TAMARA DREW

In a picture-book setting of an idyllic Devonshire Farmhouse a group of middle-aged misfits gather in a writer’s retreat hoping to emulate their host and write a best selling novel of their own. The published author is a misogynist prig and so his saintly put-on wife is kept busy keeping both their house and their marriage together.

That is, until Tamara Drew turns up to live in the cottage just over the hill.  She had left the countryside years ago to find her fortune and meanwhile has grown from gangly girl into something of a beauty, much helped by her new nose, which is soon the talk of the village.  She doesn’t want for suitors and has the local hunky farmer champing at the bit, and a young rock star, and the dirty old author.  She beds all three.  (That is so NOT Hollywood!)

In this rather silly quintessentially British comedy, with more than a touch of farce, everyone eventually gets more or less what they deserve.  Based on a bestselling graphic novel by Posy Simonds which I have never read BUT to me it seems somehow to draw much more than  a tad of its inspiration from Thomas Hardy’s ‘Far From a Madding Crowd’ (filmed by John Schlesinger and starring Julie Christie).

Stephen Frears directs a stellar cast of fine British acting talent in this rather pleasant diversion on English sexual manners, but it’s a far cry from his  stunning earlier work that included cutting edge films like 'My Beautiful Launderette', 'Sammy & Rose Get Laid' and 'Prick Up Your Ears.'  Maybe after making ‘The Queen’ he decided to be more ‘respectable’.  Shame that.

R.T.V. The English countryside in glorious sunshine BUT also Luke Evans as the local Farmer and Dominic Cooper as Ben the Rock Star.  Shallow I know, but it's that kind of film.  Better still, get Mr Schlesinger's film from Netflix/Love Film

★★★★★★
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JOAN RIVERS : A PIECE OF WORK

The opening shots of “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work” are of an extreme close up of Joan’s face, without makeup first thing in the morning. This so succinctly sets the tone for this exhilarating bare-all movie that documents a roller-coaster year in the life of this comedic tour-de-force.  Joan allowed the filmmakers complete access into her world, letting the cameras capture her numerous failures and joyous successes. The result is one of the most wonderfully truthful and funny documentaries about a show business legend that we may ever see.

Here is Joan at 75 (as she continually reminds us) and she has not lost one ounce of her energy and vitality.  Though she is as we expect, blisteringly funny, we see the depth of her ability to laugh at herself and also discover her relentless work ethic, her vulnerability and her compassion.  As we have learnt from her stand-up, absolutely no topic is sacred even when she is being serious, and she is completely upfront about everything from her marriage, daughter Melissa, to her  fall out with Johnny Carson and eventual blacklisting from NBC, and naturally her plastic surgery.

R.T.V. If you admire Joan’s work, then you’ll end up really liking the woman too, and if you are already a fan, then you will positively love her after this endearing movie.  Totally unmissable ... and now out on DVD everywhere.

★★★★★★★★★★
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THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

This gentle warm delightful comedy is about a well-adjusted, happy, loving and quite devoted family.  The two teenage children have reached that awkward stage when they start questioning things, in this case, to find out who their biological father is.  It just so happens that their two parents are a lesbian couple, but that aside, this is not a ‘gay’ movie per se but a story about a modern family that just doesn’t have a man in their immediate family circle.  Well, for the present at least.

The children’s curiosity drives them to track down the sperm donor who is technically their father, and when they find him they discover that he (Paul) is a one-time hippie who has progressed to running an organic restaurant and smallholding, which makes him appear so cool in their eyes.  It also seems to act as a counterbalance to their slightly wired up mothers; Nic is a Gynecologist who perpetually worries, and Jules who has tried to combine raising them up with various different career choices, is always restless.

The earth doesn’t move with the mere presence of Paul now  in all their lives, but when he hires Jules (she is now going to try her hand at landscape gardening), and they end up making out, then their peaceful and cozy existence is shattered.  

The beauty of this delightful movie is that even such unexpected turns of events are treated intelligently and sympathetically and without recourse to high drama.  It is after all a story about a very successful marriage and although not perfect is about as near as it as one could expect.

