Runner, Runner

And the eternal debate that I have had in my world continues – What is better? Ben Affleck the actor or Ben Affleck the director.  I must say that as of now, the latter is firmly entrenched as preferred option.  But with Runner, Runner, in what is probably his first negative role, he takes a small step towards scoring a few points with the former.

Although Ivan Block (Affleck) has much lesser screen time than he could have been given, Affleck does leave an impression that this negative thing may be just right up his alley.  There are moments that Affleck overshadows Timberlake albeit few of them. So there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Richie Furst (Timberlake) is an affiliate (business partner) for an offshore online gambling company. His role is to recruit as many people as he can into the habit.  Why is he doing it? Because he has worked a few years before Wall Street tanked and left him flat broke.  Because of his previous income statements, he cannot get a scholarship to Princeton despite having the brains for it.

Now there is a small glitch in this entire operation.  You cannot be promoting gambling on campus right? Also, when Furst loses all his money to an apparent software glitch, he takes the ballsy way out.  He travels to Costa Rica to confront Block and tell him about the glitch.  Block is impressed and offers him a multi-million dollar job.  Princeton obviously goes out of the window.

The good part about Runner, Runner is that it is an extremely fast paced movie.  And yet, it isn’t the most frenetic movie that you would have seen.  Brad Furman (Lincoln Lawyer) sets a good solid pace right upfront and continues with the same pace all through.  It felt really good when you look at your watch and find out that you are already an hour and 15 mins into the movie when you thought it was about 35-40 minutes.

But on most other counts, the story and narration is just about average.  Timberlake is good and I believe that he is a far better actor than a singer.  A good actor at that.  Gemma Arterton on the other hand can make no further progress than being good looking furniture and even there the freckles show.  There isn’t much of a supporting cast to speak about.

Overall, Runner, Runner, is a fun movie to watch but do you need to spend hard earned movie for the big screen.  I would guess not.  Watchable but wait for it to come onto Tata Sky or rent out a DVD or download or do whatever it is that you guys do.  6 on 10.

Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2239211801/?ref_=tt_ov_vi

Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters 3D

Hansel (Cedric Eich) and Gretel (Alea Sophia Boudodimos) are the children of a poor woodcutter.  Times are tough and the woodcutter’s 2^nd wife decides that it is better to do away with the children and gets the woodcutter to leave them in the jungle.  On the 2^nd attempt, they succeed and the children get captured by a witch who eats children.  The brave kids however, manage to stay alive and in fact kill the witch in her own oven.  They then use the witch’s riches to stay happily ever after.

 

Tamara Drewe

I first saw the trailer of Tamara Drewe in 2010 on my visit down under and was so hoping that it would release before I left the country. But it wasn’t to be so. Therefore, you can imagine my surprise (actually glee) when I saw this in the discounted lot @ JB Hi-fi on my trip this time around. It was the only DVD that I picked up on my recent visit because I had consciously decided not to pick up any movies till I had finished watching all of them in my not so small collection. But an exception had to be made on this one.

Stephen Frears is another one of those directors who has an impressive CV with The Queen and Dangerous Liaisons. I have reviewed one of his movies in the past which was by the name of High Fidelity – a movie with a lot of dark British humour. Tamara Drewe is not dark at all but is British alright. But Frears seems to have not directed this with the commitment that was seen in his earlier successes. The movie is loosely held together with the lead female character who goes by the name of Tamara Drewe (Gemma Arterton) and the happenings around her which have a rather comic tinge about them – a sexually desperate comic tinge I must say.

Tamara was the local ugly duckling in the village as she was growing up. Thanks to her conspicuously large nose. Her boyfriend at that time – yes she was ugly but had a boyfriend – Andy Cobb (Luke Evans) dumps her for nasal reasons. She is the object of pretty much everyone’s ridicule. No one is obviously willing to look beyond her nose – and the extremely graphic way in which it has been blown beyond proportion would help you understand why. It is a miracle that the camera can actually show her face with that unreal nose in the picture. Basically she is not the object of anyone’s envy.

She leaves the village after school to graduate in journalism and is now writing. She makes enough for a nose job and comes back to the village to close out some property related issues. The difference being – she now looks HOT!!!! Suddenly, the bunch of people who would look the other way have their tongues hanging down to the floor. And obviously she cares a damn and continues to walk around the village half naked and making people even more jealous and the men hot in their pants.

A very watchable movie this one. Tamara Drewe also has some decent performances from the likes of a Dominic Cooper (turns out he could act even before The Devil’s Double). Reasonably edited. Solid British Comedy screenplay with a lot of underplayed humour. Worth spending some time on. But not as good as Frears’ previous attempts. 6 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2479556121/