"The Grey"
Richard's Review: 4 stars
"The Grey," the new Liam Neeson film, is an art-house action movie. The bravado that colours most action flicks is gone, replaced by equal parts despair and intestinal fortitude.
Neeson plays John Ottway, a sharpshooter and Wolf Whisperer hired to keep predatory wolves out of an oil station in the most remote part of Alaska. He becomes the leader of a ragtag group of survivors when the plane transporting them to their oil job crashes in the wilderness. Hunted by wolves and exposed to the elements, Ottway's know-how is the only thing between freezing to death or becoming the big bad wolf's dinner.
The thing that separates "The Grey" from other man versus nature movies is the characters. At first glance, they are the usual assortment of rough and ready characters. There's the edgy chatterbox and the ex-con. But soon nuances appear.
The point of the whole thing is survival. But along the way the cast (Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo, Dallas Roberts, Joe Anderson, Nonso Anozie and James Badge Dale) discuss the intricacies of life, shed tears, question faith and even recite poetry when they're not fighting off steely-eyed wolves. You won't find this kind of behaviour in other action movies because those films are about setting up the action and the payoff. "The Grey" isn't such a film. It wants you to get to know these men so when something awful happens to them, you care.
Mild spoiler alert: the climax of Frank Grillos' character Diaz is particularly effective as it gets to the very heart of why -- or why not -- this man will survive.
As good as this ensemble is this is Neeson's movie. He plays a broken man who has recently lost his wife and the memory of her haunts him. He's suicidal and lost, but learns a new lust for life in this adverse situation. Whether the tragic loss of his wife in real life informed this role, I wouldn't presume to say. But there is a haunted quality to his performance that seems deeply felt.
As intelligent as "The Grey" is, however, it also borders on horror, playing on fears of corpse-eating wolves and barren spaces -- bring an extra scarf, the howling wind effect alone will chill you to the bone. But even though it is sometimes graphic, "The Grey" still resonates emotionally.
"Man on a Ledge"
Richard's Review: 2 stars
If I had to choose one word to describe "Man on a Ledge," the new heist drama starring Sam Worthington and Jamie Bell, it wouldn't be thrilling or breathtaking. No, the word that best sums up this movie is implausible. Your enjoyment of the film will depend on how often you are willing to suspend your disbelief.
Worthington plays Nick Cassidy, a former cop sentenced to 25 years at Sing Sing prison for a diamond heist he may or may not have committed. After a daring escape he launches an elaborate plan to prove his innocence. Step one is perching himself on the ledge of the twenty-first floor of a Manhattan hotel. From that vantage point, he orchestrates a "Mission: Impossible" style scheme to uncover the plot that sent him up the river.
"Man on a Ledge" is not what Hitchcock called a "Refrigerator Movie," that is, one that seems to make sense while you're watching it but later, when you're at home in front of the fridge thinking about it, the inanity of it becomes clear. No, this one is loud and proud in its complete lack of logic.
The plot doesn't add up. According to this movie's way of thinking one plus one equals five. If you can suspend disbelief and go along for the ride "Man on a Ledge" isn't a bad movie, just a silly one.
Stereotypes abound -- there's the ruthless reporter who knows that jumpers are good for ratings, the troubled cop, the coldblooded businessman. There's also an overly elaborate plan that plays out just a little too easily. Add to that too much talk about "how far you would go to clear your name" and one scene of completely gratuitous "almost" nudity and you end up with a poorly plotted time-waster that skates by on the strength of its characters.
"One for the Money"
Richard's Review: 1 star
"One for the Money," the first adaptation of a book in author Janet Evanovich's popular Stephanie Plum series, wants desperately to be as slick as "Get Shorty." Sadly, it ends up a little lower on the scale, closer to "Jersey Shore."
