Film Review: The Big Short

The Big Short. Rated M (coarse language and nudity). 130 minutes. Directed by Adam McKay. Screenplay by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay. Based on the book The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis.
 
The Big Short, a film about the housing market-fuelled global financial crisis of 2007, is both as interesting and as brain-numbingly boring as it sounds.

A poor cousin to Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), The Big Short is yet another story of greed, corruption, fraud, ambition and selfishness – those benchmark characteristics that continue to define those working at the top of the food chain on Wall Street in the USA.

The fine ensemble, lead by Christian Bale and Steve Carell, do lots of Really Big Acting – obviously aware that the majority of audience members around the world will be staring blankly at the screen wondering what it all means, and why it matters.

The Big Short’s significant flaw is that it did matter – enormously – and McKay (The Other Guys, Anchorman, Anchorman 2) struggles to find a way to prove that to be the case. Counter-pointed with oblique references to the tragic human cost of the continuing pandemic of greed, are a number of singularly indulgent and condescending cameos from celebrities (including The Wolf of Wall Street’s Margot Robbie) who try to explain what all the financial jargon means.

It’s a narrow conceit, particularly given that The Big Short is obsessed with the powerlessness we face when the financial system erodes the fundamental needs of hard-working people who simply want a roof over their heads.

If there is a lasting sensibility from the experience of this film, it is that you may leave the cinema determined to invest more in a life of simpler, spiritually enhancing experiences. Because the system that determines everything else about our future security and wellbeing is not, and never will be, ours to control.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Departures: 2016 Oscars Preview

Record number of Australians nominated for 2016’s Academy Awards

By anyone’s standards, it’s been an impressive year for Australia’s film industry professionals, 16 of who have been nominated for their industry’s highest accolade – an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Award, or Oscar.

Leading the charge with a total of ten nominations shared between 15 creatives is George Miller’s undeniable masterpiece Mad Max: Fury Road. While Charlize Theron’s sensational performance as Imperator Furiosa has been overlooked, Mad Max: Fury Road has won nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Cinematography, Film editing, Production design, Visual effects, Sound mixing, Sound editing and Make-up and hairstyling.

When I reviewed the ‘magnificent’ Fury Road in May 2015, I described it as ‘a film of such complete, jaw-dropping cinematic mastery in every way that after the first astonishing twenty minutes, you will find yourself wondering where on earth Miller and his superb collaborators have left to go. The answer is, miraculously, everywhere and back again.’ It is exciting to learn that the voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences agree. Fury Road has also enjoyed enormous success with audiences around the globe, raking in a box office take in excess of $375 million.

Cate Blanchett, nominated for her fourth Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Carol, is in line to win her third Oscar. Blanchett has been nominated seven times – four times for Best Actress and three times for Best Supporting Actress. Her first Best Actress nomination was for her break-through performance as Queen Elizabeth I in Elizabeth (1998). Though she did not win that year, in 2004 she won Best Supporting Actress for her turn as Katherine Hepburn in The Aviator (2004), and followed that up with a Best Actress win for Blue Jasmine (2103).

But all eyes will be on the sentimental favourite in the Best Supporting Actor category, where the legendary Sylvester Stallone is nominated for his performance as the iconic Rocky Balboa in Creed. Having been nominated for Best Actor for Rocky (1977), which he lost to Peter Finch for Network, the ovation from his peers that a Stallone Oscar win this year would inspire would be something that no film buff would want to miss.

The winners of the 88th Academy Awards, to be hosted by comedian Chris Rock in Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, will be announced on February 28.

This preview was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: The 5th Wave

The 5th Wave. Rated M (mature themes, violence and coarse language). 112 minutes. Directed by J Blakeson. Screenplay by Susannah Grant, Akiva Goldsman and Jeff Pinkner. Based on the novel by Rick Yancey.

