Andrew Worsdale
With at least a week of rest and relaxation ahead, why not unwind in front of the big screen? With a host of movies opening over the next fortnight, there’s something for the whole family.
The teen movie I’ll Be Home for Christmas heads the list. Jonathan Taylor Thomas (of Home Improvement fame) is dumped in the desert by his classmates. He is desperate to get to New York as his father has promised him a Porsche if he makes it home by Christmas Eve. Clad in a ridiculous Santa Claus outfit, he hitches rides with numerous oddballs. The laughs are few and far between, but youngsters will lap it up.
Still on the silly side, we have Wrongfully Accused, Leslie Nielsen’s latest send-up in which he rips off Harrison Ford in The Fugitive.
Nielsen plays a master violinist who is imprisoned for a murder he did not commit. He escapes and goes on a cross- country journey to prove his innocence. It’s a damp squib of a comedy compared to The Naked Gun series. It plays on the same physical humour, but the dialogue isn’t up to scratch.
Turning to more intelligent stuff there’s Neal Sundstrom and Gilda Blacher’s gentle romantic comedy Inside Out, which was shot locally in Wakkerstroom.
A Jewish comedienne, on route to Cape Town, finds herself stranded in a Karoo town and is asked to direct the local Nativity play.
There’s an assortment of wacky characters, including a kind, but shy mayor, the local hunk (with whom she falls in love), a gay guy who works at the general store and his boss, a fussy auntie.
It’s not a guffaw of a picture, and perhaps it tries to cover too much ground. But nevertheless, it’s beautifully filmed, with wonderful performances. I urge you to see it, if only to show local producers, investors and directors that the public doesn’t shy away from local cinema.
Next on the agenda is Jackie Chan’s latest venture, Who Am I? Undoubtedly one of his best pictures yet, it’s fast, furious and funny.
Chan plays a former CIA agent who wakes up in the desert with amnesia. He is rescued by an African tribe, and slowly regains his memory.
The action scenes are exhilarating. Regardless of whether you’re a Chan fan or not, this is a cool movie to catch.
More seriously, there’s Agnieszka Holland’s version of Henry James’s novella Washington Square. Jennifer Jason Leigh plays Catherine Sloper, the daughter of a bitter, rich man (played by Albert Finney), who is in love with a pauper (Ben Chaplin).
It’s a rites of passage story steeped in gloom and romance. I found it a little ponderous.
There’s a rash of movies opening on New Year’s Eve. First off the list is The Siege. Denzel Washington plays an FBI agent who heads a terrorism task force. He tries to combat a series of attacks by an Arab organisation based in Brooklyn. When the attacks get more serious, the government brings in the army, headed by Bruce Willis.
Directed by Edward Zwick, it is an expertly crafted, intelligent thriller – one of the best this year.
Moving back to children’s fare, there’s Madeline, a loose adaptation of Ludwig Bemelman’s book about a rebellious nine-year-old girl in a strict Catholic school. Although the novel was set in Paris in the 1930s, the film-makers have opted to update the story to the 1950s and turned the school into an English-speaking one.
The plot involves Lord Covington (aka Cucaface) who takes over the school after his wife, the school’s benefactress, dies. He instils strong dictatorial discipline and, of course, our heroine will have none of it.
It’s an elegant, old-fashioned kind of children’s film – classy in a kind of kiddies’ way.
Have Plenty is a light, upbeat comedy about love, class and the meaning of success.
Debut writer/director Christopher Scott Cherot plays a budding author with a crush on a sophisticated college friend, who is engaged to a rich and charming rapper. It’s a well-written comedy, with great empathy for the characters – all trying to find happiness. As a first film it’s among the best.
A Price above Rubies is a rather contrived romantic drama in which Renee Zellweger plays a horny Hasidic woman. Her scholarly husband is unable to satisfy her, so she has an affair with a Puerto Rican jeweller. The community is in uproar over the affair, and she is evicted from her home, banished from Orthodox Brooklyn and forced to live in the streets, separated from her son. It’s basically a religious and social soap-box melodrama.
Meet Joe Black is two minutes short of three hours long, and about half an hour is devoted to extended pauses between the actors, even though their dialogue is not particularly inspired.
Director Martin Brest does the material a disservice by extending it to yawning proportions.
Brad Pitt plays Death. He comes down to Earth to claim the life of a successful tycoon (played by Anthony Hopkins). He falls in love with the rich man’s daughter and manages to save the man’s conglomerate from corrupt meddlers.
There are some moments that work, but the movie shoots itself in the foot by being far too long. Not even the brilliant Hopkins or Pitt can avert the eventual tedium.
Bloodmoon is a cheap Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat-type martial arts action movie. The plot revolves around a serial killer murdering famous athletes and a magician/ detective out to defeat him.
I haven’t yet seen it, but I understand that it is rather cheesy.
Finally, Those Who Love Me Take the Train opens in Cape Town (Gautengers have to wait until March 19 to see it). It is a marvellous French film by Patrice Chereau.
Friends of a recently deceased painter, Jean-Baptiste, take a train from Paris to Limoges, where he wished to be buried.
It revolves around a homosexual couple who are at odds with one another because they’ve both fallen in love with a third man.
It’s the style of the storytelling that rivets the viewer. It’s an intriguing, brilliantly shot film. I urge you to see it.