Raghubir Sahi (Raj Singh Choudhary) is a twenty something Bihari boy who is studying in Delhi. He has been in a serious relationship with a girl of his age, Siya. As many a young couple, Rags and Siya find themselves pregnant. The two of them decide to get married since they are deeply in love. Siya is Punjabi, a fact which Raghu’s father, Madhukar Sahi (Vinay Pathak) is not going to be too pleased about. However, Raghu is sure that he wants to take this forward and is willing to take on his Dad for this.
Parallely in Raghu’s village, Kanti, somewhere in Bihar, Mahendra Singh (Akhilendra Mishra) has approached Madhukar Sahi with an alliance for his daughter, Janki (Swati Sen) but is rudely rejected by Madhukar. Mahendra is willing to pay any amount of dowry to get Raghu married to his daughter But Madhukar is not one to budge. He has already given his word to a close friend, Jagdish Babu. However, he is not prepared for the shock that is awaiting him in the form of Raghu informing them about Siya. He does not tell his father about the pregnancy though. Madhukar obviously asks him to take the abortion route out and close the chapter. But Raghu is hell bent on getting married only to Siya. He leaves home that very day.
But Mahendra Singh has other plans. He is not willing to take this rejection. More importantly, he considers it as a personal insult and has Raghu kidnapped and taken to the village to get him forcibly married to Janki. They use all sorts of methods to force him to accept the wedding proposal but when he does not budge, they get him drunk and married off forcibly. Janki is obviously not pleased with this but has no say in the matter. Nevertheless, Raghu refuses to consummate the marriage. The best efforts of Janki prove futile and eventually the family has to resort to getting our man drunk once again and insinuating his virility to get the desired reaction from Raghu.
Antardwand forces one to think and wonder about all perspectives. How is Janki to blame for any of this. Is Raghu correct in releasing his anger onto her? If not, who else does he look to since he is locked up in one room as a “Mehmaanji” who is refusing to accept what the host is asking him to do? What does a mother do in a case like this where she knows that her husband is grossly wrong but is helpless because of societal norms of not going against her husband no matter what. How does a brother react to this situation? Is he supposed to “protect” his sister OR protect his father’s “self respect”?
The movie got the award for the best film on social issues at the 55th National Awards. I would say rightfully so. The movie is filled with messages primarily against bride groom kidnapping, a practice that we in the metros are largely unaware of but is supposedly rampant. There are other issues also covered such as education for the girl child, dowry and marriages in rural India. The movie is filled with powerful performances from Vinay Pathak and especially Swati Sen who puts on a fabulous performance as Janki. There is a sequence between Janki and Mahendra when she decides she has had enough and decides to leave the house. The expressions between the 2 are actually fabulous to say the least. Raj Singh Choudhary continues to play a part of the timid, spineless young man that he kind of played in Gulaal. He fails to impress me but that’s probably due to the kind of role that he plays.
Sushil Rajpal’s direction is also pretty much up there. But a lot of the credit goes to the fact that the cast is a strong bunch of people who would otherwise be associated with Theatre. There are distinct chinks also. At least the print that was playing @ PVR Mulund had bad sound editing and bad overall editing as well. The item number I thought was quite unnecessary. But Kailash Kher is fabulous in his rendition of “Tanha Tanha Tanha”. A very hard hitting movie for sure. Extremely serious and definitely arty. Watch it only if you are fine with a movie that is quite in your face. I give it 7 on 10.
Sunday, 29 August 2010
Lafangey Parindey
Read in Hindi - “Dard Aur Mard mein Duh or Muh ka fark hota hai. Duh aur Muh matlab Dum. Dum hai to Dard mein bhi Mard ban sakta hai”. What could have happened after a line like this in a movie?
a. The Audience gives a standing ovation with whistles and cat calls galore and in some instances even showers a few pennies onto the screen
b. The Audience does not even understand it and realizes it much later while reading a review like this one that there was this line said in the movie
The former is possible if and only if, it was done in the 70s by our very own Angry Young Man OR more recently in a movie that I am desperately waiting for starring Salman Khan in the lead doling out such dialogues. Expect the former to be magnified manifold. Lafangey Parindey unfortunately falls in the latter category. How did someone as versatile and talented as Pradeep Sarkar expect the grandson of one of the most famous singers in this country to pull this dialogue off is completely beyond me. What I mean to say is wasn’t there enough evidence in all movies after Johnny Gaddar that this gentleman is a little challenged in the acting department and definitely does not have the capability of pulling off Salman Khanish dialogues????
Anyways, lets get to the story now. Pinky Palkar (Deepika Padukone) works @ a skating rink @ R City Mall (proudly and prominently displayed - Make mental note to visit skating rink when possible). She is considered to be God’s gift to skating in India by her colleagues and partner. But her life in an unknown chawl in the by lanes of Mumbai has till now kept her protected from the possibility of getting her ticket out of the grime and the rut that she believes she was born into out of lack of choice. Nevertheless, she stumbles upon “India’s Got Talent” which has a cash prize of 50 lacs and that would become, no points for guessing, her ticket out of the chawl.
Now there is our hero, One Shot Nandu (NN Mukesh) who makes his living out of fighting blindfolded. Lives in the same chawl as Pinky but has not romantic inclinations whatsoever. Is our atypical chawl dude whose kicks in life come from the fact that his friends think the world of him. Women have no place in his life. Not interested. Nada. His hero in life is Anna (Kay Kay Menon) who is makes his living as a hired killer. Both pay obeisance to Usman Bhai (Piyush Mishra) the local don. Nandu wants to grown up to become Anna and in the enthusiasm accepts a job of being Anna’s driver on a job to knock off a rival gangster. Things go horribly wrong and Anna gets shot. As they are getting away, Nandu also runs over someone coz his attention was towards Anna who is half dead. Anna doesn’t make it and the someone turns out to be Pinky who slips into a coma and eventually loses her sight for good.
I did not expect much from Lafangey Parindey as such. I had mentioned that in my update on the first look as well. I must say, it kind of lived upto my expectations. The story is quite decent but as we are seeing quite often these days, the execution fails quite badly. Deepika continues to get full points for confidence in front of the camera but really does not execute the role of the blind Pinky to perfection. Neil Nitin Mukesh shows flashes of his Johnny Gaddar days but doesn’t capitalize on it. And as I had mentioned earlier, Pradeep Sarkar kind of lets you down. One would have expected much better from his side. Dialogues are quite insipid. Music not too great. Would anyone know if they used body doubles for the skating sequences? If not then that would be the only impressive aspect about the movie. Below average overall. 3 on 10 is the final verdict.
a. The Audience gives a standing ovation with whistles and cat calls galore and in some instances even showers a few pennies onto the screen
b. The Audience does not even understand it and realizes it much later while reading a review like this one that there was this line said in the movie
The former is possible if and only if, it was done in the 70s by our very own Angry Young Man OR more recently in a movie that I am desperately waiting for starring Salman Khan in the lead doling out such dialogues. Expect the former to be magnified manifold. Lafangey Parindey unfortunately falls in the latter category. How did someone as versatile and talented as Pradeep Sarkar expect the grandson of one of the most famous singers in this country to pull this dialogue off is completely beyond me. What I mean to say is wasn’t there enough evidence in all movies after Johnny Gaddar that this gentleman is a little challenged in the acting department and definitely does not have the capability of pulling off Salman Khanish dialogues????
Anyways, lets get to the story now. Pinky Palkar (Deepika Padukone) works @ a skating rink @ R City Mall (proudly and prominently displayed - Make mental note to visit skating rink when possible). She is considered to be God’s gift to skating in India by her colleagues and partner. But her life in an unknown chawl in the by lanes of Mumbai has till now kept her protected from the possibility of getting her ticket out of the grime and the rut that she believes she was born into out of lack of choice. Nevertheless, she stumbles upon “India’s Got Talent” which has a cash prize of 50 lacs and that would become, no points for guessing, her ticket out of the chawl.
Now there is our hero, One Shot Nandu (NN Mukesh) who makes his living out of fighting blindfolded. Lives in the same chawl as Pinky but has not romantic inclinations whatsoever. Is our atypical chawl dude whose kicks in life come from the fact that his friends think the world of him. Women have no place in his life. Not interested. Nada. His hero in life is Anna (Kay Kay Menon) who is makes his living as a hired killer. Both pay obeisance to Usman Bhai (Piyush Mishra) the local don. Nandu wants to grown up to become Anna and in the enthusiasm accepts a job of being Anna’s driver on a job to knock off a rival gangster. Things go horribly wrong and Anna gets shot. As they are getting away, Nandu also runs over someone coz his attention was towards Anna who is half dead. Anna doesn’t make it and the someone turns out to be Pinky who slips into a coma and eventually loses her sight for good.
I did not expect much from Lafangey Parindey as such. I had mentioned that in my update on the first look as well. I must say, it kind of lived upto my expectations. The story is quite decent but as we are seeing quite often these days, the execution fails quite badly. Deepika continues to get full points for confidence in front of the camera but really does not execute the role of the blind Pinky to perfection. Neil Nitin Mukesh shows flashes of his Johnny Gaddar days but doesn’t capitalize on it. And as I had mentioned earlier, Pradeep Sarkar kind of lets you down. One would have expected much better from his side. Dialogues are quite insipid. Music not too great. Would anyone know if they used body doubles for the skating sequences? If not then that would be the only impressive aspect about the movie. Below average overall. 3 on 10 is the final verdict.
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Grown Ups
If it involves Ben Stiller, I avoid it like the plague. If it involves Adam Sandler, I am not sure. The variety of matter of fact slapstick comedy gets to my nerves more often than note. Its typically way way way over the top with loads of ridiculously gross stuff thrown in as garnish. Stuff which would make the normal person thrown up. But stuff which the Adam Sandler fan would typically enjoy. In that context, Grown Ups has severely exceeded expectations. The quantity of slapstick and gross garnish has been reduced drastically. And I really mean drastically and there is a refreshing focus on a message. One thing I must credit Sandler and most of his movies with is that none of them are without a message or a central theme which invariably touches the heart. The combination of Denis Dugan and Adam Sandler have given us 4 movies to date including Grown Ups. All of them have been quite decent.
Bobby Buzzer Ferdinando (Blake Clarke) coaches a junior high team to the school championship in 1978. In his post match speech, he not only commends the five of them for a superlative performance but also encourages them to live life in the same manner as they played the final game. Thirty years down the lane, our 5 heroes have grown into very successful and some very not so successful people. Lenny Feder (Adam Sandler) is a big Hollywood agent married to Roxanne Chase (Salma Hayek) and has 3 exceptionally spoilt children who believe in texting their Chinese maid Rita (Di Quon) to get them their ice tea. Eric Lamonsoff (Kevin James) is the co-owner of a furniture store, is married to Sally (Maria Bello) and has a daughter. Kurt McKenzie (Chris Rock) is a house husband to Deanne (Maya Rudolph) and stays with his 2 kids and Maya’s obnoxious mother (Ebony Jo Ann). Rob Hillard (Rob Schneider) is a full blown hippy who, after 3 failed marriages, is now with Gloria (Joyce Van Patten), a woman old enough to be his mother. Bringing up the full circle is every single womanizer, Marcus Higgins (David Spade).
