The Iron Lady (2011)

The Iron Lady

Year: 2011

Director: Phyllida Lloyd

Cast: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Alexandra Roach, Richard E. Grant

Before I begin my review….

                For the awards season, I am Team Meryl all the way.

Surely this is her year. Let’s face it, it’s about time. Streep received her first Academy Award nomination in 1979, won her first Academy Award in 1980 for Kramer vs. Kramer, was nominated again in 1982, won her second Academy Award in 1983 for Sophie’s Choice and since then has had another 12 nominations with no cigar. At 15, that’s more Academy Award nominations than anyone else in history. Katharine Hepburn comes second with nominations with a total of 12 nominations, yet Hepburn also has the record for most Academy Awards won with her 4.

                One thing you have to love about Streep is that she is completely consistent with her performances. She’s so versatile with her roles and even though she can do any role anybody will throw at her, she gives it 100% and never lets anyone down with her performance. Honestly, I can’t think of a movie she has even given a mediocre performance in let alone a bad performance. This is the actress every young hopeful should aspire to be like…but she is one of a kind, so don’t be too harsh on yourself if you’re not.

                Team Meryl all the way.

Review

                It is not often a magnificent performance such as that of Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady is witnessed, so it is such a shame that it is in a film as mediocre as this.

                Streep is amazing as once British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, but the same cannot be said about the production of the film. Director, Phyllida Lloyd has just tried to do too much with the film and tried too hard to make it a masterpiece. All Lloyd had to do really was just to go for a simple flow, with the same cinematography and Streep would have carried the rest herself.

                The Iron Lady documents ex British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher’s (Meryl Streep) rise to the top, her struggles whilst in power and the consequences of her dry ambition on her private life. We see the Thatcher of today who is still admired by so many people in Britain, yet continuously struggles with the loss of her husband, Dennis (Jim Broadbent) and with the feeling of detachment from her grown twins.

                The Iron Lady has the potential to be a great film. The life of Thatcher is very interesting, but the way which Lloyd has made the film jump around from past to present and in between just makes it messy and there is no smooth continuation.  The film loses momentum as a result and can be slightly dull and even annoying.

                One would also expect there to be times throughout the film where the audience would feel triumph for Thatcher, especially when she is elected prime minister even though she did not even believe there would be a female British prime minister in her lifetime. It is just rush, rush, rush so we can fit in the love and love loss story or her and Dennis into the same film. I’m sure especially the British would have preferred to have some overwhelming sense of national pride throughout the film.

                There are some great moments of cinematography throughout the film, but it is at such quick pace that it is sometimes hard to notice it. The silhouette shots of Thatchers profile are quite effective.

                However, the saving grace of the film is obviously Meryl Streep, who absolutely carries the film. This is one of her career best roles as she has everything about Thatcher perfected and her great case study into the role is extremely evident. She is particularly brilliant as the present day, older Thatcher and is heartbreaking when she is faced with the truth of the loss of her husband.

                Jim Broadbent, who is also another actor who is consistently at the top of his game, is also very good as Dennis Thatcher. He is a fitting partner to Streep on the big screen.

                Alexandra Roach plays the younger Margaret Thatcher and does a very good job at performing the transformation of the timid girl growing up to the confident new and sole female minister. It is a hard job to play a young Meryl Streep and you can tell the difference in ability when the film switches into Streep mode, but she does a good job nevertheless.

                One can only hope that the film doesn’t have too much of an effect on Streep’s award chances, because she surely does deserve with this role.

6.5/10

The Adventures of Tintin

The Adventures of Tintin

Year: 2011

Director: Steven Spielberg

Cast: Jamie Bell, Daniel Craig, Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost

Before I begin my review…

                Happy New Year to all Movie Critical readers and followers! Thank you for all your support in the past year. You all mean so much to us here. Here’s to another year of great movie viewing and a very exciting awards season in the next two months!

                I admit it, I really should have gone and read some Tintin comics before going to see The Adventures of Tintin.  I am actually surprised that I hadn’t, all my friends and my husband have. It was right in my generation’s youth.

                I have a sneaking suspicion I would have enjoyed The Adventures of Tintin more if I had read the comics.  I would have understood more of what Tintin is all about. He is all about the solving the mystery while having an adventure in the meantime. However, the mysteries and adventures aren’t meant to be complex. Tintin is really about the nice guy being the hero and appealing to the younger generation. What more should you expect than what Steven Spielberg gives us?

Review

                The Adventures of Tintin is a beautiful piece of animation, but will only completely satisfy those true Tintin fans and kids on their holidays.

                Steven Spielberg has really done a great job visually of bringing Tintin and his adventures alive in the present. However, those who are not fans of Tintin or above the age of 12 will find not quite get the way the film pans out and will find the film slightly tedious.

                Tintin (Jamie Bell) starts the film buying a model of the ship, The Unicorn and is immediately thrown into a world of mystery. Mr Sakharine (Daniel Craig) robs Tintin of his new model ship and when Tintin starts snooping further into why his new ship is of such great importance, he kidnaps him and boards him on the ship to Morocco. Tintin teams up with the drunken Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis), the original captain of the ship who’s crew Sakharine has made turn against. Together, Tintin and Haddock, along with Tintin’s trusty dog, Snowy, find out the importance of The Unicorn and work against the evil Sakharine.

