cmqp Reviews

Love Actually (2003)

Unrealistic, but wonderful

[23 November 2003]

I saw this movie with some professional reviewers' opinions uppermost in my mind. The prevailing view, I thought, was that this was a patchwork of sentimental nonsense sewn together by swearing, a Christmas theme, and some good acting. The reviews were wrong (again!), and it's my assumption that those same boring, cynical, elitist reviewers would've showered 'Love Actually' with praise had it been French and shot in black-and-white. I totally fell for this movie - a charming, beautifully-made festive confection.

You'll already know, I'm sure, of the set-up. Several inter-linked love stories of different types, played out in the weeks before Christmas, centred on Hugh Grant's bachelor Prime Minister falling for his tea-girl (Martine McCutcheon). From Downing Street, the love flows in all sorts of directions, although never really beyond middle-class town-houses owned by people with vague, well-paid jobs, (but what would you expect?) To be fair, there were a couple of stories whose cutting wouldn't have damaged the movie - the English loser in Wisconsin, for instance - but I guess Curtis had a load of points to make about love, and he wasn't compromising on any of them.

Grant's Prime Minister is well-acted but pretty unrealistic, of course. Having said that, how many US Presidents have we sat through in movies who are the epitome of square-jawed greatness, and bear no resemblance whatsoever to the real occupants of the White House? More power to a kick-ass British leader. McCutcheon gives a lovely performance as the beguiling beverage-server, and Emma Thompson is brilliant as usual. Her strand, as the PM's sister whose husband (Alan Rickman) is being tempted by a predatory colleague, is heart-rending and sincere. The same is true of Colin Firth's character, whose wife cheats on him with his brother, and who ends up engaged to a beautiful Portugese cleaner. Each tale has a share of laughs, and the body-double pair who talk traffic and motorways while rehearsing their sex-scenes, are hilarious. Equally, Rowan Atkinson's tiny cameo, which I haven't seen mentioned anywhere, is a triumph of performance comedy.

I feel like I could be one of the characters in this movie. I'm a Londoner in my own personal Curtis-esque scenario - adoring the girl of my dreams even though she's with another man. Perhaps because of this, the story about the guy videoing his best friend's wedding won me over even more than the rest, not least because of it's wonderful resolution.

Maybe you have to be in love in London to appreciate Curtis' latest work as much as I did. That's certainly the impression I got from my unmarried, uncommitted friends. But they enjoyed the jokes and laughed loads, and from a comedy, that's a pretty good return. Christmas, love, and London have rarely looked so tempting from the late-November drizzle.

Shallow Hal (2001)

Missing the point

[18 August 2003]

It's easy to laugh at this film, because the jokes are so broad, but it's equally easy to be offended. The issue I have with the movie is that, in the course of making the point that we should see the inner-beauty in fat people, the Farrellys are implying that by being overweight you are universally ugly. In fact, in the world of Shallow Hal, if you are fat, you are a well-meaning mammoth who couldn't possibly be fancied unless under hypnosis or after an epiphany.

The movie also seems to suggest that the friends of fat people are ugly, and that uglies keep each other's company because no one else will want to associate with them, which is another reinforcement of social divisions. All of Rosemary's (Paltrow) friends are, as we see at the end, equally fat or gross or otherwise physically undesirable. Most disturbingly, the Farrellys undermine the inner-beauty point they've spent $40 million trying to make through Hal, because Hal's friends betray the judgmental reality. When his buddies see Rosemary for what she is, i.e. grossly fat, they are universally horrified in a "what are you doing with her?" way, which carries a more powerful punch than any of the tepid attempts to suggest she's beautiful because of her personality (moulded, we are told, by years of personal abuse because of her size).

The overall message is correct - inner beauty is ultimately what counts, because a sparkling character will outlast youthful good looks by decades. But the Farrelly's have approached the subject in a way that actually insults, rather than genuinely educates. It's not going to uplift anyone who's overweight, it'll just depress them. The majority of the film perpetuates the idea that being fat or ugly makes you a pariah or the object of sympathy or vulgar fascination.

