Flick of The Day: The Good Thief

A very loose remake of the classic French gangster film, Bob Le Flambeur directed by Jean Pierre Melville, this Neil Jordan directed film is not so much a remake as a re-imagining, much like Wener Herzog's take on The Bad Lieutenant which we reviewed a few weeks back.

The Good Thief

Nick Nolte is superb as Bob, the junkie former thief who is living in semi-retirement on the French Riviera, gambling away his life savings but still retaining a sense of honour and chivalry exhibited by a scene early on in which Bob crosses the path of a local gangster to help a young Russian girl who has been trafficked into the country. Nolte captures the role of a dissolute wastrel perfectly. As is always the way, a broke Bob has to take on One Last Big Job. A cliché as old the Hollywood hills but it doesn't really matter, the script pulls it all together. Neil Jordan has always been able to populate his films with snappy and witty dialogue and The Good Thief is no exception;

Bob: It's a good fake, though. (While viewing a painting)
Tony Angel: Isn't that a contradiction in terms? A Good Fake? A Happy Homosexual?

The film has a fine supporting cast drawn from across the globe, giving the film a cosmopolitan feel but Nick Nolte steals every scene. His Bob is always there with a witty quip or a rambling story of the old days such as how he obtained his Picasso. The other star is the French scenery, the film was filmed on location in Monaco and Nice. The back streets of Nice teem with immigrant life and some fine camera work from cinematographer that captures the neon night scape that Bob roams through.

Bob le Flambeur - Criterion Collection

The heist when it comes is enjoyable. There is something about seeing a Casino lose a large some of money that warms the heart. All in all, a film worthy of your attention and deserves to be seen by more people then the tiny minority who saw it upon its blink and you've missed it cinematic release.

Flick of The Day: Frequency

A fantasy in the mould of Frank Capra, this film was a modest hit upon its release in 2000, but like  many films before it, it was discovered by a whole new audience when it was released as a DVD, garnering fresh praise and becoming somewhat of a cult film.

Frequency (New Line Platinum Series)

Starring modern every-man Dennis Quaid and Jesus Christ himself, otherwise known as Jim Caviezel, Frequency is the kind of old fashioned film that many would argue Hollywood makes too few of. A character driven tale that features common themes that anyone can relate to; Family, Loss and Death. Without giving too much away, John Sullivan (Caviezel) is a homicide detective in modern day New York City, coming home one night after a break-up and with a few beverages consumed, he pulls out his father's old ham radio and begins transmitting. Due to unusual activity involving the Northern Lights, he manages to make contact with his father 30 years in the past, before he died fighting a blaze in a warehouse. Of course, he intervenes, setting in play a chain of events that change both their lives forever. Part fantasy, part murder mystery, this is a film with a warm heart that will draw you into it.

Dennis Quaid plays the kind of role he has played his whole life. The handsome family man who acts with honour in everything he does. The kind of universalistic good man that only exists in Hollywood cinema. The Quarterback, The Firefighter, The Businessman or The President, Quaid plays them all as the same man with a few minor changes. That's not to criticise his range, you need only look at his performance as a gay man in '50s America in Far From Heaven or as Doc Holliday in Wyatt Earp to see that he can play different merely that his every-man his perhaps the modern equivalent of Jimmy Stewart. Jim Caviezel manages to portray John Sullivan as the kind of damaged man who has grown up without his father and he gradually changes as the film plays out.

All in all, a fine film with a strong cast and a compelling and entertaining story. It is well worth the effort to rent this one out if you get the chance.

Flick of The Day: Bringing Out The Dead

It is easy to forget given the profile of the city is now higher than it has been at any time in the recent past, but there was a time when New York City was a dark hole on the face of humanity. After narrowly avoiding bankruptcy in 1975, the city began a slow decline with shockingly high crime rates and a depressed local economy. This decline was aided and abetted by the rise of crack cocaine in the 80’s. This is the New York City that Martin Scorsese introduces us to in today’s film, Bringing Out The Dead, set in the early ‘90s before Rudy Giuliani came to power and as legend would have it cured the city of all its ills much like St Patrick drove the snakes from Ireland. 

Bringing Out the Dead

With a script from Paul Schrader, reigniting a partnership with Scorsese that has produced Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. Indeed, this film explores many of the same themes as Taxi Driver. The City as an open sewer and one man coming to his wits end with the decay around him. In this film, as in Taxi Driver, there is a strong central performance, with Nicolas Cage as Frank Pierce, a burnt out paramedic, haunted by the ghosts of all the people he couldn't save over the years. The film follows him on a three day journey to the dark side, as he works the night shift on the hottest weekend of the summer. 

