Film Review: DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: RODRICK RULES (2011)

Director: David Bowers
Writer (screenplay): Gabe Sachs, Jeff Judah
Writer (book): Jeff Kinney
Running time: 96 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): U

Genre: Comedy/Family
UK Release date: 27^th May 2011

Watched on Sky+ Monday 7^th May 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I must admit I’m not entirely sure why I watched this film; the first one was pretty mediocre at best. I guess there are a couple of characters from the first one I enjoyed and so my subconscious was telling me to check them out again. Whilst not being the best film there were still things about it I enjoyed; but more of that after this brief summary.

Greg Heffley is back and he is not getting on with his big brother Rodrick. His mom has had enough and she devises a plan where the pair of them get to spend more time together in order to work out their differences. Add to this a new school year and a new girl, Holly Hills, starting in Greg’s class. Needless to say he is interested. His friends are also back; Rowley, Fregley and Chirag Gupta are all there to add to some spice of Greg’s life. When their parents go away for a weekend leaving Greg and Rodrick alone together events take a turn and the pair actually end up getting on together. Will it last? Well, I guess I had better not tell you that or the Spoiler Police (Brothers Division) will be taking away my big brother privileges (again)… Yes I am an evil older brother... but I actually get on with my younger sibling.

Quite well made with slightly more use of the cartoons I liked in the first one used to illustrate the story. These were woefully underused in the first film and, although still not used consistently enough, it was nice to see them still there. All the performances were pretty good so honourable mentions go to; Zachary Gordon as Greg Heffley, Devon Bostick as Rodrick Heffley, Rachael Harris as Susan Heffley (mom), Steve Zahn as Frank Heffley (dad), Robert Capron as Rowley Jefferson and Peyton List as Holly Hills.

I still think the character of Greg is a little too self-centred, for him it’s all about being popular which never seems to work out the way he plans. This time his big brother is going to help him out… or is he? In the first film I felt the character of Rowley stole the show and this time around it seemed he took more of a back seat with Rodrick moving nearer to the limelight. This didn’t work quite so well (for me) but I guess the production company must think they’re doing something right because the third instalment is already in the can. Over all, not as good as the first film but there were still a one or two good points… I’m undecided about the third instalment, but we’ll see next year when it airs on TV.

My score: 5.5/10

IMDb Score: 6.2/10 (based on 7,145 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1650043/

MetaScore: 51: (Based on 23 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 47/100 (based on 94 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 63/100 (based on 29,070 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/diary_of_a_wimpy_kid_2_rodrick_rules/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Bill Walter: Hey, no hard feelings, right?
Rodrick Heffley: Hey, Bill, you know what? After tonight, you're out of the band!
Bill Walter: What?
Rodrick Heffley: That's rock and roll, bro.

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.diaryofawimpykidmovie.com/
Trailer:

Film Review: CHICAGO (2002)

Director: Rob Marshall
Writer (screenplay): Bill Condon
Writer (play: “Chicago”): Maurine Dallas Watkins
Writers (book of musical play “Chicago”): Bob Fosse, Fred Ebb
Running time: 113 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12A

Genre: Musical/Crime/Drama
UK Release date: 17^th January 2003

Watched on Sky+ Monday 7^th May 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

When I was young my parents would watch just about every musical that was shown on TV. This kind of put me off musicals for a long time; in fact the only one I have actually liked since has been ‘Bugsy Malone’. Looking to expand my film watching horizons again I decided to give the Oscar winning ‘Chicago’ a look. You’ll be pleased to know I liked what I saw and I’ll give you the skinny after this brief summary.

When chorus girl Roxie Hart murders her lover, Fred Casely, she finds herself in Jail. Her devoted husband, Amos, manages to get her a very good lawyer, Billy Flynn, who has never lost a case. The prison is run by Matron Mama Morton who takes a shine to Roxie much to the distain of Velma Kelly who is in for murdering her sister and her husband; they were having an affair. But now the focus is very much on Roxie and her rise to fame in the newspapers. Can the famous lawyer save her from the gallows or will another case take precedence? Well I guess I had better not tell you that or the Spoiler Police (Musicals Division) will be relegating me to the chorus (again).

