Sydney Film Festival 2016 - Film Review - Maggie's Plan

Ethan Hawke and Greta Gerwig - Maggie's Plan

Director and screenwriter, Rebecca Miller has created a somewhat off-beat comedy film with Maggie's Plan.  What is this film about  and what is its focus ? Is it a satire on the New York intellectual elite? Is it a comment on the nature of modern relationships ? Is it an observation on women and the need for children ? Or simply a meandering muddle through all of the above.

The plot for this film follows the romantic misadventure of career adviser Maggie (Greta Gerwig) and her desire to become a mother. As no particular romantic interest has materialised Maggie decides to go it alone through artificial insemination. Maggie is no Bridget Jones and in the course of her travels runs across writer, John (Ethan Hawke) who falls for her. One problem she must face is John's wife, career academic, Georgette (Julianne Moore). Maggie gets the guy but decides that she would like to hand him back to his ex-wife and so the film plods on.

What is it with the roles taken by Ethan Hawke in recent years? They almost all now appear to be introspective and narcissistic. In Maggie's Plan it is no different and his character in this film can be compared to the insufferable Beyond Midnight  in 2013. Greta Gerwig in the principal role as Maggie is little more than a vague almost dithering air-head - perhaps the contrast is intended to be a counterpoint to the intense Julianne Moore (who has been given an impossibly silly foreign accent for her character). This is no portrayal of New York communities, Woody Allen style. The film lacks the black noir of Allen and the sharp dialogue often associated with East Coast films set in New York. Its pleasant enough but little else.

Sydney Film Festival 2016 - Film Review - It's Only the End of the World

Marion Cotillard and Vincent Cassel - It's Only the End of the World

It's Only the End of the World directed  by Xavier Dolan (with the screenplay also written by him) won the Grand Prix and the Ecumenical Jury Prize at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Why ?

This is a mess of a film which, in large part, is due to the director's interpretation (or lack thereof) of a stage play by the late Lean-Luc Lagarce.  Perhaps the relative youthful age of 27 for Dolan might have some influence on how he approached the film and the dialogue of the main characters.

The storyline follows the return of successful writer, Louis (Gaspard Ulliel) to his hometown and family as he is dying from AIDS. He has been absent for 12 years and his trip is to announce his impending demise. No sooner has he materialised then, despite warm welomes, the family descends into endless arguments between his mother (Nathalie Baye), sister Suzanne (Lea Seydoux), brother Antoine (Vincent Cassel) and sister-in-law Catherine (Marion Cotillard). Louis actually never makes his announcement but spends his time in dreamy recollections of past events.

As one reviewer in Vanity Fair commented, the film is overcome by pretention and the few good sequences arrive 'amidst a hideous clamor of pointless yelling and shoddy character work' A superb French cast was wasted with either no viable dialogue  or endless shouting. Marion Cottilard is left as the mumbling, stammering sister-in law and Vincent Cassel spends almost the entire film being bellicose and bullying everyone else.

The film will be released in France and Canada in September 2016.

Sydney Film Festival 2016 - Film Review - Captain Fantastic

Viggo Mortensen and the children in Captain Fantastic

Screenwriter and director, Matt Ross' Captain Fantastic is a funny, sometimes bitter sweet film focussed on the relationship between a father and his six children and the challenges they face when confronted by tragedy. The central role of the father, Ben Cash, is portrayed by the versatile, multilingual Viggo Mortensen and he delivers a commanding performance. The film has screened at both Sundance and Cannes (in the Un Certain Regard section) in 2016 and the film is due for release in July 2016 in the US.

The storyline for the film follows the efforts of idealistic father, Ben Cash to raise his children in a partial alternative lifestyle in a stretch of forest in Washington State, far from civilisation. They are taught Marxism, martial arts and encouraged to read and question. There is no Christmas Day but rather Noam Chomsky Day and self sufficiency is the mantra. The Mother, who appears only in flashbacks, has been hospitalised and passes away leaving both Ben and his children to confront the challenge of reintegration into wider society. As the children travel down to their Mother's funeral, their observations about what they see in society and their relatives has a number of priceless moments. There are many social issues raised in the film - the children, although home schooled in the wilderness by their parents, are vastly healthier, better informed and educated than their mainstream counterparts. Their state of health and fitness gains amazed comments from doctors when one of Ben's daughters is injured in a  fall. Ben's eldest son gains offers of admission to college from every Ivy League University in the US.

This is ultimately a heart-warming film about the strength of family and provides a welcome contrast to the number of films in recent years focussing on dysfunctional family units.

Sydney Film Festival 2016 - Film Review - War on Everyone

Michael Peña and Alexander Skarsgård - War on Everyone

John Michael McDonagh's latest film, War on Everyone is reminiscent of a Tarantino style of storytelling rather than his earlier black humoured films, The Guard and Calvary. This film is a fast-paced, action packed 'shoot-em first' film with sharp dialogue and plenty of gratuitous violence.

