It’s that time of the month again when I round up new films seen at home. Normally, I would do a separate article for Netflix, but with The Thursday Murder Club warranting its own review, the cupboard is almost bare. So, this month I will start with that platform here.
Netflix
The Wrong Paris
Dawn (Miranda Cosgrove) enters a dating show thinking it’s in Paris, France only to discover it is actually in Paris, Texas. That ‘twist’ would have been the only surprising thing about the completely predictable story if it was not in all the promotional material. All the participants in the contest are extremely annoying. That may accurately show the sort of air heads who would appear on such a show, but it is painful spending time with them.
Rating: 2.5 out of 10
Onto Amazon Prime:
Ice Road: Vengeance
After his comedic turn in The Naked Gun, Liam Neeson is back in more familiar action mode, as trucker Mike McCann, in this sequel to the enjoyable The Ice Road from 2021, with director Jonathan Hensleigh also returning. Grieving the loss of his brother, he honours his final wish by travelling to Nepal to scatter his ashes on Mount Everest. Inevitably, things do not go to plan and McCann finds himself in the middle of a battle between an evil developer and innocent villagers. Despite its flaws of poor CGI and silly plot points, I found this as enjoyable as a lot of Neeson’s recent output. The story rattles along at great pace and there a couple of extremely well shot fight scenes on a bus. Neeson, now well into his 70’s, delivers the goods again and Bingbing Fan and Grace O’Sullivan give spirited support.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Weekend in Taipei
American DEA agent (Luke Evans) who reunites with a Taipei-based mercenary driver (Gwei Lun-mei) and becomes entangled in a romantic relationship with her. This is glossy trash with a couple of passable action sequences. But the performances are mostly poor and the cliché ridden screenplay terrible.
Rating: 3.5 out of 10
Inheritance
Phoebe Dynevor stars as Maya, a young woman living an aimless, hedonistic, lifestyle, after the death of her mother, an event she has not processed. At her funeral, Maya’s estranged father, Sam (Rhys Ifans) surprisingly turns up and offers Maya a real estate job. But when she finds out he was once a spy, she gets drawn into his old world. This was a great surprise, an engrossing woman on the run suspenser that really works. Director Neil Burger and cinematographer Jackson Hunt shot it entirely on an iPhone.
That is a filming method I have seen used numerous times before but rarely with such great effect. The close ups of a stressed Maya navigating her way through the teeming streets of Egypt and India really immersed me in the story. There is also a terrific motorbike chase sequence that is enhanced by the filming style. Dynevor gives a superbly physical performance. Like Burger, nothing I have seen from her before is as good as we see here.
Rating: 8 out of 10
Inside
After being transferred from juvenile to adult prison, Mel Blight (Vincent Miller) is taken under the wing of both Mark Shepard (Cosmo Jarvis), Australia’s most despised criminal, and Warren Murfett (Guy Pearce), a soon to be paroled inmate. A complex paternal bond develops between the three men as Mel navigates the harsh realities of prison life. This is a very worthy film, with good performances, but I found it so dour that it was a slog to sit through.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10
Over on Sky, subscribers can see:
Die Alone
During a zombie like outbreak, amnesiac Ethan (Douglas Smith) teams up with hardened survivalist Mae (Carrie-Anne Moss) in order to find his missing girlfriend, Emma (Kimberly-Sue Murray). I usually find something to enjoy in zombie movies but this is grindingly slow and is not at all scary.
Rating: 3.5 out of 10
Love Hurts
Ke Huy Quan, fresh from his Oscar for the bafflingly popular Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, stars as Marvin Gable, a successful estate agent whose past as a violent hitman comes back to haunt him when his former partner reveals that his brother Knuckles (Daniel Wu) is hunting him. Jonathan Eusebio’s comic action movie was a box office flop earlier this year and it is easy to see why. The fight scenes are fine, though it feels like I have seen them all before , the plot is all over the place, and Quan is a charisma vacuum.