Beautifully shot with the set pieces taking centre stage; this was a refreshing change to many film adaptations of musicals I’ve seen in the past. All the performances were top notch; particularly Renée Zellweger as Roxie Hart and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly. Richard Gere did a decent job as Billy Flynn, as did Queen Latifah as Matron Mama Morton and John C. Reilly as Amos Hart.

I think the reason I like the look of this film is because it doesn’t pretend to be anything other than a musical. All the set-pieces are performed on sets that are cut away from the dramatic story-line. There is much to admire, some great songs and some really great performances. I thought Richard Gere did a decent enough job of the musical numbers but I felt he was better in the dramatic parts. I can’t say I particularly liked any of the main characters all that much; they were all far too self-obsessed, but still entertaining. There was just one thing missing (for me) and that was a different ending… I have in mind how I would have liked it to end but I guess I’ll just have to keep that one with me (for now). Over all though, a thoroughly entertaining film… Recommended.

My score: 8.1/10

IMDb Score: 7.1/10 (based on 103,459 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0299658/

MetaScore: 82: (Based on 37 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 88/100 (based on 211 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 80/100 (based on 409,805 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chicago/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
[after Roxie finds out about Fred Casley]
Roxie: Yeah, I killed him and I would kill him again! I would kill him again!
Assistant District Attorney Martin Harrison: Once was enough, dearie. Take her downtown. Come on!

Billy Flynn: I don't mean to toot my own horn, but if Jesus Christ lived in Chicago today, and he had come to me and he had five thousand dollars, let's just say things would have turned out differently.

[after Velma has testified against Roxie, Billy moves to discredit her]
Bandleader: And now, ladies and gentlemen, a tap dance.

Roxie: They LOVE me.
Billy Flynn: They'd love you a lot more if you were hanged. You know why? Because it would sell more papers!

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Trailer:

Film Review: KUNG FU PANDA 2 (2011)

Director: Jennifer Yuh
Writers: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger
Running time: 91 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): PG

Genre: Animation/Action/Adventure
UK Release date: 10^th June 2011

Watched on Sky+ Monday 7^th May 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Since I quite enjoyed the first one I thought I’d give the second KFP movie a look (I’m a bit of a fan of animated films anyway). If anything I must say I enjoyed this one a bit more, it seems DreamWorks have learned a thing or two in the intervening three years. All the characters from the first film are back plus a new nemesis for Po; here’s a brief summary before I tell you what I thought of it.

The film opens with the story of Shen, a peacock who has been told by a soothsayer that he will be defeated by an enemy in black and white. He immediately sets out to deal with this enemy before the prophecy can come true. He parents are left with no choice but to banish him. Years later Shen has returned with a weapon, a weapon so powerful it could mean the end of Kung Fu! It’s up to Po and the Furious Five to stop Shen and save Kung Fu! Also, Shen knows the secret of Po’s origins and he may use this to get in the way of their victory. I will not say any more or the Spoiler Police (Kung Fu Division) will be using me as a practice dummy (again).

DreamWorks animations have a very particular style and I must say I like it; reminds me of old (non Disney) cartoons on TV. On the performance front, decent work all around from the voice talents of; Jack Black as Po, Angelina Jolie as Tigress, Dustin Hoffman as Shifu, Gary Oldman as Shen, Jackie Chan as Monkey, Seth Rogen as Mantis, Lucy Liu as Viper, David Cross as Crane, James Hong as Mr. Ping, Michelle Yeoh as Soothsayer and Jean-Claude Van Damme as Master Croc.

