It is time for a round up of new films seen on streaming services other than Netflix, this month.
Starting with Amazon Prime:
ElemenTory
Following the disappearance of their son, a couple joins other parents whose children have gone missing from school. Frustrated by the lack of progress they take control of the school looking for answers. There is an attempt for documentary like realism but all that does it lessen the impact of what should be a harrowing story. Pretty average acting does not help either.
Rating: 5 out of 10
I Am: Celine Dion
This documentary directed by Irene Taylor focuses on the singer’s life, career accomplishments and battle with stiff-person syndrome. If you are a fan, then you should enjoy the live performance sequences and her health struggles may interest a wider audience. But I found her as bland as her music.
Rating: 4 out of 10
Poolman
Chris Pine co wrote, directed and stars in this comedy mystery. He plays Los Angeles pool cleaner Darren Barrenman who tries to out local councillor Stephen Toronkowski (Stephen Tobolowsky) as being corrupt.
There is so much talent on screen including Danny DeVito, Anette Bening and Jennifer Jason Leigh who gives the best performance. It is a shame then that the screenplay is a complete dud, and that Pine shows no aptitude for directing.
Rating: 3 out of 10
Space Cadet
Emma Roberts stars as Rex, a Florida party girl, turns out to be the only hope for the NASA space programme after a fluke puts her in training with real candidates who have better resumes. Space Cadet is as dumb as the synopsis suggests. The usually reliable Roberts over acts in a failed attempt to breathe life into this terrible comedy that wants to be Legally Blonde but has none of the required wit and charm.
Rating: 2.5 out of 10
Tyler Perry’s Divorce in the Black
The talentless egoist hack Tyler Perry is back with a drama starring Meagan Good as a woman who is abandoned by her husband. This film seems to cater for a specific audience – those who enjoy horrible people have boring arguments. I am not in that audience.
Rating: 1.5 out of 10
Over on Sky Movies, subscribers can see:
A Sacrifice
In this adaptation of Nicholas Hogg’s 2015 novel Tokyo, Eric Bana stars as a psychiatrist who must save his daughter from a cult after she falls in love with a boy whose mother is its charismatic leader. Bana was really impressive in The Dry and its sequel recently but he looks as bored in this film as I was watching it. A chore to sit through.
Rating: 3 out of 10
Bonus Track
This British musical coming-of-age romantic comedy is set in 2006. George Bobbin (Joe Anders), a 16-year-old who lives in a small English town and dreams of becoming a pop star, meets Max (Samuel Small), the son of a famous musical duo. There are some amusing moments but I felt like I had seen it all before.
Rating: 5 out of 10
American Star
Ian McShane stars as an assassin, Wilson, who is inevitably on one final job, to kill a man in Fuerteventura. McShane is mesmerising in the lead role, and that is good because for the first section of this film, it consists of just Wilson trying to fill a couple of days before his target arrives on the island, but he makes his mundane existence seem compelling. The inevitable violence arrives but that is also presented in a matter of fact way by director Gonzalo López-Gallego. The only thing that lets this slow burn of a movie down is a botched reveal of a secret past of a young woman, Gloria, played by the terrific Nora Arnezeder.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Drift
A Liberian refugee Jacqueline flees to a Greek island where she has to sleep rough, and develops a friendship with an American tour guide, Callie. The opening half hour or so reminded me of American Star which I watched the day before. Jacqueline ekes out her existence whilst trying to avoid talking to anyone. As good as Cynthia Erivo is in the lead role, I was not as engaged. The backstory of her coming from a wealthy family and her relationship in England added little. But the performances of Erivo and Alia Shawkat as Callie make this worth seeing.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Shamrock Spitfire
This biopic tells the story of Irish fighter pilot Brendan “Paddy” Finucane, who at the age of just 21, became the youngest ever Wing Commander in the Royal Air Force. There is no doubt that Finucane’s story is fascinating enough for a feature film, but writer/directors Dominic and Ian Higgins do not do it justice. The quality of the acting is variable, some of the characters paper thin and the flying effects not very convincing.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10