A not so good twist of fate gets them back to New England. Coach Buzzer has kicked the bucket. The five friends with family in town get together for the funeral and some time together on the 4th July weekend where Feder has booked them all into the Lake House where they spent their days growing up. Lenny, however cannot stay the entire weekend since Roxanne has to go to Milan for fashion week with kids and maid in tow – a fact which the rest of the gang is unaware of. After they pay their respects to the coach, all of them move to the lake house.
Grown Ups takes a close look at the kind of lives that we live and encourages us to make changes – before its too late. We have children these days who on a bright, beautiful, sunny day prefer to kill their time in front of a Television or playing mindless video games that involve killing people on a beach coz its considered very cool. We build up facades of our life that we want people to perceive us as. Unfortunately we extend this to even those who are closest to us – those to whom it would not matter at all as to what we are. Very rarely will we find ourselves really being honest not only to ourselves but also to our loved ones – very petty lies, but lies nevertheless. It very clearly seems that we have forgotten how to have a good time. As I said earlier, yet another Adam Sandler movie that’s slapstick but has a strong message
Grown Ups is a clean and extremely funny movie. Its would be worth taking the kids out as well. Parental Guidance (PG) is however advisable. Very enjoyable fare positively. I give it 5 on 10.
Bobby Buzzer Ferdinando (Blake Clarke) coaches a junior high team to the school championship in 1978. In his post match speech, he not only commends the five of them for a superlative performance but also encourages them to live life in the same manner as they played the final game. Thirty years down the lane, our 5 heroes have grown into very successful and some very not so successful people. Lenny Feder (Adam Sandler) is a big Hollywood agent married to Roxanne Chase (Salma Hayek) and has 3 exceptionally spoilt children who believe in texting their Chinese maid Rita (Di Quon) to get them their ice tea. Eric Lamonsoff (Kevin James) is the co-owner of a furniture store, is married to Sally (Maria Bello) and has a daughter. Kurt McKenzie (Chris Rock) is a house husband to Deanne (Maya Rudolph) and stays with his 2 kids and Maya’s obnoxious mother (Ebony Jo Ann). Rob Hillard (Rob Schneider) is a full blown hippy who, after 3 failed marriages, is now with Gloria (Joyce Van Patten), a woman old enough to be his mother. Bringing up the full circle is every single womanizer, Marcus Higgins (David Spade).
A not so good twist of fate gets them back to New England. Coach Buzzer has kicked the bucket. The five friends with family in town get together for the funeral and some time together on the 4th July weekend where Feder has booked them all into the Lake House where they spent their days growing up. Lenny, however cannot stay the entire weekend since Roxanne has to go to Milan for fashion week with kids and maid in tow – a fact which the rest of the gang is unaware of. After they pay their respects to the coach, all of them move to the lake house.
Grown Ups takes a close look at the kind of lives that we live and encourages us to make changes – before its too late. We have children these days who on a bright, beautiful, sunny day prefer to kill their time in front of a Television or playing mindless video games that involve killing people on a beach coz its considered very cool. We build up facades of our life that we want people to perceive us as. Unfortunately we extend this to even those who are closest to us – those to whom it would not matter at all as to what we are. Very rarely will we find ourselves really being honest not only to ourselves but also to our loved ones – very petty lies, but lies nevertheless. It very clearly seems that we have forgotten how to have a good time. As I said earlier, yet another Adam Sandler movie that’s slapstick but has a strong message
Grown Ups is a clean and extremely funny movie. Its would be worth taking the kids out as well. Parental Guidance (PG) is however advisable. Very enjoyable fare positively. I give it 5 on 10.
Triple Cross
Written by Frank Owen, The Eddie Chapman Story, is the basis of this 1966 espionage thriller set in World War II. Eddie Chapman (Christopher Plummer) is a classy and one must assume extremely good looking criminal. He uses very simple household stuff to create explosives which he uses to blow up safes. Not to mention that he is extremely suave and smooth with the women. However, luck runs out and he is picked up by the cops and put into solitary. As soon as the Germans take over the town in which he is being held, he asks to see the commandant under the pretext of giving pivotal information about the war to the Germans. The commandant, not being in a position to ignore this, informs the relevant authorities. In a few days, Col. Steinhager (Gert Frobe) and Countess Helga (Romy Schneider) arrive at the prison to interrogate Chapman who makes them an offer of becoming in a double agent in exchange for obviously – money. Chapman is quite clear that he cannot stay on the Brit side thanks to his criminal record which would keep him in jail for 15 years and therefore strikes a deal with the Nazis.
Steinhager and The Countess are not quite sure about the authenticity of Chapman and therefore reject Chapman’s offer. Chapman is then sent across to a facility for war criminals close to Paris where he meets Paulette (Claudine Auger). Unable to restrict himself to just mere flirtations, Chapman squeezes himself out of his quarters and makes his way to have some fun with Paulette. Unfortunately gets caught in the bargain and is taken to the firing squad. Its only here that we realize that the entire operation was a front to show Chapman as dead and our duo of The Colonel and The Countess whisk away Chapman to meet Baron Von Grunen (Yul Brynner) who is a key person in the Third Reich.
The Baron is willing to go ahead with the training of Chapman to run a very special project of blowing up the key aircraft facility in Britain. Chapman is put through a very rigorous schedule peppered with some close comfort with The Countess who The Baron has instructed to gain Chapman’s confidence. On completion of the training effort and some tests for Chapman’s credibility he is then packed off to Britain. Promptly, our friend Eddie, decides to go to his roots and spills the beans to British Intelligence who also find out that the story adds up. Chapman, very clearly focused on money and clearing his record, offers the Brits his services to get more information out and become a triple agent.
Confused by now? Not too confusing I assure you. Its all called out very clearly in the movie and stitched beautifully to ensure minimal confusion. Terence Young continues to impress me as a director. I had also reviewed Wait Until Dark before this and gave it an 8 on 10. Triple Cross came in a year before this i.e. in 1966 and I must say it’s a very good effort. Almost as good as the Audrey Hepburn starrer. Wonder why these movies from the 40s - 70s seem to have far more sincere performances than the ones after that. If one were to pick up a classic movie then chances are that there would be very little or no questions about the acting or direction. There could be chinks in the aspects of finishing, editing, consistency. But the basics are vastly unquestionable. No wonder they were referred to as the golden years. Christopher Plummer is extremely smooth in his rendition of Eddie Chapman. Yul Brynner as always does not understand the concept of not giving his best to anything. The passion that he has towards acting shows through the screen. Romy Schneider, Gert Frobe and even Claudine Auger (who has a very small but pivotal part) come up with some very sincere and committed performances. Triple Cross gets my nod @ 7 on 10. A shade below Wait Until Dark but a lovely watch nevertheless.
Steinhager and The Countess are not quite sure about the authenticity of Chapman and therefore reject Chapman’s offer. Chapman is then sent across to a facility for war criminals close to Paris where he meets Paulette (Claudine Auger). Unable to restrict himself to just mere flirtations, Chapman squeezes himself out of his quarters and makes his way to have some fun with Paulette. Unfortunately gets caught in the bargain and is taken to the firing squad. Its only here that we realize that the entire operation was a front to show Chapman as dead and our duo of The Colonel and The Countess whisk away Chapman to meet Baron Von Grunen (Yul Brynner) who is a key person in the Third Reich.
The Baron is willing to go ahead with the training of Chapman to run a very special project of blowing up the key aircraft facility in Britain. Chapman is put through a very rigorous schedule peppered with some close comfort with The Countess who The Baron has instructed to gain Chapman’s confidence. On completion of the training effort and some tests for Chapman’s credibility he is then packed off to Britain. Promptly, our friend Eddie, decides to go to his roots and spills the beans to British Intelligence who also find out that the story adds up. Chapman, very clearly focused on money and clearing his record, offers the Brits his services to get more information out and become a triple agent.
Confused by now? Not too confusing I assure you. Its all called out very clearly in the movie and stitched beautifully to ensure minimal confusion. Terence Young continues to impress me as a director. I had also reviewed Wait Until Dark before this and gave it an 8 on 10. Triple Cross came in a year before this i.e. in 1966 and I must say it’s a very good effort. Almost as good as the Audrey Hepburn starrer. Wonder why these movies from the 40s - 70s seem to have far more sincere performances than the ones after that. If one were to pick up a classic movie then chances are that there would be very little or no questions about the acting or direction. There could be chinks in the aspects of finishing, editing, consistency. But the basics are vastly unquestionable. No wonder they were referred to as the golden years. Christopher Plummer is extremely smooth in his rendition of Eddie Chapman. Yul Brynner as always does not understand the concept of not giving his best to anything. The passion that he has towards acting shows through the screen. Romy Schneider, Gert Frobe and even Claudine Auger (who has a very small but pivotal part) come up with some very sincere and committed performances. Triple Cross gets my nod @ 7 on 10. A shade below Wait Until Dark but a lovely watch nevertheless.
Monday, 16 August 2010
The Expendables
About a year back, my boss told me, “The era of the metrosexual man is over. The Alpha Male is back”. Well sir, it would definitely seem that you were bang on. The Expendables is probably the nth movie this year which completely proves your theory. Suddenly, one seems to be getting a slew of all out action movies that was not the case about a couple of years back. This year itself has seen quite a few of these “Man Movies” chief amongst them being The A Team. The response from arguably the king of action, his highness, his holiness, Sylvester Stallone is to get together his own crack team who go by the name of The Expendables.
The Expendables are a group of mercenaries led by Barney Ross (Stallone). They specialize in covert military operations which countries do not want to be seem involved in or find it difficult to manage. The team comprises of Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Ying Yang (Jet Li), Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren) and a couple of other trigger happy team members. The are also ably supported by one of their ex team members and not main contact point, Tool (Mickey Rourke). The movie starts with an operation in the Gulf of Aden where a container ship has been held by Somalian pirates who are now demanding a ransom of $3 million. The Expendables quickly address the issue with no harm caused to the hostages. In the bargain, however, they find out the dark side of Gunner who insists of continue the carnage with his own verson of barbarism. This leads to Yang trying to stop him and eventually Barney has to intervene. Gunner is politely asked to exit the team which he doesn’t take too kindly to but has not other choice.
The movie then proceeds to introduce an agent who goes by the name of church (Bruce Willis) who is presumably a CIA Agent who wants to give yet another covert job to one of two teams. One being The Expendables. The other team is lead by the missing link in the Planet Hollywood Team which completes the 2 mins of attempted humour of getting our 3 vintage heroes to share screen space for probably the first time. The Expendables get the job for a princely sum of $ 5 million which involves a seek and destroy operation of a small, otherwise inconsequential island called Vilena which is supposed to off the coast of Miami somewhere in the Caribbean. The credits however reveal that it is a location in Brazil. Quite exotic nevertheless.
The exotic nature is however not limited to the locale. It also extends to the Sandra (Giselle Itie – a small time south America actress) the sizzling hot daughter of the General of Vilena. Now Sandra is the contact point given to Barney by Church. The target is the general. Now our boys with brawn are a wee bit confused about this entire turn of events. How can the contact be a blood relation? I also forgot to mention a 2nd more important target - James Munroe (Eric Roberts) who is a rogue CIA agent and in cahoots with the general and intends to make a truck load of money smuggling snort. Our men are supposed to destroy this operation.
