Film Reviews: December 2005 Archives

This surprisingly good movie is based on the real-life escapades of Kiwi Burt Munro, played by prolific Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal, Mask of Zorro, Titus, etc etc etc). The word ‘surprisingly’ is used as the film is – when stripped down to its basic level – a geriatric road movie about a man who is trying to break a motorcycle speed record.

Amazingly the film grips the attention for its full 127-minute run-length; this it does largely due to the acting performance of the main character of the film.

When the film starts we are introduced immediately to Burt and his 1920’s Indian motorcycle, with which he wakes the neighbours at the crack of dawn whilst trying to start it. It is clear from the beginning that this motorcycle and his quest for speed is the main thing in his life, but despite this we also learn that Burt appears to have a certain amount of natural charisma.

Burt Munro, who was born in 1899 in Invercargill, New Zealand, is getting quite old, but he has seriously modified his motorbike over many years and has a dream to take it to the Bonneville Salt Flats to compete and be timed for one of the land speed records. Incidentally ‘motorbike’ is a word he refuses to use to describe the machine, he always says motorcycle, and pronounces it as “motosickle”. As a side-point, this story is from the time when there was a 16-year gap between the world land speed records. This gap, from 1947 and 1963, led to a new push, mainly in the USA where development of jet engine powered vehicles finally gave the challengers the ability to break the record from internal combustion engine powered records. Burt’s successful attempts, which still hold to this day for streamlined motorcycles with engine capacity of below 1000cc, are told in this film almost as proof that one man, provided that they are determined enough, can make a difference and do something quite special.

The director of this movie is Roger Donaldson, who has previously worked on such films as ‘Dante’s Peak’, and ‘The Recruit’, seems to be making a much more personal film this time around. There are no stunning special effects; just spectacularly shot fast moving speed scenes that really do involve the viewer. The film takes a typical three-stage approach, the first third of the movie is dedicated to introducing Burt, his life, and some of the people around him. The second part shows his journey from New Zealand to Bonneville by boat and road. The last part details his attempt to break the record despite overwhelming odds against him. A gripping film all round.

****1/2 (out of 5)

Broken Flowers was this year’s creation by Jim Jarmusch, prior to this the only work I had seen of this writer/director was ‘Coffee and Cigarettes’.

The plot of ‘Broken Flowers’ is relatively straightforward. Bill Murray’s character, the main of the film, is called Don Johnston, a fact which causes some amusement at various points in the story. He is apparently a well to-do retired businessman, who is also revealed to have been a bit of a Don Juan. He lives in a quiet street next to a family with whom he is good friends. Right from the start of the film we can see that Don is tired of life, he has been there, and done that, but as far as his personal life is concerned he has never settled down. The hook of the film is that Don receives a letter from an unknown woman who claims that she knew him, in the Biblical sense, and had his son. She also informs him that the son has left home and suspects that he might be attempting to track down his father. Don, with great encouragement from his next-door neighbour, sets out to visit all his old flames who could have plausibly given birth to his child.

Whilst ‘Broken Flowers’ has been sold as a quirky comedy, when compared to ‘Coffee and Cigarettes’ the emphasis on the former is certainly on the quirk rather than the comedy (which C&C certainly was). In this respect I was slightly disappointed with the film. ‘Broken Flowers’ is an intriguing film and another in which Bill Murray’s acting is fully exploited, excellent support is given from all of the cast, especially the ones engaged in the roles of the old flames, Tilda Swinton and Sharon Stone get the most blatant roles! In certain respects the, for the most part, calm and steady nature of the film reminded me of Being There – the widely regarded penultimate film of Peter Sellers. Where this film differs is in its occasional outburst of out and out humour.

Overall this is a pleasant and atmospheric road movie, about a man who has accomplished a lot but missed out on a chunk of humanity.

***1/2 (out of 5)

I was going to review this film this evening, but I drowned my sorrows (obviously to do with a woman) with five pints of Stella Artois before the showing, and woke up about 15 minutes before the end, just in time to watch Harry have an encounter with Voldemort in some haunted graveyard.

So I can't really give an unbiased account of the film, except to say that Hermione has certainly developed a lot in time for the start of the year at Hogwarts.

Muggles all round!

David Cronenburg’s latest venture is another character study but with the difference this time being that violence features throughout much of the plot. With many Hollywood films these days consisting largely of cartoon like violence, the impact that this film carries is due to a very personal and, up to a point, a realistic analysis of how violence effects people’s behaviours and the perceptions of others.

Viggo Mortenson stars as Tom Stall a small town diner owner who lives just outside town with his wife Edie (Maria Belo) and two children Jack and Sarah. Tom goes about his business in a calm manner, and does not get rattled by small problems such as the fact that his pickup truck is out of action, or the litter of passers by outside his diner. One evening two strangers, who, at the beginning of the film have been introduced to the audience as dangerous strangers, turn up at the diner with more than the intention of just holding the place up. Tom saves the day and ends up shooting both the intruders and is publicised as a local hero. After this event, however, further and potentially more dangerous strangers arrive and start questioning the true identity of Tom. From here we are led into finding out more about Tom and his past.

When compared to other Cronenburg films this does look like a much more normal film in some ways, whether one feels good, bad, or indifferent about this is a matter of personal taste. To me the film was interesting in the fact that it was more like a David Lynch film in subject matter, backwater America with a twist. Certainly there are no talking typewriters or muttering schizoids in this film! Where the film does hit home is in its graphic violence, the violence is not altogether frequent or gratuitously shown, but when it happens, if you let it, you feel that there are real lives at stake, or in some cases lost. Interestingly the film, as it approaches the end, becomes almost less realistic and pokes fun at its own seriousness. Maybe this is because it has been derived from a graphic novel, which in a certain way is a mixture of literature and cartoon.

During the film there are various parallels drawn with the main story, they all relate to intimidation, aggression and physical attack. The story of Jack Stall, student at the local high school, and how his father’s brutal elevation to hero status triggers a more ‘assertive’ reaction to the school bully is certainly the most obvious parallel here. The change in attitude of Tom’s wife to Tom himself later becomes more overriding. By the end of the film, regardless of how the characters have changed, or how our view of them has changed, it is made quite clear how things will proceed.

In my view the film is trying to demonstrate that violence will always be required, even if publicly denounced. For the ultimate way to protect or exploit an individual, family, or whole country is always going to be via the use of force.

Overall this film is a gripping thriller, which does shock in its brutality, but also has a point to make about human nature.

**** (out of 5)