Film Review: A TIME TO KILL (1996)

Director: Joel Schumacher
Writers: John Grisham (novel), Akiva Goldsman (screenplay)
Running time: 149 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller
UK Release date: 13^th September 1996

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 20^th May 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I must admit to being partial to a decent courtroom drama and, having spotted this one in the listings, decided to give it a look. It looked a decent cast and with it being based on a John Grisham novel, I thought it couldn’t be all that bad. You’ll be pleased to know I wasn’t far off the mark; it is pretty good, without being great. I will explain more after this very brief summary.

When Carl Lee Hailey is convicted of the murder of two white men who were on trial for the rape and attempted murder of his ten year old daughter, it falls upon young attorney, Jake Tyler Brigance to defend him. His opponent will be the more experienced and very confident D.A. Rufus Buckley. The events take place in a small town in Mississippi and, of course, with it being a race crime, there is a lot of opposition to the defence. Some of which comes in the form of one of the murdered men’s brother, Freddie Lee Cobb, who contacts the KKK for support. Brigance is aided by his friend, and fellow lawyer, Harry Rex Vonner, and law student, Ellen Roark. He also has the support of his disgraced mentor, Lucien Wilbanks. The defence enters a plea of temporary insanity, but can they make it stick? Well, you guessed it, I’m not going to tell you here or the Spoiler Police (Mississippi Division) will be making me eat grits (whatever that is)… (again).

Although well made I did find this film suffered from getting a little too involved in the things surrounding the trial. For a courtroom drama, it seemed to take an awfully long time to get to the courtroom. The performances were all pretty good; Matthew McConaughey is getting pretty good at playing the Grisham lawyer and this is no exception, he plays Jake Tyler Brigance with great panache. Sandra Bullock reminded us again of what a good actress she can be as Ellen Roark and Samuel L. Jackson played Carl Lee Hailey with all the skill and passion you’d expect. Kevin Spacey did a decent job as D.A. Rufus Buckley, as did Oliver Platt as Harry Rex Vonner. Also worthy of note were; Charles S. Dutton as Sheriff Ozzie Walls, Brenda Fricker as Ethel Twitty, Donald Sutherland as Lucien Wilbanks, Kiefer Sutherland as Freddie Lee Cobb (nice to see him playing a bad guy for a change), Patrick McGoohan as Judge Omar Noose and Ashley Judd as Carla Brigance.

Although I enjoyed it, I did find this film way too long. It gets lost in too much detail part way through and there is an awful lot of stuff in there that has very little baring on the case in hand. I did also find it a little predictable in places, but then I have seen a few Grisham adaptations and they do tend to follow a similar pattern. As a revenge thriller, it’s not all that good, but as a courtroom drama, I found it quite riveting. It’s still quite an enjoyable watch, films about justice generally are (I find) and so I can just about deem it RECOMMENDED (even if it’s a tad long).

My score: 6.5/10

IMDb Score: 7.1/10 (based on 51,195 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0117913/

MetaScore: 54/100: (Based on 21 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 67/100 (based on 51 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 59/100 ‘Want to See’ (based on 88,981 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1072381-time_to_kill/

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

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Sheriff: [to rapists] If I get any trouble outta you guys, I'm gonna integrate this jail.

Judge Omar Noose: Good afternoon, citizens. Be seated. Counsel. And you, sir, are you Carl Lee Hailey?
Carl Lee Hailey: Yes sir.
Judge Omar Noose: Mr. Hailey, I am holding a copy of an indictment returned by the grand jury of Mississippi presenting that "Carl Lee Hailey did murder Billy Ray Cobb, a human being, and James Willis Willard, a human being, and did attempt to kill Dwayne Looney, a peace officer, against the peace and dignity of the State of Mississippi. Do you understand the charges against you?
Carl Lee Hailey: Yes sir.
Judge Omar Noose: How do you wish to plead?
Carl Lee Hailey: [pause] Not guilty, Your Honor.
Jake Tyler Brigance: The defence enters a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, Your Honor.
Judge Omar Noose: Your trial is set for July 22. All pre-trial motions and matters are to be filed no later than July 8. Is there anything further?
D.A. Rufus Buckley: Yes, Your Honor. In the response to the insanity plea, the state requests the defendant be examined by its own doctors.
Judge Omar Noose: Granted
D.A. Rufus Buckley: Additionally, the state opposes any request for bail.
Jake Tyler Brigance: But Your Honor, we have not yet asked for bail. Now Governor Buckley cannot oppose a request until one is made. He should have learned that in law school.
D.A. Rufus Buckley: Your Honor, even Mr. Brigance's meagre legal experience should have taught him two things; number one, I have not been elected governor... yet. And number two, he is required to request bail; the state opposes any such request.
Judge Omar Noose: Well in the future why don't we just wait until he makes the request?
[DA Rufus Buckley nods lightly with a slight smile]
Jake Tyler Brigance: Thank you Your Honor. Your Honor we would like to request bail.
Judge Omar Noose: [Quickly] Denied. I have never allowed bail in a capital murder case and I don't feel that an exception is called for today.

