Film
Shallow contentment. Director Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, Red Dragon) has created a slick, entertaining beauty, but beauty is of course only skin deep.
Pierce Brosnan plays Max Burdett, a recently retired jewel thief now living in the Caribbean with his partner and lover Lola (Hayek), enjoying the spoils of their efforts.
Returning to his house one day, Max finds his old nemesis, FBI agent Stan Lloyd (Harrelson), waiting for him. A cruise ship is arriving at the island with a precious diamond on board and Lloyd is convinced that Max's retirement is merely a front for another heist.
The film begins somewhat like a Bond flick, complete with remote-controlled car. Before the opening credits, Lola and Max's last job is depicted: stealing a massive diamond right out from under Lloyd's nose. It is a smooth, daring theft akin to a spy mission.
Brosnan plays Max as a smooth talking, sexually appealing pro and there is a sense that the film may play out as a polished thriller. However, Ratner soon slips the film into comic mode.
Laughs are largely provided by the cat-and-mouse relationship of Harrelson and Brosnan. Both display a talent for playing off the other. Events draw them ever closer together resulting in several bizarre and entertaining situations, including an exciting fishing trip (honest) and the pair sharing the bed of a luxurious hotel suite. By the morning one of the two's arms has of course found itself wrapped round the other's body.
The characters are likeable and witty: "Just because you're English doesn't mean you have to hide your emotions," Harrelson tells Brosnan. "I'm Irish, fuck off," the smooth reply.
Hayek's character is shamefully under-developed, at least in plot terms. Ratner, in an obvious appeal to the libidos of men everywhere, dresses Hayek in bikinis and flowing dresses with low-cut necks throughout the film. Virtually every shot she's in seems to provide an excuse for her to bend forward. A brief shot of Hayek doing yoga appears only as an excuse for her to stick her backside in the air (and then crawl along the floor displaying more cleavage).
Peppered with enough funny lines and situations to please the most curmudgeonly, After the Sunset is a comic caper that rattles along at a fast and enjoyable pace. Just don't expect the twists to shock or thrill.
Florals and tweed; haystacks and summer evenings; those awkward moments that require the whole cast to simultaneously contemplate their feet: this can only be the wholesome fare of British period drama.
Set on the cusp of World War Two, Ladies in Lavender is a nostalgic tale of on-coming age and letting go of the ones you love. The idyllic life of two elderly sisters Janet and Ursula is interrupted when they come across a half-drowned man on a nearby beach.
The ladies (Smith and Dench) take the youth in, and whilst he recovers they discover he is Polish and a brilliant violinist by the name of Andrea Markowski. Maternal instincts (and others) emerge from the two sisters as they construct a new domestic regime around Andrea; but this is unbalanced by another foreigner, the beautiful artist Olga Daniloff.
She and Markowski become friends, provoking jealousy from the sisters and Dr Mead, Daniloff's admirer played by Charles Dance.
During this film, discomfort may be felt by the viewer when they realise that they are youngest in the room, or if they are slightly perturbed by Dame Judi's incongruously immature lusting after (comparably) a mere boy.
The script constantly leads to dead ends; issues such as the on-coming war, romantic interests, and tension between locals and the two foreigners are hinted at, but glazed over. Strangely we learn nothing of Andrea apart from his name and musical talent, how he comes to be ship-wrecked is never explained.
Perhaps more peculiar is the idea that someone could extravagantly name one of their daughters Ursula and the other Janet.
This film, although enjoyable at points, is vaguely unsatisfying, despite it's brilliant cast: Smith's comic timing is superb and the teenage angst of Dench's character even believable.
The clichéd slow zooms and superimposing of shots smack more of Sunday night ITV drama than film.
It's definitely one to watch with your mum when available for rental.
Imagine somebody who has written The Godfather, The Sound of Music and Saving Private Ryan. Imagine the guy who started the saying "Are you talking to me?"
An odd mixture of credits, but that is what Javed Akhtar has done for Indian cinema. Oh, and apart from this he writes poetry and lyrics for movies such as Bride and Prejudice and Lagaan (Oscar-nominated in 2002). He was even awarded a Padmashree by Indian government - one of the top civilian honours.
Speaking to the Oxford Majlis Society at the Magdalen Auditoriumis, Akhtar was obviously very proud of his heritage: "3.8bn people watch Indian movies, whereas only 2.9bn people watch Hollywood movies".
"You can map India's history for the past 50 years in Indian movies, for example in the 1970s the hero was the angry young man, the vigilante, a man fed up with the failure of the system."
It is clear however that he is disappointed over the current state of Indian cinema: "There is a clear lack of strong male/female protagonists, a lot about Indian life is not covered, such as India's high rate of unemployment or child labour. Today we hide behind love stories, they are an easy sell."
When asked by an obvious poetry enthusiast whether he would ever write poetry in English, he replied: "You can only write poetry in the language you dream in."
Look out for Zaheed Akhtar's lyrics in Veer-Zaara and Swades, movies destined for UK Top 10 Box Office.
Harry Potter is held in such reverence by its legions of fans that directors must tread carefully when bringing the books to the screen. Mel Gibson may have been brave enough to take on Jesus but even he doesn't have the balls to tackle the boy wizard. Thus it is with much admiration that one must consider director Alfonso Cuaron's efforts.
Brimming with personal touches, he removes much of JK Rowling's excess trappings and creates a tight viewing experience through some dazzling camera work and cutting edge special effects.
18th Nov 2004