While lacking the usual charm and oddities that are hallmarks of the Coen brother’s output, this remake of the classic The Ladykillers still retains their unique influence. Beginning with some beautiful shots of the settings, this film shows more of the pairs artistic flair than previous (less mainstream) efforts.

Tom Hanks is perfectly cast as the odd Professor with the plan to rob a casino, while the supporting actors do an admirable job in the face of his scene-stealing performances. Hanks reels off pages of dialogue, intoned perfectly, without a hint of pausing. Impressive stuff.

The film itself is enjoyable as a lightweight comedy, but lacks the laughs of “The Big Lebowski” or “Fargo”. Although they should be proud of themselves, remaking such a well-loved film and doing a good job of it is admirable, you can’t help but miss the strange outpourings of the Coen’s original works.

There’s something about William H. Macy: he plays losers better than anyone else. Hopefully that’s a compliment to his fine acting ability.

In The Cooler he plays a gambler who loses so much he is hired to stand next to winners in a casino, causing them to dry up. His plan to leave this lifestyle is complicated by the appearance of a love interest and the usual Hollywood conceits.

Although well acted, there’s nothing particularly new about this film. It’s certainly not dull but it is predictable, even the slowest among us should be able to see the twists coming as soon as they are set up.

So, enjoyable but entirely forgettable.

This is just a short post to say that the lack of posts will largely continue. Still in Nottingham, and net access is not freely forthcoming. I’ve no idea what’s being going on in the blogosphere (I’d guess something to do with syndication, some angst from the Live Journal types, and more about how hard XML is), so I will update a few times this week with film reviews. It’s not much, but it’s all I can really get away with for now.

As mentioned a few days ago, I’m moving to Nottingham tomorrow. Thus there will be no updates for a while. Hopefully there will be more tech-based posts when I get back to posting. Thanks.

Sometimes a movie doesn’t really try to be brilliant, an understated elegance moving the plot along as is needed. You get the feeling that Shattered Glass is supposed to be one such film; it’s not.

The plot revolves around a well-respected writer who gets caught making up stories to further his career. I’m sorry to say that that is the whole plot. You have now effectively seen the movie. There is the vaguest hint of other plot lines – a love interest, some friction – but only in the most fleeting possible way. It really seems like no-one really researched the story at all, or that the screenwriter was passionless about his subject. No real conflict emerges, no real connection is made, not much happens.

It reminds me a lot of The Blair Witch Project:

“Nothing’s happening. Nothing’s happening. Something about a map. Nothing’s happening. It’s over. A lot of people in the audience look pissed.”

The height of mediocrity.