2012. Dir: David Cronenberg. Starring: Robert Pattinson, Sarah Gadon, Kevin Durand, Emily Hampshire and Paul Giamatti. ●●●●○
In interviews David Cronenberg has repeatedly admitted that Robert Pattinson (or R.Pattz if you're down with the YA lingo) was not his first choice for the role of Eric Packer, investment banking billionaire and master of the universe. If memory serves me correctly Colin Farrell was originally linked to the role before the Twilight alumni got the role. It's an unlikely casting choice Cronenberg passes off as being for the investment Pattinson brings or for the right age and yet the baggage that he brings, the undead persona serve him well reminding us that Pattinson has significant promise as an actor as well as a star. Perhaps I'm being unfair starting a review of Cosmopolis adapted from Don DeLillo's 2003 novel on the merits of casting Pattinson, but on the other hand the 108 minute film comprises of duologue's with Pattinson usually in the confined space of the back of his stretch limousine so if the central casting had failed the whole film would have failed with it.
Normally I would now make a stab at summarising the plot, but this opaque curiosity barely has one, the limo crawls across New York to where Packer wants to have a haircut and as this odyssey progresses acquaintances, employees and lovers all provide prospective to the journey and what the future holds for our mysterious hero. All the while the Yuan is collapsing, Packer's marriage is disintegrating and society itself seems to be imploding. We see few of the supporting players arrive in Packer's bubble and none of them leave and only a tiny minority even consider the existence of each other, yet they all have a unique perspective on Packer's future and his character.
So if Cosmopolis (universal city Greek fans) isn't about the plot what is driving it? It's about mood, a foreboding atmospheric intensity that clings to Pattinson and it's about intellectual ideas some characters talk but many more pronounce - Samantha Morton especially spews out a collection of statements rather - and it's about the cult of money, the nameless celebrities who criss-cross Manhattan and London in their Prousted vehicles - isolating themselves from the populace around them, but when invited into their gleaming cars we see individuals as emotionless and vapid as the imposing exteriors.
Packer has lost the ability to feel. His vast portfolio, incomprehensible to the audience, has eaten away at his soul so sex, art, politics, family and even violence no longer elicit a response. And so Pattinson is perfect for the role, there's an emptiness in the eyes, so exploited in his casting as Edward Cullen, that invites us to believe this playboy desperate for any high. Finally his alt-Twilight career is paying off and I very much hope to see him stretch himself, working for other auteurs that play with his image.
The rest of the cast do a great job, however many of them are simple ciphers, they appear for single conversations and almost represent emotional states. Morton is detached, Juliet Binoche slutty, Jay Baruchel nervy, Paul Giamatti angry. Only Emily Hampshire as his assistant, called in on her day off and clearly in awe of his talents and sexuality (even during a prostate exam), gets the chance to show any range, something she grabs with both hands becoming a beacon of characterisation in the centre of the movie.
Cronenberg does a fantastic job of boiling down DeLillo's novel and capturing the relevance of the anti-capitalist sentiment. Whilst this is another film that fits in his later canon of movies that shoot for the audience's intellectual reactions rather than their physical ones - there's a gunshot wound at one point that stays remarkably un-Cronenbergian - there is a glimmer of his earlier work in the otherworldliness of it's leading character and the acceptance that society is balanced on a knife-edge and one slight tilt either way will inevitable lead to anarchy.
Overall Cosmopolis is divisive and dense, but although many viewers will want to escape from it's bleak ramblings a few will find it's black heart is worth the ticket price.
Thursday, 21 June 2012
Cosmopolis
Saturday, 16 June 2012
All that way for a Haircut (Out this week - 15/06/12)
We're breaking new ground this weekend with unprecedented levels of choice in cinemas - in London at any rate - with 16 new releases vying for audiences. Of course many of them have extremely limited openings and won't be making much impact with audiences regardless of the critical response. Don't be deterred by that as there's lots of goodies around if you're prepared to go the extra mile for them. From intrigues in the Danish court to child protection there's some significant foreign language releases as well as the crowdpleasers which could be worth the ticket price. I'm going somewhere in the middle, avoiding the sure-fire hits and the single venue openings and plumping for the strange looking collaboration between one of cinemas biggest heartthrobs and the king of venereal horror. The Runs like a Gay film of the week is Cosmopolis.
