list.co.uk/fi lm Reviews | FILM
COMEDY DRAMA GRANDMA (15) 79min ●●●●●
DRAMA FATHERS AND DAUGHTERS (15) 116min ●●●●● BIOPIC – COMEDY THE LADY IN THE VAN (12A) 104min ●●●●●
‘I like being old, young people are stupid,’ so says Elle Reid (Lily Tomlin), poet, trash-talker and pitbull- like protector to her up-the-duff granddaughter, who’s trying to raise funds for an abortion. The pair take a road trip about the vicinity, with Elle calling in favours on a journey that dredges up her past and incorporates a rest stop for a very telling tattoo. With Grandma, writer-director Paul Weitz
(American Pie, About a Boy) trades commercial comedy for a salty but sensitively shot indie gem. Tomlin is a hoot as a woman described as a ‘terrible girlfriend’ and an ‘awful mother’, but who’s given another crack at getting a relationship right as she attempts to do good by her grandchild, with the film genuinely hopeful that she might succeed. Always ready with a quip and primed to kick-off, Elle makes for quite the contrast to Sage (Julia Garner) – her sweet, frequently startled young foil. Weitz keeps things largely upbeat and trim in the face of considerable messiness and friction.
It’s cast to perfection with Marcia Gay Harden, Judy Greer and Sam Elliott joining the throng, while the writing is sassy and terrific. This story of a crabby old lady has swagger to spare. (Emma Simmonds) ■ General release from Fri 11 Dec.
Russell Crowe continues his slide into mediocrity in this soapy melodrama with all the sophistication of an episode of EastEnders. He plays author Jake Davis, who’s widowed after a car crash and left to raise daughter Katie (Kylie Rogers) alone. Admitting himself into a psychiatric unit, Jake is forced to leave Katie with her wealthy aunt and uncle, before the story skips forward. ‘Damaged’ from her childhood – i.e. she sleeps around a bit – the adult Katie (Amanda Seyfried) is out of control, until she meets Cameron (Aaron Paul), a fan of Fathers and Daughters, the book her father pens after he emerges from hospital. Gabriele Muccino’s latest is quite brazen in its
plotlines but credit debut screenwriter Brad Desch for having the courage of his convictions, furiously sticking to his task of tugging every heartstring going. Indeed, while it’s very much movie-of-the- week territory, it’s by no means disastrous. Oscar- winners Jane Fonda and Octavia Spencer add class in small roles, while Paul is convincingly earnest. The relationship between Jake and the young Katie is also touching, in spite of the film’s best attempts to drown it in mush. The result is an A-list guilty pleasure. (James Mottram) ■ General release from Fri 13 Nov.
‘I’m not a saint, just lazy,’ explains Alan Bennett (played uncannily by Alex Jennings) regarding his decision to allow the cantankerous Miss Shepherd (Maggie Smith) to make his Camden Town driveway her home from 1974 to 1989. Even as he takes pity on her, his thoughts turn to strangulation. This adaptation of Bennett’s play reunites him with director Nicholas Hytner. It’s a study of a woman hiding in plain sight, cloaked in ignominy and a stay- away smell. Smith cultivates sympathy for the titular tyrant, allowing us to clock the vulnerability behind her self-preserving hostility.
Bennett’s screenplay is a delight, routinely enriched by his richly comical turn of phrase. It’s contrived, but by offering us two bickering Bennetts – the writer permanently in situ and the man out there doing the living – the film explores the creative process. Cameos from the ‘History Boys’ are a tad off-putting, and the ending is overindulgent. Yet this curious story is worthy of cinematic elevation; shot in the very house on the very street where all this took place, the film shows how the rich and poor of London rub together in a way that’s not always harmonious but that has the potential to be heartwarming. (Emma Simmonds) ■ General release from Fri 13 Nov.
BIOPIC – DRAMA SPOTLIGHT (15) 129min ●●●●●
Based on real events, Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight is a remarkable film. As methodical and measured as the journalists at its centre, this is the tale of how the Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation led to the unearthing of sexual abuse and cover- ups within the Catholic church. Without wishing to overhype it, it’s up there with that classic study of Nixon-era investigative journalism, All the President’s Men. The crimes at the heart of the story proved even more powerful than presidential wrongdoing – given that the paper’s revelations had a global domino effect, as thousands of abuse victims came forward. McCarthy, wisely, keeps his film focused on events in Boston; beginning in July 2001, when the Globe’s investigative team ‘Spotlight’ is asked by new editor Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber) to look into allegations that a priest, Father John Geoghan, has molested more than 80 young boys.
Led by Walter ‘Robby’ Robinson (Michael Keaton), the
reporters – played by Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo and Brian d’Arcy James – gradually piece the story together. But it’s hardly a straightforward path. The events of 9/11 mean the team is forced to put the investigation aside; worse still, the paper had previously run stories on abuse without following events up. McCarthy (The Station Agent, The Visitor) has assembled a fine cast – with small roles for John Slattery and Billy Crudup, while Stanley Tucci is particularly good as the mildly eccentric lawyer who represented 86 plaintiffs in the Geoghan case. Even better, the film never over-dramatises. A tribute to the almost- lost art of investigative reporting and the power of print media, Spotlight is as attention-grabbing as headline news. (James Mottram) ■ General release from Fri 29 Jan.
5 Nov 2015–4 Feb 2016 THE LIST 95