Taxi Driver (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

The film is aided by three fine supporting performances from John Goodman, Ving Rhames and Tom Sizemore as Frank’s partners on the 3 nights we follow him. Each has their own way with dealing with the stress and the frustrations of the job. Larry (Goodman) obsesses about food, Marcus (Rhames) is a born again Christian while Tom (Sizemore) just strikes out randomly at those who irritate him. 

This is a dark and at times shocking film, as we see the worst aspects of the City. Frank’s problems stem from the fact that he wades through this on a daily basis. The film moves along at a cracking pace, as Frank falls apart having long since reached his limit. It works best when moving at pace, paralleling the paramedics shift as they go from call to call. When it slows during the daytime, it is less interesting but then the limited downtime is when Frank has a chance to catch his breath. 

Rich in imagery and subtext, this may not be Scorsese at his very best but it is great filmmaking. Check it out!

Flick of The Day: The Lives of Others / Das Leben der Anderen

A critical and commercial success upon its release in 2006, The Lives of Others won the 2007 Oscar for Best Foreign Language feature and made its director, Florian Henkel von Donnersmark one of the most sought after talents in Hollywood. Unfortunately his next film was the dull and muddled, The Tourist. Only time will tell if his career will recover from this setback but in The Lives of Others, he has already created a modern classic that will surely be remembered as such in years to come.

The Lives of Others

Set in East Berlin in 1984, The Lives of Others tells the story of what it was like to live in a totalitarian state where your every move and utterance was monitored by the secret police, the Stasi. In a remarkable performance filled with pathos,  Ulrich Muhe plays Captain Gerd Wiesler of the Stasi who is assigned to investigate renowned playwright Georg Dreyman and his girlfriend Christa Marie-Sieland, a glamorous young couple on the East German cultural scene. As he becomes more and more involved in their daily lives, living vicariously through them, he begins to question his superiors motives for investigating Dreyman and the role of the state in the life of an individual. This is not merely an exercise in highlighting the horrors of the communist regime, though as a Westerner you would undoubtedly be shocked by the power of the state, this is a truly suspenseful film as the plots winds its way to a conclusion that leaves the viewer satisfied. There can be no loose ends.

There are some very fine performances in this film but I cannot praise Ulrich Muhe enough. He imbues the character of Captain Wiesler with a quiet dignity that enables the audience to empathise with him. There is a discernible arc to the character throughout the film and as Wiesler begins to see the light, we do too. That's acting of the highest order and it is such a great shame that Ulrich Muhe passed away so soon after this performance, succumbing to stomach cancer on 22nd July 2007.

One of the real strong points of the film is the little subtle events that have far reaching consequences. The neighbour who looks through her keyhole, the slip of a tongue in passing conversation, it keeps the viewer on their toes and doesn't insult their intelligence by telegraphing every part of the plot. One of the finest films of the noughties, if not of all time, The Lives of Others is a chilling portrayal of a past that is as relevant as ever today, I urge you to see this film.

Flick of The Day: The Usual Suspects

Pete Postlethwaite passed away earlier this week, aged 64, after a long illness. He was one of the finest character actors of his time, his craggy face and intensity bringing something worthy to even the cheesiest of films. Whether playing a stoic bandleader in Brassed Off or more recently as a fresh off the boat psycho in The Town, he was always good, always memorable. So in tribute, today's film is another one of those small roles that he made more memorable, Mr. Kobayashi in The Usual Suspects.

The Usual Suspects (Special Editon)

Directed by the then painfully hip Bryan Singer, this film was a big hit with critics and audiences upon its release. Another example of neo-noir, its a dialogue heavy for a modern film which is no bad thing and has a nice twisty plot to keep your attention. The film opens with 5 men brought in for a police line-up in New York, the usual suspects of the title. This is a great scene, largely improvised and yet manges to adequately introduce you to all of the main characters. We then flash forward to the aftermath of a shoot out on a Los Angeles pier with 27 men dead. The only remaining member of the 5 is Verbal Kint, Kevin Spacey in an Oscar winning performance and through the format of a police interrogation, Verbal outlines how they got from the line-up to the pier. Like all great thrillers, there is a twist in the tale.

Though this film has a very fine ensemble cast, the real strength of the film is the Oscar winning screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie at the heart of which is the unseen criminal mastermind Keyser Soze. Keyser is represented throughout by his lawyer, Mr Kobayashi. It's a small part but Postlethwaite imbues it with a mysteriousness that sticks with you till the end. Its that element of mystery, of leaving the audience second guessing that makes it entertaining. Halfway through, you are left with the feeling that all is not what it seems. As Vebal Kint puts it:

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

The ending when it comes, is out of left field and you will either love it or hate it, but the getting there, that's the best part. For a film made in 35 days for $5.5m, this is well worth your time.