Last weekend I was correct in assuming the top three box office titles would remain the same and, although Snow White slipped behind the Men in Black, Prometheus clung to the top spot like a acid-blooded penis-snake to a lost biologist's arm. I made a fatal flaw in over-estimating Plan B's cross-over appeal and the concept Ill Manors struggled, only just making it into the top ten, instead date friendly horror flick The Pact took an average takings three times higher, although I suspect only one of those films will be remembered in 6 months time. This weekend Ridley Scott will probably be just about hang on to the lead and whilst I'd like to cheer on plucky British sporting heroes in Fast Girls I think the karaoke sounds of 80's that is Rock of Ages will get the lions share of the newbies.
Cosmopolis
It's been barely four months since David Cronenberg last film was released - the staid but solid Dangerous Mind - so it's a little surprising to see his follow-up in cinemas so soon. Until you learn it's filmed almost exclusively in a limo as R. Pattz off Twilight crosses town for a haircut. I'll let you know whether it's as absurd as that synopsis sounds later in the week.
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Read on for strutting stars, mad kings and blind mediums as well as all of this weeks trailers after the jump.
Or as bonkers as the trailer suggests. Warning - there are flashes in this trailer.
Rock of Ages
I'm a big fan of Adam Shankman's film adaptation of Hairspray so in theory I should be queuing round the block for his second big screen musical, and yet... There's something about the self-referential format that seemed charming in the popping colours of the 60's but appears to be awfully self-important here. The terrific cast which includes Alec Baldwin, Paul Giamatti, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Tom Cruise as Stacee Jaxx is impressive though so maybe I'm missing the point.
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Royal Affair
Danish historical romp which surprised everyone at the Berlin festival by winning best screenplay and best actor for Mikkel Boe Folsgaard as the crazy monarch whose wife carries on with progressive Machiavellian - in that isn't a contradiction in terms - Mads Mikkelsen.
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Polisse
One of my ex-partner's was a Social worker in a children's team and I'm sure some of things he used to share with me might be reflected in this procedural semi-documentary from France about the Police team sent in to protect children in danger. Both the lows and the highs and the occasional moments of office politics. Should be worth catching.
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Red Lights
Rodrigo Cortes came to everyone's attention when he placed Ryan Reynolds in a box for Buried and whilst his parapsychology thriller follow-up might not have as high a concept he's drawn a trio of heavyweight performers (Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver and Robert De Niro as a blind spoon bender) but whilst everyone agrees the low key, fraud debunking first half is great the telekinesis filled final act is splitting audiences.
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Desi Romeos
I apologise for the dreadful sound recording for this Punjab trailer. Honestly, you might think they didn't want an audience. I think it's about a band coming to melt the hearts of female audiences everywhere, but I can't be sure.
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Fast Girls
It's surprising that the only film to capitalise on London's forthcoming turn as the Olympic host comes from multi-hyphenate Noel Clarke, although maybe not given his drive and ambition. The story may be predictable - four girls must overcome their difficulties to win the women's 4x400 relay - but even the trailer has the necessary feelgood, triumph over adversity vibe.
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Ferrari ki Sawaari
Now admit it, there's no way on reading the title of this Bollowood release that you thought it was about a young boy searching for a cricketting hero and finding himself in the batting order at Lords. Don't worry there is a sup-plot about a missing iconic red motor.
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Kosmos
Turkish psychodrama in which a mysterious tramp arrives in a village, immediately saves a boy from drowning and is then treated alternately as a saint and a demon. Then the world starts to go mad. Ambitious, certainly.
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Late September
No trailer for this British curio, unsurprising given the nature of the piece. Using improvisation, natural light and long wide takes Jon Sanders' movies explores the cracks in a 40 year old marriage over one long painful weekend.
