biopic

RESISTANCE

Cert 15 Stars 3

I was speechless when I discovered the world’s most famous mime artist Marcel Marceau had stopped clowning around for long enough to be a highly successful member of the French Resistance during the Second World War.

A handsomely staged and moving passion project for writer and director Jonathan Jakubowicz, this respectful, involving and occasionally thrilling biopic sees how as a young aspiring painter in Strasburg, Marceau reluctantly underwent a political awakening.

This resulted in him directly saving the lives of hundreds of orphaned children by leading them across the Alps to neutral Switzerland. So a bit like The Sound of Music but with a lot less singing and a much more silent comedy.

It’s a wonderfully physical and charming turn by Jesse Eisenberg as Marceau, particularly as he’s spent so much of his career playing hyper-articulate characters such as Mark Zuckerberg in drama, The Social Network.

Ed Harris gives a sombre yet stirring speech as US General Patton, but the drama is at its best when it says nothing at all.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

Cert PG Stars 4

Tom Hanks is at his most disarming and subtle as a real life US TV icon in this soulful, therapeutic and irresistible family drama.

We’re not familiar with the saintly Fred Rogers over here, but for over four decades he hosted a PlayAway style kids show, and the film suggests he was so popular and beloved he was capable of inspiring an impromptu singalong on the subway simply by sitting there.

However Matthew Rhys’s cynical investigative journalist is hoping to uncover some dirt underneath Roger’s spotless halo.

This seems a reasonable proposition as the cardigan wearing Rodgers seems remarkably old fashioned even in 1998 when the film is set, particularly as TV stars of my 1970s childhood have been revealed to be far from wholesome.

Rhys is full of barely suppressed anger, even more so when he finds himself on the end of a gentle inquisition from Rogers regarding his own estranged relationship with his father and the difficulties of bonding with his new born son.

And you have to feel sorry for the actor as the superb Hanks quietly steals the film from him, earning himself a Best supporting actor nod with his 6th Oscar nomination.

An avuncular, polite, generous and humble dispenser of wisdom, Rodgers often feels a distant relative of Hanks’ 1995 Oscar winning role as Forrest Gump.

And intent on bringing out the best in everyone he meets, he’s essentially an American Paddington Bear, but without the marmalade sandwiches.

Directed by with a firm, sensitive and accomplished hand by Marielle Heller, she drives the film from the backseat and allows the actors to hold our attention.

Though far less needy and attention grabbing her staging and camerawork are in their own way as impressive as that in First World War film, 1917, and she deploys the power of silence with a nuclear emotional efficiency.

Plus the TV theme tune is impossibly catchy, and you’ll be humming it on the way out through your tears.

RICHARD JEWELL

Cert 15 Stars 4

Approaching his fiftieth year as a film director, Clint Eastwood’s latest real life drama uses a tale of heroism to train his sights on two of his favourite targets, the US government and the media.

As represented here by Jon Hamm’s FBI agent and Olivia Wilde’s ambitious journalist, they’re considered as being so much in bed together, they actually go to bed together, and are portrayed as the real enemy of gun-loving white folk.

Paul Walter Hauser brings quiet dignity and sympathy to the title role, an under-educated, over-weight former cop turned security guard who saves lives during the bomb attack at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

However he finds himself accused of terrorism in the court of public opinion, with only Best Supporting actress Oscar nominee Kathy Bates as his mother, Sam Rockwell’s down-at-heel lawyer, and the US Constitution, at his side.

The latter part of Eastwood’s career has focused exclusively on celebrating ordinary blue collar people in extraordinary circumstances, and Richard Jewell is typically accessible, crowd pleasing and polished.

BOMBSHELL

Cert 15 Stars 5

This shocking, compelling and explosive real life drama explores the real life serial sexual abuse at the top of a TV network and the drama is powered by several brilliant and award worthy performances.

Oscar nominated Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie are joined by Nicole Kidman to complete an outstanding trio of talent, playing the sharp, smart, professional and highly polished news presenters, seeking to bring down the predatory boss of the Fox News TV network, Roger Ailes.

John Lithgow makes the most powerful man in American TV a horribly grasping and paranoid figure, who’s created an atmosphere of fear in order to maintain his monstrous regime of systematic sexual abuse.

Fox News and Ailes himself lack the cultural resonance in the UK they have across the pond, but imagine if Holly Willougby, Alex Jones and Steph McGovern announced they and a dozen more presenters had been abused by the Director General of the BBC, and you’d have some idea of the high profile shockwaves the case caused.

