john-denny Reviews

Noah (2014)

They should have called it something else

[5/10 · 13 April 2014]

Having watched the trailers, I was so looking forward to this film, and even took my friends. As the Bible account of Noah can fit into a page of A4, obviously the film makers had to add a lot of plot to fill it out to a feature length film. Indeed there is a lot of scope to do this: Noah's wife and his three daughters-in-law are hardly mentioned in the Bible, not even being named, so the film-makers had to develop their characters, and could create interesting sub-plots around the various relationships. In the film Noah has a series of dreams about the flood; now this is not mentioned in the Bible, but it is certainly one of the methods God uses to communicate with men, so it is an addition rather than a distortion, and adds a bit of excitement and gives them a chance to show off their skills with CGI.

But to call the film "Noah" surely requires that they leave the basic story-line intact. But they didn't. The angels who came to earth because they fancied the women were turned into bizarre stone men (very uncomfortable for the women, but they didn't go into that); as a consequence the Bible description of what happened to their offspring had to be abandoned. Instead of taking three daughters-in-law onto the ark, they took one girl-friend, who Noah thought was infertile. One of Noah's enemies managed to sneak onto the ark without Noah's knowledge. Perhaps the worst thing, in my opinion, was that God was left on the side-lines, and couldn't even make the decision himself to preserve humans or not, so left that decision to Noah.

So whether or not we agree with the personality they decided to give Noah is a matter of individual taste. Drugging the animals so they didn't interfere with the film may have been a cop-out, but we could have gone along with that. But playing fast-and-loose with the story just seems unnecessary. Who is the film aimed at?

All in all, very disappointing. Bring back Cecil B. DeMille!

The Bucket List (2007)

Good, old-fashioned writing, acting and directing

[8/10 · 5 February 2008]

If you're looking for an action film with car-chases, blood and gore, death, seduction, stunning locations, then maybe The Bucket List isn't for you. Although, to be fair, it does have car-chases, blood and gore, death, seduction, and some of the most stunning locations the world has to offer. But it's not an action film. It's about people coming to terms with death, and what they want from life, and why do you have to wait until you're dying before you go and get what you wanted from life. And is there a purpose in life, other than "let's eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die." Obviously it's Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, so the acting is going to be brilliant. We don't know how he does it, but somehow Jack Nicholson never looks like he's acting. He looks like he really is the character - without the boring bits of course.

The locations are almost worth going for on their own. You almost want to die yourself, so you can have an excuse to break out of the rat-race and spend all your money on living. But then you think - hey, why do I have to wait until I die? Why am I earning all this money anyway, because I have to work so hard I never have time to enjoy life, so why don't I - then you realise that's what the film is all about.