Despite the heavily loaded star cast, The expendables kind of flatters to deceive. One would have expected the quality of action to have been far superior and not random trigger happiness. Yes, it is a thrill to see these demi gods of action together on screen but they should have been given more substance to work with. Stallone probably had labeled this as his pet project – something to do before I fade away – and hence did this. But give the same project in the hands of a Jerry Bruckheimer OR John Woo and one would be able to notice a perceivable difference. Now I wasn’t expecting an Oscar award nomination when I picked up the tickets but I did expect a reasonable story line. I wasn’t aware of Stallone being the director or I would have toned my expectations down significantly. The dialogues for e.g. are extremely cheesy and drew very little laughter from an otherwise belligerent audience.
The Expendables is yet another case of an actor not being a half decent director or movie maker. Sly Stallone should stick to acting in super action flicks. We all know he is still fit enough and probably capable of having another Rocky. Or maybe he should have made Rocky Balboa his swansong. My guess is the latter. I give The Expendables 5 on 10.
The Expendables are a group of mercenaries led by Barney Ross (Stallone). They specialize in covert military operations which countries do not want to be seem involved in or find it difficult to manage. The team comprises of Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Ying Yang (Jet Li), Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren) and a couple of other trigger happy team members. The are also ably supported by one of their ex team members and not main contact point, Tool (Mickey Rourke). The movie starts with an operation in the Gulf of Aden where a container ship has been held by Somalian pirates who are now demanding a ransom of $3 million. The Expendables quickly address the issue with no harm caused to the hostages. In the bargain, however, they find out the dark side of Gunner who insists of continue the carnage with his own verson of barbarism. This leads to Yang trying to stop him and eventually Barney has to intervene. Gunner is politely asked to exit the team which he doesn’t take too kindly to but has not other choice.
The movie then proceeds to introduce an agent who goes by the name of church (Bruce Willis) who is presumably a CIA Agent who wants to give yet another covert job to one of two teams. One being The Expendables. The other team is lead by the missing link in the Planet Hollywood Team which completes the 2 mins of attempted humour of getting our 3 vintage heroes to share screen space for probably the first time. The Expendables get the job for a princely sum of $ 5 million which involves a seek and destroy operation of a small, otherwise inconsequential island called Vilena which is supposed to off the coast of Miami somewhere in the Caribbean. The credits however reveal that it is a location in Brazil. Quite exotic nevertheless.
The exotic nature is however not limited to the locale. It also extends to the Sandra (Giselle Itie – a small time south America actress) the sizzling hot daughter of the General of Vilena. Now Sandra is the contact point given to Barney by Church. The target is the general. Now our boys with brawn are a wee bit confused about this entire turn of events. How can the contact be a blood relation? I also forgot to mention a 2nd more important target - James Munroe (Eric Roberts) who is a rogue CIA agent and in cahoots with the general and intends to make a truck load of money smuggling snort. Our men are supposed to destroy this operation.
Despite the heavily loaded star cast, The expendables kind of flatters to deceive. One would have expected the quality of action to have been far superior and not random trigger happiness. Yes, it is a thrill to see these demi gods of action together on screen but they should have been given more substance to work with. Stallone probably had labeled this as his pet project – something to do before I fade away – and hence did this. But give the same project in the hands of a Jerry Bruckheimer OR John Woo and one would be able to notice a perceivable difference. Now I wasn’t expecting an Oscar award nomination when I picked up the tickets but I did expect a reasonable story line. I wasn’t aware of Stallone being the director or I would have toned my expectations down significantly. The dialogues for e.g. are extremely cheesy and drew very little laughter from an otherwise belligerent audience.
The Expendables is yet another case of an actor not being a half decent director or movie maker. Sly Stallone should stick to acting in super action flicks. We all know he is still fit enough and probably capable of having another Rocky. Or maybe he should have made Rocky Balboa his swansong. My guess is the latter. I give The Expendables 5 on 10.
Aisha
I was really really looking forward to catching up with the first day show of Aisha. I had been listening to the music for the past 3 weeks. Set up Aisha songs as my caller tune coz the music was really good. Very typical Amit Trivedi. A nice mélange of several genres of music. 6 neatly packed songs into what seemed to be a fresh and exciting movie to watch. Professional commitments and then a week long illness kept me away from the screen till last evening. The movie started off as I had predicted with the foot tapping chick number – By the Way (Anushka Manchanda). But what started off promisingly and sustained the momentum all through the first half kind of just fizzled out into – I would be harsh if I were to call it a damp squib – but it almost got there.
Aisha Kapoor (Sonam A Kapoor) is your average rich semi spoilt kid from South Central Delhi whose Dad (M K Raina) is rich enough to buy her a Volkswagen Beetle. Probably as her 21st birthday gift or something. She is bestest friends with Pinky Bose (Ira Dubey) who is a self confessed man lover but also commitment phobe – I already like her . She is also close friends with Arjun Burman (Abhay Deol) who has kind of grown up with the family. Arjun is now an investment banker – I sometimes find it extremely difficult to digest these fancy professions which get credited to characters in movies, lead or otherwise. Do the people involved in making movies even know what goes into the life of an I-Banker or what does an investment Banker’s schedule look like? Or does an I-Banker even have the bandwidth after her/his 18 hour work days to spare time on some random weekend for a polo game? Maybe I am wrong but my impression of these corporate slaves is far different from what was shown.
Nevertheless, completing the entire shebang are Randhir Gambhir (Cyrus Sahukar), Aarti Menon (Lisa Haydon) and Dhruv Singh (Arunoday Singh). Randhir is the usual rich bum whose dad owns a massive sweets business. He is totally smitten by Aisha. Aarti is the NY return colleague of Arjun who is “just friends” with him. And Dhruv is the nerd grown hunkie. Son of Col. Singh (Yuri Suri) who has just married Aisha’s Maasi – Chitra (Anooradha Patel).
Now Aisha is fully capable of finding herself a job but as I had mentioned earlier, she is the semi spoilt rich kid. Semi spoilt coz she restricts herself to spending 53 grand on her dad’s credit card without batting an eyelid. 53 grand is like peanuts for the average rich Delhi household. In most cases the response would have been, “Bas Itna hi??? Jawaan Beti hai, aaj nahin kharchegi toh kab karegi. Aur itna paisa kis liye kamaaya hai”. She instead, indulges herself in what she calls – Social Service i.e. setting up couples together. She claims to run an event management firm but honestly the movie does not give any indications of this other than her claiming it. Her current pet project is Shefali (Amrita Puri) who has come to Delhi from Bahadurgarh with the sole intent of getting married. The movie revolves around Aisha’s attempts to get her hitched first with Randhir and then with Dhruv. In between all of this there is Saurabh (Anand Tiwari) who is smitten by Shefali but thanks to Aisha is not allowed to even get close simply because he is too middle class. Arjun doesn’t like this interference one bit and keeps giving Aisha a piece of his mind which is to no avail.
Aisha is an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma. I have read Emma a really long time back and tried to get my hands on the book so that I could go thru it once again before I saw Aisha but guess what – out of stock. I somehow don’t think it is due to Aisha. I do have a vague recollection of the book and I think the story is quite similar and Rajashree Ojha & Devika Bhagat (Screenplay) have done it some justice. Most importantly, they have credited Jane Austen with the script and story which is very unlike most Bollywood production houses. I guess it was Anil Kapoor’s attempt to increase his credibility in Hollywood.
Performances are quite acceptable. Sonam A Kapoor has increased her level just that one bit in her 4th movie. Abhay Deol as usual is completely at ease in front of the camera. Ira Dubey too has done quite a good job as the forever spiteful, Randhir hating, Pinky Bose. Stand out performance is by Amrita Puri who in her debut movie who has done full justice to the role of Shefali from Bhadurgarh. My friends from Delhi would agree with me when I say that she has actually captured the nuances of such a character very very well both in demeanour as well as dialogue. Good show Amrita.
The editing, consistency and sound editing are however atrocious to say the least. Come on guys at least ensure the movie is finished well. Could have easily gone upto 6 on 10 with proper finishing and some cuts in between to ensure the movie was of the right length. Thoda overboard chala gaya. Khinch gaya. 4 on 10 final verdict.
Aisha Kapoor (Sonam A Kapoor) is your average rich semi spoilt kid from South Central Delhi whose Dad (M K Raina) is rich enough to buy her a Volkswagen Beetle. Probably as her 21st birthday gift or something. She is bestest friends with Pinky Bose (Ira Dubey) who is a self confessed man lover but also commitment phobe – I already like her . She is also close friends with Arjun Burman (Abhay Deol) who has kind of grown up with the family. Arjun is now an investment banker – I sometimes find it extremely difficult to digest these fancy professions which get credited to characters in movies, lead or otherwise. Do the people involved in making movies even know what goes into the life of an I-Banker or what does an investment Banker’s schedule look like? Or does an I-Banker even have the bandwidth after her/his 18 hour work days to spare time on some random weekend for a polo game? Maybe I am wrong but my impression of these corporate slaves is far different from what was shown.
Nevertheless, completing the entire shebang are Randhir Gambhir (Cyrus Sahukar), Aarti Menon (Lisa Haydon) and Dhruv Singh (Arunoday Singh). Randhir is the usual rich bum whose dad owns a massive sweets business. He is totally smitten by Aisha. Aarti is the NY return colleague of Arjun who is “just friends” with him. And Dhruv is the nerd grown hunkie. Son of Col. Singh (Yuri Suri) who has just married Aisha’s Maasi – Chitra (Anooradha Patel).
Now Aisha is fully capable of finding herself a job but as I had mentioned earlier, she is the semi spoilt rich kid. Semi spoilt coz she restricts herself to spending 53 grand on her dad’s credit card without batting an eyelid. 53 grand is like peanuts for the average rich Delhi household. In most cases the response would have been, “Bas Itna hi??? Jawaan Beti hai, aaj nahin kharchegi toh kab karegi. Aur itna paisa kis liye kamaaya hai”. She instead, indulges herself in what she calls – Social Service i.e. setting up couples together. She claims to run an event management firm but honestly the movie does not give any indications of this other than her claiming it. Her current pet project is Shefali (Amrita Puri) who has come to Delhi from Bahadurgarh with the sole intent of getting married. The movie revolves around Aisha’s attempts to get her hitched first with Randhir and then with Dhruv. In between all of this there is Saurabh (Anand Tiwari) who is smitten by Shefali but thanks to Aisha is not allowed to even get close simply because he is too middle class. Arjun doesn’t like this interference one bit and keeps giving Aisha a piece of his mind which is to no avail.
Aisha is an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma. I have read Emma a really long time back and tried to get my hands on the book so that I could go thru it once again before I saw Aisha but guess what – out of stock. I somehow don’t think it is due to Aisha. I do have a vague recollection of the book and I think the story is quite similar and Rajashree Ojha & Devika Bhagat (Screenplay) have done it some justice. Most importantly, they have credited Jane Austen with the script and story which is very unlike most Bollywood production houses. I guess it was Anil Kapoor’s attempt to increase his credibility in Hollywood.
