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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 11 August 2015

How hard is it to create an imaginative villain?  I’ve sounded like a broken record throughout this season of Hollywood blockbusters but I feel it’s a question that remains unanswered.  The Man From U.N.C.L.E. falls back on the stuff we’ve seen before.  It’s set in 1963 where an undercover criminal organisation with links to the Nazis is looking to build a nuclear device.  They lack the expertise and so they’ve kidnapped a German scientist to help get the job done.

Perhaps the reason we fall back on such stereotypical villains is because they are unrealistic and non-threatening.  How would the audience react if the bad guy was a child abuser, a people smuggler, a drunk driver, or a wife beater?  What if it was a “troubled individual” who walked into a cinema and starting shooting up the place?  The reality is that people go to the cinema to be entertained (apparently).  They don’t want the depressing horrors of what they see on televisions each night.

Based on the popular 1960s television, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. has been reinvigorated for the big screen by British director Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels).  The two guys trying to stop the atom bomb from falling into bad hands come from very different backgrounds.  Napoleon Solo (Cavill) is an American CIA agent who oozes charm and sophistication.  Illya Kuryakin (Harmer) is a Russian KGB agent who loves to use his fists at any opportunity.

These two don’t want to be working together… but there isn’t really a choice.  They must team up and use their respective skills – lock picking, safe cracking, and villain shooting – to locate Victoria Vinciguerra (Debicki), the well-dressed head of the criminal organisation.  Also along for the ride is Gaby Teller (Vikander), the daughter of the kidnapped scientist who will help point them in the right direction.

If you’re old enough, think back to some the great action heroes of the 1980s – Bruce Willis in Die Hard, Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator, and Sylvester Stallone in Rambo.  Got that thought in your head?  Good.  Now think of the exact opposite.  That’s the best way of describing the two leading characters here.

Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer barely work up a sweat.  They strut around in their fine clothes, they speak like suave businessmen, and they look all too relaxed as they extricate themselves from perilous situations (a brief scene involving an electric chair the only exception).  The novelty is amusing in the early stages but there aren’t enough laughs to make these guys interesting enough for a two-hour feature.  They can’t match the chemistry shared by Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law in Ritchie’s last action franchise, Sherlock Holmes.

Stylishly shot but light in terms of story, the film’s true purpose is revealed as the credits start to roll.  As we saw with last week’s Fantastic Four, this is an origin story which leaves the door wide open for possible sequels.  Whether they get the green light will depend on whether The Man From U.N.C.L.E. can recoup its $75 million budget.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 29 July 2015

Do we really need another Mission: Impossible movie?  Probably not.  We’ve already had 4 films where Ethan Hunt (ala Tom Cruise) has extricated himself from ridiculous situations and apprehended bad guys threatening to destroy the world.  This film is nothing different.  James Bond has been doing this sort of stuff since the 1960s!

That’s not to say that the film isn’t any good.  Let’s say you have a hilarious friend who has mastered the art of joke delivery.  You hear them tell the same joke to different groups of people but you still laugh every time.  You realise that it’s not necessarily the punchline that makes you laugh… but rather the terrific way they deliver the joke.  That’s what makes it funny.

It’s an analogy that articulates my feelings about writer-director Christopher McQuarrie (Jack Reacher).  He knows we’ve seen this kind of story before.  There’s nothing remotely original about the screenplay and yet, McQuarrie keeps us interested thanks to some wonderfully choreographed action sequences.

There’s a moment where a terrorist organisation is trying to kill the Austrian President while attending the opera in Vienna.  Hunt sneaks around backstage and stops the assassins with seconds to spare.  The packed crowd are oblivious to these happenings as Giacomo Puccini’s famous aria “Nessun dorma” has deafened the sounds of punches and gunfire.  The hovering camera of cinematographer Robert Elswit (Good Night & Good Luck, There Will Be Blood) adds to what is the film’s best scene.  It’s like an opera within an opera.

It’s not the only highlight.  There’s a motorcycle chase late in the film that has been skilfully edited by Eddie Hamilton (Kick-Ass, Kingsman) and features an equally impressive array of camera angles.  Christopher McQuarrie’s kick started his career by writing The Usual Suspects (it won him a screenwriting Oscar) but he’s adapting quickly to the action genre as illustrated by Jack Reacher (wrote & directed) and Edge Of Tomorrow (wrote).

