Tag: Gerard Butler

Dragon tattoos, Phillip Morris and bounty hunters

I Love You Phillip Morris
Jim Carry does not have a dragon tattoo

Due to a timetabling cockup I ended up going into town earlier than anticipated. And then due to a very fortunate piece of scheduling I managed to cram in three films rather than just the one I’d intended. Thus Män som hatar kvinnor (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo), I Love You Phillip Morris and The Bounty Hunter all in one afternoon/evening.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Plot-in-a-nutshell: A journalist is tasked with finding a girl, missing for fifty years and on the way discovers a far murkier history to the story

I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this film. At all. I’d not seen a trailer and the only review I’d heard was part of one on Radio 5 a week or so ago where I was warned about the violent nature of the sex scenes. All I knew was that it was based on a novel and it was in Swedish. Thankfully with subtitles.

The lack of forewarning is always good when seeing a film based on a novel, Swedish or not. Mainly as it’s very rare for those who’re read the book to enjoy the film. I’ve still yet to meet anyone who’d read The Lovely Bones or The Time Traveller’s Wife also recommend the film afterwards. Such is, I gather, the case with TGWTDT.

This is a shame as it’s not bad. It’s long – almost 2 1/2 hours – but it rarely seems to drag. The pace is a little slow to start, but once the additional depth is added and the characters are explored it all moves along nicely.

Michael Nyqvist plays the journalist, Michael Blomkvist, and Noomi Rapace takes on the role of Lisbeth Salander, the titular Girl. The one thing that surprised me was that very little was made of the tattoo itself. She does have one. You see it. That’s it.

It’s her character that’s the most intriguing, though, even more-so than that of the missing girl. She’s damaged, under guardianship… but we don’t know how or why. This thread runs from almost the beginning of the film until almost the end.

Some of the sex scenes are indeed brutal. There are only two to really watch out for and they’re not hugely graphic, just unpleasant. A few people did leave the cinema but not during or immediately after either of these, which seemed strange.

It is a long film, and it’s not exciting as most Hollywood-made thrillers and mysteries have to be. There are maybe a couple of adrenaline-pumping moments in it. The rest is slow, methodical, thoughtful and captivating.

If you like a film that makes you think and don’t mind sitting around for long then this is worth the effort. On the other hand, if you need a shooting or a car chase every thirty minutes then definitely look elsewhere.

I Love You, Phillip Morris

“It’s really expensive being gay”

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Great husband Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) decides to stop living a lie and come out of the closet… and jumps into debt, resorts to fraud and lands in jail where he meets the real love of his life – Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor)

Amazingly based on a true story (how closely based, I’m happy not knowing), this is a great story with some equally impressive performances from all those involved. Narrated by Russell, we hear about his beginnings as a wonderful family man before a car accident makes him realise that life’s too short to live a lie.

You do need to be pretty open-minded to watch this film. There are some overtly (homo)sexual sequences that some may be uncomfortable watching and there’s a fair bit of strong language. However, this is all balanced with some genuinely funny moments and great dialogue.

Russell simply lets his life run away with him and doesn’t realise what he’s doing half the time. He just happens to be good at it so he runs with it. McGregor is excellent as Morris and the pairing of the two just works.

There is a near-twist at the end that works up well and I confess I wasn’t expecting it – though I’m sure half of the cinema was. I shall say no more in case I spoil it!

Not the best film ever, and there are more insightful commentaries on the issue of gays in society (Philadelphia still has to hold the award for that) but it’s simply enjoyable as it doesn’t pull any punches about its subject matter.

The Bounty Hunter

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Milo (Gerard Butler) is a bounty hunter who has to bring his ex-wife Nicole (Jennifer Aniston) in for skipping bail – hilarity is supposed to ensue.

Seen the trailer for this film? Then you’ve seen all the good bits. Like Ms Anniston, it’s got a couple of good parts but the rest is all filler.

The funny parts are genuinely funny, but they’re few and far between. The central section where the couple start to get all mushy over each other again is just slow and painful. The ending, though, isn’t bad.

Basically, it’s a bit of a mess. I’d happily recommend maybe half of it. Unfortunately, without providing you with a timetable of when you can walk out of the cinema and come back in it would be hard to miss the dross.

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Law Abiding Citizen

Law Abiding Citizen
Law Abiding Citizen

[following on from the 2012 review]

Next up was a much better film and the first one starring Gerard Butler I think I’ve really enjoyed.

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Man’s family are killed in front of him, killer gets a mild slap on the wrist, man goes after… the justice system as a whole. As you do.

Guys – there are explosions and dead people. Girls – there’s Gerard Butler’s bum. Something for all the family. Law Abiding Citizen plays at being a thriller pointing out the weaknesses in the American justice system. In reality it’s just an excuse to blow things up and see people killed in squelchy detail. I’m awaiting the DVD release with the full dismemberment scene.