The storyline is centred on Detectives Terry Monroe (Alexander Skarsgård) and Bob Bolano  (Michael Peña), a pair of corrupt, boozed up police officers who display little interest in solving crimes as much as they do with lining their pockets from various scams. When British aristocratic criminal, Lord James Mangan (Theo James) masterminds a major heist on their territory, the two anti-heroes are determined to find the culprits and recover the million dollars for themselves. Anarchy ensues with blackmail, drugs and shoot-outs just some of the action as this unlikely pair of 'law' enforcers roll across New Mexico to Iceland in hot pursuit of their target.

Skarsgård and Peña are well cast as the odd couple of policing (Starsky and Hutch they are not) and New Mexico the perfect setting for wreaking havoc.  The film does not have the same level of nuances and satire of The Guard nor the darkness of Calvary so McDonagh's script varies from his previous work. It is nonetheless an easy film to watch with more than a few laughs (in the best of Irish irony).

Sydney Film Festival 2016 - Film Review - The Childhood of a Leader

(L to R:) Liam Cunningham, Tom Sweet, Bérénice Bejo, Robert Pattinson.

Producer, Director and co-writer, Brady Corbet has created a film either of magnificent grandeur or a grandiose folly with his non-epic which chronicles the fictional childhood of a fascist leader commencing from the end of World War I until a later but undefined period. The setting of this period film is placed in rural France during the peace negotiations being held at Versailles.  The child, Prescott (Tom Sweet), the young son of an American diplomat, increasingly develops his powers to shift the balance of power in his family and subvert the order of life through three chapters titled 'Tantrums', which is itself an understatement of events. The Father (Liam Cunningham) is too busy with the peace negotiations to pay much attention to his son, while The Mother (Bérénice Bejo) delegates much of her role to a tutor and nanny only to be out-manoeuvred by the calculating Prescott at every juncture. Eventually Prescott's dominance is such that he openly assaults his mother and declares his non belief of any religion to an astounded set of guests at a dinner party.

The film's photography and scene setting uses powerful images of surrealism and almost operatic structure partnered with a thundering music score by composer Scott Walker. Such is the evolution of totalitarian fascism.

Viewers hoping to see much of Robert Pattinson will be disappointed as he is relegated to a few support scenes and then a non dialogue image-only role as the adult Prescott. The most tangible presence and performance is delivered by Tom Sweet as the wilful, calculating and ultimately villainous child Prescott. The final scene shows masses of people being held back by uniformed troops wearing greatcoats and red bands around their caps almost Russian communist in style. Massive banners flutter from building facades while a large limousine delivers the adult Prescott to the masses wearing a uniform not unlike Stalin, Mussolini and Hitler. It is a film full of metaphors but strangely it ultimately remains unsatisfying.

Sydney Film Festival 2016 - Film Review - Blood Father

Mel Gibson and Erin Moriarty - Blood Father

Any doubts as to Mel Gibson's acting skills in his now later years are put to rest in this thriller from director, Jean-Francois Richet. Filmed in the dusty wide expanse of New Mexico, Richet has created an almost cliche story of 'father rescues daughter from the clutches of gangsters' however in this case the daughter is no angel. Bikers, gang-bangers, trailer park residents, orange prison jumpsuits and lots of fierce looking tattooed men adorn this film along with all manner of firearms.

In the storyline, ex-con John Link (Mel Gibson) runs a small tattoo business from his trailer while still looking for his missing teenage daughter, Lydia (Erin Moriarty). Lydia is missing from choice however and after accidentally shooting the leader of the local drug cartel, who is also her boyfriend, she is on the run and turns to her father for help.  Link is determined not to allow the cartel to knock off his daughter in revenge and the stage is set for a shoot-out between the drug dealers and Link in the desolate countryside. In a scenes reminiscent of Mad Max, Link speeds to rescue his daughter on a custom made motorcycle with a sawed-off shotgun and some hand grenades for good measure.

Mel Gibson and Erin Moriarty are excellent in their respective roles as father and daughter with the correct level of both feel-good and frustration being displayed in equal measure. This is a very comfortable styled Saturday afternoon matinee movie.

Sydney Film Festival 2016 - Film Review - Goldstone

Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen) in Goldstone

Australian director and screenwriter, Ivan Sen brings his indigenous detective character, Jay Swan back to the screen in this full feature set in a small mining town of Goldstone in the Australian Outback. Swan (Aaron Pedersen) a flawed but ultimately determined police officer is sent to Goldstone in search of missing Chinese girl. As his inquiries proceed he finds himself being warned off by the local Mayor (Jacki Weaver), the mining boss (David Wenham), the local Aboriginal Land Council Chairman (Tom E Lewis) and his motel room is blasted by gunfire. The sole young local police officer, Josh (Alex Russell) also seems to be part of the network however Swan is uncertain how far the influence extends. The full gamut of tactful persuasion is at play in Goldstone - corruption, politics, corporate greed, the environment and Aboriginal mythology. The stage is set for a shoot-out between law enforcers and law breakers in the finale of the film.

The well established cast handles the suspenseful and later action-packed script expertly with Jackie Weaver and David Wenham particularly effective, respectively as the villianous town Mayor and mining boss. Veteran Aboriginal actor, David Gulpilil, adds an authenticity to the connection to land aspect of the film and the mythology underpinning Aboriginal belief. Ivan Sen has made full use of the endless sun, extensive panorama and the stark landscape of outback Queensland to establish the picture frame in which the action proceeds.