Review: Hacksaw Ridge

Runtime: 2hr 19min
Director: Mel Gibson
Release Date: 26th January 2017
Rating: 15 (UK), R (US)

The year's most talked about war epic, Hacksaw Ridge is a well-crafted biopic that Mel Gibson and cast should be proud of.

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Based on the story of Corporal Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) - the first conscientious objector to receive a medal of honor in the United States Army - Hacksaw Ridge is in absolutely no way a war film that makes conflict on the battlefield appear to be fun. A great failing of plenty of Vietnam/World War II war films out there, showing the enemy to be on one side of the battlefield being trounced by the 'heroes' on the other. This movie does not partake in this convention, and portrays outright horror throughout.

 

The storyline is broken into three main sections; Desmonds' early life and young romance, Desmonds' attempts to get enlisted in the army with much difficulty, and the battalions' assault upon Hacksaw Ridge in Okinawa. As the film progresses, it improves in quality. The first section is the only part of the film I can particularly criticise - insert forced, eye-rolling romance with lukewarm performances by Garfield and Teresa Palmer: Desmonds' love interest, Dorothy. 

 

What held the opening act together was the performance of Hugo Weaving, playing Tom Doss; Desmond's father. As a soldier in the Great War, Tom is absolutely opposed to his sons enlisting in the army, as he believes there is only death and destruction awaiting them if they were to fight in the army. Weaving is an excellent actor, and was cast very well in the role, presenting a broken man who lost those he loved through conflict. 

When the movie reaches full swing and Desmond is training to serve in battle, the film becomes more dramatic and begins to flow more smoothly, and introduces a surprisingly well cast Vince Vaughn as Sergeant Howell, while appearing as the comic relief of the film, actually puts together a crisp execution of his character. It was difficult to keep track of the different soldiers in the company however, as only a couple of these characters were particularly memorable. 

The best part of the film, the section which is truly Oscar worthy, is the assault upon the ridge. The direction is perfect; there is no hiding the brutality of the battlefield. As soon as the fight begins, there is no mercy as to what the viewer sees, there is no form of restraint on gore or cruelty at all, and the suspense and terror is kept consistent.

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Garfield's performance improved incredibly when the second act came into play, and the well cast company including Captain Glover (Sam Worthington) made the movie worth watching to such a level that the earlier sections of the film that I found quite mundane were completely removed from my mind. 

When the credits filled the screen, I found Hacksaw Ridge to be a touching yet vicious film which deserves all the credit it is getting. I could not recommend the movie more, although it is not for the faint-hearted. 

 9/10

Review: Jackie

Runtime: 1hr 40min

Director: Pablo Larraín

Release Date: 20th January 2017

Rating: 15 (UK), R (US)

Natalie Portman takes on the challenging role of beloved 60's First Lady Jackie Kennedy in the days leading up to the end of her Whitehouse stint. The script not particularly engaging, Jackie contained performances which were much to the contrary.

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A movie based upon Jackie Kennedy's life has seemingly infinite source material; any type of biopic about the Kennedy's would have so much detail due to the amount of research that has gone into JFK's assassination and life - however this movie managed to skip all of that and focus entirely on the week after JFK's death alone - when so much more about Jackie Kennedy's life as a whole could have been covered. 

As a result, Jackie is entirely based around planning President Kennedy's funeral - and not much else. The premise of the movie is the events of Kennedys' assassination and the events that followed being recounted by Jackie herself in a controlled press interview in the week following the execution that shook a nation.

Jackie (Natalie Portman), details her account of not only the day in question, but also the succeeding funeral plans, her removal from long-term home the Whitehouse, and the very public funeral itself - in which she received much criticism for her personal and political decisions, despite being the grieving widow left to shelter two children from a media frenzy. 