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[Rec]3 Genesis
I'm not sure if this Spanish horror threequel counts as a new release as I understand it was only showing in one obscure cinema for two days in the week. Still it'll be out on DVD in September so maybe they'll be some more showings in the meantime. You can tell how little I care about the plot that takes the zombies from the last two out of the block and into a wedding party.
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Requiem for a Killer
It wouldn't be a packed week without a French thriller, and so Melanie Laurent is here to icily dispatch all her opponents in this game of cat, mouse and hired assassin. Not sure where the opera bits come in - are we meant to believe she sings packed out concerts by day and then murders by night?
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The Squad
Nine Columbian soldiers head up a mountain to fight guerillas. Only nothing could prepare them for what they's find up there. I'm guessing it's devil worshipping ghouls and most of them won't get out alive - but then I have just watched the trailer.
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Foodfight
Please make it stop! Cheap digimation and Barry Manilow soundtrack aside there's a reason why this extended commercial break with Charlie Sheen and Hilary Duff hasn't been released in the States. Because it's rubbish. Miss it the UK on one day only. Vue cinema chain - I am ashamed of you.
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Murattu Kalai
It's saying something about a kollywood release when not only is there no imdb page but the closest I can find to a trailer is five minutes of two camera monologues. Please don't feel you have to watch it - I didn't. I hope something actually happens in the 2 hour long full version.
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Thousand Kisses Deep
Ham fisted looking thriller that seems to have an exciting cast (it's good to see Emilia Fox stretching anyway) but once you watch the trailer the whole plot seems to fall into place and it's tough to keep an interest.
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Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Ides of March
2011. Dir: George Clooney. Starring: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and Evan Rachel Wood. ●●●●○
I've not seen "Farrugut North", Beau Eillimon's play that forms the basis of George Clooney and Grant Heslov's latest venture, so far as I know the play hasn't made it to the UK, however right now I don't feel that I need to. Ides of March hews so closely to a theatrical experience that seeing it live can hardly bring much more to the story. The inherent staginess of the adaptation is hard for this movie to shake off, it's structure and style of moving from room to room with powerfully dressed men with distressed ties underlines how little has been changed. That said, in spite of this limitation, it's themes of loyalty and corruption (mirroring the more successful Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) are presented so thoroughly and realistically that the quality of the screenplay and acting pushes through.
Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) may only be 30 but he's a veteran of political campaigning, something he's very keen to stress to Marisa Tomei's political hack in an early pace setting introduction, and after years of backing the wrong horse he's finally found a Presidential candidate he can believe in, a man whose proto-Liberal values are only matched by his personal integrity, ladies and gentleman I give you the next president of the United States, Senator (and co-writer/director) George Clooney.
Anyone who's ever watched a political film will know that Clooney isn't all he seems to be, and in this modern sex-crazed post Clinton world it's hardly going to his atheism that's going to be his undoing. Not that Meyers guesses it, he goes right on with his hubristically unchallenged behaviour, seducing intern Molly Stearns (Evan Rachel Wood) and getting played by rival strategist Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) until both storylines collide dramatically turning Meyers from wide eyed idolised to deft spin-doctor.
Much has been said about how Ides recalls Political thrillers from the 70's with it's intense paranoia, but to me it most closely resembles Gore Vidal's tight 1964 screenplay for The Best Man, that too was a fraught political fight between two prospective Presidential candidates set in one city during hustings, and like this modern antecedent the drama came from guys whispering poll figures, however where Henry Fonda was a flawed but moralistic politician trying to do the best for his party and desperated avoiding mudslinging, here Clooney is sidelined. Modern politics has taken the candidate, the celebrity, out of the picture, now we're more concerned with the spinners on the sides and everyone accepts the personal is part of the game.
