FOR A WOMAN aka Pour Une Femme

Soon after their mother dies in the 1980’s siblings Anne and Tania are sorting through her belongings when they come across a box of old photographs that they had never seen before. Anne, the older of the two is a film director, and is positively intrigued by this discovery. Their mother had always been deliberately evasive about her past, and had never really explained why she and their father had survived a prison camp in World War 2, only to separate and divorce in the years that followed.

The story that Anne uncovers that she wants to film, and is the main body of the movie, is an intriguing melodrama that starts immediately after the war. Her parents Michel and Lena, are newlyweds and they move into a home over their fledgling tailor business in Lyon which has been funded in part by the Communist Party that Michel is a fervent member of.  They are both Ukrainian by birth but have been raised in France. Soon after Lena gives birth to Anne, Michel's long-lost adult brother turns up on their doorstep. Well, they think he is Jean, but as Michel hasn't seen him since he was just 9 years old and had assumed that he hadn't survived the War, he actually has trouble recognising him.

Even though Jean's story about his recent past doesn't quite ring true, they take him in to live with them anyway. Wherever Jean is, it would appear that the mysterious stranger Sacha is not far behind, and he ends up being employed in their tailors store. For a new arrival in Town, Jean surprisingly has a great many local connections which he uses, amongst other things, to make Michel's business very successful.  Whilst the older brother divides his time between his flourishing shop and his Party activities, Jean spends his day wooing Lena who very quickly falls for her handsome brother-in-law.

There is a secondary story strand that involves their friend Madeleine who is quite openly cheating on her older husband who is the local Communist Party leader. This seems to be a potential precursor as what will happen to Lena if she went public with her affair, however writer/director Diane Kurys who based this all on the story on her own family, takes a different track when she eventually reveals the real reason that Lena and Michel got married which throws an entirely different light on everything.

This rather enjoyable post-war romance drama with its political intrigue is a quintessential French old-fashioned 'women's picture' that will delight everyone who likes this genre. Kurys insures there is enough loose strands to the story for us to have to fill in some of the gaps ourselves as we try and work out if and why Lena will do the 'right thing' or just follow her heart.

Great solid cast that turn in some convincing performances in an enjoyable beautifully crafted crowd-pleaser movie.

★★★★★★★

MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT

Within a few minutes after the opening of this movie  .... Woody Allen's 46th, and probably one of his most tedious ... it is very obvious that the magic in the title refers strictly to the staged tricks created by the two leading characters and not to the film itself. Allen's very thin story, set in Europe some time between the two World Wars, is about a famous English professional illusionist who's stage persona is a very crass Chinaman complete with Fu Manchu moustache (which I'm guessing that Allen must have considered was not racially offensive). Wei Ling Soo aka Stanley is recruited by his best friend Howard to unmask an American psychic who he believes is faking her way into the bosom of a wealthy American Family vacationing in their chateau on the French Riviera. Sophie is aided and abetted by her scheming mother in order get their hands on some of their fortune and marry the gormless heir of the family.

It turns out she really is a fraud but for totally different reasons than the ones that we expect, but by the time that the pompous sarcastic Stanley has uncovered this, we have lost all interest anyway. Forget the sleight of hand tricks he plays, as its the plot that is so slight to the point of being so transparently obvious.  Cold-hearted cynical Stanley with his very unemotional fiance back in London naturally falls in love with Sophie but as she is practically 30 years younger, we are as uncomfortable about this age-inappropriate romance as Stanley awkwardly appears to be as well. 

Colin Firth makes heavy going of his portrayal of Stanley, and a radiant looking Emma Stone fares little better in this very stilted script that gives neither of them much of a chance to shine. The only cast member that relieved the fast encroaching boredom was the wonderful Eileen Aitkens as Stanley's Aunt, even though her part was very small.

Kudos though for the stunning period costumes and very glorious sets and locations which at least gave us something pretty to look at, but not enough to stop me nodding off from time to time.

P.S. Look closely in the scene set in a Jazz Club for the fleeting glance of the singer who is none other than the fabulous Ute Lemper.

