FILM | Reviews
DRAMA ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ. (12A) 122min ●●●●●
Fences offered welcome proof that Denzel Washington still wants to push himself as an actor. Legal drama Roman J. Israel, Esq. provides a further opportunity for Washington to lose himself inside a complex, compelling character. Israel is a i ery Los Angeles criminal defence lawyer who believes in doing everything by the book. He was active in the civil rights movement and retains his idealism. He is also deeply eccentric and clearly not suited for the real world. The real world becomes unavoidable when he is employed by hotshot fellow lawyer George Pierce (Colin Farrell), i nding his core values questioned every day of his working life. Dan Gilroy’s i rst i lm since Nightcrawler works best as a detailed study of a fascinating character and what makes him tick. Washington invests Israel with the pride of a true believer in justice, making him a hugely vulnerable i gure in an age where virtue is a luxury. The i lm starts to l ounder when we arrive at a particular murder case – the daisy chain of consequences feeling too contrived for comfort. Although Roman J. Israel, Esq. is a fantastic showcase for Washington, regrettably, it isn’t quite worthy of the character or his performance. (Allan Hunter) ■ General release from Fri 2 Feb.
CRIME THRILLER LIES WE TELL (15) 110min ●●●●●
Gabriel Byrne and Australian actress Sibylla Deen star in what appears initially to be a crime thriller, a Bradford-set production in which a loyal driver is drawn into the double life of his wealthy employer’s enigmatic Muslim mistress. Tasked with evicting Deen’s Amber from his boss’s love nest, Byrne’s quiet, watchful Yorkshireman Donald is toting his own burden of loss and guilt. So the ill-matched pair develop a sympathetic bond, in the manner of Neil Jordan’s Mona Lisa. However, the lurching plot takes a different direction or three, with the hapless Donald along for the ride through too many confusing turns, via too many poorly drawn characters, amid betrayals, abuse, sexual exploitation, blackmail and depraved thuggery.
The big mystery is how so many distinguished names (including Harvey Keitel and Gina McKee) got on board with i rst-time director Mitu Misra. The handsome visuals come courtesy of renowned cinematographer / director Santosh Sivan. The romantic score is by the late, great Krzysztof Kieslowski’s composer of choice, Zbigniew Preisner. But these assets are swamped by an increasingly melodramatic storyline, littered with horrible stereotypes and preposterous villainy. (Angie Errigo) ■ Selected release from Fri 2 Feb.
MELODRAMA PHANTOM THREAD (15) 130min ●●●●●
As a portrait of the brilliant male artist as tortured deity, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread has a great deal in common with Darren Aronofsky’s mother!. But whereas Aronofsky’s vision proved nothing more than an exercise in provocation, Anderson has turned in an idiosyncratic character study cut from the same cloth as post-war melodrama, but with a modern style all its own.
In 1950s London, haute couture dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) conceives exquisite creations coveted in the highest echelons of society yet, while he’s happy to make women look beautiful, he treats those closest to him with contempt. Only his sister and business partner Cyril (a superb Lesley Manville) can pierce his pomp, but when he meets the striking Alma (Vicky Krieps), who becomes his muse and then his lover, his carefully curated world is turned upside down.
In what is reportedly his i nal role before retirement, Day-Lewis breathes vigour and
vulnerability into Reynolds, whose often abhorrent behaviour originates from a place of emotional immaturity rather than cruelty. A man who gleans comfort from the exacting nature of his work, he i nds the undulations and expectations of love unsettling and eventually overwhelming. As Alma, Krieps is mesmerising, in her languid look but also her quiet strength. By the time she asserts her own unconventional rules on their relationship, she has well and truly changed the game. On the surface, Phantom Thread may be another i lm about an exceptionally talented man and the women enthralled in his orbit but, in the masterful hands of Anderson and his cast, it becomes a multi-layered, expertly observed examination of desire, control and the ties that bind. (Nikki Baughan) ■ General release from Fri 2 Feb.
DRAMA DARK RIVER (TBC) 89min ●●●●● It’s one of life’s most gut-wrenching realities that so many live in fear of their own kin. Dark River sees a woman return to the scene of her childhood trauma to lay claim to her family farm. The third feature from Clio Barnard (The Seli sh Giant) stars Ruth Wilson as Alice Bell, who has been travelling the world on the shepherding circuit, running from memories that surface as fragments throughout the i lm, with her predatory father Richard (Sean Bean) appearing like a phantom. Barnard brings out the beauty of the Yorkshire landscape with its expansive, painterly
vistas, but grey skies loom ominously overhead and a rumbling score further unsettles the picture. Alice feuds with her brother Joe (Mark Stanley) in the aftermath of their father’s death when she applies for the tenancy of the farm, which has fallen into disrepair. Words are hard for both to i nd and, while Alice turns her agony inwards, Joe’s is projected furiously out. Stanley is superb, yet it is Wilson that will leave you shaken. Head bowed in permanent fear and apology, her performance is powerfully affecting as she teases out Alice’s pain and foregrounds her courage, ahead of the inevitable, earth-shattering eruption. (Emma Simmonds) ■ General release from Fri 23 Feb. 60 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2018