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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 14 November 2005

There is a woman.  She has a 6-year-old daughter.  They board a plane.  They plane takes off.  The mother falls asleep.  When she wakes up, her daughter is not there.  She looks around the plane.  The flight attendants start searching.  There is simply no trace of her.  The mother starts freaking out.  An air marshall keeps her calm.  A flight attendant checks the passenger manifest.  The daughter was never on the plane.  No one ever saw her.

It’s a suspenseful premise and it’s all very Hitchcock like.  A girl goes missing at 36,000 feet above sea level.  How can this possibly happen?  I was very intrigued and having the film set in such an enclosed space only increased the suspense.  Jodie Foster’s performance as the mother is gripping and you sense the confusion that is raging through her mind.

What follows is the single worst ending to a film you will see in 2005.  I can’t possibly imagine that Jodie Foster signed on to appear in this film after having first read this dismal excuse for a script.  People have different tastes and like different movies but how can anyone like this?  The plot holes are so obvious that a 10-year-old could pick them out.  It’s as if the screenwriters came up with the story then didn’t know how to end it.  So instead of scrapping the idea, they tried to “pull a swifty” on the audience.

I’ll remember Flightplan for a long time because it sets a benchmark for lunacy that I can compare other dodgy endings to.   Over.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 08 November 2005

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is a tasty mix of crime and comedy.  When a distraught Harmony Lane (Monaghan) bumps into old friend Harry Lockhart (Downey Jr), she pleads for his help in tracking down who just murdered her younger sister.  Harry’s always had a thing for Harmony and has every intention of helping her out.  The problem for Harry is that despite what he told Harmony, he’s not a real detective.  He’s just pretending to be one and he’s only hanging out with a real detective named Gay Perry (Kilmer) to help study for a film role.  He’s actually not an actor either but that’s another story.

The search for the killer has all the expected plot twists and clichés you’d expect from a cheap 1960s crime novel.  This isn’t a criticism of the film though – it’s more a statement about its design.  Harry and Harmony have read many such books and the fact that they now appear to be in one creates an opportunity to spoof the genre.  There are many “laugh out loud” moments and you have to laugh at the many predicaments our heroes get themselves into.  You could call it a subtler version of Austin Powers.

The most likeable aspect to the movie is the narration of Robert Downey Jr.  He breaks from his character on many occasions and talks directly to the audience.  He even goes to the trouble of pausing the film to point out key scenes and explain certain characters.  I know this isn’t an entirely new concept but Downey Jr has the laid-back charm to pull it off.

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang marks the directorial debut of writer Shane Black, the man who penned the four Lethal Weapon movies along with The Last Boy Scout, Last Action Hero and The Long Kiss Goodnight.  He has a smart nose for comedy and has written some comical scenes for Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer to share.  I haven’t heard much from these actors of late and looking back at their resumes, I declare this as their best performance in at least five years.

There’s lots of kisses, lots of bangs and lots to be smiling about.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 13 November 2005

It is a happy day for the Van Dort family.  They have arranged for their only son, Victor (Depp) to marry the only daughter of the supposedly wealthy Everglot family.  It is a not so happy day for the Everglots.  They are now penniless and are seeing their daughter, Victoria (Watson), marry the son of a fish merchant.

After a botched wedding rehersal, Victor starts to worry about himself and whether he’s worthy of the beautiful Victoria.  On the night before he is to be wed, he goes out into the woods to rehearse his vows.  Finally he perfects them but when he places the wedding ring on a think stick protruding from the ground, his life will change.  It wasn’t a stick after all – but the finger of a skeleton who now rises from the ground.  He has married a corpse (Bonham Carter).

Taken downstairs into the world of the dead, Victor finds himself falling in love with this corpse bride.  She’s sweet, charming and has a humorous group of deceased friends.  They soon learn though that their marriage was not legitimate.  How can one pledge to be together “to death do us part” when one is already dead?  The only way they can be truly together is if Victor too takes his life.  Is this a sacrifice he is prepared to make?

