While You Were Sleeping - 27th November 2014

Yes, it is finally here! The first festive film of the season. We know today is a Thursday, but we were otherwise engaged on Tuesday. We kick off our Christmas cavalcade of cinematic crackers with a film from 1995 as we discover what happened;

While You Were Sleeping 

There we are then, the first Christmas film of 2014 complete. Although While You Were Sleeping is not a Christmas film in the traditional sense, it is a film set at Christmas and Christmas plays a part in the story. The story is all about Lucy, played by the beautiful Sandra Bullock, who falls in love with a man she has never really met. Lucy works at a train station ticket booth and Peter (Peter Gallagher) buys his train token from her, but has never really noticed her. However, Lucy has noticed Peter and fantasizes about him. On one such day, Peter is involved in a scuffle on the platform and falls onto the tracks, knocking himself out. Lucy comes to his rescue and saves his life by moving him out of the path of an oncoming train. The unconscious Peter ends up in hospital and this is where the fun begins.

Lucy ends up at the hospital and tries to see Peter, but it is family visiting only. However, a series of misunderstandings follow where Lucy is made out to be Peter's fiancée, this small lie soon spreads and Lucy is introduced to Peter's family and at each opportunity to clear up the misunderstanding, the deeper involved Lucy becomes. So while Peter is in a coma, Lucy is becoming one of the family. However, a love triangle ensues as Peter's brother Jack (Bill Pullman) starts to fall for Lucy and Lucy clearly starts to fall for him.

That is the basic layout of the plot and yes it does follow the feelgood, set at Christmas, romantic comedy formula and you know the outcome will be favourable and as predicted, but how you get there is important. While You Were Sleeping is a very pleasant film, ticking all the boxes. All the central characters are clearly important, but what is nice about this film is the supporting cast, who make up Peter's family, they add layers of comedic overtones that provide a distraction from the main thread, making a fuller rounder story, with plenty of, what we will class as; giggle points, periods in the film where allied to the main story, the supporting cast fill in the gaps of the story with funny lines or divert our attention away with short comedy moments.

The film was made in 1995 and Sandra Bullock is stunningly beautiful as Lucy. Her cute good looks and glinting eyes make While You Were Sleeping so watchable, even if the story is a little weak. As the first TNiFN Christmas movie of this year, it was certainly most enjoyable, the sort of film that you can lose yourself in for a couple hours quite easily. It is not pretentious or overtly demanding, it is just plain and simple with a great cast, a pleasant story and a wholesome sentiment. Certainly a film that can be popped on for some seasonal cheer at any time of year.

TNiFN Rating 76%

IMDB Link

Filth - 18th November 2014

In our last screening before we hit the festive films, we take in a homegrown comedy drama starring James McAvoy, it's time for some;

Filth

Well, having said that we were not starting the Christmas films until next, it was delightful to discover that Filth started with a Christmas song and was set in and around December. However any other link to festive cheer can be dropped down the chimney as Filth is a very dark and bleak trip through Advent for it's main character; Bruce Robertson played superbly, it has to be said, by James McAvoy (who was also a producer on the film).

Bruce Robertson is a tough Edinburgh police officer, who is intent on bagging himself an impending promotion, to achieve this he is manipulative and devious, setting his colleagues against each other and generally being rather subversive and underhand. The premise being that if he gains the promotion he will also win back his wife and daughter who, it transpires, have left him. Which is no small wonder, judging by the shenanigans that Bruce gets up to. He is a heavy drinker, very much into recreational drugs and it seems, a sex obsessed individual, who tries to satisfy his carnal pleasures in the most extreme and perverted manner. Therefore, this comedy drama is aimed at the more broad minded individuals. It has been compared to Danny Boyle's Trainspotting. So, if you enjoyed Trainspotting (the film, not the nerdy platform pursuit), then you will like Filth.

That aside the actual story of the character destruction of Bruce Robertson is intriguing, although the first hour is potentially a tricky period to get through, your patience will be rewarded at the end, as things come to a conclusion and the route that takes you to the end becomes clear.

What also aids the film is the fantastic supporting cast, who really add a layer of gloss on what, at first viewing, is a very dour film. Jamie Bell of Billy Elliot fame is great as Robbo's colleague Lennox, throwing off any balletic moves that you may have thought was a legacy of his better known film. John Sessions puts in a sterling performance as Bruce's boss. Imogen Poots adds some glamour to the police force as another colleague. Outside of work Bruce's best mate is Clifford Blades played superbly by the inimitable Eddie Marsan. All these well known faces put in very admirable performances to add to the film, which it has to be said needed a bit of a boost.

And there's more!

Jim Broadbent is outstanding as Bruce's doctor and the totally gorgeous Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey) makes an appearance as Mary who adds another layer of complexity to Bruce's life and is a bit of a love interest giving hope to a happy ending.

