Changeling

Apparently Hollywood's highest paid actress, Angelina Jolie certainly has a decent amount of range - at least in the genre of films she appears in. Happy to appeal to the young testosterone juiced males in ludicrous (although quite fun) action heavy films like Wanted, she also makes sure she appears in enough films with higher pretensions in order to be taken seriously as a - well - serious actress. Very few actors have such a successful dual career - a number jump from one camp to the other for the odd film, but generally appear happier in the dumb popcorn stuff or the not so dumb award bait stuff and rarely both.

To date her more serious roles have yielded just one Oscar nomination and that was back in 2000 for Girl Interrupted - a role she went on to win for. A Mighty Heart was supposed to change that last year but Oscar looked away when everyone else at least saw fit to nominate her. This year though a nomination looks even likelier than it did this time 12 months ago, for Jolie has landed a role apparently highly sought after; Christine Collins - a woman whose son disappears one day when she takes on an extra shift at work, triggering a 5 months man hunt for her lost child. After an exhaustive search the LAPD, desperate to receive some good press, announce that they have found her son when in actual fact the boy they found is someone she's never met in her life. Worse, they refuse to acknowledge their mistake once they "reunite" mother and son and forcefully suggest Collins should take the boy home to "try him out" for a few weeks.

This was a time when the police had an incredible amount of power but very rarely used it wisely. Corruption was rife and mistreatment commonplace. Incredibly the police department didn't even require a medical examination to have someone (almost exclusively a female) incarcerated for mental illness. This was the 20s and women were largely second class citizens. At work Collins is told her manager had to lay his job on the line to get her promoted to shift supervisor - his bosses telling him women couldn't do the job. But inequality in the workplace is one thing, the ability to lock someone up without cause is quite another. Embarrassed by her protests that the boy is not her own, the department start actively campaigning against Collins, indicating that she is an unfit mother and mentally unstable - getting her sectioned under a code 12 internment, code 12 being a term used to jail or commit someone who was deemed difficult or an inconvenience. Enraged by the injustice of this and other cases involving the LAPD, a preacher Reverend Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich) complains daily of police mistreatment in his radio broadcasts and takes up the Christine Collins case as a personal mission to right the wrongs she has faced.

Clint Eastwood's first of two late 08 releases (the other being Gran Torino) is a typical Eastwood helmed picture. Sparse, understated, efficient. He has a confidence in the director's chair that comes with having directed films for nearly 40 years. Filming takes just a few weeks, he apparently rarely does multiple takes of a particular scene. If he likes the way his actors have done it first time round, he'll call cut and move on to the next scene. There's no irritating little tics like "clever" camera placements, edits or swooping pans. He is totally comfortable with placing the camera in the middle of the shot, letting his actors do their thing, then moving on. And where he excels, is getting excellent performances out of his cast. This is very much Angelina Jolie's picture and it is not hard to work out why both Hilary Swank and Reese Witherspoon lobbied for the role. This has serious awards potential - a heck of a lot of screen time, period piece, wronged woman etc. Whilst I wouldn't say she knocks it out of the park, she is certainly very good and has probably done enough to secure the second Oscar nomination of her career. This is not a performance on the same level as Kristen Scott Thomas' but then nothing else this year will be.

The other strong points in Eastwood's film largely revolve around his production crew, for Chageling is as handsome a film as I've seen for a while. It retains a 20s feel throughout - wonderful sets, impeccable costumes, hair and makeup. Its photographed wonderfully - retaining the 20s look through the lens. You feel a lot of time and effort went in to recreating the time period and the entire production team deserve an art direction nod for their efforts here.