Throughout, her closeness with brother-in-law Bobby Kennedy (Peter Sarsgaard) is prominent; to the point where it became a bit of a two-man show. Both Sarsgaard and Portman can be commended on their performances, as can the remainder of the cast (for what little screen-time they had) - Portman in particular gave a show captivating to watch, with her vocal imitation almost perfection - despite speculation on its' authenticity due to its' husky, Marilyn-Monroe-esque perception. John Carroll Lynch (as President Lyndon B Johnson) was noteworthy also. Alongside this, it has to be said that the costume, makeup and overall styling was excellent too.

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However, with an almost-two-hour play-out of events that spanned just one week, it felt like Jackie was brimming with detail despite not actually having much real substance; the whole thing felt a bit uneventful for the chaos that it surrounded. Details that you would expect painted clearly for this movie (such as the arrest and public shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald) seemed entirely skimmed over - seemingly Jackie Kennedy's conversations with her interior designer (Richard E. Grant) and a priest (the late, great John Hurt) were deemed far more interesting by comparison.

Music and cinematography, whilst done quite well, were of no particular note, despite its' Oscar nomination for Best Original Score. Alongside this, Jackie's shortlistings' include well-deserved nominations for Costume Design and Best Actress in a Leading Role. Some beautifully detailed scenes became a tad lacklustre by the end, and a few in particular felt slightly mocking of true-to-life occurances.

Whilst the strength and intelligence of Jackie Kennedy were highlighted in this mediocre biopic, I can't help feeling it lacked depth where it churned out detail. A solid effort by Larraín, however not the masterpiece we all had hoped for.

6/10

Review: Lion

Runtime: 1hr 58min
Director: Garth Davis
Release Date: 20th January 2017
Rating: PG (UK), PG-13 (US)

Lion's cinematography and excellent pacing allows the film to tell a fully-fledged story based on a true-story; with great performances from child and adult actors alike.

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Garth Davis' debut feature-length film follows a story that takes place starting in 1986, where Saroo Brierley (Sunny Pawar, Dev Patel) finds himself, at five years old, trapped on a train which takes him 1,500 kilometres away from his family in India. Lost and struggling without a home in colossal city Calcutta, Saroo is taken to an orphanage and eventually adopted by Tasmanian couple John and Sue Brierley (David Wenham, Nicole Kidman) - only to find himself searching for his Indian family again after reaching adulthood. 

Due to the plot following a true story (adapted from novel 'A Long Way Home') - Lion's advantage is that it is not overly Hollywood - the characters are relatable and authentic, the progression of the narrative is natural, and the scenery is accustomed to fit the scenario.

The pacing of the film is almost perfect - the movie does not rush to get to the Dev Patel portion of the story with adult Saroo; the first 50 minutes of the film follows young Saroo's circumstances with his family before losing track of his home, and being taken in by the orphanage. The presentation that Sunny Pawar gives is touching, and the cinematography in this section truly shows just how lonely he is - wide shots of an entire empty train station with a minute figure of a child standing in the centre of shot being a good example.

I describe the pacing as "almost perfect" because the movie jumps through adult Saroo's life with little warning - for a plot that really took its' time to establish Saroo's feeling of detachment and disconnection, there was a great deal of glossing over important parts of adult Saroo's life - like the relationship he has with his adopted brother Mantosh (Divian Ladwa) and his girlfriend Lucy (Rooney Mara). The viewer is left to assume that Lucy and Saroo are a couple simply by how they spend lots of time together - and their relationship doesn't develop much during the movie. The issues Mantosh and Saroo have aren't rectified and this feels like a loose end when the film closes. 

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Since a lot of adult Saroo's story was not fleshed-out completely, the issues he faced with his family and his relationship gave off the atmosphere of manufactured drama for the purpose of making the film more interesting. If this was completely removed and Saroo set off to find his family without all of the commotion, the film would have felt hollow, yet if the plot was totally developed then this criticism would have not been necessary.

Dev Patel's performance is up-to-scratch - his reactions in attempting to find his home and how this puts pressure on his relationships are very human, and Nicole Kidman's execution was incredibly commendable. The star of the show was definitely Sunny Pawar (likely with the greatest amount of screen-time) but he managed to hold the viewer entertained despite being the only character on-screen for much of the film: a difficult task. With the aid of excellent camera shots and good writing, Pawar maintained the film with little-to-no dialogue, which is something even adult actors often find challenging.

