Film Review- Paddington

Bear Necessity

Film: Paddington

Cast: Sally Hawkins, Nicole Kidman, Ben Whishaw

Directed by: Paul King

Duration: 1 hr 35

Rating: * * * 1 /2

Paddington is a delightful British film that tugs your heartstrings with its simplicity and characters. Offering some wholesome family entertainment, it is a charming comedy about a Peruvian bear (voice of Ben Whishaw) who travels all the way to London after havoc strikes his abode.

Based on the fictional character from children’s literature, this bear lands up at Paddington station and gets his name after he meets the Brown family. Mr. Brown (hugh Bonneville) used to be quite a character once upon a time till domestic matters turn him into a family man. Mrs. Brown (Sally Hawkins) and the kids take a liking to Paddington who is like a fish out of water in these new surroundings. Nicole Kidman plays an evil museum taxidermist trying to hunt the bear down.

There are lots of likable factors here, starting from Paddington himself. There are dollops of humor served from time to time and the Brown family is also intriguingly unique.

Ultimately, there is an old world charm to this film and that makes it thoroughly enjoyable.

Published in The Navhind Times on 18th January 2015

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Film Review - Grace of Monaco

Not So Amazing Grace                        

Film: Grace of Monaco

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Tim Roth

Directed by: Olivier Dahan

Duration: 1 hr 53 mins

Rating: * 1 / 2

From the director who made La Vie en Rose (2007), Grace of Monaco is a huge disappointment and that is putting it mildly. A large part of the blame should also go to the screenwriter Arash Amel who has, the fictionalized account if one big fat turkey.

The trouble with many biopics lately has been the writing- from Jobs to Grace Kelly, the writers and the directors, both have got it wrong.

The former actress has quite a life- first as an A list actress in Hollywood who enchanted many with her beauty but then gave it all up at the age of 26 to marry Prince Rainer of Monaco.

Very few actresses on the big screen had the beauty, grace and charm of Grace Kelly - the heart still skips a few beats when you see that stunning close up of hers when she makes an entry in Rear Window.

But this film is muddled - it uses fact, fiction to dish out a story that doesn’t hold your interest. Produced by Uday Chopra and Yash Raj films, the focus is on the period when Kelly’s (played by Nicole Kidman) marriage was going through a turbulent phase. Not only that, there was a great deal of upheaval on the political front as Prince Rainer was under severe pressure from Charles de Gaulle, the President of France.

With a story that is all over the place, it is not clear what exactly the director was trying to portray. From personal crisis to political problems and conspiracies to charity, it oscillates like an old grandfather clock. The only episode that had me interested was Hitchcock persuading her to do Marnie in which Tippi Hedren acted eventually. The actor who played Hitch (Roger Ashton-Griffiths) had his voice, accent and mannerisms spot on and you can also see the effort put in by Kidman, who sparkles in some scenes but draws a blank at other times but not sure if the blame lies on her shoulders. There are too many culprits responsible for this messy film.

Published in The Navhind Times on 15th June 2014

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