Film Reviews
ALSO RELEASED 2012 (12A) 158min ●●●●● Roland Independence Day Emmerich’s ludicrous apocalypse disaster movie balances spectacular special effects with signposted speeches of withering environmental pomposity. The cast, which includes John Cusack, are irrelevant. Out now on general release. Harry Brown (18) 103min ●●●●● Tabloid frenzied OAP vigilante flick in which an ex military man, played by Michael Caine, takes on the hooded youth of the housing scheme he lives in. Cynical, manipulative and hysterically directed nonsense to make us all more afraid. Out now on general release. Twilight Saga: New Moon (12A) 130min Next instalment of high school vampire franchise based on much loved books. Unable to review at time of going to press but a review will be on www.list.co.uk as soon as possible. General release from Fri 20 Nov. Nativity! (U) 105min ●●●●● Surprisingly enjoyable British family drama about one school’s attempt to put on the best nativity play in Britain by getting the media involved. Martin Freeman and Marc Wootton star. General release from Fri 27 Nov. Bunny and the Bull (15) 101min ●●●●● Inventive imaginary road trip from the Mighty Boosh team. See feature, page 14. Selected release from Fri 27 Nov. I Want To See (Je Veux Voir) (12A) 75min ●●●●● Lebanese actor Rabih Mrouse escorts French actress Catherine Deneuve around the shell damaged streets of Beirut in this semi improvised documentary/ guided tour. Deneuve talks a load of generalised rubbish and Mrouse grins and bears it as he steers between the rocks. A misguided celebrity indulgence. Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Tue 1–Thu 3 Dec.
50 THE LIST 19 Nov–3 Dec 2009
COMEDY/THRILLER THE INFORMANT! (15) 108min ●●●●● Sometimes filmmaker Steven Soderbergh’s conceptual enquiries get the better of him. He shot The Good German using technology only available to filmmakers during World War Two and now he’s concentrated so hard on making The Informant! look and feel like a 70s caper flick that he ignores essentials – like plot and character.
HORROR PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (15) 86min ●●●●●
Matt Damon has piled on the pounds and put on a wig to play Mark Whitacre, a man whose attempt to blow the lid on a price fixing cartel is undone by the fact that he has had his hands in the coffers. The more he tries to cover his own tracks the deeper into the dung he sinks. Soderbergh, who made Erin Brockovich, obviously likes these real life battles between individuals and corporations, but as with that other Steven – Spielberg’s – similar Catch Me If You Can, the filmmaker struggles to turn the stranger-than-fiction biopic into a cohesive story. The zany plot is at times so convoluted it’s impenetrable, support characters are not given enough on-screen time and it all feels like the work of someone trying to show off rather than entertain.
Oren Peli’s low-budget horror phenomenon is compelling proof that the simplest ideas are often the most effective. In a period when cinematic suggestibility and horror exists mainly in a vacuum of splatter and gore, Peli’s film reverts back to the basic ‘things that go bump in the night’ scenario and is all the more refreshing and effective for it.
The story, which Peli would have viewers believe is true, concerns
suburban San Diego couple Katie (Katie Featherson) and Micah (Micah Sloat) as they buy a camcorder to record the strange goings-on taking place in their house at night. Their bravery is soon tested, however, as events become progressively more sinister. Shot for just $15,000 over seven days, Peli’s film excels by virtue of its
‘reality’-style conceit and the fact that it competently fires your imagination. Comparisons with The Blair Witch Project, while inevitable, are accurate given the raw feel of both movies and the overwhelming success both have enjoyed - but in some senses, Peli’s film is a little more clever. By setting the horror within the confines of the home, he makes the scares more immediate and penetrating . . . even depriving viewers of the notion that hiding under the covers might help.
Crucially, though, he also injects plenty of humour into proceedings, courtesy of Micah’s foolhardy approach to combating the supernatural, thereby offsetting the tension with uneasy laughs. And with its short running time, the film doesn’t outstay its welcome.
Also there really is no excuse for Ultimately, however, the hype surrounding Paranormal Activity is
Marvin Hamlisch’s grating television ditty cute score. A case of style winning over content with regrettable results. (Kaleem Aftab) ■ General release from Fri 20 Nov. disproportionate. But it is a film that demands an audience experience of shared hysteria. Peli lays down some impressive markers for his own future as a director as follow-up projects are now a certainty – and quite an appealing prospect. (Rob Carnevale) ■ General release from Wed 25 Nov.
THRILLER LAW ABIDING CITIZEN (18) 108min ●●●●●
A highly dubious morality undermines anything worthwhile in Be Cool and The Italian Job director F Gary Gray’s violent thriller about the nature of justice. When ambitious assistant District Attorney Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) grants a
rapist-murderer a deal, grieving father and husband Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) vows revenge and, ten years later, wages a one-man war against Rice and the justice system he represents.
The tale that ensues attempts to juggle crowd-pleasing retribution with cheap pot shots and is by virtue awash with confused sympathies, which seem to side with Shelton’s extreme crusader one minute and Rice’s reluctantly apologetic lawyer the next. Butler and Foxx provide worthy adversaries and the interplay between them contributes to the film’s best moments. But the violence that intersperses their battle of wits is deeply unpleasant, especially in the way that it invites viewers to revel in the audacity of its clever design.
A disappointing last act reveal, meanwhile, panders more to Hollywood
convention and displays a lack of conviction. (Rob Carnevale) ■ General release from Fri 27 Nov.