Tom Cruise has the passion and charisma that suits a role like this.  He even removes his shirt inside the first 15 minutes.  Simon Pegg again provides the comic relief as Hunt’s computer hacking offsider.  Alec Baldwin is a new inclusion as a CIA director trying to get Hunt under control.  Despite all the big names, it’s a relative unknown who steals the show.  Swedish born Rebecca Ferguson keeps you guessing throughout the film as a mysterious individual with unknown intentions.

It’s a shame the keynote villain is so bland.  Solomon Lane (Harris) is head of The Syndicate – a shadow organisation that is trying to destabilise Western democracies.  We eventually learn about his background but it doesn’t make much sense and it’s not all that interesting.  He’s just a well-funded lunatic with a bunch of dumb henchman.  As the evil dude in the last James Bond film (Skyfall), Javier Bardem could teach him a few things.

The “everyone knows everyone’s next move” stuff gets tired but on the whole, there’s enough here to ensure the Mission: Impossible franchise will live to fight another day.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 10 August 2015

Over the past year, fashion documentaries have been finding an audience in Australian cinemas.  Advanced Style followed a group of elderly women in New York trying to leave their mark on the fashion world.  Dior & I took us inside the House of Christian Dior as newly appointed designer Raf Simons pulled together his first collection.  Women He’s Undressed chronicled the life of Australian costume designer Orry-Kelly who made it big in Hollywood in the 1930s.

The latest addition to that group is Iris – a short, simple documentary that tells the story of 93-year-old fashion icon Iris Apfel.  She grew up with her parents during the Great Depression, she ran an interior design company that helped renovate the White House, and she’s had her favourite outfits exhibited at renowned museums across the United States.  Oh, and she’s been happily married for more than 65 years.  Not a bad life if you ask me!

Iris’s personality is as bold as her attire.  Full of memorable quotes, she opens the film by expressing her dislike for today’s homogenised fashion.  Everyone is walking around wearing the same stuff.  It leads into another insightful moment where she says that it’s often more fun getting ready for the party than actually going to the party itself.

It’s hard to describe Iris Apfel’s sense of style in words.  You’re best to Google her name and flip through the many images available.  She doesn’t design the clothes herself.  Rather, she scours the streets of New York City to find an assortment of affordable outfits that she can pull together into something magical.  She’s big on colour.  She’s big on accessories.  Iris’s collection is so large that it’s spread across multiple closets… in multiple rooms… in multiple apartments!

There’s a tinge of sadness that encompasses the film as it marks one of the last features of director Albert Maysles (Grey Gardens) who passed away in March this year at the age of 88.  His career spanned 60 years and included an Academy Award nomination in 1974 for his short subject documentary, Christo’s Valley Curtain.  We get a glimpse of Maysles in the later stages and you can see the enjoyment he drew from the project.  It’s hard not to smile while listening to Iris and watching her sift through racks in obscure clothes stores in search of a bargain.

Clocking in at just 80 minutes, Iris drums home its agreeable themes – never be afraid to express yourself and never stop having fun.  It’s nice to be reminded of this by someone with 93 years of experience.  The film could also be described as a love story as we get a glimpse of the beautiful relationship that Iris and her husband (Carl) have shared for so long.  They’re both got great memories given their age.

Iris’s misadventures get a little repetitive in the later stages but this is still a sweet, feel-good documentary about an opinionated individual.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 28 July 2015

I have a city dwelling friend who has considered giving up his lifestyle and moving to an isolated part of the country.  He’d get a decent sized property with a dog and a few farm animals.  He could sit on his porch, read a good book, drink a glass of scotch, and just relax.  It may sound incredibly boring but his motivation is simple.  He’s tired of the depressing news on television and the negativity on social media.  He’d rather escape it all and live a peaceful, albeit solitary, life.

I’m not sure that’d work for me… but it’s the decision made by Daru (Mortensen) – the lead character in Far From Men.  Set in Algeria 1954, the country is on the brink of war.  A socialist political party is pushing for independence from France.  They’ve pulled together a well-armed militia group and have called upon Muslims in Algeria to fight for the “restoration of the Algerian state.”  The body count is already rising.

Daru wants nothing to do with the conflict.  Born in Algeria of Spanish parents, he doesn’t want to have to pick a side.  He has shut himself off from the world in a small, rundown home in the middle of nowhere.  It comes with an adjoining classroom that he uses to teach young kids from local villages.  Daru believes in the value of a good education and he wants to make sure these children, all from poor families, get a positive start in life.