Performances are quite acceptable. Sonam A Kapoor has increased her level just that one bit in her 4th movie. Abhay Deol as usual is completely at ease in front of the camera. Ira Dubey too has done quite a good job as the forever spiteful, Randhir hating, Pinky Bose. Stand out performance is by Amrita Puri who in her debut movie who has done full justice to the role of Shefali from Bhadurgarh. My friends from Delhi would agree with me when I say that she has actually captured the nuances of such a character very very well both in demeanour as well as dialogue. Good show Amrita.
The editing, consistency and sound editing are however atrocious to say the least. Come on guys at least ensure the movie is finished well. Could have easily gone upto 6 on 10 with proper finishing and some cuts in between to ensure the movie was of the right length. Thoda overboard chala gaya. Khinch gaya. 4 on 10 final verdict.
Despicable Me
This year’s Academy award for best Animation Feature Film is going to be a bit tough. As of now, we have already seen Toy Story 3 which I believe was brilliant. And now we have Despicable Me which is going to be very close to Toy Story. Maybe a close 2nd but really close nevertheless. The difference being this comes from the studios of Twentieth Century Fox and not Pixar (synonym for Animation Movies) which is a very pleasant surprise to say the least. Finally there is some competition to Pixar. Will definitely ensure that there are better movies that come out in future… oh goody!!!!!
Meet Gru (Steve Carell) – He is really tall, with a large torso and really scrawny legs – like you wud see in a cartoon . He is also quite ugly I must say. He also drives a really really large automobile which bulldozes its way through traffic as if there was no tomorrow. His primary goal in life is to be the best criminal of all time!!! Standing in his way are 2 problems one goes by the name of Vector (Jason Segel). He is younger, smarter and does not have what is Gru’s second problem – Money!!!!!! Gru lives in a very dark house below which he has a massive operation unknown to the general public. He stays there with any entire army of small cute li’l creatures called Minions. He also has a geriatric Dr. Nefario (Russel Brand) as his chief scientist. Gru has also had a not so great upbringing with his mom (surprise surprise – Julie Andrews) not providing him any encouragement whatsoever.
And to make matters worse for Gru, his performance over the past few years has not led to any gain in confidence with the Bank of Evil – the primary bank that funds criminals and criminal activities. The Bank very clearly rejects his request for a new loan to steal the moon citing the existence of a new player who has already proven himself by stealing the Piramyd from Giza – quite a daunting task executed with utmost ease. The same ease with which he allows Gru to steal the Shrinking Device from a high security facility and then steals it off Gru.
In the meantime, we are introduced to Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Elsie Fisher) – 3 li’l girls from the local orphanage. Now they are obviously not treated quite well @ the orphanage and spend their time collecting funds by selling cookies – as good as child labour - Not Good!!!! However, on one of their rounds, they knock on the door of Vector who it is a revealed has a fetish for a particular variety of coconut cookies. Gru who has been desperately trying to get into Vector’s lair to get the Shrinking Device back over hears this and cracks upon a plot to adopt the 3 kids and use them to get into Vector’s lair. He uses his “charm” to sweet talk his way with the warden at the orphanage and gets the kids home.
What follows is a lovely comedy of errors. A complete feast for kids and adults alike. Very slickly done animation. Great story line. Lovely humour. Super Family outing, paisa vasool movie. Great action too which doesn’t need a PG certification. Spice it up with even better thrills and joyrides. This one is a must watch in 3D to get the best possible effect.
Steve Carell shows that his versatility is now extended to giving voice overs as well. I think it is time that there is a separate category for best voice over @ the Oscars. The rest of the cast is equally good with the pick of the voice-overs being Elsie Fisher for the very little Agnes.
I give this 7 on 10 definitely. Toy Story will get the Oscar as of now but marginally as i had mentioned. Go right ahead with your kids and family and have a wonderful Sunday afternoon at the movies.
Meet Gru (Steve Carell) – He is really tall, with a large torso and really scrawny legs – like you wud see in a cartoon . He is also quite ugly I must say. He also drives a really really large automobile which bulldozes its way through traffic as if there was no tomorrow. His primary goal in life is to be the best criminal of all time!!! Standing in his way are 2 problems one goes by the name of Vector (Jason Segel). He is younger, smarter and does not have what is Gru’s second problem – Money!!!!!! Gru lives in a very dark house below which he has a massive operation unknown to the general public. He stays there with any entire army of small cute li’l creatures called Minions. He also has a geriatric Dr. Nefario (Russel Brand) as his chief scientist. Gru has also had a not so great upbringing with his mom (surprise surprise – Julie Andrews) not providing him any encouragement whatsoever.
And to make matters worse for Gru, his performance over the past few years has not led to any gain in confidence with the Bank of Evil – the primary bank that funds criminals and criminal activities. The Bank very clearly rejects his request for a new loan to steal the moon citing the existence of a new player who has already proven himself by stealing the Piramyd from Giza – quite a daunting task executed with utmost ease. The same ease with which he allows Gru to steal the Shrinking Device from a high security facility and then steals it off Gru.
In the meantime, we are introduced to Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Elsie Fisher) – 3 li’l girls from the local orphanage. Now they are obviously not treated quite well @ the orphanage and spend their time collecting funds by selling cookies – as good as child labour - Not Good!!!! However, on one of their rounds, they knock on the door of Vector who it is a revealed has a fetish for a particular variety of coconut cookies. Gru who has been desperately trying to get into Vector’s lair to get the Shrinking Device back over hears this and cracks upon a plot to adopt the 3 kids and use them to get into Vector’s lair. He uses his “charm” to sweet talk his way with the warden at the orphanage and gets the kids home.
What follows is a lovely comedy of errors. A complete feast for kids and adults alike. Very slickly done animation. Great story line. Lovely humour. Super Family outing, paisa vasool movie. Great action too which doesn’t need a PG certification. Spice it up with even better thrills and joyrides. This one is a must watch in 3D to get the best possible effect.
Steve Carell shows that his versatility is now extended to giving voice overs as well. I think it is time that there is a separate category for best voice over @ the Oscars. The rest of the cast is equally good with the pick of the voice-overs being Elsie Fisher for the very little Agnes.
I give this 7 on 10 definitely. Toy Story will get the Oscar as of now but marginally as i had mentioned. Go right ahead with your kids and family and have a wonderful Sunday afternoon at the movies.
Friday, 13 August 2010
Serendipity
I keep referring to the mushy stuff that dreams are made of quite often. I have also mentioned several times that I am a sucker for RomComs. I have never made bones about accepting that even the subtlest of differences in a romantic comedy is sufficient to please me. Then why should I not return a good review for Peter Chelsom’s best effort to date and what would remain his best effort in a long time to come. Every time we go to the movies, we look for that something different. And when we watch Love Stories then we are willing to believe even the impossible because of the warm feeling it leaves in our hearts at the end. Lets face it, most of us ARE SUCKERS for that warm happy feeling and loads of men would refuse to accept it unless they are in a drunken stupor or they are in a drunken stupor.
Serendipity - The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries – as defined in the Oxford English Dictionary.
The favourite word of Sara Thomas (Kate Beckinsale) who believes, right from the bottom of her heart, that everything in this life has got to do with destiny. That if something were to happen then it eventually will irrespective of whether it happens today or years later.
Johanthan Trager (John Cusack) and Sara Thomas both reach out for the last pair of black gloves at the Bloomingdales counter at the same time. Its Christmas time in New York and both of them are in their best spirits so they let the other person have it. In between this, a random customer comes in and picks up the gloves. At this time, John and Sara together in extemporish fashion, convince the gentleman that they need the gloves more than him. There is a certain kind of chemistry that clicks between the two of them and they pursue their conversation @ a local café called Serendipity. All through, what lands up being probably the best evening they have ever spent in their lives, they have not exchanged something as basic as names. Just a click somewhere in their minds and they were off.
As the evening draws to a close, John decides to ask Sara what her name is, a question that she keeps side stepping. She eventually succumbs and gives her phone number but as luck would have it, it gets blown away in the wind. Unwilling to give up John keeps pestering but Sara writes her name and number on the first page of a book “Love in the time of Cholera” and promises to drop it off at a 2nd hand book store before she leaves New York… oops… Sara is British – apologies for not having mentioned it. She also asks John to write down his name and number on a $5 bill and spends it. Her theory being, if either of these were to make its way back into the other person’s hands, it would mean they were meant to be.
Now John is not one to give up so easily and so they land up walking into the Waldorf Astoria and checking their luck out one last time. The idea is to get into different elevators and press a random floor of their choice. If it matches then they are meant to be. both press 23 unknown to each other. But as luck would have it, John’s elevator stops mid way to pick up a passenger… a 3 foot nothing spoilt brat with any even more spoilt father who is OK with the kid pressing all the buttons in the elevator…. Ridiculous parents I say… well does the story of John and Sara end with this spoilt brat? Unlikely right?
Movie worth a watch to find out what ensues. Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack both look good on screen. Although I always thought Kate was much taller than she looked here. Turns out she is barely 5’ 3”. Quite a surprise. That’s no reflection on her acting skills whatsoever. Cusack looks as boy next door as ever and turns out a performance that is expected of him – nice. The supporting cast if vastly non existant with the exception of John’s best friend Dean Kansky (Jeremy Piven) who drives John to go after Sara and look for her. Some really sweet moments in the movie. One of them is when John’s wife to be Halley (Bridget Moynahan) gives him his present before the wedding day. It turns out to be exactly the book that Sara had written down her name and number. Direction is average again. Nothing out of this world. All in all the movie is quite a decent watch for a Sunday afternoon cuddled in bed with your boy friend – 5 on 10.
Serendipity - The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries – as defined in the Oxford English Dictionary.
The favourite word of Sara Thomas (Kate Beckinsale) who believes, right from the bottom of her heart, that everything in this life has got to do with destiny. That if something were to happen then it eventually will irrespective of whether it happens today or years later.
Johanthan Trager (John Cusack) and Sara Thomas both reach out for the last pair of black gloves at the Bloomingdales counter at the same time. Its Christmas time in New York and both of them are in their best spirits so they let the other person have it. In between this, a random customer comes in and picks up the gloves. At this time, John and Sara together in extemporish fashion, convince the gentleman that they need the gloves more than him. There is a certain kind of chemistry that clicks between the two of them and they pursue their conversation @ a local café called Serendipity. All through, what lands up being probably the best evening they have ever spent in their lives, they have not exchanged something as basic as names. Just a click somewhere in their minds and they were off.
As the evening draws to a close, John decides to ask Sara what her name is, a question that she keeps side stepping. She eventually succumbs and gives her phone number but as luck would have it, it gets blown away in the wind. Unwilling to give up John keeps pestering but Sara writes her name and number on the first page of a book “Love in the time of Cholera” and promises to drop it off at a 2nd hand book store before she leaves New York… oops… Sara is British – apologies for not having mentioned it. She also asks John to write down his name and number on a $5 bill and spends it. Her theory being, if either of these were to make its way back into the other person’s hands, it would mean they were meant to be.
Now John is not one to give up so easily and so they land up walking into the Waldorf Astoria and checking their luck out one last time. The idea is to get into different elevators and press a random floor of their choice. If it matches then they are meant to be. both press 23 unknown to each other. But as luck would have it, John’s elevator stops mid way to pick up a passenger… a 3 foot nothing spoilt brat with any even more spoilt father who is OK with the kid pressing all the buttons in the elevator…. Ridiculous parents I say… well does the story of John and Sara end with this spoilt brat? Unlikely right?
