The Real Me: Review of The Double

The Double

Director: Richard Ayoade

By Alex Watson

 

Meeting a potential doppelgänger is a very scary prospect and we can only imagine how nerve-wrecking it must be to see the same person staring back at you. Adapting Dostoyevsky’s novella, The Double might seem like a bold move for Submarine director, Richard Ayoade, but then again this man has proven to be more than just uber geek Moss from the IT Crowd. In this movie we will a man’s mind begin to unravel as he is introduce to a like alike who is his polar opposite in every way.

Simon James (Jesse Eisenberg) is a shy and introverted man who works an unrewarding job in an office.  Here he is continually overlooked and can never seem to access the building. He has a crush on fellow co-worker Hannah (Mia Wasikowska) who seldom seems to notice his existence. One day though, his life takes a dramatic turn when new employee James Simon (also Eisenberg) arrives at the office, but no one seems to notice he is Simon’s exact double! The man proves to be better at him in every respect and soon Simon is convinced his identity has been stolen.

The Double is a movie that is very heavy going and for fans of Submarine this shift may seem dramatic, but Ayoade skilfully adapts Dostoyevsky’s novel and adds a great psychological tension throughout. From the very beginning we are drawn into a grimy and dimly lit world full of depressing office cubicles and unremarkable, box like apartments. Everything in Simon’s life is mundane and as he rides the boring train to work each day, he seems to be a ghost in the office he has long worked. Even his his obnoxious boss (Wallace Shawn) still calls him ‘Stanley’. His longing for Hannah goes unrequited and even his own mother tells him he is a disappointment. When James arrives, the movie gets given a major shake up because this man simply glides in and seems to be everyone’s favourite guy.

When the moment arrives, this provides the firing point for Ayoade’s movie and throughout we see Simon’s mental state declining to the point of hysteria. But the big question always remains, how much of this is reality? James is a person he seems to good to be true and he is everything that Simon is not, which is confident, charismatic and good with the opposite sex. Soon he seems to be taking over his life and his apartment and Simon feels powerless to do anything. But his real point of frustration comes from the fact that no one else seems to notice these similarities!

All throughout you can feel the tension and edginess boiling to extreme levels and the films third act sends things into overdrive. Simon’s identity is constantly being stripped away in The Double, not once does his pass work and he is always told that he doesn’t exist in the system. The cracks are forever appearing in his state of mind and he seems to have no way of proving who he is. The denouncement however, will leave many people perplexed as to its actual meaning. But this makes for a perfect question to ponder as you ride home and in the coming days I predict much time will be spent on forums discussing this.

Jesse Eisenberg is excellent twice over in this film as the flip side of both characters, as Simon he is pitiful and wonderfully meek and this character is the one who holds our sympathies as he is routinely put down. When he plays James, Eisenberg gives him a magnificent cocky and bullying persona as he swoops in and bulldozes his counterpart’s world to the ground. One can only wonder how his upcoming turn as Lex Luthor will turn out? Mia Wasikowska is also excellent as both men’s dream girl, Hannah and her slightly aloof performance suits the character perfectly and she gives her enough charm to make her alluring in the grey world on show. Also watch out for the entire cast of Submarine.

Many may have expected this to be a page for page adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s book, but Richard Ayoade’s version of The Double has enough merits on its own to stand out as an original piece. This will be one of the more thought provoking pieces of the next few months and it is worth seeing it to make your own conclusions. Will also come handy as a survival guide if you meet your exact double too!

 

The Woman in Black: Review of Maleficent

Maleficent

Director: Robert Stromberg

By Alex Watson

 

The tale of Sleeping Beauty has been told to us time and again and we all know the story of the Princess who falls into a deep sleep only to be woken by true love’s kiss. But this year, Disney bring us another spin on this tale aided by Angelina Jolie where are told to disregard to legend told and accept a new reality. Maleficent is one of the great villain’s of movie history, and her curse still sends ripples through the water when we watch the 1959 version. But director Robert Stromberg is here to show us that she was in fact a very different person in his movie, Maleficent.

Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) is a fairy who is charged with protecting her realm from human invasion. For years they have lived in harmony with the other side, but the balance is set to be tipped. One day Maleficent finds herself betrayed by her former lover Stefan (Sharlto Copley) who cuts off her wings to become successor to the human throne. To get even, she bestows a curse upon his first born child Aurora (Elle Fanning) that on her 16th birthday she will fall into a sleep ‘like death’ by pricking her finger a spinning wheel.