This is an actor's wet dream, with everyone on top form. Evan Rachel Wood as the intern whose sexual precociousness hides an inner turmoil is superb, and watching Giamatti and Philip Seymour Hoffman as two old school campaigners, with their personal vendettas and careful strategies, is a joy. Hoffman has the best scene in the movie, a rip roaring speech on loyalty that somehow seems out of touch with the modern world. All this would be for nothing if Gosling couldn't handle the lead role, bringing the same blank canvas he displayed in Drive the character arc seems both irresistible and inevitable, and the final scene, of Gosling looking to camera about to give the most important interview of his life, will no doubt be one of the most hotly discussed cliffhangers of 2011 cinema.
This movie is also designed to within an inch of it's life, no decoration, no lighting set-up is left to chance, we're in no doubt that this is a movie about politics (even if it's not about Politics) from the stuffed campaign office with it's inspirational posters to the functional hotel rooms and dimly lit bars there is a real sense of place in each of the scenes. Clooney also does a good job as director keeping the tension and unpredictability of the characters even when you can see the direction where the plot is heading.
Overall I would recommend this film, of course I'm the crowd it's playing to, but it's presentation of the modern political game is both damning and compelling and short of the play coming to your town this is the next best thing.
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
Win Win
2011. Dir: Thomas McCarthy. Starring: Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan, Alex Shaffer, Burt Young and Bobby Cannavale. ●●●●○
Win Win is not the type of film that does well in cinemas, bereft of high-profile stars, difficult to classify it's genre and featuring small scale family situations that don't sensationalise reality it has all the hallmarks of an American indie film that drifts past the box office figures and doesn't stir up awards talk. This is a shame as Tom McCarthy's third film is as close a vision of realistic humanity that we will see in the multiplex.
Paul Giamatti takes the central role of Mike Flaherty, a schlubby (natch) lawyer, high school wrestling coach and family man in a small town trying to make ends meet with his one man legal practice. He is, on the face of it, a paragon of suburban American values; he tries to set a good example to his young children (there's an extended early joke about the daughter picking up on rude words), dedicates time to his community and is unafraid to unblock his office toilet. There's the small matter of hiding his slow financial position from his wife (Amy Ryan) and his panic attacks from his best friend (Bobby Cannavale) but these are understandable, humanistic faults.
Then, in an attempt to save his business, he does one wrong thing. He take son the guardianship of Leo - an elderly client suffering from early stages of dementia (Burt Young) - and quickly puts him in a Nursing Home, pocketing the $1,500 per month. Within days Leo's hitherto unmentioned teenage grandson (Alex Shaffer) arrives on his doorstep, homeless and on the run from his drug dependent mother (Melanie Lynskey) and blessed with an extraordinary talent at wrestling.
Whilst you can probably guess where the plot goes from there, this movie is never about the twists and turns, it merely presents the predictability of life, exploring the relationships that drive this unlikely family unit and asks whether a bad deed can - in the end - lead to a good result.
Giamatti and Ryan put in sterling work as the central couple, he's all everyman desperation she's flinty and pragmatic, and they balance each other perfectly such that every sentence, every look comes across as the normal affectations of a genuine marriage. You know it's hard for them sometimes, and perhaps there are days when they bicker about the shopping and mundane nature of their existence, but ultimately there's real love in the pairing, somehow these two will make it through life's journey.
Alex Shaffer, as their unexpected visitor, is an odd screen presence, monosyllabic and quiet it takes a while to tune into his performance but it's perfectly judged. Listless and diffident it's a teenager performance that doesn't seem cliched or precocious. Whether charting his first steps at bonding with the other kids on the wrestling team or the unexpected journey the character has to make he is able to convey the emotion without losing sight of the teenage inability to fully express their thoughts. Shaffer is a first time screen-actor (although his experience as a high school wrestling champ is clearly in evidence) and I sincerely hope that he continues to work in the medium.
Cannavale and Jeffrey Tambor (as Giamatti's sad-sack assistant coach) are fine comedic foils to the main action, but have little to really do in the roles. The only missed note is Lynskey who overplays her neediness and whose character does not have the real-world nuances of everyone else.
