Film Review: DISTURBIA (2007)

Director: D.J. Caruso
Running time: 100 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Mystery/Thriller
UK Release date: 14^th September 2007

Watched on Sky+ Tuesday 14^th June 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This is one of those films that I really didn’t know too much about before hitting the ‘Play’ button. I had a vague idea from the write-up, but didn’t expect what turned up on the screen. What I got was effectively an updated version of Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954). It did have some good aspects to it, but over all I found it quite disappointing. I will explain why after this brief summary.

Kale, a high school teenager has had a hard time of it since his father died a year ago. It all comes to a head one day when he punches his Spanish teacher in class. He is sentenced to three months’ house arrest. He has to wear an ankle bracelet and if he wanders too far from the house an alert is sent to the police and they will respond immediately. Finding himself home alone most of the time, Kale gets bored and begins to watch the comings and goings of his neighbours. A new family moves in next door and he immediately takes an interest in the daughter, Ashley. His friend Ronnie comes around and they hang out together. They hear a report of a serial killer who may be in the area and Kale’s suspicions turn to another of his neighbours, Mr. Turner. He fits the bill perfectly, but how to prove it? Ashley and Ronnie help him, but Turner is getting suspicious and has taken an interest in Kale’s mother, Julie. Is Mr. Turner really a serial killer, if so, can they prove it before Kale’s mom becomes the next victim? No clues here, this bracelet around my ankle will go off.

I thought the plot was ok, but I guess I’m not really the target audience as the focus is very much on the younger members of the cast. Unfortunately Shia LaBeouf was in the leading role of Kale. He really has zero charisma and has very little screen presence (IMO); consequently, I found this one a little hard to watch. Sarah Roemer played Ashley, she did a decent enough job, but appeared to be there mostly as eye-candy. Carrie-Anne Moss played Julie and I was surprised to see her in such a small part… she deserves better (IMO). For me, the star turn was David Morse as Mr. Turner, very intimidating but also very charming when needed. Finally, Aaron Yoo was Ronnie, the clown of the piece if you like.

As I said at the beginning, I found this film quite disappointing and I think the problem was that I found it very hard to sympathise with any of the characters, particularly Kale. The script seemed to lack any originality and so the whole film suffered as a consequence. It wasn’t all bad though, it did have its tense moments and these where handled very well. Over all though, I found it pretty unsatisfying… Not recommended.

My Score: 5.5/10

LINKS:
(RT=Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0486822/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/disturbia/
Official Site: http://www.disturbia.com/
Trailer:

Film Review: UNTHINKABLE (2010)

Director: Gregor Jordan
Running time: 94 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18

Genre: Drama
UK Release date: 13th September 2010 (DVD Premiere)

Watched on Sky+ Tuesday 8th March 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

For a film that, in most parts of the world, went straight to DVD, this is surprisingly good. It deals with a very tough subject and asks some very hard questions, but I found it quite enthralling. Topped off with some really great dialogue and some really good performances, I’m surprised it didn’t get a wider release. But more of my thoughts later, here’s a brief summary first (summary haters and those that don’t wish to know anything about the plot please extract some information from the prisoner while I write the next paragraph).

Henry Herald ‘H’ Humphries, known as ‘H’, is a black ops interrogator who is called in when a white American Muslim says he has planted three nuclear bombs in cities across the country. The man, Steven Arthur Younger, has been captured and ‘H’ has to work with FBI agent Helen Brody to extract the location of the bombs. The methods ‘H’ uses are brutal and Brody finds it hard to stomach. She tries to be the voice of reason, but finds it more than difficult when her superiors condone the methods being used. I really don’t want to say too much more, this one is best watched with as little information as possible.

First of all, hats off to the filmmakers, I found this a very intelligent film that raises questions about torture, brutality, the justification for terrorism, and many more. Very well made with some tremendous performances. In particular; Samuel L. Jackson as Henry Herald ‘H’ Humphries, Carrie-Anne Moss as Agent Helen Brody and it was nice to see Michael Sheen in a truly dramatic role that reminded me of what a fine actor he really is.

There is a sequence at the beginning of the film where ‘H’ and Brody meet before Younger is arrested that just seems superfluous to me. It doesn’t really add much to the story and only serves to establish that ‘H’ is very important to those in power and that his family is important to him. Not really necessary, but once we’re past that it is quite an enthralling and a very thought provoking film. I must warn though that there are some scenes of torture and violence that some people may find distasteful. If you can bare that then I can definitely recommend this one to you.

