Christof_McShine Reviews

Wrinkles (2011)

A Sweet Slice of Melancholia

[7/10 · 27 April 2014]

A Spanish animated drama telling the story of Emilio, a retired bank manager who is developing early signs of Alzheimer. His son makes the difficult decision to put him in a care home, much to his father's disappointment. There, he slowly strikes up a friendship with his roommate Miguel who has all his marbles and spends his time making money out of his confused neighbours. The two find ways of relieving the boredom of the home but Emilio is seemingly fighting a losing battle as his memory begins to fade.

I thought this was an interesting little drama with a balanced mix of pathos and humour. For someone who works with older people, often in a care capacity, much of this rang true with me, particularly the boredom and loneliness that many experience when they move into a home. It never threatens to be anything truly groundbreaking and the animation is pretty basic but nonetheless it is a worthy film with some lovely scenes and will strike a chord with anyone who has had to deal with this terrible disease.

Run & Jump (2013)

Would've worked better with a simpler approach

[5/10 · 26 February 2014]

An Irish family welcome home Conor, the husband and father who has recently suffered a life changing stroke. In tow is an American psychologist who is studying Conor's progress as he tries to settle back into the family life. It's not long before the American becomes the father figure himself and also begins to veer towards a deeper relationship with Vanetia, the wife.

For a film that clocks in at just over 1 hour 40 minutes this still felt rather long winded in places. Some of the dramatic scenes work well and the performances are perfectly OK, Edward MacLiam as Conor in particular impressing whereas Maxine Peake as his free-spirited wife struggles badly with the Irish accent which doesn't help.

It seems however there is too much thrown into the pot and in the end it becomes unnecessarily convoluted - we have the blossoming relationship between the wife and the psychologist, the struggles of the husband and wife, the son facing up to homosexuality, the suspicious father-in-law, the sister who's taken a shine to the American and so on. All this leaves it rather disjointed and had it just centred on the 3 way adult relationship dynamic it would've made for a much stronger film.

Not all bad but something of a mixed bag.

Locke (2013)

Hardy delivers a magnificent performance

[8/10 · 24 February 2014]

Tom Hardy plays Ivan Locke, a successful construction manager who makes a major decision on his journey home which will impact on every aspect of his life.

This a low budget drama from writer and director Steven Knight with Hardy the sole screen presence. As he takes to the road he is seemingly a man in control of his destiny, determined to do the right thing only for everything to slowly unravel. Through conversations on the phone he tries to negotiate an emerging crisis at work with his boss and an evolving domestic situation with a concerned wife and sons desperate to have their dad home to watch the football.

With a premise of just one actor in a confined location it is testament to Hardy's acting nous that he can pull off such a taught, powerful performance solely based on reactions to the increasingly dramatic phone calls. Locke is unrelenting in his belief of doing the right thing and we see why when he has imagined conversations with his father, an apparently neglectful and emotionally absent figure in his life. These scenes in particular are beautifully shot with the use of Locke looking into the car mirrors for the man who isn't there.

It wastes very little of its short running time and overall is a captivating and rewarding film with a terrific central performance.

The Double (2013)

Ayoade channels Gilliam for his second feature

[7/10 · 23 February 2014]

This is the second feature film from Richard Ayoade after his quirky debut Submarine. Loosely based on the Dostoevsky novel the story follows Simon James - a quiet, timid character living in a bleak, soulless world where he goes unnoticed by his boss, the cute photocopier girl and even his own mother. Then one day James Simon appears, an exact double of Simon except he's better at everything in life - he has the cocky charm, he worms his way to the top in work and even gets the girls.

This is a dark, moody comedy peppered with some hilarious dialogue and genuine pathos although it doesn't quite fulfil its early expectations. The real highlight here is Ayoade's directorial style with real shades of Terry Gilliam in its surrealist approach to the world he has created. He cranks up the volume of everyday things like taps running or footsteps to build tension up in scenes and Jesse Einsberg is perfect casting for playing both roles.

A real curious piece but one which deserves an audience and suggests Ayoade is on track to become a real tour de force.

Good Vibrations (2012)

Worthy Comedy-Drama Set in Troubled Times

[7/10 · 5 October 2013]

Mark Kermode had been raving about this for some time, citing it as his favourite film of the year thus far so I was expecting something special. I wasn't disappointed. It tells the story of Terri Hooley, a record store owner in 1970's Belfast who became one of the most important figures in the brief rise of punk music in N. Ireland. It's a commendable comedy drama which cleverly intertwines the story of Hooley's life with archive footage of the troubles affecting the city.

There are some wonderful scenes, most notably when Hooley first discovers the anarchic, pulsating sound of punk in a Belfast club - his face transforming from impassive to bewilderment to absolute joy in the space of a few seconds. There are genuine laugh out loud lines and it is a film which despite the times it lives in is full of warmth and heart. It's not perfect, it slowly drifts into an overly sentimentalised story and some plot turns are annoyingly predictable. That said it never stops being an intriguing and funny film with a brilliant central performance by Richard Dormer as Terri.

The Kings of Summer (2013)

A Film Filled with Heart and Humour

[7/10 · 15 September 2013]

This was a film which had a blink and you'll miss it approach when being released in the U.K so I'm delighted to have finally caught up with it. The premise, teenage boys on the brink of manhood enjoying a summer adventure together may sound like it's lifted straight from the pages of Stand By Me but this is something altogether different.