Liza Cholodenko’s articulate and sensitive script is served well with Annette Benning as Nic, and Julianne Moore as Jules, who both give chillingly accurate pitch prefect performances …. particularly Ms Benning, who could not have been better.  Mark Ruffalo (as Paul)  is his usual laid back self that never seems to stretch him to play yet another easygoing men, but in this instance it works very well.

R.T.V. An adult themed movie by adults for adults . And it is superb too

★★★★★★★★★

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP

This documentary is not what I thought it would be.  Billed as a work by Banksy, the infamous secretive British street artist, but the movie neither goes any way to divulging his identity, or revealing much at all about this over-hyped man who revels in the excesses of the notoriety that accompanies all his exploits.  Instead it’s a film that Banksy has made about the incredibly odd Thierry Guetta who starts out as a mere observer filming any street artist who will allow him to tag along, and who ends up some 10 years later as one of the top celebrated and successful ‘artists’ in LA.

As the story unfolds it seems all so totally unbelievable that you think you are participating in some hoax, but in the end you do decide (albeit reluctantly) that although Guetta’s talent as an original artist is as fake as his claims, his journey to this point in his life is very real.

R.T.V. Credit then to the anonymous Banksy who has crafted this all into an excellent and fascinating movie with incredible style and finesse.  It’s a story worth telling, and he has told it very well.

★★★★★★★★★
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HOW DO YOU KNOW?

At 3O years old Lisa is well past her prime, of being a world class softball player that is, and after getting dumped from the side she tries to play the love game instead.  First she teams up with Matty, a pro baseball player with a multimillion-dollar contract who happens to be a screwball womanizing narcissist who’s shallowness means that all he cares about is giving a good performance.  Then there is George , an earnest and good-hearted  CEO at the end of his tether as he is about to be Indicted for fraud thanks to  Charles, his crooked businessman father who has dropped him in it.

Matty just wants to add Lisa to his possessions; George just wants his life to stop unraveling in front of his eyes; Charles just wants to stay out of jail.  And Lisa?  She’s no idea what she wants, and at  the end of this very lightweight movie, I’m not really sure if we care to know anyway.

This romantic comedy would not normally have even been on my radar but like the addict I am I needed a quick fix and I had seen everything else worth seeing at the Multiplex this week.  And on paper this movie looked like a sure bet with it’s great pedigree.  Written and directed by James L Brooks (3 time Oscar Winner + 5 Oscar Nominations) and starring Jack Nicholson who has won 2 Oscars in previous  movies of Mr. Brooks, plus Reece Witherspoon, Owen Wilson and Paul Rudd.  The script was so lame that it didn’t give any of them a chance to shine  …. except maybe Mr Wilson who had the most rounded character in the movie and certainly the best lines.  And likable as he is, Paul Rudd is simply not a leading man. The real scene stealers were two minor characters, George’s secretary Annie and her boyfriend Lenny, who lit the screen up briefly.

R.T.V. It’s a cold wet day, and you feel in need of a light romance.

★★★★★
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TRUE GRIT

Mattie, a tough 14 year old wants to track down the gunman who killed her father and hires Marshall Rooster Cogburn specifically to track him down and kill him.  It is after all the Old Wild West where the rule of law is very much an eye for an eye. Cogburn is an irascible old reprobate heavy-drinking one-eyed gunslinger, complete with eye patch, and much larger than life and although he accepts Mattie’s commission he shirks from taking her with him on the hunt.  He doesn’t bargain for the steely resolve of this young girl who is seemingly frightened of nothing. 

It is the mere fact that this is very much Mattie’s story, and even narrated by her, that make this so much more than just another western yarn with the good guys chasing the bad guys, or vice versa.

It is a great adventure story and even for non-aficionados (like me) of this genre it’s a ripping movie.  The part of Cogburn was made for Jeff Bridges who nails it so perfectly. … evidently in the original version of True Grit John Wayne played the part, which won him an Oscar, and there is a good chance that history will repeat itself.  Although in fairness it is the totally amazing Hailee Steinfield (13 years old in real life) whose performance as Mattie is so incredible that I simply cannot see how she could possible not win an Oscar too.

Matt Damon and Josh Brolin are in the movie too …. but not that often.

R.T.V. It’s a Coen Brothers film, and although this is certainly no masterpiece like ‘No Country For Old Men’ they still remind us that even when they make a less than perfect movie, it still heads and shoulders above most of the competition.

