Red Sparrow

Tonight we go see Red Sparrow, a spy thriller which has attracted a lot criticism. This allegedly perverse ‘15’ certificate film has been accused of being both violently and sexually perverse with woman beaten and raped seemingly at will by powerful men.

I must admit that I have been a little surprised by this reaction but then I think I was possibly too busy being annoyed at how they'd made a complete hash out of a decent book which was written by former CIA operative Jason Matthews.

Perhaps I need to re-watch it to see what I missed but I do remember they’d left out the hair brush scene (thankfully). That would have caused even more of a stir.

The story goes like this. Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) was a ballerina at the Bolshoi whose promising dancing career was ended by injury. Sadly her dancing also funded the care for her ailing mother.

Not to worry, her uncle Ivan (Matthias Schoenaerts), who works in Russian intelligence, offers her work to help her get by. It is just a small favour he requires, for her to be the honey in a trap that is to be sprung on a Russian politician. She does the favour and does a rather good job, although it probably goes a little bit further than she would have hoped. Then just as the politician is having his way with her, he is murdered.

Unfortunately she’s now in a bit of a pickle because she’s seen too much. She is told she can either die or start working for Russian intelligence herself. Tough choice that.

So her uncle sends her off to Sparrow School where Matron (Charlotte Rampling) teaches the recruits to use the skills of sexual seduction to get what they want from the enemy.

Once graduated, Dominika is sent to Budapest to meet her target, Nate Nash (Joel Edgerton), who works for the CIA and knows the identity of a Russian mole known as Marble. However, Nash quickly sees through her and the long and short of it is that he persuades her to become a double agent.

I was a fan of the book even though it was at times convoluted and hard to follow, so a simplification was required for it to work as a film and that doesn't happen. In fact what we have here is an even more convoluted plot.

The other problem is where is the seduction? There’s a total lack of chemistry between the two agents. For someone supposedly trained in seduction, Dominika doesn’t pull any tricks out of the locker for him. In the book they have a conflicted relationship due to the nature of their jobs but a relationship nonetheless, here they eventually have a quick bonk. It's not quite the same and where was the swimming race? That was one of my favourite bits.

Instead the script seems to demand that all the Russians must be portrayed as ice men and ice maidens. So Lawrence goes through the entire film wearing only one expression, one of indifference, while Edgerton goes about attempting to be the all American hero.

In fact Lawrence seems hugely miscast in this but then so too are the likes of Charlotte Rampling, Jeremy Irons, Joely Richardson and Ciaran Hinds. Were there no genuine Russian actors available the weekend that they did the casting?

There is also no back story to the Russian mole which was pivotal to the original story, instead the film just seems overloaded with violence. It’s all deeply disappointing.

This would have made a wonderful independent flick or even a mini series but Hollywood completely wrecked this one.

Joy

You would perhaps think that making a film about the woman who invented the Miracle Mop wouldn’t be a very good idea? Well, you’d be right. However we didn’t know this before we saw the film ‘Joy’ with its stellar cast, well respected director and hints of award nominations in the offing. So perhaps they’d somehow woven a silk purse out of a sow’s ear (or whatever the saying is)? Nope.

The film is based on the life of Joy Mangano, she of the mop. It reunites the director and half the cast of the decent ‘Silver Linings Playbook’. It also seems to reassemble almost the same dysfunctional family. Actually this one takes dysfunctional up several notches. In this Joy (Jennifer Lawrence) has to deal with a houseful of kids only some of which are children.

Always an inventor at heart Joy creates her mop and tries to sell it on QVC. It’s initially a disaster when the salesman messes up his sales pitch but the mop gets the blame. Then QVC head honcho Neil Walker (Bradley Cooper) reluctantly allows Joy to promote the mop herself. Cue instant success.

Unfortunately Joy is being shafted by her parts supplier and every sale of the mop is losing her money. Her unsympathetic dysfunctional (but seemingly rich) family want the money they have lent her back and financial ruin is just around the corner.

If the focus has been more on the financial shenanigans behind this story then we might have been onto a more interesting film because after an irritating ninety minutes that lead us to her bankruptcy, Joy tracks down the gangster who is head of the parts company. In a brief two minute meeting with a man we've never seen on screen before she hits him with a load of information that we haven’t been party to and that we haven’t seen her collect but it is such powerful stuff that it makes this man back down and give her all her money back. That should have been the film. Unfortunately by then we no longer cared as we all just wanted to get our coats and go home.

What we are left with is a film where both the plot and script are very weak. If Lawrence is going to continue to complain that top female actresses don’t get paid as much as top male actors then her first move should be to get herself a new agent. Plus if she wants to be a feminist and make a film about female empowerment, this isn’t it. 

It turns out this was barely Mangano’s story anyway. The real the Joy Mangano went to university and had a degree in business administration. I hope they’ve apologised to her.

American Hustle

The director David O Russell has produced two of the best films of recent times in the

'The Fighter' and 'Silver Linings Playbook'. He must have been happy with the performances he got from his cast in those films because for his latest ‘American Hustle’ he seems to have merged his lead actors and actresses from those two films.

