Film Review - Prisoners

 A Must-Watch Taut Thriller

Film: Prisoners

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Melissa Leo

Directed by: Denis Villeneuve

Duration: 2 hrs 33 mins

Rating: * * * *

After making waves around the globe with Incendies (2010), director Denis Villenueve offers us yet another film that gives a lot to write home about. Prisoners is an intense film, even though it is on the longer side, it gets you hook, line and sinker. It gives you the same feeling when you read a highly engrossing novel, which you wish would never end.

  

Credit should be given to writer Aaron Guzikowski for the taut screenplay and of course director Villenueve who has been consistently making good films for the last decade or so.

Prisoners goes way beyond the usual action thrillers. It also deals with morality, predicament and guilt. Hugh Jackman plays Dover and one fine day, during a small celebration with friends, his young daughter goes missing. In fact his friend’s (Terence Howard) daughter has also vanished when the two were playing together. A young man who was sitting in an R.V. near the house is picked up as a suspect but he claims innocence and it turns out that he also has the I.Q of a ‘ten year old’. A bright police detective (Jake Gyllenhaal) is assigned the case and though there is no evidence against the suspect, Dover is convinced he is the culprit and has kidnapped the two girls.

Slowly, it all starts to get murkier as sex offenders are rounded up and the suspense starts building up   While it is largely the personal story of a father in desperate search of his daughter, the film throws in a lot of questions about what is right and wrong and what any individual would have done in that situation. And that is where Villenueve’s brilliance comes in as a director. When you think it is all said and done, he pulls the plug at the end with great precision.

There are times when you like the good guy and hate the suspected bad guy and moments later, it is the other way round. There is no absolute good or bad, such is the nature of man.

Excellently shot by veteran cinematographer Roger Deakins, the atmosphere adds to the effect. Prisoners is also a triumph for its actors. Melissa Leo as the aunt and Maria Bello as the grieving mother are aptly cast. Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman both have delivered a remarkable performance. It’ll be surprising if an Oscar nomination doesn’t come there way.

 In toto, this film is not to be missed.

www.twitter.com/sachinchatte

Film Review - Elysium

 

Present Day Sci-Fi Tale

Film: Elysium

Cast: Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley

Directed by: Neill Blomkamp

Duration: 1 hr 49 mins

Rating: * * * 1 / 2

Director Neill Blomkamp made a super debut with District 9 which surely ranks in the list of greatest science fiction films of all time. Much like that film, while Elysium appears to be more ‘sci-fi’ on the outside, it also raises questions about the present day society and tackles political themes as well.

The story is set the future but as Blomkamp said in an interview, “This isn't science fiction. This is today. This is now."

Set in 2154 where the earth is ravaged and the rich people have moved to a space habitat called Elysium, which is swanky, spotlessly clean and disease free. The earth meanwhile is exactly the opposite and those who don’t have the wealthy resources to go to Elysium are stuck here.

Jodie Foster plays a ruthless Secretary of Defense who is planning a coup to over throw the president  on Elysium. Max (Matt Damon) works for at a factory and gets exposed to radiation, A robot very matter of factly tells him that he will die in five days.

But Max knows there is a way out – he can be treated on Elysium and hence takes help from a non official source. A mercenary (Sharlto Copley) has the mission to finish off Max who manages to ‘download’ some vital information.

Visually, Elysium looks stunning, the science fiction elements and the futuristic designs are innovative.While there is plenty of action, towards the end the film gravitates towards being a Hollywood actioner but the foundation laid earlier, gives it an edge. It is that ‘extra’ which Elysium has to offer in terms of socio-political issues that it raises which makes it a cut about the rest.

Jodie Foster is convincing as the calm and power hungry lady, you wouldn’t want to be near such a character. Matt Damon has done plenty of action films and as always, he is on the money. Sharlto Copley is a very good actor who has not been seen much after District 9, although we’ll see him soon the remake of Oldboy.

So here’s another film that is eminently worth your time and money.

www.twitter.com/sachinchatte

Film Review - One Direction:This Is Us

For Teeny Boppers Only

Film: One Direction: This Is Us (documentary feature)

Cast: Niall Horan, Zayn Mallik, Liam Payne

Directed by: Morgon Spurlock

Duration:  1 hr 32 mins

Rating: * 1 / 2

I must confess that I had never heard any song by One Direction before watching this documentary. I also learnt that like most boy bands, their following is primarily among teenage girls and since I’m neither a teenager nor a girl, the fame of this British boy band had escaped me.

