FILM | Reviews
BIOPIC – SPORTS BLEED FOR THIS (15) 117min ●●●●●
Miles Teller stars in a workmanlike boxing and redemption drama based on the story of Vinny Pazienza – known as Vinny Paz – a poor, exploited kid from Rhode Island who overcame many travails to become a champion, suffered a devastating tragedy and fought another kind of battle to reclaim his life. Ciarán Hinds and Aaron Eckhart co-star, respectively, as Vinny’s domineering father and his trainer, who helped him make perhaps the most remarkable comeback in boxing history.
Writer-director Ben Younger (Boiler Room), whose first feature
this is in over a decade, no doubt found Pazienza’s story catnip. Yet the film never emulates its protagonist by punching above its weight and is reminiscent of so many other and better boxing movies, fictitious or factual. Teller is hot stuff now, but he isn’t Robert De Niro, not yet. He does a committed impersonation of Paz but the guy is a stubborn, obnoxious ass. We are supposed to admire his grit, be inspired by his refusal to give up and exult in his triumph against all odds. But there’s little warmth, humour, poignance or charm about him so it’s hard to care much when he climbs into the ring, especially when we already know he’s going to win. (Angie Errigo) ■ General release from Fri 2 Dec.
DRAMA THE UNKNOWN GIRL (TBC) 113min ●●●●●
In the latest Dardenne brothers film, Jenny Davin is not just a doctor, she is a saint. She is a kindly GP whose compassion goes above and beyond the call of duty. Adèle Haenel’s performance is all brisk professionalism and decisiveness, conveying a woman who has little cause to question herself or her actions.
That sense of certainty starts to crumble one evening at work. The buzzer sounds but it is after hours and, pressed for time and weary, Jenny decides not to answer. The next day she learns that a young black woman has been found dead nearby. Her last, frantic act was to press that buzzer. Jenny remains haunted by what might have been and comes over all Jessica Fletcher in an attempt to discover who this girl was.
The more the Dardennes stray from the intense, social realist tales that made their reputation the less confident they seem to have become. However, the story of one foreign woman’s life and death has a much wider resonance in a Europe that has become home to thousands of refugees. The Unknown Girl implicitly demands that we consider the importance of every individual life. It is a worthy lesson that struggles to shine through an often laboured, predictable narrative. (Allan Hunter) ■ General release from Fri 2 Dec.
MUSICAL LA LA LAND (12A) 128min ●●●●●
Anyone who has ever splashed through puddles in tribute to Gene Kelly or sighed with blissful contentment at Funny Face will adore La La Land. Writer-director Damien Chazelle’s intoxicating homage to the classic musicals of Hollywood’s Golden Age is a technical marvel and a joyous experience that you will want to revisit immediately after watching it for the very first time.
Chazelle’s follow-up to Whiplash emphatically underlines his mastery of filmmaking as it evokes the scope, dazzling colours and larger-than-life emotions of an MGM crowd-pleaser. The all-singing, all-dancing opening number staged in a traffic jam on a motorway is an immediate marker of Chazelle’s audacious inventiveness, and a sign of what lies in store. An adorable Emma Stone plays Mia, a waitress on the Warner Bros lot and an aspiring
actress, enduring the humiliation of countless futile auditions. Ryan Gosling’s dapper Sebastian is a musician and jazz fanatic, determined to open his own nightclub. Drawn together by fate, their tentative, bittersweet romance blossoms through disappointments and triumph, unfolding in a gorgeous, fairytale vision of Los Angeles that takes the breath away. This is a film in thrall to Vincente Minnelli and Jacques Demy, the feather-light elegance of Fred Astaire and the heartbreak of Judy Garland. The cast rise to the occasion. Gosling is a goofy, idealistic charmer and Stone shows all
the versatility, vulnerability and blazing talent of a young Shirley MacLaine as she sings, dances and steals your heart. Start engraving that Best Actress Oscar with her name right now. La La Land is an irresistible, big-hearted valentine to starry-eyed dreamers and the enduring magic of the movies. (Allan Hunter) ■ General release from Fri 13 Jan.
BIOPIC – DRAMA SULLY (12A) 96min ●●●●●
Regularly hailed as an actor’s director, Clint Eastwood brings a craftsman’s touch to the true story of the ‘Miracle on the Hudson’. Captain Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger became an instant American icon when he landed a passenger jet on the Hudson River in 2009 after a bird strike knocked out two engines. The film begins after the event, forcing the audience
to experience with Sully (Tom Hanks) how the crash is replayed inside his head and during investigative hearings. The preoccupation with his internal trauma makes a simple point: human beings are not machines.
‘Life is not a video game,’ exclaims one character as the crash simulations are examined, and the crux of this telling is that Sully’s response was the best possible one in the circumstances. Aaron Eckhart provides strong support as Sully’s co-pilot, but the film belongs to an understated Hanks, and Eastwood, who skillfully balances hard-fact re-enactments of the crash and aftermath with haunting visual evocations of Sully’s alienation amid a growing media circus. His heroics made for a great news story and, in the capable hands of director and star, they are the foundations for a riveting, cinematic drama. (Eddie Harrison) ■ General release from Fri 2 Dec.
90 THE LIST 3 Nov 2016–31 Jan 2017