Harry Rex Vonner: Lucien, I thought you were dead.
Lucien Wilbanks: I'm trying.

Ellen Roark: I keep thinking, what would Jake do? What would my father do? What would Lucien do?
Harry Rex Vonner: Well see, there's your problem. What you should be thinking is, what would Harry Rex do?
Ellen Roark: What would Harry Rex do?
Harry Rex Vonner: Cheat. Cheat like crazy.

D.A. Rufus Buckley: Do you think men who kidnap a child should be free in 10 years?
Carl Lee Hailey: No sir.
D.A. Rufus Buckley: Do you think two men who rape a child should be free in 10 years?
Carl Lee Hailey: No, sir.
D.A. Rufus Buckley: Do you think two men who hang a child should be free in 10 years?
Carl Lee Hailey: No.
D.A. Rufus Buckley: Well what do you think should happen? What would be a fair sentence?
Jake Tyler Brigance: Objection!
D.A. Rufus Buckley: Do you think they should deserve to die?
Jake Tyler Brigance: Don't answer that Carl Lee!
D.A. Rufus Buckley: Do you think they should deserve to die?
Carl Lee Hailey: Yes, they deserved to die and I hope they burn in hell!

Carl Lee Hailey: You're white, and I'm black. See Jake, you think just like them. That's why I picked you. You're one of them, don't you see? Oh, you think you ain't 'cause you eat in Claude's and you out there trying to get me off on TV talking about black and white. But the fact is you're just like all the rest of them. When you look at me, you don't see a man, you see a black man.

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

Film Review: IRON MAN 2 (2010) - Revisited

Director: Jon Favreau
Running time: 120 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12

Genre: Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi
UK Release date: 30^th April 2010

Watched on Sky+ Friday 27^th May 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I very much enjoyed the first film in this series and was hoping for more of the same in the sequel. Fortunately I wasn’t too disappointed, it lived up to the first one, maybe not quite as good (sequels seldom are), but a fine effort nonetheless. The setting is New York where Tony Stark, having revealed himself as Iron Man and having brought peace to the world, is holding his Stark Expo, an exhibition of technology from all over the world. An idea originated by his father, Howard.

In Russia, Ivan Vanko, brooding after the death of his father, Anton, who had worked with Howard Stark on the early prototype of the power source that now drives Iron Man’s suit. He was extradited back to Russia for espionage and made to live in Siberia. Ivan, now seeking revenge works on a suit of his own. Meanwhile back in the USA, Tony Stark has been summoned before a Senate committee who are determined to get him to give them the Iron Man suit for military use. One of the experts called to the hearing is Justin Hammer, one of Stark’s former competitors when he made weapons for a living. Bringing his friend, Lt. Col. James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes to testify backfires on the committee and Stark wins the day, but things are not over between him and Hammer.

Stark now decides to hand control of Stark Industries over to Pepper Potts having discovered his health is at risk from wearing the suit. The papers are drawn up and a woman from the legal department, Natalie Rushman, brings them for signing. She impresses Stark and later becomes Pepper’s assistant. Heading to Monaco, Stark decides to compete in a motor race. He is surprised when Ivan Vanko turns up and destroys his car with plasma whips. Fortunately, Pepper is there with his Iron Man suit and he manages to subdue the Russian. Vanko goes to jail but is later sprung by someone who is very interested in his work.

