lHPHtEH INSIDE MAN (15) 128min O...
WIS/0“: ifs/7"!“ .‘.r’1',i1l.'.€f}.'. 'j’lil'f; V] ' r:.‘,‘ (,urioslt, .ai ie Vinitil. cecal/it; it '. Spike Lee", first fora, lift, a Plot x: " 'iT'
studio genre lll’,.l‘: u"1/(jflr‘lll,.,
uber-prr/lt/ er Brian Gui/er 'i fvlt’l/t. Arm/lo I’ll lit: has {All l’,’}':7"‘r' é: stellar cast led b. CliJ- (L‘l‘fll. brine: \.'.\/(tf§lllll{}l‘)ll and Jodie Faster
The slinpie premise if. that Daituri Russell lOHeni l’. going to cciiiiiiil 2"»: perfect robber, Detectl‘.e l ra/ier i‘.’./asliiii_gtoni .‘Jlll do e.'er.'tl:.r~; ill nr, power the doesn't have lllllf hi tr ,i. hirn. Christopher Plunirner's bank proprietor is worried that the content of his safety deposit box .‘./|ll be revealed and calls in super lawyer Madeline White ia fake l)l()ll.’(:(l and
sassy Fosteri to protect his interest.
The heist memo is as old as Hollywood itself and the best in the genre were arguably produced in the golden age of the 1970s: Lee makes a point of referencing both Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon.
Th s sleek. Intelligent thriller comes to a conclusion that is as unexpected as it is extraordinary. comparable to the best work of Sidney Lurnet. lKaleem Aftabl I General release from Fri 24 ll lar.
MUSICAL COMEDY ROMANCE. ROMANCE AND CIGARETTES
(15) 115min 000
It seems that John Turturro has been smoking the same wacky baccy as the late. lamented Dennis Potter. The actor's third stint as writer-director taps into Potter's lip-sync musmal strategy pioneered in Pennies From Heaven in which otherWise inarticulate characters use popular songs to unleash their emotions. Given that Turturro hails from 1960s Queens rather than wartime Forest of Dean. his cast mime — and dance — along to the likes of Joplin and Springsteen. Such flights of fancy perhaps demand thOrOugh grounding and Turturro's tale of infidelity certainly is authentically blue-collar. Wllll James Gandolfini's chain-smoking ironworker tom between Wife Kitty lSusan Sai'andonl and family. and Mancunian
v Fonl‘venbe'rn (15) 132min O
For an American blockbuster to climax with the bombing and total destruction of the London Parliament building on 5 November by a terrorist enemy of the state who is also the film's titular hero might appear to be revolutionary filmmaking of the sort Hollywood rarely indulges in these days. But to get to that particular display of cinematic pyrotechnics. one must sit through two long hours of messy storytelling and muddled action that makes this adaptation by The Matrix trilogy's Wachowski brotners of Alan Moore and David Lloyd‘s brilliant graphic novel virtually unwatchable.
Moore's precise plotting and Lloyd‘s highly atmospheric artwork made for an almost flawless political thriller set in a near-future Britain in which a nation subjugated by an Orwellian fascist government is delivered from evil by a mysterious anarchist superhero known as V. The first mistake made by the Wachowskis is to rework, almost beyond recognition. certainly beyond sense, Moore‘s plot perfect storyline. Their second error is that in updating the story from the late 19905 that Moore and Lloyd envisaged to the present day, Al and Larry have messed with the bleak dystopian setting so integral to the action. Grimy, retro-looking London backstreets are intercut with images of the shiny new Millennium capital. It's utterly incoherent.