My score: 7.8/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0914863/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/unthinkable/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3696953113/

Film Review: FIREFLIES IN THE GARDEN (2008)

Co-Writer/Director: Dennis Lee
Running time: 96 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12

Genre: Drama
UK release date 29th March 2009

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 26th February 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This film was recommended to me by someone on Rotten Tomatoes (sorry, I can’t remember who). Reading through the cast list, it looks very impressive but as we well know, a great cast doesn’t necessarily make for a great film. This, unfortunately, proves the theory all too well. Although there are some great performances, the film lacks any heart, you don’t really care about the characters as so it all kind of falls apart. More of my thoughts later, here’s a brief summary first (summary haters and those that don’t wish to know anything about the plot please go fishing while I write the next paragraph).

Michael Taylor is a writer of romance novels. His father, Charles, a much more serious and successful writer is a bully and made Michael’s childhood a misery. His mother, Lisa, is killed in an accident on the day Michael arrived home to celebrate her graduation from University. He is not alone, his sister, Ryne is with him, and his aunt, Jane Lawrence, and her family, husband Jimmy & children, Christopher and Leslie, are all there to support him. His ex-wife, Kelley arrives for the funeral and we are told, through flashback, of his life growing up in the same house in which Jane and her family now live. There is a sub-plot involving a manuscript that Michael has recently written, the significance of which is never really made clear.

Nicely shot with some really lovely imagery used, so hats off to the cinematographer on this one. As I said at the beginning, there are some great performances here. Ryan Reynolds stands out as Michael and Willem Dafoe is great, as ever, as Charles. Emily Watson did a great job as Jane Lawrence, Carrie-Anne Moss, again, a quality performance as Kelly Hanson and Julia Roberts was also great as Lisa. It was also nice to see Hayden Panettiere as Young Jane Lawrence (in flashbacks) and I thought Cayden Boyd did an outstanding job as Young Michael Taylor.

Now, despite all the star names in the cast and all the great individual performances, this film, I’m afraid, doesn’t quite work. The pace is, at times, painfully slow and I just couldn’t find anything I could care about in any of the characters. It’s a shame, I really wanted to like this one, but I guess you’ve got to watch a few turkeys sometimes so you can appreciate the good ones! Oh, and finally, I found the cruelty to wildlife depicted here in very poor taste, maybe another thing that put me off the characters. Sadly, NOT recommended.

My score: 4.8/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0961108/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008601-fireflies_in_the_garden/
Trailer (Sorry about the subtitles): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phtd7XOiky0

Film Review: MEMENTO (2000)

Director: Christopher Nolan
Running time: 104 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

UK release date: 20th October 2000

Watched on DVD Monday 26th July 2010.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Having recently seen and really loved Inception, I decided to see what other Christopher Nolan films lurked in my DVD collection. I couldn’t believe it when I found I had never seen Memento. Well, a day work off due to an injury gave me the time to rectify this situation.

Leonard suffers from short-term memory loss. He can remember meeting you, but only for a few minutes, and then it fades away. He got this condition when he was hit in the head whilst trying to save his wife from the man who raped and murdered her. So, he can remember everything up to that point, but no further. In order to help him he takes photographs of people he meets and places he goes. He annotates these so he can refer back to them. There are also tattoos on his body of things he has decided are too important to lose. He is determined to find the man that murdered his wife and kill him. To this end he is helped by a character called Teddy, who seems to be a bit of a low-life. Along the way he also runs into Natalie, who has also lost someone and is more than she might first seem. Before the murder Leonard was an insurance investigator and he uses his skills to try and track down the mysterious John G, a name he has tattooed on his chest.

The story is told backwards; we start with Leonard killing the man he thinks is responsible for everything, and work back from there. It’s a very interesting and effective way to tell this story, but you can’t really take a bathroom break because you’ll lose where the story is. I found the DVD pause facility very useful! Great performances from Guy Pearce as Leonard, also, Carrie-Anne Moss as Natalie and Joe Pantoliano as Teddy Gammell. Honourable mentions go to Jorja Fox as Leonard’s wife, Stephen Tobolowsky as Sammy Jankis and Harriet Sansom Harris as Mrs. Jankis.

Although there are some nice action sequences in the film I found it to be quite slowly paced. It gradually draws the audience into Leonard’s world as we find out more about how events transpired. The score is quite subdued and fits the mood of the piece perfectly. Over all, a very interesting and absorbing film, I liked it a lot! Recommended.

My score: 9.1/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0209144/
Official Site: http://www.otnemem.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/screenplay/vi1368785177/