Movie worth a watch to find out what ensues. Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack both look good on screen. Although I always thought Kate was much taller than she looked here. Turns out she is barely 5’ 3”. Quite a surprise. That’s no reflection on her acting skills whatsoever. Cusack looks as boy next door as ever and turns out a performance that is expected of him – nice. The supporting cast if vastly non existant with the exception of John’s best friend Dean Kansky (Jeremy Piven) who drives John to go after Sara and look for her. Some really sweet moments in the movie. One of them is when John’s wife to be Halley (Bridget Moynahan) gives him his present before the wedding day. It turns out to be exactly the book that Sara had written down her name and number. Direction is average again. Nothing out of this world. All in all the movie is quite a decent watch for a Sunday afternoon cuddled in bed with your boy friend – 5 on 10.
We Are Marshall
Now this one is an out and out A Grade Sports Movie. Must watch and must rank in the top 10 sport movies of all time. Easy pick for anyone who is looking for videos for a team building or an inspiration building class. And it definitely rates along with the likes of Miracle on Ice & Remember the Titans. However, the message is distinctly different and that makes it even more enjoyable and long lasting.
In December 1970, the entire Marshall University Football Team along with support staff and a few fans – dies in a plane crash. All 76 of them. In one sad but true instance – they are all gone. A team that more or less held the fabric of the town together. They were not really the best ever to play the game. But played it with a zeal and passion that would get them all the way to the top of the ladder when the time for judgement came. All of a sudden, the entire town, shell shocked comes to a grinding halt. Almost every family has lost a dear one – a son, a father, an uncle, a cousin, a very close friend, a hero.
Completely crippled by this, President Dedmon (David Strathairn) is about to call of the entire football programme for the year. However, the football team co-captain, Nate Ruffin (Anthony Mackie) will not give up without trying. Prior to the fateful game, Nate has dislocated his shoulder and therefore is not with the team when the flight crashes. He rallies every student in the university who assemble that evening to push the committee to reverse its decision to stop the football programme.
Prez Dedmon then begins his arduous task of firstly hiring a coach. Red Dawson (Matthew Fox) Assistant Coach is approached first. Red decided not to take the flight @ the last minute and drive home instead. He is obviously ridden with guilt and shock and still reeling under the impact. He politely declines. No coach, obviously so, is willing to take up the challenge of stringing together a football team when only 3 members of the original team are alive currently. No one with the exception of Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey) who in his words thought, “what if I were to lose my kids – that would hurt. And then I thought get that to a family, a team, a whole town – that must hurt real bad”. Much to the surprise of Prez Dedmon, he offers to take up the job and starts with the tiring task of putting together a football team that would get some sense of semblance and self respect back into the lives of the people in the town.
Director McG (surely in the Guiness Book for the director with the shortest name in Hollywood) stitches together a multifaceted movie which examines the stress that we go through with a loss of a loved one. Every possible relationship has been dealt with to the best possible manner. Starting with that of Paul Griffen (Ian McShane) who is one of the most influential people in the town and loses his star quarterback son, Chris, in the crash. Paul goes on to become the biggest stumbling block in the lives of the group that want to restart the Football programme. His inability to cope with the loss of his son has been handled extremely well. Then there is Annie Cantrall (Kate Mara) who is Chris’ girlfriend and is engaged to be married to him. What does she do with the ring that Chris gave her? There is Tom Bogdan (Biran Geraghty) who misses the ill fated game because he overslept. Now how is he going to come to terms with the entire concept of being alive because he was irresponsible?
We are Marshall is one of the sports movies that really takes the focus out of the winning part in most such movies. It focuses more on the building of a team from scratch. It focuses on building relationships block by block, day by day. It focuses on how we need put several times of a higher effort to get things done when the chips are down. It focuses on how we need to really get creative in times like the Marshalls faced in the 70s. It focuses on the all important – never say die – spirit that epitomizes successful sportsmen. Definitely a must watch. Add to your collection if you can – 7 on 10 from my side as a movie.
In December 1970, the entire Marshall University Football Team along with support staff and a few fans – dies in a plane crash. All 76 of them. In one sad but true instance – they are all gone. A team that more or less held the fabric of the town together. They were not really the best ever to play the game. But played it with a zeal and passion that would get them all the way to the top of the ladder when the time for judgement came. All of a sudden, the entire town, shell shocked comes to a grinding halt. Almost every family has lost a dear one – a son, a father, an uncle, a cousin, a very close friend, a hero.
Completely crippled by this, President Dedmon (David Strathairn) is about to call of the entire football programme for the year. However, the football team co-captain, Nate Ruffin (Anthony Mackie) will not give up without trying. Prior to the fateful game, Nate has dislocated his shoulder and therefore is not with the team when the flight crashes. He rallies every student in the university who assemble that evening to push the committee to reverse its decision to stop the football programme.
Prez Dedmon then begins his arduous task of firstly hiring a coach. Red Dawson (Matthew Fox) Assistant Coach is approached first. Red decided not to take the flight @ the last minute and drive home instead. He is obviously ridden with guilt and shock and still reeling under the impact. He politely declines. No coach, obviously so, is willing to take up the challenge of stringing together a football team when only 3 members of the original team are alive currently. No one with the exception of Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey) who in his words thought, “what if I were to lose my kids – that would hurt. And then I thought get that to a family, a team, a whole town – that must hurt real bad”. Much to the surprise of Prez Dedmon, he offers to take up the job and starts with the tiring task of putting together a football team that would get some sense of semblance and self respect back into the lives of the people in the town.
Director McG (surely in the Guiness Book for the director with the shortest name in Hollywood) stitches together a multifaceted movie which examines the stress that we go through with a loss of a loved one. Every possible relationship has been dealt with to the best possible manner. Starting with that of Paul Griffen (Ian McShane) who is one of the most influential people in the town and loses his star quarterback son, Chris, in the crash. Paul goes on to become the biggest stumbling block in the lives of the group that want to restart the Football programme. His inability to cope with the loss of his son has been handled extremely well. Then there is Annie Cantrall (Kate Mara) who is Chris’ girlfriend and is engaged to be married to him. What does she do with the ring that Chris gave her? There is Tom Bogdan (Biran Geraghty) who misses the ill fated game because he overslept. Now how is he going to come to terms with the entire concept of being alive because he was irresponsible?
We are Marshall is one of the sports movies that really takes the focus out of the winning part in most such movies. It focuses more on the building of a team from scratch. It focuses on building relationships block by block, day by day. It focuses on how we need put several times of a higher effort to get things done when the chips are down. It focuses on how we need to really get creative in times like the Marshalls faced in the 70s. It focuses on the all important – never say die – spirit that epitomizes successful sportsmen. Definitely a must watch. Add to your collection if you can – 7 on 10 from my side as a movie.
Le Divorce
When the killer pair of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory come together on any project, one can be rest assured that the movie is going to be watchable. So the base scale at 5 on 10 is really bad for this super successful cinematic pair. Rest assured, Le Divorce lives upto the average Merchant Ivory fan’s expectations. It is not the arty kinds that take you back to the MI movies of the seventies where there are severely long pregnant pauses to create the impact desired. And don’t let the cast misguide you into thinking that they have succumbed to the temptation of making movies that are super commercially viable. It’s a good combination of the traditional Merchant Ivory values with some new blood spiked in. Le Divorce is a refreshing, stylish, classy Rom Com.
Isabel Walker (Kate Hudson) walks into Paris to visit her pregnant sister Roxanne (Naomi Watts) who is a poet and married to Charles Henri de Persand (Melvil Poupaud) and has a 5 year old daughter. Roxanne is out grocery shopping and is unaware that her husband is planning to take off that very day with his mistress and new found love, Magda Tellman (Rona Hartner). Roxy walks back home only to find CH hurriedly leaving their home. He offers her no reason and runs off as quickly as he can only to bump into Isabel on his way out. Very non chalantly, he plants a kiss on Isabel’s cheek and before you know it he’s gone.
Isabel and Roxy try to soak in the shock of the moment in as best a manner as possible. Its not always that a pregnant woman walks into her house to see her husband walk out and leave a 5 year old girl to take care off. They try to piece their lives back together. The weekend was to be spent with CH’s parents which cannot be cancelled. So in atypical French style when asked where CH was, the answer is deflected to an official reason – to sell a painting for e.g. That in French custom is a good enough hint to the mother that something is amiss.
Roxy does not believe in divorce but when CH initiates proceedings, she is left with no choice. She is introduced by her author friend, Olivia Pace (Glen Close) to Maitre Bertram (Jean-Marc Brar) who is a lawyer to help her with some advise on the divorce and most importantly a painting of St. Ursula which is speculated to be the original by Georges de la Tour. Parallely Isabel is making the most of her time in France first with Yves (Romain Duris) who is introduced to her by Olivia and then with leading French Politician and CH’s uncle Edgar Cosset (Thierry Lhermitte). The main twist is yet to enter the story when one day on her return, Isabel finds at her door, Tellman (Matthew Modine). Tellman is the husband of Magda who CH has run off with. Tellman for some reason believes that the only way to get back and CH and Magda would be for him and Roxy to also have an affair.
James Ivory goes on through the movie as a satire on French customs and divorce laws that are super archaic. Woven in between all of these are the cultural differences between the Americans and the French – some of which seem very exciting (read better) for the Americans. Others which are fundamentally flawed – American or otherwise. The dialogues are smart and classy which is expected of a MI movie. The humour is very very very French. The locale…. Ah… Paris (pronounced with the silent s). Made mental note of making enough money to retire into somewhere in France eventually .
The cast is wonderfully picked up. Very balanced between the French and the American. The language is again balanced with quite a large portion of the movie in French. Trust MI to understand that the nuances of the movie could have been best delivered only in the local language. And with the ever trusted Ruth Pravar Jhabwala are their side they probably could not go wrong. Glen Close is oh so serene in her role as the retired author. Simplest of roles but such amazing screen presence!!!! Watts and Hudson give very good performances but somewhere they pale in comparison to the French cast which is outstanding.
Good concept, lovely humour. Very classy as mentioned earlier. 7 on 10 for this one
Isabel Walker (Kate Hudson) walks into Paris to visit her pregnant sister Roxanne (Naomi Watts) who is a poet and married to Charles Henri de Persand (Melvil Poupaud) and has a 5 year old daughter. Roxanne is out grocery shopping and is unaware that her husband is planning to take off that very day with his mistress and new found love, Magda Tellman (Rona Hartner). Roxy walks back home only to find CH hurriedly leaving their home. He offers her no reason and runs off as quickly as he can only to bump into Isabel on his way out. Very non chalantly, he plants a kiss on Isabel’s cheek and before you know it he’s gone.
Isabel and Roxy try to soak in the shock of the moment in as best a manner as possible. Its not always that a pregnant woman walks into her house to see her husband walk out and leave a 5 year old girl to take care off. They try to piece their lives back together. The weekend was to be spent with CH’s parents which cannot be cancelled. So in atypical French style when asked where CH was, the answer is deflected to an official reason – to sell a painting for e.g. That in French custom is a good enough hint to the mother that something is amiss.
