FILM | Reviews
THRILLER ARBITRAGE (15) 107min ●●●●●
Set in the world of high-flying money-makers, mergers and acquisitions, this tightly-structured thriller’s title refers to a strategic financial process. It begins with a series of jargon- filled conversations that will leave all but the most business- savvy viewers unsure of what is actually being discussed. But this is all neat misdirection from writer/director Nicholas Jarecki as he builds up to a very effective gear-shift in the story, which suddenly and irrevocably raises the stakes for all his characters.
Central to these is Robert Miller (Richard Gere), a successful
businessman on the verge of completing the sale of his hedge-fund company. As he celebrates his 60th birthday surrounded by family, including his loving wife Ellen (Susan Sarandon) and heir apparent Brooke (Brit Marling), he appears content and untouchable. Unsurpisingly, things are not quite what they seem. Money and power are ever-present themes, and there is a touch of King Lear to Gere’s aging patriarch. It’s the kind of role that fits Gere perfectly these days, his blank face gradually hardening to the audience as we become increasingly aware of the moral void under the surface. (Paul Gallagher) ■ Limited release from Fri 1 Mar.
DRAMA BEYOND THE HILLS (12A) 152mins ●●●●●
‘Nothing signifies anything,’ director Cristian Mungiu says in an interview in Cineaste magazine, warding off symbolic interpretation of his new film about two friends brought up in an orphanage. One, Alina (Cristina Flutur) has returned to Romania after working in Germany; the other, Voichita (Cosmina Stratan) has moved to a monastery. As Alina visits her friend and tries to persuade her to leave, so a battle over Voichita’s soul (does she choose God or Alina?) becomes instead a much more fundamental battle over Alina’s. Alina’s confrontational personality segues into what the nuns and priest see as possession, and we’re left wondering to what degree Alina is a strong personality in a weak environment, or that for all the dubious beliefs those in the monastery possess, they are still strong next to Alina’s fluidity.
Mungiu’s style is consistent with new Romanian cinema (The Death of Mr Lazarescu; Police, Adjective; 12:08 East of Bucharest): long takes, generally subdued colour schemes, and actions that contain within them a stronger element of inaction. Here, the director's quietly chilling account of a potentially exploitative subject shows once again why Romanian film matters. (Tony McKibbin) ■ Filmhouse, Edinburgh, from Fri 15 Mar.
DRAMA CLOUD ATLAS (15) 172min ●●●●●
A time-trotting, globe-encircling, multi-strand plot; wigs, false noses and flamboyant accents; grandiose theories about the fate-shifting power of romantic love . . . Cloud Atlas has an unavoidable hint of the mad folly about it. One recalls Thomas Vinterberg’s It’s All About Love (cloned ice skaters, airborne Ugandans, the end of the world) and Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain (astronauts, Conquistadors, immortality trees). One is also, of course, in the hands of three directors who since astonishing early careers have been a touch prone to spectacular mishaps themselves. Plenty to be suspicious about, then. But Cloud Atlas takes such reservations, drowns them in romanticism, dizzies them with spectacle and generally befuddles them out of existence with its sheer brilliance. It’s surprising, gently but insistently political, and almost entirely persuasive despite its narrative pyrotechnics. It also boasts the sort of pace and intensity that reminds us that its directors (Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski) between them have made some of the most surefooted genre films of all time: Bound, The Matrix, Run Lola Run.
Fans of David Mitchell’s source novel might balk at the fact that the film elides or
combines some events and characters; but this renders a story that plods a little on the page a good deal nimbler and punchier. One element disappoints: Jim Broadbent has been inexplicably directed for maximum
sitcommy broadness, and proves a poor fit. Others – Ben Whishaw, Doona Bae, Tom Hanks – are riveting whenever they show up. Some will be put off by its excesses, but breathtaking action, profound emotion and a dark sense of fun make this the most ambitious, original movie event in years. (Hannah McGill) ■ General release from Fri 22 Feb.
FLORIDA NOIR THE PAPERBOY (15) 101min ●●●●●
Lee Daniels follows up his hit Precious with an enjoyably trashy, if often misguided, story based on Pete Dexter’s novel. It’s 1969 and journalist Ward (Matthew McConaughey) returns to his hometown of Lately, Florida to investigate what he believes is a miscarriage of justice: the sentencing of Hillary Van Wetter (John Cusack) for the murder of the local sheriff. He arrives with writing partner Yardley (David Oyelowo) and enlists the help of his brother Jack (Zac Efron) and Hillary’s lover (Nicole Kidman) to help. Unfolding in a haphazard manner, The Paperboy
careers from theme to theme (issues of race, sexuality and capital punishment are raised and discarded without much consideration) and is littered with eye-poppingly gratuitous scenes: some funny and bizarre (Charlotte peeing over Jack after he’s attacked by jellyfish), others distasteful (one homophobic attack is particularly hard to stomach and given little explanation).
Yet despite its flaws The Paperboy is a surprisingly involving film and the final scenes, while not entirely plausible, do make great use of Florida’s alligator-infested swamps, which become a chilling backdrop to its finale. File Lee Daniels’ latest effort under ‘guilty pleasure’. (Gail Tolley) ■ Limited release from Fri 15 Mar.
58 THE LIST 21 Feb–21 Mar 2013