Directed by Morgan Spurlock (of Super Size Me fame), it traces the origins of the band (The X factor) and they were mentored by Simon Cowell, who is also a co-producer of the documentary.

For a band that doesn’t write or compose their own songs, you have to give it to them for being so popular. But then you wouldn’t expect teenage boys who don’t know how far Japan is from Australia to really write songs. As for their fame (they are also compared to the Beatles) as Cowell himself says “I don’t know why they are so popular!” Well, the Beatles become popular because they wrote and sang songs which are still going strong half a century later. One Direction recreates love songs that appeal only to certain sections. A doctor also explains why girls like boy bands, it all got to do with chemicals released by the brain.   

Sure, fans of the band (read adolescent girls) will enjoy seeing them on the big screen. Men will have to wait longer till Metallica’s Through The Never releases in India.  Meanwhile, thanks but no thank you for the music here.       

www.twitter.com/sachinchatte

        

Film Review Warning

All At Sea

Film: Warning

Cast: Varun Sharma, Manjari Fadnis, Santosh Barmola

Directed by: Gurmeet Singh

Duration: 1 hr 40 mins

Rating: * 1 / 2

            Warning is the kind of film that has an interesting premise but when you see a bunch of people hopelessly stuck in water, in middle of the sea and a song starts in the background to evoke sympathy for them, you know the film makers don’t deserve commiserations for making a mess of a film. In fact, 20 odd minutes later, the situation remains the same and the same song starts again, you want the travesty to come to an end, asap.

            A group of friends go on a yacht somewhere near Fiji. They all get into the water for a swim but the problem is they cannot get back on the yacht because the ladder is not there. They try to hang around, one of them gets a heart attack another one just dies and then the sharks start coming. I was hoping the shark would quickly devour a few of them.

            Neither the screenplay nor the direction helps the cause, once they are stranded, there is precious little that happens. Watch this film at your risk, don’t say you were not warned! 

www.twitter.com/sachinchatte

Film Review - The Lunchbox

A Fabulously Sumptuous Treat

Film: The Lunchbox

Cast: Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddique

Directed by: Ritesh Batra

Duration: 1 hr 50 mins

Rating: *  *  *  *  *

The protagonist in The Lunchbox wistfully laments “We forget things if we have no one to tell them to” Truer words were never spoken. Directed by Ritesh Batra, the film has several moments, dialogues and scenes where nothing is said but yet it stays with you long after the film is over. It’s time to uncork a bottle of champagne and celebrate one of the best films you’ll ever get to see.

 Moreover, it is so heartening to see that films like these are being made and are reaching out to the audiences. Here’s more power to the spirit of independent films and things can only get better if the likes of Karan Johar add their voice to it. Viva!

The film touches upon on love, loneliness, nostalgia, longing and which better city than Mumbai to tell the story. Mr. Fernandes (Irrfan, super brilliant) is an accountant who is on the verge of retirement. He lives all alone, leads a lonely life and his wife is long gone. In another part of the city, we have Ila (Nimrat Kaur, excellent) who is trying to bring the spark back in her marriage. With considerable help from her neighbor who is heard not seen (the distinct voice of Bharti Acherekar), she cooks a dabba (tiffin) for her husband.

The problem is, instead of going to her husband, the tiffin lands on Mr. Fernandes table. Gradually, the two start interacting by sending letters to each other in the tiffin. A trainee accountant (Nawazuddin Siddique) joins his office and the joy those letters bring in his life makes Mr.Fernandes a more friendly man. Even the neighborhood kids start liking, not that he was a person otherwise, he was just more reserved.

There are strange and simple things in life that can make one happy to the extent of changing his or her personality.

Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Mathilukal (Walls, 1989) was about a jailed man who falls in love with a lady in the next compound but never meets but here Batra uses the city to tell a story that is more than about just two individuals.

In one of his epistles, he tells Ila that he has been offered a vertical burial plot – “I’ve spent my life standing in trains and buses and now I will have to stand even when I’m dead.” he laments. And what could be a better description of the city –“There are too many people and everyone wants what the other has” he says.