                The Adventures of Tintin is absolute heaven for those who are familiar with the comic. It has exactly what the comics have. There is action and adventure and Tintin is the good guy everyone remembers him as being. The important thing to remember is that Tintin was created for children, and this movie is very much for children. It is simple and the humour is clean and slapstick.

                However, if you are not familiar with the comic, you may find this movie a little too simple and almost tedious. There are periods where not much happens besides adventurous action and the scenes just seem useless in the grand scheme of the film. It is during these scenes that you wish Tintin would just hurry up and get to where he should be and figure it all out.

                One thing that people of all ages can agree on is that the animation is just brilliant. Tintin has come a long way from being a pencil sketch. The attention to detail is just incredible. The visuals are something to be marvelled at all throughout the film. The Adventures of Tintin is one of those animated films you are watching and then halfway through you forget you actually are watching an animated film and not a live action film.

                All the voice actors do a good job. Jamie Bell isn’t bad, but he is overshadowed by the ever versatile Andy Serkis. Serkis changes his persona once again and his voice is unrecognisable throughout the film. Daniel Craig is quite similar in that it is hard to pick his voice at times and he does the villainous voice well. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are perfectly fun as Thomson and Thompson.

                The Adventures of Tintin is one not to be missed by Tintin fans and a great film to take children to over the break, but people outside those two groups will probably think of better films to see at this point in time.

7/10

New Year's Eve (2011)

New Year’s Eve

Year: 2011

Director: Garry Marshall

Cast: Hilary Swank, Sarah Jessica Parker, Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Lea Michelle, Michelle Pfeiffer, Zac Efron, Robert De Niro, Halle Berry, Josh Duhamel, Jessica Biel, Abigail Breslin, Jon Bon Jovi

Before I begin my review….

Wow, after I had written down the cast for New Year’s Eve, I thought to myself how impressive that list of actors really is.

There are a few Academy Award winners or nominees in that list, but those who aren’t…it is a who’s who of chick flicks really.  Sarah Jessica Parker is once again enjoying her time in New York City, Katherine Heigl plays the same film role she always does, Lea Michelle is belting out a tune and Zac Efron busts a move on the dance floor. Besides the winners/nominees circle where Hilary Swank, Robert De Niro, Halle Berry and Abigail Breslin belong, everyone is happy playing who they normally do.

My favourite thing about the movie? The bloopers reel. In my opinion, every comedy film should have a bloopers reel at the end. They just keep the laughs going right until the credits role. Honestly, some blooper reels are even funnier than the movies themselves. For the record if I was in a movie, my blooper reel would be like that of Halle Berry’s.

Review

What did British film Love, Actually start?

Garry Marshall has continued his 2010 film Valentine’s Day with this year’s New Year’s Eve. What is this film designed to do? Not much else than the collaboration of some big names for box office draw and create some sort of feeling of optimism. Other than that, it is a completely faulted film with more wrong with it than right.

New Year’s Eve follows the much used film technique of a number of stories being told over a particular time period with characters who’s lives all link in with each other. It is New Years Eve in New York City and everyone is trying to get through the night of nights in their own way. The night doesn’t end up the way any of the characters expect and there are tears, smiles, laughter and, of course, that elusive midnight kiss.

The best thing about New Year’s Eve is it does have a party atmosphere which makes everyone in the audience ready for the party season. However, the ball has to drop for this to be felt.

The first half of the film is incredibly boring and slow which will only prompt you to check your watch.  No suspense is felt and none of the subplots are really that interesting.  It is more of the same old, same old chick flick stories you see rolled into one with no time for any real emotion and any connection as the film darts from one story to the next. 

The script is very lack lustre and relies on the sparkly glitter and confetti to make the film fun and enjoyable.

For a comedy, there isn’t very many actually funny moments. The moments in the film which are supposed to be funny are more just very forced and the jokes are really quite old. The blooper reel at the end of the film is funnier than the majority of the film.

None of the characters have absolutely any depth to them and people will walk away asking questions about the background of them, as there are definitely questions there to be asked. For example, how is Sarah Jessica Parker’s character of Kim Zac Efron’s Paul’s sister? There is at least an age difference of 20 years there. Some explanation of the family dynamics there would have been nice.

Hilary Swank, who plays the vice president of New Year’s Eve proceedings in Times Square Claire Morgan, starts off shaky and a bit rubbishy, grows into her role towards the end, helped by Robert De Niro who plays her father. Halle Berry is also quite good as Nurse Aimee, although her role is really very brief. It’s also good to see Abigail Breslin growing into a woman and still holding onto her acting talents.

Michelle Pfeiffer’s Ingrid is so pathetic at times that she is just irritating and Efron is also completely irritating at times. Lea Michelle’s Elise seems like a whole lot of nothing besides a singing voice and her and Ashton Kutcher have absolutely no screen chemistry.

Katherine Heigl is once again, just Katherine Heigl.

New Year’s Eve is, if nothing else, relevant for this time of the year. Completely unmemorable and trying a bit too hard to be everything it’s un named predecessors were.

3.5/10