There are some sweet moments, and a few laughs, so the movie's not a wholly worthless experience. But in the process of making its (valid) point it reinforces, rather than rejects, stereotypes.

Groundhog Day (1993)

A totally flawless movie

[10/10 · 18 March 2003]

It's hard not to adore this film. I've seen it so many times I can speak along with the dialogue virtually throughout, but it loses none of its magic. Can there really be anyone left who hasn't heard the premise of this movie? If you are that person, then here it is: grumpy prima donna weatherman (Bill Murray), frustrated by being stuck on local news, is sent with his sexy new producer (Andie MacDowell) and irritating cameraman (Chris Elliot) to the backwater of all backwaters, Punxsatawney, Pennsylvania. Why? Because that's the centre of the Groundhog Day festival where, every February 2nd, America waits to see if there will be six more weeks of winter. Murray is bored and fed up after being sent to cover the story, but his distress only escalates when he realises he is stuck in Groundhog Day every day. No matter what he does, at 6am every morning he is back in his bed listening to Sonny and Cher.

This movie, while definitively romantic in places, is always, always imaginative. We follow Murray's character through depression at his time warp existence, joy at the fact he can do anything including steal thousands of dollars, determination when he realises that he can get to know MacDowell's Rita without her sensing his ulterior motives, and desolation again when he understands the meaninglessness of a life devoted to himself.

Although that all sounds kind of deep, the film is a total joy from start to finish, and you never realise you're being exposed to hardcore philosophical concepts as you see Murray scoffing cake in a diner. Enough laugh-out-loud moments to make this a comedy classic, Groundhog Day also has thoughtful and intelligent subtexts, which make it worth watching dozens of times. Fabulous entertainment.

Screen One: Pat and Margaret (1994) Season 6, Episode 3

Fantastic stuff

[10/10 · 17 March 2003]

I adore this film. Sometimes I've found Victoria Wood's work too female-oriented, but this is just outstanding, bittersweet entertainment with a wonderful cast and virtually faultless script.

The premise is that two sisters were separated at a young age and totally lost touch. Now, 25 years on, the older one, Pat (Julie Walters), has fought her way to the world of American soaps, and achieved international fame and a huge fortune. Margaret (Wood), though, hasn't fared as well and works in a motorway cafe, lives in a bed-sit and has a faltering relationship with an illiterate mummy's boy. All fairly grim.

They are reunited unexpectedly on a TV show called Magic Moments, and neither is ecstatic about each others' company. Pat especially is furious and scared by the unwelcome nostalgia, and is extremely cruel about her dowdy sister. However, they slowly develop a bond as a common mission to find the mother who abandoned them and forced them apart unites them.

The characters are beautifully drawn, especially the late Thora Hird as the over-bearing, interfering mother of Margaret's decent boyfriend Jim. Wood and Walters are fantastic, and have worked together so often that their rapport comes naturally. Celia Imrie and Duncan Preston, both regular features of Victoria Wood's work, are excellent in support.

I can't think of many more moving British comedy-dramas than this one, which is so cleverly written performed with such class and enthusiasm. There are loads of laughs and moments of pathos, and the ending leaves you with exactly the kind of feel-good buzz you want. Superb.

Gangs of New York (2002)

A stunning and powerful classic

[14 January 2003]

*SPOILER ALERT*

All the build-up/hype/reviews I've seen for this movie have been about whether Scorsese, greatest American director etc, can overcome various production difficulties and deliver a masterpiece. I have to say, I let all that boring commentary wash over me, waited for the movie to open and bought my ticket.

It starts bloodily, the crisp white snow in New York's Five Points becoming stained with the blood of dozens of men slain in a battle between rival gangs - the immigrants (led by Liam Neeson's Priest Vallon) versus the naturalized New Yorkers (led by Daniel Day-Lewis's Bill the Butcher). The idea, in the modern world, that there is any such thing as a native New Yorker in a city founded by immigrants, populated by descendents of immigrants, is fanciful. But in NYC in 1846, it was a reason for significant and regular bloodshed.

