Film REVIEWS
ALSO RELEASED Young Adult
direction from the Crank team. See review on list.co.uk. General release from Fri 17 Feb. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (12A) 124min ●●●●● Been waiting for Love Actually for the over-60s . . . but in India!? Then this film is for you. Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton and Judi Dench add a touch of class. See review on list.co.uk. General release from Fri 24 Feb. Blood Car (18) 76min ●●●●● Low budget horror comedy, set in a future where human blood provides an alternative fuel source. Obviously. Selected release from Fri 24 Feb. Laura (U) 88min Another shiny reissue, this time of Otto Preminger’s 1944 proto-noir. Gene Tierney plays the gumshoe, Dana Andrews the femme fatale. Selected release from Fri 24 Feb. One For The Money (tbc) 106min Knocked Up’s Katherine Heigl stars as crime-solving bail- bondswoman Stephanie Plum in this crime-com Janet Evanovich adaptation. General release from Fri 24 Feb. Safe House (15) 115min Denzel Washington plays the veteran CIA fugitive, Ryan Reynolds the rookie assigned to guard him. See review on list.co.uk. General release from Fri 24 Feb. The Adopted (15) 100min ●●●●● Quirky but flat directorial debut from Inglourious Basterd Melanie Laurent (pictured, below). See review on list.co.uk. Selected release from Fri 24 Feb.
Best Laid Plans (15) 108min ●●●●● A great central performance from Stephen Graham can’t save this predictable grim-up- north gangster flick. See review on list.co.uk. Selected release from Fri 3 Feb. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (PG) 94min Dwayne ‘no longer The Rock’ Johnson stars in family adventure Journey to the Centre of the Earth sequel. General release from Fri 3 Feb. Young Adult (15) 94min Juno’s writer (Diablo Cody) and director (Jason Reitman) re-team for another adolescent comedy – but this time with Charlize Theron playing the overgrown teen. See profile, page 66, and review on list.co.uk. General release from Fri 3 Feb. Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace 3D (U) 136min What’s this? George Lucas revisiting and tweaking his earlier work? Who’da thunk it? General release from Thu 9 Feb. Casablanca (U) 102min ●●●●● Bogey and Bergman tell Sam to play it again for a 70th anniversary reissue. Except they never actually say that, do they? Selected release from Fri 10 Feb. Big Miracle (PG) 107min Formerly titled Everybody Loves Whales, this is a family story about a young girl who – you guessed it – loves whales. General release from Fri 10 Feb. The Vow (12A) 104min Heartstring-yanking romance about a couple (played by Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams) who must reconnect after a car accident. General release from Fri 10 Feb. This Means War (12A) 97min Two spy pals (Chris Pine and Tom Hardy) become enemies when a love interest (Reece Witherspoon) comes between them in this action- comedy. General release from Tue 14 Feb. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (12A) 95min Nic Cage returns as the flaming-skulled motorcycle demon, this time under 72 THE LIST 2 Feb–1 Mar 2012
GHOST STORY THE WOMAN IN BLACK (12A) 95min ●●●●●
Susan Hill’s Victorian ghost story has been terrifying theatre audiences for the best part of 25 years, second only to The Mousetrap as the longest running show in the history of London’s West End. It would seem to offer perfect material for the revived Hammer Films. The producers have made some smart choices, from selecting Jane Kick-Ass Goldman to write the screenplay to signing up Eden Lake's James Watkins as the director and hiring Daniel Radcliffe as their star. Even with all these promising elements, there is no denying that The Woman In Black is a dull, old-fashioned affair, long on atmosphere and decidedly short on terror.
Radcliffe’s earnest young lawyer Arthur Kipps arrives at a remote English village to conclude the estate of the late Alice Drablow. It is an area heavy with mist and foreboding and the Drablow house is surrounded by treacherous marshlands and completely cut off from the mainland at high tide. The locals are straight out of a Hammer film from the 1950s, regarding Kipps with wide-eyed hostility. Anyone who dares to break the silence urges him to finish his business and return to London.
The Woman In Black is initially intriguing but the days when shoogly
windows, creaky floorboards and slamming doors could make you jump out of your seat are long gone. The sudden appearance of a mystery woman in widow’s weeds or a cat leaping into view have limited impact and lend the film a quaint, vintage Hammer feel. The more it unfolds, the more the tension seems to drain away and despite a commendable performance from Radcliffe, The Woman In Black simply fails to deliver. (Allan Hunter) ■ General release from Fri 10 Feb.
ROMANCE LIKE CRAZY (12A) 89mins ●●●●●
Winner of 2011’s Sundance Grand Jury prize, Like Crazy is a long-distance love story mired in the complications of modern-day living. Anna (Felicity Jones) is a British student living in Los Angeles who spends the perfect summer with Jacob (Anton Yelchin). So perfect she overstays her visa – a foolhardy decision that soon keeps these lovers apart.
What follows is a tortured romance, as Anna and Jacob battle US embassy red tape, the difficulties of separation and the inevitable arrival of other lovers (including Jennifer Lawrence, in an underwritten role). Director Drake Doremus neatly captures the ups and downs of a relationship, from the first flush of love to the jealousies and resentments that gradually erode it.
With dialogue improvised by the cast, adding to the film’s beguiling naturalism, Jones is particularly good as the naïve Anna. Less convincing is Yelchin (why he leaves two women besotted is anyone’s guess), and the film’s meandering final third, as Anna and Jacob yo-yo back and forth, lacks real punch. Nevertheless Like Crazy has much to offer; just don’t take a first date. (James Mottram) ■ General release, out now.