Do we get a happy ending? Well, you will have to watch the film to find out, but don't expect a feelgood movie, 'cause Filth is not that at all, it is a hard hitting, gritty comedy drama, with the emphasis on drama. It portrays the sordid and seedy side of Scotland, as we travel down a road of destruction with Bruce and his tortured soul. It is grim, but powerful, seamy and prophetic. As a result it will divide the audience, you will either like it or loathe it. Some parts you might like, others you may not. It has received mixed reviews, some lauding it as a masterpiece, others suggesting it as a waste of time and popcorn.

It's a difficult one. As for us here at TNiFN, we have mixed feelings, we thought the start was poor and confusing, however things became clearer as the story progressed and there were parts that were rewarding and entertaining. The segment with David Soul was particularly good. (Watch out for that bit). Also we cannot underestimate the performance from McAvoy, although the film as a whole was not a hit for us, we cannot knock the acting one iota, praise where it is due.

One hates to use the phrase, but it is a Marmite movie. You will either love it or hate it. As for the scores, they are going to be a tad disappointing for those who ultimately love the film.

TNiFN Rating 60%

IMDB Link

About Time - 11th November 2014

Can you believe it is Tuesday night yet again? It's about time we settled down to watch a film. Tonight's film, that we are settling down to watch, is;

About Time

It gets harder and harder to come up with new ways of expressing your thoughts about a film and this week is no different, but we'll try to swap it around a bit, as we describe About Time. Let's start with the brilliant cast and the characters they play, before running through the synopsis.

Heading up the cast are Domhnall Gleeson and Rachel McAdams playing Tim and Mary respectively. Gleeson is probably most famous for playing Bill Weasley in a couple of the Harry Potter films, whereas the very cute Rachel McAdams has been in many more well known films, such as;  Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, The Vow, Mean Girls, The Notebook and ironically The Time Traveler's Wife. Alongside these two we have the quintessentially English gentleman Bill Nighy, paired with an equally English and brilliant character actress; Lindsay Duncan, who play Tim's parents. At the next level of supporting characters, we have roles for Tom Hollander, Richard Cordery and Lydia Wilson who play relatives to Tim.

The film is from the pen, and under the direction of Richard Curtis and from the very first moment of the film you can tell this. The opening scenes, with a narration from Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) could as easily have been read by Hugh Grant. The tone of voice, the rhythm and the style of the opening monologue is pure Curtis. In fact the whole film bears all the hallmarks of a Richard Curtis movie; the eccentricities and Englishness of the characters, the style of dialogue, the gratuitous expletives and the humour. And all of this is not a bad thing. Curtis has produced some fantastic, modern classic films; Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually, Notting Hill, so he has form as a writer and director.

And so to the story. It has to be said, that Curtis has taken the romantic comedy on a different route with About Time, all his other films seemed to be rooted in reality, About Time shies away from reality and adds an air of fantasy, for you see, when Tim reaches the age of 21, his father tells him the family secret; all the male members of the family can travel in time!

Just take a moment to absorb that information and then think, how on earth can you take such a notion and ensure you still have a viable romantic comedy at the end? Well, think Love Actually and Groundhog Day and you'll be getting close. To be fair it is a lot more than that, once you get over the fantastical premise of time travel, About Time becomes a lovely romantic comedy that will keep you entertained for the full 123 minutes.

Back to the story for a moment, so Tim can, within limits, travel back in time and after a moment of disbelief he indeed can travel back in time and be able to relive a moment and change the course of history, or veer the path to the future. Obviously, his first couple of attempts proves that although he can change things for the better, sometimes the consequences are not quite as he imagined. And so we have a jolly time in the first third of the film, as he bounces around time, trying to get himself a girlfriend. Once he finds that girl (Mary) he has to keep her and on several occasions, whilst helping others, he ends up changing his own future and losing Mary. You have to watch it to keep up with that part of the story.

The path of true love never runs smooth and it was inevitable that at some point halfway through the film, if the formula to this Curtis film were to be the same, that something would happen to Tim and Mary that would require some real thinking and soul searching. Therefore, it was quite refreshing that the formulaic "there's trouble" point in the film turned out not to be between Tim and Mary, but Tim and his family, first his sister and then his father. It was nice to actually see the main couple stay a couple and for Tim to use his secret to help his family. Far too often in rom-com's and chick-flicks it is the main characters who fall apart and you have to wait for the feelgood finale to bring them back together. This was different, this was better.

Again not wishing to spoil the plot, that is where we will leave the story, you will have to watch it yourself to fill in all the gaps. Needless to say, About Time was a lovely film, with a tremendous cast and a beautiful story. As long as you are happy to suspend (more than normal) belief for a couple of hours and allow yourself to be transported on a delightful time travelling journey, you can enjoy the wonders of a quintessentially English lifestyle with an attached love story, with the typical humour of Richard Curtis. Whether it rates as good as Love Actually, is another story, but About Time is well written, well executed story, touching, funny, loving, warm and wholesome, with a modicum of stretching the space-time continuum.

