Film Review: ANOTHER YEAR (2010)

Writer/Director: Mike Leigh
Running time: 129 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12

Genre: Drama/Comedy
UK Release date: 5^th November 2010

Watched on Terrestrial PVR Saturday 10^th August 2013.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

You always know what you’re going to get with a Mike Leigh film: they’re always very human stories; well produced and with excellent performances. This is no exception and I’m very happy about that. I know it was critically acclaimed on release and was even nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA (didn’t win either though). I have to admit I really enjoyed this drama (with comic elements); I hate it when the call it a comedy/drama when it’s clearly the other way around!! – [Okay, rant over]. Here’s a very brief summary before I give you my thoughts.

The film concentrates on a year in the lives of middle-aged couple Tom (Jim Broadbent) and Gerri (Ruth Sheen). He is a commercial geologist and she is a therapist at a medical practice. They have a 30 year old son, Joe (Oliver Maltman), who visits occasionally. We are taken through their daily lives and that of the various friends and family that come to their house. One friend in particular takes centre stage, Mary (Lesley Manville). She works with Gerri and come across as quite bubbly and happy-go-lucky but underneath she’s desperately lonely. This results in some quite comic moments but also some very touching and quite sad ones. I won’t go into specifics here, but she does put on quite a show.

Really well made with some tremendous performances; I loved the down-to-earth tone of the piece. Mike Leigh does make some great dramas and he really gets great performances from his actors. In this one I loved both Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen, but the star of the show was definitely Lesley Manville. She had to go through the whole gamut of emotions and did it quite brilliantly (IMO). It’s not a film that will be to everyone’s taste; the explosion count is zero; car chases get a similar score and as for deaths, well, there is one, but we only find out about that one when they have to go to the funeral. But I digress; I found it a really engaging film with some real characters that are both believable and well rounded. It’s nice to see British people portrayed as they are for a change, instead of some stereotypical ‘vision’ of what everyone thinks they are. On the down side, I did find it went on just a tad too long at the end, but I’m not going to hold that against it. It’s well worth a look if you get the chance.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED

My score: 8.2/10.

IMDb Score: 7.3/10 (based on 17,356 votes when this review was written).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1431181/

MetaScore: 80/100: (Based on 35 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 93/100 (based on 160 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 72/100 (based on 19,867 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/another_year_2010/

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LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site (UK): http://www.anotheryear-movie.com/
Official Site (US): http://www.sonyclassics.com/anotheryear/
Trailer:

Film Review: THE IRON LADY (2011)

Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Writer: Abi Morgan (screenplay)
Running time: 105 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12A

Genre: Biography/Drama/History
UK Release date: 6^th January 2012

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 13^th January 2013.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Love her or loathe her, Margaret Thatcher had a massive impact on politics both here in the UK and internationally. This film chronicles her rise to power in the late 1970’s and her eventual fall some twelve years later. For a change I will not write a plot summary, instead I will talk about the way the story is presented and how that has been interpreted by various reviewers around the world.

We begin with Margaret Thatcher as an old woman; she is sorting out her late husband Dennis’s effects. This is several years after he had passed away and yet she still sees him walking around the flat and talks to him about events of the past. This device is used to take the audience back to scenes from her history. Firstly, Margaret as a young girl, the daughter of a grocer and then on through her life up to the present day. I actually quite liked the way this was done although it did mean that quite a lot had to be missed out. For instance, some of her most iconic speeches didn’t make the cut which I found a little annoying. All the salient points are there though; everything from the miner’s strike to the Falklands war and the sinking of the Belgrano and the Brighton bombing.

Now, for some, Mrs Thatcher is portrayed far too sympathetically and the film puts her tenure as Prime Minister in a much better light than is might deserve. I didn’t feel this was the case; there was plenty of footage of rioters on the streets and striking miners fighting with the police. I lived through the Thatcher years and I can tell you it was just as violent, at times, as portrayed. I can’t say whether the film is accurate as far as it shows events behind the doors of No. 10 Downing Street, but it all seems plausible.

