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Film REVIEWS
FAMILY PUPPET FILM THE MUPPETS (U) 103min ●●●●●
Long before there were computer generated characters, fuzz, felt and puppetry launched talking animals onto our television and cinema screens, and few were as well loved as Jim Henson’s Muppets. A bona fide pop-culture phenomenon, Kermit, Miss Piggy and their variety-theatre friends have been absent from our screens for well over a decade, owned by a German company who refused to use them on the grounds that they were no longer ‘relevant’.
Enter Jason Segel, whose breakthrough performance in Nicholas Stoller’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall featured a puppet-based musical number. Co-writing with Stoller, Segel stars as Gary, a small-town guy who, like his brother Walter (who also happens to be a puppet), is a fan of the original Muppet show. While on a trip to LA with girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams), Gary and Walter visit the now derelict theatre where the Muppets used to perform, only to discover that oil millionaire Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) has plans to destroy it. The trio set out to put the original cast back together to perform a show that might just save the theatre and stop Richman from getting hold of the Muppet branding.
For many, the sight of the Muppets on the big screen will be enough to ensure a good time, which is just as well, as there’s little fresh about the plotting or the jokes in director James Bobin’s reboot, aside from a trio of new songs by Flight of the Conchords star Bret McKenzie. But with a well-calculated roster of guest stars ranging from Mickey Rooney and Alan Arkin for the oldies to Jack Black and Selena Gomez for the kids, the Muppets’ self- referential humour and general old-school bonhomie should still raise a smile for today’s audiences. (Eddie Harrison) ■ General release from Fri 10 Feb. Also screening at the GFT, Sun 5 Feb, as part of the Glasgow Youth Film Festival.
COMEDY JACK AND JILL (PG) 91min ●●●●● DOCUMENTARY GIRL MODEL (tbc) 78min ●●●●●
Adam Sandler’s run of populist comedies haven’t hit the charming heights of The Wedding Singer for a while now, but even fans of Don’t Mess With the Zohan or I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry will choke on their popcorn when confronted by his mirthless comedy atrocity, Jack and Jill.
Sandler plays Jack, an advertising executive
struggling with a request from his client, Dunkin’ Donuts, to ensnare Al Pacino for a new cappuccino commercial. The arrival from New Zealand of Jack’s twin sister Jill, (also played by Sandler) seems ill- timed until, during a trip to a Lakers basketball game, the homely Jill catches the eye of Pacino himself, who inexplicably falls in love with her. Working with his regular director Dennis Dugan,
Sandler has always relied on celebrity cameos, with Johnny Depp and John McEnroe amongst those lowering themselves here, but the sight of Al Pacino desperately groping Sandler represents a new low for all concerned. After viewing the commercial they’ve made, Pacino mutters, ‘Burn this, no one must see it,’ inadvertently providing the only moment of truth is this gross, witless farrago. (Eddie Harrison) ■ General release from Fri 3 Feb.
Far from the fairy-tale fiction of America’s Top Model is Girl Model, a clinical, disturbing industry exposé by documentary makers David Redmon and Ashley Sabin (Mardi Gras: Made in China). Ashley Arbaugh is an ex-model and now a US-
based talent scout searching for girls to service the lucrative market in Japan, and who finds potential in Nadya, a 13-year-old she discovers at a modeling contest in Novosibirsk, Russia. But Arbaugh takes little responsibility for what happens next, as Nadya’s dreams flounder when work proves hard to come by, and the pressure of being the family breadwinner starts to get to her.
Girl Model doesn’t attempt to mount a polemic about the sexualisation of teenagers, or the exploitation of women, but coolly observes situations where both of these processes are at work. Arbaugh isn’t portrayed as a monster; she’s just part of a cruel cycle which exploits the dreams of individuals to satisfy the egos of the few at the top of the industry. (Eddie Harrison) ■ Selected release from Fri 10 Feb. Also screening at Cineworld, Renfrew Street, Glasgow, Fri 17 & Sat 18 Feb, as part of Glasgow Film Festival.
FAMILY DRAMA EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE (12A) 129min ●●●●●
Are the memories of the 9/11 attacks now distant enough to justify their use at the heart of a personal tale of loss and grief? Stephen Daldry’s beautifully crafted adaptation of the Jonathan Safran Foer bestseller leaves the question largely unanswered. Thomas Horn stars as Oskar Schell, a precocious youngster whose beloved father Thomas (Tom Hanks) died on what he calls ‘The Worst Day’. He has now discovered a mysterious key and sets out to discover where it fits. His impossible quest becomes a modern fable as he searches New York, grows to rely on the kindness of strangers and struggles to keep the memory of his father alive.
There are moments when Extremely Loud shines, especially as Thomas bonds with his grandmother’s mute lodger, played by an effortlessly touching Max Von Sydow. A lot of the time, it has a fairytale innocence that doesn’t completely ring true with our memories of the real events. This is a classy production, but it is also a contrived tearjerker that is neither as poignant nor as profound as it might like to be. (Allan Hunter) ■ General release from Fri 17 Feb.
2 Feb–1 Mar 2012 THE LIST 69