Where many "true story" adaptation films fail with selecting a very difficult plot to convert into audience-friendly material, Lion triumphs in every way. There was no point during the movie where I found myself disinterested, and the runtime was a suitable length for the subject matter provided. 

Out of most Oscar contenders like La La Land and Manchester by the Sea, Lion is one I would most recommend along with Moonlight from what I have watched so far. I can see this film being likely overlooked, but it should really be a serious contender for cinematography and writing. In conclusion, Lion is an enjoyable and affecting film to watch, and despite being an underdog this awards season, I do hope it gets the recognition it deserves.

7.5/10

Review: Manchester by the Sea

Runtime: 2hr 17min
Director: Kenneth Lonergan
Release Date: 13th January 2017
Rating: 15 (UK), R (US)

Melancholy-inducing Manchester by the Sea's attempts to tell a passionate story of tragedy, loss, and the importance of family in times of struggle, fall short; all that felt received was a mediocre presentation with a lack of convincing portrayals.

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It is clear to see what Manchester by the Sea tried to achieve here; the plot follows the death of main character Lee Chandler's (Casey Affleck) brother, and his new-found guardianship of nephew, Patrick (Lucas Hedges) - Lonergan envisioned a hard-hitting movie  encapsulating real-life reactions to trauma, gripping the viewer until the bitter end.

The main storyline carries the predominant issue Lee faces - being left custody of his nephew after his brother, Joe (Kyle Chandler) dies from a heart condition. Lee is incredibly reluctant about this and spends plenty of screentime trying to palm off said nephew on others, and the ending is inconclusive as to how this issue can really be resolved.

The faults in Manchester by the Sea include an unjustified runtime, near-emotionless acting (particularly Affleck) and some rather odd pacing; flashbacks occur frequently - detailing Lee's past and why he moved away from Manchester - but these flashbacks have no indication of timing so it is often unclear whether each scene is a flashback or part of present day events. Affleck's performance is wooden on the most part; the majority of intended powerful moments fall short with Lee - a brooding loner - just being portrayed disinterested and expressionless; mundane to watch, to say the least.

Casting decisions were not entirely on form either - both Lee's ex wife Randi (Michelle Williams) and Joe's ex wife Elise (Gretchen Mol) looked very similar (and had uncanny styling) so, particularly in one certain scene where only the back of her head was visible, it was unclear which character we were seeing.

The film did have its merits however; the location the film is set in was an excellent directing choice; the scenery was beautifully shot at times, and the writing of the story was touching to an extent, were it not for poor execution. Manchester by the Sea did have some comical moments as well - especially during the first half an hour of the film. It was a let down that this dissipated throughout the film because it appeared as though the movie couldn't decide if it was entirely sombre or if it had light-hearted aspects despite a dark plot-line.

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The film succeeded in the sense that I did leave the cinema feeling melancholy - Affleck did display an on-screen presence of depression and angst; and there were times during the film that this did absolutely fit the tone, but not when there were attempts to show his compassionate side towards his nephew: which were key to the plot. 

Manchester by the Sea's greatest fault is that it is mostly uneventful and uninspiring, I never found myself enthralled or anticipating what was to come - only waiting on the movie end. How Casey Affleck won a Golden Globe for his performance I remain uncertain - but one can appreciate he made some semblance of effort with respect of the material given.

Lucas Hedges' depiction was of note; it is disappointing that the character of Patrick Chandler was written merely as a bratty teenager (with an injection of lothario and absence of empathy) waiting on Lee to ferry him around above all else; reduced to an irritating on-screen presence.

The film is at times a bore to watch, as some plotlines don't go anywhere (perhaps in an attempt to simulate lifelike events), but the premise of the movie is commendable and despite an inconclusive ending, Manchester by the Sea was not completely awful. 

5/10