Your Week In Film: Dog Eat Dog, Divines, and Ghostbusters (November 21-27)

Barking mad: Dafoe, Cage and Cook in Dog Eat Dog

A critical breeze through this week's most notable new films on DVD, Blu-ray, VOD and TV...

No one - not even Guy Ritchie - makes films like Dog Eat Dog (VOD and cinemas) WW½ any more and, while that may be a good thing, there's still plenty to enjoy in Paul Schrader's blackly comic and irredeemably scuzzy crime caper.

Coming off like one of those post-Reservoir Dogs flicks from the '90s in which mismatched villains talk shit and murder people with impunity, this sees three struggling ex-cons - Nicolas Cage, Willem Dafoe and Christopher Matthew Cook - running into big trouble when, desperate to make one last big score before fleeing to Hawaii, they become involved in a plot to kidnap a baby. Suffice to say they screw it up completely but, just as I thought the film was heading into Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead territory, it pivoted rather nicely in an entirely different direction.

No, our three Reservoir Idiots aren't undone by a vengeful criminal kingpin but by their own paranoia, stupidity and incompetence. If anything, then, Dog Eat Dog could be read as a rebuke to those earlier movies - there are no colourful characters spouting pithy one liners here, just a trio of sociopathic fools on the road to nowhere good. These are deeply dysfunctional men for whom even conducting a simple one-night stand with willing partners proves impossible.

The tone is set early on with Dafoe's character Mad Dog as he murders an old flame and her teenage daughter (his daughter too, I think). Although the scene is monstrously comic, complimented by some smart visuals, you immediately realise this is not a man with whom you can easily empathise. Despite his character's cartoonish traits, Dafoe is the pick of the leads. Mad Dog is a psychopath who is fully aware of that fact and likes it not one bit. And yet, despite that self-knowledge and resultant self-loathing, he carries on shooting and stabbing regardless.

Schrader - a celebrated writer/director who, lest we forget, penned the screenplays for Taxi Driver and Raging Bull - has said of his new movie: “I’ve been fortunate over my career to be involved in some important and prestigious films. Dog Eat Dog is not one of them.” For all its faults, you should take that as a recommendation.

Ruff justice: Schrader's crime caper is blackly comic

Say what you like about Netflix but its original film programming really does have something for everybody. Hard on the heels of 13th (Ava DuVernay's documentary about the mass-incarceration of black men in the US) and True Memoirs Of An International Assassin (a Kevin James "comedy"), comes Divines (available now) WWW.

First-time director Uda Benyamina's French-language film focuses on Dounia (Oulaya Amamra), an ambitious young woman embracing criminality in a bid to transcend her rotten life on a Parisian estate. She and her BFF Maimouna (Déborah Lukumuena) begin working for local drug dealer Rebecca (Jisca Kalvanda) but things become complicated when Dounia falls for dancer Djigui (Kevin Mischel). Spotting the chance to escape her increasingly fraught existence, Dounia decides to take a big risk when Rebecca sends her to retrieve money she is owed by a rival.  

I'm not sure I've seen a better performance this year than the one 20-year-old Amamra gives as Dounia. A feisty, fiery ball of aggression, ambition and desperation, she lights up Divines like a sunrise. The scene in which Dounia finally decides to quit school amidst a massive row with a teacher trying to initiate her in the arcane ways of the job interview is funny, brutal and disturbing. Dounia's desire for "money, money, money" is perhaps crass but perfectly understandable when she and her alcoholic mother know nothing but struggle.

Lukumuena and Kalvanda are similarly excellent, while Benyamina brings some real directorial flair to proceedings, especially in a sequence when Dounia and Maimouna drive an imaginary Ferrari on their estate, and later on when Dounia lies in a bath full of money like she's in a gangster version of American Beauty.

All that said, Divines isn't perfect. It's a bit uneven, has a tendency to lurch headlong into melodrama (especially in its final act) and is full of, if not clumsy, then certainly fairly obvious metaphor (dancing is freedom and escape). Amamra's performance - her film debut - makes it a real must-see though.

