FILM | Reviews
DOCUMENTARY THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS (12A) 83min ●●●●●
In 2005, the Scottish singer-songwriter Edwyn Collins suffered a massive cerebral haemorrhage that left him with limited speech and movement. And yet, as this impressionistic and moving documentary from filmmakers James Hall and Edward Lovelace (who go by the creative moniker D.A.R.Y.L.) shows, Collins emerged from the devastation, rebuilding his life and musical career with the undying support of his wife Grace.
The film begins with a striking, disorienting cut, jumping from
the most familiar thing there is about Collins – the riff from 1995’s ‘A Girl Like You’ – to a surreal, almost experimental sequence that feels like being suddenly plunged underwater. The impact here is arguably too effective, conveying Edwyn’s experience in a prolonged and opaque scene that threatens to disconnect its audience from the film. Gradually, the filmmakers build in some structure, particularly with the introduction of Grace, whose retelling of events offers a palpable sense of life on a knife-edge. From heartbreaking scenes of Edwyn struggling with speech to joyful moments of him performing again, this really is a love story, and an inspiring, hopeful one at that. (Paul Gallagher) ■ Limited release from Fri 7 Nov. See feature, page 30.
THRILLER NIGHTCRAWLER (15) 117min ●●●●●
WAR FURY (15) 134min ●●●●●
Following Sabotage, David Ayer’s second film of the year takes the contemporary grit that he shovelled into his earlier work – like 2012’s End of Watch – and puts it in a period context. Set in April 1945, as the Allies make a final push to end World War II, the story is centred around a Sherman tank nicknamed ‘Fury’. In command is US army sergeant Don ‘Wardaddy’ Collier (Brad Pitt), giving off the same never-been-scratched aura as Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now.
Under his watch are three long-serving soldiers – played by Shia LaBeouf, Michael Peña and Jon Bernthal – alongside rookie Norman (Logan Lerman), a terrified desk clerk who has been sent to the front. Writer-director Ayer sets out his stall almost immediately when Pitt leaps off his iron beast and stabs a Nazi soldier in the eye. That, however, is just for starters: heads and limbs are blown off, bodies crushed or set on fire, throats slit. Intense doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Yet, as much as Ayer’s film pushes your face into the grim blood-and-guts of war, it
never glorifies it. Pitt’s performance is arguably one of his finest: he’s not just a gung-ho scalp-hunter as he was in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds: there are layers here. A crucial scene, when he and Norman discover two frightened German women, shows the humanity beneath the battle-hardened shell. Impressive too is Lerman, acting as our way into this real-life-inspired horror show. The finale may come off as Hollywood fantasy but by then, you’ll be so invested in the
characters and this world, you’ll scarcely care. ‘That’s better than good,’ says Pitt, slugging on some whisky he’s saved. Same goes for Fury. (James Mottram) ■ General release from Wed 22 Oct.
COMEDY DRAMA THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU (15) 103min ●●●●● Jane Fonda is the over-sharing matriarch of a grieving family in this disappointing dramedy from Shawn Levy. Screenwriter Jonathan Tropper has adapted his own novel, and a starry ensemble cast – which also includes Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Adam Driver and Rose Byrne – keeps your attention, but the combination of acerbic wit and trite self-help book advice just doesn’t sit right.
What do you get if you cross Tom Ripley and Rain Man’s Raymond Babbitt with the American Psycho? Well, apparently you get Lou Bloom, an ambitious, manically assiduous character who finds work as a professional rubber-necker. Played by Jake Gyllenhaal, who is literally wide-eyed throughout, Lou finds that his pitiless personality and ruthless negotiating ability are what it takes to thrive as a freelance cameraman, feeding grisly footage to the LA news scene by way of Rene Russo’s physically glamorous, ethically grubby producer. Exploitation abounds as human suffering becomes macabre entertainment.
Bateman plays Judd, one of four siblings returning Dan Gilroy’s debut skewers its targets with humour and
home after the death of their father, whose hateful attitude to women makes him difficult to root for. Approaching the complexities of adult life and the strife of facing the past in a shallow fashion dulls both the comedy and drama while the screenplay veers wildly in tone and telegraphs romantic outcomes early on. Compared to something like Jason Reitman’s Young Adult – which explored the difficult road home with raw honesty – Levy’s latest plays out in a safe, predictable manner.
flair. An 80s-style soundtrack envelops proceedings in a seedy veil, with ironically fist-pumping music flanking Lou’s rise, while an early act of violence leaves a legacy of tension. Gyllenhaal is showstopping, spouting self-help style dialogue with a staccato, motor-mouthed delivery, morphing between unintentionally comic, unnerving and genuinely frightening.
Though some family dynamics ring true, each character is presented in irritatingly broad strokes, This creepy-crawly character personifies the cynicism,
leaving the film sitting in the long shadow cast by Ron Howard’s similarly structured Parenthood – which offered far more insight, despite the same fondness for schmaltz. (Katherine McLaughlin) ■ General release from Fri 24 Oct. manipulation and inhumanity currently prevalent in TV news: he's a protagonist apt for our age. (Emma Simmonds) ■ General release from Fri 31 Oct.
66 THE LIST 16 Oct–13 Nov 2014