Paddington

Paddington was a huge part of my childhood. I had just always hoped that no one was going to mess with him and turn him into a film star or anything. Suppose you can’t have everything. At least he’s no longer going to have Colin Firth’s voice, which really would have been too much.

Initially the plot is good, they haven’t strayed from the whole family finding a talking teddy bear in a train station idea which is good and they’ve added a clever back story in Darkest Peru as well. As a Paddington aficionado I didn’t expect to like that but I did.

When an earthquake destroys their idyllic life in Darkest Peru, Paddington (Ben Whishaw) stows away on a boat bound for London whilst his Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) heads for the notorious Home for Retired Bears.

Then he is rescued from Paddington railway station by the Browns (Sally Hawkins and Hugh Bonneville) and moves in at 32 Windows Gardens, where Mrs Bird (Julie Walters) is the housekeeper and next door is the legendary Mr Curry (Peter Capaldi). So far so good. He is introduced to Mr Gruber (Jim Broadbent) at his antique shop on the Portobello Road, presumably they have elevenses, and his first attempt at having a bath is predictably a disaster. 

Which is where things start to go a bit awry. Paddington seems to have an out of body experience as he virtually destroys the Brown's home. They may not have messed so much with Paddington himself but maybe they have with his mind.

Paddington himself is excellent. His expressions and mannerisms are spot on, an unfailingly polite bear at heart, although only one hard stare all film is a bit unrealistic. 

Then there’s all this palaver with Millicent the taxidermist (Nicole Kidman) who is determined to stuff the bear and put him in a glass box at the Natural History Museum. What’s that all about and why? Pointless and unnecessary. For some reason there is always an urge to turn every film into an action movie. Kidman herself seems to have misread the script as she looks and behaves more like a dominatrix than a taxidermist and I haven’t even mentioned Hugh Bonneville’s cross dressing. Then again, what’s Christmas without a touch of pantomime?

Still, it’s an excellent effort in bringing Paddington into the 21st century, whether he wanted to be in the 21st century or not and there are many references to Michael Bond's books for those who are paying attention.

Before I Go To Sleep

Christine Lucas (Nicole Kidman) not only wakes up every day with no memory of the events of the previous day but she also wakes up alongside Colin Firth. Yes the girl has problems. Just when she’d thought she’s got over the Railway Man, here he is again.

Every morning she looks across at Firth, looks confused and maybe a bit pissed off before heading off to the bathroom where she is confronted with a wall of photographs. These are of herself and of herself with Ben (Firth) including several of their wedding.

Back in the bedroom, Ben confirms the whole horrible truth. Yes, she is married to Firth, again, and what’s worse is she can’t even remember doing it.

Well actually it’s worse than that, she has no recollection of the last twenty years. Which might appeal to some people but does seem a bit inconvenient.

Ben goes on to explain that she’d had an accident and can now no longer retain memories, then he buggers off to work and her doctor (Mark Strong) rings her. He tells her that she has been recording herself on a video camera to help remember things. Each day she’ll start to piece things together until it's time for bed again... and they’ll all be gone again.

Problem is he has to tell her where she’s hidden it. This incident, hiding the camera from her husband, sort of gives the plot twist away in the first ten minutes and undermines what is to come.

Her doctor gradually helps her unravel the mental mist and she also meets up with an old college friend Claire (Anne-Marie Duff) who disappeared from her life under somewhat dubious circumstances as the films builds to a somewhat grisly finale.

It's an odd but quite good film with a lot of ‘hang on but...’ moments. The overall premise is intriguing but ultimately once you’ve grasped that the film on the whole disappoints and peters out at the end. Kidman is again excellent though, Strong is good and Firth is, well, Firth. Probably a bit out of his comfort zone to be honest but he copes well enough.

A Most Wanted Man

A Most Wanted Man, from a novel by Jon le Carre and directed by Anton Corbijn, is set in Hamburg. Hamburg being the city where the September 11 attacks were planned and a city in a state of constant high alert ever since. Gunther Bachmann (Philip Seymour Hoffman) leads a small anti-terrorism unit there who are tasked with monitoring the local Muslim community.

When Chechen immigrant Issa Karpov (Grigoriy Dobrygin) arrives in the city suspicions are aroused and he quickly comes under scrutiny from both Bachmann’s unit and the local German authorities who have a hotline to the American security services.

Issa is put in touch with Annabel Richter (Rachel McAdams), an idealistic lawyer specialising in asylum seekers, and tells her he is entitled to a significant inheritance which is held in a Hamburg bank.

Bachmann moves in and cleverly manipulates Issa, Richter and Tommy Brue (Willem Dafoe) the CEO of the Hamburg Bank. Together they lead him to Mohammad Abdullah (Homayoun Ershadi), a man who supports Muslim charities but is also suspected of supporting terrorist organizations through a shipping company in Cyprus. In return he promises to protect everyone from the authorities, a promise he probably can’t keep.

Bachmann himself is a highly unkempt figure who seems to survive purely on cigarettes, whiskey and coffee but he knows his job. Unfortunately while Bachmann is content for Issa, Abdullah and co to gradually lead him to the bigger fish, the Americans are far more impatient and send in the cold calculating Martha Sullivan (Robin Wright) to move things along. Bachmann manages to keep them at arm’s length for a while whilst he sets up his operation.

Given the chance to donate Issa’s inheritance to who he sees fit, Abdullah can’t resist syphoning some off to his shipping company and Bachmann knows his trap has been a success. Unfortunately his honourable intentions to all concerned will be thwarted when the American led authorities wade in.

A Most Wanted Man is a stylish, sophisticated thriller with no explosions, car chases or any such clichéd shenanigans. All we have is an insight into a rather subtle espionage game and it’s rather good because of that.

Sadly it was the last film that Philip Seymour Hoffman made before his sudden death earlier this year but at least it’s a good one to remember him by. Hoffman simply propels this film along although he is ably assisted by an excellent supporting cast. He will be missed.