list.co.uk/fi lm Reviews | FILM
DRAMA MILLION DOLLAR ARM (PG) 124min ●●●●●
Admirers of Jon Hamm’s work in Mad Men may feel like they could watch him in anything; Disney’s two-hour plus biopic of a sports agent offers a tough test of that. Hamm’s charm works well on television but in this bland offering, it’s a resource that’s quickly drained. It finds JB Bernstein (Hamm) struggling to make his mark within the world of Major League Baseball when he comes up with a simple idea: harnessing the fast-bowling skills of cricketers. JB travels to India to create ‘Million Dollar Arm’, a competition offering a lucrative contract as a reward for the best throwing arm. Craig Gillespie’s anonymously directed dramedy is clearly a
triumph-of-the-underdogs story. It features a parade of routine sports movie heroics leaving the fresh and funny Lake Bell on the sidelines as JB’s love interest Brenda. The bonding between JB and his two Indian apprentices (Suraj Sharma and Madhur Mittal) gives rise to obvious culture clashes, making the film considerably duller than any of screenwriter Thomas McCarthy’s previous entries (Up, Win Win, The Station Agent). Unless you’re heavily invested in cricket, baseball or ogling Jon Hamm, stay away; there’s not much that’s cinematic about the workmanlike Million Dollar Arm. (Eddie Harrison) ■ General release from Fri 29 Aug.
COMEDY OBVIOUS CHILD (15) 85min ●●●●●
Billed as the Sundance ‘abortion comedy’, writer-director Gillian Robespierre’s debut has already attracted attention for its controversial subject matter and scatological dialogue. It centres on Donna (the effusive and sardonic Jenny Slate, of SNL fame), a stand-up comedian whose life provides the dark and dirty fodder for her act. Having been dumped by her partner, she finds herself pregnant after a one-night stand with the seemingly incompatible Max (Jake Lacy). In its obsession with the female body, Obvious Child may have much in common with deliberately politically incorrect work (such as that of Judd Apatow) but it’s far more courageous. Acknowledging the problem with restricting choice and assuming control of women’s bodies marks it out as truly feminist, providing a satisfying context for its humour. Donna may be abrasive and confrontational on stage, but we also see her immense vulnerability and the focus extends beyond her burgeoning relationship with Max, investing her friendship with the straight-talking Nellie (an outstanding Gaby Hoffmann) with equivalent importance. It's gutsy and genuinely funny, but perhaps Obvious Child’s most admirable quality is that its feminism is very real. (Anna Rogers) ■ Limited release from Fri 29 Aug.
21 Aug–18 Sep 2014 THE LIST 59
ACTION THRILLER THE GUEST (15) 100min ●●●●●
Taking gasoline and a match to his drippy Downton Abbey image, Dan Stevens reinvents himself in genuinely gobsmacking style. He’s the titular houseguest: a soldier with a mysterious past, Terminator-like fighting skills and a knowing smirk. Directed and edited by Adam Wingard with a script by Simon Barrett (they’re the pair behind smart slasher You’re Next), The Guest is a thriller which boasts all the fun of the fair; it’s also that thing of rare beauty, a film that combines B-movie gratification with A-grade filmmaking flair.
When David (Stevens) unexpectedly shows up at the home of the Petersons he seems, well, nice. He’s the friend of their deceased soldier son, Caleb, and quickly proves indispensable to Caleb’s grieving mother (Sheila Kelley) and bullied brother Luke (Brendan Meyer). His sister Anna (the excellent Maika Monroe) is less convinced, despite finding David powerfully sexy (she’s bowled over when he emerges dripping from the shower).
The filmmakers clearly know the subgenre but The Guest is less an authentic 80s
psycho-thriller than a film which fetishises the decade à la Nicolas Winding Refn, setting it apart from that which it emulates. Moreover, it’s unafraid to bring in diverse influences if they add value to this disgracefully entertaining carnival of carnage: Stevens smoulders to a John Carpenter-esque synth score and there’s a John Woo-echoing shootout. The Petersons are a family you can get behind, adding considerable tension to proceedings as David’s antics escalate. From glowering to literally charming the pants off women, Stevens visibly relishes every second of his blue-eyed bad boy’s screen-time; it’s a brilliantly perverse casting coup enhanced by Barrett’s devilish dialogue, while Wingard directs with flamboyance and precision. A cult classic is born. (Emma Simmonds) ■ Limited release from Fri 5 Sep.
COMEDY DRAMA PRIDE (15) 120min ●●●●● Imelda Staunton rolling around a bed with a red dildo laughing is a gleeful high point in Matthew Warchus’ unashamedly fizzy take on the ‘Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners’ campaign, which involved the coming together of two very different factions during the 1984–85 UK miners’ strike. Starring Bill Nighy, Dominic West and Paddy Considine, Pride is the true story of a group of hopefuls who left London’s Gay’s the Word bookshop with ambitions of changing the world, arriving in the Dulais Valley in Wales to help their mining community. Their alliance, though paved
with troubles, became a shining beacon of socialism. Warchus eschews the bubbling rage and only lightly touches on the police harassment, adopting an optimistic approach, extolling the virtues of a helpful society. The 80s nostalgia is unmistakable, with the groups dancing to ‘Karma Chameleon’ at a working men’s club. At the other end of the musical spectrum, a ‘Bread and Roses’ singalong brings a touch of Terence Davies to proceedings. Pride is a big-hearted, compassionate affair which squeezes its story into a familiar, feelgood template but remains inspiring and entertaining. (Katherine McLaughlin) ■ Limited release from Fri 12 Sep.