Film Review: EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES (2010)

Director: Tom Vaughan
Running time: 106 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): PG

Genre: Drama
UK Release date: 26th February 2010

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 6th March 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I remember when this came out it got a fair share of decent, if not spectacular, reviews from the critics. I was interested to see it, not only for that, but also to see how Brendan Fraser copes with a dramatic role, quite a departure for him. For the first part, the critics were right, to an extent, and for the second part… well I tell you about that later. Here’s a brief summary first (summary haters and those that don’t wish to know anything about the plot please discover something brilliantly scientific while I write the next paragraph).

Advertising executive John Crowley and his wife, Aileen, have three children; John Jr., Patrick and Megan. Unfortunately both Patrick and Megan have Pompe disease, a genetic anomaly that kills most before a child’s tenth birthday. As Megan nears her tenth birthday John and Aileen become more desperate. So much so that John tries to contact and eventually goes to see the scientist whose research shows the best promise, Dr. Robert Stonehill. Now Stonehill is not the easiest person to get along with, very focused on his work but John eventually gets him to listen. The main problem is funding but John sets up a charitable foundation to help raise money for the work. Stonehill then offers to set up a company with John to develop a cure for Pompe. So John quits his job and they set off on an uncertain path looking for funding for their new venture. A big risk for John because if he fails there is no hope for his kids.

I must say that this film put me in mind of the 1992 film Lorenzo's Oil starring Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon. Unfortunately, it’s not as good as that one. It’s quite well made but I found the subject matter a bit dry. There are lots of meetings with either corporate or scientific jargon that, I’m sure, would be beyond the understanding of most viewers. The best thing about it is Harrison Ford as Dr. Robert Stonehill; it definitely improves when he’s on screen. Brendan Fraser did ok as John Crowley, but more of him later. Also worth a mention are Keri Russell as Aileen Crowley, Meredith Droeger as Megan Crowley, Diego Velazquez as Patrick Crowley and Sam M. Hall as John Crowley Jr.

For a film that is supposed to be a heart-warming tale I’m afraid it missed the mark but some distance, for me. Brendan Fraser was ok in the scenes with the kids, and even in some of the scenes with Harrison Ford he did alright, but when he had to show any real emotion I felt he struggled. Maybe it’s because he’s played so many comedic roles, but I just wasn’t convinced by him. Over all, the film isn’t too great, but it’s quite well made and Harrison Ford is pretty good, but not quite good enough to save it I’m afraid… Not recommended.

My score: 5.1/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1244659/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/extraordinary_measures/
Official Site: http://extraordinarymeasuresthemovie.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2237007129/

Film Review: INKHEART (2008)

Director: Iain Softley
Running time: 106 mins (approx)
Certificate (UK): PG

Watched on Sky+ Monday 21st December 2009.

PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I quite like fantasy films, even ones made for younger audiences, in fact Stardust (2007) is one of my all-time favourite films. I remember there being quite a lot of hype about this film when it came out and so I was interested to see it. Particularly given that there were quite a few big names in the cast.

Mo Folchart is a ‘silvertongue’, this means when he reads aloud the characters he is reading about literally come to life in the real world. One day he is reading from a book called Inkheart to his young daughter when some of the characters, in particular the evil Capricorn, appear. Mo and his daughter, Meggie, are saved by Dustfinger but his wife has disappeared. Years later Mo is trying to track down copies of the, now rare, Inkheart, but he hasn’t told Meggie about exactly what happened to her mother. They go to Italy to see Meggie’s aunt, Elinor Loredan and it is here that Dustfinger catches up with them. He wants Mo to read him back to the world of his book but Mo is reluctant to do it fearing he might loose his daughter too. So Dustfinger has sold them out to Capricorn and they are taken to his castle where all kinds of other literary characters have been conjured by another, less able, ‘silvertongue’. After finding out that Mo’s wife has been brought back, but with no voice, Dustfinger is now in a quandary and Capricorn wants to bring ‘The Shadow’ into the real world and that would not be good! Things look pretty grim…

This is a very well made film that, in my opinion just fails to hit the mark. I think the mix of the fantasy world with the real world doesn’t really work in this case. There are some really good special effects; ‘The Shadow’ in particular is very menacing and really well done. Decent performances from all of the main cast, Brendan Fraser as Mo Folchart, Eliza Bennett as Meggie Folchart, Paul Bettany as Dustfinger, Helen Mirren as Elinor Loredan, Andy Serkis as Capricorn and Jim Broadbent as Fenoglio. Special mention for Brendan Fraser, it’s good to see him in a more straight acting role for a change, I hope he sticks with it; I’m not a fan of his ‘hamming it up’ roles. Also I thought Andy Serkis was an excellent bad guy.

Over all, a pretty well made fantasy adventure that didn’t quite hit the mark. I thought the plot was too complicated, particularly for a younger audience, but there were some good performances. The special effects were pretty good but this didn’t make up for an over complicated storyline.

My score: 5.7/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0494238/
Official Site: http://www.inkheartmovie.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi1905656601/

Film Review: JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (2008)

Director: Eric Brevig
Running time: 89 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): PG

Watched on Sky+ Tuesday 21st July 2009.

PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This film was made in 3D, but unfortunately they haven’t invented 3D TV yet, well not in my price range anyway. I don’t think it matters anyway because I don’t think 3D would have enhanced this film much for me. You know when you see a trailer and think “That looks good, I’ll go and see that one.” and then you see the film and realise that all the best bits were in the trailer. Well, you guessed it, the best bit are in the trailer.

Having found his lost brother Max’s annotated copy of Jules Verne’s ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’, Professor Trevor Anderson and his nephew Sean set off for Iceland. There they meet the daughter of Sigurbjörn Ásgeirsson who had been working with his brother. Taking Hannah Ásgeirsson as a guide the trio set off to find out what happened to Max. A freak accident leaves them trapped in a cave that leads them on a perilous journey to the centre of the earth.

Unfortunately, Brendan Fraser has a habit of hamming it up, and in the part of Trevor he hams it up a plenty. I’m convinced he would have been happier to be playing it for laughs, as in George of the Jungle. Josh Hutcherson as Sean and Anita Briem as Hannah weren’t really stretched. I found the special effects quite poor, although this may have had something to do with it being made for 3D. I’m yet to see an adaptation of this story that is as good as the 1959 version directed by Henry Levin. Over all, not too good, ok to put the kids in front of for 89 minutes, but by far not the best adaptation I’ve seen.

My score: 5/10