Four waves of hostilities from alien forces (known as ‘The Others’) have reduced Earth’s population to a small group of fearful survivors on the run from the enemy who now roam the country, in human form, picking the survivors off one by one. In The 5th Wave’s sharp and nihilistic prologue, and a horrifying sequence set in a refugee camp, we learn just how impossible it has become to trust anyone you meet anymore, and it is this environment of absolute suspicion and paranoia that provides The 5th Wave with a strong dramatic core.

Cassie (Chloë Grace Moretz) is your all-American College sweetheart, with a crush on football star Ben Parish (Jurassic World’s Nick Robinson). Cassie adores her little brother Sam (Zackary Arthur), and when they find themselves separated and alone in the face of the fifth wave of alien aggression, Cassie must do all she can to be reunited with Sam in the hope that they will be among the planet’s few survivors.

While she is certainly no Jennifer Lawrence, Moretz (Dark Shadows, Let Me In), who is rarely off-screen, handles the demanding leading role extremely well. She receives strong support from Robinson and Alex Roe, whose forest-dwelling Evan Walker might not be the heroic rescuer he, at first, appears to be.

Blakeson (The Disappearance of Alice Creed), having polished off Earth’s decimation from the first four waves of hostility with some moderately impressive special effects, is obviously more interested in the human consequences. And while it certainly suffers by comparison to similarly-themed films such as The Hunger Games, Divergent and The Maze Runner, The 5th Wave wins points for focussing on the resourceful young Cassie’s determination that trust, instinct, fearlessness, and the all-powerful connection with family, may eventually win the day.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: The Revenant

The Revenant. Rated MA15+ (strong bloody violence, themes and sexual violence). 156 minutes. Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. Screenplay by Mark L Smith and Alejandro González Iñárritu. Based in part on The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge by Michael Punke.
 
Of The Revenant’s many contradictions, the main one is how a true story of such relentless brutality can also be one of the most beautiful films in recent memory. It is a film that you will often want to hide from as much as be hypnotised by its immense natural splendour, photographed to perfection by cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (Birdman, Gravity, The Tree of Life).
 
It is 1823, and fur-trapper Hugh Glass’ (Leonardo DiCaprio) ordeal begins in the deceptive tranquillity of a swiftly flowing creek, where he and his son Hawk (Forrest Goodluck) are stalking their prey. At the base camp nearby, the other trappers, lead by the wound-up John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), are preparing to load their precious cargo onto a boat when they are attacked by hunters from the Native American Arikara tribe.
 
Those lucky enough to escape the truly merciless attack, decide to head inland and back to the relative safety of their fort. During a moment of rare respite, Glass finds himself in the presence of two bear cubs and their very angry mother, who wastes no time in taking on the threat to her young.
 
Miraculously, Glass survives the ferocious attack, only to be deserted by Fitzgerald and the young Bridger (Will Poulter), who were to stay with him until he either died or help returned. Dragging himself from his shallow grave, Glass begins his impossibly challenging journey home.
 
Iñárritu (Birdman, Babel, 21 Grams) commands every element of his uncompromising masterpiece, with DiCaprio, and each member of the outstanding cast, delivering performances that are more like incomprehensible feats of endurance. For those who love riveting survival stories, The Revenant is one of the very best – an immersive, unforgettable cinematic experience.
 
This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Daddy's Home

Daddy’s Home. Rated PG (mild crude humour, sexual references and coarse language). 96 minutes. Directed by Sean Anders. Screenplay by Brian Burns, Sean Anders and John Morris.
 
Just in time for what remains of the holiday season comes this occasionally hilarious film about Brad (Will Ferrell), an earnest, well-meaning guy who is desperate to be accepted as stepfather to his new wife Sara’s (Linda Cardellini) two children – Megan (Scarlett Estevez) and Dylan (Owen Vaccaro) – from her previous marriage to Dusty (Mark Wahlberg).

Just as the children appear to be coming around to accepting the devoted and hyper-emotional Brad into their lives, the athletic, super cool, motorbike-riding Dusty decides to make an impromptu visit to meet his ex-wife’s new husband and spend some time with his children. With the battlelines well and truly drawn, courtesy of a spectacular sequence when Brad pretends he can ride Dusty’s motorbike, the two dads go head-to-head to prove who is the best man for the job.