Anyway, the Priest's son, played as a grown-up by Leonardo DiCaprio, emerges from an institution fifteen or sixteen years after he is orphaned to avenge his father and kill the marble-eye wearing Butcher who put him there. Vallon Jnr infiltrates the Natives' inner-circle and falls for Cameron Diaz, who turns out to be connected to his father's killer.

The movie builds to its inevitable climax slowly, but every second is fascinating. Some have criticized the indulgent run time - just short of three hours does seem excessive on paper - but the characters are all well drawn and each has an identifiable personality. I loved the realism, the detail and the craft that invests every scene and every shot. It's vivid, realistic and human through all the sets, costumes, dialogue and characters.

There was some disquiet about the closing third featuring two distinct story lines (the corruption and unfairness leading to the 1862 draft riots and the quest for revenge by young Vallon) that Scorsese never quite manages to marry together. I disagree, feeling instead that they are absolutely part of the same period and mentality. Seeing the whole city explode in to violence and dissent towards the end is an attempt by the director to explain the drive of the gangs, and the fact that anyone repressed and unloved is on the precipice of violence. These men and women, he is saying, are what some of us could have been had we lived 140 years ago. Don't look down on them, he pleads. Understand why they did what they did - because, identically to the draft rioters, they felt they had no alternative. Corruption, inequality and social exclusion give the down-trodden little reason to respect their laws and institutions.

For sure, you can sit through the movie and notice parts that should have been cut, but this director is a craftsman and I haven't ever looked at a painting and complained that the artist should have cut three inches from the border because it's too big. Trust Scorsese to include what he feels is right - the result is a stunning, epic history of the America that gave birth to all our lives.

Christmas Vacation (1989)

Holidays are only complete with this movie

[31 December 2002]

My Christmas is filled with ritual, as I guess most people's are. Part of that ritual is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, about which I have nothing but good things to say. This should be part of your Holiday season too, because despite it not seeming like it all the way through, the film as a whole is just so thoroughly festive, cheery and good-hearted.

It opens with a great set-piece, Clark taking his family out in the "front-wheel drive sleigh" to dig their Christmas tree out of the snow-covered ground. He's a desperate loser, but you have to love the guy, working his butt off to give his extended family the perfect Christmas. (That's the difference in this Vacation movie, by the way - the Griswolds don't go anywhere, their folks come to them).

So the shenanigans finding a tree set the pattern for a season of chaos, fighting in-laws, squirrels, stupid relatives, huge dogs, snooty neighbours and collapsing turkeys. And as if that wasn't stress enough for poor Clark, he's waiting for his Christmas bonus to come through to cover a cheque he's already written.

The script brims with festive jollity, enthusing the audience with Clark's excitement for the holidays. Stand out moments include the welcome (and hilarious) return of Randy Quaid as Cousin Eddie, the uber-hick sponger with a trailer-full of weirdo kids and rubber sheets, and Mae Questel's appearance as Aunt Bethany. She used to voice Betty Boo, and plays the crazy old woman to perfection.

See this movie. Get it on video. I normally watch it the first time on a miserable October Sunday, when I start to think properly about Christmas. Nothing can replace this movie as the one thing guaranteed to get me looking forward to late December. Fabulous stuff, and as festive for me as tinsel and carols. Cuddle up with this one.

Vacation (1983)

A career highlight for everyone involved

[29 September 2002]

This is a great eighties comedy for all the right reasons. First of all, Chevy Chase is an outstanding comic actor, playing a devoted father with the anti-midas touch, desperate to treat his family to a little fun but fluffing every opportunity. The rest of the family shine from beneath him, especially Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid), a freeloading redneck making no money from the live bait business.

But it's the script that keeps things moving, keeping the kind of pace a road movie should as the rapidly deteriorating "family truckster" carries the Griswolds from suburban Chicago to Walley World, California. Jokes flow as the misfortunes mount, and Hughes's one-liners are genuinely funny.

Vacation is a fantastic movie, not just because it's very funny, but because it's funny every time you watch it. They've done everything right. Definitely one to buy on video.