Midnight Special

Unique American filmmaker Jeff Nichols has achieved critical success with his first three features Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter and Mud, none of which found similar triumphs at the box office. His latest feature, Midnight Special - starring Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst and Adam Driver - is his most ambitious film to date, and with his largest budget thus far, so it has a lot to prove to audiences and critics alike.

Alton Meyer (Jaeden Lieberher) sits in the rear of a car with Roy (Michael Shannon) and state-trooper Lucas (Joel Edgerton) as they cruise through the night with no headlights, evading a state-wide manhunt issued by the AMBER alert system. Alton wears bright-blue goggles and can only be outside at night. He has some serious powers that nobody fully understands and has been the religious focus of a cult on the ranch that he was taken from. The FBI and the NSA are out on the search, with agent Sevier (Adam Driver) trying to gain as much information about the boy as quickly as possible. Nobody knows where they’re going, not even us. All we know if that it’s crucial to the future of the planet.

Right off the bat, it’s clear that Midnight Special is a surprisingly beautiful movie. Shot on film and harking back to some of the more minimalistic 70s and 80s sci-fi flicks, it doesn't present a hyper real world or a CGI riddled environment, but the level of thought behind every visual decision from DoP Adam Stone is obvious. With large sections of the film occurring at night, it’s these sequences that shine, and there’s certainly no pun intended there because half the time it’s literally impossible to see what’s going on. The action is just hinted at; the silhouette of a car travelling down the road with no headlights on, the thin sliver of light on the horizon. The night scenes show a degree of subtlety which is often left abandoned by sci-fi films for fancy special effects sequences. Sequences which ultimately destroy any sense of noiresque mystery that make films of this ilk so unique.

But you didn't come here to read about the visuals, and Midnight Special’s soundtrack is just as impressive. The immersive sound-scape manages a lot with the few action sequences at hand, and in quieter scenes the subtle layers of environment come alive. David Wingo’s intense score pulls you in and somehow manages to only become intrusive at a couple of moments. But Ed, what about the costuming? Well the decision to give Alton goggles was...alright alright, so I admit, I might have struggled a bit with Midnight Special’s story. An obvious homage to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Midnight Special’s ambitious plot is mysterious, and often captivating but most of the time I just couldn't get enough information to really care about the characters or invest myself in the story.

Take the beginning for instance, through an intense opening montage we learn that a boy has been supposedly kidnapped from a ranch belonging to a religious cult, we know that Edgerton and Shannon’s characters are involved, and that’s about it. It’s clever and provides a set up that draws us in, but it continues like this for most of the film, with the little crucial details that keep us asking questions just not provided. It’s frustrating to say the least, especially since the film’s story clearly has some interesting things to say.

Before more is revealed, you’re forced to side with either a misguided cult or two men who have kidnapped a young boy, yet any presumptions you might make about either side are not backed up with anything indicative of what you might expect, which makes it difficult to decide who - if any of them - is doing the right thing. It’s also unclear exactly what Alton’s powers are - even when we see them in use - and how they relate to these theories about another dimension of beings. The third stakeholder in the story is the government, specifically the FBI and NSA, who are the clear antagonists. The NSA agent Sevier - an Edward Snowden-like figure who secretly helps Alton - is sort of like the comic relief, and well played by Adam Driver. In fact the film has great performances all round, especially from Michael Shannon and Jaeden Lieberher. Sadly though the performances can only convey so much.

Midnight Special is an expertly constructed film. It’s beautiful, well acted and has so much potential lying under the surface. However, whilst I’m normally one to favour the ambiguous plot-line, it consistently failed to reveal enough to keep me on the edge of my seat, or away from that all-too-telling watch glance.

Black Mass

South Boston, or 'Southie', has been the subject of many a crime film over the past decade and a half. Movies like The Town, Southie, The Departed and even Good Will Hunting have striven to accurately portray one of the roughest neighbourhoods in the United States. But one notorious figure has yet to be portrayed on film; that of James 'Whitey' Bulger (Okay so not necessarily true, Martin Scorsese's The Departed was based on his crimes).