★★★★★

BEFORE YOUR EYES

Life is tough enough for 10 year-old Gülîstan and Firat her younger brother and their baby sister living with their family in a small apartment in Diyarbakir in the heart of Turkish Kurdistan amidst the uncertainty of the political unrest in the region. But then when her mother and her father, a celebrated journalist, are assassinated by paramilitary gunmen when their family car is ambushed on a deserted country road one night, things get dramatically worse. Left as orphans to fend completely for themselves, Gülîstan has to become the parent to both her siblings with the help of her political activist young aunt Yekburn who meanwhile is trying to arrange passage and flights for them all to settle safely in neutral Sweden. However before she can manage this, she is arrested and imprisoned and thus disappears completely off the face of the earth. 

The kids continue to exist from day to day on the pittance that their Aunt had left them, but very soon they run out of money completely. Their electric power is cut off, as is their water supply, and they are forced to sell off every stick of furniture and their few meagre appliances. Very soon they have nothing left to turn into cash and buy food and medicine to save the sickly baby. 

Now there are just the two of them left, and with several months of unpaid rent due, they are turfed out into the street with nothing but the ragged clothes on their backs. As they scrounge for food and a place to sleep they come across Zelal a tough street savvy girl who squats with her blind peddler grandfather in the ruins of an Armenian church. As their new friend and guide introduces them to numerous other homeless orphans, for the first time in months, Gülîstan realises that she and Firat are not completely alone anymore.

She also meets up with Dilara a part-time hooker and she starts accompanying her new friend whenever she gets a 'assignation' as she adds a air of respectability when Dilara has to hang around Hotel Lobbies or Street Corners waiting for her 'Dates' to show up.  On one such occasion Gülîstan is shocked rigid when she recognises that the Client is none other than the gunman who had killed her parents in cold-blood right in front of her eyes.  How she goes on to extract her revenge in a non-violent manner is a tribute to how she was raised by her strong-willed mother and is a real inspired twist to this intriguing story.

This remarkable and controversial movie from German-based Kurdish filmmaker Miraz Beza is a strong indictment of the still un-resolved ethnic conflict where Turks still refuse to recognise a Kurdish State (and in fact no Turkish Company would even distribute this movie). What starts as a blistering heartbreaking tale that limps from one disaster to another, somehow manages to turn itself into something quite uplifting by the time the final credits roll.

The whole project was a labor of love for Beza whose mother sold her house to fund the movie, and his uncle paid all the crew's hotel expenses, and this strongly motivated committment to tell a very personal story that reflects all the violence and turmoil caused by this Regime clearly shines through in a very emotional manner.

Beza found his two perfect lead actors on country bus and he simply couldn't have chosen any better. Young Senay Orak who played Gülîstan had these large open soulful eyes that pierced every one with her emotionless stare gave a pitch perfect performance that was matched by Muhammed Al cast as her frightened brother Firat.

Have your box of kleenex ready.

★★★★★★★★

BALLET BOYS

Ballet Boys is a feature length documentary that follows in the footsteps of three adolescent male dancers as they are about to graduate from the Norwegian Ballet Academy and move on to the next stage of their training. These classmates, who are also very good friends, all love dancing but they are coming to the point in their lives where they have to make tough decisions as to whether they want to make a career in ballet, and if in fact they are actually proficient enough to be able to do so.

The three of them : Lukas, Syvert and Torgeir have already had to sacrifice many of the usual joys of being regular teenage boys and having fun with their other mates for the sake of their dedication to their art. In Syvert's case he has also been neglecting his academic school work too and may not even be able to graduate. They are all very likable boys whose charm and enthusiasm comes shining through in all the talking head interviews, and they all very innocently are so unsure of what could/should happen next.

Svyert is the odd one of the trio as he complains that as an Asian Immigrant he has difficulty getting a girlfriend, and also he cannot make up his mind at all whether to stick with dancing or not.  In fact during one school term he gives up ballet completely only to soon return and ask to be allowed back in the Academy.  Torgeir on the other hand looks like a classic blond Norwegian lad and he was a late starter with ballet. Despite his natural talent he lacks both the confidence and drive to be able to decide if he really wants to spend his life dancing.  

Of the three, Lukas is unquestionable the star, and although he had no intention of auditioning at the prestigious Royal Ballet School in London, they invite him anyway and so he pirouettes his way into being offered one of the few rare places. Despite the honor of his talent being recognised in this way, he is still in two minds whether to accept the offer.  The other boys have been offered places with the local Ballet Company which will give them a great training and a BA degree, and plus its free for Norwegians.  Going abroad however means saying goodbye to all of that, and not just leaving home but handing his parents a 70000 euro annual tuition fees which may not all be covered by scholarships. When you see the genuine angst on his face, you suddenly remember that the boy has only just celebrated his 15th birthday.

