Film REVIEWS
ACTION/THRILLER HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN (18) 82min ●●●●●
This blood-splattered Canadian shlocker is, following Robert Rodriguez’s Machete, the second film to be expanded from one of the handful of tantalising fake trailers inspired by Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s exploitation movie homage Grindhouse. The trailer’s cult following allowed the first-time filmmakers, director Jason Eisener, writer John Davies and producer Rob Cotterill, to up the budget from $150 to $3 million and cast as the titular vigilante Rutger Hauer, the iconic star of 80s genre classic such as Blade Runner and The Hitcher. It’s the actor’s menacing screen presence in the latter film that Hobo draws most obviously plays on, although here Hauer’s nameless drifter becomes a force for good by single-handedly taking down the evil kingpin and corrupt cops of a city so riddled with crime it makes Gotham look like Disneyland. Hauer’s the right actor for the role, given the filmmakers are paying homage to 1980s exploitation cinema, but although Eisener cites Walter Hill’s street gangs actioner The Warriors (actually made in 1979) as a source of inspiration, Hobo has more in common with the far trashier films made by the Corman-esque independent studio Troma such as The Toxic Avenger.
That’s no bad thing if you like your exploitation homage poorly-made as well as pushed to the extreme. Hobo is in no way on par with Rodriguez and Tarantino’s well-made neo-trash, but it is gleefully gruesome and knowingly funny as well as being shamelessly inept. And Hauer’s mighty presence holds together a film that would otherwise have been little more than a cacophony of carnage. (Miles Fielder) ■ Selected release from Fri 15 Jul.
DRAMA HOLY ROLLERS (15) 88min ●●●●●
Released over a year ago in the US, this true-life drama about naïve young Hasidic Jews unwittingly smuggling ecstasy into Brooklyn in the late 90s would probably have skipped UK cinemas entirely if not for the presence of Jesse Eisenberg, whose star status has increased considerably following his acclaimed turn in The Social Network. Here he plays Sam, a devout 20-year-old Hasid, beginning to see the cracks in his family’s sheltered religion. When rebellious neighbour Yosef (excellently played by The Hangover’s Justin Bartha) offers him the opportunity to make money importing ‘medicines’, Sam’s eyes are opened to a very different side of the world. As a drug-smuggling drama, Holy Rollers is conventional, predictable stuff, but Kevin Asch’s film is compelling in its focus on Sam’s relationship to his faith; this element layers some much-needed complexity into the film’s formulaic coming- of-age storyline. It is not a simple case of Sam rejecting his faith and embracing a life of crime; his Judaism continues to define him, and that internal tension of living with inescapable religious conviction while trying to in some way break free is subtly and effectively given flesh in Eisenberg’s understated performance. (Paul Gallagher) ■ Selected release from Fri 15 Jul.
62 THE LIST 23 Jun–21 Jul 2011
DRAMA/ADVENTURE THE PRINCESS OF MONTPENSIER (LA PRINCESSE DE MONTPENSIER) (12A) 139min ●●●●●
Although it’s set against the backdrop of the 16th-century French wars between Catholics and Protestants, veteran writer/director Bertrand Tavernier’s self-styled ‘romantic thriller’ feels refreshingly modern in its treatment of religious fundamentalism and the oppression of women. Based on the 1662 novella by Madame de La Fayette, it tells the story of a
beautiful young heiress, Marie (Mélanie Thierry), who, despite loving her dashing warrior cousin Guise (Gaspard Ulliel), is forced by her father to submit to marrying the Prince of Montpensier (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet). Torn between duty and desire, she in turn captivates her gentlemanly tutor Chabannes (Lambert Wilson) and the heir to the throne, the dandyish Duke of Anjou (Raphaël Personnaz.) Impressively photographed and designed and robustly acted by its ensemble cast, The Princess of Montpensier demonstrates Tavernier’s versatility as a filmmaker. He’s equally adept at choreographing savage battle scenes, directing intimate bedroom encounters and capturing intrigue at the royal court. This is very much a patriarchal world, in which women are treated as commodities to be exchanged and contested by men. Yet if the princess of the title is the film’s heroine, then the humanist Chabannes is its moral compass, who pays a terrible price for renouncing fanaticism. (Tom Dawson) ■ Selected release from Fri 8 Jul. Read interview with Bertrand Tavernier at list.co.uk