list.co.uk/fi lm Reviews | FILM
KIDS’ HORROR GOOSEBUMPS (PG) 103min ●●●●●
Based on RL Stine’s popular YA novellas, Goosebumps stars Dylan Minnette as fresh-faced teen Zach who develops a crush on his home-schooled neighbour Hannah (Odeya Rush), whose mysterious father (Jack Black) keeps her locked up. While attempting to free her, Zach and new friend Champ (Ryan Lee) discover that her father is actually the aforementioned Stine when they stumble upon a collection of sealed Goosebumps manuscripts. Accidentally breaking one open they release the Abominable Snowman into Hannah’s living room and in the ensuing chaos, evil ventriloquist’s dummy Slappy breaks out of his book and frees all of the monstrous creations.
Rather than adapting any of the individual stories, the i lmmakers opt for a greatest hits approach in a plot that recalls 1995’s Jumanji. Fortunately, the creature effects are nicely handled and director Rob Letterman (Shark Tale) orchestrates some exciting set-pieces. Black is on i ne comic form and the trio of teens are likeable, while the script includes plenty of jokes for adults and some genre-savvy ideas. This pacy, enjoyable kids’ horror romp stays faithful to the spirit of Stine’s books and delivers a pleasing amount of thrills and laughs. (Matthew Turner) ■ General release from Fri 5 Feb.
BIOPIC FREEHELD (12A) 101min ●●●●●
Based on a moving true story, Freeheld should be a i lm that forces you to i ght back the tears. Julianne Moore plays Laurel Hester, a dedicated, long-serving New Jersey cop who, unbeknownst to her colleagues, is gay. When she hooks up with mechanic Stacie (Ellen Page), it looks like she’s found the perfect life – until she is diagnosed with terminal cancer. All she wants to do is bequeath her police pension to Stacie, but the request is denied by a panel of county legislators. So begins a courtroom battle that gradually becomes headline news. Helping them is gay rights activist Steven (Steve Carell) and Laurel’s cop partner Dane (Michael Shannon). Sadly, director Peter Sollett never manages to tone down the broader elements of the script or performances. Carell’s l amboyant turn upends the story, while depicting Stacie as a butch grease-monkey who can change a tyre faster than any man feels one-note. Fresh from her Oscar-win, Moore is typically studious in the lead but as Laurel’s health deteriorates, the movie slips towards disease-of-the-week terrain. In true biopic fashion, Sollett i nishes with photos of the real-life protagonists – yet another cliché in a i lm riddled with them. (James Mottram) ■ Selected release from Fri 19 Feb.
4 Feb–7 Apr 2016 THE LIST 61
BIOPIC TRUMBO (15) 124min ●●●●●
Celebrated screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was one of the most high-proi le victims of the anti-Communist hysteria that swept through post-war America. Trumbo made no secret of his perfectly legal membership of the US Communist Party. When he refused to play ball with the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947, he joined the swelling ranks of ‘dangerous radicals’ blacklisted by the major studios over the next decade. Trumbo, from director Jay Roach (Austin Powers, Meet the Parents), transforms one of Hollywood’s darkest periods into a lightweight dramedy that cuts deeper when it addresses the politics and individual tragedies of the era. Less a biopic than a portrait of crushing injustice, it features a compelling, Oscar-nominated performance from Bryan Cranston – capturing a real l avour of the dapper, gentlemanly scribe, who remains an eternally reasonable, decent fellow even as his life is thrown off-course by his principled stance. In an inspirational i nal speech, Trumbo suggests that we shouldn’t look for heroes and
villains in what happened, only victims. The i lm is similarly balanced, i nding sympathy for actor Edward G Robinson (Michael Stuhlbarg), who sacrii ced his friends to save his career. There are heroes though, including Kirk Douglas (Dean O’Gorman), who employed and credited Trumbo as the screenwriter of Spartacus; and villains too, especially merciless gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, played with acid-tipped relish by Helen Mirren. John McNamara’s breezy screenplay condenses complex events into a trim, accessible feature. If you know little of what happened in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s, Trumbo will inform and entertain, shedding light on some grim times. (Allan Hunter) ■ General release from Fri 5 Feb.
WESTERN HORROR BONE TOMAHAWK (18) 132min ●●●●● A darkly funny opener sets the disquieting tone for S Craig Zahler’s blood-soaked western horror hybrid. When a stranger enters the cosy community of Bright Hope an air of discontent blows through town bringing with it a tribe of l esh-eating troglodytes. A stellar cast make up the group tasked with confronting these cave-dwellers, with Zahler taking his time to introduce his cool characters and their idiosyncratic ways. Sheriff Hunt (Kurt Russell) is a fair man who keeps his deputy Chicory (Richard Jenkins) close-by, despite his nervous disposition, and the pair engage in amusing discussions and question the violence laid down in the name of greed and vengeance. Comparisons to The Searchers have been made and, though this doesn’t hold a candle to Ford’s masterpiece visually, the suave Brooder (Matthew Fox) – a proud, remorseless killer of Native Americans – has a similar racist attitude to John Wayne’s Ethan Edwards. Zahler’s impressive directorial debut delivers razor-sharp tension that recalls the work of Jack Ketchum; he crucially keeps you invested in the characters, so that when people start getting brutally dismembered it delivers much more than just waves of disgust. (Katherine McLaughlin) ■ Selected release from Fri 19 Feb.