This well-meaning movie talks about the all boys prowess as dancers but sadly fails to show us much of them in action. And the narrative as cute as it is, lacks real substance to make it as compelling as it could have been. We should therefore at least be grateful for Lukas's success at the end, as without this the movie would have had no climax at all.

Having said that its a refreshing insight into ballet from a male perspective for a change, and even as lightweight as director Kenneth Elvebakk has made this profile, it is still difficult not to be charmed by these three young men and want them all to succeed and be happy too.

★★★★★★★

THE TRIP TO ITALY

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon who are like a contemporary Brit 'Odd Couple', are back together again reprising their roles of touring enthusiastic amateur gastronomes whilst verbal sparring and trying to out 'impersonate' each other. This pair of comic actors pretend to irritate each other with their quick-witted jibes whilst charming the pants of audiences in a British TV series that morphed into a very successful independent movie 'The Trip.'  On that occasion the restaurants and hotels they visited and ate at and flirted with the female staff were in the North of England where their inspiration was the words of Wordsworth & Coleridge and the film roles of Michael Caine.  Now they are back, but this time with a one week tour of Italy from northern Piemonte to the sun-drenched Amalfi Coast taking in some stunning scenery along the way and casually feasting on a series of superb mouth-watering dishes.

Once again they are ostensibly undertaking their mission for an writing assignment that Brydon has received from 'The Observer Newspaper'. They are again directed by Michael Winterbottom who is credited with writing the script too, but he has obviously given this talented pair a very free rein to allow them to improvise as much as they want to give the whole affair a naturalistic almost documentary feel. Albeit an extremely funny one. As they drive around some breath-taking countryside in their black Mini-Cooper with its malfunctioning stereo that for some obscure reason will only allow them to continually play Alanis Morrisette's Jagged Little Pill CD, they spend the bulk of their non-eating time, showing off with their obsession of impersonating different movie stars.

In the way of narrative, Coogan follows on with where he left off in 'The Trip' and is still trying to establish a better relationship with his teenage son who eventually files out to join them on the last leg of the tour. Whereas it looks like this time it is Brydon's turn for a career break when he gets a call from London and an Offer of his first acting role in an American Movie. Much to his surprise, he is also the one to get laid on this Trip in between phoning home to his stressed out wife who is having trouble coping with their young baby in her own.

Coogan and Brydon are a disarmingly charming couple, and are following in the footsteps of Lord Bryon and Percy Shelley who were 'celebrity' British travelers from two centuries previously, and they use both their predecessor's poetry and their Grand Tour as an spurious link to their own escapades. These modern day traveler's sensibilities are an acquired taste for Brits in particular, but they have a wonderfully quirky sense of humor that will appeal to anyone who has the slightest Anglophile tendency. And in a similar vein, the journey itself will delight every committed Italophile too.

Despite the fact that is a culinary pilgrimage, beyond the occasional shot of a chef putting the finishing touches to a dish, the only real detail we get on the food is when each waiter serves it up and pronounces its ingredients.  Winterbottom wisely allows us to just soak in the picture of these carb-heavy sumptuously looking courses as each one is a masterpiece in itself.

It's obvious that they have all the perfect ingredients of a real successful adventure, so I'm sure that there will be other 'Trips' to follow in the future.

★★★★★★★★

THE GERMAN DOCTOR aka Wakolda

In the opening scenes of this historical drama we see a distinguished looking German gentleman accosting a traveling family of 5 to ask if he may follow behind them as he is unsure about driving alone on the desolate dirt roads in the middle of the vast plains of Patagonia.  The year is 1960 and they are heading south to the small lakefront town of Bariloche to re-open a Hotel that once was a thriving concern when another generation of the family ran it.  The German never reveals much about his own destination or any of his plans for staying in this country far from home.

When they finally arrive the German, who the family are learning is either a Doctor or Scientist, insists of renting a room from them and to overcome their reluctance sweetens his request by overpaying as he has sensed that the family is cash poor.  Eva the heavily pregnant mother is German speaking, as are so many of the local residents as the best school in the area was the German one, and she welcomes him into their home.  Her husband Enzo is a struggling doll-maker and although a man of few words and simple tastes, he is the only one in the family who is not impressed with the charm onslaught from this very creepy stranger in their midst.