Bulger (Johnny Depp) is the leader of the Winter Hill Gang in South Boston during the mid-1970s. He is well known in the community as both a gangster and a pillar of the community. His brother Billy (Benedict Cumberbatch), a state senator, is contacted by their childhood friend John Connelly (Joel Edgerton), who is now a FBI agent who has been tasked with reducing Mafia activity in Boston. He sees Bulger as the key to bringing down this stranglehold they have. So Bulger becomes an informant, all the while continuing his own criminal activity.

This success of this film hinges entirely on whether or not you find Depp's performance as Bulger convincing. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't convinced. Yes, he is unnerving, but I wasn't scared by him, which is the whole point. I think that they were relying on his makeup and new look to add to the performance but it did nothing for me. Outside of this, there isn't too much going on. At a stretch you could say that the intrigue surrounding Bulger's manipulation of the FBI is interesting, but not enough to be exciting.

In fact the film seems like it purposefully goes out of its way to be obtuse. There is a whole subplot involving who owns World Jai-Alai, a sport the movie even admits no one knows what it is (unless you're like me and you do know what it is (I lie, I have no idea what they're doing)). I also feel like this film is needlessly violent. I know Whitey Bulger was an incredibly psychotic film, but you don't need to show every single murder he committed. Sometimes implied violence is just as effective. I also feel like the movie dropped the ball with the ending. It is a well known fact that Bulger was apprehended in 2011, yet the film ends in 1995 with an epilogue about his capture.

Because Depp's performance is so dominant here that the others don't really get a look in. Joel Edgerton's is the only one that is on par with Depp, but it isn't very good. Everyone else is really in the background which is disappointing considering the cast. Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Adam Scott and Rory Cochrane are all fantastic actors, and while they are in a lot of scenes, they aren't the focus of any of them. Corey Stoll is the only minor performance given any notice, which is good because he carries those scenes. Women are hugely under represented with Dakota Johnson and Julianne Nicholson given barely any screen time.

A hugely disappointing and largely unnecessary biopic. It is not at all engaging, so if you want to see a better film about Whitey Bulger, go rewatch The Departed.

Life

For a movie with such a title, this movie is certainly lacking life. Which is really disappointing considering Anton Corbijn made one of the most vibrant and thrilling movies of last year in A Most Wanted Man. Here he attempts to make a film about one of the most promising young film stars of all time, but somehow it just seems flat and one dimensional.

Dennis Stock (Robert Pattinson) is a young photographer who yearns for more than the work he is doing, which is mainly set photography and photos of actors for studios. At a casting party for the movie Rebel Without a Cause, he meets James Dean (Dane DeHaan), with whom he is immediately intrigued. Dennis wants to photograph James, but is met with resistance from both Dean and his agent John Morris (Joel Edgerton). He finally convinces both and goes to New York to take the photos, but struggles to find purpose in them. Meanwhile, James is struggling to keep studio head Jack Warner (Ben Kingsley) happy.

This film feels like it is struggling to show what it is about. To me it seems like they have taken Stock's iconic photos of Dean and slapped a haphazard story around what might have happened during the time they spent together. Through this speculation it's hard to see what actually occurred in the time that Stock and Dean had together, a fact compounded by the fact that Stock died five years ago and Dean over fifty.

Another thing that annoyed me throughout the film was its look. It was all very plastic and shiny. I know that this is the vision of 50s Hollywood we have, all bright colours and chrome, but it even extends to New York and Indiana in the winter. If Corbijn had have gone with a bit more of a grittier look to some of the sets (and you can tell that they are sets), then maybe it could've come across as more convincing.

Even less convincing in this film is the acting, with a few exceptions. While Robert Pattinson may have carried the desperation that the young Stock had with finding work, I found his accent to be incredibly unbearable and he had little chemistry with his co-stars. Dane DeHaan does a fine impersonation of James Dean, what with the mumbles and worried looks, but I feel as though he failed to capture the essence of Dean that comes across in the few movies he did. Joel Edgerton is somewhat likeable as John Morris despite not having a big part and Ben Kingsley doesn't really commit to his role as Jack Warner, but that's something I have come to expect from him. I really wanted to see more of Alessandra Mastronardi as I felt there was a good dynamic between her and DeHaan and it would have been interesting to explore that relationship.