Robbie plays a fictional ambitious new employee called Kayla who’s model looks and  sweet nature puts her immediately on Ailes’ radar.

However it’s Theron who dominates the film as Megyn Kelly, Fox’s most high profile journalist, a spiky and demanding presence who describes herself as a lawyer not a feminist, and is more keen on high ratings than popularity with her colleagues.

Kidman has the least flashy but vital role as Gretchen Carlson, who sues Ailes after being demoted then fired after refusing Ailes sexual advances, which leads to his behaviour being made public for the first time.

Sadly the three actresses only appear altogether in the one brief scene, so we’re denied the fun of seeing three great acts sparking off each other.

The sheer volume of testimony is extraordinary and the scale of abuse is staggering, especially as we’re left with a postscript which is perhaps the most devastating revelation of all.

VITA AND VIRGINIA

Cert 12A 112mins Stars 3

A former Bond girl gives an compelling turn as a predatory jazz age socialite in this real life lesbian love story.

Since her breakthrough role in 2008’s Quantum of Solace, Gemma Arteton has developed into an an authoritative and compelling big screen performer.

As Vita Sackville-West, she’s a married ‘promiscuous exhibitionist’ aristocrat who pursues a scandalous affair with famed writer, Virginia Woolf.

She’s the psychologically fragile heart of London’s racy bohemian Bloomsbury set, and Elizabeth Debicki’s ethereal presence combined with Arteton’s earthy urgency engenders their coupling with an erotic charge.

But there’s nothing gratuitous on show, instead Chanya Button’s steady-handed direction gives us an articulate and complex character study, which explores the many different forms of love and desire.

There are elements of magical realism, a strong supporting cast, excellent locations and gorgeous costumes. Plus there’s a startlingly modern electronic score by Isobel Waller-Bridge, who also provided the music for her sister Phoebe’s, Fleabag TV series.

THE HAPPY PRINCE

Cert 15 105 mins Stars 3

This handsome biopic is a tender, sympathetic and bawdy character portrait of the scandal-ridden playwright, Oscar Wilde.

The journey to the big screen has been a decade long passion project for the writer, director and star, Rupert Everett. 

He gives a terrifically complex and rich performance as the self-obsessed 46 year old dandy who is exiled, destitute and debauched in turn-of the-century Paris, following imprisonment for homosexuality.

With Wilde’s reputation, marriage, and career in ruins, and a diet of champagne, cocaine and absinthe having wrecked his health, he begins to re-evaluate his selfish behaviour and life decisions.

Suitably, the film has a visual extravagance which would seem way beyond its means, with the finance depending on Colin Firth appearing in a small role.

Everett sprinkles his script with familiar examples of Wilde’s wit and doesn’t over burden it with plot. Using Wilde’s children’s story, The Happy Prince, as an analogy for the author’s life allows Everett to create an honourable ode to his hero. 

ENTEBBE

Cert 12A 107mins Stars 3

There’s a bumpy experience awaiting you on board this down-beat real life airline hostage drama.

It’s a serious-minded look at Operation Thunderbolt, a 1976 Israeli armed forces attempt to the rescue of a plane-load of civilians.

Four terrorists diverted a Paris-bound plane to Uganda’s Entebbe airport, where they demanded the release of Israeli-held prisoners in return for the safe return of the passengers.

The country is ruled by the dictator Idi Amin, who even the terrorists consider a lunatic.

This set-up is so cinematic it has been filmed three times previously, and inspired the 1986 Chuck Norris adventure, The Delta Force.

Throw in some great performances and this should be terrific entertainment.

But the producers are best known for romcoms such as Four Weddings, and the Brazilian director Jose Padilha is best known for his woeful 2014 remake of sci-fi classic, RoboCop.

He is indulged in his almost experimental approach to the material, which means the daring military attack arrives almost an afterthought. Plus amid some decent character work, he brings in moments of contemporary dance to examine the relationship between art and war.

However the film is given an emergency airlift by stars Rosamund Pike and Daniel Bruhl, who are on strenuous form as the German members of the infamous German Baader-Meinhof terrorist group, and leaders of the hijack.

Their accomplices are a pair of thinly-sketched Palestinians whom the film has little interest in. 

However Brit actor Eddie Marsan is quietly wonderful as the poker-faced Israeli defence minister who insists there can be no negotiation.

However the passengers are anonymous pawns of politics, and the story would have been better served by a more straightforward narrative and an emphasis on action.