This film has a well written plot with likable characters and some excellent gags along the way (it easily passed the ‘six laugh test’). I also liked the musical score by John Powell and Hans Zimmer, some nice themes that go well with the visuals. One or two of the gags didn’t quite come off (for me) but I can forgive that for a very well put together entertaining film… Recommended.

My score: 7.5/10

IMDb Score: 7.4/10 (based on 62,521 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1302011/

MetaScore: 67: (Based on 31 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 81/100 (based on 161 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 79/100 (based on 90,056 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kung_fu_panda_the_kaboom_of_doom/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Shifu: This could be the end of Kung Fu.
Po: But I just got Kung Fu !
Shifu: And now, you must *save* it !

Po: How can kung fu stop something that stops kung fu?

Po: My fist hungers for justice!
[his stomach belches]
Po: That was... my fist.

Soothsayer: Your story may not have such a happy beginning, but that doesn't make you who you are. it is the rest of your story, who you choose to be... So, who are you, Panda?

Tigress: I hope this turns out better than your plan to cook rice in your stomach by eating it raw and then drinking boiling water...
Po: This is nothing like that plan.
Tigress: How so?
Po: Because this one is gonna work.

Monkey: [On seeing a poor person being mistreated by a wolf over cooking rice] Po, do something.
Po: How am I suppose to help her cook rice without getting caught?... Wait, I have a better idea!

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.kungfupanda.com/
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kungfupanda
Trailer:

Film Review: MEAN STREETS (1973)

Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers: Martin Scorsese (story/screenplay), Chris Henchy (screenplay)
Running time: 112 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18

Genre: Crime/Drama
USA Release date: 14^th October 1973

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 6^th May 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This is part of my ongoing mission to try and see all of Martin Scorsese’s films; well at least all the major ones he’s directed. Checking the list on IMDb, this is the eleventh one I’ve seen although not all have been reviewed. I must say even back in 1973 you could see the quality of his filmmaking, although a little raw, it still stands out. I will give you my thoughts after this brief summary.

A small-time hood, Charlie, is trying to make ends meet on the mean streets of Little Italy in New York. Matters aren’t helped by his best friend Johnny Boy who has run up a debt with Michael, a local moneylender who also happens to be friends with Charlie. Now Charlie is connected, his uncle is quite well up in, shall we say, the local business association and he has plans to bring Charlie into the fold. To add to Charlie’s woes, his girlfriend, Johnny Boy’s cousin Teresa, is putting pressure on him to get an apartment together. As time goes by Johnny proves more and more unreliable and Michael is losing patience with him. Charlie is in the middle but still loyal to his friend Johnny. How’s it gonna resolve itself? Well I guess I had better not tell you that or the Spoiler Police (Local Business Association Division) will be taking me to be fitted with some cement shoes (again).

The film has a very raw edge to it like many films of the era, I guess it was either an effort to make it feel more realistic or they just didn’t have the budget to make it any better (my money’s on the former). All the performances were excellent with Robert De Niro as Johnny Boy and Harvey Keitel as Charlie taking centre stage. They were ably supported by; David Proval as Tony, Amy Robinson as Teresa, Richard Romanus as Michael and Cesare Danova as Giovanni. Oh and look out for a very brief appearance from David Carradine as a drunk.

Although the editing is not as slick as in Scorsese’s latter works and some of the scenes seem a bit chaotic, I still really enjoyed this one. I think it is as much for the performances of both De Niro and Keitel as for the way the thing is put together. I must also mention the score, an interesting mix of Italian opera and popular songs of the day makes for some entertaining themes throughout. Over all, although it’s gritty and a little rough at the edges, a highly enjoyable watch… Recommended.

