Review: The Shining (1980)

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1980, Danny Lloyd, Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Shining, Stanley Kubrick

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd
Plot: When a writer gets a winter caretaker job at an isolated hotel, he is consumed by madness as his psychic son sees terrifying visions of the past and the future.

Career-defining roles are generally easy to identify. These are the characters that you instantly think of when a particular actor or actress’ name is mentioned and an obligatory quote is required. Anthony Hopkins’ mesmerising performance as the menacing Dr. Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs is one such example. “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti” would be most people’s riposte when reminded of this most famous of fictional serial killers. For Jack Nicholson, “Heeeeers Johnny!” is arguably his most recognisable quote from a career that has many roles in which he has taken on characters from many different genres.

The Shining, adapted from Stephen King’s novel of the same name, stars Nicholson as Jack Torrance, a struggling writer who takes an off-season job at The Overlook Hotel, a grand but lonely building that sits among scenic mountaintops. He takes his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd) with him, but is warned by the manager, Stuart Ullman (Barry Nelson), that a previous caretaker went insane and bludgeoned his wife and two daughters to death. Danny has an imaginary friend called “Tony” – this is all part of his ESP which reveals a terrifying vision to him of the hotel. As the Torrances are being shown round, they meet chef Dick Halloran (Scatman Crothers) who appears to have a psychic connection with Danny and talks to him about telepathy which Halloran calls “shining” and warns him to keep out of Room 237.

After a month alone all appears well, until Jack starts to behave strangely, getting frustrated that his work is not progressing.  Danny has more frequent visions, seeing two ghost girls in the corridor (apparently the daughters of the former caretaker) and is drawn into Room 237, after finding the door open. Jack has a nightmare and is comforted by Wendy, but then Danny appears having been injured and she blames his father. Jack’s madness is by now overwhelming and he goes to the mysterious hotel room to investigate and encounters the ghost of a woman – not only that, he also sees visions of a bartender and the caretaker who killed his family. It is only a matter of time before Jack’s state of mind becomes a threat to the lives of his wife and son.

Psychological horror, if done well, needs to stay with you for long afterwards – The Shining certainly does this. With its mixture of weirdness, brilliant acting and a cavernous set which puts an even scarier spin on the haunted house formula, director Stanley Kubrick has fashioned a film that is as disturbing as it is a head-scratcher. Stephen King reportedly hates this adaptation of his work and many readers of the novel will note how many aspects have been chopped and changed way too much in order to satisfy the cinema. On that score, it perhaps fails, but as a stand-alone movie there is a very unsettling mood which is compounded by the distinctive incidental music by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind, along with the memorable sound of Danny’s tricycle alternating between the wooden floor and the carpet.

There are so many themes and metaphors here, that it would take a thesis to explain them all. Many of the strange characters we meet in the hotel and the bizarre images (such as that revealed in the final reel) can be interpreted in many ways. What is certain though, is the fact that after repeated viewings of The Shining, you’ll probably have changed your mind countless times about how everything fits together, which just goes to prove the genius behind filmmaking such as this. Nicholson, Duvall and Lloyd form a superb central trio, especially our Jack whose facial expressions are tailor-made for the role of his namesake.

Horror film fans will lap up Kubrick’s masterpiece and although his films may not be to everyone’s taste, The Shining stands out as an unforgettable experience, which will make you fear hotels with long, quiet corridors and child twins dressed in similar clothes.

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Review: Submarine (2010)

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2010, Craig Roberts, Paddy Considine, Richard Ayoade, Sally Hawkins, Submarine

Director: Richard Ayoade
Stars: Craig Roberts, Sally Hawkins, Paddy Considine
Plot: A teenager sets himself two targets – to lose his virginity and prevent his mother rekindling a relationship with her undesirable ex.

