Quickfire Reviews (Part 7)

Despite the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" (i.e. the fact that now studying ought to take precedence over the cinema), the appreciation of fine films must continue. Therefore:

A Long Way Down/ High Fidelity

Nick Hornby! Author of such easy going tales as About a Boy, he appears to be perfect fodder for film directors. Unfortunately these adaptations tend to be lightweight and occasionally tedious. High Fidelity seems to be a less good version of Woody Allen's Annie Hall, with our protagonist cheekily breaking the fourth wall with asides to the camera. Unfortunately, while Woody Allen managed to make his neurotic, failure of a human being Alvy Singer faintly likeable, the same cannot be said for John Cusack's Rob Gordon. I also wanted to strangle more or less the entire cast of A Long Way Down, but especially Imogen Poots (who lands firmly on the wrong side of quirky) and Pierce Brosnan (whose attempt at charm is far overshadowed by the character's inherent solipsism). But A Long Way Down at least is more watchable than High Fidelity. Rosamund Pike's character is believable and well handled, and although it's hard to believe that any of the other three would have really jumped off a building and the theme of suicide is systematically avoided, it's inappropriate sense of humour is enough to save the viewer from boredom. High Fidelity is a prolonged experience of unpleasant people doing unpleasant things, although here too are moments of comedy gold, particularly as Gordon imagines pummelling his romantic rival. But inevitably, both result in disappointment.

High Fidelity: 4/10
A Long Way Down: 6/10

Run, Lola, Run

Germans! They're great aren't they. Kant. Bismark. Angela Merkel. And Tom Tykwer. Part of the visionary trio responsible for the sublime Cloud Atlas, he directed the historical segments and composed the astoundingly beautiful music. And unfortunately, Run Lola Run is nothing like Cloud Atlas. It is full on unhinged, following a surprisingly irrelevant prologue a deranged race against time ensues, before being repeated twice over. It's essentially like Groundhog Day but less fun or Source Code but with less special effects. There seems to be some philosophical overtones, but I was marginally confused about what they were trying to convey, and by the look of it so was Tykwer. The whole thing inevitably descends into silliness. Lola's tough-as-nails boyfriend isn't worth saving from certain doom, Lola's ear piercing screams belong in comics and not supposingly groundbreaking cinema, and the self-congratulatory camera work is annoying. And for the composer of the unforgettable Atlas March, the music is really odd and very disappointing.

Rating: 6/10

The Tempest

Shakespeare! The Bard is dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century as Julie Taymor decides the sure-fire way to make his epic swansong accessible is to pile on the CGI, with a sprinkling of ominous guitars. And it's awful. Ben Wishaw's fabulous Arial is engulfed by staggeringly pointless special effects, whilst an unbelievably magnificent speech seems abrupt as our protagonists abruptly emerge from a bizarre astrological swirl. And why has Propero become Prospera? Of course, Helen Mirren does a smashing job, but surely it's more interesting if Propero is a single father burdened with the care of Miranda. And speaking of Miranda, the scenes between her and Ferdinand are nauseatingly saccharine. I spent the whole thing wishing that I was watching it at the theatre, where it would have most likely been much less patronising. I imagine Will was turning in his grave.

Rating: 4/10

Transcendence

Wally Pfister! A debut director and fledgling of Christopher Nolan who everyone thought would be a carbon copy of his mentor and then got terribly irked when it turned out he wasn't. Terrible reviews resulted. The dialogue is terrible! The tension is dissipated by a pointless prolepsis at the beginning! Complex themes are defiled because silly Pfister doesn't know what he's doing! Thankfully, these objections are more or less nonsense. The dialogue is not nearly as clumsy as it has been portrayed, nicely playing off a neo-Ludite paranoia with a utopian sense of the possibilities of technology. The cast is nothing short of fantastic: Johnny Depp is predictably charming as Will Caster, carefully balancing menace with humanity when his consciousness is uploaded to a high-tech computer. He is ably supported by an emotional Rebecca Hall, a creepy Cillian Murphy and Paul Bettany as the film's moral compass. The ending is beautifully ambiguous, encouraging us to question who is the real villain of the piece: the power hungry, technologically enhanced Depp or the Machiavellian Murphy and Kate Mara's band of well meaning terrorists?

Rating: 7/10

Red Lights

God! Sigourney Weaver, fresh from being got by aliens, leads a band of fellow atheists (Cillian Murphy and Elizabeth Olsen) in an attempt to disprove as many mediums as possible, particularly the villainous Simon Silver (Robert DeNiro). The set-up seems to be your average supernatural thriller, but surprisingly something marginally more high brow ensues. Murphy manages to be downtrodden and paranoid, far away from the cold fish in Transcendence, whilst Robert DeNiro is magnificently menacing. Sigourney Weaver meanwhile wrestles with existential dilemmas, and Elizabeth Olsen's character is tragically underdeveloped, as she really is rather wonderful (if in doubt, watch Silent House or Martha Marcy May Marlene). As in Transcendence, there is a fabulous shock ending, and the whole affair is rather clever. The only sour note is that you feel the film comes down on the wrong side of the theist/atheist divide, but it's hard to pretend that personal prejudices aren't largely responsible for this minor niggle.

Rating: 8/10