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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 26 May 2013

About 30 minutes into this film, a person sitting behind me in the cinema whispered to their friend – “this is like watching Abbott and Costello”. I was thinking more along the lines of The Three Stooges but you can probably see the point I’m trying to make – Happiness Never Comes Alone is a light-hearted French film that tries to blend romance with slapstick comedy.

Sacha (Elmaleh) is a casual, laidback musician who likes having fun. By day, he writes jingles for a major advertising company. When asked if he’s done anything memorable, Sacha responds by saying he wrote a split-second piece that plays at train stations over the loudspeakers before announcements are made (in other words, not all that memorable). By night, he’s a pianist at a local jazz club. He turns up, has a few drinks and charms the beautiful women with his gifted fingers (I’m talking about his piano skills).

Sacha is happy with the path he’s taken in life but the arrival of the much older Charlotte (Marceau) will leave him thinking otherwise. The two meet in a scene that can only be described as a humorous farce. Both are leaving work and in pouring rain, they bump into each other on street. Charlotte stumbles (high heels are to blame) and falls into a puddle. On getting up, she tries to salvage the situation but is immediately engulfed in a wave of water as a speeding car drives through the same puddle. Sacha offers her a lift home in his rusty convertible and the saturated Charlotte decides to accept.

There’s an obvious connection between them. If you can’t tell from the look in the eyes, things should click when you see them engage in an exhausting, all-night love making session. It’s not until they’ve fallen for each other when a few interesting truths are revealed – Charlotte is the ex-wife of Sacha’s egotistical boss and she already has three children.

It’s a recipe for trouble and the rest of the film explores their up-and-down relationship. Sacha gets on beautifully well with Charlotte’s kids but is this where he wants to go with his life? What about his plans to create a stage show and travel the world? Should he put these goals on the backburner and take a chance on a woman he has only just met?

We’ve seen this story time-and-time again but there’s a nice chemistry between stars Gad Elmaleh and Sophie Marceau that makes it easy to watch. The slapstick style of comedy used by writer-director James Huth also gives the film a point of differentiation from a regular French rom-com. The goofy, unexpected laughs caught many by surprise at the preview screening I attended.

I’m not quite sure about the abrupt note on which the film decides to end (one subplot in particular was left open-ended) but as one of the more popular releases to come out of the recent French Film Festival here in Australia, Happiness Never Comes Alone can now be enjoyed by a wider audience.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 08 May 2013

After the successful reboot of Star Trek back in 2009 (which pulled in $385m at the international box-office), it was only matter of time before we saw the next instalment. Director JJ Abrams is again at the helm but it’s likely this will be his last film in the franchise. He’s been tapped on the shoulder by Walt Disney Pictures to create a new Star Wars film for release in mid-2015.

Following his heroics at the end of the previous movie, Captain James T. Kirk (Pine) has found himself in hot water. After disobeying orders on a recent mission, Kirk has been stripped of his leadership duties aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise by his superiors. They’re not happy with his disregard for rules – a key one being to explore and observe other planets… as opposed to interfering.

Kirk’s time on the sideline will be short lived. Earth will be attacked – not by an alien adversary but rather someone from within. A top agent by the name of John Harrison (Cumberbatch) bombed the Star Fleet Archives in London, fired on Star Fleet Headquarters in San Francisco and then fled to a distant planet. What were his motives? Why did he flee?

After several lives are lost, Kirk is asked to head into the far-depths of space. The mission is not to apprehend Harrison but rather, destroy the uninhabited planet on which he is hiding. Kirk will be assisted by some familiar faces aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise including the by-the-book Commander Spock (Quinto), Lieutenant Commander McCoy (Urban), Lieutenant Sulu (Cho) and Lieutenant Uhura (Saldana). Not joining them is chief engineer Lieutenant Commander Scott (Pegg) who has concerns about the weaponry aboard the ship.

Details of the plot were kept tight-lipped prior to the film’s release and there are a few interesting twists in this tale. I particularly enjoyed rising British star Benedict Cumberbatch in the role of the villain. He’s a mysterious character who is clearly keeping his cards close to his chest, waiting to show them at an opportune moment. He’ll keep you guessing, that’s for sure.

