Cinema Review Cinema
Planes
Contrary to my initial misgivings, I was completely won over by both Cars and Cars 2 – in fact, I thought they were outstanding examples of the new feature-cartoon. Disney has here applied the same principle, ie, of giving life to mechanical objects, but the result never gets far off the ground (ouch). Admittedly, as much as anything else, cinemas are little more than childminding centres during school holidays, as well as (for those who aren’t comforted by PM Berlustony’s banning of climate change) a cool haven away from midday’s
Review
melanoma furnace, so it’s been an easy return for the producers (already the $50 million outlay has been nearly doubled). As in Cars, there is a race involved, with Dusty (Dane Cook) our hero, a cropduster from Nebraska harbouring the crazy ambition of competing with the flasher and faster pros in the annual Wings Around the World event. The standard setup is good – there is nothing wrong with children being exposed to the principle that self-belief and determination, despite setbacks and detractors, will always be rewarded – but
the ensuing rollercoaster adventure is formulaic in the extreme. The obvious caveat to that criticism, however, is that the film’s target audience doesn’t know what formulaic means and is only beginning to absorb the building blocks of storytelling. I didn’t see it in 3D, but it is visually beautiful, no surprise there, and mums and dads won’t find any difficulty in sitting through the ninety-odd minutes, but it never quite presses the emotional buttons that Cars did – Dusty is likeable, but he’s not loveable in the way that Owen Wilson’s Lightning McQueen was. There are
some big names doing the voicings – Stacy Keach, Jessica Marais, Brad Garrett and John Cleese among others – but the quality of their input can’t
compensate for the fact that the original premise is too unbelievable. How the Cars movies pulled it off, how they kidded us into embracing that
vital suspension of disbelief, remains a mystery, but this offshoot misses the mark. ~ John Campbell
producers and writers believe is the ultimate ‘in your dreams’ lifestyle. It can be so insightful as to how far crass
consumerism continues to drag us unopposed towards greed’s barren horizon. The average heterosexual bloke wouldn’t kick Gemma Arterton out of bed, there’s no risk about that, so the trophy girl in this is fine, but the flash cars and boats, mansions and nocturnal casino-crawling indulged in by super-cool honcho Ivan Block (Ben Affleck) and coveted by wannabe Richie Furst (Justin Timberlake) look a bit too much like a dredged up Peter Stuyvesant ad – and for a non-smoker, that’s just a big yawn. Block runs a global online gambling outfit from his billionaire’s compound in Costa Rica – stubbled and handsome, ruthless but still amiable after saving everybody’s life in Argo, he’s
like Tom Waterhouse with cojones. Richie, unable to pay his Princeton fees, is drawn into winning a fortune through playing poker with his laptop (the mountains of money lost by fools doing this is staggering). After being cheated on Block’s site, he flies to the banana republic, fronts the Man and, instead of being kneecapped and told to go back to acting school, he is taken on as a protégé. Block has two pressing problems – corrupt Costa Rican authorities are demanding ever-increasing amounts in bribery from him, while Agent Shavers (Anthony Mackie) is scheming behind the scenes to somehow get Block into a jurisdiction where the FBI might be able to arrest him. The script is tight and
Mauro Fiore’s high-contrast cinematography helps create an atmosphere of sharp tension. Affleck is great, but Timberlake will have more gravitas when his voice breaks and Arterton is nowhere near as appealing as when wearing her cardigan in Song
For Marion. It’s an absorbing if soulless movie, made with flawless professionalism. I enjoyed it, but only a complete dunce would not know who is going to outmanoeuvre whom. ~ John Campbell
from cinema’s past. Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) is a New York socialite who has fallen on hard times following the arrest and suicide of her wheeler-dealer husband, Hal (Alec Baldwin). On the turps, broke and going to pieces, she lobs at her half-sister’s cosy but downmarket flat in San Francisco. She imposes herself regally on Ginger (Sally Hawkins), whose marriage was a victim of Hal’s skullduggery, and comes between her and her rowdy, roughhouse boyfriend Chili (Bobby Cannavale) – it is
Blanche Dubois, Stella and Stanley Kowalski all over again. Unusually for Allen, the story’s structure includes a high number of time jumps that take us from the present to when Hal and Jasmine were major players on Wall Street and Park Avenue. The transitions are handled smoothly and an easy rhythm is established early and maintained throughout. Jasmine is not easy to like – she is far too deluded and judgmental – which makes it difficult to feel sympathy for her. Damaged people need
special treatment and Allen, you suspect, is pleading for forgiveness for Jasmine and in the last disturbing scene he very nearly wins it. But is there a limit to what we can we expect from or give to others? And how do we know when we’ve reached it? Blanchett pushes the envelope to an uncomfortable degree in her best part for a ages, but equally good are Hawkins and Cannavale – as a spindly little bird and bull in a china shop, they are perfectly matched. ~ John Campbell
Runner Runner Often the most interesting aspect of your typical glamcrime flick is the presentation of what the director,
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28 October 1, 2013 The Byron Shire Echo
Blue Jasmine Woody Allen’s later movies are proving to be predictably erratic. His last, set in Rome, was a dismal affair, but the one preceding it, in Paris, was sublime. As for Barcelona… well, let’s just not go there. Back on home soil, he has this time delivered what might come to be regarded as a signature work – when he’s good he’s great, and this is vintage. As an artist who has maintained an affectionate high regard for his predecessors, Allen enjoys nothing better than to re-invent seminal characters
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