Night
Moves
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Starring:
Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, Peter Sarsgaard
Running
time: 112mins
Three radical environmentalists blow up a hydroelectric dam and then must deal with the unintended consequences of their actions in Reichardt’s low-key thriller. It’s a great premise exploring the fine line between protest and criminality, and the film looks immaculate (courtesy of cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt). Somehow, though, it doesn’t work. In fact, I found a lot of Night Moves terribly clichéd, especially the characters. Fanning’s Dena is an archetypal rich-girl radical, Eisenberg’s Josh is “deep” and taciturn, while Sarsgaard is Harmon, a cynical, burnt-out marine. These are caricatures not characters, and I almost clicked the “off” switch the moment one of the other protesters started offering to “read people’s auras”. Satire is one thing but this just felt lazy. That said, I’m a stickler for strong endings and at least Night Moves delivers in that respect. Bit too late though.
Three radical environmentalists blow up a hydroelectric dam and then must deal with the unintended consequences of their actions in Reichardt’s low-key thriller. It’s a great premise exploring the fine line between protest and criminality, and the film looks immaculate (courtesy of cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt). Somehow, though, it doesn’t work. In fact, I found a lot of Night Moves terribly clichéd, especially the characters. Fanning’s Dena is an archetypal rich-girl radical, Eisenberg’s Josh is “deep” and taciturn, while Sarsgaard is Harmon, a cynical, burnt-out marine. These are caricatures not characters, and I almost clicked the “off” switch the moment one of the other protesters started offering to “read people’s auras”. Satire is one thing but this just felt lazy. That said, I’m a stickler for strong endings and at least Night Moves delivers in that respect. Bit too late though.
Rating:
W
Night Moves
is available now on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD
Lucy
Director: Luc Besson
Starring:
Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Min-sik Choi
Running
time: 89mins
For a film
about unlocking the vast potential of the human mind, Lucy is spectacularly dumb.
Built upon the apocryphal notion that we can only access 10 per cent of our
brain’s potential, Besson sets about showing us what might happen when that is
boosted tenfold. If we’re Johansson’s Lucy, it turns out we’d transform into
vengeful, superhuman killers, despatching an army of malicious foreigners as we
blaze a trail of destruction back to the door of the drug overlord who wronged
us. Having played the Black Window with distinction for a few years now,
Johansson could do this stuff in her sleep but still manages to impress;
bruised vulnerability early on, giving way to a kind of post-human glacial calm
in the film’s latter stages. It’s probably the final 15 minutes that is the
most rewarding here as Lucy’s brain power gets closer and closer to the magic
100 per cent and things take a turn for the weird. Yes, like a lot of Besson’s
films, it’s loud, flashy and utterly silly but if Lucy 2 opened tomorrow I’d almost
certainly buy a ticket.
Rating:
WW
Lucy is
available now on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD
Goodbye
to Language
Director:
Jean-Luc Godard
Starring: Héloïse Godet, Kamel Abdeli, Richard Chevallier
Running time: 70mins
Godard is arguably the most famous and celebrated French filmmaker in history. He pioneered the country’s Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) movement in the 1960s and is responsible for films widely regarded as classics on both sides of theAtlantic , such as Breathless and Alphaville. At the age
of 84 he’s still going strong and Goodbye to Language – a baffling but
beguiling visual poem about communication and relationships, starring his dog
Roxy(!) – was recently named film of the year by the influential and
prestigious US National Society of Film Critics, just pipping Boyhood. But
there’s a problem. The film was shot in 3D and, to understand and appreciate it
properly, really needs to be seen in that format, something that has proved tricky in the UK
Rating: WW
Starring: Héloïse Godet, Kamel Abdeli, Richard Chevallier
Running time: 70mins
Godard is arguably the most famous and celebrated French filmmaker in history. He pioneered the country’s Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) movement in the 1960s and is responsible for films widely regarded as classics on both sides of the
Rating: WW
Goodbye to Language is available now on DVD, Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray and Amazon Prime
Ratings
WWWW = Wonderful
WWW = Worthy
WW = Watchable
W = Woeful