The writers, who collaborated on Dumb and Dumber (2014), Mr Popper’s Penguins (2011), She’s Out of My League (2010) and Hot Tub Time Machine (2010), hit their marks early, and with the exception of a couple of slides into what might be considered well above PG-rated terrain, the script bubbles along under Anders’ solid direction.

Ferrell and Wahlberg first teamed up as a couple of hapless New York City cops in The Other Guys (2010), and on this occasion, their easy-going camaraderie underpins the comedy beautifully, which results in it never becoming too dark or hostile. Even though there is much at stake for each of their characters, the sense that they admire and respect the importance of the other’s role in the children’s lives provides Daddy’s Home with unexpected heart and soul.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: The Good Dinosaur

The Good Dinosaur. Rated PG (mild themes and threat, some scenes may scare young children). 101 minutes. Directed by Peter Sohn. Screenplay by Meg LeFauve.

With generous amounts of storyline lifted directly from The Lion King, Jungle Book, Ice Age, How to Train Your Dragon and The Croods, the tale of the bond between an awkward young dinosaur, Arlo (Raymond Ochoa), and a tenacious little caveboy, Spot (Jack Bright), is a slippery affair.

While it fails to win points for the originality of its storylines, the visual wonder of the computer-generated animation may well be the most extraordinarily photo-realistic work yet from Pixar Animation Studios. The lavish, gorgeously detailed environments created for the story are superb, but this also serves to highlight the fact that LeFauve’s screenplay fails to live up to the many possibilities.

What is equally confusing is the extent to which the story relies heavily on nightmarish scenarios, many of which will simply terrify the younger members of the film’s potential audience. At the same time, The Good Dinosaur is unable to find a way of offering older children anything much in the way of new and interesting takes on the familiar ‘rites of passage’ formula.

The exceptions are a couple of exquisite night-time sequences, the first being when Arlo’s father introduces him to the local population of fireflies in the hope that the experience may inspire his anxious son to conquer his fears. The second is the incredibly moving sequence when the lost Arlo and Spot realise how important their respective families are to them. By using twigs and drawing circles in the dirt, the film’s most meaningful point of engagement is also its least sophisticated.

When the simple circular motif is used again late in the characters’ journey, The Good Dinosaur makes a powerful statement about the importance of family, which makes it something like an ideal family film for the festive season.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Rated M (science fiction themes and violence). 135 minutes. Directed by J.J. Abrams. Screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan, J.J. Abrams and Michael Arndt. 

Our return to the Star Wars universe was always going to be complicated. Courtesy of a protracted pre-release marketing strategy, expectations about how welcome Abrams’ (StarTrek Into Darkness, Super 8, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible III) vision for the revered saga would be, soared. 

The good news is that as nostalgia, The Force Awakens is faultless. The masterstrokes are having Kasdan (Return of the Jedi, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back), composer John Williams, and our beloved original heroes of the resistance – Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew’s Chewbacca, and Anthony Daniels’ C-3PO – return.

When Chewie and Han Solo appear on screen together again for the first time, you may very well find it impossible not to either burst into tears or stand and cheer. Abrams’ camera lingers long on the returning icons, allowing us to reconnect with characters who undeniably shaped the cinematic experiences of a generation.

The new leading players – ace resistance pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), Finn (John Boyega), a Stormtrooper with a guilty conscience, Rey (Daisy Ridley), who trades space junk for sustenance, and dark lord Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) – deliver outstanding performances and effortlessly match the trusted old guard with an abundance of passion for their place in Star Wars history.

The work of cinematographer Daniel Mindel (Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible III) and production designers Rick Carter (War Horse, Avatar, Jurassic Park) and Darren Gilford (TRON: Legacy) is never less than completely spell-binding, and the true wonder of The Force Awakens is how stunning it looks and feels. It is a beautifully detailed realisation, and the entire film contains precious gems of references to the story so far.

Long may it continue.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.