The evolution of the British comedy film as genre of its own, has changed once again. Gone are the days of the double-entendres that typified the Carry On films. The modern-day comedy from Blighty is now expected to have more popular culture references than you can shake a stick at (Shaun of the Dead, Paul, Attack the Block), or maybe just maximise the quirkiness because you’ve run out of ideas (Tamara Drewe). Submarine falls between these two sub-categories, but has a very morose tone that won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.

We are transported back to Swansea in 1986, where Oliver Tate (Roberts) is suffering from a bad case of teenage angst. Oliver lives in a bubble where he believes that his schoolmates secretly worship him (they don’t) and mass hysteria would break out if he died (it wouldn’t). In reality, he is a loner who worships Jordana (Paige), a manipulative girl in his class. She arranges for them to meet and for Oliver to bring a Polaroid camera which Jordana uses whilst she kisses him, in an attempt to make her ex-boyfriend jealous. Instead, they are both bullied and humiliated in the playground, but they soon become a couple as a result of their dual alienation.

Oliver’s home life meanwhile, is becoming increasingly difficult. His parents’ marriage is in trouble and new age guru Graham (Considine) who had a relationship with his mother, has moved in next door. Oliver tries to bring them back closer together, by trying to sabotage Graham’s advances, whilst attempting to prevent his father from sinking into what appears to be an irrevocable depression. When Jordana’s mother becomes gravely ill, Oliver must decide which is more important – his parent’s marriage or a possible future with his girlfriend.

Submarine is grossly overrated. There is seemingly a good film underneath all the supposedly witty voice-overs and the odd ‘fourth wall’ breakage, but the final product is a very difficult film to enjoy. Schoolboy musings and insecurities can make for entertaining material (read Adrian Mole), but when the protagonist from Joe Dunthorne’s novel of the same name has such a gloomy disposition and there is rarely a light-hearted moment, the ethos is more akin to mere toleration, if that. It’s hard to empathise with a character if he or she is not likeable and after 90 minutes with this lot, you’ll wish you hadn’t really bothered.

There are one or two positives to take from the film. The acting is decent enough, provided the characters from the book are realised satisfactorily and the direction has some nice touches. One such moment involves one of Oliver’s narrations where he refers to a particular camera angle to convey his emotion and the highlight of the script includes the witty declaration: “My mother is worried I have mental problems. I found a book about teenage paranoid delusions during a routine search of my parents’ bedroom.”

Submarine tries so hard to be clever and ‘knowing’, that its producers have completely forgotten to make a film filled with characters worthy of our interest. Deadpan humour only works if the events surrounding the main character are funny enough to warrant a flurry of laughs. Unfortunately, this is not one of those films.

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Review: Larry Crowne (2011)

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2011, Julia Roberts, Larry Crowne, Sarah Mahoney, Tom Hanks

Director: Tom Hanks
Stars: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Sarah Mahoney
Plot: After being fired from his job at a store, a middle-aged man decides it’s time to go back to college.

There was a time when having Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts as top billing would have been a marriage made in box-office heaven. In the late 80s/early 90s when Hanks was making a name for himself in light-hearted comedies such as Dragnet, Big and Turner & Hooch, Roberts warmed up with Mystic Pizza and Steel Magnolias before exploding onto cinema screens in perhaps her most famous role, Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman. So it’s rather telling that, despite Larry Crowne being their second outing together after Charlie Wilson’s War, neither film has set the world alight.

Larry Crowne features Hanks as the title character, a man whose comfy existence as a middle-manager at a superstore is shattered when he is made redundant as part of a restructuring process. Larry is told that because he didn’t attend college that he wouldn’t be able to work any further up the promotional ladder and therefore must be let go. After a fruitless job search and a particularly downbeat meeting with his bank, he decides to enrol at the local community college in order to give himself wider opportunities, studying public-speaking and economics.

At the college he meets fellow classmate Talia (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), who gives Larry and his house a makeover whilst inviting him to join her boyfriend Dell’s (Wilmer Valderrama) scooter gang. He also becomes enamoured with Mercedes Tainot (Roberts), one of his teachers who is unhappily married to Dean (Bryan Cranston), who works at home but spends most of his time surfing for internet porn. As Larry’s life takes a turn for the better, he not only makes gradual progress in his studies, but finally gains some direction and new experiences in his life which he realised had been previously lacking.