Tim Burton (Ed Wood, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Big Fish) is a renowned director but few may know that he started out in the film industry as an animator.  His very first short film was narrated by the legendary Vincent Price.  In 1993, he wrote and produced his first full-length animated film, The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Corpse Bride is his second animated feature and is equally as good.  Kids will be enchanted by the unique-style of animation and the funny characters.  Adults will be surprised by the subtlety in the jokes, the richness of the story and the sheer quality of the whole production.  You might also have fun trying to recognise the voices amongst the large cast - it’s filled with Burton regulars such as Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.

You have to appreciate the time and effort that it takes to put such animation together.  I am told that it took 28 separate shots to get the corpse bride to blink just once.  For this reason, the film clocks in at 76 minutes and it may be the shortest film you’ll see all year.  I have no problem with this.  It’s an ideal length for children and it doesn’t overstay its welcome.  My only question is why this wasn’t released during school holidays?

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 06 November 2005

Most movies you simply watch.  Rare movies though, require you both think and watch.  Within five minutes I new that Stay fell into the later category.  Like Mulholland Drive, Donnie Darko or The Sixth Sense, you’ll be taken into a mysterious world that doesn’t make much sense.  The challenge is then presented – can you predict how it will end?

It begins with psychiatrist Sam Foster (McGregor) taking over from of a colleague who has gone on leave.  One of his new patients is Henry Letham (Gosling), a young man on the eve of his 21^st birthday.  Henry has been hearing voices and wants to kill himself.  It’s a case that Sam can’t seem to distance himself from – he wants to know more about Henry and will do whatever he can to prevent his death.

The key to any great mystery is the storyline and whether the ending supports that which precedes it.  I was guessing constantly throughout and now have seen how the film ends, I can endorse the entire 99 minutes.  It is for this reason that I won’t reveal any more about the plot.  Preconceptions will only ruin the experience.

Stay has a visual style which blew me away.  The film keeps slipping from location to location with a crafty camera technique that you have to see to appreciate.  It’s unlike anything I’ve seen before and is the culmination of work by the visual effects artists, the cinematographer, the film editor, the writer and the director.  It’ll blow your mind and only increase the mystery of Sam Foster and Henry Letham.

I’ve spoken to a few other people regarding the film’s interpretation and the significance of several scenes and characters.  Most agree on the overall premise but I think it would take several viewings to pick up most the meaningful references left by writer David Benioff (Troy, 25^th Hour) and director Marc Foster (Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland).  I can’t wait to see it again!

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 11 November 2005

An elderly lady has been shot dead in a convenience store robbery in Detroit, Michigan.  Her name was Evelyn Mercer (Flanagan) and she had a “saint-like” reputation in the community.  Evelyn took hundreds of troubled youths into her care and helped find them suitable foster homes.  She touched many people but there were four boys she deeply cared about – Bobby (Whalberg), Angel (Gibson), Jeremiah (Benjamin) and Jack (Hedlund).  Evelyn adopted them and raised them as her own.

It’s been a while since these four brothers left the Mercer house but they have returned on hearing word of Evelyn’s slaying.  When asked, Bobby tells police Lieutenant Green (Howard), an old friend, that he hasn’t returned for the funeral – he’s returned to find the people responsible and see that his own brand of justice is served upon them.

After some “forceful” sniffing around, their investigations lead them to Victor Sweet (Ejiofor), a wealthy businessman with friends in high places.   Why though would Victor be involved in a petty robbery and why would he want an old lady killed?  It doesn’t add up.  Victor knows Bobby and his brothers are on his tail.  He wants them taken care of before they get too close.

Four Brothers is predominantly an action film which its car chases and shoot-outs.  These scenes have been outstandingly put together by director director John Singleton (2 Fast 2 Furious, Shaft, Boyz In The Hood).  The reaction I had towards a violent gun-fest at the Mercer residence in the middle part of the film was simply “woah”.  It was loud and intense.

What I liked most about the film was the surprising depth to the characters.  You can sense the bond between these four brothers and the fact they are all looking out for each other.  Mark Whalberg (as Bobby) and Garrett Hedlund (as Jack) are particularly interesting.  I’m glad to say that this isn’t a film where $100,000,000 was spent on the action and $100 spent on the script.

There are a few confusing elements to the story (such as why Evelyn was killed and why Victor is as powerful as he is) but I think it’s a strong film in a genre I usually expect so little from.