Roxy does not believe in divorce but when CH initiates proceedings, she is left with no choice. She is introduced by her author friend, Olivia Pace (Glen Close) to Maitre Bertram (Jean-Marc Brar) who is a lawyer to help her with some advise on the divorce and most importantly a painting of St. Ursula which is speculated to be the original by Georges de la Tour. Parallely Isabel is making the most of her time in France first with Yves (Romain Duris) who is introduced to her by Olivia and then with leading French Politician and CH’s uncle Edgar Cosset (Thierry Lhermitte). The main twist is yet to enter the story when one day on her return, Isabel finds at her door, Tellman (Matthew Modine). Tellman is the husband of Magda who CH has run off with. Tellman for some reason believes that the only way to get back and CH and Magda would be for him and Roxy to also have an affair.
James Ivory goes on through the movie as a satire on French customs and divorce laws that are super archaic. Woven in between all of these are the cultural differences between the Americans and the French – some of which seem very exciting (read better) for the Americans. Others which are fundamentally flawed – American or otherwise. The dialogues are smart and classy which is expected of a MI movie. The humour is very very very French. The locale…. Ah… Paris (pronounced with the silent s). Made mental note of making enough money to retire into somewhere in France eventually .
The cast is wonderfully picked up. Very balanced between the French and the American. The language is again balanced with quite a large portion of the movie in French. Trust MI to understand that the nuances of the movie could have been best delivered only in the local language. And with the ever trusted Ruth Pravar Jhabwala are their side they probably could not go wrong. Glen Close is oh so serene in her role as the retired author. Simplest of roles but such amazing screen presence!!!! Watts and Hudson give very good performances but somewhere they pale in comparison to the French cast which is outstanding.
Good concept, lovely humour. Very classy as mentioned earlier. 7 on 10 for this one
The Cutting Edge III - Chasing the Dream
When it comes to movies on Sport or games, most people are huge buffs. The nail biting excitement, , the non-stop excitement that keeps you rooted till the edge of the seat climax sequences, all make for an extremely heady mixture but an extremely satisfying experience…… right?
Sadly not always…. Not when there is the extremely classical and beautiful sport of Figure Skating involved. And definitely not when there is a cast that includes the likes of Matt Lanter (8 simple Rules; Disaster Movie) and Francia Raisa (really nothing worth mentioning) and a notorious director who goes by the name of Stuart Gillard (quite well known in the Television circuit – one Emmy nomination some 30 + years back – maybe the oscars are quite a distance away Stuart @ this rate that is)
In a case like the above, you get a certified Chick Flick!!!! Which I have confessed in the past, that I have nothing against. But stop masking them as Sports movies. Sports Movies are intense with a capital “I”. Sports movies have passion so thick you need a hacksaw to chop through it. Sports movies have everything that a normal thriller would have but with just that little bit extra which connects to the heart of every single human being better than a thriller would – the complete unadulterated joy of winning against all odds. Stuart Gillard does try to put all of these into Cutting Edge III but as they say comes a cropper. My guess is actually because he tried too damn hard.
Zack Conroy (Matt Lanter) is your super rich, gorgeous looking kid who super awesome @ figure skating and is gunning for the world championship along with Celeste Mercier (Sarah Gadon). Both are comfortably poised to take the nationals hands down when disaster strikes and Celeste injures herself badly which puts her out of the running. Now our chocolate boy has to hunt for a new partner, who he goes to look for @ a ice hockey rink. Turns out that the person who he is jostling with for the puck is the petite (read mouth wateringly delicious) Alejandra “Alex” Delgado (Francia Raisa). Now Alex can do her bit of skating and leaves Zack tongue tied and twisted. And so Mr. Chocolate Boy Ice Skater goes and tells his agent cum manager cum coach, Bryan Hemmings (Stefano DiMatteo) that he has found the one and only replacement for Celeste.
But hello – Mr. Hemmings is not about to pick up some random skater off the streets and put them up for the world championship. So he huffs and he puffs his way through the first few weeks and then calls it quits with our lead pair who is now left with no coach. So they go to Jackie Dorsey (Christy Carlson Romano) who in her time was the world champion to take up the good cause. At this point of time it is important to point out to the readers that the movie is called Cutting Edge III. Jackie Dorsey was the lead character in Cutting Edge II (2006) and her parents were the lead characters in Cutting Edge (1992) which I am quite certain would have been far better movies.
Nevertheless, Ms. Dorsey very reluctantly accepts the honour of coaching potential world champions and goes about setting her rules as always. In the bargain, she actually makes one extremely relevant and smart move – She gets her protégés to overcome the weakness of experience with each other through executing one seriously brilliant move that would get most eyeballs popping. Will our lead cutie pair be able to pull this one off through hours and hours of training and the romancing in between?
Cutting Edge III is a classic example of what a Sports movie should not be. It is fine to have an element of romance but not soak it in overnight. It is fine to have even an element of double crossing and vice to get some excitement in but not @ every single corner. It is fine to have a love triangle but to get it into some warped pentagon is downright ridiculous. At the risk of repeating myself – Mr. Gillard – Seriously get back into movie school if you really want to make progress in your career with movies.
The only thing worth seeing in the movie is some 2.5 minutes of breath taking figure skating shots which are really well done. But all in all very poor effort – 3 on 10 – this time i am not being generous
Sadly not always…. Not when there is the extremely classical and beautiful sport of Figure Skating involved. And definitely not when there is a cast that includes the likes of Matt Lanter (8 simple Rules; Disaster Movie) and Francia Raisa (really nothing worth mentioning) and a notorious director who goes by the name of Stuart Gillard (quite well known in the Television circuit – one Emmy nomination some 30 + years back – maybe the oscars are quite a distance away Stuart @ this rate that is)
In a case like the above, you get a certified Chick Flick!!!! Which I have confessed in the past, that I have nothing against. But stop masking them as Sports movies. Sports Movies are intense with a capital “I”. Sports movies have passion so thick you need a hacksaw to chop through it. Sports movies have everything that a normal thriller would have but with just that little bit extra which connects to the heart of every single human being better than a thriller would – the complete unadulterated joy of winning against all odds. Stuart Gillard does try to put all of these into Cutting Edge III but as they say comes a cropper. My guess is actually because he tried too damn hard.
Zack Conroy (Matt Lanter) is your super rich, gorgeous looking kid who super awesome @ figure skating and is gunning for the world championship along with Celeste Mercier (Sarah Gadon). Both are comfortably poised to take the nationals hands down when disaster strikes and Celeste injures herself badly which puts her out of the running. Now our chocolate boy has to hunt for a new partner, who he goes to look for @ a ice hockey rink. Turns out that the person who he is jostling with for the puck is the petite (read mouth wateringly delicious) Alejandra “Alex” Delgado (Francia Raisa). Now Alex can do her bit of skating and leaves Zack tongue tied and twisted. And so Mr. Chocolate Boy Ice Skater goes and tells his agent cum manager cum coach, Bryan Hemmings (Stefano DiMatteo) that he has found the one and only replacement for Celeste.
But hello – Mr. Hemmings is not about to pick up some random skater off the streets and put them up for the world championship. So he huffs and he puffs his way through the first few weeks and then calls it quits with our lead pair who is now left with no coach. So they go to Jackie Dorsey (Christy Carlson Romano) who in her time was the world champion to take up the good cause. At this point of time it is important to point out to the readers that the movie is called Cutting Edge III. Jackie Dorsey was the lead character in Cutting Edge II (2006) and her parents were the lead characters in Cutting Edge (1992) which I am quite certain would have been far better movies.
Nevertheless, Ms. Dorsey very reluctantly accepts the honour of coaching potential world champions and goes about setting her rules as always. In the bargain, she actually makes one extremely relevant and smart move – She gets her protégés to overcome the weakness of experience with each other through executing one seriously brilliant move that would get most eyeballs popping. Will our lead cutie pair be able to pull this one off through hours and hours of training and the romancing in between?
Cutting Edge III is a classic example of what a Sports movie should not be. It is fine to have an element of romance but not soak it in overnight. It is fine to have even an element of double crossing and vice to get some excitement in but not @ every single corner. It is fine to have a love triangle but to get it into some warped pentagon is downright ridiculous. At the risk of repeating myself – Mr. Gillard – Seriously get back into movie school if you really want to make progress in your career with movies.
The only thing worth seeing in the movie is some 2.5 minutes of breath taking figure skating shots which are really well done. But all in all very poor effort – 3 on 10 – this time i am not being generous
The Prestige
Every magic trick has 3 parts or Acts. The first step is the pledge where an ordinary object is introduced and if required the audience is invited to check on. Then there is the Turn which is the first part of the trick like making the object disappear. But the most important part is the third. The audience needs to see the object coming back before they genuinely place their faith on you and applaud. This is THE PRESTIGE.
In the late 1800s, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) & Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) are 2 up and coming artistes who work for an elderly magician Milton. Cutter (Michael Caine) is Milton’s Engineer – the person who controls the backend of all the tricks. Lastly there’s Julia (Piper Perabo) is the beautiful distraction to the audience, Angier’s wife, Milton’s assistant / helper who also is part of the lead trick – the underwater escape. In one of the attempts, Borden ties Julia’s hands in a different knot. Unable to escape, she drowns. And the story of vengeance between Borden and Angiers begins.
Since Milton’s show is now officially closed, our protagonists decide to start making a living off their own skill sets. Borden is convinced that good magic is all about getting ones hands dirty and is in his first show itself attempts to catch a bullet. A trick that can get a bit nasty if not executed well. Angiers shows up here and demands to know if Borden had tied the knot differently when Julia died. Borden maintains that he does not remember. In disgust, Angiers shoots 2 of his fingers off leaving him almost incapable of performing any further magic.
Both Angiers and Borden continue their rivalry over time and keep sabotaging each other’s shows with a pure intent of vengeance. They are now known as The Great Danton and The Professor respectively. The Professor, however, continues to be a better magician and Angiers the better showman. The constant attempt to stay ahead of the competition leads The Professor to his latest trick – The Transported Man – A seemingly simple trick of getting into a closet at one end of the stage and reappearing through a door at the other end in a split second. The trick, of course turns out to be a huge hit.
Incensed by the success of the Transported Man, Angiers now is desperate to get a trick of his own which is as impactful. However, his limited intelligence only leads him to resort to a body double and launch The New Transported Man which receives reasonable favour with audiences but does not manage to satiate Angiers’ apetite to know what exactly is being done. He starts going to great lengths to find out what is being done. He sends across his extremely attractive assistant Ms. Olivia Wenscombe (Scarlett Johansson) as a defector to the Professor’s camp. Gets her to steal the Professor’s book to which he needs a key to crack the codes. Kidnaps the Professor’s engineer, Fallon who he buries alive all just to find out the secret to the Transported Man. Borden succumbs into the pressure and gives him a one word answer – TESLA
The movie is set in the late 1800s, as mentioned earlier. It is slow but amazingly gripping – atypical Nolan style. This was Nolan’s 5th movie and by now the signs were ominous enough that we have with us someone who is going to be talked about in the movie business for eons to come. The magic that Nolan weaves by taking us way back in time through a rivalry between 2 professionals who are willing to go to any extent possible to be termed the best is simply superb. The cinematography is as always brilliant – with a golden hue that we have come to associate with most of Nolan’s movies to date – even those that have been released in the recent past.