Larry Crowne appears to have an identity crisis. Billed as a romantic comedy-drama, there is strangely little love, laughs or shouting to speak of. Penned by Hanks and Nia Vardalos, responsible for the overrated My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the screenplay has a decent premise but the execution is poor. Instead the plot is pretty humdrum with no discernible genre – stuff happens on the screen and we just watch. Tom Hanks’ character is charming enough, but the rest of the supporting cast are pigeon-holed into predictable roles that don’t really offer a chance for us to get to know them at all. Roberts’ Mercedes is drawn in such a way that she is perceived to be thoroughly unlikable. While she may get a little sympathy for her marriage troubles, once she gets into the classroom her general attitude to her students for most of the film is of abject apathy – and the feeling is mutual.

On the plus side, a surprising star turn from George Takei as charismatic economics professor Dr. Ed Matsutani manages to raise a few laughs in an otherwise drab but heartfelt affair. Larry’s story is affecting and Hanks plays him with the right mixture of vulnerability and grace, but there is not enough to really convince us that the storyline is realistic. Everything positive happens much too easily – even the montage of his job-hunting appears to last for one afternoon. There is also an issue with Larry’s motives for going to college for the fact that he doesn’t attempt to get his old job back – wouldn’t this have made an interesting subplot?

Larry Crowne is a very lazily plotted film, but with its starry cast, there’s room for it to be watched on a Sunday afternoon if there’s nothing else on the box.

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Review: Sarah’s Key (2010)

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2010, Gilles Pacquet-Brenner, Kristin Scott Thomas, Mélusine Mayance, Niels Arestrup, Sarah's Key

Director: Gilles Pacquet-Brenner
Stars: Kristin Scott Thomas, Mélusine Mayance, Niels Arestrup
Plot: Whilst investigating The Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup in 1942, an American journalist in present-day Paris discovers a story involving a Jewish girl whose family was caught up in the horrifying events.

Kristin Scott Thomas has a varied filmography. Arguably her two most famous roles, that of Fiona in Four Weddings and Katharine Clifton in The English Patient, launched her into the consciousness of cinema-goers. What you may not know is that, despite her very English name and upbringing, from the age of 19 she has spent most of time living in Paris and has consequently become a regular staple of French cinema. I’ve Loved You So Long and Tell No One displayed her fluency, but also proved that there is room elsewhere for British actors and actresses outside their own country aside from Hollywood.

Sarah’s Key stars Scott Thomas as Julia Jarmond, an American journalist researching an article on the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup, which involved the mass eviction of Jews out of German-occupied Paris in 1942, decreed by the Nazis but carried out by the French police. The chronology jumps back and forth between Julia’s investigations and the story of Sarah Starzynski (Mélusine Mayance), a Jew whose family were torn asunder by the raids. Sarah’s family receives a visit from the police at their apartment and are told to leave immediately. Prior to being shepherded out of their home, Sarah manages to usher her brother Michel (Paul Mercier) into a closet in the living room and locks the door to prevent the police from taking him too.

The Starzynskis are sent to the Vélodrome d’Hiver, a cycling stadium where thousands of other Jews have been herded and made to wait in unsanitary conditions. Sarah reveals that she still has the key to the closet and becomes increasingly desperate to return to the apartment and save Michel. The family is split as they are eventually sent to different camps amid scenes of chaos – her parents are sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and she must try to escape from the Beaune-la-Rolande camp and return home. Meanwhile, in present-day France, Julia makes a series of shocking discoveries about what happened to Sarah and her brother, whilst also finding that their lives are intertwined more closely than she could ever have imagined.