Rating: 3.5 out of 10
Amongst the Wolves
Suffering from PTSD, ex soldier Danny (Luke McQuillan) is estranged from his wife and son and is living on the streets. He meets and befriends homeless lad Will (Daniel Fee) who is in the grip of local drug pusher and all round bad guy, Power (Aiden Gillen). This is a grimly realistic film, apart from maybe a violent ending, that is elevated by an intense and vulnerable performance by McQuillan, who co-wrote the impressive screenplay with director Mark O’Connor. Gillen is quietly menacing and Louise Bourke gives a compassionate turn as a charity worker who sees the good in Danny.
Rating: 7 out of 10
The following can be bought or rented on the usual services:
Zero
Two Americans wake up in the streets of Dakar, Senegal, with bombs strapped to their chests. Following orders from a mysterious voice on their phones, they must race against time to complete a series of chaotic missions with devastating consequences. I liked the premise and a ticking clock thriller always has potential to be nail biting. However, this effort from Jean Luc Herbulot falls flat. The plot is overly contrived and the direction amateurish at times.
Rating: 4 out of 10
When the Light Breaks
The events of writer/director Rúnar Rúnarsson’s drama take place over a single day in Reykjavík. Una (Elín Hall) is secretly dating Diddi (Baldur Einarsson). On his way to tell his girlfriend Klara (Katla Njálsdóttir) that he is breaking up with her, Diddi is killed in an accident. Una, Klara and Diddi’s closest mates come together to grieve, but Una is uncertain how to act or how to interact with Klara. This is a deliberately paced piece that, even with an 82 minute run time, drags at points. But the performances of the two actresses, the use of music and some outstanding visuals make it worthwhile.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Four Mothers
Edward (James McArdle) is a talented novelist on the cusp of success. He is, though, attempting to balance the commitments to his new book’s release with caring for his elderly mother, Alma (Fionnula Flanagan), who has recently had a stroke and can no longer talk. When two of his friends and his psychotherapist go away on a Pride holiday they leave their own ageing mothers in Edward’s care. I think most people will know what to expect with that set up. The four old ladies initially do not get on but over the course of an eventful weekend they bond whilst getting into scrapes. Edward, meanwhile, learns that he can prioritise his own happiness without letting his Mum down. But it is so good natured that it is hard to be cynical about the predictability. McArdle is great as the sympathetic Edward and Niamh Cusack is very amusing as a psychic.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Doing the rounds on Movies 24 are
Mystery Island: Play for Keeps
In the third instalment in this Hallmark series, the company hosts a corporate retreat, with the guests including the ex-fiancée of Emilia (Elizabeth Henstridge). The situation is complicated further when another guest is murdered. This sticks to the formula of the previous films, and as this is the third time a guest has been killed mid game, I am surprised that they are still in business. It is pretty well done with a not obvious solution. The acting honours go, again, to Kezia Burrows as the company owner.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Love is a Dog’s Best Friend
Event planner, Lily (Arielle Kebbel) fosters a mischievous dog, whose chaotic antics lead her to meet dog trainer Shane (Benjamin Hollingsworth). This is typical stuff, many references to Lily’s dead Mum as maudlin music plays, a meet cute where the main characters get off in the wrong foot and the inevitable chaste romance. The dog is lovely, though.
Rating: 4 out of 10
Catch of the Day
On the eve of becoming a New York executive chef, Sophie (Emilie Ullerup) returns home to help her family’s failing restaurant and runs into Cam (Michael Rady), an old crush who makes her question everything. In typical Hallmark style, we have a protagonist mourning dead parent and a message that small towns are better than big cities. But the performances are decent and the seafood looks delicious!
Rating: 5 out of 10
Finally to My 5
…and a film that appears to be the first in a series, Tipline Mysteries: Dial 1 For Murder. Detriot Free Press tipline operator, Maddie (Holland Roden) receives a call about a jewellery robbery that leads to a murder investigation run by Detective Beeks (Chris McNally). If this is to be a series, it is promising. The mystery is quite knotty and we are free of the small town tweeness that besmirch the majority of Hallmark offerings. However, Roden speaks fast and quietly with a slight vocal fry, making her lines sometimes inaudible.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10