The film comes with its fair share of adrenalin-pumping action sequences. In fact, I’d say there’s probably a few too many. Aside from a few meaningful conversations early in the film, there isn’t much in the way of character interaction. For example, there’s an interesting subplot about the tension between Commander Spock and Lieutenant Uhura but it never really goes anywhere. Other characters, such as Ensign Chekov (Yelchin), are hardly seen at all.

Star Trek Into Darkness is worth a trip to the cinema but be careful not to set your expectations too high (fans especially). I’d say it ranks slightly below the 2009 reboot - it's good, not great.

You can read my interview with director J.J. Abrams by clicking here.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 22 May 2013

Released back in 2009, The Hangover was an amusing, surprising, innovative comedy.  It earned huge points for its shock value – as if daring itself to become crazier and crazier with each passing scene.  While there were a few decent laughs in the 2011 sequel, most would rank it below the original.  It stuck too closely to the first film and didn’t seem to want to take any chances.

If you shared a similar point of view, you’re likely to take some pleasure from this final instalment, The Hangover: Part III.  For starters, there’s no hangover!  In the earlier films, the four guys who make up the “Wolfpack” woke up from a huge bender and tried to piece together the events of the previous evening.

This time around, they’ve been kidnapped by Marshall, an aggravated drug dealer (Goodman) who is looking for $21 million in gold bars that was stolen from him.  Marshall knows they’re not behind the heist… but they can lead him to the person responsible – Mr. Chow (Jeong).  The former police officer recently escaped from a Thai prison and is now rumoured to be hiding in the United States.

Marshall takes Doug (Bartha) as collateral and puts Phil (Cooper), Stu (Helms) and Alan (Galifianakis) in a “no choice” scenario.  They have to track down Mr. Chow and find the $21 million in gold.  If they can’t deliver, it’ll be the last time they see Doug alive.  It sets the stage for another wild adventure spread across several locations.

The Hangover: Part III provides a fitting end to this saga.  It's still dominated by these memorable characters (cheers) and it's not the same as the second film (cheers again).  Zach Galifianakis again steals the show as the 42-year-old Alan – a guy with no girlfriend who still lives with his parents. He’s socially awkward and mentally unstable.  He can’t complete a sentence without saying something inappropriate.  Despite all of this, there’s something sweet, endearing about the guy.  Watching him in action, I can’t help but think of the line – "I dare not look, yet I cannot turn away."

Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms also deserve their fair share of kudos.  They both do a terrific job as the “level-headed” friends trying to find a way out of this insane situation.  Not only do they have to locate Chow and the gold, they have to work equally hard in keeping Alan under control.

You could make a strong argument that The Hangover: Part III contains more of a plot than the earlier movies.  There are fewer surprises, fewer laugh-out-loud moments and fewer tigers in bathrooms.  Instead, this is a film that engages thanks to its carefully thought-out storyline (which does still come with a few twists).  How will these guys find Chow and then convince him to hand over the gold?

With a few nice references to characters from the earlier movies, it’s clear that The Hangover: Part III will be the last in this successful franchise from writer-director Todd Phillips.  It won’t be winning any Oscars but that won’t bother the millions around the world who will have fun checking it out this weekend.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 07 May 2013

In the very first shot of the film, we see a shirtless, tattooed Ryan Gosling (fans will be pleased). His character is Luke and he’s working for minimum wage as a motorcycle stunt driver in a travelling carnival show. Put simply, his life is going nowhere. He has no family, no career aspirations and next-to-no money.

That changes when he tracks down an old love interest, Romina (Mendes), and learns that he’s the father to an infant child. Some in this situation might start running for the hills but Luke is thrilled with this sudden development. He immediately quits his job, finds work with a local mechanic (Mendelsohn) and promises to provide and care for his son. His life suddenly has a purpose. There’s a beautiful moment where he tells Romina that he wants to let his son taste ice-cream for the first time.

