It’s pretty easy to pick the quirk of what’s going on narratively in The Rover, but that isn’t a problem. It’s a simple tale designed to offer a musing on what happens in a world without innocence; and how trying to bring it back is a dark, almost insurmountable task that in truth perpetuates the horror it seeks to dispel.
Watching the internal struggle of Joel Edgerton in Wish You Were Here is a pleasure, in a sadistic sort of fashion. After a holiday with his wife, sister-in-law and her dubious fella, only three come back. The dubious fella is missing. It is soon very obvious that Joel knows what happened…
What is it that makes watching the world of a well-rounded, well-acted character unravelling so entertaining? Arguably the answer lies in a psychological thesis rather than a filmic one.
Felony is the first screenplay from actor Joel Edgerton, who also stars in this tale of an Australian cop. Edgerton is also credited with the ‘story’ for the upcoming Rover, so this is likely a good indication of what to expect.
What is delivered in this film is everyday tragedy, thanks mostly to low key wretchedness and corruption. The progression of Edgerton’s lead, Malcolm Toohey, from hero cop to villain is an insidious one. Poor choices motivate everything that plays out and before too long the pit dug by Toohey and his cronies is too deep for him to escape, psychologically and physically.
There is a tone of grim reality to this fiction, it’s a sombre and sour tale executed with steady aplomb.
Excited doesn’t do justice to my state before seeing The Great Gatsby. And you know what that leads too… yup, disappointment. It’s not that it’s bad. In fact I think it’s good, but it isn’t a Baz Luhrmann film or more accurately, enough of a Baz Luhrmann film.
This flick just doesn’t have that connection and verve of his other work. It’s flat. Despite everything, all the wonder, nothing pops. Edgerton is the only actor who seems to have been cast with any thought to the character he’ll be playing, although Mulligan does well dealing with being Daisy, who in the novel is basically everything to every man, which to pull off on screen is an impossible task. Everyone else is perfectly good, but frankly that’s not enough for a picture this big. Put Leo’s Jordan Belfort beside Gatsby, it’s not even a comparison.
It seems too only half a score was delivered. Or at least two halves rather than a whole. Which,is madness when you think of the significance of music in Baz’s previous work. In those films there are set pieces that standout, that are among my favourite cinema moments. Unfortunately there are none of these here. There’s a confusion about this film in style and tone, it feels like compromise, like the true vision of Luhrmann never made it to our screens.
Honestly, Zero Dark Thirty is good. But it’s also slow. More an account of events than a dramatic retelling. Even the climax is understated. Realistic? You’d guess so. But in terms of entertainment, and for a Bigelow film especially, it lacks drive.
If you’ve not seen Animal Kingdom, see it. It’s quiet, mean and hard as nails. Ben Mendelsohn conjures up a performance so frightening as a paranoid sociopath you’ll be freaked for a week. The premise of a nephew thrown into the world of armed robbery occupied by his fucked up uncles and great aunt is superb and as the trap closes on the mob. under the watchful eye of another flawless performance by Pearce in the role of good cop, the wheels come off and then some. Brilliant and sinister are fine bed fellows!
It’s easy to be cynical about Warrior, but why would you be? Essentially it’s Bloodsport with Tom Hardy and that, as this flick proves, is enough to be pretty fucking peachy.
fortuneandglorykid 