As for the TNiFN ratings, it went down very well, being enjoyed by all members of the panel. A thumbs up from us.

TNiFN Rating 84%

IMDB Link

Silver Linings Playbook - 4th November 2014

Before we fall into the realms of the Christmas movie, (it won't be long now), we catch up with this dramatic-rom-com from 2012. Starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, TNiFN presents;

Silver Linings Playbook

Based on the novel "The Silver Linings Playbook" written by Matthew Quick, this weeks film traces the life of Pat Solatano (Bradley Cooper) as he attempts to rebuild his life after a spell in a state mental institution where he was recovering from an "episode" and being treated for bipolar. The "episode" occurred when he found his wife cheating on him with one of her work colleagues. Pat was quite rightly upset at this and proceeded to beat his wife's lover, but clearly his bipolar issue took over and he took the beating too far. As a result he ends up with a restraining order and a spell in the institution.

The film opens with Pat eight months into his treatment, which is also the minimum time he is required to spend in therapy, as deemed by the courts. His mother; Dolores (Jacki Weaver) turns up to take him home, which is against the doctor's wishes, but Dolores feels it is in her son's best interests to be home with his family. Pat believes himself to be better, but he is still under the delusion that his wife Nikki will take him back. So much so, he takes to running to get in shape and reading to improve his intellect and show Nikki he is committed to getting back together. Unfortunately nobody believes that this will ever happen.

Pat arrives home to be reunited with his dad; Pat Senior played flawlessly by Robert De Niro. Pat Sr. clearly has some issues of his own, namely OCD. He is also in financial trouble after losing his job and has resorted to bookmaking and gambling to earn money. He also insists that Pat Jr. is a lucky charm and wants his son to watch the football with him, to bring their team luck.

Pat Jr. is also still seeing a doctor, but refuses to take his medication, as he believes it makes him foggy and less alert. However, he attends the sessions and this is where we learn a lot of the history behind Paddy's story. (Pat, Patrick Paddy, both junior and senior Solatano men answer to all of those!)

So there you have it, that is the basic storyline that fills the first part of this two hour film, it does start slowly, it does not pick up the pace at all and it could, for some, be a tad boring. However, it is an essential build up, giving you the complete emotional, psychological and factual points that are necessary to take the film forward into the next part.

A friend of Patrick Jr. who still is in contact with Nikki (Pat's wife) invites Pat over for dinner, also present is the sister-in-law of Pat's friend; Tiffany, played by the lovely Jennifer Lawrence. Tiffany is also suffering shall we say, with some mental issues and can relate, to a degree, with Pat. This friendship is the development in the second half of the film where the pace picks up and the film moves from a dramatic comedy, to a more romantic comedy drama. Although Pat is adamant that he is going to be reconciled with Nikki, he needs to have the help of Tiffany to get a message to her. However, to do this Pat has to do something for Tiffany in return.

Still with it? There is a lot going on with Silver Linings Playbook, which is a good thing. It is not hollow at all, it is a multi-layered, multi-faceted story. Each twist and turn in the plot takes you in another direction and the route to the end is beset with pitfalls and diversions. As per normal in our reviews, we do not want to give too much away, so the synopsis will stop here and we will just pontificate for a moment and say how great the story is, there is a lot going into the film, there is a lot of dialogue and there is a great deal of interaction between Pat Jr and Sr., which has a relevance to the story. The interplay between the Solatano family members is sheer brilliance. De Niro is sublime as the father who has lost his way somewhat with his namesake son. We cannot underestimate the part played by Jacki Weaver either, as Dolores, Pat's mother, she may only be on the periphery of some of the scenes but she is superb whenever she is on screen.

As for Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, just fantastic. The two roles must have been hard to play, being very demanding and very emotional, but they pull it off so well, dealing with the mood swings of their respective characters, plus reeling off the very verbose script with ease in the finished movie.

In the end, it does turn out to be a feelgood romantic comedy, but you have to go through the dramatic start, to get the feel of the characters. The comedy side is played down, there are no jokes as such, moreover it is real life issues that are seen as funny, not jokes put in to lighten the mood. The ending is superb, because you really do not know where the story is taking you, you are expecting one thing and another option appears. You do literally have to wait to the end just to be sure.

As for personal approval from the TNiFN panel, the matriarch, who tends to express her thoughts on a film's worthiness by the time it takes her to drop off, suffered somewhat by the slow start as a result the eyelids drooped and snores were heard! However, she perked up when the film did. The junior member loved it, but she had seen it before and knew it was good. As for the me; fantastic! Brilliant story, brilliant build up, fantastic interaction between characters, superb acting and a gripping plot that had you thinking until the end. Superb. However, the combined scores is somewhat lower than I would like. Perhaps it will be viewed in a better light when we watch it again!

TNiFN Rating 83%

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IMDB Link