘.'.’lll(lll successful horror directors tn, and use then name as a hrand to facilitate side-protects. ;n this case. a generic ‘.'.'oman~in penl melodrama set in a deserted parking garage on Christmas Eve.
After Su'xlfchh/ade Romance and h:s
"he Hrl/s Have EYOS remake. Alexandre AJa serves here as producer and co-x'rriter. hut not director. with first timer Franck Khalfoun orchestrating the race and chase action as office-girl Angela (Rachel Nichols: gets taken hostage by garage maintenance man Thomas (Wes Bentleyi. After an ahortix'e attempt to seduce her over Christmas dinner. Angela escapes to take part in a series of played—out Panic Room—ster stand- offs. most of which ilifts filling \‘Jllll water. office—chair manglingsi are well- enough achieved even it they function as little more than padding.
P2 (ICTIitllih, looks muscular: Ala's regular ciiieniatographer Maxime Alexandre gi\.'es the airless underground setting a distinctive dark sheen. but the tlll(l(}fl\,lll§] message ethat ugh people wait round even. corner to prey on the heautifuli leaves little room for plot ti.'.'ists. In the most suhstantial role hes had since American Beauty. Bentley i'edeems the film's cliches ‘.'.’|lll a decent p; ss at a deranged captoi. injecting Just enough lltllllttlllt). to gixe PL). a Jagged sexual edge that the played out action doesn't really deserve. itddie l lai‘i'ison. I General re/et'ise from lr/ ;’ Axial: See preview page .15).
‘.'.Aii ACTION DEE/VIA BEAUFORT (15) 125min on
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1'. '\l" :4 \‘J. f‘ THE LIST 47