FILM | Reviews
DRAMA THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (PG) 114min ●●●●● Loosely adapted from James Thurber’s 1939 short story about an ineffectual daydreaming husband, this family-friendly adventure reinvents Walter (Ben Stiller) as an inarticulate photo clerk at Life magazine. Walter is prone to daydreaming himself into fantastical heroic situations, while in reality he struggles to pluck up the courage to ask out his colleague Cheryl (Kristen Wiig). When Walter misplaces a photo intended for the final cover of the magazine, he is spurred into action and sets out on a global journey to find the all-important negative. It is tempting to dismiss Secret Life as shallow festive pap, and it certainly has all the hallmarks (incessant product placement, inconsequential effects sequences). But there are subtler elements too. Stiller, who directs as well as stars, appears to be intentionally fighting Hollywood’s tendency to adapt American literature with po-faced reverence. He also trusts himself as an actor more than he has previously, and while there is a whiff of self-regard to his understated performance, it keeps the film grounded in its outlandish moments. Surprisingly for such a big-budget spectacle, it is in the details that Walter Mitty really works. (Paul Gallagher) ■ General release from Thu 26 Dec.
DRAMA FILL THE VOID (U) 90min ●●●●● ADVENTURE ALL IS LOST (12A) 106 min ●●●●●
Where does family loyalty end and personal autonomy begin? This elegant but claustrophobic drama, written and directed by Rama Burshtein, a member of the closed-off Orthodox Jewish community that it depicts, sets its struggle between duty and instinct in the aftermath of a tragedy.
A young woman, Esther (Renana Raz), has died in childbirth, leaving her husband Yochay (Yiftach Klein) heartbroken. Determined to keep the child within the family circle, Esther’s mother (Irit Sheleg) promptly offers up her 18-year-old daughter (and the dead woman’s sister) Shira (Hadas Yaron) as a replacement bride. Shira is aghast at the prospect, and Yochay, duly rejected, begins to look elsewhere. This leads to an emotional dilemma for Shira, who must decide whether she can set aside her reservations in the name of family unity.
The acting is of a high standard but the intense focus on what is essentially one long ‘will they/won’t they’ ultimately gives the film a rather restricted feel. In the end, it’s hard to determine whether Burshtein is celebrating or critiquing the insularity and strict traditions of her own community – but presumably that’s part of the point. (Hannah McGill) ■ Limited release from Fri 13 Dec.
It is almost 40 years since Robert Redford received his sole, unsuccessful Best Actor Oscar nomination for The Sting. Amazingly, he is quite likely to be back in contention this year for All Is Lost, in which he barely utters a word and yet manages to give one of the finest performances of his long career. The story of a lone yachtsman battling against the elements plays to Redford’s screen image as a rugged, taciturn individual, at home in the great outdoors and content with his own company. Redford’s character is alone in the middle of the ocean when he discovers his boat has been struck by a stray freight container, leaving a nasty gash in the hull. Water seeps in, leaving him fearing the worst as a ferocious storm gathers. His efforts to endure and survive are depicted without hysteria or undue sentimentality, and rarely has a veteran star shown such a physical commitment to a role. In a Hollywood that always seems to favour mindless spectacle and emotional manipulation, All Is Lost is all the more compelling for the way it dares to put its faith in lean, pared-to-the-bone storytelling and a simple salute to the tenacity of the human spirit. (Allan Hunter) ■ General release from Thu 26 Dec.
ANIMATION FROZEN (PG) 108min ●●●●●
The Walt Disney seen in Saving Mr Banks might barely recognise the company that currently partners Pixar and Marvel, but he’d be right at home with Frozen, adapted freely from Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen. This long-gestated project returns to familiar Mouse House values: no celebrity voice-overs, no pop-culture gags, just a venerable story with hummable songs and charming light relief. It may be old-fashioned, but it’s also as close to an instant classic as family films get. Princess Anna (Kristen Bell) is upset when her sister Elsa (Idina
Menzel) reveals her secret ability to create ice and snow. Elsa goes into exile, not realising that the rejection has caused her emotions to lock the whole kingdom in icy conditions. Anna’s quest to find her sister is supported by rugged mountain-man Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), reindeer Sven, a cheerful snowman called Olaf (Josh Gad) and a sea of singing trolls.
In synopsis, Frozen may sound somewhat cold potatoes, but what distinguishes it from Disney’s recent animations (Tangled, The Princess and the Frog) is that all the elements work. Both Olaf and Sven are classic comic-relief characters, and the songs, by Book of Mormon/Avenue Q writer Robert Lopez and his wife, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, are sheer delight. Aside from the tuneful power-ballads ‘Do You Want to Build a Snowman?’, ‘Let It Go’ and ‘For the First Time in Forever’, the subversive highlights are the snowman’s wonderfully blithe song about summer, and the match-making trolls’ stirring rendition of ‘Fixer Upper’.
If Frozen has a weakness, it’s almost too well-stuffed with entertainment to take in at one sitting; perhaps this is a design feature, though, as Frozen’s warm and fuzzy grip will last for many Christmases to come. (Eddie Harrison) ■ On general release now.
82 THE LIST 12 Dec 2013–23 Jan 2014