DRAMA
I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG (IL Y A LONG-TEMPS QUE JE T’AIME)
(12A) 117min 0..
Novelist and screenwriter Philippe Claudel makes his directorial debut with this patient and sensitively shot family drama. PlainIy-dressed. middle-aged Juliette (Kristin Scott Thomas) comes to stay in Nancy in north east France with her younger sister Lea (Elsa Zylberstein). who already lives with her husband. two adopted children and mute father-in-law. It turns out that Lea and Juliette haven't seen one another for fifteen years whilst the latter has been serving a prison sentence.
I've Loved You So Long observes both the gradual emotional rapprochement between the two adult siblings and the effOrts of the reticent Juliette to rehabilitate herself in the wider world. This former doctor has to find a job. meet regularly with her parole officer, and deal with the curiosity of the locals. Claudel lets us off the hook by explaining the motives for her crime. and overdoes the confinement metaphor — every suppOrting character. whether it's an Alzheimer‘s suffering matriarch or a bereaved male colleague. is presented as being trapped in their own metaphorical prison. But the filmmaker does make intelligent use of his provincial settings, and the lead actresses give impressively subtle performances. (Tom Dawson)
I GFI'. Glasgow and Cameo. Edinburgh from Fri 26 Sep.
COMEDY SWING VOTE (12A) 119mm 000
What if the fate of the US presidential election came down to the vote of one man? This is the premise rolled out in this pleasing comedy directed by Joshua Michael Stern. Bud (Kevin Costner) is a trailer-trash father being looked after by his 12 year-old daughter Molly, who, in defiant rebellion to her sloth-like parent, is passionate about the election. A chain of events means that after Molly’s well intentioned deed to vote for her dad goes wrong, Bud’s vote will swing the election one way or another. Cue the entire election carnival turning up on Bud's doorstep to try to convince him to cast his vote their way.
With Frasier’s Kelsey Grammer as the pretty inept incumbent and Dennis Hopper as the Democratic contender and a raft of American political pundits all playing themselves, Swing Vote punches well above its low budget weight. Stern and screenwriter Jason Bichman avoid getting embroiled in party politics by showing both parties are just as bad as each other, as they throw more and more temptation Bud’s way. Wise and warm- hearted in the broadest sense, Swing Vote takes the one man, one vote principle to its most extreme and holds a mirror up to what passes for democracy in the most powerful nation in the world. This simple, liberal, egalitarian political comedy was, unsurprisingly, a huge flop in its home country — it may fare better with European audiences. Following on from his work (as director and star) in 2004’s excellent western Open Range and some interesting acting work in The Upside of Anger and Mr Brooks, Costner cinematic redemption continues. (Georgina Wilson-Powell)
I General release from Fri 26 Sep.
44 THE LIST ‘8 Sep»? ()3? 2008
ACTION/DRAMA REDBELT (15) 99min m
David Mamet - master of the con trick and rapid fire verbal jousting, writer of award-winning plays and respected political commentator - pulls a rabbit out of the hat by making a martial arts movie with a moral code and a storyline that's nicked from a Jean Claude Van Damme flick.
Martial arts instructor Mike Terry's (Chiwetel Ejiofor) touchstones are honour and moral upstanding, but personal integrity don’t pay the bills - as his accountant wife constantly reminds him. At least Terry’s students. goofy cop Joe (Max Martini) and on- edge lawyer Laura (Emily Mortimer), give him respect. However, their desire to not bring dishonour on the nearly bankrupt jujitsu academy lands Terry in deep trouble when an action-star (Tim Allen, who surprises in a dramatic role) and his producer (Mamet regular Joe Mantegna) enter the frame.
Mamet studied jujitsu for five years and his love of the sport is clearly demonstrated in numerous instruction scenes. but he must have been hit over the head a few times too many. as there is something trite in a story in which a worthy teacher is undone by the harsh reality of Darwinism, only to morally triumph in the end. It's worth watching however for the myriad of intriguing characters' performances. and to witness what happens when cynic Mamet goes Bruce Lee on us. (Kaleem Aftab)
I Selected release from Fri 26 Sep.
THRILLER/ACTION AKEN
(15) 93min 0..
When it comes to his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). retired US secret agent operative Bryan (Liam Neeson) is feeling pretty redundant. Her new stepfather (Xander Berkeley) is wealthy enough to give her everything she wants and his ex-wife (Famke Janssen) doesn't seem keen on him being a part of their lives. When Kim and her best friend get ‘taken’ by sex traffickers on a trip to Paris. Bryan realises his old skills may be of some use.
Writer and producer Luc Besson (Subway, Nikita. Leon) and director Pierre District 73 Morel's high octane. blood thumping update of Paul Schrader's 1979 Hardcore is every bit as ridiculous as it sounds but no less enjoyable for it. Besson and Morel Ieaven their reactionary vigilante flick with Francophile attitude. a whiff of Chekhovian familial regret. fantastically over the top torture (of really bad guys though, you understand) and action scenes and an unbearably cheesy tail end. Liam Neeson channels the Charles Bronson of The Mechanic. The Stone Killer, Raid on Entebbe and The Evil That Men Do in a volte-face role as a mum-functional vengeance machine. And guess what? There's not a fundamentalist Muslim in sight. (Paul Dale)
I General release from Fri 26 Sep.