Going back and looking at the actual photos that were the basis of this film gave me more insight into who James Dean was than watching this film. It also made me realise what a good choice it was casting James Franco as Dean over a decade ago.

Exodus: Gods and Kings

Ridley Scott's take on the story of Moses is suitably epic and it would be hard to compare it to his last two movies. But if we go back and look at other historical epics he's done, Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven, we know there's precedent for him to be better.

Exodus tells the story of Moses (Christian Bale) and how he gathered the Hebrews to escape the Egyptians. We see his exile from Egypt by the Pharaoh Ramesses II (Joel Edgerton), the plagues of Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea. Depending on your background, this is probably a familiar tale and will be easy to follow, even guess what is going to happen next.

As stated above, Scott is fairly adept at making an epic film and this movie certainly does tick all the boxes. While it doesn't necessarily push the envelope in the storytelling department, it makes up for it with some amazing visuals and action set pieces. The sets of Memphis, the capital of Ancient Egypt are amazing and are backed up with some wonderful CGI images of the pyramids under construction. The deserts of Spain make a fantastic substitute for Egypt and match all the rocky crags that one might imagine from biblical myths. There are some amazing battles scattered throughout that display the amazing numbers that the armies of the time would have had.

In terms of acting, this really is a two-horse show for both Bale and Edgerton. Their performances aren't great, but that has to do with limited character development and that's alarming given the amount of supporting characters in the film. The stars playing the minor characters (Sigourney Weaver, John Turturro and Sir Ben Kingsley) are all given remarkably little to do but display a seemingly talented backdrop. The only person who I thought tried with his character a little was Ben Mendelsohn, who plays a slightly effete Egyptian viceroy.

Verdict: An overall good and suitably epic tale, but doesn't push the boundaries or throw you anything that you wouldn't have expected.

Felony

It's good to see a movie that isn't just cops against crooks for once. Matthew Saville's latest film pitches cop against cop in this fantastic drama that questions what the right thing to do is.

Mal (Joel Edgerton) is a drug cop who becomes a hero after taking a bullet on a raid on a Sydney warehouse. After a big night celebrating, Mal is driving home and clips a young boy riding his bike. He is questioned by two detectives, Carl (Tom Wilkinson) and Jim (Jai Courtney), where he lies about what happens. This lie eventually snowballs and drags in Mal's wife, Julie (Melissa George).

Felony is by no means a fast paced movie. It is slow and brooding and sometimes takes time away from the main plot to watch the characters take part in actual police work. This is a welcome change from movies that get too caught up in their own plot. Edgerton also wrote the script and accurately portrays the minute details of Australian policing. However, there is a subplot where Jim has a slight romance with the victims mother, played by Sarah Roberts, which seemed to go a tad too far.

On the whole, the performances were solid, which is what you'd expect of a cast like this. Wilkinson manages an Australian accent without fault (although it is relatively easy for British actors). Jai Courtney has also become one of my favourite new actors to watch. From playing in big American action movies like Die Hard 5 or Jack Reacher to smaller Aussie dramas like this demonstrates fantastic range. I felt as though Edgerton was slipping at times, but still delivers a great performance.

Verdict: A great slow-paced drama that is full of intrigue and has a gripping plot, although I am a bit confused by calling the film after a level of crime that technically doesn't exist in Australia.

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby showcases the glamour of the Roaring Twenties in New York, but also explores the dark seedy underbelly of the people who lived during that time.

The story follows young writer Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) moves to New York and gets caught up in the extravagant world of his neighbour, the enigmatic Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), a mysterious businessman with an undying love for Nick's cousin, Daisy (Carey Mulligan). Daisy lives with her husband Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) on the other side of the bay to Nick and Gatsby. Carraway endeavours to find out more about Gatsby, his background and his fierce love for Daisy.