Robert Stromberg’s film looks the part and the effects for the most part look impressive, but it is a shame that the same cannot be said for the story of Maleficent itself. There is a fundamental confusion with the direction it is supposed be taking and this is not just a straight up account of the good fairy’s descent into darkness. It is implied throughout that Maleficent is essentially good and would not harm children, but this effect makes the tale loss any edge it may have gained from having a colder front. The film begins strongly enough as we see our lady making an ill advised choice to fall for Stefan, despite knowing the danger. When she is betrayed it is hard not to feel sorrow for her- and when she summons her evil and vindictive curse, secretly you smile as the score is tied!

The new spin on this tale works in some ways but not others, on the surface it appears to be a different view of this familiar tale, but you cannot help feeling this is a complete redirect. The middle sequence also feels too drawn out as we see Maleficent along with her faithful crow/ human Dival (Sam Riley) acting as surrogate parents to the child in the midst of three incompetent fairy nannies (Juno Temple, Lesley Manville and Imelda Staunton) and although this adds a more humane feel to the ruthless ice queen, it feels almost cringingly sappy. Also the ending will divide many as we see what the real ‘true love’s kiss’ really consisted off- prepared to shake your head as you view!

Also Maleficent suffers from a disappointing villain and some rather irritating side characters, King Stefan seems to do nothing except hang out his castle and sulk and lacks any kind of threat. Also we never really grow to love Aurora, purely for the fact that she is a naive, permanently smiling dimwit. All throughout she merrily wanders into the path of trouble believing it to be some kind of exciting adventure and a part of us wonders how on earth she survives the movie? Overall though, this picture smacks of sentimentality and director Stromberg, despite some interesting visuals only succeeds in melting the much needed ice.

Angelina Jolie looks the part of Maleficent and she tries her hardest to carry the role off, but she is given little to do other than wandering around darkened forests looking haunting. In a lot of ways it is criminal to waste an actress like Jolie in this role, because with the right direction she could have really brought this character to life. Talented South African actor Sharlto Copley however, is completely wasted in a one note role as King Stefan. Laced with a horrific Scottish accent, this normally capable actor is given little to work with and is confined mainly to his bedroom.

Elle Fanning is charming and ambient as Aurora, but is little else throughout and we never fully warm to this character despite the lurking threat to her life. A talented child actress, one day she will get a role worthy of her budding talents.

Although a misfire, Maleficent is certainly a pretty looking one and will be worth checking out to get your own opinion on. Though fair warning to Sleeping Beauty devotees, this may not be the picture you are expecting. Also count Angelina’s different looks, you will be able to count them on one hand!

Together Forever: Review of 22 Jump Street

22 Jump Street

Directors: Phil Lord and Chris Miller

By Alex Watson

 

Rebooted franchises have always been a usually frowned upon exercise by any film maker, but in 2012 the kick started 21 Jump Street proved to be a major success and firmly catapulted Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum into the mainstream and only days after release a sequel was deservedly green lit. This year the boys from the Jump Street division have returned and they have moved across the road to 22 Jump Street. But will their new college misadventures be as hilarious the second time around? 

After successfully breaking the high school drug ring in the previous movie, Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are sent uncover by their superior Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) to college at MC State where a new drug called WHYPHY is currently doing the rounds with fatal consequences. Once more the young guns are faced with trying to fit into new respective crowds and as the pair begin to break apart under the new clique pressures, their partnership becomes threatened- and all this is before spring break is due to arrive!

Firstly I am pleased to inform you that 22 Jump Street will not disappoint in terms of giggles and in a summer dominated by Xavier & Friends, Godzilla, as well as Spiderman, Lord and Miller’s film is an extremely funny and wonderfully dumb ride that is impossible to dislike. The tone is set when after disastrous bust on 90’s loving drug dealer Ghost (Peter Stormare) the pair are dryly informed by Deputy Chief Hardy (Nick Offerman) that division wants them doing ‘the same thing as before’  which takes them to far more impressive digs at number 22! But unlike the original which succeeded on pure laughs, this sequel feels more fleshed out and succeeds on charm alone, particularly during the early scenes where the pair try and fail to get involved with a variety of college groups.

When the laughs come though, they come thick and fast and there are some real gems to behold such as the absolutely joy of Dickson cranking his anger up to eleven and utterly destroying a buffet when he finds out some ‘bad news’ involving his daughter and a car chase where the pair trying to avoid cost the department more money (with a Benny Hill chase gag put in for good measure). But the real comedy comes from the main partnership between Jenko and Schmidt is quintessential bromance as the pair continually bicker with one another. Character wise they are the same, as the pumped up Jenko is still clueless in his job and Schmidt is still a bag of neuroses. Their paths ultimately differ as Jenko gets involved with jock quarterback Nuke (Wyatt Russell) which makes his friend feel threatened. Soon the togetherness begins to fizzle out as they want to go their own way.