The performances by almost everyone is simply amazing. Even David Bowie in his bit part of Tesla is immaculate to say the least. By now, quite surely, Nolan and Tarantino would be the most sought after directors to work with from an actor’s perspective.
I had mentioned in one of my earlier write ups that Nolan has raised the bar with almost every movie that he has made. One has to watch Batman Begins followed by The Prestige to really make this out. Slightly different genres of movies but distinct improvement in all aspects with no offence meant to any of Nolan’s works prior to The Prestige. I give this 8 on 10.
In the late 1800s, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) & Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) are 2 up and coming artistes who work for an elderly magician Milton. Cutter (Michael Caine) is Milton’s Engineer – the person who controls the backend of all the tricks. Lastly there’s Julia (Piper Perabo) is the beautiful distraction to the audience, Angier’s wife, Milton’s assistant / helper who also is part of the lead trick – the underwater escape. In one of the attempts, Borden ties Julia’s hands in a different knot. Unable to escape, she drowns. And the story of vengeance between Borden and Angiers begins.
Since Milton’s show is now officially closed, our protagonists decide to start making a living off their own skill sets. Borden is convinced that good magic is all about getting ones hands dirty and is in his first show itself attempts to catch a bullet. A trick that can get a bit nasty if not executed well. Angiers shows up here and demands to know if Borden had tied the knot differently when Julia died. Borden maintains that he does not remember. In disgust, Angiers shoots 2 of his fingers off leaving him almost incapable of performing any further magic.
Both Angiers and Borden continue their rivalry over time and keep sabotaging each other’s shows with a pure intent of vengeance. They are now known as The Great Danton and The Professor respectively. The Professor, however, continues to be a better magician and Angiers the better showman. The constant attempt to stay ahead of the competition leads The Professor to his latest trick – The Transported Man – A seemingly simple trick of getting into a closet at one end of the stage and reappearing through a door at the other end in a split second. The trick, of course turns out to be a huge hit.
Incensed by the success of the Transported Man, Angiers now is desperate to get a trick of his own which is as impactful. However, his limited intelligence only leads him to resort to a body double and launch The New Transported Man which receives reasonable favour with audiences but does not manage to satiate Angiers’ apetite to know what exactly is being done. He starts going to great lengths to find out what is being done. He sends across his extremely attractive assistant Ms. Olivia Wenscombe (Scarlett Johansson) as a defector to the Professor’s camp. Gets her to steal the Professor’s book to which he needs a key to crack the codes. Kidnaps the Professor’s engineer, Fallon who he buries alive all just to find out the secret to the Transported Man. Borden succumbs into the pressure and gives him a one word answer – TESLA
The movie is set in the late 1800s, as mentioned earlier. It is slow but amazingly gripping – atypical Nolan style. This was Nolan’s 5th movie and by now the signs were ominous enough that we have with us someone who is going to be talked about in the movie business for eons to come. The magic that Nolan weaves by taking us way back in time through a rivalry between 2 professionals who are willing to go to any extent possible to be termed the best is simply superb. The cinematography is as always brilliant – with a golden hue that we have come to associate with most of Nolan’s movies to date – even those that have been released in the recent past.
The performances by almost everyone is simply amazing. Even David Bowie in his bit part of Tesla is immaculate to say the least. By now, quite surely, Nolan and Tarantino would be the most sought after directors to work with from an actor’s perspective.
I had mentioned in one of my earlier write ups that Nolan has raised the bar with almost every movie that he has made. One has to watch Batman Begins followed by The Prestige to really make this out. Slightly different genres of movies but distinct improvement in all aspects with no offence meant to any of Nolan’s works prior to The Prestige. I give this 8 on 10.
Reversal of Fortune
Sunny Von Bulow (Glen Close) and Klauss Von Bulow (Jeremy Irons) are your atypical high society couple whose marriage is but obviously on the rocks. Sunny however is eccentric and doesn’t want a divorce knowing fully well that it is probably the only resort left. But she is unable to come to terms with the fact that she has had one failed marriage and the other one is also heading towards a disaster. Depressed, she takes to a life of alcohol and sedatives much to the chagrin of Klauss who is nothing but seemingly a mute spectator.
Things turn nasty when Sunny collapses into a coma one day but manages to recover quickly from that. Nevertheless, she refuses to learn and continues her wild ways smoking 3 packs of cigarettes a day with endless alcohol and sedatives. The first instance itself has created a doubt in the minds of her children that Klaus is in some way responsible for the entire episode. The suspicion is enhanced when Sunny is found unconscious on her bathroom floor and has again slipped into a coma. Only this time, she does not recover from it as quickly as before.
Promptly, Klauss is taken into custody and based on charges framed by the children, is tried and convicted for the attempted murder of his wife. A decision which, obviously, doesn’t leave him too pleased. But being the millionaire that he is, he coughs up the million bucks of bail that is required to be borne and gets out of jail pending a judgement on the appeal. He then approaches Prof. Alan Dershowitz (Ron Silver) for help in defending him. Alan is a famed solicitor who teaches law at the local university and does a lot of pro bono work. But it is cases like these that get him the big bucks to subsidize his other philanthropic activities. Although he is in doubt over Klauss’ guilt, he takes up the case after much deliberation and starts roping in a few of his students to do the ground work for the same as quickly
Reversal of Fortune then tracks Alan’s attempts to punch in as many holes as possible into the prosecution’s case despite not being completely sure Klauss not being guilty. He does this out of a conviction that the methods used by the prosecution in proving Klauss guilty were not legally sound and could set a precedent which would have a whole other negative impact on society in general and therefore the legal fraternity. Director Barbet Schroeder (Single White Female / Desperate Measures / Murder by numbers) clearly captures Alan as the passionate lawyer who is also a single father, trying to ensure that the right messages are passed on to not only his students but society at large. The movie, at large, focuses on just this effort of proving Klauss innocent.
Ron Silver is probably best known for his roles in the TV series’ – Chicago Hope (Tommy Wilmette) & The West Wing (Bruno Gianelli) and maybe also for his performances in Live Wire, Blue Steel and Entity. He comes across as a very passionate actor. The only reason for not having made it big time in Hollywood would be his tendency to put in a bit too much into every scene. He does tend to over act a bit. Glen Close to me always has the wicked image that she managed to pick up around her Dangerous Liaison days. She does not have much of a role in this one. A Pity because she is such a versatile and extremely talented actress. Although her role in this particular movie is very muted to a few scenes and that of a narrator.
The stand out performance in typical ice cold fashion has to be that of Jeremy Irons who with utmost ease essays the role of a character who you would, in the spirit of the movie, like to be proven innocent. But in your heart of hearts, you really cannot decide with utmost conviction that he is. Irons’ portrayal of Klauss Von Bulow is yet another proof point of his capabilities as an actor and commitment towards getting under the skin of his character. Superb performance as always. Cant say it was his best but then with Jeremy Irons it is very difficult to choose a role which he has probably not given what the role demanded.
The rest of the cast is quite passé. Even Felicity Huffman in her bit part role as one of the students does not register with her performance. Decent movie to watch when u are down in bed on a working day unable to go to work. Not paced very well though. Survives on a couple of strong performances. Direction is not really any where close to being world class. Would give it a 5 on 10 at best.
Things turn nasty when Sunny collapses into a coma one day but manages to recover quickly from that. Nevertheless, she refuses to learn and continues her wild ways smoking 3 packs of cigarettes a day with endless alcohol and sedatives. The first instance itself has created a doubt in the minds of her children that Klaus is in some way responsible for the entire episode. The suspicion is enhanced when Sunny is found unconscious on her bathroom floor and has again slipped into a coma. Only this time, she does not recover from it as quickly as before.
Promptly, Klauss is taken into custody and based on charges framed by the children, is tried and convicted for the attempted murder of his wife. A decision which, obviously, doesn’t leave him too pleased. But being the millionaire that he is, he coughs up the million bucks of bail that is required to be borne and gets out of jail pending a judgement on the appeal. He then approaches Prof. Alan Dershowitz (Ron Silver) for help in defending him. Alan is a famed solicitor who teaches law at the local university and does a lot of pro bono work. But it is cases like these that get him the big bucks to subsidize his other philanthropic activities. Although he is in doubt over Klauss’ guilt, he takes up the case after much deliberation and starts roping in a few of his students to do the ground work for the same as quickly
Reversal of Fortune then tracks Alan’s attempts to punch in as many holes as possible into the prosecution’s case despite not being completely sure Klauss not being guilty. He does this out of a conviction that the methods used by the prosecution in proving Klauss guilty were not legally sound and could set a precedent which would have a whole other negative impact on society in general and therefore the legal fraternity. Director Barbet Schroeder (Single White Female / Desperate Measures / Murder by numbers) clearly captures Alan as the passionate lawyer who is also a single father, trying to ensure that the right messages are passed on to not only his students but society at large. The movie, at large, focuses on just this effort of proving Klauss innocent.
Ron Silver is probably best known for his roles in the TV series’ – Chicago Hope (Tommy Wilmette) & The West Wing (Bruno Gianelli) and maybe also for his performances in Live Wire, Blue Steel and Entity. He comes across as a very passionate actor. The only reason for not having made it big time in Hollywood would be his tendency to put in a bit too much into every scene. He does tend to over act a bit. Glen Close to me always has the wicked image that she managed to pick up around her Dangerous Liaison days. She does not have much of a role in this one. A Pity because she is such a versatile and extremely talented actress. Although her role in this particular movie is very muted to a few scenes and that of a narrator.
The stand out performance in typical ice cold fashion has to be that of Jeremy Irons who with utmost ease essays the role of a character who you would, in the spirit of the movie, like to be proven innocent. But in your heart of hearts, you really cannot decide with utmost conviction that he is. Irons’ portrayal of Klauss Von Bulow is yet another proof point of his capabilities as an actor and commitment towards getting under the skin of his character. Superb performance as always. Cant say it was his best but then with Jeremy Irons it is very difficult to choose a role which he has probably not given what the role demanded.
The rest of the cast is quite passé. Even Felicity Huffman in her bit part role as one of the students does not register with her performance. Decent movie to watch when u are down in bed on a working day unable to go to work. Not paced very well though. Survives on a couple of strong performances. Direction is not really any where close to being world class. Would give it a 5 on 10 at best.
Runaway Bride
Garry Marshall is an expert at RomComs. And Runaway Bride would rate as one of the better movies that he has made. I guess Mr. Marshall, very early in his career i.e. way back in 1990 realised that he hit pay dirt with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere when he made Pretty Woman. We all know that Pretty Woman went on to break almost every Box Office record set previously. I mean which movie can you remember that lasted for nearly 50 weeks in India????? Mind you this was the era before the VCD and piracy. But lets not take the credit away from Garry for having given us some really great moments in an evergreen genre @ the movies – The Romantic Comedy.
In the Runaway Bride, Richard Gere plays the role of Ike Graham, a successful columnist who is hated to the core by most women thanks to his blunt and satirical comments directed towards them. He is however, in for a lot more trouble this time. Unable to hit upon an idea, that last minute man that he always is, he commits the cardinal error of journalism. Doesn’t verify his source. A half drunk man, apparently broken hearted, introduces him to the concept of the man eating woman who, it would seem, gets her kicks out leaving her “husbands-to-be” stranded @ the altar waiting to say “I do”. Please welcome Ms. Maggie Carpenter (Julia Roberts)!!!!
