Sugar and Spice and All Things….

(image courtesy of IMP awards)

I have a confession… I’m starting to developing a habit, and her name is Meryl Streep. And now, having notched up a 15^th Academy Award nomination for her lastest endeavour; surely, it’s not hard to see why? 

In her new movie Doubt, Streep plays Sister Aloysius – a nun who suspects the priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) of wrongdoing in the catholic school. With no hard evidence, only her certainty, Sister Aloysius sets out on a one-woman crusade to bring the Father to justice – at any cost!

Doubt is a great film; however, it’s very character driven. The theme of child molestation occasionally gets lost, in what seems to me, to be a movie about the actors.

Streep is sinfully good as Sister Aloysius and definitely delivers the stand out performance. However, a deserved winner of the Oscar for best supporting actress would be Viola Davis or Amy Adams, who plays the younger, more naïve nun, Sister James. The pairing of the nuns is fantastic. Adams plays innocent so well, whilst we all know Streep is no stranger to the more devilish role! As a result of their characters’ opposing dispositions, the film also delivers a few laughs.

Father Flynn: “Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty” – and Doubt certainly is sustaining, with powerful performances from the cast. 

Forgive me, Father, for slipping back to adolescence, but I haven’t had this much fun watching nuns since the film Sister Act!!

A Desperate Housewife With Substance

(image courtesy of IMP awards)

 

Set in the 1950s, Revolutionary Road tells the story of Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April Wheeler (Kate Winslet), a couple living in the American Suburbs with their two children, in what can only be described as the ideology of the American dream. In spite of this, Frank and April are discontented with how their lives have ended up and seek a change, which they think they’ve found in the form of Paris – a fresh start pursuing old dreams. Momentarily, peace is restored in their turbulent marriage.

Not long after, however, and amidst many subplots, Frank gets a promotion and April falls pregnant, and thus, the grand plan is cancelled, sending their marriage speeding down the path of destruction.

Winslet and DiCaprio deliver great performances in this movie, although I found myself empathizing more with Winslet’s character, possibly because the male protagonist didn’t seem to want to help himself and was happy to play along, conforming to the rules of society, and in the end, unlike Frank, April would rather die than continue living in a state of false consciousness and deceit.

In addition to the lead actors, Michael Shannon gives a riveting performance as John Givings, the son of the Wheelers’ neighbours. John, an opinionated soul who resides in a mental institution, has no qualms about telling the Wheelers’ exactly what he thinks of the world, of them and of their marriage. All is fine, that is, until John starts revealing a few home truths.   

It’s no secret that the truth hurts. And what happens to the sane man who speaks the truth? He’s called a madman and sent to Bedlam!

Baby Love….

(image courtesy of Google)

 

Slumdog Millionaire… Where do I begin with a story that is simply complex? This movie left me with so many impressions; however, I’ll do my best to keep the review short, and as sweet as a story concerning a slumdog can be.

Set in the city of Mumbai, Slumdog Millionaire tells the tale of Jamal Malik, a boy from the slums, who is able to answer 14 questions correctly on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. Did he cheat? Well, this is the question Jamal finds himself answering, when, the night before he is due to receive the final, 20 million rupee question, he is arrested on suspicion of cheating. Through a brutal cross-examination, as well as a series of flashbacks, one learns how he came to know the answers, as the story of his life unfolds….

The movie had me at hello, and I give all the credit to the superb Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, who plays the youngest Jamal. Most of the harrowing scenes from the movie, in addition to the dreadful slums, are part of Jamal’s childhood, and so, it is this child protagonist who must lay the foundation for the character, and make us believe that everything he is doing is for love for his sweetheart, Latika, which Khedekar does beautifully.

A film with the energy and vibrancy reminiscent of City of God, It’s a must see!

N.B. Favourite line: Anything that includes the name Latika! 

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

(image courtesy of IMP awards)

 

He’s alive!

I am saying this knowing that there have been whispers for a long while of an adapted screenplay telling the story of a peculiar Mr. Button; however, that’s all they ever seemed to be – until now.

Contrary to us mere mortals, The Curious Case… tells the tale of Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt), a man born with the body of an 86-year-old who finds himself getting younger as the days go by, while the others, namely Daisy (Cate Blanchett), his one true love, are heading in the opposite, yet usual direction. 

Benjamin is a simple, unassuming man with a lovable nature, seemingly living life in the pursuit of happiness, going wherever fortune takes him, which is eventually, but only briefly, back to Daisy.

Led by the direction of David Fincher (Seven, Zodiac), the film takes you on an enthralling journey of love, loss, desire, intimacy, passion and heartache, set against the main backdrop of New Orleans.

Pitt, to my surprise, plays the role of Benjamin quite convincingly, while Cate Blanchett can do no wrong. Or maybe I was just mesmerized by the mind-blowing prosthetics and special effects, which subsequently propelled me into this wondrous setting.  

Nonetheless, The Curious Case… is a film with soul and has a spirit which endures long after the credits roll. It’s a story of mortality, it takes you right to the very heart of what it means to be human, and it leaves you thinking….