The 'Doctor' is particularly taken by Lilith the 12 year old of the family who has always been much smaller than the norm for her age ever since she was born 2 months premature.  Soon he is trying to persuade the parents that with the hormone treatment that he has been working on, he can improve Lilith's growth rate dramatically. They are all initially reluctant to even consider this course of action but Eva relents after Lilith suffers another brutal day of taunting at her school because of her size.  However she  insists that they keep the news of this change of heart from Enzo until at least Lilith starts gaining  some height.

Now the 'Doctor' has gained Eva's confidence he turns his attention to her, especially when he discovers that she is going to give birth to twins as we eventually find out that he has some plans of his own for these yet unborn babies.

This movie from Argentinian filmmaker Lucía Puenzo, adapted from her own novel, never hides the fact that the Doctor is none other than Josef Mengele the notorious Nazi who did barbarous and inhuman genetic experiments on the inmates of Auschwitz earning himself the moniker 'The Angel of Death.' This highly believable fiction is based on the fact that after the War he, like so other high ranking Nazis, fled to South America where he continued his cruel work on pregnant women and children until his death in Brazil in 1979.

Puenzo slowly unravels her story and builds the tension by insinuating what the Doctor really is up too as he slowly manipulates his way into this family's lives.  It is only the German School Archivist that suspects and confirms his true identity and she is anxious that he is caught and out in trial for his war crimes just like Eichmann who Israelis had recently captured. Unfortunately as he is protected by a wide network of loyal Party supporters he will always manage to completely avoid this.  

This chilling tale succeeds mainly due to the combination of a convincingly sinister performance by Spanish actor Àlex Brendemühl as the menacing Mengele, and also the bleak remote landscape dramatically captured by cinematographer Nicolás Puenzo, who is also the Director's brother.  This was Argentine's official submission for Best Foreign Picture Oscar, and although it didn't end up with a Nomination, it was definitely worth a consideration.

★★★★★★★★

A MOST WANTED MAN

In Dutch filmmaker Anton Corbijn's take on John le Carré's spy thriller we are very much aware of who 'the most wanted man' is, but like Gunther Bachmann, a German Intelligence Officer in Hamburg, we never know why he has earned this title. Gunther is very much the 'good man' in this intricate web of international spy/terrorist catching. Gruff, scruffy, chain-smoking and a a fiercely independent operator in charge of a Specialised Terrorist Unit, he is trying to get information from Issa Karpov a half Russian & half Chechen Muslim illegal immigrant before the police or other authorities can capture and imprison him.

Karpov has escaped from a Russian prison where he was brutally tortured and he is portrayed as being the innocent victim of the fact that his father was a notorious terrorist/criminal. Via a sympathetic lawyer, Karpov leads Gunther to Tommy Brue a wealthy Merchant Banker who is trying to extract himself from his late father’s dubious clients who he has inherited.  This include Karpov Snr. who still has a major nest egg stashed away in the Bank. Gunther wants to use Brue and these illegal millions to trap a respected Professor who he suspects is the head of a cell of terrorists. Although both the German Authorities and the C.I.A. reluctantly agree to give Gunther time to do things his way, they obviously do not mean it at all.

It’s a well told thrilling intricate story, although a tad confusing at times, and it keeps you completely engaged until the very end. It’s very much Gunther’s story, which is appropriate as the great Philip Seymour Hoffman plays him magnificently in this, his final movie role.  I’m unsure if Corbijn actually re-edited the movie as a result of Hoffman’s untimely death which occurred after its Sundance Premiere, but anyway Gunther is rarely off the screen. It’s a powerful swansong from this talented actor and even more poignant because he plays yet another disheveled character that seems to be such a perfect fit for him in his very distinguished career.

The cast is made up of Rachel McAdams as the liberal lawyer/social worker, Robin Wright as the cold-hearted double-dealing C.I.A. Agent, Willem Dafoe as the Banker plagued by the sins of his father, Nina Hoss as the very matter-of-fact loyal assistant to Gunther, and handsome Grigoriy Dobrygin as the hunted man who is forced to decide between his life and his religion when he is made to shave his shaggy beard off.

We came away believing the real possibility that if the Gunthers of this world were actually allowed to use Intelligence as opposed to the usual knee-jerk response of sheer brutality to try and deal with the whole scenario of terrorists, then things may even start to get resolved. And the other totally different thought ingrained in our minds as the final credits rolled, was that the world will never quite be the same after the loss of such a very fine actor.

