January is a great month to go to the cinema and I’ve seen FIVE this month so here are my January film reviews. I’m a little disappointed at how much I disagreed with The Times film reviewer for several of them, so I thought I’d add my own reviews, because everyone I’ve spoken to felt more like I did.
BETTER MAN *****
The Robbie Williams Biopic. Kevin Mahler gave this film one star. I totally disagree with him. It’s sensational! I went with my daughter, who is one of his biggest fans and we LOVED IT. The genius of having Robbie played as a chimp made it all the more emotionally approachable. Sitting in the bath as a young boy being washed and supported by his much loved Grandmother is incredibly moving. It’s a very honest, raw, emotional, uplifting, funny, sad and ultimately hopeful representation of his life and a sensitive exposure to the reasons why he lost the plot in the middle there for a while. The film explores the impact of the sudden and stratospheric fame Take That achieved when he was so young. It also looks at the abandonment issues he had to deal with when his father left the building. We get to see his relationships and his losses as well as understand how and why the songs developed and how he dealt with his demons. I personally don’t think you can fault it. I’m just sorry it didn’t make it onto the Oscar nominations list.
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN *****
Absolutely brilliant. The Bob Dylan Biopic. The Times gave this only two stars. Ridiculous. Timothée Chalamet is undoubtedly going to win an Oscar for his performance as a young Bob Dylan. Apparently he trained for the role for five years, learning to sing and play the guitar and harmonica as well as present the enigmatic Bob stunningly. You don’t feel you get to know much about him as a person, but that’s to be expected and there is no attempt to explain him. He captivates his hypnotic charisma brilliantly and looks remarkably like him (OK they gave him a prosthetic nose and horribly long nails, but I think that’s it). The New York scenes showing the musical landscape of the time all offer a Jack Kerouac vibe. The supporting cast are wonderful – Edward Norton as his mentor, Ellie Fanning as his girlfriend and Monaca Barbaro as Joan Baez (also his girlfriend for a time), Boyd Holbrook as the brilliant Johnny Cash.
He hitches to NYC with a backpack and a guitar in search of his musical hero Woodie Guthrie who was in hospital suffering from Huntington’s Disease, a hideous illness to deal with. Their relationship is very touching.
MARIA CALLAS ****
Angelina Jolie plays Maria Callas brilliantly and as a lay person I had no issues with the lip synching critics. The story covers the last few weeks of her life when she is clearly losing the plot and on too many drugs. Nevertheless her clothes are fabulous and all the flashbacks to her time with Aristotle Onassis et al were very interesting. It’s a very easy watch, despite the sadness of the story – she was only in her 50’s when she died, but I would definitely recommend it.
CONCLAVE ****
I personally found this film a little boring and slow, but I’ve still given it four stars because the cinematography is breathtaking and it’s a very big, powerful film. I was disappointed to see Ralph Fiennes looking so old, given he was always one of my favourite male actors and of course the costumes don’t help the sex appeal. That isn’t what it’s about obviously and his acting, along with Stanley Tucci’s was outstanding – so I admit to not being able to offer a decent review for this one. There are some great touches – all the vaping and juicy intrigue and there’s a fabulous plot twist at the end. This is one most of my friends loved way more than I did.
BABYGIRL *
Kevin Mahler gave this one four stars and once again, I totally disagree with him. The Telegraph gave it five stars. This was possibly the worst film I’ve ever seen. I was actually looking forward to it after all of the reviews. But I’m sorry to say that it’s awful. It’s not remotely erotic, it’s just silly. Not even remotely sexy at all. The plot line is dubious, none of the characters are developed and whilst there’s an occasional Saltburn-esque moment, it doesn’t stick and there’s no where near enough of it to make it remotely cool. Nicole Kidman looks stunning as usual and it was a brave role – she’s been a bit too exposed on our screens of late I feel and so I was expecting something a bit different – but it’s not nearly as classy as The Perfect Couple and takes us down some strange alleyways.
It’s a shame, because I love the storyline and the age difference – but the humiliation, because she’s ashamed of her desires? No thanks.
Definitely give this one a miss.
