With this August entry, I’m back up to speed, after the delays for the previous few months.
First up, The Hoax is a strange tale about an author that decided to fake Howard Hughes’ auto-biography while the reclusive billionaire was at his peak. Richard Gere has never been better than here, as the self-interested writer who will do whatever it takes to become huge. As his plan unravels, he keeps digging, coming up with more bizarre solutions. An excellent take on a bizarre idea which is, apparently, true.
No-one was expecting much from a sequel to the family comedy Bruce Almighty, especially with Jim Carrey replaced by the usually more adult Steve Carrell, and Evan Almighty does nothing to beat those expectations. If anything this film is more preachy and less funny than its predecessor. I’m sure kids would lap it up, but there’s little here for the grown-ups.
Finally, to finish Robert Ludlum’s trilogy, The Bourne Ultimatum casts Matt Damon as the man who can weaponise just about anything in his pursuit for the truth, Jason Bourne. The set-up is relatively simple (a journalist is fed information about Bourne, and Bourne works with him to find out how he became what he is), but brings together a number of great action sequences. This, as with the rest of the series, is a masterclass in how to do action sequences; keeping it near the boundaries of plausible while still spectacular enough to warrant viewing. The plot wraps up more neatly than might be expected too.
I’m a little torn this month, but I think The Bourne Ultimatum edges it over The Hoax because there are so few action films that can get away with not having “action” as an excuse for lazy cinema.