It is more of a thriller than an actioner, but only just. The plot’s not that bad and it does just about keep you guessing to the end. It’s certainly far more watchable than 2012.

While Harry Brown is far more gritty, LAC has bigger explosions. It’s hardly The Shawshank Redemption even if there is a prison involved, but it’s still worth doing the time to watch it.

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Thursday film roundup – on time for a change

Whiteout (2009 film)
Whiteout

A bumper crop this week as I managed to cram in four films today. I’m certainly getting my moneys-worth out of this cinema pass! As I’m not a student (though still don’t have a flipping union card – it should be in the post shortly) I have to increase the number of films I catch each month to make the card pay for itself. What a shame!

Adventureland

First film of the day was this new coming-of-age teen drama comedy thing. Greg Mottolla wrote and directed Superbad which, for some reason, was a huge hit despite being rubbish. This is similarly themed, but thankfully much better.

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Boy wants to go on holiday and to college. Dad loses job. Boy must get dead-end summer job in amusement park. Boy “grows up” over summer.

The cast are really good and the comedy kept at a much lower tone than in Superbad, both factors that make this film far more watchable and believable. There is the inevitable character who you’d just want to punch in the face if you knew him in real life, but unlike the earlier movie he’s one of the supporting cast rather than a major piece.

It’s quite a gentle film, but you can generally see where it’s going from beginning to end so no major surprises. However, it’s good fun and has a few genuinely funny moments. It would actually make a good date movie.

Miss March

From one easy-going comedy to a road trip bad-taste-a-thon. It’s not had great reviews, but if you can drop your mind down to gutter level I think you’ll enjoy it.

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Nice guy is ready to sleep with his girlfriend on prom night. Loser/idiot friend gets him drunk. Nice guy falls down stairs and is in coma for four years, wakes up and finds his other half is now a Playboy model. The guys go on a road trip to find her.

I don’t understand why so many films pair up a sensible character with one who’s such a moron. The aforementioned Superbad was guilty of it and the same relationship ruined Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. You just don’t get relationships like that in real life. If the smart guy’s so smart, he’d ditch the idiot after the first time he almost gets killed, maimed, loses a girl, has his house burned down or whatever.

Anyway.

I kinda of enjoyed this one. Maybe I was in the right frame of mind, but it had some decent silly scenes. The “idiot” guy (played by Trevor Moore) definitely seems to be trying to be a young Jim Carrey, though. Same floppy hair and Ace Ventura style Hawaiian shirts.

If you’re after something in pretty bad taste, with some grim visuals, silly story, cringe-making slapstick and a really bad cameo by Hugh Hefner then this is worth a watch.

Gamer

This was my big film of the day, one I’d been looking forward to since I saw the trailers full of amazing action sequences.

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Prisoners on death row get conscripted into a televised war game where they are controlled by remote “gamers”. If they survive 30 matches, they get freed. Only there’s something dodgy going on…

So far, so Death Race. It is a little different, but borrows heavily from the premise of the older film as well as utilising a high gore content like the remake. Gerard Butler is suitably buff as Kable, the central character while Michael C. Hall (from TV’s Dexter) is superb as Castle, the mega-rich madman behind everything.

Sadly, though, the plot’s a bit naff. The way the film’s cut is also very MTV with some sequences almost triggering epilepsy due to the speed with which cuts are performed. There are only a couple of action sequences and a lot of the best footage has been seen in the trailers already. I was really hoping for a massive amount of action and a bit of plot, but the balance isn’t quite right.

It’s also a little hard to follow, I found. Or maybe that was due to the (I forget how many) pints I had the night before. From the off, you’re dropped into this new world and it’s almost like you’re expected to know all about it already. Things are referred to as if they have already been explained.

A shame as Butler is good and the action sequences lovely and bloodthirsty. Like Quantum of Solace, though, spoiled by an over-zealous director and editor. Too many camera tricks and cuts.

Whiteout

Final film of the day and one based on a comic book (or graphic novel if you want to get all anal). I’d seen a trailer for it, but other than that I hadn’t heard much about it.

Plot-in-a-nutshell: Murders begin to occur at the international research station in the Antarctic. A US Marshall (with a troubled past, naturally) has to find out whodunnit while avoiding the killer’s ice axe herself.

The setting’s fairly original and the exterior shots are gorgeous. There is an opening sequence involving a plane crash which is obviously low-tech CGI, but other than that it’s visually well shot. If you like snow.

It’s not a bad film, but the plot is rather thing. The small number of characters who make any major appearance does mean it doesn’t take long to suss out who’s involved. The “troubled past” thing also flags up an obvious plot point which potentially ruins the “twist” ending. I also wasn’t too impressed with the leaps of logic the characters made when trying to piece things together. On more than one occasion I was let thinking “how did you know?”

One major highlight is the make-up and the like. The corpses and injuries are nicely gory!

Overall, not a bad way to spend ninety minutes but very much a run-of-the-mill thriller with no real surprises to offer.

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