THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT - 4/5 Quirky, entertaining and thought-provoking comedy that is lifted by superb all-round performances, particularly from Annette Bening (who has been rightfully tipped for a nomination at next year's Academy Awards) and Julianne Moore as Nic and Jules, the couple who find their comfy little world rather turned upside down when their children (played by Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson) decide to contact their sperm donor (Mark Ruffalo). Though this situation is certainly ever so slightly more wacky than the general family set-up, really at its bare bones the film is essentially a cutting insight into family life, a trip into the home of a family and all the standard issues that come with it. Nic and Jules must deal with, for instance, the growing up of their children (Laser chooses his own friends regardless of their criticism, while Joni is off to college), same as all parents at some point must. Instead of senselessly finding comedic material out of the couple being a lesbian one, as a lesser film might, The Kids Are All Right handles this sensitively, bringing to light both Nic and Jules' contrasting and also complementary dynamics, and the problems that can come from two people in a marriage wanting two very different things from life. As Jules puts it in a moving speech towards the end of the film, 'Marriage is hard. It's really fucking hard. It's just two people slogging through the shit'. The Kids Are All Right hits all the right notes and is most successful in its creation of five incredibly human, imperfect and beautifully real main characters whose lives you truly invest in.
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LET ME IN - 3/5 Having seen the original film, the beautiful Swedish thriller Let The Right One In, and loving it, I find it impossible not to write a review of this Hollywood remake, directed by Cloverfield's Matt Reeves, without comparing it to its source. They can say what they want about it being a new take on John Ajvide Lindqvist's original book, rather than a direct remake of the film, but this version's creation almost certainly occurred as a result of the original film's success and, especially considering how close together their release dates come (just 2 years' difference), I cannot help but look at them both comparatively. It is within this comparison that Let Me In falters somewhat, as it disappointingly does away with a lot of the Swedish original's moving poeticism and instead goes for the feel of a more straightforward horror. As a film alone, and taken as a straightforward horror, Let Me In is actually very successful, and would've been more likely to receive a 4 star review from me. It gets the tone of a creepy horror right, while keeping the central relationship between young outcast Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and vampire Abby (Chloe Moretz) as the key. A wise choice, both as this was so important to the beauty of the original, with its quite cute telling of a young romance (of sorts), but also because Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloe Moretz are both fantastic and completely believable in their roles. They build on their superb performances in The Road and Kick-Ass respectively, showing themselves to be actors capable of versitlity and subtle emoting, and clears the path for them to be two of the most exciting young talents working in mainstream film today. One improvement upon the original is that that Let Me In does away with that film's awful 'cat' scene. It decides, as the original did, not to refer explicitly to the book's creepy and perverted relationship between Abby ('Eli' in the original and in the book) and her 'guardian', as well as also her past as a boy who was ritually castrated. Let Me In is also exceptionally well shot, to which credit must go to Matt Reeves and cinematographer Greig Fraser. Each scene looks absolutely stunning. It is just a shame that the beauty of not just the cinematography, but also the young romance, could have been carried over from the original.
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WINTER'S BONE - 4/5 Debra Granik's unflinching and atmospheric film, about a young girl living in the Missouri Ozark Mountains, invokes issues of community while successfully presenting a region of America generally untouched by cinema, and indeed untouched by modern civilisation. Their community remains probably not far from the way it was a hundred years ago; you cannot imagine anyone here knowing the first thing about iPods or Blu-Ray or indeed many things far less recent than that. Many of the community have developed a dangerous addiction to crystal meth. There is a prevailing sense of distust amongst the people and disputes are settled with cold violence. And in amidst all this bleakness, this stark landscape and its often unlikeable inhabitants, 17 year old Ree Dolly (played by Jennifer Lawrence) must take care of her two young siblings and her near enough mute and unmoving mother while undertaking a desperate search for her drug-making, drug-taking father who has skipped a court appearance and gone missing. Ree is sure in her heart that her father is dead and that that is the reason behind his non-attendance at court, but unless she can prove it and present to the police a body then her and her family will be forced to leave their home and find themselves out in the cold with no one to go. The bleakness of the film, its characters and its story, is essential in emphasising the warm spirit and loyalty that exists within Ree, allowing us to root for her and deeply empathise with her situation. Her face barely ever allows a smile to cross it; it seems that she has had to go completely without a childhood, and is now emotionally far beyond her years. The connection that we as an audience make with Ree is testament to the acting ability of little-known Jennifer Lawrence, who produces an Oscar-worthy performance of subtlety and deep sadness.