Sarah’s Key, whilst not in the same league as Schindler’s List or Life is Beautiful, is a very poignant, moving and involving drama. Obviously it is Sarah’s story that will grab you the most as it is by far the most affecting – Mélusine Mayance is excellent in the title role and her emotional performance is finely balanced to include a loss of innocence but also a fine portrayal of the awareness that her character’s brother is first and foremost her chief concern. The atmosphere of war-torn France is beautifully imagined, especially the harrowing scenes in the camps, but the use of cinematography in the countryside is terrific.

Julia’s story is thought-provoking, but doesn’t pack the same punch as the 1940′s plot, but Kristin Scott Thomas holds this part of the film together very well. In less accomplished hands, the role of Julia may have been diluted to the point of corny, although Scott Thomas does well to speak French fluently while holding a decent American accent. Some critics have pointed to the present-day sub-plot almost as a diversion from the more interesting historical events – this is true to a certain extent, but such is the unavoidable contrast in style between the two timelines, that they actually complement one another.

There are better films about The Holocaust, but Sarah’s Key is well worth a watch if you want to learn more about a lesser-known and heart-breaking chapter in the history of the Second World War.

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Review: Bad Teacher (2011)

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2011, Bad Teacher, Cameron Diaz, Jake Kasdan, Jason Segel, Justin Timberlake

Director: Jake Kasdan
Stars: Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Justin Timberlake
Plot: When a lazy, gold-digging high-school teacher’s fiance dumps her, she must go back to the job she quit and prove successful in her career and love, whatever the cost.

If you’ve read the book of high school movie clichés, you’ll know the score. According to films such as Breakfast Club, Mean Girls and 10 Things I Hate About You, we must have a nerd, a jock, a princess and a rebel or two. These days the same now applies to the teachers – perhaps not along exactly the same formula, but there must be a variety of different personalities to create conflict and disruption, otherwise it wouldn’t be realistic now, would it? Bad Teacher applies the same principles to the staff and places the (rather too well-behaved) pupils in the background whilst the childish shenanigans are well and truly the preserve of the so-called responsible adults.

Cameron Diaz stars as Elisabeth Halsey, the ‘bad’ teacher of the title, who is dumped by her rich fiancé with help from his mother. Elisabeth was merely trying to marry into money, not particularly bothered about her job which she had quit in a gleeful blaze of glory. Unfortunately she has to resume her employment at the same school, much to her chagrin. Matters are not tempered by the fact that new (and wealthy) member of staff Scott Delacorte (Timberlake) has all-too-swiftly been wooed by her annoyingly enthusiastic colleague Amy Squirrel (Lucy Punch). Having discovered that Scott’s ex-wife had big boobs, Elisabeth hatches a plan to raise the $10,000 required to have an enlargement procedure done in an effort to win his affections.

She organises a car wash with her students, supposedly for extra tutoring and supplies, but it is in fact a ruse to raise the cash for her operation. After wearing provocative clothes to grab the attention of passing male drivers, over half the money is collected. Elisabeth then learns that the teacher with the best test scores in the county will receive a bonus of $5,700 – she radically changes her teaching style to get the grades, but also plots to get one step ahead by drugging the test professor Carl (Thomas Lennon) to get hold of the exam paper. Meanwhile, she has to cope with the unwanted attentions of the gym teacher Russell (Jason Segel).

There is nothing original or spectacular here, but the set-up is never supposed to be high-quality. Bad Teacher is in the same comedic category as School of Rock, although it lacks the same charm as the Jack Black vehicle (and the rocking soundtrack). Cameron Diaz is a reasonably good comic actress, having had some decent entries from the zany The Mask to the more sophisticated In Her Shoes and the recent Knight and Day – she is well-suited to the character of Elisabeth. Justin Timberlake’s bespectacled supply teacher Scott is actually not bad at all, but he won’t be winning any awards anytime soon. Lucy Punch, the token Brit with an American accent, steals the show as the irritating Amy and is certainly a future one to watch.

If you want to keep yourself amused for 90 minutes with a very American comedy then this will probably do the trick, but with too much corniness and silliness, the laughs are not nearly as frequent as they should be.

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