★★★★★★★★

WEDDING PALACE

This unashamedly over-the-top romantic comedy seems to parody every known Korean stereotype (and more) with its ridiculous story that is essentially all about making fun of wealthy American-Koreans clinging tight to traditions that have long been forgotten by their contemporaries back home. In Los Angeles 29 year old Jason is about to get married to Jinnie who his control-freak of a mother has set him up with.  There is a sense of urgency about the whole occasion as they still believe a centuries old curse that says that if men in the family do not marry by the time they are 30 years old, they will die.

As the extravagant wedding is just about to take place in the outrageously kitch Wedding Palace that Jason's parents happen to own, all hell sets loose. Jinnie is ..... how can one put it nicely? ..... a slut! ....and all dressed up in her bridal gear she is caught making out with the caterer instead of walking down the aisle.  With the wedding cancelled a bereft Jason throws himself back into work which entails taking a business trip to Korea.

His highly-strung mother's network gets busy trying to set Jason up with dates but most local girls have long disregarded all attempts at being party to arranged marriages so very little comes of all her efforts. After the one blind date his mother does fix up ends disastrously, Jason comes across Na Young sitting alone in a bar and he strikes up a conversation with her. They had met the day before when she had spoken up and supported his ideas at a Presentation he had made to her Boss which at that point had being going pretty badly and as her intervention saved the day, he felt very grateful to this attractive stranger.

However the moment he goes to pay the bill she leaves and is just about to be driven off in a taxi when he catches up with her.  They spend the whole night just driving around the city and the next morning when the cab drops him off at his hotel to leave for the airport this accidental and very innocent encounter has obviously stirred some emotions in them both.

Once back in L.A. Jason starts wooing Na Young via Facetime and this cyber relationship pretty soon ends up with him proposing marriage much to his family's delight.  Everybody is very excited about her arrival in LA so that the wedding can be arranged, but when Jason picks Na Young up at the airport he discovers she is not exactly the girl he thought she was. 

This rather ridiculously unexpected twist to the plot is the cue for more cliched politically incorrect humor as the family voice their shock and displeasure sufficiently to make Jason call the wedding off. But we know that we shouldn't be overly concerned about that. as in movies like this a happy ending is always guaranteed.

Despite the exaggerated acting (or maybe because of it) from a very talented cast that you know are far better than this material, and the absurd plot, and the offensive humor, I actually found myself chuckling out loud more than once.  It helps when you have people like Margaret Cho playing a Shamen who has a liking to guzzling mojitos, and Japanese actor Brian Tee ('The Fast and Furious') adding a great deal of credibility to the role of the lovelorn confused Jason.

It's a very silly movie that I shouldn't have liked ..... but I am more than happy to put my hands up, and confess I did. 

★★★★★★

BOYHOOD

This engrossing story of Mason Jnr. growing up from a kid to a young man starts when he is just 6 years old. He lives with his older sister Samantha and their mother Olivia in an ordinary suburban home that they simply cannot afford.  His rather immature father Mason Snr. who acts like a big kid himself at times, roars into his life occasionally and apart from trying to play the role of Dad for a whole 12 hours at a time, contributes little else to help the family survive. So Olivia decides its time to make what will turn out to be the first of many moves as she continually struggles with both paying bills and leaving the drunks that she unfortunately marries along the way.

This initial move is to Houston to be near the children's Grandmother and to enable Olivia to study for the first of the degrees she will earn, and also juggle holding down a full time job. Along the way she marries her Professor who has a son Mason's age and a daughter too, and for a few years they all get to play happy families. When the Professor's alcoholism manifests into bullying Mason and the other children and also physically abusing Olivia, she walks out of the house taking Mason and Samantha with literally only the clothes on their backs.

For shy and somewhat introverted Mason this need to start all over again in a strange school without any friends is tough.  Samantha is more outspoken and angry with her mother about it, but she at least has the outgoing personality to adapt more easily to their new environment. 

Complete with her Degree and now studying for her Masters, Olivia has moved the family again so that she can start teaching in a small town outside of Austin.  One of her mature students becomes both her next husband and the next alcoholic who tries to manipulate her and the children.  Mason by now is a troubled teenager struggling with his adolescence and about to graduate high school.  His father has remarried and with a new baby in tow and has become the respectable adult that Olivia had wanted him to be 16 years ago, so he can at least help his confused son move forward to deal with whatever new challenges college life will have in store for him.

