list.co.uk/fi lm DRAMA THE RAILWAY MAN (15) 116min ●●●●●
Adapted from Edinburgh-born World War II veteran Eric Lomax’s 1995 memoir, The Railway Man recounts Lomax’s experiences as one of the prisoners of war forced by the Japanese to construct the Burma ‘Death’ Railway in the jungles of Thailand. Lomax’s suffering as a POW is, however, only the beginning of his extraordinary story, which also takes in his struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder in the decades following his return home and his reconciliation with one of the Japanese officers responsible for torturing him. That remarkable act was made possible in large part through the love and support of Lomax’s wife, Patricia, whom Eric met many years after his wartime experiences at a time when he was failing to deal with his trauma. The film, scripted by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Hilary and
Jackie, 24 Hour Party People, Millions) and Andy Paterson and directed by Jonathan Teplitzky (Burning Man), stars Colin Firth and Jeremy Irvine as, respectively, the older and younger Lomaxes, Nicole Kidman as Patricia, Stellan Skarsgård as Lomax’s fellow veteran and friend Finlay, and Hiroyuki Sanada as Lomax’s abuser, Nagase. The strength of the film lies in its performances, with all of the principal cast members contributing solid, unshowy turns. Kidman has less to do in her role as Eric’s lover, carer and emotional rock, but then the story is about her husband’s suffering and salvation. In a tricky role that requires an awful lot of restraint – and a good deal of acting with the eyes – Firth is excellent as the emotionally scarred soldier. By contrast, The Railway Man suffers in terms of script and direction. Perhaps Boyce and Teplitzky felt no grandstanding was necessary to tell Lomax’s story. Regardless, the storytelling feels somewhat pedestrian. (Miles Fielder) ■ General release from Wed 1 Jan. See feature, page 78.
COMEDY DELIVERY MAN (12A) 104min ●●●●●
In Delivery Man, Canadian director Ken Scott has managed to bring his 2011 film Starbuck to the States with its original sweetness intact. Which, given that it’s the story of an overly fertile sperm donor fathering 533 children, is quite an achievement. Vince Vaughn plays David Wozniak, a deli-truck driver who discovers that, due to a clerical error, the numerous sperm donations he made some 20 years previously under the name ‘Starbuck’ have borne more fruit than a lemon grove. What’s more, 142 of his offspring have joined forces to legally uncover his real identity. Although he wants to fight against this public unveiling, against the advice of his lawyer-cum- friend (Chris Pratt), David sets about anonymously encountering some of those he’s fathered. It’s at this point that Delivery Man heaps the sugar on, as David, like some sort of paternal good fairy, gently interferes with some of their lives. Here you’ll either feel warm and fuzzy or reach for a sick bag. But with Vaughn in likeable form, it’s likely to be the former. Parks and Recreation star Pratt makes for an amusing foil, too, as the buffoonish chum. Only Cobie Smulders, it seems, gets short-changed with a lame role as David’s cop-girlfriend. Beyond this, Delivery Man has charm to spare. (James Mottram) ■ General release from Fri 10 Jan.
DRAMA AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (TBC) 119min ●●●●●
The third play written by Tracy Letts to reach the big screen in the past seven years, August: Osage County, on the surface, bears little connection with the two efforts adapted by William Friedkin. Both Bug (2006) and Killer Joe (2012) were intense, ugly, violent works, populated by extreme characters. By comparison, August: Osage County is a family story about ordinary folk from Oklahoma. There are no paranoid schizophrenics or fried-chicken-obsessed hitmen here.
That said, Letts’ story is just as full of bile and black humour as anything else
he’s written. Much of it is channelled through Meryl Streep’s pill-popping, cancer- riddled, foul-mouthed matriarch Violet Weston. At the outset, her once-famous poet husband Beverly (Sam Shepard) goes missing. By the time he turns up dead, drowned in a local lake, the extended family are on hand – ready for one hell of a funeral wake. Adapted by Letts, and serviceably directed by John Wells (a former producer of
The West Wing), the result is a giant gumbo-dish of a movie. Imagine EastEnders set in the sweltering heat, as characters argue and axe-grind and actors showboat and grandstand. It’s hysterical and hard to watch, but grimly compelling nonetheless. ■ General release from Fri 17 Jan.
Reviews | FILM 12 Dec 2013–23 Jan 2014 THE LIST 81