Virtually every scene in the film offers more than just what is shown or said. And it is not a serious film all the way, take the dabbawallah scene where he argues with the Ila that even Harvard university came to see them and so did English royalty!

On the technical front, it is exquisitely shot by Michael Simmonds with razor sharp editing by John Lyons. Nimrat Kaur as the housewife has delivered an extra ordinary performance. She has captured all the nuances of her character with precision. You would expect Nawazuddin Siddique to nail it and of course he does. Irrfan Khan however dishes out more than you expect. His performance is in the league of the best you have ever seen on the silver screen.

Do what you please but don’t miss The Lunchbox. 

www.twitter.com/sachinchatte

           

Film Review - Phata Poster Nikhla Hero

Old But Not Gold

Film: Phata Poster Nikhla Hero

Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Ileana D’Cruz

Directed by: Raj Kumar Santoshi

Duration: 2 hrs 26 mins

Rating: * *

Once upon a time in Mumbai and the rest of India, Raj Kumar Santoshi was a name to reckon with. He did serious films (Damini, Ghayal) and comedy (Andaz Apna Apna) with equal ease. But like most of our directors of that era he has lost his touch. And mind you, that era was only about 20 years ago, many Hollywood directors (Ron Howard for instance) are still going strong for a longer period now. But that is a subject for another day.

Phata Poster Nikhla Hero looks like a film of the 70’s and 80’s – very little logic, lots of melodrama, plenty of songs and a climax that looks like it was written using the Andaz Apna Apna template.

Shahid Kapoor plays Vishwas, a young man who aspires to become a film hero from childhood. But his mother (Padmini Kolhapure) is hell bent on him joining the police force. Am pretty sure even politicians are not so determined to get their children in politics.

So the actor comes to Mumbai and wears the police uniform for a photo shoot. A girl (Ileana D’Cruz) on the streets thinks that he is actually a cop and he kinda likes it that way. He lands a role in a film but when mommy comes to town to see him, he again pretends to be a police officer which leads to more confusion and all that jazz.

The villain is called Napoleon and his sinister project is called white elephant, pretty much like the budget of this film. There is the odd funny line but it all gets negated by silly scenes like “maa ki operation ke liye Rs.10 lakh chahiye”.

Shahid Kapoor tries his best and keeps it lively. Salman Khan also shows up and he wants to go to Raj Kumar Santoshi’s house to audition for Andaz Apna Apna Part 2. If at all that film is realized, I hope Santoshi can do much better than what he has done here.  

www.twitter.com/sachinchatte 

Film Review - Rush

Need For Speed

Film: Rush

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Bruhl, Olivia Wilde

Directed by: Ron Howard

Duration: 2 hrs

Rating: *  *  *  *

 If you are a racing or Formula 1 fan, you’ll be ecstatic after watching Rush. If you don’t care about cars and Formula 1, the chances are that you will still be euphoric, because this Ron Howard film well and truly stands out. The director has been making films and some good ones at that, for more than four decades now and this effort deserves applause.

For sports fans, the rivalry of James Hunt and Niki Lauda is legendary. Most may not have heard about it so try not to do a Google or Wikipedia search, instead watch the film first.  

Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl, the ill fated soldier who falls in love in Inglorious Basterds) comes from a rich family but is disowned by his father. He wants to be racer, but his family is against it. He has a steely determination and discipline though to make it to the top. James Hunt (Chris ‘Thor’ Hemsworth) on the other hand is talented, occasionally reckless and loves all the good things in life, particularly women.

They both competed for the top spot in F1 racing and that real life story is about tragedy, guts and glory.

Howard and his writer Peter Morgan have got all the facts rights, as we know them. There is no shying away from mentioning names or even talking disparagingly about well known company brands.

Extremely well shot by Oscar winning cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire) the race scenes and especially during the climax I noticed more more than a handful of people literally on the edge of the seats

The film is a triumph of storytelling and it has everything in good measure. Daniel Bruhl as Niki is spot on and ditto with Chris Hemsworth in a more memorable performance.

Rush is certainly one of the best films from Hollywood this year.  Go for it!

www.twitter.com/sachinchatte