Simply Divine: Oulaya Amamra's astonishing debut

This week's biggest home entertainment releases are probably The BFG and Ghostbusters (both out today on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD). The former - directed by Steven Spielberg - boasts some remarkable visuals and a bravura turn from Mark Rylance in the title role, but is ultimately a somewhat ponderous affair that sands down too many of Roald Dahl's spiky storytelling edges and replaces what's left with treacle and cosiness. Even the denizens of Giant's Island - Fleshlumpeater and Childchewer amongst them - are little more than big, ugly bullies rather than the malicious, monstrous creatures they really needed to be. WW

Meanwhile, Ghostbusters might not be a patch on the beloved '80s original but with Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, The Heat) in the director's chair, Parks & Recreation's Katie Dippold on script duties and Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig leading the cast, it's more than just another pointless remake. In fact, there's a real sense of joy to this female-centric blockbuster that had me smiling from beginning to end, and laughing out loud on at least a couple of occasions. WWW  

High spirits: Ghostbusters returns after 30 years

There's an awful lot of other stuff worthy of your attention this week but, lest this column turn into an unwieldy epic, all I can spare them is a quick mention. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt star as a couple battling to save their marriage in the underrated By The Sea (from today, 20:00, Sky Cinema/NOW TV) WWW. Jolie wrote and directed the film and, considering recent events, you can't help wonder if she was trying to tell us something. Cracking Aussie horror The Babadook (Tonight, 21:00, Film4) WWW½ features a superb turn from Essie Davis as a frazzled, grieving mum, with Noah Wiseman only slightly less perfect as her disturbed young son. Leonardo DiCaprio finally won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in The Revenant (from Friday, 11:45 and 20:00, Sky Cinema/NOW TV) WW½ but Emmanuel Lubezki's cinematography is the real star. Hunt For The Wilderpeople (VOD, from Friday) WWW is a very funny and utterly charming odd-couple comedy from New Zealand directed by Taika Waititi, who gave us What We Do In The Shadows. And finally, don't miss A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (from Sunday, Amazon Prime Video) WWWW which was one of my favourite films of last year. If you think you've seen every kind of vampire film imaginable... think again.

Go Wild in the country: Sam Neill's aim is true

What I shall be watching this week: South Korean horror film The Wailing on VOD (from Friday), Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them at the cinema with the kids and, on Blu-ray, the newly-restored Napoleon, Abel Gance's silent classic from 1927.

Ratings

WWWW - Wonderful

WWW - Worthwhile

WW - Watchable

W - Woeful

The Last 5 Films I've Seen

Read all about it: Godard's hugely influential debut

Every week I watch a bunch of movies then write about five of them here. Some are films I've never seen before, some are old favourites I'm watching for the umpteenth time, others are pictures I've maybe seen once but haven't been entirely convinced by. From Buñuel to Bay, I'm happy to give anything a chance... 

1. À Bout De Souffle (1960): Jean-Luc Godard ushered in the French New Wave with this ridiculously cool and hugely influential homage to Hollywood gangster films. Jean-Paul Belmondo is Michel: handsome, cocksure, stylish and a shit of legendary proportions. On the run in Paris, the murderer/thief/liar/womaniser plans to flee to Rome if only he can collect the money he is owed by a criminal acquaintance and persuade old flame Patricia (the radiant Jean Seberg) to go with him. Despite its dark subject matter (Michel shoots and kills a policeman in the first five minutes), À Bout De Souffle is light on its feet, fully living up to its anglicised title – Breathless – as Godard ups the pace with deliberately jarring jump cuts, and Michel and Patricia flit from Parisian landmark to seedy bolt-hole, staying just one step ahead of the gendarmerie. Unfortunately, when you live your life on fast forward, it's likely to end sooner rather than later... Rating: WWWW

French bliss: À Bout De Souffle

2. NEDS (2010): Set in 1970s Glasgow, writer/director Peter Mullan's hard-hitting film tells the story of John McGill (Conor McCarron), a bright, studious schoolboy who is slowly dehumanised by exposure to bullying teachers, violent street gangs and familial friction. His transformation is heartbreaking as he goes from a boy who has his head permanently buried in a book to one who thinks nothing of almost killing a school-mate who had previously bullied him. Although McGarron is excellent and reminded me at times of a young Ray Winstone, the problem is that I never quite bought into the way in which John devolves into one of the Non-Educated Delinquents of the title almost overnight. I suspect the idea is that McGill – having reached an emotional and mental critical mass – has suffered some kind of breakdown, but the sudden, massive behaviourial shift just doesn't quite ring true. It's like the real McGill has been replaced by an alien doppelganger or evil clone. That said, the film's point – that a brutal society produces brutal, brutalised people – is a very powerful one. Mullan – a fine actor who you may recall from the likes of War Horse and Tyrannosaur – proves adept as both writer and director, adding some inspired images and storytelling flourishes, none more so than John's bizarre and hilarious punch-up with Jesus Christ. Rating: WWW