Unfortunately, Daru can no longer avoid the increasing unrest.  An old acquaintance turns up at his doorstep and is accompanied by a dishevelled man with hands bound.  The prisoner’s name is Mohamed and he has admitted to killing his cousin after a property dispute.  Daru has been asked to escort Mohamed on a lengthy trek to the town of Tinguit so that he can be tried and executed.

Based on the short story by Nobel Prize winning author Albert Camus, Far From Men astutely highlights that no matter how hard we try, we cannot avoid the tough choices that fate throws our way.  Mohammed appears to have made his choice.  He killed a man and is now ready to accept his punishment.  If he tries to escape, his immediate family will be targeted and persecuted.  He understands that he must die so as to protect those he loves.

Daru is still undecided about his choice.  As the two get to know each other, he realises that Mohammed is an honest, warm-hearted man.  Could he live with himself if he takes Mohammed to Tinguit for a sham trial and execution?  What’s the alternative though?  If he doesn’t go through the request, the authorities will be alerted and it’s likely his own life will be in danger.  How does one react when faced with a “lose-lose” situation?

Far From Men could be described as patient (in a good way) or slow (in a bad way).  It will all depend on your mood and appetite.  The idea of a subtitled movie that follows two guys walking across a barren Albanian landscape won’t appeal to everyone.  It’s not exactly “action packed”.  Those interested in the subject matter will take much more away from it.  While it’s a little sleepy in places, writer-director David Oelhoffen has done a great job fleshing out the important themes in Camus’ story.

Selected as part of the official competition at the 2014 Venice Film Festival, Far From Men is a heavy drama with much relevance in today’s society.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 03 August 2015

Trainwreck opens with a middle-aged father, Gordon (Quinn), having a heart-to-heart with his two young daughters.  In trying to explain why he’s leaving their mother for another woman, Gordon cunningly uses the analogy of a toy doll – “would you like to play with one doll for the rest of your life?”  The girls naturally say no.  He’s made monogamy sound like a foolish concept.

Skipping twenty-odd years into the future, we find those same girls have grown up with two very different views when it comes to relationships.  Kim (Larson) is happily married with one child and another on the way.  Amy (Schumer) loathes the idea of commitment and sleeps with a different guy every night.  It’s as if she’s heeded her father’s advice.  She drinks beer, she smokes weed and she describes herself as “just a sexual girl.” 

He has a bunch of producing and screenwriting credits but up until now, Judd Apatow has only directed 4 feature films – The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Funny People and This Is 40.  Trainwreck can now be added to that list but in a curious departure, it is not based on his own screenplay.  That honour belongs to the film’s star, Amy Schumer.  Apatow and Schumer first met in 2011 and after tossing around a few ideas, they settled on this idea of an unorthodox romantic comedy.

Put simply – this is the Amy Schumer show.  She takes on the bulk of the jokes and has created an unsteady character with a forever changing personality.  There are times when she is funny, loveable and engaging.  There are times when she is cruel, selfish and insecure.  If you’re struggling to work out what she wants out of life… well, that’s because she doesn’t know either.

Throughout its first half, the film’s tone is largely comedic.  Amy works as a writer for a men’s magazine in New York City.  Their demanding boss (an almost unrecognisable Tilda Swinton) asks them to write moronic, low-brow stories such as an exclusive about whether garlic changes the taste of semen.

To help secure a promotion to executive editor, Amy has been tasked with writing a feature article on Aaron Conners (Hader), a renowned sports physician.  The problem is that she knows nothing about sports.  She lists the Long Island Mediums and the Orlando Blooms when quizzed about her favourite teams.

Amy’s life outside of work is equally problematic.  Her father isn’t happy about being placed in an assisted living facility.  Her sister isn’t happy with her continual drinking and “loose” lifestyle.  Her quasi-boyfriend (Cena) isn’t happy when he learns she’s been sleeping with other guys.  Amy takes it all in her stride and laughs off any criticism.

There are only two ways you can take a narrative like this.  Amy could have continued with her alienating ways during the film’s second hour but instead, she picks the expected option and goes through an audience-friendly reformation.  She develops a close connection with Aaron (who hasn’t been in a relationship for 6 years) and finally starts to open up about her anxieties.

Not everything in Trainwreck works.  Its message gets a little jumbled in the later stages and there are some puzzling scenes (such as one involving celebrity cameos) that distract rather than entertain.  For the most part though, it’s a fun, crude comedy with an outrageous central character and plenty of great one-liners.