My score: 8.4/10

IMDb Score: 7.5/10 (based on 37,520 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0070379/

MetaScore: NO DATA: (Based on 0 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 98/100 (based on 47 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 83/100 (based on 49,005 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mean_streets/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Giovanni Cappa: This Johnny Boy is like your mister Groppi...a little crazy. It's nice you should help him out because of his family and our family but watch yourself...Don't spoil anything. His whole family has problems...his cousin, the girl who lives next door to you...
Charlie: Teresa.
Giovanni Cappa: ...The one who's sick, right? In the head.
Charlie: No, she's got epilepsy.
Giovanni Cappa: Yeah. That's what I said, sick in the head.

Oscar: Look Charlie, you're a good boy. Will you just tell your uncle that I have nothing. There is nothing to give him. No envelopes with cash inside, no checks, nothing.
Charlie: That bad, huh?
Oscar: I can't make this week's payment and if this keeps up not next week's either.
Charlie: Not next week's either... listen... you tell that to Giovanni, not me.
Oscar: Listen, I should wrap up this place in a ribbon and hand it to him, you know that. I don't need this aggravation. I'm getting old.
Charlie: He'd rather have the loan payed, you know that.

Johnny Boy: What's the matter, you too good for this ten dollars? Huh? You too good for it? It's a good ten dollars. Know somethin' Mikey? You make me laugh. You know that?

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Trailer:

Film Review: THE OTHER GUYS (2010)

Director: Adam McKay
Writers: Adam McKay, Chris Henchy
Running time: 107 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12

Genre: Action/Comedy/Crime
UK Release date: 17^th September 2010

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 6^th May 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

You know how sometimes you’re not too sure if you’ll like a particular film, but then you listen to all the talk about it and decide to watch it anyway. About twenty minutes in you realise you were right to have doubts in the first place… but now you’re committed. Well that’s just how it occurred with this extremely disappointing pile of fetid dingo’s kidneys of a movie. They say there’s a ‘six laugh rule’ with comedies; i.e. if you don’t laugh six times or more whilst watching it, it’s not funny. Well, one brief smile is all this got from me and that was a sight gag involving a kid sliding about on the back seat of a police car… not a good omen. Well, I think I’ve held you in suspense long enough, here’s a brief summary before I really rip into it.

When hero New York cops P.K. Highsmith and Christopher Danson are accidently killed in the line of duty by jumping off a 20 storey building (yes, it IS THAT stupid), the other cops in the department are immediately in competition to take up the mantle. Amongst them are Allen Gamble, a forensic accountant, and Terry Hoitz, a regular cop who feels he has to prove himself. Terry makes no secret of the fact that he doesn’t like his partner and has to go to the extreme of kidnapping him just to get him out of the office. By some contrivance they latch on to the case of a British businessman, David Ershon, who is planning on defrauding a lot of people to cover up an even bigger loss. As you can imagine, from here on its all car chases and the usual buddy movie stuff (I won’t bore you with the details).

Quite well made with some nice stunt work in the car chase scenes and some decent cinematography in the outdoor scenes. Performance-wise, the pick of the bunch (for me) were; Mark Wahlberg as Terry Hoitz, Michael Keaton, underused (IMO) as Captain Gene Mauch and Steve Coogan as David Ershon. Also worthy of note were; Will Ferrell as Allen Gamble, Eva Mendes as Dr. Sheila Gamble and nice cameo’s from Samuel L. Jackson as P.K. Highsmith and Dwayne Johnson as Christopher Danson.

There are many things that let this movie down, not least is the dialogue, it’s terrible! I can’t remember when I’ve watched a film where a joke is performed and then explained afterwards! It has a 12 certificate here in the UK and (I guess) if I was twelve I might have found it funny(ish), but I’m not and it most certainly wasn’t. If you want a decent cop based comedy/drama then I can recommend any of the ‘Lethal Weapon’ films, they are SO much better than this, which most definitely does not get my vote!... NOT Recommended.