Glasgow kiss: Peter Mullan's brutal NEDS

3. Black (2015): Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are two Belgian film-makers well on their way to the big time. This, their debut feature, brought Hollywood to their door and the pair were quickly handed directing duties on Snowfall – a TV pilot for US cable network FX – and Eddie Murphy's return to the big screen in Beverly Hills Cop 4. Black is the story of two immigrant street gangs in the Brussels district of Molenbeek: the Congolese Black Bronx and the Moroccan 1080s. But what happens when – West Side Story style – a Black Bronx girl falls for a 1080s boy? Nothing good is the answer. It's a very slick and hard-hitting piece of work, full of powerful, perfectly composed images (the final shot is an absolute doozy), while night-time Brussels – all shimmery neon and foreboding shadows – is like something straight out of a pop video. The two leads – Martha Canga Antonio and Aboubakr Bensaihi – are both newcomers and sell their budding relationship perfectly. That said, whilst Black may have been compared to Mathieu Kassovitz's masterful La Haine, it doesn't contain enough of that film's charm, humanity or political edge. Many of the characters – especially the members of Black Bronx – are portrayed as little more than savages, most notably during a gang-rape (the film contains two such scenes) which is a truly unpleasant mix of the horrifying and the crassly titillating. Rating: WW½

Kiss Kiss Gang Gang: Black is compelling but flawed

4. Scouts Guide To The Zombie Apocalypse (2015): We've had zombies versus cockneys, strippers, Santa Claus and plants, so I suppose it was only a matter of time before the undead got around to menacing boy scouts. Surprisingly, though, this is a lot of fun: a great big dumb gross-out comedy with the odd gory thrill chucked in for good measure. The plot couldn't be more basic: for some reason or other, there's a zombie outbreak and three teenage scouts – plus their gun-toting, abundantly-chested stripper pal – are caught up in the middle of it. The gags are uniformly crass, almost all obsessed with genitalia and boobs, but at least have the decency to raise a chuckle or two. Among the hackneyed George A Romero homages, there's a sliver of the anarchy Dan O'Bannon brought to bear in 1985's The Return Of The Living Dead, including one genuine 'WTF Have I Just Seen?' moment. Rating: WW

Dead good: Scouts Guide is hilariously crass

5. The BFG (2016): I'd have probably liked Steven Spielberg's rather ponderous movie a whole lot more if I hadn't, only a couple of years ago, reacquainted myself with the brilliant Roald Dahl story upon which it is based. Like most of the late writer's tales, The BFG – a story of friendship between a lonely giant and the young orphan girl he kidnaps – is shot through with savage black humour, the inventiveness and daffiness of its language concealing something both raw and disturbing. Spielberg's film, on the other hand, sands down too many of those spiky edges and replaces what's left with treacle and cosiness. My alarm bells started ringing the moment I realised it was set in 'American London', that mythical place where mist hangs permanently in the night air and people threaten to "call the coppers" on drunken louts. Furthermore, in Dahl's story the monstrous giants that menace the BFG and Sophie are truly the stuff of nightmares – their names alone make you flinch: Fleshlumpeater, Bloodbottler, Childchewer, Gizzardgulper. Here they're little more than big ugly bullies, about as terrifying as Raymond Briggs' Fungus The Bogeyman. On the plus side, though, Mark Rylance as the eponymous giant and newcomer Ruby Barnhill as Sophie are an utter delight, while the eye-popping CGI deserves every plaudit that has come its way. Rating: WW

Big deal: The BFG is a visual treat if little else

Ratings
WWWW - Wonderful
WWW - Worthwhile
WW - Watchable
W - Woeful