Steven Spielberg’s meaty 2008 thriller, Munich, and Ben Affleck’s crowd-pleasing Oscar winner, Argo, covered similar ground far more successfully.

And sadly Entebbe fails to achieve their dramatic height.

ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD

Cert 15 132mins Stars 5

Director Ridley Scott has made his Citizen Kane with this exceptional real life kidnap thriller.

Orson Welles’ 1941 masterpiece was a scorching evisceration of the soul-rotting nature of obscene wealth. And Scott follows in the maestro’s footsteps with this fascinating and enthralling portrait of oil magnate, J. Paul Getty.

When his grandson is kidnapped in Italy, the wealthiest man in the world refuses to pay the $17m ransom, a staggering sum in 1973. This leaves Getty’s estranged and penniless former daughter-in-law to try and negotiate her son’s release.

Michelle Williams is terrific as Gail and deservedly receives top billing.

Adverse headlines were generated when original star Kevin Spacey became embroiled in the Hollywood sexual assault scandal. Even though filming had finished, his part was hurriedly and successfully reshot with the veteran Christopher Plummer replacing him in the role of Getty.

And it’s impossible to imagine Spacey could have been better than Plummer, who delivers a monstrous and intriguingly sympathetic figure.

It’s also important to not to underestimate the strength of Mark Wahlberg’s performance as a former CIA operative, employed by Getty to assist Gail.

Fittingly there is Rolls Royce craftsmanship in all departments, and we’re swept elegantly along by Scott’s accomplished driving of the story.

He confidently sculpts a typically fabulous visual texture as he moves fluidly from the US to Africa and Europe.

There’s a fist in the mouth ear cutting scene to rival the infamous one from Quentin Tarrantino’s Reservoir Dogs. And Scott has the confidence to slow the pace to create tension as the tock clicks down.

Scott, Plummer and Williams have all received prestigious Golden Globe nominations and a run to the Academy Awards is in their sights. Scott may go one better than Welles and win a long coveted and deserved best director Oscar, and that’s something all the money in the world can’t buy.

 

 

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

Cert PG 104mins Stars 3

Roll up to get your tickets for this enjoyably exuberant period musical based on the life of circus impresario, P. T. Barnum.

Absurdly sentimental and generous in its portrayal of the self-styled greatest showman, it’s an all singing and dancing rags to riches tale which despite the presence of a glamorous trapeze artiste, never really flies.

It’s greatest strength is in the casting of Hugh Jackman as Barnum, and he fizzles with old school razzle dazzle in a role which maximises talents.

With his experience of performing in London’s West End in shows such as Oklahoma! there isn’t a movie star today better equipped to play the part, and the likeable Aussie actor seizes the opportunity to unleash a full beam performance.

As Barnum’s business partner, Zac Efron harnesses his High School Musical pedigree to decent effect. He’s romantically paired with popstar Zendaya, who builds on her impressive acting turn in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Dreaming big to please his wife and daughters, Barnum puts on stage a collection of differently bodied people, who are variously large, small, hairy or conjoined.

But his hard won success is threatened when his head is turned by Rebecca Ferguson’s sexy Swedish songbird.

This is a Disneyfied vision of Barnum’s life, written by Bill Condon who directed this year’s monster smash, Beauty and the Beast. He creates a highly stylised world where the the circus seems more real than the outside world.

A virtue is made of his extravagant salesmanship techniques and his financial shenanigans and exploitative tendencies are glossed over.

But it’s heart is the right place, emphasising equality, celebrating diversity and defending the rights of anybody to burst into song at the drop of a top hat.

The Greatest Showman succeeds in offering colourful easy going entertainment for a couple of hours. Which from the little we learn of him, I imagine the real Barnum would heartily approve.

 

 

STRONGER

Cert 15 119mins Stars 3

There’s a muscular performance at the heart of this competent real life drama based on events following 2013’s terrorist bombing of the Boston marathon.

Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Jeff Bauman, a bystander who lost his legs above the knee and struggles to adjust to life afterwards. 

But for all his earnest agonies, the LA born privately educated 37 year old actor doesn’t convince as the younger working class Bostonian warehouseman.

Mind you,  in a showy role geared to attract awards attention I’m prepared to believe the famously intense thesp would consider removing his legs if it were to improve his Oscar chances.

Tatiana Maslany matches his workrate as Bauman’s girlfriend Erin, who engages in a tug of war for attention with Miranda Richardson’s showy turn as the paraplegic’s mother.

Straightforward and sincere with grim injury detail, it ends on a note of flag waving defiance and a salute to the US lives altered and lost in the long running war on terror.