★★★★★★★★
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LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS

Jamie is a very self-confidant man who seemingly just does two things well.  He is a consummate salesman and he sleeps with a lot of very attractive women, which also helps him clinch most of his sales. However this is not enough for his family of over-achievers and they exert pressure on him to step up his act somewhat and although he will never be a medical whiz kid like them … or even an IT millionaire like his geek brother … he does land a rather a plum job as a medical rep.  The year is 1998 and Pfizer his employer have just introduced Viagra, which has a similar effect on Jamie’s career as it does on the men who are happy to pop the new blue magic drug in their mouth.

On one of his many attempts to persuade a reluctant Doctor to prescribe other Pfizer drugs he gets to meets Maggie a very attractive artist who seems as carefree as he is, and he soon falls for her.  This free-wheeling soul does however have a serious side as she is dealing with the early stages of Parkinson’s disease which adds a level of both gravity and melancholy to the story as she … and Jamie … deal with this twist which has the possibility of de-railing their relationship which has soon blossomed into ‘the real thing’.

This is a rather a grown up comedy that refreshingly avoids all the usual schoolboy smut that usually comes with just the mere mention of this drug.  It is in fact a sweet easy romance (with a touch of melodrama) and its made particularly very watchable by the delightful performances of Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway as Jamie and Maggie.  They have such a great screen chemistry that makes the whole charming story so much more believable …. and the fact that both of them are extremely good -looking kind of helps too.

R.T.V. Cos its nice seeing lust turn to love without too much drama.  And then again its no hardship seeing SO MUCH of a naked Mr. Gyllenhaal, whom I noted needed both of his hands to cover up his (not so) privates.

P.S. And playing the small role of Jamie’s mother is the wonderful Jill Clayburgh who sadly passed away recently.

★★★★★★★
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THE FIGHTER

Micky Ward was a local boxing champion whose career in the ring fizzled out after series of losing bouts in the early 1990’s. He was always in the shadow of his older half-brother Dicky who was something of a hero in Lowell, their blue-collar hometown in Mass, and who was still coasting along on the legend that as a boxer himself, he had came so close to greatness, but after a bad defeat had now succumbed to an addiction to crack.  

Dicky egged on by his large and dysfunctional family, led by a control freak of a mother, undertakes to train his brother for a comeback, but after some bizarre behavior and very questionable motives, Micky eventually realizes that that he is just being used by them all.  Dicky turns to crime and gets locked away, and Micky falls in love and learns how to start making some of his own decisions. And finally things start going right.  For some of them anyway.

‘The Fighter’ is so much more than ‘just another boxing movie'.  This remarkable film is a melodrama, a love story, but most of all tells of a wonderfully complicated brotherly relationship that is almost as battering as the physical fighting in the ring itself. The fact that it is based on a true story makes it even more compelling.

Dicky is played by a very gaunt Christian Bale in a stunning scene-stealing performance that totally mesmerized me, and if Melissa Leo doesn’t win an Oscar as the merciless matriarch there is no justice in this world.  Mark Wahlberg looks superb as Micky but you never seem to really be completely in his corner desperately wanting him to win.  I still cannot decide if that was because he so underplayed the role, or that is how Micky really was.

R.T.V. This is not a movie I thought I would like.  And I didn’t.  I actually really loved it. Really loved it.  I came out of the theater on such a high that had me quite speechless.  Very rare indeed.

★★★★★★★★★
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THE KING'S SPEECH

Albert, the Duke of York, was the 2^nd son of King George V and as a Naval Officer and husband and father with two young children he enjoyed a calm and privileged life and the freedom that came with not being the Heir to the British Throne.  That all changed suddenly with the unexpected death of his father quickly followed by his older brother Edward V111 abdicating so that he could marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson.  Now on the brink of World War 2 the Nation …. and the British Empire … looked to the new King for leadership in the Broadcasts on the Radio.  The trouble was that the King had a dreadful stammer since childhood, something none of the regimen of famous doctors his wife had dragged him too could help in the slightest.  That is until they stumbled on a very unorthodox Australian speech therapist based in Harley Street, who by treating the King just like any other ordinary patient, managed to find him a voice and the confidence that went with it. In fact the remarkable and unlikely friendship that eventually strikes up between this commoner and the royal prince  is one of the most crucial elements to the story.