What strikes me is the performance of Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher; she deservedly won an Oscar for this portrayal. I must also praise the work if the make-up artists who worked on her prosthetics, they captured the look perfectly. Honourable mentions go to Jim Broadbent as Dennis Thatcher and Olivia Colman as Carol Thatcher; both were excellent. This film was always going to be controversial but I think it was well done and actually quite brave, considering the subject of it is still alive.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED

My score: 8.2/10.

IMDb Score: 6.4/10 (based on 38,320 votes when this review was written).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1007029/

MetaScore: 54/100: (Based on 41 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 53/100 (based on 199 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 51/100 (based on 83,845 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_iron_lady/

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

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Alexander Haig: So you are proposing to go to war over these islands. They're thousands of miles away, a handful of citizens, politically and economically insignificant, if you'll excuse me.
Margaret Thatcher: Just like Hawaii... I imagine.

Airey Neave: If you want to change this party, lead it. If you want to change the country, lead it.

Margaret Thatcher: Where did you go?
Denis Thatcher: South Africa.
Margaret Thatcher: Ah, yes.
Denis Thatcher: How many days passed before you realized I'd gone? Probably had to ask the cleaning woman where I was.

Margaret Thatcher: Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny. What we think, we become. My father always said that. And I think I am fine.

LINKS:
(NOTE: All links were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site (US): http://weinsteinco.com/sites/iron-lady/
Trailer:

Film Review: THE DAMNED UNITED (2009)

Director: Tom Hooper
Running time: 98 mins (approx)
Certificate (UK): 15

UK Release Date: 27th March 2009

Watched on DVD Monday 21st June 2010.

PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This is a film about football, or soccer if you prefer, but I’ll stick to football because that’s what it’s called in most parts of the world. It’s about football in the late 1960’s, early 1970’s and one man involved in the game in particular. The man is Brian Clough, sadly no longer with us, and the film tells of how he came to manage one of the biggest teams in England at the time, Leeds United.

The story begins with Brian managing Derby County who are struggling at the bottom of the second division. He is ably assisted by his friend Peter Taylor. The biggest and most successful team at the time are Leeds United, managed by Don Revie, who Brian admires greatly. Leeds have a very robust style of play that Brian does not like, he believes players with talent don’t need to use these tactics (and I agree with him). When Derby draws Leeds in the cup, Brian is excited to meet the man he admires, but when Revie snubs him he vows revenge. Brian and Peter then go all out to make Derby a successful team. They win promotion and eventually win the championship. Brian now finds he has problems with his chairman, Sam Longson, who believes Clough thinks he’s bigger than the club. It all culminates in Brian and Peter both getting the sack. As luck would have it, at the same time Don Revie leaves the Leeds job to take over as manager of England. Brian is asked by the Leeds board to come in as the new manager. The film goes on to tell of his 44 days in charge and how it affected him and those around him.

As a football fan I loved this film, it tells of events that happened during my lifetime and events that, although I was quite young, I still remember quite well. As a movie fan, I also liked this film very much; it’s very well made, inter-cutting archive footage with an excellent drama. A tremendous performance from Michael Sheen as Brian Clough, he really looked and sounded just like the man. Great performances also from Timothy Spall as Peter Taylor and Jim Broadbent as Sam Longson. Honourable mentions also go to Colm Meaney as Don Revie and Mark Bazeley as Austin Mitchell.

I guess if you’re not a football fan then it might be one to avoid, but it is a really good drama. Personally, I loved it, although I don’t support any of the teams the film is about, I can remember many of the events portrayed. Over all, an enthralling drama, a true story, set against the world of football in the late 60’s, early 70’s. If you’re a football (or soccer) fan, most definitely recommended, if not, then it’s still a very decent drama (still recommended).

My score: 8.3/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1226271/
Official Site: http://www.sonypictures.co.uk/movies/thedamnedunited/#/home/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi3912499737/