My score: 4.3/10

IMDb Score: 6.6/10 (based on 76,191 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1386588/

MetaScore: 64/100: (Based on 35 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 79/100 (based on 191 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 57/100 (based on 137,002 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/other_guys/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Captain Gene Mauch: You know what, I'm going to hang onto the wooden gun.
Allen Gamble: To give me back my real gun?
Captain Gene Mauch: No. I'm going to give you this... It's a rape whistle. You blow that if you're in any trouble, and someone with an actual gun will come and help you out.
[Quietly blows the whistle]

Terry Hoitz: What is this?
Allen Gamble: It’s my car, it’s a Prius.
Terry Hoitz: I feel like we're literally driving around in a vagina.

Dirty Mike: How you fellas doin'? We about to have us a little screw party in this red Prius over here if you wanna join us.
Allen Gamble: Hey, are you Dirty Mike and the Boys?
Dirty Mike: How you know who we are?
Allen Gamble: You left a note in that car!
Terry Hoitz: [shows his badge] Police, shithead.
Dirty Mike: He's a copper, we gotta go. C'mon! Hey, grease it, boys! They're cops!
[He and the Boys run off]
Allen Gamble: You turned my beautiful Prius into a nightmare!
Dirty Mike: We are gonna have sex in your car! It will happen again!

Fosse: Hope you like prison food... and penis.

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/catalog/catalogDetail_DVD043396365346.html
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/otherguysmovie
Trailer:

Film Review: AVENGERS ASSEMBLE (2012)

[A.K.A.: MARVEL’S AVENGERS ASSEMBLE]

Director: Joss Whedon
Writers: Zak Penn (story), Joss Whedon (story/screenplay), Stan Lee (comic book), Jack Kirby (comic book)
Running time: 142 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12A

Genre: Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi
UK Release date: 26^th April 2012

Watched at the cinema Saturday 5^th May 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Having successfully avoided the opening week I decided it was probably safe to go and see this one in its second week of showing at the local. Not too busy but the accountants would have been pleased with the turnout for the tea-time showing on FA Cup final day. Did it live up to the critical acclaim it’s had? Well I cannot lie, the critics are right! I have been a fan of the work of Joss Whedon since Firefly and I must say he hasn’t let me down. It’s clever, witty and never drops the ball as far as the Marvel universe goes… Great stuff! But I digress, here’s a brief summary before I give you more of my thoughts.

S.H.I.E.L.D. has possession of the Tesseract, an artefact of great power taken from Thor’s realm, Asgard. They don’t realise it can be used as a door and Loki, Thor’s brother, is using it to bring himself to Earth. He has assembled an army and needs the Tesseract to bring them down and conquer the planet. To help him he turns several humans to his side, including Hawkeye (Clint Barton). Nick Fury recognises the threat and sets his agents in motion to assemble a team capable of defeating it. They are; Iron Man (Tony Stark), Captain America (Steve Rogers), The Hulk (Bruce Banner) and Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff). Latterly Thor arrives from Asgard and pledges to fight alongside them. With the scene set Loki unexpectedly allows himself to be captured. He’s taken to the S.H.I.E.L.D. fortress in the sky… but does he have an ulterior motive? Well I’ll leave it there or the Spoiler Police (Marvel Division) will be revoking my Avengers fan club membership (again).

I first have to say I saw the film in 2D (none of this 3D nonsense for me) and even so I did find some of the scenes very dark. Also, the aspect ratio at 1.78:1 seemed totally wrong to me, most films these days are shot in a ratio of 2.35:1 and I can’t see why this one had to be different (it may be a 3D thing, but it niggled me slightly). As far as performances go, well everyone did a great job; Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Tom Hiddleston who was particularly good as Loki and not forgetting Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

Of course there are plot holes here, as there are in all superhero films and I’m not going to chime on about them now, I’m sure there are many out there that are better qualified than me so I’ll leave it to them. What I took away from it was a very entertaining film with a lot of (sometimes subtle) humour and I really enjoyed it. The narrative did seem to get a little stuck in a couple of places though, like when Thor arrived and ended up having a fight with Iron Man, but I can forgive these because as a whole it all worked pretty well. I was a little disappointed with the back-story to Black Widow and Hawkeye, it was only alluded to quite briefly and, I guess because they are more minor characters, I wanted to know a little more about them. But over all I must say it’s well worth the admission fee!... Highly Recommended.