This beautiful compassionate tale shows a very personal side of the Royal Family (and in a much positive light than movies such as ‘The Queen’) at a time when they personally, and the world generally, was going through a great deal of change.  Superb script; exquisitely directed by Tim Hooper (‘The Dammed United’ one of my favorites in 2009), but made into the sheer joy that it was by such an excellent cast.  Colin Firth as the stammering King was pitch perfect, but will probably be competing against the incomperable Geoffrey Rush as Logue the Therapist for the inevitable Oscar nod for their two outstanding performances.  And Helena Bonham-Carter, who just seems to get better with every new role, was so endearing as the Queen.  And amidst a who’s who of a cast Guy Pierce (who I will ‘fess up to not recognizing) was wonderful as Edward V111.

R.T.V. This is undoubtedly not just the best period movie of the year, but is also one of the best movies of the year too.

★★★★★★★★★

THE BLACK SWAN

Nina is a very typical ballerina obsessively consumed with the New York City ballet company where she is desperate to be plucked from the Corps to be a Principal. Egged on by her former ballerina mother Erica who is desperate that her daughter gets the big break that she never had, and so exerts a suffocating control over her. When the autocratic artistic director Thomas Leroy decides to replace the prima ballerina for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, his first choice is Nina.  However the role has two personas and whilst she fits the pure White Swan role perfectly, there is a newer, more sensuous dancer Lily who is the personification of the darker Black Swan and so becomes Nina’s rival. As the two young dancers develop a very twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side, which ultimately threatens to destroy her.

This is a wonderful melodrama and all the different relationships in the story are as dramatic and as passionate as the ballet itself and the tension never really lets up, except on the odd occasion when its let down by some stilted script.  Natalie Portman as Nina gives her best performance to date and is so convincing as the tortured dancer we can forgive the fact that is not really her  we see dancing  on the screen most of the time.  It is very much her picture although Mila Kunis as Lily is quite remarkable, as is Barbara Hershey as the mother and Vincent Cassel as the intimidating Director. And I totally did not recognize Winona Ryder in her turn as the retiring prima ballerina.

R.T.V. It is one unquestionably one of the best movies of the year and my only  issue with it is the fact that director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler) intended this to be a psychological thriller but with the sheer amount of blood and violence it seemed a tad more like  a scary horror movie to me

★★★★★★★★

MADE IN DAGENHAM

In 1968 a group of some 180 women machinists in the Ford Factory in Dagenham, a London suburb, defied the fiercely male entrenched society at the time and did the unheard of thing by going out on strike and demanding equal pay. Lined up against them were Trade Union Officials that cozied up to Management, Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson who was not wanting to alienate a big corporate employer, the powerful might of Ford itself, and worse of all, the women’s own husbands who, like most of the town, were also Ford employees.  But thanks to an unlikely naïve but passionate heroine forced into the limelight as their shop steward whi even managed to sway the formidable Barbara Castle the UK's first female Employment Minister,  they won their case.

'RITA'  in her BIBA dress

This delightful period piece tells of a historic breakthrough in women’s rights but in a thoroughly enchanting and entertaining manner thanks in no small part to director Nigel Cole (‘The Calendar Girls’ & ‘Saving Grace’) who seems to excel at portraying plucky women.  But most credit to Sally Hawkins who so superbly underplays the role of Rita the women’s leader and proves what a dynamic actress she really is (and maybe how wrong I was in dismissing her so quickly after 'Happy Go Lucky' where she annoyed the hell out of me: but hey, whilst my revues are always spot on (!) I have never claimed that they were objective.) And I loved Miranda Richardson as the fiery red-headed Mrs. Castle who verbally beat up her male Civil Servants at every opportunity.

R.T.V. I read recently the Brits produce two genres of movies very well viz. Period Pieces and Blue Collar (working-class) Dramas.  This one is a superb example of both.

P.S. In 197O the UK went on to introduce the Equal Pay Act and Ford and all the other corporations had to change their working practices.  BUT that was then, and this is now.  Last month a Republican filibuster in the Senate prevented the success of the Paycheck Families Act which would have strengthen equal pay right,  so some things never change.

★★★★★★★★