Film Review - Escape Plan

Jail Break

Film: Escape Plan
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarznegger, Jim Cavieziel
Directed by: Mikael Hafstrom
Duration:1hr 54 mins
Rating: * * *

The prospect of seeing two action heroes of the stature of Stallone and Arnie would have been extremely exciting a couple of decades ago, than it is now. But even though they don't hold the same command at the box office and among their fans,  they still generate enough buzz for old times sake.

In Escape Plan directed by Mikael Hafstrom, Stallone gets the major share of the spoils with Arnold playing second fiddle. The former plays a prison break specialist who hired to test the security of prisons. His modus operandi is to get into a prison as a convict and then try to break out.

He accedes to one such assignment from the CIA but it turns out to be a set up,  a maximum security prison in the middle of nowhere. That's where he meets Emil (Schwarznegger) an inmate who becomes his partner in his attempt to escape.

The premises is interesting but it never really hits a high. Their attempts and planning look a bit far fetched and needed some polishing. The finale has a twist but again is not the most convincing one. Relatively,  Expendables was far more fun because it was not so serious.

This is just a time pass film meant for action buffs.

(Published in The Navhind Times on 20th Oct. 2013)
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Film Review - Gravity

                                                        It’s a Masterpiece

 

Film: Gravity

Cast: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney

Directed by: Alfonso Cuaron

Duration: 1 hr 31 mins

Rating: * * * * *

 

 It is only once in a blue moon that you get to see a film that uses technology and story telling to such great effect and great is not word one would like to use loosely. Right from the first scene to the absolute last, Gravity keeps you spell-bound and it is a triumph for director Alfonso Cuaron who already has a few impressive films in his C.V.

While for most films, 3D is more of a curse than a boon, Cuaron has used the technology in his favor and the end result is stunning. Not since Avataar, has 3D been put to such good use (Hugo and Life of Pi also deserve a mention).

 For those who don’t know anything about Gravity, it might come as a slight surprise that there are only two characters in the whole film. It opens with one of the most remarkable shots in cinema an 18 minute continuous take up there in space. Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) are doing some routine maintenance on the Hubble telescope. There is a third astronaut assisting them as well, his name is Sharif and he must be an Indian because he is heard singing Mera joota hain Japani.

 
“You have to admit one thing; you can’t beat the view” says Matt before all hell breaks loose. The debris from a Russian satellite comes hurling sending them running for cover and resulting in a catastrophic situation. Matt and the lady are left to fend for themselves with very little resources as they hardly get a chance to say Houston we have a problem.
 
And we know, in space, no matter how loud, no one can hear you scream.

 Even though a large part of the film is about her endeavor, you don’t feel the lack of characters one bit because the space and the vast emptiness more than makes up for human characters. By transforming you up there, you are also in a different zone altogether. 

Technically, the film is a superior effort. Note the shot where the camera comes close to Sandra Bullocks face, goes into the helmet she is wearing and comes out of it seamlessly making you wonder how on earth they managed that.

 From a science point of view, you might find a couple of aberrations but as a film, there are hardly any.

 George Clooney has a relatively small role to play but yet he makes his presence felt. Sandra Bullock already has an Oscar on her mantelpiece but I won’t be surprised if she is nominated for her extraordinary performance here. For trivia buffs, Ed Harris’ voice can be heard from the mission control at Houston.

 Here’s a film strongly recommended to be watched in 3D, don’t miss it.

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Film Review - War Chhod Na Yaar

            

                

                               War and Piece

Film: War Chhod Na Yaar

Cast: Sharman Joshi, Jaaved Jaffrey

Directed by: Faraz Haider

Duration:2 hrs

Rating: * *

Directed by Faraz Haider, War Chhod na Yaar is a war comedy made with noble intentions. Humor and border tension is not something which is concocted quite often and hence the premise is interesting, but alas, the script doesn’t have a great deal of fire power. Sure, there are some funny scenes but it could have delivered the knock out punch, which it doesn’t.

            Captain Rana (Sharman Joshi) represents the Indian army and Captain Qureshi (Jaaved Jaffery) is from Pakistan. The two share a cordial relationship on the border and even indulge in a game of cards in the middle of the night when no one is watching.

