Film Review: Gravity

Gravity. Rated M (survival themes, disturbing images and coarse language). 91 minutes. Directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón and Jonás Cuarón.

Verdict: A majestic, actor-proof cinematic tour de force.

There is no denying the visual majesty of this extraordinary cinematic achievement that, if nothing else, will restore your faith in the scope, scale and potential of cinema as an artform. Unlike so many theatrical releases so far this year, waiting for Gravity to come out on DVD would be pointless – such is its magnificent visual and aural impact on the big screen. In 3D it is, quite simply, astonishing, and the most complete and effective use of the technology since Avatar.

As space shuttle astronauts Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock), Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) and Shariff (voiced by Paul Sharma) are undertaking a space walk to service the Hubble Space Telescope, Mission Control in Houston (voiced by Ed Harris) warns them that debris from a destroyed Russian satellite is heading their way.

Stone (who is on her first mission) hesitates to follow the veteran Kowalski’s orders to return to the shuttle immediately, and the high-speed debris slams into them, causing them to become untethered from not only each other, but also any form of structure. With her supply of oxygen running low, Stone must somehow make it to the relative safety of the International Space Station, and from there, Earth.

Alfonso Cuarón (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Children of Men) and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (The Tree of Life, Children of Men) deliver one visually ravishing scene after another to the screen with rare cinematic grandeur, to the point where it becomes easy to ignore Cuarón’s script (co-written with his son Jonás), which clunks along mindlessly.

Sandra Bullock makes the most out of the deep-space drama she has to work with, while the goofy Clooney mis-reads his role entirely. Thankfully, you don’t go to Gravity for the acting. You go to see and hear how stunning cinema can be when the artists behind the camera dare to dream big and loud.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Rated PG (mild themes and coarse language). 129 minutes. Directed by Stephen Daldry. Screenplay by Eric Roth. Based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Verdict: Lovers of great drama will be richly-rewarded by this compelling exploration of grief, hope and the power of imagination.

One of the major issues involved with making a film about the events of September 11 is the fact that the attacks on New York’s World Trade Center were so widely broadcast – and witnessed by people around the world – in real time. Most of us remember where we were and how we felt – and the analogy at the time (an attempt, perhaps, to make sense of the incomprehensible horror), was that it was like watching a movie.

The challenge, then, for filmmakers taking on “the worst day” is as simple as it is complicated: what are you going to tell us about this preposterous act of terrorism against a country’s civilians that we haven’t already been told? How, ten years later, are you going to further illuminate the events and/or the lasting legacy of what happened on September 11?

Film review: The Blind Side

The Blind Side. 128 minutes. Rated PG. Written and directed by John Lee Hancock; Based on the biography of Michael Oher by Michael Lewis.

In our increasingly computer-defined and self-serving world, it's refreshing to see a good, old-fashioned, feel-good movie about people helping others make the most of their lives. As a potent reminder of how great an influence random acts of kindness and charity can have on the lives of the less fortunate, The Blind Side is an undemanding telling of a heart-warming, too-good-to-be-true (but true all the same) rags to riches story of an American National Football League champion and the woman who risked her reputation to help him become all he could be.

'Leigh Anne Tuohy' (Best Actress Oscar-winner Sandra Bullock) has the perfect life: a gorgeous house, a prosperous interior design business, two marvellously well-adjusted children and a doting, successful husband. As the family are driving home one wintery night, they discover 'Big Mike' (a beautifully introspective Quinton Aaron) walking beside the road dressed only in t-shirt, shorts and runners. When Leigh Anne invites him to spend the night in their home, little does she know that this simple, uncomplicated gesture will change everybody's lives, forever.

As the driving force, Ms Bullock sparkles – at every opportunity – as the heroically determined Leigh Anne who unwaveringly follows her instincts to do what she believes is right. Not only does she wear Daniel Orlandi's (The Da Vinci Code) fantastic outfits with absolute panache, the scenes where Ms Bullock rises to the occasion to protect and defend her charge are certainly the film's (and her career's) best. While there are also some all-too-briefly entertaining, waspish exchanges about the influence of American politics on the lives of affluent white Americans, the dramatic highpoint is undoubtedly a scene between Leigh Anne and Michael's drug-addicted mother 'Denise' (a brilliant cameo from Adriane Lenox). The clash of two equally formidable female energies (reminiscent of a similarly memorable scene between Meryl Streep's 'Sister Beauvier' and Viola Davis's 'Mrs Miller' in Doubt) from opposite ends of the All-American Dream is an emotionally complex and challenging one. Unfortunately, the script quickly dissolves back into predictability – leaving us with barely a whisper of how much more compelling it all might have been.

The Blind Side is not helped, either, by Hancock's pedestrian direction of his correspondingly unambitious screenplay that fails (among other things) to realise that in order to appreciate the attendant dynamics of sporting conquests, we don't need interminable, expositional scenes about the rules and circumstances of the game. Contact team sports are, fundamentally, about offensive and defensive strategies – it's that simple. The saturation-level detail about American football (including a boredom-inducing number of sequences featuring a cavalcade of 'real-life' NFL coaches playing themselves) will leave most Australians staring blankly at the screen.

And just when it might have been powering to a profoundly moving and life-enhancing conclusion, The Blind Side ends up drowning in its own particular brand of self-reverential 'Team America' awe. This remains the film's greatest failing, because the message that is struggling to shake itself loose from the star spangled banner is a hugely significant, and universal, one. It's a real shame the filmmakers didn't realise it.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspapers Group and an edited version of it was published in the print edition of the Midwest Times.