On Amazon Prime….
I Want You Back
Peter (Charlie Day) and Emma (Jenny Slate) have both been dumped by their partners. They meet and become friends, vowing to help each other get back together with their ex’s. This very slight, and far from original premise, is kept interesting but some funny lines in
Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger’s script, and the likeable lead characters (despite them committing the sin of chatting through Con Air at the cinema!). Day and especially Slate are a pleasure to watch.
Rating: 7 out of 10
On Sky….
Kimi
Steven Sodebergh is a director that seems to go on streaks of making brilliant films, such as between Out of Sight in 1998 and Solaris in 2002, and then between Contagion in 2011 and Logan Lucky in 2017, before going into more fallow periods. He is currently in one of those, and whilst Kimi, is quite enjoyable id nowhere near his best work. An impressive Zoe Kravitz stars as a an agoraphobic tech worker in Seattle who appears to overhear a murder. This eventually gathers pace into a decent thriller but takes a while getting there.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Old Henry
Tim Blake Nelson stars as the eponymous title character in this western set just after the turn of the 20th century. He is a widower diligently farming the land with his son whilst hiding a deadly secret from his past. When he discovers and injured man and takes him into his home, he brings trouble to his door. Nelson is great in the part, giving little away as to his violent tendencies but the storytelling is a little uneven, with the second half, when the action kicks in, much more rewarding.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
The Desperate Hour
Filmed ingeniously during lockdown, The Desperate Hour is a pared down thriller starring Naomi Watts as a woman on a run in a remote location when she received news that there has been a shooting at her son’s school. Apart from the last few minutes, the film entirely consists of Watts on her phone trying to get an update on what’s happening whilst also trying to find a way to get to the scene of the incident. It is easy to pick holes in things like her phone’s battery having a never ending life or losing the phone signal only when the narrative needs that to happen, but this is a tightly made movie that builds up a decent amount of suspense.
Rating: 7 out of 10