Some reviews I need to drop, all films with slightly varying quality. They’re still worth a watch, though.
Wicked Little Letters
From both the trailers I saw for this one (the PG-13 one which cuts out the swears and the mature one which includes them), ‘twee’ was the vibe I got from both of them. Olivia Coleman can eject as much unsanitary language from her mouth to turn a London bus blue (yep, that’s the imagery I’ll go for here), but it’s nigh on impossible to separate her performance from quaint British stereotype. She nonetheless puts in a spirited performance as the affronted victim receiving the insulting notes, as does Jessie Buckley, and there’s even time to fit in a bit of commentary about domestic abuse courtesy of an OTT Timothy Spall playing Colman’s father, but this side story falls flat. It is fun to see Wills from The Windsors make an appearance as an obnoxious police officer and Kitty from Ghosts playing a member of the Suffragettes, but Letters plays with comedy and serious drama without sticking to either, and the combo doesn’t quite gel. It’s reminiscent of Black Mirror episode ‘Nosedive’ in some ways, but doesn’t have the watertight screenplay to create competent satire.
Bob Marley: One Love
The music biopic is a tried and tested genre of varying quality, so much so that it’s difficult to break out of the expected boundaries. You’ve got the montages, the songs, the rise to fame, and sometimes the fall from grace. A couple of recent examples include Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman. The former hit most of the generic beats and didn’t make much of an impact despite star Rami Malek’s electrifying performance, and Rocketman managed to do something a bit different with its fantasy elements. With One Love, it falls into the flaws of Rhapsody, not doing much to get into psyche of its main musician, but nonetheless featuring a spirited performance from its lead. It’s great to see Kingsley Ben-Adir get a title role after serving as Ken’s number two in Barbie, and he definitely deserves more starring roles. Lashana Lynch also exudes heart and feeling as Marley’s long-suffering wife Rita, but the film doesn’t take any time to stop and dig in to the fractures in their relationship, only bringing their problems into focus with a few throwaway lines. Another disappointing entry into a fairly underwhelming genre canon.
Samsara
I’m not really sure what to make of this one. The basic plot centres around the Buddhist journey from death to reincarnation, which is presented from the point of view of a boy helping an old woman transition into her next life by reading a sacred text. It’s beautifully shot, with gorgeous imagery of greenery and rivers. It’s a film in one sense, but a sensory experience in another. I noticed they had an epilepsy warning on the description, so I assumed that some element would be quite trippy. And a decent chunk of it is, considering there’s about 10-15 minutes where you’re asked to close your eyes while a series of flashing colours fills the whole cinema space. Rather odd, but very intriguing nonetheless.
Drive Away Dolls
The latest entry from Ethan Coen, but not Joel, as one brother splits apart to make a film of his own, writing the screenplay with wife Tricia Cooke. There are key Coen touches from the opening scene (RIP Pedro Pascal’s eyeballs. Again. Seriously, guys. Leave Pedro Pascal’s eyeballs alone), but plenty of individual panache in there too. The basic plot is fairly simplistic, following the car-related escapades of lesbian friends Jamie and – as they become embroiled in the shady shenanigans of a group of gangsters. Jamie is all extrovert and bluster, making time to fit in a few wistful contemplations about scooping inside one’s backside to find a soul (expect plenty of ass references), and adding to Bella Baxter’s description of ‘furious jumping’ with the simple but effective adjective ‘bouncy’. Nice. Marian, on the other hand, leans more toward the extrovert brand, steering away from relationships at every possible turn. There’s time for psychedelic imagery with some trippy pizza, and some fun Seven and Pulp Fiction references. The screenplay isn’t exactly vintage, but there’s a lot of fun to be had if you’re willing to go along for the ride.