Plot wise there is nothing really new about 22 Jump Street and some ways it is merely a beefed up and role reversed version of the previous adventure. But any missteps we are quite happy to overlook because this likeable (thought idiotic) pair keeps us entertained throughout events. A Spring Break inspired finale is the true joy of the movie as our heroes attempt to repair fences whilst hanging from a helicopter, which also forces to Jenko to retrieve a grenade from an ‘awkward place’

Once more the pairing of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum works like a charm and the brainy and brawny team once again steal our hearts. People may frown upon Tatum as another pretty boy actor, but he is always solid and as dimwit Jenko he succeeds admirably. Hill also is equally solid as the talky Schmidt and he finds likeability in the most unlikely places with this character. But it’s Ice Cube who once more steals the show as the permanently foul mouthed Dickson. Thankfully in this movie, he is allowed to let loose and let the characters anger rip, which leads to hilarious results! Just watch the series of texts he sends to Schmidt and try not to cry from laughing!

 

For a sequel effort, this film will definitely stand as one of the most funny movie of 2012 and 22 Jump Street is a step forward in the right direction for this franchise (view the sequel ideas in the end credits). My advice to go see it and loss yourself in the sheer volume of jokes that will ensue. Though try not bust a gut!

A Man & His Dream: Review of Fitzcarraldo

Classic from the Vault

Fitzcarraldo (1982)

Director: Werner Herzog

By Alex Watson

 

The partnership between German Director Werner Herzog and his notoriously ill tempered star, Klaus Kinski frequently drove the two to boiling point. Anyone who has seen either Les Blank’s excellent documentary ‘The Burden of Dreams’ or Herzog’s Kinski tribute film ‘My Best Fiend’ will understand just heated things got! But together they always succeed in getting the best out of one another, and in a strange way they were perhaps the one ones who truly understood each other. Their greatest piece was hell on earth to shoot, but resulted in a career best for both in Fitzcarraldo. 

Brian Fitzgerald Sweeney, as known as Fitzcarraldo (Klaus Kinski) is an opera loving entrepreneur living in the Peruvian jungle and he longs to build an opera house to bring his love of this music to masses. Although his lover Molly (Claudia Cardinale) is a successful brothel owner, Fitzcarraldo has failed in many business ventures and to raise the funds he so badly needs to fund his opera house. For this he is forced to search for a rubber plant on the other side of the Amazon, which he must travel to by paddle steamer ship. One minor problem is that a mountain stands in his way- in an audacious attempt to succeed, Fitzcarraldo plans to drag the ship from one side of the mountain, to the other!

Fitzcarraldo is one of the finest Herzog’s pieces he has made in his fascinating career as it perfectly exemplifies the hope and desire of one man’s big dream. Despite his love and adoration of the fine arts, Sweeney is more of a dreamer than a businessman and is not completely likeable. Due to his numerous big failures, such as the Trans-Ardean Railway, he has become a recurring joke upon the bigwigs of Peru. Also his confrontational and smug attitude hasn’t won him many friends either. But this risky underdog story forces to us root for him and as his journey grows more perilous, our concern mounts even more.

The scenes in the jungle are the ones that really sparks Herzog’s movie into life because they capture the determination by Fitzcarraldo to make his plan succeed.  Although he is warned not to venture far into the jungle due to the dangerous natives, his desperation drowns out all words. However, he begins to achieve his plan by slightly dubious means as he meets an initially hostile group of Amazon Indians and convinces them to help him, buy pretending his a God! But through this series of lies, his plan begins to become a reality after watching this hazardous journey, your elation will probably match the level of the main characters. His plan may boarder on utter madness and there is a lingering sense of dread throughout that this will go wrong, but as the paddle steamer slowly creeps up hill, you pray with all your heart!

Production wise this movie has a legendary tale in its own right. The hostility between Herzog and Kinski grew to unbearable levels to the point where one of the Indian chiefs offered to assassinate him! Plus Herzog’s ambitious production management mirrored our hero’s crazy intentions.  But the end result cannot be argued with as Herzog magnificently brings some beautiful and iconic images to the screen, such as Fitzcarraldo playing a Caruso gramophone record to diffuse the tension with the natives. This kind of odd yet serene moments have become the directors trademark over the years and has stamped his mark over the European film scene.

He may have pushed just about everyone’s buttons, but Klaus Kinski single handledly carries Fitzcarraldo. His intense yet charming performance perfectly channels the protagonists fierce aspiration to succeed and not to be seen as a nobody. Kinski is an actor who is still gravely under appreciated due to his volatile off screen persona. But under Herzog, he found a partner who was able to channel his madness into something truly brilliant.