Furthermore, while there‘s overt engagement with our post-9/11 and 7/7 world, the political thrust of the source material is lost. Two decades ago Moore and Lloyd made some startling predictions about Britain‘s future, most pertinently the erosion of civil liberties by our own government. The film fudges that issue. climactic bombing of Parliament notwithstanding. All that's left to admire is a spirited performance by Hugo Weaving as the entertainingly theatrical hero who wears a Guy Fawkes mask. And that‘s just not enough. Another comic masterpiece, wasted. (Miles Fielder)
I (lt'l‘ék'ti‘ 'r‘iri’ifl'ie' Vi 1" /' ' H. '«i’
tart-with-aheart lula iKate \.‘.’insiet cutting loose». lt's gleefully bazao. stuff; Gandolfini's archetypal Noe tasker .: refreshingly (llll(‘:lt3'll. sfoitlike 'tJYlltll‘li" lead. not least when crooning; 'A Ma" in Loxe‘ on the street. {tacked l". a chorus line of garbage (tritet‘tr Eli», Sadly, llt)\.‘.("‘.t3l. Turturro often "‘i'fiflz"% Potter's nuanced use songs Something like l'e "5.; Dexfiit‘f".e's
'leddi, Bear's Pit‘r‘iv' tinted .1? a: «'11:» '_'l.‘i is'.’ "'3" . w lite" t.‘ f, of latent mischief. .'."-ereas a "i ","§.."t' ttrn- l‘M-‘w E5.) era . s‘.‘.':l.elling Citirstt‘phei ‘.‘..‘iike" t." I . 7’ i' I). i. on. llLittTlll|l7:§ JP lam Jones ‘Del'an " '~ .e ' f' " ‘ i often: stiit‘ti. slurel'izwa. pleasures. l a? :t "I C .r r' i'xr '~ Close. but no gas. l..::.;i‘n Sil‘glér' Def... Km. " I Gtfi'TWJ 'tft'tl‘it“ f’ . -: '.'.:’. K "i..- L, Tl _. ii: 1"“ i'xri '. ..()'.,‘rl‘_. .i, : 2i .. I‘T’J, :13'» fr! ". COt.ttU\ ":;: ".es'. izi‘yc' .‘ "iz." THE PINK PANTHER "'Nar «we: ‘.' t'. l' ' i,. N ‘r\:f'.. I".. :«Hl'ltryr'wtl r ‘ v ‘ 2 ' v :3. . K‘v~ ’ If comedy is a disease. the." saw. .i'i} .: . " " I; Stete Mart" :s the can;- Sfet‘; rt: :" :. _. .»,- «: ':.-; " the familiar 'a:'\:oat aria 'noustaxfi‘e t-..-' e”. t' at " 1",“; Bar“ lldb‘ Dlemeusl, defeated the meats tp' :.'.a' :-..‘ La“. "1. W}; m»;- A'an Arkii‘. Roberts Benigr‘. and. er": "tastersuz'rg. E': 1‘ Ha" ) '
Ted Mass. and Martin copes 71;; {IL-Tit,”
ALSO RELEASED
The Big White (15) 100min .00 Mike Mum the .iirectni of .iiii G lrit’laht‘ase. has .i go at the comedy Chine drama genre ‘.‘.l°.ll this largc‘estitm tale of a trawl agent iRobir‘ y‘alliarnsr an .nsuiant‘e age'it t(\)i’.l‘.\llllll Rlllitfili, .i llLJ.‘(3ll(i.1'll‘3t‘.llt:l two hit men iW [Lari Bron-.2n and lirii Blake Nelson; Comparisons to the tioens' tililo film are unfarturnitelz unavoidable and there is also .i niggltng feeling that llll13if;lli?3. another Lllldtil‘.‘.’l‘itfllllllit) attempt by V‘r’illiams to be taken seriously as a character actor That said. the acting is good anrt the fSt‘lllll despite a few longeiirs keeps things motirig. ipillll [Jalm General release from In 3-1 Mar Transamerica (15) 103mln COO WilllOr'ClllOClO.’ Duncan Tuc‘ker's debut feature follows a familiar narrative template. putting together two mismatched Characters and folloWirig them on their cross—country road trip. Pre operative male to female
transse ual Bree i{)e:;per.'ite HeiiseWives star Felicity Huffman» is lust a week away from gender reaSSignment surgery when she receives the shock news that she has a son. Toby iKeViii Zegersi. from a fOrgotten heterosexual
' 7 years earlier.
t‘i .‘l'idllll‘,
encounter some Bree. posing as a Christian missionary. drives him from Custody in New York all the way to Los Angeles. But at what point is it safe to tell Toby that ‘she' is not only a 'he' but also his father?
The highlight is Huffman's dignified performance: it's not lust the details of the actress' physical trailstrmation. it's how she COnveys the terror of her prim. old- fashioned character at being exposed and her yearning for simple human acceptance. lTom Dawson). General release from Fri 24 Mar.
The Ringer (12A) 94min
0. The concept of this Farrelly Brothers move is deliberately contentious; an able- bodied loser Steve Barker (Johnny Knoxville; takes his way into the Special Olympics in order to win a cash prize. But The Ringer's attempts to challenge perceptions of disability fizzle Out due to over- careful handling by director Barry Blaustein. who loads Baker With a near-holy motivation for the Charade — he needs the money to pay for an operation for a sacked colleague. DeSpite its radical ideas. The Ringer is strictly an also ran. (Eddie Harrison) General release from Fri 24 Mar.
‘fia’ 2'; A THE LIST 49