THE TOWN
Ben Affleck is back – both behind and in front of the camera. Following his success with Gone Baby Gone (2007), the actor-turned-director has finally found his niche (I damn well hope so; I can’t stand anymore shitty Kevin Smith comedies like Jersey Girl - 2004).
The Town is the story of a thief, Doug MacRay, (Ben Affleck) who falls in love with one of his victims, Claire (Rebecca Hall) – and she doesn’t know he is her aggressor. From there on a complex web of lies spiral in order to keep Affleck’s character in the clear and the policeman portrayed by Jon Hamm on track with his case to bust MacRay and his gang.
The main point to make here is that this is a movie that has a lot of robust structure. The story is solid, the style consistent and the acting does not look half bad. So far so good.
It borrows its style from Martin Scorsese’s The Departed (2006), which, as with all movies borrowing elements from other releases, risks copy-pasting rather than (re)inventing. It contains action and emotion, for once balance each other off well. It’s not too Seagal-esque and avoids the mushy Jennifer-Aniston-tradition of pathetic romance.
The setting in Massachusetts is predictable for this director, but works in his advantage. There’s always something to dig into when it comes to Irish-Americans. The simple title works extremely well and gives it a bit of a mystery feel to it. Something every movie should strive for.
The one thing that surprised and annoyed me from the initial viewing of the trailer was the misleading set-up. Only towards the end of the 3 minutes do you get told that MacRay is actually Claire’s attacker. That puts the entire film in a different perspective all of a sudden, and does not work.
Rather than taking me by surprise as it should have, I felt disappointed as the trailer suddenly turned poor, confusing and ineffective. I don’t mind getting surprised along the way, but here it took me right out of the mood and put the whole story in perspective. So much so, that I had to go back to view it again, so I could figure if I felt like watching the movie itself. I felt deceived and robbed of 2.5 minutes. Oh the infuriation!
In fact, one might be tempted to ask:
Could the trailer be the ruin of the film?
UK release date: 24th September 2010
CERTIFIED COPY
Abbas Kiarostami’s latest feature once more employs Juliette Binoche as protagonist. Her character meets a man (opera-singer-turned-actor William Shimell) in Tuscany and they start pretending they are married - and suffering the consequences for it.
Kiarostami’s previous feature, Shirin (2008), saw several people leave the cinema at the BFI with half an hour of it (at least in the screening I attended). And I must admit, I am not sure I liked it myself, despite being an avid fan of his since I was nine. Shirin was gobbledygook (not artistic) and not as emotional as his earlier masterpieces. So I am understandably quite sceptical about this one.
The fact that he is collaborating with Binoche again suggests to me that their relationship might turn Woody-Allen-esque, in the sense that he’ll attach himself to an actress (read: muse) for X amount of time and only to move on to the next. It’s a relationship I usually don’t mind but that I can only recommend with caution. After a while, nobody wants to O.D on either director, or actor.
Given the story though, I am quite intrigued to see what the director has made of it. Correct me if I am wrong, but this is Kiarostami’s first movie set outside of Iran. I dare even declare the story is very European, to be precise. This is most visible when Shimell’s character informs Binoche that the “meaning of life is to have fun”. It is quite frankly not an Iranian subject (I am half-Iranian myself; it’s not what the people preoccupy themselves with). Given that basis I can only speculate as to how Kiarostami’s mysterious style will translate.
As far as the trailer goes, the graphics suck the life and magic out of this otherwise decent piece of editing. It adds to the European, even North American, style this movie adopts (I presume). Perhaps the layout of the trailer is to demonstrate that Kiarostami is capable of crossing geographical boundaries with his film-making (not that I ever had any doubt!), but they don’t contribute in the way intended. If anything it interrupts the flow of film. It would have been just enough with the reviews; they would have served their purpose just fine on their own – their purpose being to enhance the break and change of mood halfway in.
Indeed, this alteration in mood works well. It keeps the viewer’s attention and intrigues them further. It reminds the viewer that they are watching a trailer for a motion picture and it bloody works! As for what we should expect…
Que sera, sera.
UK release date: 3rd September 2010
SALT
The very successful release of Salt (2010) in the US makes me think this will either be a hit or miss in British cinemas. But more hit than miss.
The story goes as such: FBI agent Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) goes on the run after being accused of being a Russian spy. And with a simple plot like that, you can’t expect anything but a simple trailer, right?
Exactly.
No surprises, no unorthodox elements – it’s all pretty much straight down the line. In the most traditional style possible, we’re laid out the plot as it is within 30 seconds. Then follows two-and-a-half minutes of car-chasing, wall-jumping, hair-dying, gun-shooting action not suitable for kids.
The identity story is well-played; it’s easy and straightforward. There’s no messing about and Jolie looks in top form. In fact, it’s quite exciting to see her back on our big screens again. This is her first film in two years, and the first once since Changeling (2008) that we might be able to take somewhat seriously (I mean Wanted (2008) -really?).
The nice thing about Salt is that it centres a woman as protagonist and it deals with a fugitive. Like – an actual woman running from men who won’t believe her story. Thelma & Louise (1991) ring a bell?
It’s going to be very interesting to see how they play the “woman-card”, especially since the trailer definitely does not focus on it or even lean towards it. No indication of any kind of female vengeance or quest for equality or anything like that. Seems like a missed opportunity to me. Sure, she kicks ass, but we’ve seen it all before (Kill Bill (2003-04), The Long Kiss Goodnight (1997) – even the Lord of the Rings (2001-03) trilogy plays on it). What a shame.
However, the one thing I must say is this: as far as action-thrillers go, this looks like a great contender against The Expendables and The A-Team (both 2010).
What a silly name to have though.
UK release: 20th August 2010
Louise-Afzal Faerkel
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