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Reviews
Black Swan (2010)
Ballerina spirals out of control with so-so results
Darren Aronofsky's latest foray into the agitated mind of a perfectionist seems to have divided film goers down the middle. Some have lauded it as a top thriller/horror while others have deemed it more schlocky than shock and a real let down after The Wrestler. This time, instead of Mickey Rourke's ageing wrestler sacrificing body and mind to desperately cling onto fame, we have Natalie Portman's ambitious-to-the- death ballerina's descent into madness, all in the name of the spotlight.
Portman, who has visibly put herself through the paces to get into the skinny, taut body of a young ballerina, plays Nina Sayers - a mummy's girl dancer who has put everything, friendships, boys, growing up, on hold to achieve her ambition of becoming principle dancer in her New York ballet company. Her dream comes within grasp when lead ballerina, the gorgeously deranged Beth (Winona Ryder) is put out to pasture and artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel on mean, moody Frenchman mode, as per) casts his net for someone to play the lead in a new production of Swan Lake.
That's when the real fun begins. Angelic Beth-wannabe Nina seems to be a shoe-in for the role of the virginal White Swan – but does the mollycoddled little princess have the necessary darkness to play the evil Black Swan? Especially when new competition, bad girl dancer Lily (Mila Kunis hamming it up wonderfully as the femme fatale), arrives on the scene in a fog of drugs and sultry looks.
From the beginning, Black Swan enjoys teasing the viewer, playing out its twists and turns with relish – from Nina tearing at her own flesh in grisly detail through to the horror staple of having characters appear suddenly in a darkened corner. Yip, watching Nina unravel proves to be pretty compulsive viewing, even if you are trying to hide your eyes for the bloodier scenes. This Black Swan doesn't pull her punches. She teases, she bites, she claws and slowly, uncertainly she loses her mind, bringing us along for the ride. She also, however; takes herself a little too seriously.
Portman obviously threw herself heart and soul into this role but intensity be-damned, Nina is just too twee to really engage with. All those teddies and pink and frilly cakes and mousiness. No wonder none of the other dancers want to befriend her, she's a right oddball, like a female version of Norman Bates. And not in an interesting way either. In fact, Nina's so cutesy that when anything remotely untoward does happen, it's giggle inducing - which doesn't just reduce the tension, it deflates it. Like the scene where Nina is in bed and realises mummy's asleep in the chair beside her? Titter, titter.
All in all, Black Swan isn't a bad yarn; if anything it will certainly keep you guessing until its bittersweet end. You just probably won't want to bother with it a second time.
*It gets an extra 0.5 point for the fantastic make-up job on the Black Swan.
The Green Hornet (2011)
Like a little brother – funny, fun but needs to grow up a little.
It's hard to dislike Seth Rogen. Even when he's being a complete idiot – like refusing to grow up in Knocked Up, dishing out random advice in The 40 Year Old Virgin or making a porno in Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Essentially, Rogen is like a frustrating little brother – a chubby stoner who scoffs all the pizza, puts the empty milk carton back in the fridge and repels your friends by making boob jokes about, well, their boobs. Rogen has made a career for himself playing Fozzie bear and, while he hasn't stretched his talents playing wannabe superhero billionaire Brit Read aka The Green Hornet, that goofy sweetness works well here
most of the time.
The tale itself, in case you aren't one of the fan boys salivating over the arrival of The Green Hornet (3D), is simple – rich orphan becomes crime fighting antihero with the help of a tech whizz kid, a sexed up motor and a penchant for mayhem. So far, so Batman. Except, with Rogen and mates on board, The Green Hornet doesn't take itself as seriously as *puts on deep voice* The Batman. And that's good, because not only are there no embarrassing voices making you cringe behind your popcorn but one of the best things about The Green Hornet is that it's funny, like properly laugh at loud funny.
Unfortunately funny isn't always enough. With more superheroes gracing our screens than you can shake a light sabre at, today's audiences expect more than a couple of chuckles, a cute cameo and a big fat explosion. We want romance, car chases, bad guys with issues, good guys with flaws, big guns, bigger bangs and brain boggling street fights all tied up with a storyline that will squeeze every drop of emotion out of us like wringing out one sheet of Bounty. It's a lot to ask but, hey, life's tough.
The Green Hornet's funny, its 3D looks good and it starts off strong with a heart breaking back story about daddy but then it loses the thread slightly, lurching from scene to scene like a toddler in Santa Land, over explaining the storyline with dodgy dialogue, throwing in unnecessary "stylish" graphics when you want to see some proper fighting and dragging out odd scenes just for the laughs.
Sure, there are flashes of comedy gold in The Green Hornet. You can really see where director Michael Gondry was going. He just didn't quite get there. It's a bit like when your granny asks if you want a biscuit and, instead of the expected chocolate Hobnob, you get two Rich Tea with a bit of margarine in between.
The Next Three Days (2010)
Unconvincing, prison break mush
Focussing on the actions of a man driven to extremes when his wife is imprisoned for a crime she claims not to have committed, The Next Three Days sets itself up as an exciting countdown movie but fails to deliver the necessary punch.
Russell Crowe plays John Brennan who, when faced with no other choice, decides to break his beloved missus Lara (Elizabeth Banks) out of jail – an ordinary man undertaking an extraordinary task. And that's the crux of the problem, real life is generally yawnsome; it's hard to show ordinary while maintaining tension.
When it is striving to be real, The Next Three Days is dull and easily forgotten; when realism is damned and Brennan/Crowe has some successes, it all seems rather ridiculous and pointless – are we really supposed to be rooting for this idiot and his idiot plan? And what evidence has this conviction been based on anyway? The ping of a missing button apparently - which says a lot about the trembling basis on which this tale unfolds.
The Next Three Days is at its best when it ramps up the action – when Brennan/Crowe finds himself in the middle of a drugs den and takes appropriately, if surprisingly harsh action considering he is a man made of marshmallow. It's not that the plot becomes anymore plausible, but at least you have some well paced action and a few interesting characters to soak up the general malaise.
Another good point was that, unlike Brennan/Crowe's unwavering belief, the audience does start to doubt the innocence of the missus . We haven't, after all, seen anything to prove Mrs Brennan really didn't do it. When Lara, in a fit a of pique, admits to the crime, I almost cheered aloud that little Ms Perfect might actually be a cold hearted murderer after all - now there's a character flaw worth my attention...for a few minutes anyway, till we are back to Professor Plod and his plodding plan.
The Next Three Days sets itself up as the story of how a mundane everyman can achieve the impossible when driven by love and belief – an insight into the mind of a desperate man, if you will. It is an interesting idea but, while Brennan faces the odd hitch, everything seems to slot into place too neatly and the action – when it does arrive – seems to belong to a different movie.
It's not a bad film (based on the fact I have seen The Ugly Truth and therefore have seen worse), but it's not quite a good film either; it's just more Sunday afternoon on the couch than Saturday night in the cinema.