Returning home, Stark prepares for his birthday party, but with many things praying on his mind he gets drunk wearing the suit and ends up in a fight with Rhodey. Enter Nick Fury who helps put Stark back on the road to recovery and reveal that someone close to him is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Hammer is due to show the work he has been doing at Stark’s Expo and he has a few things he wants to surprise him with. Things are brewing up for a big fight at the end, but I don’t want to spoil it for you, I’ll just say it’s pretty spectacular and Vanko isn’t finished with Stark just yet.

This is a very well made film with plenty of very well designed and executed special effects. The score is great, but if you put AC/DC, The Clash and Queen in there you’re always going to get my vote! The performances were all good, special mentions go to Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer and Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko. Honourable mentions go to Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Don Cheadle as Lt. Col. James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes, Scarlett Johansson as Natalie Rushman and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

I must admit I didn’t much care for the character of Tony Stark at first, he is egotistic and narcissistic. As the film went on he did show he does have a human side though. Justin Hammer is equally egotistic which I found made for an interesting dynamic to this good versus evil story. I also had a problem with America being the centre of everything, yet again, it’s like the rest of the world doesn’t exist! (Apart from Monaco). Although I did find it amusing when Stark is standing in front of a giant US flag projected on a screen with an Australian/British rock band providing the music. But enough of these minor niggles, the film is great fun, not as good as the first one, but as sequels go, it’s certainly watchable. Over all, recommended.

My score: 7.3/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1228705/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/iron_man_2/
Official Site: http://ironmanmovie.marvel.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: CLEANER (2007)

Director: Renny Harlin
Running time: 88 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

USA release date: 27th May 2008 (DVD Premiere)

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 23rd January 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I watched this on the recommendation of a friend and, to be honest, he owes me 88 minutes of my life back. It’s a crime drama set against the backdrop of the world of forensic clean-up. The guys that clean up what’s left after the body has been removed. I’ll give you my thoughts after this brief summary (summary haters please stay behind the tape while I clean up the next paragraph).

Tom Cutler is a retired cop who is now making a career out of cleaning up crime scenes. His wife was killed some years ago and he lives with his teenage daughter, Rose. He turns up to the scene of a murder to find nobody at home but a key has been left for him. Having completed the job he returns home only to find he still has the key. Going back the next day he’s surprised to find the wife, Ann Norcut, at home holding a children’s birthday party. He asks if he can speak to her husband, but she says he is out. At this point he tries to cover his tracks, realising that it might be a set-up. He hides the evidence he collected but things are about to turn bad for the former cop. His ex-partner, Eddie Lorenzo, gets in touch and Tom takes the opportunity to ask him about the case. He denies all knowledge, but the investigating officer, another former colleague, Jim Vargas, is slightly more forthcoming. The press have, by now, got hold of the story that Ann Norcut’s husband is missing and Tom is between a rock and a hard place. Not everyone is telling the truth and this can only mean trouble.

A very complicated plot does not help this film. It strikes me the filmmakers are trying a little too hard to be clever and failing to hit the mark. The performances were OK, but nothing to write home about; Samuel L. Jackson wasn’t really stretched as Tom Cutler, Ed Harris had a stroll in the park as Eddie Lorenzo and Eva Mendes was nothing particularly special as Ann Norcut. Honourable mentions should go to Luis Guzmán as Det. Jim Vargas, Keke Palmer who I thought was actually pretty good as Rose Cutler and it was also nice to see Robert Forster as Arlo Grange.

It was almost like watching one of those old Philip Marlowe movies where Marlowe was a crime scene clean-up guy instead of a Private Eye. It certainly has that feel, but with nothing like the style it needed to carry it off. Over all I found this one pretty disappointing and I can see why it went straight to DVD… NOT recommended.

My score: 5.2/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0896798/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cleaner/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/screenplay/vi3049128217/

Film Review: THE SPIRIT (2008)

Director: Frank Miller
Running time: 103 mins (approx)
Certificate (UK): 15

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 7th February 2010.

PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Based on a comic book series by Will Eisner this film plots the efforts of a once dead cop who has come back to avenge his killer. Exactly how he was able to come back from the dead is explained later in the plot, and no, I’m not going to tell you here. Made in the comic book style the director used to good effect in Sin City (2005) it has the same look and feel as that well known classic.