American Hustle is set in the late 70's or perhaps the early 80's and features seasoned con man Irving Rosenfeld (an unrecognisable Christian Bale), a man with a really bad comb-over. Along with his con lady and lover Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), he cons the desperate men who come to him for loans.

 

Unfortunately they get caught out by FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). DiMaso offers them a choice of jail or collaboration. He wants their assistance in taking down a host corrupt congressmen and casino barons. They agree, reluctantly.

Their way in is though the mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner), although ‘Irv’ feels uneasy about conning a man he soon develops a good friendship with. He has another problem as well, namely his loose cannon of a wife Rosalyn (the delightful Jennifer Lawrence). There’s not much love between them but they stay together, loosely speaking, for the sake of their son. She appears highly likely to blow their cover at any point and eventually does.

The plot is loosely based on the Abscam scandal and is great fun through although possibly hard to follow at times basically because there’s an awful lot going on. There are plethora of plot twists and turns amongst the back stabbing, double dealing etc but even if you can’t follow the story, sit back and enjoy the characters. The film delivers a wonderful array of personalities delivered with some very fine acting.

A lot of the audience seemed to find the whole film LOL funny. I didn't think that, a few smiles maybe and Amy Adams’ dress raised a chuckle or two, in a neckline plunging to the floor sort of way.

Not a perfect film but impressive enough I’m sure to bag a few awards this year.

Catching Fire

After their contentious dead heat in the 74^th Hunger Games, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) embark on an equally contentious victory tour. This is welcomed like a dose of the plague by the masses in the oppressed districts. That’s not to say The Capitol, their oppressive government, won’t be sending the plague round next week on a tour of its own because that’s the sort of thing they do.

Katniss and Peeta are still pretending to be in love, for the cameras and in the interest of good PR. Things are actually a bit frosty between them and sometimes they even have to pretend that they like each other at all. Peeta’s well into her of course but she’s supposed to be a teenage girl, so he should know he’s not going to get a straight answer.

If Peeta thinks Katniss has become a bit of a problem for him, then that’s nothing compared to the problem she’s causing the government. Her victory at the last Games has turned her into a beacon of hope for the districts and many are showing signs of revolt.

Of course when anyone shows any sort of rebellious streak, no matter how small, they are usually beaten to death by the men in white armour but the film quickly cuts away from these barbaric attacks. This is a family rated 12A you know. 

Amongst the beatings and floggings, the authorities save a big one for the other corner of our little love triangle of indifference, namely Gale (Liam Hemsworth).

I wonder if Katniss would have been more up for a tumble with him if he hadn't been called Gale? Would Peeta have had more luck himself if he’s simply call himself Pete? So many questions. Although what we really want to see is the two of them slugging it out to the death over the girl. What we get instead is the next instalment of the Hunger Games.

As you will know by now the Hunger Games are basically It’s a Knockout done North Korean style. The next edition, the 75^th, promises to be a big one because it’s also something called a Quarter-quell where they can be more evil than usual. This time they choose to force past victors back into the arena, going back on their promise to the winners that they would be exempt for life.

As the only ever female victor from District 12 Katniss gets a bye through the selection process, the lucky girl. Peeta has to fight it out via a drawing of lots with good old Haymitch (Woody Harrelson). Haymitch wins but Peeta pushes him aside, volunteering in his place and so Haymitch again acts as their mentor. Effie is there again too attempting to build team spirit.

As we meet the other contenders, all past victors, JL gets out sex appealed by a naked, from the back, Johanna Mason (Jena Malone). That’s what an Oscar win does for you, makes you a bit too conservative.

The games start and the Capitol cross their fingers, hoping for anything but a Katniss victory, they’d even take Petta back as long as someone gets rid of that annoying girl.

The players are sent to stand on pedestals in the middle of a lake which itself is surrounded by jungle. What awaits them are tribute eating baboons, tidal waves, poison fog, lightning, and firstly, most terrifying of all... swimming. I’m being serious here, that would have been my worst nightmare, having to dive in and all.

Quickly it becomes apparent that there’s a flaw in the Capitals plan as regards getting rid of our bow and arrow toting Filly because a large chunk of the tributes have been told to work as domestiques, to cull a cycling term, on her behalf. Only no one tells her and I shouldn’t really have told you because it’ll probably spoil the film for you.

So there’s less slaughtering each other than usual and what deaths there are usually happen off screen, come on as I said it’s a 12A, but you do get them having nice friendly coffee mornings whilst working out how to dodge the next tidal wave etc.

Peeta temporarily dies after not looking where he was going and walking into an invisible force field but he is revived by rival tribute Finnick. Which pisses Katniss off no end, saving Peeta was her job.

The elderly Mags gallantly sacrifices herself in the toxic fog but we haven’t been told terribly much about her or any of this new batch of tributes, so we aren't troubled too much. We do care slightly more about what happens to Johanna obviously because we have at least seen her bare bottom.

It’s all good 12A slaughtering fun and I enjoyed it but it’s also all a bit of a recycling job, as the plot isn’t very far removed from the first one. So if you liked that, you'll like this. Although unlike the first one it doesn’t really have an ending, it just stops. I wonder if there’s another sequel coming...