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THRILLER MAD DETECTIVE (15) 86min 0000
‘Apply emotions to investigate!‘ is the motto of the mad detective at the centre of Johnny To and Wai Ka-fai's follow-up to 2003's My Left Eye Sees Ghosts. The an unfortunately-named Inspector Bun (Ching Wan—tau) is a police investigator with uncompromising strategy for solving cases. In the opening sequence. he gets a fellow cop to zip him up inside a Suitcase and kick it down several flights of stairs. Such experiences allow Bun to plug into the emotions of others. but at a high cost: his madness causes him to slice off his own ear during a police ceremonial. resulting in a swift ban from the force. Bun is left to cool off until a vanishing policeman and a missing gun prompt young whi/—kid cop inspector On (Andy On) to recruit the wayward Bun as a partner.
While structured like a bog-standard Hong Kong police procedural. Mad Detective has a deserved reputation for innovation due to To and Wai's imaginative methods in depicting Bun's state of mind: the personalities he's channelling are shown in the frame With him. as it he was a tour guide leading them through the film.
After a slow start. the pay off comes in a dramatic hall-of mirrors shoot-out lifted from Welles' 19/17 noir The Lady from Shanghai —- a mildly intriguing prospect for the casual Viewer. Mad Detective is a must- see for admirers of l-long Kong action cinema. and with such a novel content. it simply begs for a Hollywood remake. (Eddie Harrison)
I Filmhouse. Edinburgh, Fri 29—Sun (St Aug.
COMEDY DRAMA THE WACKNESS (15) 98min .0.
Jonathan Levine’s follow-up to the surprisingly good horror film All the Boys Love Mandy Lane is another voyage into nostalgic romanticism and teenage growing pains. This time Levine is pining for his lost youth with a film set in 1994, an era defined mainly by the hip hop soundtrack featuring Notorious BIG and A Tribe Called Quest.
At the heart of the picture is an unlikely friendship between teenager Luke (Josh Peck) and drug-addicted psychotherapist Dr Squires (Ben Kingsley). It’s the summer before Luke ventures to university and he’s struggling to make the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Luke is also a small-time drug dealer, an occupation that gives him an insight into the local neighbourhood and Levine a great excuse to sketch (just) pre- Giuliani New York in all its colour and decrepitude. He tells himself that he’s dealing to pay for college but in truth it’s the only kick he gets out of a life of nothingness and sexual frustration. In total contrast Squires is regressing into adolescence. His marriage is on the rocks and he craves attention. The friendship between man and boy becomes estranged when Luke starts seeing Squire’s stepdaughter Stephanie (Olivia Thirlby).
As unoriginal and cliche-ridden as Levine’s screenplay is, he has taken care in developing some genuinely attractive off the wall characters (much helped by terrific performances from Peck and Kingsley). At its core The Wackness is a tender and poignant story of cross-generational friendship. (Kaleem Aftab)
I General release from Fri 25) Aug.
DRAMA SOMERS TOWN (12A) 77min .0.
Shane Meadows' seventh feature takes its title from the working class residential area situated between London's Euston and King's Cross railway stations. Originally financed by Eurostar as a short film to promote the service's new terminus at St Pancras. Meadows' has expanded his brief to tell a vividly drawn story of childhood friendship and to paint a Vibrant portrait of a part of the big smoke that is in all likelihood soon to be gentrified out of eXistence.
Some/s Town reunites Meadows with Thomas Turgoose, his teenage protege and star of his skinhead movie This is England. and also with Paul Fraser. Meadows' mate since childhood and a regular screenwriting collaborator. And the filmmaker is well served by both. with Turgoose turning in another charmingly cheeky naturalistic performance and Fraser penning a simple but effective story about a friendship between a runaway lad from the Midlands and the son of a Polish migrant worker (Piotr Jagiello) liVing in London. The boys are supported by Meadows' usual mix of professional and non— professional actors. and among the former are goot‘l-looking girls Kate Red Road Dickie and Elisa Eastern Promises Lasowski and likely lads Perry Benson (This is England. but also Minder) and familiar character actor Huggy Leaver (Lock. Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Freebird). all of whom play pleasantly surprising altruistic characters.
With its uniformly upbeat tone and minimal plotting, brief running time and black and white photography. Sorners Town is a modest film that feels like what it is: a longish short. But nice things often come in small packages. as is the case here. (Miles Fielder)
I Selected release from Fri 22 Aug.
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21 Aug-41 Sep 2008 THE LIST 29