I know, I know, it’s a little late, but here’s the five-way film fight for October.
Redbelt is the latest film by playwright-turned-director, David Mamet. It’s a martial arts film about loss, and finding a way to persevere through adversity, while trying to keep true to yourself. If that sounds a little smarter than your average brawler, it should. Mamet continues his line of superior dialogue and characterisation throughout, only really looking a little weak when it comes to the slightly obvious and needlessly feel-good ending. That aside, the film stays true to itself: grim when it needs to be, but light when it can be. Chiwetel Ejiofor puts in a fantastic performance as the lead and proves himself, once again, an actor to keep an eye on. All in all, a film well worth seeing.
Based on the book of the same name, Gomorrah is the story of the modern mafia in some of the poorest cities in Italy. We see this world through a grainy camera in gritty locations, with the cast mostly opting for a naturalistic style. The greatest triumph of this film is just how believable, yet unbelievably horrible, the characters and area portrayed are. That realism coupled with some poor focus and pacing decisions proves to be the downfall of the movie. We follow an array of characters who are, for the most part, dull. Sure, there are some who are involved heavily in the gangland activity, but the film is spread between so many characters that no-one story really gets the chance to shine. For a film that clocks in just under the two and a half hour mark, there’s really very little meat on any of these stories. Disappointing.
The Coen brothers are well-known for plots that really don’t get resolved, but are fun enough journeys that it really doesn’t matter; Burn After Reading continues very much in that spirit. The plot involves the CIA, an ex-agent, some gym workers, a serial adulterer and an array of other oddball characters. The magic comes when you see all these plainly bizarre plot strands come together, but not really finish up. A thoroughly enterataining yarn, with a top notch cast.
I am constantly amazed at how a pretty good young actor like Shia LaBeouf can keep churning out generic Hollywood drivel. In Eagle Eye, however, he has exceeded himself in making awful movies. The plot is some nonsense about terrorising a civilian, seemingly randomly, through a series of set pieces, which start to come together as part of a conspiracy. Sadly, it contains enough plot holes to drive a bus through. The action sequences don’t make up for the story, featuring the worst big-screen excess in the name of entertainment, rather than something more enjoyable. There is nothing to like about this film, from its obvious twists to its painful acting. Don’t go see Eagle Eye.
Finally, Ricky Gervais finally makes his big screen lead debut in Ghost Town, a sweet comedy about a dentist who can see ghosts after an accident. He quickly gets involved in the life of a recent widower, and antics ensue. While, at times, the film is quite heartfelt, it misfires too often to be a good comedy, and makes dumb jokes too much to be romantic. Nothing of the suits it tries to play work, and we’ll left with an awkward mish-mash of genres. It’s not the worst thing you could see, but there are far better films out there. Distinctly average.
The winner is… Redbelt. While I thoroughly enjoyed Burn After Reading, Mamet’s latest work is just a little more interesting, particularly for the lead performance and the dialogue.