list.co.uk/fi lm Reviews | FILM
DRAMA AFTER THE STORM (PG) 118min ●●●●● COMEDY DRAMA THE LAST WORD (15) 108min ●●●●●
ROMANTIC COMEDY HAMPSTEAD (12A) 103min ●●●●●
Asked who his hero is, 11-year-old Shingo (Taiyo Yoshizawa) confidently replies, ‘Grandma.’ He’s referring to the recently widowed Yoshiko (Kirin Kiki) who lives alone in a cramped apartment that exudes warmth, comfort and the aroma of mouth- watering cuisine. She’s mother to a daughter who occasionally takes advantage of her goodwill and a son Ryota (Hiroshi Abe) who, like his father before him, has gambled away his fortune. Ryota is an award-winning novelist, divorcee, dodgy private detective and father, limited to one visit with Shingo a month due to his unreliable temperament. Kiki turns in a gorgeous performance as Yoshiko, conveying playful wit, intelligence, tenderness and a keen eye for crap, and Abe brings humour to a loveably misguided character. As ever, director Hirokazu Kore-eda masterfully investigates the nooks and crannies of the commonplace with delicacy, posing questions about destiny and chance. He serves up a hearty dish where unfulfilled dreams rest closely beside hopeful ambition. And just like much of his previous work – including Like Father, Like Son and Our Little Sister – he probes the nature / nurture debate in a quietly powerful, thought-provoking way. (Katherine McLaughlin) ■ Selected release from Fri 2 Jun.
Shirley MacLaine seems to have been playing crusty curmudgeons with hearts of gold for the best part of three decades. Here she’s Harriet Lauler, a control freak businesswoman with a talent for alienating people. Now in her eighties and concerned about her legacy, Harriet demands that journalist Anne (Amanda Seyfried) write an advance obituary that she will shape and approve. Naturally, it is the beginning of an unexpected friendship.
Directed by Mark Pellington, The Last Word is a predictable, sentimental affair in which Harriet’s redemption involves sponsoring a nine-year-old urchin and trying to reconcile with her estranged daughter. You can almost feel toes curling and resistance hardening at every cute twist in what amounts to a modern variation on Scrooge. Nothing cuts too deep, nobody bears much of a resemblance to a fully-rounded human being, and no opportunity to tug at the heartstrings is missed. And yet, MacLaine is such a complete professional that she refuses to surrender to the schmaltz. The sheer force of her presence and the skill of her performance makes you care about Harriet and give the film the benefit of the doubt. It is a rare illustration of star power in action. (Allan Hunter) ■ Selected release from Fri 7 Jul.
With its picture-postcard North London setting, Hampstead falls into the bracket of those British films made with one eye on the American audience. Director Joel Hopkins has proved something of a specialist in making twee, star-driven dramas aimed at older audiences (Last Chance Harvey, The Love Punch). Here, Diane Keaton plays Emily, a cash- strapped American widow who works in a charity shop and spends her time with friends she doesn’t really like, led by Lesley Manville’s busybody Fiona. Everything changes, though, when she meets the taciturn Donald (Brendan Gleeson), who lives in a shack in a secreted part of Hampstead Heath. Amid some gentle humour, romance blossoms,
but Hampstead is about more than just later-life love. Loosely based on the real travails of Harry Hallowes, it sees developers attempt to oust Donald from his home. There are legal shenanigans as Gleeson’s grump gets his day in court, while Emily faces her own cross-examination from her so-called friends, who are scandalised by her liaison with the town tramp. Keaton thrives in pure ditz mode, and her chemistry with Gleeson is appealing. Will it change your life? No. But it’s funny and watchable enough. (James Mottram) ■ General release from Fri 23 Jun.
PERIOD DRAMA MY COUSIN RACHEL (12A) 106min ●●●●●
An aloof young gentleman finds himself bewitched, bothered and bewildered in this handsomely mounted but hastily relayed adaptation of the Daphne du Maurier classic – its warped romance offering a stark warning to all who dare to fall in love. When his beloved guardian Ambrose dies in mysterious circumstances abroad, Philip (a never-better Sam Claflin) inherits his estate. However, no provision has been made for Ambrose’s widow, their half-Italian cousin Rachel (Rachel Weisz, well cast for reasons beyond the shared forename); and when she arrives in England, this proves very unsettling indeed. Philip is determined to dislike his enigmatic cousin and has good reason to suspect her. Nevertheless, her wicked wit, easy charm and ravishing beauty blows through the dusty, neglected environs like an exotic breeze, banishing the cobwebs and awakening his heart.
Writer-director Roger Michell (Notting Hill) is an odd choice for the dark material and it’s no surprise that the suspense here is lacking. Yet cinematographer Mike Eley forgoes the corset-like constraints of period cinema; the film has a fluid and psychologically penetrating feel, framing the central dynamic as a shifting power play. It’s an interesting angle and there’s striking imagery, too, most memorably a gloved hand snaking its fingers through hair.
Mildly racy embellishments are incorporated effectively, even if the alterations to the ending undermine that which came before. Although Michell retains many of the book’s best lines, as a whole it feels desperately abbreviated, with Philip going too quickly from vengeful misanthrope to love-struck fool. Events unfold with a certain amount of artistry, just not nearly enough patience. (Emma Simmonds) ■ General release from Fri 9 Jun.
1 Jun–31 Aug 2017 THE LIST 77