Joe and Patrick are lifelong friends and both are fed up with the thought of spending another dreary summer in the company of their parents. For Joe his father appears to be completely disconnected from him whilst Patrick's parents are in the Stepford mould, blissfully unaware of the trials and tribulations a teenage boy faces. Together the boys decide to decamp to the wild forests for the summer, escaping all their worries whilst getting back to nature. Joined by weirdo kid Biaggio they are soon designing and building a new home and learning of the joys in the wilderness whilst parents and police search for them.

It's a film which could've been little more than a generic coming of age tale but this one is lifted beyond that thanks in large part to some wonderful performances. Nick Robinson and Gabriel Basso shine as our two teenage heroes, Robinson in particular showing real depth as things begin to take an inevitable turn from harmony and happiness to pain and loneliness as a girl threatens to destabilise it all.

They are supported by a quite brilliant performance from Nick Offerman as Joe's dad, every line of his dialogue is genuinely laugh out loud as he dispels acerbic sarcasm to those around him. Huge credit also to Ross Riege for a gorgeously shot film, he maximises the beauty of the natural surroundings throughout.

The film is by no means perfect - the incompetence of the police and lack of any real concern from parents doesn't fit well and Biaggio's bizarre character grates after a while. These faults aside this is a genuinely warm, funny and utterly charming film with real heart.

Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013)

A Film That Belongs to the Past

[7/10 · 8 September 2013]

An old fashioned feeling love story between a couple driven apart by a crime gone wrong in 1970s rural Texas. Casey Affleck is Bob Muldoon, the man who takes the heat for a botched job so his pregnant wife (Rooney Mara) can be free to raise their future child.

Writing letters from jail Muldoon dreams of the day he can return to his wife and kid and a prison break gives him the chance but will she still want him?

It may not win many prizes for originality but is a deftly written film, beautifully shot and with solid performances from all concerned. The real highlight is the score by composer Daniel Hart, a haunting, stunning mix of folk and bluegrass which serves the film well.

Admission (2013)

A Film Unsure of Itself

[4/10 · 26 July 2013]

Admission is a rather curious film, one that never seems sure of what its trying to be. Tina Fey is Portia, a woman dedicated to her job as a Princeton admissions officer. She has a stable, albeit dull home life and her dreams extend to nothing more than the taking the head admissions role.

That is until she meets John (Paul Rudd) - a free living, much travelled high school director with big dreams for his kids. He reveals the baby she gave up at birth is now under his wing and showing all the academic qualities fit for Princeton. And that's the setup.

From here on it isn't really clear what the screenwriters are trying to achieve. There are scenes such as when Portia visits her kooky feminist mother and we experience their awkward relationship which suggest they are going for a quirky drama. And yet they often drift into more broad comedy which never really works, like the couple delivering a calf.

It simply isn't funny and when it tries to deliver drama it fails to resonate on any real level. Fey is charming enough but both she and Rudd seem to be simply going through the motions rather than having any belief in the weak script.

The supporting cast is impressive in name - Lily Tomlin, Michael Sheen and Wallace Shawn but they offer little to a film that won't live long in the memory.

Unstoppable (2010)

Plodding & Predictable

[4/10 · 14 June 2013]

A formulaic entry which marked the sadly premature end of Tony Scott's directorial career.

The plot that is as simple as you could get - an unmanned out of control train races towards a city and only 2 men can stop it. Throw in your staple action film characters - a veteran and a rookie each with their own back story, an expert in the control room, a boss who only believes in playing by the rules and worried relatives watching it unfold on the TV screens.

It never threatens to deviate from being a mindless, silly piece of a fluff with the script drifting from stereotypical male banter to the cloyingly sentimental in its quieter moments. Scott does an adequate job devising as much adrenaline fuelled action out of one plot strand yet they won't live long in the memory, much like the film itself.

Its one advantage is Denzel Washington who even in weaker efforts such as this remains an worthy screen presence.

The Purge (I) (2013)

A Case of the Could've Beens

[5/10 · 10 June 2013]

As a premise The Purge threatens to be something special - in the near future there is a 12 hour window once a year when all crime is legal, i.e. anything goes. With that set up there are any number of tantalising stories that could've been pursued so it's disappointing to report that we are treated to little more than a bog standard 'family protecting their home' plot that has been explored so often in film.

Ethan Hawke plays James Sandlin, a home security salesman and therefore held in high regard, particularly around the time when the next 'Purge' is to occur. With a stereotypical movie family at home he locks the place down for the annual 12 hour crime fest that will take place far away from their gated community haven. Except someone else is in the house and their quiet neighbourhood isn't quite as tranquil as they would hope.

It is sadly all rather mundane with perfunctory performances from all involved, including Hawke whose eclectic career is littered with occasional forgettable roles such as this. Things do get slightly more interesting as the tension is cranked up towards the finale but to its detriment it insists on hammering home the moralistic conundrum that is the purge itself rather than just accepting the premise for what it is.

The ending is telegraphed right from the opening scenes and you are simply left with a feeling of nice idea but where's the rest of it?