Ultimately though as writer and director this is Tom McCarthy's film. He has returned to the rich mine of people struggling to make sense of the world around them and generally being missed in a crowd and has once again created characters and situations that we can all relate to and understand, ensuring that no-one is a saint or a rogue but a little of both, a combination of competing character traits. Whilst there is a general lack of ambition in the screenplay it doesn't matter so much when the content is as perfectly formed as the dramedy is here.
One annoying aspect is the product placement. Normally I would hardly notice the coke cans and computers however when one of the lines is "Oh, it's Wii Golf. You should try it, it's great." With more than one occasion of on-screen playing. All of these completely took me out of the picture.
This is a small film, about small things, but don't be fooled you will struggle to find a movie that presents such an intimate and true portrayal of average humanity this year.
Friday, 27 May 2011
Getting the goat (Out this week - 27/05/11)
Another quiet week for cinematic releases. I'm not completely sure why the number of films has slowed during the summer, I suspect it's got something to do with major chains being unwilling to risk revenues by offering suitable counter programming. Anyway there's a Thai based sequel that will clear up at the box office, although frankly that looks the least inspiring of the releases. Film of the week, which is a close run thing this week, goes to
Quattro Volte. 
Le Quattro Volte
I don't know how to explain this low key European feature about the idivisibility of animal, vegetable and mineral. Virtually dialogue free it's a sublime celebration of the circle of life in rural Calabria. With rampaging goats.
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Heartbeats
Canadian love triangle from Xavier Dolan, also starring as one of two students fighting over a male stranger. The trailer is beautiful and artsy which should guarantee a decent art-house run for the bisexual drama.
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Angels of Evil
With hand held true-life European gangsters being in vogue - see Mesrine and Carlos over the last year - it's hardly a surprise to see this French/Italian co-production trying to get in on the same act. Unfortunately Michele Placido's view of Vallenzasca appears to be more respectful of it's subject and less concerned with the socio-political context than it's closest relatives.
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Diary of a Wimpey Kid: Rodrick Rules
Sequel to the surprise 2010 hit, which in itself amazingly managed to take the box office number one slot when it opened stateside, offers more of the same as the titular wimpy kid, based on Jeff Kinney's comic novels, must learn how to make life easier from his clued in older brother.
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Hangover Part II
Totally unnecessary sequel to the bachelor party comedy that created careers for Zach Galifianikis and Bradley Cooper. Predictably they awake with no knowledge of the extraordinary bender from the night before with monkeys, tattoos and shaven heads all clues to what happened. Paul Giamatti is among the cameos this time around.
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Friday, 4 March 2011
Plunged in the Foaming Brine (Out this week - 04/03/11)
With ten releases battling for our £10 this weekend it's inevitable there will be a couple that I'd actually like to see - as well as a few that are probably massive stinkers. I imagine the Johnny Depp lizard film ill own the box office, and I'd probably also be interested in seeing the New Zealand offering, however Shakespeare wins out over all of them. The film of the week is The Tempest.
The Tempest
Helen Mirren takes centre stage as Prospera, gender switched from the original telling, in Julie Taymor's latest re-telling of the Bard. If it's anything like Titus it will be a wonder to behold.
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The Adjustment Bureau
Matt Damon and Emily Blunt may fall in love at first sight but that isn't what fate, in the form of a shadowy bureaucracy run by Terence Stamp and Anthony Mackie, has in store for them in this Philip K. Dick adaptation.
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Insatiable Moon
Highly commended New Zealand movie about a Maori convinced he's the son of God who must woo the woman of his dreams and save his half-way house from being closed. A unique blend of social-realism and unlikely love story.
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Rango
Comic animation in which Johnny Depp, as a holidaying chameleon, must face up to the cut-throats and rustlers threatening the town of Dirt. Expect plenty of Western tropes to get caught in the crossfire.
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Ironclad
Brian Cox is the hell-raising noble who along with Knight Templar James Purefoy defies King John (Paul Giamatti in very odd casting) in this Manga Carta related siege movie partly based on a true story. Not that historical accuracy is that important when you have broadswords and trebuchets.