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HARRY POTTER AND THE BEATHLY HALLOWS part 1 - 3/5 Well, this is something- A Harry Potter film without Hogwarts. Or as the Empire review puts it, Harry Potter as road movie. Now how much you will appreciate this latest addition to the stratospherically successful series will depend on the general sort of film you enjoy. As a fan of darker, more psychologically engaging films, The Deathly Hallows part 1 works for me, far trumping the disappointing last two entries in the series and probably being one of the best transfers of a JK Rowling book to screen. People will still argue the point (other than commercially, of course) of splitting the book into two films; very little in the way of action actually happens in this film, and yet it is still 2 and a half hours long- kids may well get bored. This is by far the most grown up of the Harry Potter films; at times the tone of it is almost unsettlingly dark for a film essentially meant to be a family film. Hints of humour and lightness are rare. Though much improved since the early films in the series, Daniel Radcliffe is still no powerful actor, and this script that spends the vast majority of its time focused entirely on himself, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson exposes his flaws and his inability to realistically emote more than the last couple of HP films. One particular much talked about scene (completely non-existent in the book, added bizarrely by the filmmakers) features Radcliffe and Watson slow-dancing in a tent, and is the absolute epitome of cringeworthy-ness. Why they felt it necessary to include such an uncomfortable scene is beyond me. The film actually boasts easily one of the greatest collective casts of all time, including amongst others Bill Nighy, Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes, Robbie Coltrane, Helena Bonham Carter, Jim Broadbent, Richard Griffiths, Julie Walters, Jason Isaacs, Timothy Spall, Michael Gambon, Brendan Gleeson, David Thewlis, John Hurt, Rhys Ifans, Imelda Staunton- it reads like a comprehensive who's who of British acting talent, which makes it very disappointing when so many of them have been reduced to such miniscule parts. What is refreshing about the Harry Potter series, though, is the fact that each film has been very different in many ways- in a series of 8 films, this is vital to its success. It looks likely that none of these 8 films will be viewed over the years as masterpieces, but The Deathly Hallows part 1 certainly offers enough to make it very much worth a watch.
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ANOTHER YEAR - 4/5First and foremost, Another Year is unlikely to win over many new Mike Leigh films. It is totally and completely a Mike Leigh film, its fly-on-the-wall social drama reminiscent of everything that he has done over his fabulous career, while returning to his usual darkly emotional character studies after the uncharacteristically sunny Happy-Go-Lucky. Focusing primarily on married couple Tom and Gerri's (Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen) happy move into their autumn years, while significantly less happy Mary (Lesley Manville) finds herself relying more and more on their support and friendship, the film is at times, just as in all Mike Leigh films, almost unbearably true to real life. Leigh should be commended for a career which has featured so many films unafraid to depict unflinchingly the problems, the embarrassments, the depression that can litter the everyday event. Where film is generally seen as a chance to escape real life for a couple of hours, Mike Leigh films are different- in them, you watch real life occurring right in front of your eyes. Another Year shows that this element is with Leigh more than ever- split into four titled sections, 'Spring', 'Summer', 'Autumn' and 'Winter', the film does not allow for our not previously knowing the characters, as they share private jokes which are lost on us, and attend a funeral of a character we have neither met nor heard of. All this adds to the startling effect that Leigh tries to create in each of his films, making us feel as though we are sat in the room with these very real, very human characters. The acting all round is wonderful. I consider Jim Broadbent to be one of the most fantastic British actors of all time and very much underrated, and he puts in another sterling effort here, totally and completely believable as Tom. All the plaudits, however, will be reserved for Lesley Manville, who has awards buzz steadily building around her and who truly does produce a superbly moving performance as the unhinged and desperately lonely Mary.