Flick of The Day: A Fisftul of Dynamite /Giu La Testa

Sergio Leone is probably best known for his contribution to the spaghetti western genre, particularly the "Man With No Name" Trilogy starring Clint Eastwood and it would be easy to pigeon hole him as a director of Westerns, but that would be to overlook the rest of his films, for he was quite possibly one of the finest film-makers of all time. Today's film is Leone's take on the Mexican Revolution of 1913 which is alternatively titled as  "Duck You Sucker!" or "Once Upon a Time... The Revolution".

Duck, You Sucker (aka A Fistful of Dynamite) (2-Disc Collector's Edition)

Juan Miranda, a truly amazing performance from Rod Steiger, is a Mexican bandit who leads a family of bandits marauding along the highways and trails of Mexico and dreams of one day breaking into the Bank at Mesa Verde. He eventually meets Sean Mallory, in a typically strong performance from James Coburn, an Irish revolutionary on the run from the British and with a dark secret in his past. Sean and Juan become sucked into the revolution that is raging around them, Juan as a  peasant is an unwilling participant:

"I know what I am talking about when I am talking about the revolutions. The people who read the books go to the people who can't read the books, the poor people, and say, "We have to have a change." So, the poor people make the change, ah? And then, the people who read the books, they all sit around the big polished tables, and they talk and talk and talk and eat and eat and eat, eh? But what has happened to the poor people? They're dead! That's your revolution. Shhh... So, please, don't tell me about revolutions!"

This film very much represents Leone's disillusionment with the revolutions of the 1960's and the failure to lead to a better life for the poorer in society. It is a bitter message at its heart. In fact the film opens with a a particularly biting scene aboard a stagecoach but I couldn't possibly spoil it by describing it in any detail only to note that it involves the wealthy describing their opinions of the poor.

This is just one of a number of grandstanding scenes by Leone. The above is one such scene, a long tracking shot moving across a sugar refinery where a massacre is taking place, as the camera pans we see the true extent of the massacre. Apart from being a technically superb film, there is a great story at its heart as Sean ad Juan the reluctant revolutionaries gradually become more involved in the war effort and also develop a close friendship, both seeing something of themselves in the other.

We also eventually find out the secret of Sean's past in flashbacks to his life in Ireland, which were surprisingly actually filmed in Ireland. The ending when it comes is not unexpected but heartbreaking all the same aided by one of the best scores Ennio Morricone wrote for a Leone film.

While not a success upon its release in 1972, this film has been reappraised in recent years as the true gem which it is. You must see this film.

Flick of The Day: Somewhere

Parenthood. Its one of those core themes that is at the centre of films as diverse as To Kill a Mockingbird and As Good as It Gets. It is also the subject of today's film, the latest film from Sofia Coppola, Somewhere. 

Somewhere

In an unexpectedly strong performance given his career thus far, Stephen Dorff stars as a washed up action star called Johnny Marco hiding out in the legendary Chateau Marmont Hotel in West Hollywood. The film opens with Johnny driving round and round a circular race track in his Ferrari. He is going in circles much as he is in life, spending his days lounging around the Hotel, drinking, smoking and moving from one meaningless tryst to the next. That is until his daughter, the delightful Elle Fanning turns up on his doorstep and he is forced to be a father.

Lost in Translation

This is Coppola's fourth film as a director and it returns to the familiar territory of Lost In Translation after 2006's bubblegum history flick Marie Antoinette. All of the themes are there: A washed up Hollywood star, Loneliness in a large hotel, and a depressed character who finds redemption in a new relationship. That's not to say that this film is a derivative of her earlier work. It stands in its own right and Coppola is a master at such themes.

In truth, Elle Fanning is not overly tested as Johnny's daughter Cleo, though there are a number of scenes where Cleo almost intrudes upon Johnny's drinking and debauchery, she never actually does so. I would suppose the point being made is that Cleo is fine, She has her Dad and doesn't need anything more then him to be there so the real emotional breakthroughs of the film are Dorff's. He is the centre of the film.

Marie Antoinette

Of course, Johnny realizes eventually that the hollow nature of his lifestyle is the source of his despair and that he gets more enjoyment from simply hanging by the pool with his daughter then living the vapid Hollywood lifestyle. The film ends with Johnny driving his Ferrari. Somewhere.