La Roy, Texas
John Magaro stars as Ray, who is contemplating suicide after funding out that his wife is having an affair. But then a stranger mistakes him for a hit man, offering Ray thousands of dollars. This could have been a fun, Coen Brothers style comedy thriller and it has a great supporting cast, including Steve Zahn and Dylan Baker. But it all feels a bit forced and sluggish.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
The following can be rented on the usual services:
Chief of Station
After learning that the death of his wife, and colleague, was not an accident, a former CIA Station Chief, played by Aaron Eckhart, is forced back into the espionage underworld. The makers have to really mess up to make a spy film uninteresting. Writer George Mahaffey is not exactly John Le Carre as the characters are skin deep but he, with director Jessie V Johnson, keeps things moving well enough, even if the twists are very predictable. Stone faced Eckhart continues to forge out a career as a slightly younger Liam Neeson, but the awful Nick Moran deploys a ludicrous accent as a Russian agent.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Doing the rounds on Movies 24 are the latest batch of Hallmark romantic dramas from this year.
Their output is mostly polished and professionally made but lacking any originality or spark. We have a couple of examples of that this month.
In Savouring Paris, Bethany Joy Lenz stars as Ella, a recipe developer, who travels to Paris to find herself and her favourite cheese. She meets a cheese-monger, a restaurant critic and a wall mural artist. I don’t know if it is because I hate cheese but I found this a slog. The acting was stilted and the screenplay not even second rate.
For Love and Honey has beekeeper Eva (Margaret Clunie) uncovering an ancient fresco while rescuing a hive. Thinking it’s the key to his research, a visiting archaeologist persuades her to help him on his quest across Malta. Despite the Maltese locations, this is not much better. It is as sweet and sickly as the title suggests.
Much better though, is Betty’s Bad Luck in Love. Betty (Laci J Mailey) seems to have been cursed from childhood to fail at romance as her relationships have always ended in disaster. However, when she meets Alex (Marco Grazzini), she’s tempted to try once more. The script has a pleasing lightness, Mailey is really engaging and she has real chemistry with Grazzini.
Ratings out of 10:
Savouring Paris: 2.5
For Love and Honey: 3.5
Betty’s Bad Luck in Love: 6
On the iPlayer:
Copa ’71
This documentary from Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine chronicles the 1971 Women’s unofficial World Cup in Mexico. How the tournament was marginalised in this country comes as no surprise and we see plenty of plummy voiced Football Association suits mocking the idea of women playing football. What is more surprising are the massive crowds the games attracted and the wealth of footage is excellent. There is a good selection of talking heads and it was fun to see that both sides seem unrepentant about the mass brawl that took place during the Mexico v Italy clash.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Finally, on My 5:
Blood in the Water
Introverted lawyer Melanie Dale (Lindsey Dresbach) is devastated to learn of her adventurous younger sister’s sudden death. But when she travels to collect her sister’s body, she soon becomes suspicious of foul play. This is better than the majority of made for TV thrillers. It has a nice gloomy style and Dresbach is convincing enough.
Rating: 6 out of 10
When Mum Becomes a Murderer
Following the murder of her best friend, an introverted teen discovers her mom has a secret past that involves a similar crime. Desperate to uncover the truth, she soon finds herself in over her head as she wonders if her mother is a killer. This has a better plot than most of these Reel One produced films that Channel 5 acquires as the identity of the killer is not entirely clear. Some of the acting is iffy though.
Rating: 5 out of 10
Conceived in Lies
When her baby is diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, a woman races against time to find a donor, only to uncover a web of deceit that leads her back to the fertility clinic where her son was conceived. It feels like an important story is being told but it really lacks any dramatic impact.
Rating: 4 out of 10