Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 17 October 2002

We meet Slim (Lopez) working with her friend Ginny (Lewis) in a dinner.  She meets a really nice guy named Mitch (Campbell) who saves her from a sleazy guy (Wyle) who’d made a bet with his friends that he’d sleep with her.  The film then slips about 10 years into the future where Slim is now married to Mitch and they have a young daughter, Gracie (Allen).

You sense things aren’t the same between this couple and this is validated when Slim intercepts a call between Mitch and one of his mistresses.  Slim tells Mitch they’re through but he retaliates with violence and promises there will be much more to come (for both her and her daughter) if she leaves him.  It’s a lose-lose situation but she gets the courage to leave and with Gracie, she escapes in the middle of the night with the help of Ginny and some other friends.

Now comes the part where everything goes nuts.  Mitch sends goons to find Slim and Gracie and she’s now on the run - being chased all across America.  Don’t ask me how he keeps finding her.  Meanwhile, Slim meets her estranged father who initially tells her to get lost but then seeing the trouble she’s in, gives her a wad of money and some advice - to do some self-defence training.  So she starts training, toughens up and prepares for the encounter to finally take on her husband “man-to-man”.

If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ll know all the above anyway.  However, the part where Slim begins the training doesn’t occur until 80 minutes in.  I knew what was coming up the whole time and yet had to wait over an hour for it.  Not acceptable.  Also not acceptable is the film’s 114 minute length.  If there’s anything worse than a bad film, it’s a long bad film.

This truly pathetic script was penned by Nicholas Kazan who also wrote Bicentennial Man and Fallen.  Had I known this before I saw this movie, I would have at least been prepared for something underwhelming.  The director is Michael Apted who directed the last Bond film, The World Is Not Enough.  Both films share similar elements of realism and curiously share the word “enough”.

Enough said.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 03 October 2002

The initial plan was for the march to conclude at the Guildhall but the British Army had erected barricades to turn them away.  Led by the local member of Parliament, Ivan Cooper (Nesbett), the crowd marched instead to Free Derry Corner.  However, a breakaway group tried to continue on to the Guildhall and a riot ensued.  At 4:07pm, an order was given for the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment to begin an arrest operation of the breakaway group.

The army fired on the rogue group and over the next 30 minutes, 13 protesters were killed and a further 14 injured from gunshot wounds.  Not a single soldier was injured.  Soldiers claimed they had seen the protesters with guns and nail bombs although no eyewitness accounts could confirm this.  21 soldiers fired a total of 108 rounds in the massacre.

An investigation was performed led by Lord Widgery who concluded the soldiers were fired on first and the deaths would have been avoided if the illegal marchers had not created such “a highly dangerous situation”.  The soldiers who orchestrated the attack were praised and in fact some were later decorated by the Queen.  To most however, Widgery’s report was regarded as fabricated garbage.  There was no conclusive proof those killed held firearms, testimony was not taken from wounded survivors, forensic evidence was flawed and many eyewitnesses were not called.

Twenty five years later, the Irish Government submitted a dossier of evidence to the UK government demanding a fresh inquiry.  In January 1998, Tony Blair announced an independent judicial inquiry headed by Lord Saville would be conducted.  The enquiry began in 2000 and is ongoing to this date.

Written and directed by Paul Greengrass, Bloody Sunday shows both the lead-up and aftermath to that tragic day in 1972.  His screenplay is based on a 1997 book published by Don Mullan which drew attention to the holes in the Widgery Tribunal.  Instead of shooting it as a conventional drama, the film is shot documentary-style.  To give the audience the sense of confusion that people themselves felt on the day, the camera is shaky and the colours grainy.  It’s reminiscent of war footage we see on the news each week.

Given the number of extras required, it’s impossible to comprehend how Greengrass made it look so real.  Perhaps it was the film’s importance in exposing the truth that had residents of Northern Ireland flock to support and be part of it.  In a cast of few big names, James Nesbett leads the pack with an exemplary performance.  You will be amazed.

Despite not being released in the United States, Bloody Sunday is already making headlines.  It shared the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival which has been previously won by films including Magnolia, The Thin Red Line, The People Vs. Larry Flynt, Sense And Sensibility and In The Name Of The Father.  The film also won the World Cinema Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Some films are made for entertainment but some are made for more important reasons.  After 30 years of misinformation, the world is finally hearing the truth about Bloody Sunday.  Thank god for film.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 10 October 2002

Put simply, Road To Perdition is the story of a father and his son.  In fact, its the story of two fathers and two sons.  12-year-old Mike Sullivan (Hoechlin) loves his dad (Hanks) but has reached the age where maturity and curiosity have raised questions about who his father really is.  Mike knows his dad runs errands for Mr. Rooney (Newman) but what does this mean and how can it provide them enough money by which to live?

Hiding in the back seat of his father’s car, Mike follows his dad and Mr. Rooney’s son, Connor (Craig) on a moonlight mission to see what his dad really does.  The car pulls up at a warehouse and peering through a gap in the outside wall, Mike sees Connor shoot a man in the back of the head and his father blow away a group of armed men.  Horrified with the realisation his dad is a gangster, Mike is discovered and asked not to utter a word to anyone.

Although the aging Mr. Rooney is satisfied with Mike’s promise to keep quiet, his reckless son takes matters into his own hands.  Connor kills Mike’s mother (Leigh) and brother and sets the wheels in motion for Mike and his dad to meet a similar fate.  Fleeing their home, they head to Chicago to find work and make a new start but Connor has hired an assailant (Law) to finish the job.  For the first time in their lives, Mike and his father are finally getting to know each other but one feels the time they have together is going to be severely limited.

Despite the differing storylines, Road To Perdition and American Beauty share many traits.  This is evident from the very first scene in both films where the outcome is implied.  76-year-old cinematographer Conrad Hall (who won an Oscar for Beauty) operates his lens with perfection.  Softly, he moves his camera in, he moves his camera out, he moves the camera to the side - it’s rarely still.  You can see the constructive thought that has gone into every shot and every camera angle.  This is more evident late in the film and I won’t identify my favourite moments but make sure you appreciate the talent of both Hall and Mendes.

Tom Hanks and Paul Newman are impeccably cast in their complicated roles.  Unlike most leading characters, these guys have both good and bad qualities.  The audience must make a conscious decision to evaluate these characters and determine their feelings towards them.  Also note the lack of spoken dialogue in the film, particularly in the latter stages.  The setting and characters expressions do all the storytelling.  As Mike, Tyler Hoechlin displays the acting wisdom of someone much older and feeds off Hanks like a seasoned veteran.  I hope his age doesn’t work against him when the award season kicks off in a few months.

If you have any appreciation for cinema or great storytelling, Road To Perdition will provide the ultimate satisfaction.  It’s two out of two for Sam Mendes.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 26 September 2002

At a convenience store, Juan (Pauls) pulls an old scam with a $50 note and walks away $45 richer.  He tries to pull the same stunt with a new attendant in the store but gets busted and the owner threatens to calls the police.  Watching the whole time is an Marcos (Darin), who flashes his badge, pretends to be a police officer and takes Juan outside.

Of course Marcos is also a con artist and has done a rare good deed in intervening to save Juan.  His last partner disappeared and Marcos needs someone to help him scam the streets.  Juan needs a lot of money to bribe his father out of jail and agrees to go along for the day to see what Marcos has to offer.  They pull some light cons before a “one in a million” opportunity comes along.

Getting a call from an old friend named Sandler, Marcos heads to the hotel where his estranged sister, Valeria (Bredice) works.  Marcos and Valeria are at odds as both were left a large inheritance from their grandparents and Marcos is holding up the release of the funds in the courts so he can screw his sister over.  At the hotel, an ill Sandler tells Marcos he has a forgery of some very rare stamps, the “Nine Queens”, that he going to sell to a wealthy collector staying in the hotel.  The collector is being deported the following day and there isn’t much time to reach a deal.  Sandler asks Marcus to sell the stamps for him which Marcus of course agrees to for a very large cut.  Marcus soon finds he needs Juan to help him and offers him a small piece of pie.

This is but the first half of a movie that seems simple but will keep you guessing to the very end.  With so many characters and so many potential con-artists, it comes down to a question of who is playing who.  Reflecting back, the script does seem a little too hard to believe but in that darkened cinema, it was the least of my concerns.  Like other great twist-thrillers, The Usual Suspects and The Sixth Sense, Nine Queens delivers with a ending designed to jolt you.

Made by a first-timer, Fabian Bielinsky has assembled a well defined cast.  They are all intriguing characters.  I expect to see most of them never again as Argentinean cinema does not have a predominant place in Australian/American film culture.  It’s the way it always is.  Good or bad, American films will always be released in this country.  However, only good foreign films with already established reputations will ever be released here.  So don’t be “conned” by inferior Yankee product and take the time to see Nine Queens.

Details

Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 10 October 2002

With a budget under $10m, Polson was given a cheesy script and some inexperienced actors.  In an effort to steer away from the unoriginal, Polson brings style to the production.  During key scenes, he stutters the camera and cuts-away quickly.  It seems so simple but it does add to the suspense and overall enjoyment.

The story revolves around the star of the high school swim team, Ben Cronin (Bradford).  He’s got a great relationship going with his girlfriend Amy (Appleby) and college scouts are soon coming to the school to check him out.  Now that we know Ben is the ultimate nice guy, it’s time to feel sorry for him in the mayhem that follows.

Arriving at the school is Madison Belle (Christensen) and on her first day, introduces herself to Ben in a conveniently staged moment.  This is only the beginning.  Setting up another coincidental meeting, the two wind up in the school pool and the two make love.  The film makes the obvious distinction of course that none of this is Ben’s fault and it’s all Madison’s manipulation.

Now that she has leverage, Madison moves into phase two.  Ben regrets his actions (of course) but Madison plans on using his mistakes to drive a wedge between him and Amy.  Ben can see what she’s playing at but it seems no one else can.  His life turns to shit but Madison is unrelenting - all she wants is him and she’s prepared to stop at nothing to have him.

I know it’s designed only for cheap teen thrills, but after an interesting opening, the film loses all track of plausibility.  Following a scene where one of Ben’s friends winds up dead in a pool, I could only laugh and mock the lunacy of almost every scene.  But I’m not really in the target audience and since the film is performing rather well in the States, maybe my judgment is flawed?  Nah.

Having not seen her since Traffic, Erika Christensen gets the best role and is very good.  Jesse Bradford is decent too but not given the same opportunities.  Shiri Appleby (from the short-lived TV series Roswell) is wasted but good eye-candy.

Certainly above most teen films of today, Swimfan still doesn’t climb too highly on my approval chart.  It’s silly entertainment, and nothing more.  I like something more.