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Patagonia
Part-travelogue, part-road movie this film divides into two halves about an Elderly Chilean Woman visiting Wales and a Welsh couple in the titular area of South America. Exploiting the unlikely shared heritage of the two regions (Welsh settlers really did travel to Patagonia to escape persecution in the 1840s).
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Unknown
Liam Neeson wakes up from a car crash unable to remember much about his old life, save that he's a doctor and married to January Jones. Unfortunately she denies it in this twisty Euro-thriller also starring Frank Langella.
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Archipelago
Joanna Hogg's follow-up to 2008's Unreleated is another dissection of upper middle class Brits on holiday slowly unravelling their insecurities and petty prejudices. Fascinating, but probably not worth a cinema ticket.
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As if I'm not there
A harsh dose of cinematic realism about the Bosnian War of the 1990s. Juanita Wilson's drama is taken from true stories revealed during the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague.
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Age of the Dragons
I get the feeling it's going to be a classic year for bad movies. This appalling looking dreck is a rehash of Melville's Moby Dick set in a world populated by dragons. Danny Glover and Vinnie Jones headline, which gives you an idea of the quality.
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And, naturally, there's a Bollywood release from last week that I missed out on.
Tannu weds Mannu
The Clue's in the title of this release from the sub-continent. Newlyweds from an arranged marriage are completely unsuited for each other, so of coursethey'll be head over heels by the final curtain.
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Saturday, 29 January 2011
I see Dead people (Out this week - 28/01/11)
In three weeks time we'll be out of the Oscar season and the quality of films will drop ac down to it's usual level of mediocrity. In the meantime we have another week with four movies that could easily have come top of the heap, and a quality animation for the kids as well (which might actually be the film to knock The King's Speech off the top of the charts). Of course a winner has to be chosen so for now film of the week is Biutiful. 
Biutiful
Picking up a surprise (ish) nod for Javier Bardem this week in the Academy Awards, Aleandro Gonzalez Inarritu's first self-penned movie has divided critics since it's Cannes bow with relentless misery. That said it looks gorgeous in the trailer.
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Barney's Version
Highly respected adaptation of Mordecai Richler's novel which gained an oscar nomination for it's make-up this week. The titular Barney is played with schlubby aplomb by Paul Giamatti as we travel through his life of failed marriages, lack of career integrity and, possibly, murder. Dustin Hoffman and Minnie Driver are among the co-stars.
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Hereafter
Matt Damon stars as a medium in Clint Eastwood's latest drama based on a Peter Morgan script. Feted for it's opening tsunami and Damon's underplayed performance the reviews have been negative about the overall structure.
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How do you Know
Broadcast News and As Good as it Gets are now drifting a long way into the past as James L. Brooks seems to have forgotten what it was that made his earlier movies worthwhile. Reese Witerspoon agonises between two suitors, both of whom reveal inner anxieties throughout the movie.
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Tangled
The Rapunzel-lite adaptation has taken over $180m in the US, putting it at number 10 of the 2010 releases and a solid entry in Disney's canon. By the way did you know this is their 50th in-house animation cinematic release? Should do well in this weeks crowded market.
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Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji
I think thi is the only Bollywood release of the week, although given that we've got more under the radar releases from last week that could prove incorrect. Slight variation to the usual mismatched romantic comedy, this has an (awknowledged) 15 year age gap between the protagonists.
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Accursed Blood
Kellen Lutz tries to pretend he's the draw for the Twilight crowd with an above the title mention on a dirty looking stalker drama. He will probably fail.
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The Mechanic
Jason Statham takes his shirt off, has sex with a girl to prove he's not gay, then teaches Ben Foster (why?!?) how to be a hitman in this remake of Charles Bronson's star making turn. Probably not worth seeing at cinemas.
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And more films missed from last week - 21/01/11
Portuguese Nun
French/Portuguese collaboration about an actress playing a Nun who experiences a religious epiphany. Leisurely and respectful this should have been better advertised.
