As usual for this time of the year, the cinema screens are flooded with the major awards contenders, and the odd one that slipped through the net…
The Revenant
About this time last year, I was completely under whelmed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Birdman whilst most other people seemed to be raving about it. I found it technically impressive but superficial and empty. It duly won the Oscar for best film and director. A year later, and the same director is presenting another film that is being fawned over by most critics and has been awarded 12 Oscar nominations.
In many ways this is a very different film, shot entirely on location, it tells the brutal story of Hugh Glass (Leonardo Di Caprio), a fur trapper in the 1820’s who is left for dead by his colleagues and has to survive both the elements and hostile natives in order to make his way back to camp. It starts tremendously as the trappers are ambushed by an Indian tribe. Iñárritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki take you right into the middle of the action as arrows fly by and the men run in fear. The chaos of the moment is brilliantly captured. The action continues soon after as Glass is subjected to a horrific bear attack. Terrifyingly realistic, using motion capture techniques, it is a hard scene to watch.
Unfortunately, none of the rest of the film can live up to the opening 20 minutes or so. It feels very episodic and interminably stretched out for the rest of its 2 and a half hour running time, as Glass suffers one setback after another. The film continues to look beautiful but I found that the numerous shots of the wilderness taking me out of the film rather than immersing me in it, and the flashback/dreamlike moments involving Glass’ wife were particularly badly judged.
Di Caprio will be winning an Oscar in a month for his very physical performance, though the acting honours for me go to Tom Hardy as the man who leaves Glass behind and Domhnall Gleeson as the leader of the trapping expedition.
So, a year on, and I’m again baffled by another technically excellent but emotionally cold movie from Iñárritu.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Room
One of the few of the awards contenders not based on a true story, though it has similarities to a couple of real life episodes. Brie Larson stars as a young woman who was snatched from the streets seven years earlier and held captive in a small room, the last 5 years with her son, Jack (Jacob Tremblay), a result of her frequent rapings by her captor.
The main reason for watching the film is Larson’s performance. Taking on what turns out to be a very complex role, far removed from a typical damsel in distress, she really delivers a totally believable character. Tremblay is impressive for a child of his age, though I found Jack so irritating, it was hard to care about his fate. As the film expands beyond the initial confined setting, it began to lose focus and the revelations became increasingly predictable.
The film also suffers for some major plot holes, especially concerning the secureness of the room, and the location of it.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
The Big Short
For the past 8 years, the winner of the Producer’s Guild of America best film award has gone onto win the best picture Oscar. This year, that award went to The Big Short, a film that had been previously lagging behind the front-runners, The Revenant and Spotlight. That award may have been a surprise, but, in my opinion, it was thoroughly deserved.
Following the story of a handful of men who foresaw the economic collapse in the mid 2000’s, Adam McKay’s movie manages to convey a complex financial story in an utterly enthralling and highly entertaining way. It contains some of the funniest scenes in any film in a long way and is full of great performances from Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt and especially Steve Carell. Normally when seeing films with a number of separate but related stories, there are certain ones that I’m more interested in than others and find myself urging the film makers to get back to those stories. But, McKay brilliantly keeps all of the plot strands in motion, each one as engrossing as the others.
Some have criticised the film for making men who looked to profit from the financial downturn as heroes, but in truth they are far from that. They are, however, compelling portrayed.
Rating: 9.25 out of 10
Our Brand is Crisis
Initially thought to be a potential awards contender, Our Brand is Crisis suffered both a box office failure and a critical mauling when released in America. The former is hardly a surprise, a political film about a female spin doctor becoming involved in a Bolivian election was never going to get them queuing at the multiplexes!
The critics reaction was, though, unfair. It has its flaws – it is a little uneven in terms of tone and the ending doesn’t feel true to the rest of the story. However, it is a fun movie for most of its running time, and I found myself becoming really invested in the outcome of the election. Sandra Bullock is excellent in the lead role, a performance that I’m sure will get more praise in years to come.
Rating: 8 out of 10