This remarkable film made over 12 consecutive years sees this tender and profound story unfold in real time as we witness this cast of actors playing the family grow up and grow old in front of our very eyes. There is such a fluidity to the whole piece that its hard to even consider the notion that when the Richard Linklater the director/writer started this project in the summer of 2002 that he knew exactly how this extraordinary movie of his would pan out. To see a family mature together and somehow pull through a whole series of near catastrophic scenarios like this and come out stronger and intact at the end is nothing less than astonishing. At the end when Olivia is single again and just about to watch Mason finally leave her to go to College she has a small meltdown as she looks back at the past 18 years and cries out 'I just wish it could have been better.' But even she could not deny that what she had enabled them all to achieve was incredible.

In this epic masterpiece of a flawless movie Linklater's attention to every single detail paid off so handsomely. Starting with the cast of Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke as Olivia and Mason Snr but more especially the unknown young Ellar Coltrane with a superb breakthrough performance as Mason Jnr that was totally pitch perfect and wonderfully fresh as too was Linklater's own daughter Lorelei who played Samantha.  He needed actors of this calibre for as the years rolled on, each of the characters developed in a much deeper and profound way than one would have initially have imagined, especially Mason Snr. who we were ready to write off as lightweight in the beginning.

Linklater's attention to every aspect got personal too as he owns the GTO that Mason Snr. drove as his pride and joy as it somehow made him feel like the rock star he never was.

This audacious experiment that has resulted with such a brilliant and compelling cinematic treat will undoubtedly end up on many 'best movie lists of 2014', including mine.

P.S. This concept of making a movie in real time seems so brilliant now that its a surprise that more filmmakers haven't tried it before. Acclaimed Brit. director 'Michael Winterbottom's 'Everyday' released in 2012 was filmed over 5 years but with very little plot this very tedious drama turned out to be his worst movie to date. The nearest equivalent is Micheal Apted's award winning documentary TV series '7 Up' that has revisited a group of 'children' every 7 years for 5 decades now.

★★★★★★★★★★

FLYING HOME

This is the rather preposterous tale of a Middle Eastern Sheik who is being wooed by different Wall Street Hedge Funds who want to get hold of his oil billions to invest.  High-flying broker Colin is despatched to charm the reluctant Emirate who is on the verge on signing up with a rival Firm. Colin knows that every man has a weakness (his own in meaningless sex with blonde bimbos) and he is determined to establish what his 'mark's' is and fulfill it, and thus win the lucrative account.

Turns out that the man who lives in the middle of the desert is a pigeon fancier, and if that is not ridiculous enough, he lusts after the World Champion Pigeon who is owned by a Belgian breeder who refuses to part with it, even for a kings ransom.  Colin declares he will do the seemingly impossible and obtain this precious bird and bag the account too.

Next stop is Flanders in Belgium and traveling under a false name and a convoluted story about looking for an the grave of an ancestor who had died there in World War 2, he worms his way into the local village to track down his prey without alerting anyone to his mission.  Pauwels the elderly Breeder has an attractive 30 something-year-old granddaughter called Isabelle, and Colin soon works out that the way to getting his hands on the pigeon is by getting his arms around the girl first.

He easily wins her heart but not Pauwels's, so when push comes to shove Colin has to revert to his usual mode of 'dirty tricks' in order to successfully blackmail the old man into selling the pigeon, and so naturally both Pauwels and Isabelle end up hating him.

Back in New York, and a happy Sheik signs away his billion dollar account, and Colin gets very rich from his fat bonus and promotion.  But despite this, he is totally miserable, and even his quick usual one-night stands are no longer doing it for him.  Colin is in love, and he knows that he will have to give up all his worldly trappings and undo his dirty deeds and get the wretched pigeon back if he is to get the girl in the final reel.  

This well-meaning and extremely predicable and somewhat silly tale will find an appreciative for one reason only.  It stars the Northern Ireland hunky heartthrob actor Jamie Dornan who is about to be elevated to the Hollywood 'A' List when the much-hyped '50 Shades of Grey' opens soon.  Dornan puts in a good performance but the whole thing is hardly a stretch for him or Charlotte De Bruyne his co-star.

Written and directed by an Oscar nominated filmmaker Dominique Deruddere, the movie was a smash hit when it opened in Belgium in April. We will however have to wait a while longer to see if Jamie really can make this wee film fly. 

★★★★★★