Film Review: The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone. Rated M (comedic violence and sexual references). 100 minutes. Directed by Don Scardino. Screenplay by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley.

Verdict: A big-hearted entertainment about the value of childhood wonder.

Having bonded as young outcasts over a Rance Holloway (Alan Arkin) magic kit, the now adult Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and Anton Marvelton’s (Steve Buscemi) magic show has ruled Las Vegas for years – bringing them great wealth and fame. But when the death-defying stunts of the notorious Steve Gray (Jim Carrey) begin to make their act look dated and unadventurous by comparison, they find themselves dumped by their casino-owning boss Doug Munny (James Gandolfini) and in search of work. While Anton goes abroad to bring the joys of magic to the developing world, the bankrupt and homeless Wonderstone goes it alone – determined to find a way to reclaim his wealth and fame.

Film Review: Oz The Great and Powerful

Oz The Great and Powerful. Rated PG (mild fantasy violence and some scary scenes). 130 minutes. Directed by Sam Raimi. Screenplay by Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire. Based on the novels by L Frank Baum.

Verdict: What might have been a dud turns out to be a wonderfully entertaining companion piece to one of the most loved movies of all time.

As iconic movies go, few compare to the magnificent The Wizard of Oz (1939), which to this day remains a remarkable achievement in cinematic fantasy storytelling. Well-known and equally well-loved by generations of film-goers, The Wizard of Oz introduced us to Judy Garland’s Dorothy, her little dog Toto, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion who together, battled the Wicked Witch of the West for the future of The Emerald City.

Film Review: I Give It A Year

I Give It A Year. Rated M (nudity, coarse language and sexual references). 97 minutes. Written and directed by Dan Mazer.

Verdict: Missed genre subversion opportunities abound in this disappointingly formulaic rom-com outing.

As the writer of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Brüno, Borat and Ali G, Mazer has the pedigree, experience and reputation to have brought something genuinely unique to the romantic comedy genre. But with the exception of Chloe’s (Anna Faris) hilarious attempt at sexual liberation and Oliva Colman’s turn as an extremely counter-productive marriage guidance counsellor, there’s little divergence from the tried-and-true formula.

Film Review: Beautiful Creatures

Beautiful Creatures. Rated M (supernatural themes and violence). 124 minutes. Written and directed by Richard LaGravenese. Based on the novel by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.

Verdict: The latest entry in the teenage love affair with a supernatural twist genre.

Someone has decreed that the next generation simply cannot get enough supernaturally-inspired shenanigans – and the rest of us could easily be forgiven for approaching this story of opposing supernatural powers and their mortal prize with a roll of the eyes and a hearty groan. If Beautiful Creatures suffers by comparison to every other film and television series that plays with similar themes (Twilight, True Blood, and so on), the deadly whiff of familiarity is occasionally overpowered by two charming, heartfelt and charismatic lead performances from Alden Ehrenreich and Alice Englert.

Film Review: Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook. Rated M (mature themes, coarse language, sexual references and violence). 122 minutes. Written and directed by David O Russell. Based on the novel by Matthew Quick.

Verdict: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest meets Strictly Ballroom.

Hot on the heels of Flight’s compelling study of alcohol and drug dependency comes an equally difficult, but less successful, study of living with mental health issues. Russell’s respectful screenplay is, admirably, completely lacking in sensationalism. It is more concerned with how extraordinary circumstances can impact on the lives of ordinary people. But even ordinary people can rise to previously unscaleable heights to take on the challenges – perilously high stakes that are not in play in Silver Linings Playbook.

Film Review: Zero Dark Thirty

Zero Dark Thirty. Rated M (mature themes, violence and coarse language). 157 minutes. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Written by Mark Boal.

Verdict: A riveting film of raw and uncompromising drama.

Bigelow (the first woman to win an Academy Award® for Best Director for her film The Hurt Locker) and Boal (who won the Best Screenplay Oscar® for the same film), return to the killing fields for this riveting film about the hunt for the founder of al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden.

In doing so, they cement their places as the cinematic chroniclers of an era as defined by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States of America. We all know how the hunt for Bin Laden ended but, quite miraculously, Bigelow’s telling of Boal’s forensic screenplay is never less than entirely absorbing – due, in no small way, to a brilliant performance from Jessica Chastain as Maya, a CIA operative whose obsession with finding and killing Bin Laden becomes dangerously all-encompassing.

Film Review: Flight

Flight. Rated MA 15+ (strong themes, drug use and nudity). 138 minutes. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Written by John Gatins.

Verdict: A powerful, uncompromising study of the perils of addiction.

As painfully intimate, human dramas go, it is hard to imagine a more compelling recent offering than this. Combining a terrifying plane crash with the potent and destructive issues associated with alcohol and drug addiction is the masterstroke in Gatins’s (Real Steel) terrific, Oscar®-nominated screenplay. In the hands of Zemeckis (The Polar Express, Cast Away, What Lies Beneath, Forrest Gump, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Back to the Future) and his frequent collaborators, cinematographer Don Burgess and editor Jeremiah O'Driscoll, the results are utterly engrossing.

Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) is an airline pilot. He is also an alcoholic. When a disastrous mechanical failure occurs on one of his flights and he manages to avert what could have been an accident of catastrophic proportions, he is hailed as a hero. But when the hospital’s toxicology report reveals traces of alcohol and cocaine in his blood system at the time of the accident, the airline and the pilot’s union do everything within their power to avoid being held liable for the accident.

Washington is magnificent as the booze-soaked and drug-addled Whitaker, delivering a career-defining, Oscar®-nominated performance of immense range. He is brilliantly supported by Kelly Reilly (Sherlock Holmes), whose heroin-addicted Nicole meets Whitaker in hospital where they are both recovering – her from an overdose and him from the accident. This unlikely meeting leads to an extraordinary relationship between two individuals struggling to overcome their very personal addictions. This powerful, richly-layered study of the perils of addiction provides Flight with an uncompromising, rich vein of dramatic depth that is unexpectedly resolved in the penultimate scenes in front of the National Transportation Safety Board enquiry – lead with brutal efficiency by the superb Melissa Leo (The Fighter).

Under Zemeckis’s masterful direction, the stricken airliner sequences are astonishing, but we soon find ourselves in the equally-involving world of very human consequences. Consequences that, one day – even with the very best intentions of friends, loved ones, colleagues and family – may become impossible to continue to deny.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.