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ACTION/THRILLER/SCI-FI COWBOYS & ALIENS (12A) 118min ●●●●●
Comic-book adaptation Cowboys & Aliens is two genre films in one. It mashes up the western with sci-fi – a strategy which worked well in the outer-space frontiers of Star Trek and Star Wars, but creates frustratingly patchy results in Jon Favreau’s good-looking film. It all starts promisingly as Jake (Daniel Craig) awakens on a plain, violently takes down a few strangers, then stumbles into a nearby Arizona town. He gets involved in a conflict between the effete Percy (Paul Dano) and saloon-keeper Doc (Sam Rockwell) and ends up in jail, but he’s roused to action when aliens kidnap Percy. Jake join forces with Percy’s dad, local lawman Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). Together, they join up with the mysterious Ella (Tron’s Olivia Wilde) as the plucky humans lead a fight-back against an imminent alien invasion.
In synopsis Favreau’s film sounds great, with a strong cast and simple commercial idea, but the screenplay, carrying the weight of nine writing credits, quickly sells out the concept by positioning humanity as caught in the crossfire between two alien races. It’s a matter of how far Favreau gets from the simplicity of the original conceit that when the final battle between cowboys and aliens occurs, it happens in the background of another, duller scene.
With his eyes having been digitally buffed to resemble Yul Brynner’s in Westworld, Craig makes for a striking if not particularly likable lead, while Harrison Ford is stern and surprisingly humourless. The two stars have annoyingly few scenes together but a few of the action sequences do gel, like Jake’s airborne battle with an alien drone. Ultimately, Cowboys & Aliens rarely rises to the cartoonish mayhem the title promises. (Eddie Harrison) ■ General release from Fri 19 Aug.
ROMANCE/DRAMA ONE DAY (12A) 108min ●●●●●
Following An Education, Danish director Lone Scherfig attempts to conjure the same magic on another slice of hit Brit lit – David Nicholls’ One Day. Fans of the book have already been protesting that the casting of Anne Hathaway as heroine Emma Morley, a slightly bookish Yorkshire lass, is as wrong as wrong can be. In fairness, Hathaway offers an honest performance as Emma. There’s even strong chemistry with Jim Sturgess, who plays Dexter, the fellow Edinburgh University student she has an awkward fling with, leading to lifelong friendship,
unrequited love and a heart-wrenching outcome.
The film’s problem is dealing with the book’s selling point:
that we rejoin Emma and Dexter almost every year across on the anniversary of the July day they first met in 1988. Spanning two decades, it means a blur of music cues and wig changes and a structure that lacks cohesion. Scherfig does capture the ebb and flow of Emma and Dexter’s relationship. But it comes at the expense of the other characters (in particular their sometime partners, played by Rafe Spall and Romola Garai) who lack depth and dimension. Those not entranced by the book may buy it, but hardcore fans will be disappointed. (James Mottram) ■ General release from Wed 24 Aug.
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