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LAST REVIEWS OF 2014
Dec. 31st, 2014 04:56 pmAll of them courtesy of recent long-haul flights!
A Most Wanted Man
I had two motivations for seeing this: (1) it marks Philip Seymour Hoffman’s last lead role, and (2) I’d read the book and was a bit underwhelmed, but John Le Carre usually works better for me onscreen than in print.
Which turns out to be the case here, although people who haven’t read the book might be a bit confused over the various intelligence agencies involved. The story involves the arrival of Issa, a young Chechen Muslim refugee, in Hamburg to claim an inheritance from a shady bank manager, which raises flags for a local intelligence outfit run by Gunter Bachmann (Hoffman). But Bachmann has different ideas from his superiors, the Interior Ministry and the CIA over how to handle the case – and whether Issa really is the terrorist threat they assume he is.
Despite some weak dialogue and slow pacing, overall it’s an interesting story that – like most Le Carre narratives – relies more on tension than action, and makes some good points about how the espionage game is as much about politics and secret agendas as it is about actually stopping bad guys. And despite the natural disadvantage of an American actor playing a German espionage agent in Germany, Hoffman does pull it off.
Transcendence
In which Johnny Depp plays Will Caster, a computer genius whose advanced work in artificial intelligence earns him the wrath of an anti-technology terrorist group. Given a month to live after being shot with a radiation-laced bullet, he and his wife decide to upload his brain into his AI computer banks – which of course turns out to be a bad idea.
The film has taken a beating from critics, though it’s not as bad as all that. The usual technological accuracy issues aside, the story starts off pretty well, and manages to carry its premise pretty far before its internal logic finally starts to fall apart. That said, it falls apart pretty badly, especially the “solution” to the main problem, which is more unbelievable than the problem itself. Which would actually be okay except that the movie also suffers from flat characterization – the film is visually dazzling but never comes completely to life.
The Two Faces Of January
Old-fashioned thriller in which conman McFarland and his wife Colette are on the run but living it up in Athens – until a detective working for the people McFarland swindled tracks him down. After McFarland accidentally kills him, he ropes in American tour guide Rydal to help the couple get new passports to leave the country.
What follows is supposed to be some complex intrigue but comes across to me as a pretty standard noir love triangle/jealousy angle as Rydal and Colette get friendly, and as Rydal starts to realize what he’s gotten himself into. The paranoia isn’t all that contagious, and the story starts taking convenient shortcuts to get to its conclusion – which I also didn’t really find convincing. It’s okay, but it’s been done before, and done better.
The Railway Man
Based on the true story of Eric Lomax, a British WW2 vet and railway enthusiast who still has nightmares about his experience as a POW in Asia. As his new wife tries to help him overcome his trauma, he learns that the Japanese soldier that helped torture him is still alive and living in Thailand. He goes there to confront him.
Which, if this were a Hollywood film, would cue a standard over-the-top revenge thriller. What actually happens goes against the usual tropes to the point where it will (and has) put a lot of people off. Which may be why I liked it. It’s admittedly slow-burn, but great performances from just about everyone make it worth sitting through. It also has some things say about the effects of war and torture, and the psychological care that war vets generally don’t get (or want) because it’s unmanly.
War is over (if you want it),
This is dF
A Most Wanted Man
I had two motivations for seeing this: (1) it marks Philip Seymour Hoffman’s last lead role, and (2) I’d read the book and was a bit underwhelmed, but John Le Carre usually works better for me onscreen than in print.
Which turns out to be the case here, although people who haven’t read the book might be a bit confused over the various intelligence agencies involved. The story involves the arrival of Issa, a young Chechen Muslim refugee, in Hamburg to claim an inheritance from a shady bank manager, which raises flags for a local intelligence outfit run by Gunter Bachmann (Hoffman). But Bachmann has different ideas from his superiors, the Interior Ministry and the CIA over how to handle the case – and whether Issa really is the terrorist threat they assume he is.
Despite some weak dialogue and slow pacing, overall it’s an interesting story that – like most Le Carre narratives – relies more on tension than action, and makes some good points about how the espionage game is as much about politics and secret agendas as it is about actually stopping bad guys. And despite the natural disadvantage of an American actor playing a German espionage agent in Germany, Hoffman does pull it off.
Transcendence
In which Johnny Depp plays Will Caster, a computer genius whose advanced work in artificial intelligence earns him the wrath of an anti-technology terrorist group. Given a month to live after being shot with a radiation-laced bullet, he and his wife decide to upload his brain into his AI computer banks – which of course turns out to be a bad idea.
The film has taken a beating from critics, though it’s not as bad as all that. The usual technological accuracy issues aside, the story starts off pretty well, and manages to carry its premise pretty far before its internal logic finally starts to fall apart. That said, it falls apart pretty badly, especially the “solution” to the main problem, which is more unbelievable than the problem itself. Which would actually be okay except that the movie also suffers from flat characterization – the film is visually dazzling but never comes completely to life.
The Two Faces Of January
Old-fashioned thriller in which conman McFarland and his wife Colette are on the run but living it up in Athens – until a detective working for the people McFarland swindled tracks him down. After McFarland accidentally kills him, he ropes in American tour guide Rydal to help the couple get new passports to leave the country.
What follows is supposed to be some complex intrigue but comes across to me as a pretty standard noir love triangle/jealousy angle as Rydal and Colette get friendly, and as Rydal starts to realize what he’s gotten himself into. The paranoia isn’t all that contagious, and the story starts taking convenient shortcuts to get to its conclusion – which I also didn’t really find convincing. It’s okay, but it’s been done before, and done better.
The Railway Man
Based on the true story of Eric Lomax, a British WW2 vet and railway enthusiast who still has nightmares about his experience as a POW in Asia. As his new wife tries to help him overcome his trauma, he learns that the Japanese soldier that helped torture him is still alive and living in Thailand. He goes there to confront him.
Which, if this were a Hollywood film, would cue a standard over-the-top revenge thriller. What actually happens goes against the usual tropes to the point where it will (and has) put a lot of people off. Which may be why I liked it. It’s admittedly slow-burn, but great performances from just about everyone make it worth sitting through. It also has some things say about the effects of war and torture, and the psychological care that war vets generally don’t get (or want) because it’s unmanly.
War is over (if you want it),
This is dF