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Kutsal Damacana 3 Dracoola
The Turkish comic-horror (which looks neither funny nor scary) comes back with a third bite at the filmgoing public. There must be a market for it, but I can't think of anyone who'd go to see this.
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Pranchiyetten and the Saint
I believe, from looking at the trailer, that this Bollywood film does actually concern Catholocism in India in a positive way, even the soundtrack mixes Eastern beats to religious plainsong.
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Charlie Noades RIP
Independent British comedy (don't laugh) written by Bafta nominee Neil Fitzmaurice and starring a notable slection of small screen comedc talent, problem is this looks from the trailer like it's much more suited to the small screen, maybe late night Channel 4.
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Friday, 14 January 2011
20 for 2011: 15 - Win Win
The only Sundance entry on my list is number 15 Win Win.
It's difficult to know what to expect with this one. Thomas McCarthy's last two directorial outings have been the small scale dramas The Visitor and The Station Agent, both of which received plaudits for the initimacy of the vision, themes of lonliness and the performances he elicits from the cast. We should expect all of these comments to continue with Paul Giamatti taking the lead role of a disillusioned attorney/high school wrestling coach who lucks onto a major case which then gets a lot more complex than he first imagined.
It should be a meaty role for Giamatti, the sort of thing he does as bread and butter work, and for him alone I would probably recommend this one. I expect we'll hear more from Sundance soon.
Sunday, 6 June 2010
Paul Giamatti
Happy Birthday to
Paul Giamatti
43 today
Paul comes from very good stock, being the son of the late Yale President Bart Giamatti (I'm guessing the President is a similar position to the vice-chacellors at British Universities) and obtained a masters degree in fine arts from the college. Lots of projects coming up but I'm most interested in college wrestling comedy Win Win.
Saturday, 6 June 2009
Paul Giamatti
Happy Birthday to
Paul Giamatti
42 today
Paul is one of the most convining average schmoes out there - never adding unnecessary quirks to the character, except when they are very much needed (see Duplicity). I think it's fair to say he's one of the strongest characters actors working in Hollywood today. Among his upcoming projcts look out for Downsizing reuniting him with his Sideways director Alexander Payne.
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Duplicity
2009. Dir: Tony Gilroy. Starring: Clive Owen, Julia Roberts, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Giamatti and Dan Daily. ●●●○○
2009 has now begun. We, or at least I, have seen the first film among my hotly anticipated titles for the year. The good news is that Duplicity is eminently enjoyable, with zippy direction, an exciting plot and some quality performances. The bad news is that at the end of the year I probably won't remember this film at all.
It's essentially a con-film where we know the lead protangonists (Roberts and Owen) are grifting their prospectively employers (Wilkinson and Giamatti) over a top secret product being developed by the rival pharmaceutical firms. As the film goes one we are forced to question the loyalty between the two them, their bosses and ultimately whether honesty has any place in the relationahips and cut throat society we have today.
The screen play is tight and light, with a final act twist that was both unexpected and brilliant in it's eexecution, safely negating everything we've seen so far as we realise exactly who is playing whom.
The performances are of a general high standard. Wilkinson and Giamatti both give different sides of the same coin of ruthless corporate executives, and both are clearly loving every moment of it. Owen and Roberts continue from Closer with their wonderful chemistry, but also playing the expediency of their entaglement. The supporting players are all fine, with a lovely turn from Carrie Preston (Appletini in the trailer) as a shy girl who throws herself at Clive - not that I can blame her he spent large portions of the film wondering around in a towel and I for one would have thrown myself at him.
The direction was assured, as with Michael Clayton Gilroy shows us he's less interested in the flashy direction than allowing his story to unfold. All technical aspects of the film were good - although I would especially commend the Set Decoration by George DeTitta Jr as every room was as interesting as it was unique.
So I really enjoyed this movie, but to be honest there was little original or insightful to raise it to the next level. Good clean fun, that's great but that's all.
