DRAMA/ROMANCE LOVE & OTHER DRUGS (15) 112min ●●●●●
Edward Zwick’s Love & Other Drugs may stylistically represent a throwback to the sort of intimate character driven drama of his first film About Last Night but it also possesses the epic scope of a director more commonly associated with blockbusters like The Last Samurai. Based in part on Jamie Reidy’s non-
fiction bestseller, Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman, the film follows Jake Gyllenhaal’s charismatic Pfizer salesman Jamie Randall as he navigates the pharmaceutical industry of the late 90s and makes his fortune.
It then departs from the novel in having him fall for Anne Hathaway’s sassy waitress Maggie Murdock, whom he first encounters as a patient suffering from early-onset Parkinson’s.
The ensuing romance is marked by the same kind of sexual frankness of Zwick’s cinematic debut but is, at heart, an adult romantic comedy drama that still plays too close to formula. It’s also too eager to please.
Hence, where Zwick shows bravado in his exploration of the industry, his handling of the complexity of dealing with debilitating illness is less assured and prone to crowd-pleasing gestures that struggle to ring emotionally true. (Rob Carnevale) ■ General release from Wed 29 Dec.
Film REVIEWS
ALSO RELEASED In Our Name (18) 92min ●●●●● Powerful psychological thriller about British soldier Suzy’s troubled attempts to fit back in to civilian life after serving in Iraq. Joanne Froggatt is brilliant as Suzy. See profile, index. Cameo, Edinburgh, Thu 16 Dec and available on download. Animals United (3D) (U) 92min ●●●●● Well meaning but cliché- ridden German animation for very young children with an environmental message that we humans should respect our planet and fellow creatures more. General release from Fri 17 Dec. Boudu Saved From Drowning (Boudu Sauve Des Eaux) (PG) 86min ●●●●● Jean Renoir’s 1932 class comedy digitally restored. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Fri 17–Thu 30 Dec (not Sat 25 & Sun 26 Dec). Fred the Movie (12A) 83min ●●●●● Cack spin-off film of nonsense Nickelodeon TV show about the tedious adventures of wholesome teenager Fred (Lucas Cruikshank). Selected release from Fri 17 Dec. Cuckoo (15) 89min ●●●●● Interesting and dark British thriller from writer/director Richard Bracewell. College professor Julius (Richard E Grant) becomes obsessed with student Polly (Laura Fraser) who thinks she is going mad when she starts to hear unexplained sounds. Selected release from Fri 17 Dec. Little Fockers (12A) 90min ●●●●● The formula remains the same for the third film in the Meet the Parents series. Gaylord ‘Greg’ Focker (Ben Stiller) and his wife Pam (Teri Polo) now have five-year- old twins. Greg suffers a mid-life crisis, which reactivates his psychotic father-in-law Jack’s suspicions. Robert De Niro, Blythe Danner, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand and director Paul Weitz return for more of the same. General release from Wed 22 Dec.
66 THE LIST 16 Dec 2010 – 6 Jan 2011
ROMANCE/COMEDY LOOSE CANNONS (MINE VAGANTI) (12A) 112min ●●●●●
This gay rom-com soap opera by Turkish/Italian filmmaker Ferzan Ozpetek is as enjoyable as his winning 1996 debut, Hamam (The Turkish Bath). And over the 14 years since that international success introduced a bright new talent to queer cinema, Ozpetek has developed his skills as writer and director to the point where his stylish and highly cinematic latest venture can rightly be compared to the films of Pedro Almodovar.
Set in the sunny southern Italian town of Lecce, Loose Cannons concerns the efforts of the youngest sibling of the eccentric Cantones, Tommaso (Riccardo Scamario), to break free from the family pasta factory business and become a novelist – by announcing that he’s gay. When his bid for freedom is undermined by the actions of his older brother, Tommaso resigns himself to life with his family. Despite becoming interested in poor little rich girl Alba (Nicole Grimaudo), however, Tommaso struggles to undertake his familial duty at the expense of his natural desires.
The various machinations that follow are somewhat contrived and the themes – family secrets, stereotypical attitudes, unfulfilled dreams – are very recognisable. But Ozpetek’s film is so well made, so well-meaning and so warm and witty that it easily surmounts the familiar material. (Miles Fielder) ■ GFT, Glasgow and selected cinemas, from Sun 2 Jan.
DRAMA THE WAY BACK (12A) 133min ●●●●●
Australian filmmaker Peter Weir (Master and Commander, The Truman Show) defies most prison escape movie conventions to make a film that is heavy on pretty Lawrence of Arabia-type spectacle but light on significant character development. It’s an adaptation of Slavomir Rawicz’s novel The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom about a group of people locked away in labour camps in Siberia. There has always been mystery over the book, as some believe that Rawicz was one of the men who escaped from Siberia while others believed he just heard about the men, but Weir doesn’t dwell on this mystery at all, indeed the characters in this film have a distinct air of fiction about them. A powerful opening scene sees Janusz (Jim Sturgess) informed upon by his tortured wife. When Janusz arrives in Siberia he meets a myriad of characters, most importantly an American engineer (Ed Harris) and a hardened thug (Colin Farrell). These scenes are often confusing and have the air of any American prison tale with men trying their best to prove themselves. The testosterone battles are not even very exciting and the decision to escape doesn’t come soon enough. Weir eschews all escape and chase clichés (there’s no The Great Escape style planning or The Fugitive style chase), it’s about the landscapes and backdrops. They provide a great diversion away from the poor dialogue and the bluntly heroic characters. (Kaleem Aftab) ■ General release from Sun 26 Dec. See profile, in listings.