            The Chinese are hand in glove with the Pakistani politicians trying start a spat at the border and the Indian leaders are not far behind. Dalip Tahil has a whale of a time playing an American, Indian, Chinese and Pakistan, all the four roles.

Soha Ali Khan plays a television journalist covering the tension at the border and her character is quite dull to say the least. Also the film oscillates between comedy and then tries to convey messages in a serious fashion which doesn’t quite work well.

Sharman Joshi and especially Jaaved Jaffery liven up the proceedings with their acting. However, I wish the screenplay had more spark though.  

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Film Review - About Time

                                       A Romantic Time Travel

Film: About Time

Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy

Directed by: Richard Curtis

Duration: 2 hrs 2 mins

Rating: * * 1 / 2

            Directed by the romcom specialist Richard Curtis (writer of Notting Hill, Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral) About Time is the amalgamation of a story that involves two diverse genres - romance and time travel. Now, its not often you come across a film involving the two, so it grabs your attention immediately. But sadly, the running time is more than 2 hours and the plot goes in a loop when it could have so easily made the same point in 90 minutes.

            A young man Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) learns a family secret from his father (Bill Nighy) that all the men in their family can travel back in time, if and when they wanted to. Tim uses this valuable trait to woo a girl Mary (Rachel McAdams), when things don’t go in his favor the first time, he simple rewinds back and sets them right.

            Gradually their romance blooms, they get hitched and Tim also has a couple of other family matters to take care of.  Now all this takes it own sweet time and in the end, the predictable message of living each day at a time and making the best of it, is delivered.

            I quite enjoyed 3/4^th of the film but when it started to elongate you begin to wonder, does it have any more steam left. Unfortunately, there was very little. Like a Richard Curtis script, everything is pretty much sugar coated and there is very little subtlety here as the voice over keeps explaining everything.

            Nevertheless, if you dig romantic films, you might find some enjoyment in this film. 

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Film Review - Diana

           
Candle In the Wind      

Film: Diana

Cast: Naomi Watts, Naveen Andrews

Directed by: Oliver Hirschbiegel

Duration: 1 hr 53 mins

Rating: *  *  *

There has been a lot of negativity surrounding this film and the British press has been very harsh on it. They perhaps have their reasons, after all it is about a person who was close to the public there and everyone had an opinion about her, mostly a sympathetic view. So when you make a film on a figure like the Princess of Wales, it is an uphill task to begin with after all,  there were good, bad and quite a few ugly episodes as well in her life.

But as a film, I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciate this effort by director Oliver Hirschbiegel who gave us Downfall, the unforgettable film on the last days of Hitler. Based on a book by Kate Snell, he is focused on a specific episode in her life, after her split with Prince Charles.

The story is told in flashback after she had separated with her husband but not divorced. Diana (Naomi Watts) was the cynosure of all eyes and had a tough time keeping out of the public glare. That’s when she met Hasnat (Naveen Andrews), a heart surgeon working in London and a romance brewed between them. It was of course not easy for the two of them, she had to keep the affair private and he was also a man who didn’t want to compromise on his principles.

Diana as we know did a lot of good work in all parts of the world, especially in Africa for the landmine victims. The good Samaritan that she was, is highlighted as much as the vulnerable person that she was, who longed to be loved. During a moment of conflict with her lover, he says that he loves her to which she replies that there are billion around the world who love her, what she wants is someone who will stay by her side.

Moments like those, give us a glimpse about a woman who loved and also wanted to be loved.

The dialogues are not particularly sparkling and the romance may seem a bit trite, since there is no concrete evidence of how exactly it unfolded. Her relationship with Dodi Al Fayed also has a certain twist with regards to the doctor, she wanted to make the latter jealous by getting involved with the billionaire.

Her differences with Prince Charles and her skirmishes with the Royal family are completed avoided, but the way the story unfolds but I didn’t miss that. One way to savour this film is to enjoy what is being served rather than look out for what is missing.

Naomi Watts in the lead role has expectedly done good job. Even though you might hear mixed views about the film, I suggest you see it for yourself and decide.