Denny Colt has come back from the dead and, to protect his identity, he now wears a mask and calls himself ‘The Spirit’. He is trying to capture and bring to justice, the criminal who killed him, ‘The Octopus’. To complicate matters, his old flame, Sand Saref is back in town, having been away for many years where she has turned to the criminal side of the law. Whenever ‘The Sprit’ and ‘The Octopus’ meet and fight, they are strangely unable to kill each other. It’s known that ‘The Octopus, along with his associate, Silken Floss, has been dabbling in genetics. This is shown by the gang of identical, but rather dim, henchmen they always have in tow. To cut a long story short, Sand Saref has committed a robbery and stolen two items, one she personally wants, and one she intends to sell. ‘The Octopus’ manages to steal the one she wants to keep and eventually they agree to swap. ‘The Spirit’ gets wind of this meeting and plans to take his final revenge on the Octopus. There’s a lot more, but it’s getting late and I’m sure you don’t want the entire plot anyway!

As I said at the beginning, this film was made in a similar style to Sin City (2005), which is also like, 300 (2006), which I enjoyed immensely. Anyhow, it seems that in this one they forgot to put in a coherent plot. From ‘The Spirit’ and ‘The Octopus’ beating each other up, to a love scene, to comic scenes with the henchmen, I found it quite hard to follow. Admittedly, it did all tie together at the end, but it took a long time, it seemed, to get there. Gabriel Macht was adequate as The Spirit / Denny Colt, whereas, Samuel L. Jackson was so over the top as The Octopus that I really thought he was going to bust a blood vessel! Honourable mentions go to, Eva Mendes as Sand Saref, Louis Lombardi as Pathos / Ethos / Logos & many other henchmen, Scarlett Johansson as Silken Floss, Sarah Paulson as Ellen Dolan and Dan Lauria as Dolan.

Over all, I found it a little too over the top for my taste. I guess they tried to make it bit too much like a comic book and it just didn’t work. As I was watching it, I was thinking it may work better as, say, a TV show, split into five or six 20 minute shows. I can’t really recommend it, and not having read the comic books, I can’t really say that a fan would really like it either.

My score: 4.9/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0831887/
Official Site: http://www.mycityscreams.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi1246822425/

Film Review: 1408 [Director’s Cut] (2007)

Director: Mikael Håfström
Running time: 108 mins (approx)
Certificate (UK): 15

Watched on Sky+ Monday 4th January 2010.

PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I have seen the theatrical cut of this film before and, to be honest, there’s not a lot added to the ‘Director’s cut’ version. Mike Enslin is an author who writes about scary hotels and such like. He has never seen a ghost and does not believe in such things as demons. Basically, he’s very cynical about the whole thing; however, his books are fairly successful.

One day, whilst going through his mail, Mike comes across a postcard from the Dolphin Hotel in New York. On the back of the card is the message “don’t enter 1408”. This intrigues him and, after having been at first rebuffed by the hotel, he gets his agent, Sam Farrell, to get him a night in that room. Arriving at the hotel, he is met by Gerald Olin, the manager and warned not to spend the night in that room. Despite a file full of evidence of murders, suicides and mysterious deaths, Mike insists that he stay in 1408. Eventually Olin relents and gives Mike the key. On entering he sees just a normal hotel room. Looking around, he describes the setting to his Dictaphone. Just when everything’s looking normal, the radio switches on, and then a picture appears crooked, and then a toilet roll end gets mysteriously folded. Thinking there must be someone else hiding in the room, Mike begins to search. He finds a lot more than he bargained for.

I haven’t read the Stephen King short story on which this movie is based, but I gather it’s somewhat better than the film. Quite well made with plenty of spooky special effects. Decent performances from the cast, John Cusack as Mike Enslin, Samuel L. Jackson as Gerald Olin, Mary McCormack as Lily (Enslin’s ex-wife) and Tony Shalhoub as Sam Farrell.

I guess the main problem, for me, was that the room didn’t really scare me. Yes, weird things happened, but I guess I didn’t care enough about Mike Enslin for it to affect me in any meaningful way. The action did get a bit too ‘off the wall’ towards the middle but the ending was pretty good. There was definitely something lacking though. Over all, a fair effort to make a scary film, but one that failed to hit the mark IMHO.

My score: 5.4/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0450385/
Official Site: http://www.1408-themovie.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/screenplay/vi3115516185/