Luke initially comes across as a good, well-meaning guy but some of his actions will soon leave you thinking otherwise. Romina has been dating another guy for quite a while and Luke feels threatened by the fact he’s providing for Romina and his son. Determined to become the “alpha male” of the household, Luke turns to a life of crime. He starts robbing banks – using his skills as a motorcycle rider to flee the scene and avoid the authorities.

What happens next came as a complete surprise to me. I’m not going to spoil it. I watched an interview with director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine) where he remarked that he wanted to keep this film as quiet as possible prior to its premiere at last year’s Toronto Film Festival. Most filmmakers go in search of publicity… but Cianfrance did the opposite. His reason was simple – to preserve this film’s intriguing twists and to watch the stunned reactions of those in the audience.

I’m going to abide my Cianfrance’s wishes and say no more regarding the storyline. Hopefully I’ve tweaked your curiosity. Given I see more than 200 movie a year, I can’t help but applaud the small minority of films that are prepared to take chances and offer something different. The Place Beyond The Pines does just that.

It’s been three days since I saw the film and I’m still struggling to grasp the broad message. The film has something to say about heroes and villains and the blurry line in between. It also has something to say about the connection between fathers and sons. Don’t ask me for any more details though. It’s not that I don’t want to spoil… it’s just that I’m still figuring it all out.

It’s the interesting characters and their thought-provoking choices that make this film so compelling. I’m expecting cinemagoers to walk away with polarising viewpoints and it’s exciting to see a movie offering such a challenge. What do you make of these people? How would you have acted in their situation? It’s anything but black and white.

Not everything fits in the third act (a few too many coincidences) but The Place Beyond The Pines is a quality drama that I’m keen to see again.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 21 May 2013

Two men are sitting in a café in Lahore, Pakistan. They are discussing the recent kidnapping of an American lecturer who had taught for many years at the local university. This isn’t an idle, run-of-the-mill conversation. One of the men is Bobby (Schreiber) – an American journalist fishing for information on the crime. The other is Changez (Ahmed) – a young, highly respected Pakistani lecturer who Bobby believes is linked to the kidnappers.

This current day storyline plays second fiddle to what this film is really about. Told by way of flashback, The Reluctant Fundamentalist focuses on Changez’s life until this point. He moved from Pakistan to the United States to attend college and on graduating, landed a lucrative job at a prestigious consulting firm in New York City. Changez’s astute ability to value companies and identify cost savings immediately caught the attention of his boss (Sutherland) and he was on track to become the youngest partner in the firm’s history.

That never eventuated. We know this because Changez is now working as a lowly paid lecturer in Lahore. So what happened? How did his life take such a shift? Why is one of the world’s most gifted consultants now being spoken of in the same sentence as a renowned terrorist? Director Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding, The Namesake) slowly peels back the details of Changez’s life and provides answers to the curious audience.

Without giving too much away, The Reluctant Fundamentalist has some obvious points to make about Changez’s life in the United States and the unnecessary barriers he had to face. We live in a world where people often act in an ignorant, ill-informed manner. It’s hard to win an argument with a person who chooses to go with their gut instinct as opposed to readily obtainable facts.

Unfortunately, the film spends a little too much reinforcing this message. By the time we get back to the two men sitting in the café, there’s only 15 or so minutes left to follow the more interesting story – that of the kidnapped lecturer and what can be done by both of these men to save him.

If there’s a one reason you should see this film, it’s the lead performance from Riz Ahmed. Some might remember him from the great British black comedy Four Lions where he played a not-so-wise suicide bomber. The Reluctant Fundamentalist allows him to show his talent as a dramatic actor and he makes the most of the opportunity through this complex character. It’s hard to work out if his smart, good-natured personality hides something much darker underneath.

There are several great conversations in the film and the back-and-forth between Riz Ahmed and Liev Schreiber in the café springs to mind. On the flip side, there’s some strange stuff between Ahmed and his co-workers at the consulting firm that feels fake, scripted. It highlights the up-and-down nature of the film – some parts are compelling while other parts are unconvincing.