Fitzcarraldo is not a perfect movie by any means and to some it may seem like it wanders aimlessly. But I guarantee that the after effect will be a lasting one. Herzog and Kinski may have been an odd (and sometimes violent) couple but their careers wouldn’t have been the same without another.

The Longest Day: Review of Edge of Tomorrow

Edge of Tomorrow

Director: Doug Liman

By Alex Watson

 

Ever had one those days that just seems to drag on forever? Then try reliving the same one over and over again! Harold Ramis’s classic 1993 movie, ‘Groundhog Day’ showed how mind numbingly painful this can be, but at the same time how a man can learn from his mistakes. But this week director Doug Liman takes us to far different universe and there is no Bill Murray present. Tom Cruise a man forced to fight to survival against an unbeatable enemy- multiple times over in Edge of Tomorrow.

Major William Cage (Tom Cruise) is an Army PR Man assigned to the United Defense Force in Britain which is currently fighting a battle against an alien race called Mimics, who have so far destroyed most of Europe. Cage has never seen combat, but one day without warning he is dropped on the front line for an assault which is little more than a suicide mission. While fighting Cage accidentally crosses with one of the Mimics DNA which locks him into a time loop! From this he is forced to relive the same final two days of his life, but in one attempt he crosses paths with resistance hero Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) who has been through the same circumstances- when the pair combined forces, Cage begins to become a deadly weapon!

Edge of Tomorrow is not a completely original concept and many will simply dismiss this as sci-fi rehash of Ramis’ beloved Groundhog Day, but what it lacks in creativity, it makes up for in pure thrills. Director Doug Liman delivers a series of excellent battle sequences that crank up the excitement.  Cage is a man used to using his silver tongue to get what he wants out of life and so far has breezed through the war. But the moment when is informed of his fate by General Brigham (Brendan Gleeson)- his terrified reaction is priceless. The beginning battle sequence which demostrates his inexperience is both awe inspiring and utterly terrifying, moments before drop-off Cage is told by a snarky fellow recruit “There’s something wrong with your suit- there’s dead guy in it!” seconds later, he is thrown into the worst place on earth, and doesn’t know how to turn the safety off!

From when the key moment occurs, Cage is forced to endure a living hell of reliving the final two days of his life, which includes having to listen to Master Sergeant Farrell’s (Bill Paxton) tedious speeches about how “Battle is a true redeemer,” all over again! His early attempts to talk his way out war, only succeed in making things worse- but when he crosses paths with battle born Rita, Liman gives this character a platform to grow and the montage sequence give a variety of hilarious training sequences when she is forced to ‘reset’ him if he gets injured by shooting him the head-you can almost feel his exhasperation at having continually start over here! Through this Cage slowly sheds his cowardly layers and begins to learn new tricks and skills to advance through various levels of battles to get a shot at battling the main character, the Alpha which could just decide humanities fate.

Through his various deaths on screen, Cage then begins to learn the various steps towards getting closer, a right step here, a turn there mean that he is able to navigate a path to glory and avoid being shot- anyone who has played video games such as Call of Duty is certain to find hilarity here. One plot device that continually holds our interest comes guessing just how much about future events Cage is aware of? The scenes that we witness, could have already occured numerous times before without our knowledge and it becomes an entertaining although sometimes chest tightening guessing game. Although some may find the logic a bit far fetched and mangled (a similar problem occured in Cruise’s previous movie Oblivion), my advice is just to disengage your brain and go with the ride, because due to the sharp script by Christopher McQuarrie, Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth, we are given a fun adventure that stays on the right side of silly.

Once more Tom Cruise demonstrates that even at 50 years old he is still very much capable of anchoring a big silly blockbuster. But more crucially, he is still has the power to entertain. William Cage is not a perfect character but Cruise still gives him a great sympathetic touch and because of this he allows the audience to connect with him. Althroughout we adapt to his pain of having to restart but the more he dies, the bigger hero he starts to become. But the ace up the movies sleeve comes from casting Emily Blunt as his steely partner/love interest Rita Vrataski because the pair are well suited to one another. Blunt plays off Cruise well and as the ‘Full Metal Bitch’ her hard nosed persona becomes a mission from Cage to break and the reward could be her eternal friendship.

Edge of Tomorrow won’t be the most remarkable movie will see this summer, but it will be one of the more surprisingly enjoyable and is another demonstration of Cruise’s leading abilities. It will also make you think about how to correct your mistakes in future, because not everyone has a chance at glory, let alone unlimited shots!