My score: 8.9/10.

IMDb Score: 8.8/10 (based on 65,676 votes when this review was written).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848228/

MetaScore: 69/100: (Based on 40 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 93/100 (based on 230 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 96/100 (based on 199,821 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/marvels_the_avengers/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Nick Fury: There was an idea to bring together a group of remarkable people, so when we needed them, they could fight the battles that we never could..

Tony Stark: [to Thor] No hard feelings Point Break, you've got a mean swing.
[Referencing their recent battle]

Nick Fury: Gentlemen, you're up!

Tony Stark: Dr. Banner, your work is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.
Bruce Banner: Thanks.

Tony Stark: Let's do a headcount: Your brother, the demigod; a super-soldier, a living legend who actually lives up to the legend; a man with breathtaking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins; and you've managed to piss off every single one of us.
Loki: That was the plan.
Tony Stark: Not a great plan.

Tony Stark: [to Loki] There is no throne, there is no version of this where you come out on top! Maybe your army will come, maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you! Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn sure we'll avenge it!

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://marvel.com/avengers_movie
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AvengersUK
Trailer:

Film Review: MEEK’S CUTOFF (2010)

Director: Kelly Reichardt
Writer (screenplay): Jonathan Raymond
Running time: 104 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): PG

Genre: Western/Drama
UK Release date: 15^th April 2011

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 5^th May 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This is another of those films that got recommended during an online discussion. This time the topic was Westerns and those that know me will know I’m not particularly a fan of the genre. I did, however, add it to ‘The List’ and it finally came into view this week. I must say I found it quite different to anything else I’ve seen in its genre, quite gritty and realistic without any of that Hollywood ‘polish’. I will tell you more after this very brief summary.

It is 1845 and many settlers are making their way along the Oregon Trail. A group of three families have split off with their guide, Stephen Meek, to take a short cut across what proves to be a very harsh wilderness. We follow the families as their water supply dwindles and they become more desperate. They come across a Native American who some of the group hope can lead them to water. Others, including Meek are less trusting. I won’t say any more or the Spoiler Police (Western’s Division) will be taking my Sherriff’s badge and six shooters off me (again).

I was surprised to find the film was made in a 4:3 aspect ratio which (I felt) did not lend itself to the landscape. The audience is restricted to a box-like view of what looks like an amazing landscape and I was slightly disappointed by that. All of the performances were very good, the dialogue is quite unusual and there is some interesting use of sound where some dialogue is partially drowned out by other sounds, it’s quite naturalistic. So I’ll give honourable mentions to; Michelle Williams as Emily Tetherow, Bruce Greenwood as Stephen Meek, Will Patton as Soloman Tetherow, Zoe Kazan as Millie Gaitley, Paul Dano as Thomas Gaitley, Shirley Henderson as Glory White and Rod Rondeaux as The Indian.

The very natural style put me in mind of the work of Terrence Malick although this is very different in a lot of ways too. I must warn potential viewers that the film has a very slow pace and the narrative doesn’t follow the traditional beginning – middle – end pattern. You will also find that the scenes at night are extremely dark, there seems to be no additional lighting apart from that given off by camp fires and lanterns. All in all though I did find this one quite enthralling; I became invested in the characters and was interested in the outcome of their adventure. If you’re interested in early American history then I can highly recommend it; it’s certainly not your traditional Western that’s darn tootin’.

My score: 7.5/10

IMDb Score: 6.6/10 (based on 3,962 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1518812/

MetaScore: 85/100: (Based on 36 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 85/100 (based on 116 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 55/100 (based on 7,589 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/meeks_cutoff/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
None available

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://meekscutoff.com/
Trailer: