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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 27 September 2022

A real murder set in the middle of a fake murder.  That’s the creative premise on offer in See How They Run, the debut feature film of British director Tom George (This Country).  It takes us back to London’s West End in the early 1950s when Agatha Christie’s whodunit The Mousetrap was making its debut in front of packed, adoring crowds.  As this movie begins, the play’s cast and crew are celebrating their 100^th performance – a milestone many didn’t think they’d reach (humorously ironic given the show would become the longest running in the world).

Oscar winner Adrian Brody (The Pianist) steps into the shoes of Leo Köpernick, an American screenwriter who has been contracted to transform the play into a Hollywood movie.  He rubs people up the wrong way and doesn’t seem to care.  From hitting on partnered women with his sleazy one-liners, to wanting to make significant revisions to the screenplay to include more action, Leo is not well liked.

It will therefore come as no surprise to audiences to see him wind up dead in the film’s opening act.  He was backstage in wardrobe department when attacked by a mysterious figure wearing a long cloak and a felt hat.  Everyone has a motive (as you’d expect) and called in to solve the crime is a dispirited Inspector Stoppard (Rockwell) and his overexcited assistant, Constable Stalker (Ronan).

Such an idea could come across as overly corny (the actors in a whodunit are now part of a real whodunit) but screenwriter Mark Chappell (Flaked) makes this work with well crafted dialogue.  The best material is saved for Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) and Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn) who are excellent together.  They’re polar opposites, in terms of both personality and approach, but they gravitate towards an amiable middle ground with each passing scene.  Seeing them interact is worth the price of admission alone!

The film also works as a credible, “see if you can pick it” mystery.  There’s a fun blend of truth and fiction as elements from The Mousetrap start to play out in reality (like a scene where the actors all congregate together).  I wish more was made of the character but even Agatha Christie (nicely played by Shirley Henderson) makes an appearance at an opportune moment.

Moving at a fast pace (it’s just 98 minutes) and boosted by its strong performances, See How They Run will entertain the vast majority of those who see it.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 16 September 2022

David (Clooney) and Georgia (Roberts) have been divorced for 19 years and yet their hatred for each other is as strong as ever.  Caught in the middle is their only child, Lily (Dever), who has delicately navigated the situation for two decades but now, on the eve of her college graduation, has decided to throw a cat among the pigeons.  They asked to sit on different sides of the auditorium for the graduation ceremony but Lily has arranged for her parents to sit by side-by-side on the upper balcony.  As expected, it doesn’t go well.  Insults fly and they bicker about trivial details (like who gets priority in using the seat’s armrest).

With the stage set, writers Ol Parker and Daniel Pipski find a way of bringing these two back together in pursuit of a common goal.  Lily flies off to Bali for a post-college holiday and there, she falls in love with the setting, the lifestyle, and a local man named Gede (Bouttier).  She impulsively decides to give up on a law career, remain in Bali, and get married.  All of this is communicated to her parents via email along with news the wedding ceremony will take in four days’ time.  Both David and Georgia think it’s an insane decision and so they agree to put aside their differences, fly to Bali, and convince their daughter to give the idea more thought.

They agree to stay “lockstep” with a “Trojan Horse” approach.  They’ll pretend to be happy about the upcoming nuptials while secretly sabotaging events in the background.  Their most devious act is to steal the wedding rings, which were blessed with sacred water, and have Gede’s family think the wedding is cursed.  It’s not their only tactic.  David spends time with Gede and, in talking about the “horrors” of his own marriage, hopes his soon to be son-in-law reconsiders his decision.

This is as corny, cheesy and formulaic as a romantic comedy can get.  You can foresee the outcome of every major plot point long before the inevitable finale.  This may have worked with some strong set pieces but unfortunately, the misadventures of these characters have been poorly conceived.  This is best illustrated during a moment where an aggressive dolphin bites David while on a boat cruise.  It’s a poorly directed scene which is light on laughs and even lighter on relevance.

Ticket to Paradise offers positives in terms of both the cast and setting.  George Clooney and Julia Roberts have worked together several times (Ocean’s Eleven, Money Monster) and their experience shows here.  The material isn’t great but they still do an admirable job in schmoozing audiences.  While set in Bali, much of the film was shot here in Australia with idyllic locations on the Gold Coast and Whitsunday Islands serving as the backdrop and helping create a fun, relaxed, wish-I-was-there vibe.

Playing it super safe and taking few chances, it’s a shame the creatives behind Ticket to Paradise didn’t follow in the footsteps of the characters and make a few unexpected, less-predictable decisions themselves. 

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 21 September 2022

They’ve had a thriving film/TV industry for decades, but it’s not until recently that a much greater percentage of international eyes have opened to the world of South Korea.  Released in mid-2019, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite grossed more than $263 million USD at the global box-office and became the first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for best picture.  Earlier this year, the TV show Squid Game developed a cult-like following with star Lee Jung-jae winning the Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a drama series – the first Asian man to do so.

Hunt is the latest South Korean flick to earn an international cinematic release and it’s likely to garner support based on the fact it marks the directorial debut of Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae.  The 49-year-old co-wrote the script with Jo Seung-Hee and takes on the film’s lead role (he was a busy man).  It had its world premiere out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival back in May and has become one of the top-grossing films of 2022 within its home country.

Jung-jae’s film is an ambitious thriller loosely based on actual events from the early 1980s.  A North Korean spy, referred to as “Donglim”, has infiltrated the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA).  They are leaking top-secret information about the South Korean President’s movements that could be used by the north to destabilise their southern counterparts.  High ranking agents within the KCIA have been told to find the spy or else they’ll be sacked.

There’s a lot going on here and I wasn’t sure I had a full appreciation for all the suspects and their varying agendas.  There’s a lot of people looking secretive and exchanging packages/information through secret hook-ups.  There’s a substantial body count too!  That said, even if you’re not fully up-to-speed with Korean history and politics, you can still enjoy this as an interesting thriller where agents use a variety of curious tactics to help weed out the mole.

I also liked the fact there isn’t a simple hero and villain.  There are multiple sides looking for the spy and this creates tension between the Domestic Unit and Foreign Unit within the KCIA.  No one trusts anyone… particularly within the organisation.  A few subplots were undercooked (like a young woman befriending student protestors) but for the most part, this will hold your attention for the full two hours.

Likely to increase your interest in this period of South Korean history, Hunt is worth seeing.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 14 September 2022

The first thing that strikes you about Moonage Daydream is how different it is from other biopics and docos about famous musicians.  It would fit into the documentary genre but its style is anything but traditional.  There are no current day interviews where friends and colleagues tell us how great David Bowie was.  There is no high-profile narrator telling us what to think and filling in gaps where footage doesn’t exist.  There is no desire to show events in chronological order with the film jumping back and forth between parts of Bowie’s life.

I like this line from director Brett Morgen - “If you can put it in a book, I don’t want it in my films.”  Morgen doesn’t want his film to be a history lesson that people could just as easily read about on Wikipedia.  He wanted to provide audiences with a wild, uplifting “experience” and capture the essence of the late David Bowie through the mediums of sight and sound.  You can appreciate this as a devoted, long-time Bowie fan, or as a relative newcomer to his artistic endeavours and fascinating life.

Having earned the trust of the Bowie estate, Morgen was given access to over 5 million assets including artworks, photos, writings, interview clips, performance footage, and other behind-the-scenes material.  From conception to execution, it was a project that took roughly 7 years.  A decent chunk of that time was spent going through the previously unseen material to see what might be of use.  It’s a staggering achievement to condense it all into a 140-minute movie.

Described as someone who “never seems to stand still”, the David Bowie we discover (or perhaps rediscover) in Morgen’s documentary is full of creativity and philosophical insight.  He speaks of spiritual forces, differing personalities, the balance between love and art, and the meaning of life.  All of it provides an understanding of who Bowie was and what mark he wanted to leave on society.  It’s clear from old interviews that many television hosts couldn’t wrap their heads around his going-against-the-grain nature.

Moonage Daydream is chaotic at times (fitting with Bowie’s persona) and it may take multiple views to fully appreciate and digest all that it offers.  As it nears its climax however, it’s easy to see the themes coming together and you’ll see it as an inspiring movie that makes you feel better about the world.  It’s been over 6 years since Bowie’s passing but Morgen’s film will play a small part in ensuring his worthy legacy endures.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 21 September 2022

I am terrified of heights and so any movie which can capture the distressing “thrill” of being inches from falling to one’s death… yeah, that’ll get my heart pumping.  A case in point is the head-shaking true story of high-wire artist Philippe Petit who walked along a tiny steel cable between the two World Trade Centre towers in 1974.  It was chronicled in the Oscar winning 2008 documentary Man on Wire, and in the impressive 2015 biographical drama The Walk (starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt).  Both films turned me into a sweaty mess!

Fall is a purely fictional thriller that creates a riveting scenario but does so in a heavy-handed manner.  Two experienced rock climbers scale a narrow, no-longer-used television tower in a remote part of the United States.  At roughly 600 metres in height, they note it’s twice as tall as the Eiffel Tower.  Audiences will cheer for their survival but there’s no arguing that their actions are grossly irresponsible.  The ladder is rusty, many bolts are loose, and the structure looks like it could fall over at any moment.

The over-written backstory to these two characters is unnecessarily contrived.  Shiloh (Gardner) is a vlogger who constantly puts herself in dangerous situations and then uploads to YouTube and other social media sites in search of likes, publicity, and attention.  She’s full of “I’ll rest when I’m dead” energy and, despite her negligence, loves a motivational speech – “if you don’t confront your fears, you’ll aways be afraid.”

Becky (Currey) is at a different phase of her life.  She lost her young husband a year ago in a rock-climbing accident and she’s since been stuck in a depressive phase involving alcohol and drugs.  Having not climbed at all since her husband’s death, she’s been convinced by Shiloh to put aside her grief and return to a rich, exciting life.  As an added touch, they come up with the idea to spread the husband’s ashes from the top of the television tower as a tribute to his own adventurous spirit.

It’s a goofy opening (did we really need to see Becky with the pills?) but thankfully, the film doesn’t spend too much time on foreplay.  It only takes about 30 minutes for the pair to ascend to the top of the tower where the rusty ladder breaks and they’re stuck on a tiny platform.  With no mobile phone reception (conveniently unlucky), they must work together to signal for help and/or find a way down.

Directed by British filmmaker Scott Mann (Heist), Fall milks this scenario for all its worth and creates some wonderfully tense scenes.  The work of Spanish cinematographer MacGregor (he just goes by the one name) is superb and he exploits an array of creative camera angles (sometimes looking up, sometimes looking down) to highlight the sheer insanity of their predicament.  Just like a great horror flick, sound technicians add to the suspense through perfectly timed noises – whether it be a strong gust of wind, a creaky ladder, or a shrieking vulture.

The finale should have been better (it’s rushed and features a dumb twist) but the excellent middle act in Fall leaves a strong enough impression to justify a thumbs up recommendation.