Paddington

Paddington Bear is the sort of loveable children's literary character that you thought would have had a dozen movies based on by now, but apart from a few animated series, there is virtually no adaptations based on the character. In a way I am sort of happy that there hasn't because the technology to put him in a live action movie hasn't existed until now.

Paddington (Ben Whishaw), although he doesn't have a name at the beginning, is a bear who lives in darkest Peru with his Uncle Pastuzo (Michael Gambon) and Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton). He is forced to leave for London after an earthquake destroys his home and is told that he should find the explorer who met his aunt and uncle. When he gets to London, he is discovered by the Brown family; Henry (Hugh Bonneville), Mary (Sally Hawkins), Judy (Madeline Harris) and Jonathan (Samuel Joslin), who name him after the train station where they met him. Paddington comes to the attention of Millicent (Nicole Kidman), a taxidermist who thinks he would be a great addition to her collection.

This movie was a lot funnier than I expected it to be. The underlying joke throughout the whole film is that the people of London aren't at all surprised to see a talking bear amongst them is hilarious. They just acknowledge him as they go about their daily business. A lot of the humour comes from Paddington's misunderstandings of "civilised" culture; mistaking toothbrushes for ear cleaners or a fantastic joke about thinking he must have to hold a dog to ride the escalator after seeing a picture sign indicating that dogs must be held when you go on one. There is also a fantastic vintage expedition documentary about the explorer first encountering the bears as a prologue to the film.

There is some great comedy from the actors I least expected it from. I always imagine Hugh Bonneville as a stuffy master of a manor house, but as the risk averse Mr. Brown he sets up some of the funniest jokes of the film. There is also a brief shot of him riding a Triumph Bonneville, which I thought was a great little joke to put in. Sally Hawkins adds some great laughs as Mrs. Brown, but that's what I was expecting given her role in Blue Jasmine. Peter Capaldi is also hilarious although I find it extremely hard to watch him in a role where he isn't screaming obscenities at you, a la The Thick of It. Matt Lucas also has a great cameo and I wish he was in it more. The whole thing was brought down for me with the inclusion of Nicole Kidman's character. Not only was she unfunny, but her character just seemed out of place. I know we need something to happen in the film, but can't we just be content with funny misunderstandings.

Verdict: I'm not a fan of marmalade, but I do like this movie. It's a fun family film with great gags that everyone will love.

Pride

It's been a long time since I've seen an ensemble piece with a perfect cast, but that's exactly what I found in Matthew Warchus's fantastically enjoyable LGBT feature Pride.

During the height of Margaret Thatcher's term and the 1984 Miner's strike, Mark (Ben Schnetzer) and his friends at the 'Gay's the Word' bookshop recognise similarities in their struggle for LGBT rights and the struggle of the Miners, so they decide to form a fund-raising group, Lesbians & Gays Support Miners (LGSM). After contacting various Miner's groups with little success, LGSM decides to work directly with a Welsh mining town, with a council representative, Dai (Paddy Considine) coming up to meet them in London with plenty of enthusiasm.

When the group drive down to the town in South Wales, they are met by sceptical residents that are driven by homophobic preconceptions. Though soon enough - with the support of local mother Sian (Jessica Gunning), and council members Hefina (Imelda Staunton) & Cliff (Bill Nighy) - the majority of the town show their support. It's really quite a wonderful story.

Based on true events, Pride manages to be both wonderfully amusing and sincerely real at the same time, but not in a particularly confronting manner. It's the British equivalent of Priscilla, just not quite as flamboyant. At times it does become overly-sentimental, but these moments are few and far between, and are outnumbered by the many great scenes that tell this enthralling story. Though the true reason that it manages to come to fruition so effortlessly on screen, lies in the superb performances from, not just a few, but all the cast.

Pride has at least twelve leading roles, as well as numerous supporting characters, and it's difficult to find a fault in any of them. There are definitely some standouts, namely the hilarious Imelda Staunton (she is one of my favourite, and yet quite underrated British actors), the young George MacKay as Joe, Bill Nighy (because he's Bill Nighy), and Dominic West as Jonathan, in possibly his best role since The Wire. But overall, this is a real team effort and a fantastic job by casting. It's great to see a good ensemble piece and the story of LGSM just screams for a united cast with plenty of shared screen time. 

 

Pride is not only heartwarming, but it's enourmously funny, and manages to be so without being condescending or degrading...apart from perhaps to homophobes. It's an absolute joy to behold.