Now Ms. Carpenter is obviously displeased at this public display of her inability to cross the bridge 3 times in a row and quickly fires a note to Ellie (Rita Wilson) - Mr. Graham’s editor who also happens to be his ex-wife - threatening a law suit. Ellie is unfortunately left with no choice but to fire Ike since nearly 15 points in the article are incorrect – whatever happened to the gospel truth of a drunk man never lying. Poor Ike is now jobless but does have a guardian angel in Fisher (Hector Elizondo) who is Ellie’s current husband. Fisher comes up with a plan to vindicate Ike – by going after the true story – get it straight from the horse’s mouth.
So our hero makes his way to the sleepy li’l town where our heroine is seemingly creating havoc. Obviously he was mentally prepared to not receive a hero’s welcome. But definitely didn’t expect to get his hair coloured like a rainbow. That’s just the beginning. What Maggie isn’t prepared for is that Ike, the journalist that he is, has his smooth way with words and quickly manages to strike a chord with almost everyone in the town including Maggie’s 4th bride to be – Bob Kelly (Christopher Meloni). This time around, he wants to ensure that he gets all the facts right – what do they say about learning things the hard way? He uses his gift of the gab to the best and squirms his way into learning as many gory details as possible from people around the town, almost ex-husbands etc. Unfortunately, they also get to know a lot about each other and as luck would have it… oops… fall in love … now what????
Julia Roberts & Richard Gere have an on screen chemistry that can be compared by very very few. They actually bring to life, the mushy stuff that dreams are made of. The fact that they are good actors only adds to the entertainment. But the benchmark that they set for themselves with Pretty Woman continues to be the one that they share.
There are some brilliant moments in the movie. Chief among them being the reaction that Maggie has to Ike when he says, “Look, I guarantee there'll be tough times. I guarantee that at some point, one or both of us is gonna want to get out of this thing. But I also guarantee that if I don't ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for the rest of my life, because I know, in my heart, you're the only one for me”. For my money’s worth – one of the best dialogues from a RomCom. Just one of the reasons that Garry Marshall is the best guy to make a RomCom.
Easy watch any given Sunday. Not difficult to go thru. Nothing complicated. Simple straight forward vintage romance. 6 on 10 for this one.
In the Runaway Bride, Richard Gere plays the role of Ike Graham, a successful columnist who is hated to the core by most women thanks to his blunt and satirical comments directed towards them. He is however, in for a lot more trouble this time. Unable to hit upon an idea, that last minute man that he always is, he commits the cardinal error of journalism. Doesn’t verify his source. A half drunk man, apparently broken hearted, introduces him to the concept of the man eating woman who, it would seem, gets her kicks out leaving her “husbands-to-be” stranded @ the altar waiting to say “I do”. Please welcome Ms. Maggie Carpenter (Julia Roberts)!!!!
Now Ms. Carpenter is obviously displeased at this public display of her inability to cross the bridge 3 times in a row and quickly fires a note to Ellie (Rita Wilson) - Mr. Graham’s editor who also happens to be his ex-wife - threatening a law suit. Ellie is unfortunately left with no choice but to fire Ike since nearly 15 points in the article are incorrect – whatever happened to the gospel truth of a drunk man never lying. Poor Ike is now jobless but does have a guardian angel in Fisher (Hector Elizondo) who is Ellie’s current husband. Fisher comes up with a plan to vindicate Ike – by going after the true story – get it straight from the horse’s mouth.
So our hero makes his way to the sleepy li’l town where our heroine is seemingly creating havoc. Obviously he was mentally prepared to not receive a hero’s welcome. But definitely didn’t expect to get his hair coloured like a rainbow. That’s just the beginning. What Maggie isn’t prepared for is that Ike, the journalist that he is, has his smooth way with words and quickly manages to strike a chord with almost everyone in the town including Maggie’s 4th bride to be – Bob Kelly (Christopher Meloni). This time around, he wants to ensure that he gets all the facts right – what do they say about learning things the hard way? He uses his gift of the gab to the best and squirms his way into learning as many gory details as possible from people around the town, almost ex-husbands etc. Unfortunately, they also get to know a lot about each other and as luck would have it… oops… fall in love … now what????
Julia Roberts & Richard Gere have an on screen chemistry that can be compared by very very few. They actually bring to life, the mushy stuff that dreams are made of. The fact that they are good actors only adds to the entertainment. But the benchmark that they set for themselves with Pretty Woman continues to be the one that they share.
There are some brilliant moments in the movie. Chief among them being the reaction that Maggie has to Ike when he says, “Look, I guarantee there'll be tough times. I guarantee that at some point, one or both of us is gonna want to get out of this thing. But I also guarantee that if I don't ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for the rest of my life, because I know, in my heart, you're the only one for me”. For my money’s worth – one of the best dialogues from a RomCom. Just one of the reasons that Garry Marshall is the best guy to make a RomCom.
Easy watch any given Sunday. Not difficult to go thru. Nothing complicated. Simple straight forward vintage romance. 6 on 10 for this one.
Untamed Heart
I first heard of Untamed Heart way back in 1994 when the MTV Movie Awards were announced for that year. It was the first time I was exposed to a concept such as the MTV Movie Awards thanks to Cable TV coming in only a couple of years before that. And the category in which Untamed Heart featured and eventually won was “Best Kiss”. Now, I was no movie expert then (not that I claim to be one now) but I had just turned 19 around this time and rushes that were shown on screen definitely got my hormones onto overdrive and I thought this was the bestest movie ever made.
Adam (Christian Slater) is found one morning outside an orphanage in a basket (like most abandoned babies are found) but he has a huge scar on his chest with stitch marks. Looks like someone did a really bad job of the patchwork after an operation to somewhere on the chest. Of course it had to do with the heart you dummy. Why else would the movie be called Untamed Heart? It could be called Untamed Chest right? Just kidding guys…. Bad humour on a Friday morning. Nevertheless, Adam is bought up by the nuns @ the orphanage and is led to believe that he has a baboon’s heart transplanted into him. He grows up strongly believing in this and is convinced about it even after 26 years of existence.
Caroline (Marisa Tomei) is your average 20 something in the late 80s / early 90s in the US whose dressing sense is heavily influenced by the queen of pop (bust wasn’t everyone influenced by her in those days). That is when she is not in her waitress uniform which is what one sees through most of the movie. She has had a slew of broken relationships and keeps wondering, like most girls her age would, as to why does she always end up with the wrong guy. That my dear is a zillion dollar question that most people in the world would kill to get an answer to - even her closest friend Cindy (Rosie Perez) who works with her and Adam at the same deli.
Adam secretly adores Caroline but his shy nature prevents him from expressing his feelings to her. He walks her home every night after closing except that Caroline is unaware of this. Adam keeps a safe distance, safe enough for Caroline not to notice that is. Until the day when 2 of Caroline’s old acquaintances land up at the deli. They don’t create a scene @ the deli but when she leaves for the night, they follow her and try to rape her. Unbeknownst to them, Adam is watching all of this till the situation gets out of hand, steps in and of course beats the pulp out of them. He carries an unconscious Caroline home and watches over her on her porch till she wakes up – only to run away. That marks the beginning of the relationship which blossoms into deep love through the course of time.
Untamed Heart is definitely not one of your critically acclaimed movies. I mean – Best Kiss @ the MTV Movie Awards – that’s all it could manage. But it does strike a soft chord with most viewers. It is a mushy love story for sure. But at that point of time, it was the best thing love stories could probably offer. Also, extremely solid commercial intelligence in using 2 of the biggest heart throbs of the 90s. Marisa Tomei for my money’s worth is an extremely extremely talented actress - a fact that she had anyways proven the year before with My Cousin Vinny. She is pushing 50 as we speak and continues to give us great performances whenever she does come on screen. Christian Slater though, for most of his life, has only been eye candy & continues to be so in this one too.
Notable mention though is Rosie Perez. For a long period of time, I was always under the impression that she was nominated for Untamed Heart for her performance as an actress in a supporting role @ the Oscars. It was actually for another stellar performance in Fearless (make mental note to see the movie).
Direction – Tony Bill – OK – cannot expect too much from someone who has been spending his time doing TV series anyways. Overall reasonably enjoyable movie. Tear Jerker for sure. 5 on 10 from my side.
Adam (Christian Slater) is found one morning outside an orphanage in a basket (like most abandoned babies are found) but he has a huge scar on his chest with stitch marks. Looks like someone did a really bad job of the patchwork after an operation to somewhere on the chest. Of course it had to do with the heart you dummy. Why else would the movie be called Untamed Heart? It could be called Untamed Chest right? Just kidding guys…. Bad humour on a Friday morning. Nevertheless, Adam is bought up by the nuns @ the orphanage and is led to believe that he has a baboon’s heart transplanted into him. He grows up strongly believing in this and is convinced about it even after 26 years of existence.
Caroline (Marisa Tomei) is your average 20 something in the late 80s / early 90s in the US whose dressing sense is heavily influenced by the queen of pop (bust wasn’t everyone influenced by her in those days). That is when she is not in her waitress uniform which is what one sees through most of the movie. She has had a slew of broken relationships and keeps wondering, like most girls her age would, as to why does she always end up with the wrong guy. That my dear is a zillion dollar question that most people in the world would kill to get an answer to - even her closest friend Cindy (Rosie Perez) who works with her and Adam at the same deli.
Adam secretly adores Caroline but his shy nature prevents him from expressing his feelings to her. He walks her home every night after closing except that Caroline is unaware of this. Adam keeps a safe distance, safe enough for Caroline not to notice that is. Until the day when 2 of Caroline’s old acquaintances land up at the deli. They don’t create a scene @ the deli but when she leaves for the night, they follow her and try to rape her. Unbeknownst to them, Adam is watching all of this till the situation gets out of hand, steps in and of course beats the pulp out of them. He carries an unconscious Caroline home and watches over her on her porch till she wakes up – only to run away. That marks the beginning of the relationship which blossoms into deep love through the course of time.
Untamed Heart is definitely not one of your critically acclaimed movies. I mean – Best Kiss @ the MTV Movie Awards – that’s all it could manage. But it does strike a soft chord with most viewers. It is a mushy love story for sure. But at that point of time, it was the best thing love stories could probably offer. Also, extremely solid commercial intelligence in using 2 of the biggest heart throbs of the 90s. Marisa Tomei for my money’s worth is an extremely extremely talented actress - a fact that she had anyways proven the year before with My Cousin Vinny. She is pushing 50 as we speak and continues to give us great performances whenever she does come on screen. Christian Slater though, for most of his life, has only been eye candy & continues to be so in this one too.
Notable mention though is Rosie Perez. For a long period of time, I was always under the impression that she was nominated for Untamed Heart for her performance as an actress in a supporting role @ the Oscars. It was actually for another stellar performance in Fearless (make mental note to see the movie).
Direction – Tony Bill – OK – cannot expect too much from someone who has been spending his time doing TV series anyways. Overall reasonably enjoyable movie. Tear Jerker for sure. 5 on 10 from my side.
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