(Published in The Navhind Times on 6th Oct 2013)

Film - Runner Runner

Not worth Betting On

Film: Runner Runner

Cast: Justin Timberlake, Ben Affleck, Gemma Arterton

Directed by: Brad Furman

Duration: 1 hr 31 mins

Rating: * 1 / 2

 

Two words that would aptly describe this Justin Timberlake, Ben Affleck starrer is dull and lacklustre. In fact it looked like a poor remake of the Mahesh Bhatt production starring Kunal Khemu, Blood Money which in turn was ‘inspired’ by host of other films.  

The biggest crime of any film is to subject the audience to boredom and Runner Runner is guilty of that. 

The basic premise is interesting but all hopes of an exciting film evaporate within ten minutes after it starts. Richie (Justin Timberlake) is a college student who is an expert at online gambling. But like many gamblers, he is broke and doesn’t have enough money to pay his college fees, after he loses all his playing poker on a website. 

He goes all the way to Puerto Rico to meet the owner of the website. Ivan Block (Ben Affleck) turns out to be the shrewd owner who also offers him a job. From being a wiz kid, Richie becomes more of a delivery agent and supervisor and suddenly he discovers that Ivan is into illegal dealings.  The glamor quotient is fulfilled by Gemma Arterton, who is Ivan’s girlfriend and partner in crime. 

Runner Runner is a shoddily written film. The characters are as convincing as onions being sold as Rs.2 a kilo. Even when there are situations where you think something interesting will happen, it takes the dullest possible route. It is surprising how they managed to rope in Affleck and Timberlake for this film. Maybe it was the pay check, it can’t be the story, that’s for sure.  

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Film Review - Besharam

       

                    Shame Shame Paapi Shame

Film: Besharam

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Pallavi Sharda, Rishi Kapoor

Directed by: Abhinav Singh Kashyap

Duration: 2 hrs 20 mins

Rating: * 1 / 2

Ranbir Kapoor was on a roll with a string of hits making him one of the most bankable stars at the box office. And then he did Besharam, a film devoid of any imagination or wit. What prompted Ranbir and the remaining Kapoor clan to be a part of this atrocity remains a mystery. I mean, presumably they must have been narrated some ‘story’ before signing this film but then there is no story or a plot at all that is evident here. Perhaps it was a case of a  few lines were scribbled on one of those sticky notes.

There has been this tendency among film makers to ignore important aspects like a decent storyline, after all, if you have a big star in your film then the audiences are more likely to come anyway. But then there is a very fine line between being silly and being ridiculous and this film crosses over to the latter.

 

So Ranbir plays Babli, a car thief who gives away all his earnings to an orphanage which he is also a part of. With his sidekick (Amitosh Nagpal) he steals cars in the dreariest fashion. A couple of cops (Rishi, Neetu) who also happen to be a couple, try to hunt him down after he outwits them.

 

He falls in love with Tara (newcomer Pallavi Sharda) who lives in a very modest house but still owns a Mercedes Benz A Class (approx. Rs.24.09 lakhs ex-showroom price) Since he is an uneducated, unsophisticated besharam and she is A class in more ways than one, she gives him as much attention as the government has given to the Lokpal bill. And since a villain is needed to spice things up (in vain though), we have Bheem Singh Chandel (Jaaved Jafferi) who is a hawala kingpin.

The proceedings are so dull that it could put an insomniac to sleep and those who stay awake, have to go through torture. Amusingly, two writers are credited for the ‘story’ even though anyone with half a brain could have done a better job.

Ranbir is also shown stuffing a sock in his crotch to make an impression and that’s not all, in a scene that has nothing to do with the plot, he shows his posterior and you almost get to see the place where the sun don’t ever shine. Not that you want to see it. 

  

Butt seriously, this is unadulterated lame, lazy and embarrassing writing.

While Ranbir Kapoor sparkles in his role, it is not enough to take the film to safe shores. Neetu and Rishi Kapoor are wasted in insignificant roles, it looks like someone put a gun to their head and made them do this film. Debutant Pallavi Sharda is just about okay and it takes a special director to get absolutely nothing out of Jaaved Jafferi.

Here’s one word to sum it up – avoid.

(Published in The Navhind Times on 4th Oct. 2013)

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