Good support comes from Jeffrey Donovan who delivers one great line in particular - the one on the trailer: "why would we be looking for someone we have already found" - a wonderful mix of embarrassment, exasperation and desperation. If myfilmvault.com was sad enough to have an award for best single line reading I dare say this would be in my top 5 for the year. Changeling is an enjoyable film, one that never drags and a film that effortlessly changes gear and focus as the story unfolds. The story itself edges towards incredulity - indeed were it not a true story you might even suggest the screenwriters had pushed things a little too far. Normally I roll my eyes whenever I see those dreaded words "based on a true story" come up at the beginning of the film. On this occasion it is both necessary and actually enhances the film.

B

Wanted

Ah, summer movies. Don't you just love them? No, actually I hate them. I despise the summer movie season and have barely mustered enough enthusiasm to get to the cinema more than once a month since April (summer starts early in cinema-land.) But being the UK's most loved cinema critic*, every now and again I feel I ought to get my arse into a movie theatre and watch some brainless popcorn fare, so yesterday I did.

Actually, if I'm honest I was quite looking forward to Wanted ever since I saw the trailer with Angelina Jolie dressed only in an impressive array of tattoos emerging from some sort of bath, dripping wet and looking positively stunning. And when it comes to brainless action flicks, they quite often prove to be far more satisfying than those worthy, earnest pictures that are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. There's no air of pretension here - director Timbor Bekmambetov has simply set out to film some jaw dropping action set pieces and keep the high octane plot moving so quickly you don't get chance to dwell on its ridiculousness. And if we judge a film by what it sets out to try and be rather than judging it against a standard it never aspired to, you have to give this one a pretty solid thumbs up.

Bekmambetov made his name (and what a name it is) directing Night Watch and Day Watch, 2 breathless, adrenaline filled action films that were huge in Russia, and which played pretty well overseas too. I managed 20 minutes of the incomprehensible first before bailing, however will concede that the director had a certain flair for action sequences. That flair hasn't escaped him in his first Hollywood film - in fact some of the action sequences in Wanted are as good as you'll see. There's a couple of especially brilliant scenes worthy of mention. In the first, Angelina Jolie flips her car over a police road-block, onto the side of a knocked over bus, and then drives off. In the second a train spectacularly derails off a bridge spanning two mountains either side of a huge gorge. A film can't get by on amazing CGI-enhanced action alone though (see Transformers for proof, in fact save your money and don't bother). You need some semblance of decent acting, or a decent script: preferably both. I think here they had the former rather than the latter. McAvoy is effective enough in his big Hollywood break. Jolie looks great. Freeman plays the same role that he always plays in these films. They are all effective though.

The plot however is complete crap. For the record, James McAvoy plays a complete nobody who just happens to be the son of one of the world's greatest assassins. Someone who can harness his almost superhuman power into ridding the world of bad guys as instructed by the (and I'm not making it up) the "loom of fate", which is so ludicrous it doesn't deserve further explanation. McAvoy gets drafted into to a group of assassins to replace his slain father, and embarks on a mission to avenge his death by killing the rogue assassin who killed him. Aside from the loom of fate, we have the problem of a final act involving thousands of explosive rats: surely the dumbest conceit in recent movie history.

Despite this failing, I am going to give the film a pass. Summer films are usually braindead crap and this may well be braindead and it may well be crap, but it has enough quality about it to get a half-recommendation from me. Everyone involved seems to be intent on simply making a fun, watchable action film and they pitch it just right. Wanted is very good at being what it wants to be and for my money that's far more enjoyable than seeing a film that aspires to greatness, but which comes up woefully short.

C+

*as voted by the editor of myfilmvault.com

Beowulf

Beowulf arrived in cinemas a couple of weeks ago and is offered in both 2D and 3D. Unfortunately only certain cinemas are capable of showing it in 3D and therefore many fans will be leaving this picture thinking that they'd seen nothing special. I suspect, and judging by the applause in the theatre at the end of the showing I was at, those watching in 3D had seen a different film altogether.