Set in Trenton, New Jersey, the story begins when Plum (Katherine Heigl, who also produces) confesses to her family that she lost her job six months ago. With her car in the repo shop, her rent due and the fridge empty, she blackmails her cousin into giving her a job as a skip tracer, or bounty hunter. Her first gig is to bring in a former flame named Joe Morelli (Jason O'Mara), which brings double meaning to the cop slang she uses when she talks about "nailing" him. The job becomes more complicated, however, as she gets pulled into a much larger criminal conspiracy.
Amazon.com describes the book's fictional Plum as smart, honest and funny -- three things her cinematic counterpart is not.
Heigl plays the character as a romantic comedy reject with a gun and with all the nuance that implies. What should have been a plum role for her falls flat. Tough one second, vulnerable the next, Heigl is all over the place in this movie. As a result, it never finds anything interesting to say about Plum.
It doesn't help that she is surrounded by cardboard-thin characters, each one quirkier than the last. How about a grandmother (Debbie Reynolds) who has a one-liner for every occasion or a hooker (Sherri Shepherd) with an attitude and an appetite?
There's room for colourful characters in a movie like this, just not so many of them. "Get Shorty" worked because it had one flamboyant character at its centre, not one -- or more -- in every scene.
"One for the Money" might be tolerable if any of its characters had some interesting dialogue. When Morelli spouts lines like, "We are ancient history… like the pyramids, baby," and Plum solemnly declares in her fluctuating Jersey accent, "Now it's personal," it only reinforces the idea that not much effort went into this sloppy movie.
Worse still, "One for the Money" doesn't respect its audience. Though the story is by-the-book, Plum constantly interrupts the flow with exposition and voice-overs that explain the obvious. Well-crafted crime thrillers are like puzzles – they best let the audience to do some of the detective work.
Former "Grey's Anatomy" director Julie Anne Robinson chooses not to allow that audience that pleasure. Instead, she spoils the fun by providing blow-by-blow commentary from Plum.
"One for the Money" cold have been the beginning of a fun franchise for Stephanie Plum fans. As it is, it's a ninety-minute exercise in how not to adapt a book to the big screen.
"Tyrannosaur"
Richard's Review: 4 stars
"Tyrannosaur," a new drama from actor-turned-director-and-writer Paddy Considine (best known for his work in films like "In America" and "24 Hour Party People") is a grim but compelling look at a man hell-bent on destruction until he meets a woman who gives him a glimmer of hope.
It sounds like the kind of thing we've seen a million times before, but Considine's camera is so unflinching in showing the details of this man's descent and his devastating search for redemption. That's what makes the movie a singular experience.
It takes a special kind of movie to start with the killing of a dog and then get harsher from there. But "Tyrannosaur" does and in doing so paints a harrowing portrait of the cycle of violence that has so stained its protagonist.
Joseph (Scottish character actor Peter Mullen, currently also in "War Horse") is a deeply damaged man. A widower and a drunk, he is the product of abuse. He's also guilt-ridden and prone to rages.
"I'm not a nice human being," he says, which may be the understatement of the new century.
By contrast, Hannah (Olivia Colman), a worker in a nearby charity shop who befriends Joseph, is sweetness and light, but hides a terrible secret; she is abused by her bully husband James (Eddie Marsan).
Considine, who based this screenplay on his award-winning short film "Dog Altogether," weaves their stories into one, creating a character study and a look at class in Britain and highlighting the differences and similarities of working class Joseph's life to that of middle-class James.
It's a grim task, but the result is spectacular for viewers with the stomach for it. Considine cuts no corners, avoids easy sentiment or resolutions. He is also ably aided by his cast. Mullen's tight grimace says more than most of the lines of dialogue about Joseph, while Marsden is an unsettling presence.
Still, it is Colman who dominates. Best known as a comic actress -- her credits include "Hot Fuzz" and the Britcom "Beautiful People" -- she is utterly authentic, desperate and heartbreaking in every frame, handing in one of the great, under-appreciated performances of the year.
"Tyrannosaur" is a tragically beautiful film. It's not a journey that everyone will want to take, but it's a rewarding one for those who go along for the ride.