Watching a product as visually impressive as Beowulf, it is hard to imagine that 2D films will be continued to be made once movie theatres worldwide have installed the hardware, and filmmakers work out how to cut production costs associated with producing in 3D. There are still flaws that are noticeable onscreen, particularly around the edges of the frame, that need to be ironed out. Filmmakers will also hopefully resist the temptation to create certain shots just for the gimmicky 'coming at ya' 3D effect. Zemeckis and co were reasonably restrained here. The 3D actually works better when you forget your watching it and instead are marveling at the sweeping vistas that we zoom through with impossible camera angles and gloriously animated sets.

Beowulf is not the first film to be shot in 3D. Far from it. 3D technology has been in around in one guise or aniother since the late 19th Century and the first feature film shot in 3D was back in 1939. But what Beowulf offers is a huge advancement in the quality of the process. Never have visuals been as wondrous as here. Plus you have a film that's telling a pretty decent tale to boot. Ray Winstone, in motion-capture animated form, takes on the role of Beowulf and must have appreciated the rather generous touching up (or complete creation) of a set of perfect 6 pack abs. Beowulf, at the request of a Danish king (Anthony Hopkins) slays a monster in order to rid a town of its curse, but he then becomes enchanted by the beasts' seductive mother and the curse he thought he lifted lives on. Angelina Jolie is perfectly cast in the latter role and is, unnervingly, unbelievably hot despite the not quite perfect clay-like appearance in the face that motion capture offers, although the rest of the body seems pretty damn perfect - all the way to the end of her huge golden tail. The supporting motion captured cast are all good too - Robin Wright Penn, John Malkovich and, particularly, Brendan Gleeson as Beowulf's right hand man.

Leaving the theatre I cannot believe for a second that 3D is anything other than a new era of film - a breakthrough as every bit important as sound or colour. It's obviously just one that is taking much longer to perfect. It has been reported that Steven Spielberg is amongst a group involved in patenting a 3D cinema system that doesn't need glasses. A computer splits each film-frame, and then projects the two split images onto the screen at differing angles, to be picked up by tiny angled ridges on the screen. This may be the advancement needed to bring 3D into all cinemas.

Whatever it is that needs to happen to either make the shooting of a film or the projection of it profitable even for small budget, independent films, I expect this will happen. I suspect that eventually 3D will be the norm and Beowulf is proof that that's something to look forward to.


B+

Mr and Mrs Smith (2005)

I'm really not quite sure why I watched this. The first half an hour or so is quite enjoyable and watchable but the rest, well, the less said the better. Let me just get one thing straight right off. I have no hatred of, or vendetta against, action films. A well done action film can keep you glued to the edge of your seat. This didn't. The film concerns Mr (Brad Pitt) and Mrs (Angelina Jolie) Smith, two hired assassins neither of whom know the other is an hired assassin. A job goes wrong and they suddenly realise (shock horror) who the other one is.

The plot is laughable and the last 45 minutes or so of the film is spent running away from balaclava-clad bad dudes who want, for some reason, to kill poor old Mr and Mrs Smith just because they're married. Jesus, hitman companies have pretty exacting standards. Count me out, I'll be a spy. Arnie never had this much trouble in True Lies. The worst scene of all involves them beginning to shoot each other for no reason without even questioning whether or not they might actually want to kill their partner of many years. Then they suddenly stop trying to shoot each other with a like amount of questioning. It was at this point I lost faith, though I did persevere until the end. Oh yes, the end. Well, there isn't really one and the film ends very abruptly.

Pitt and Jolie sleepwalk their way through the film, there is no chemistry between them (quite surprising really), and the only good performance comes courtesy of the ever-dependable Vince Vaughn. Adam Brody is sadly far, far, too underused, which is a shame, as his character might actually have been vaguely interesting. At least it can go down as one of the very few 'egalitarian' films we've been harping on about on the site for over a month, it's just a shame it doesn't do such films many favours.

There are a few laughs to be had, but not many, and a few god scenes, but not many. It has very little to recommend it actually, despite a solid first half hour. Avoid.

D