The relationship between Gatsby and Carraway is an interesting one. Nick is enamoured with Gatsby and not just his lavish lifestyle as many people who attend his parties are. It is interesting to note that early on, Buchanan makes reference to Carraway's voyeuristic tendencies.

The performances by DiCaprio and Maguire are quite amazing. DiCaprio plays this long sense of loneliness perfectly and Maguire's Carraway evolves from a naive, wide-eyed believer in life into a cynical person of the world around him.

Although Daisy's character is central to the plot and Mulligan's performance was superb, I felt as though her character was just a facilitator for confrontations between the male characters. I also felt as though there was no character development on her part. Relative newcomer Elizabeth Debicki shines as Jordan Baker, a professional golfer and friend of Daisy. She is one to look out for in the future.

Normally I am not a fan of Baz Luhrman's overindulgence (the only other film of his I enjoyed was Romeo + Juliet), but here it works. The film is visually stunning and does have a great ethereal feeling to it. However, when shots would pull back from the foreground and reveal a CGI horizon in the background, I did feel a bit removed from the world. Likewise, there are a few scenes in which the film looked like it was running at a faster frame rate, that while extremely subtle, through me off.

One aspect of the film that I thoroughly enjoyed was the soundtrack. I was a bit skeptical when I heard that Luhrmann was going to use hip-hop because 'it currently shares the same status that jazz held in the 20s', but he integrated it seamlessly into the film so that it was unnoticeable next to the jazz tracks.

Verdict: Despite some visual issues and character flaws, I felt as though this was an enjoyable look at drama in the Twenties. And it had one hell of a soundtrack.

Zero Dark Thirty

First off, this is not a propaganda movie for the US, glorifying their operation to kill Osama bin Laden. It does tell the story, but it also shows the pain felt by both sides and that it wasn't just some clean in and out operation.

The story picks up two years after 9/11, with a young CIA operative (Jessica Chastain) is witnessing her first interrogation of a detainee at the hands of her new colleague Dan (Jason Clarke). Her character, Maya, has just been transferred to the US embassy in Pakistan, tasked with finding information about top al-Qaeda personnel. The detainee that they are interrogating has links to Saudi terrorists. They soon trick him into divulging information about Abu Ahmed, an old acquaintance, who, through information they can piece together from other detainees, is the courier between bin Laden and Abu Farraj al-Libbi, a ranking officer within al-Qaeda.

Many years later, Maya is able to set up a meet with the detained Abu Farraj, only to find that he is hiding the existence of Ahmed, which Maya interprets as Ahmed being a person of extreme interest. Her senior officer at the embassy (Kyle Chandler), believes Maya should focusing on bringing in known terrorists and be trying to find out where the next global attack will be, so that they can protect the homeland.

Over the next couple of years a lot of things happen in Maya's life. She survives a bombing at the Islamabad Marriott Hotel, her friend Dan is reassigned to Washington and her friend and co-worker Jessica is killed in a botched attempt to try and bring in one of bin Laden's inner circle that she had been spearheading. Whilst trying to find any information on Abu Ahmed, Maya comes across an interview with a detainee who says that he personally buried the man they know as Ahmed, his real name being Habib Sayeed, all the way back in 2001. This seems to have defeated Maya, until a junior officer in her office finds information from the Moroccan intelligence community saying that that man that was buried was actually the brother of the courier. His name is Ibrihim Sayeed and they are able to trace his phone number with the help of Dan. Before Maya can go anywhere with this information, she is attacked coming out of her home by insurgents and subsequently sent back to Washington.

Once they find Sayeed, the operatives are able to trace him to a compound in Abbotabad in Pakistan. Through continued surveillance, Maya soon believes that bin Laden himself is residing within the compound. This belief is not shared by her seniors, who deliberate on the risk of sending in a team to take out the occupants. The CIA chief (James Gandolfini) soon decides that sending in a team to the compound would be beneficial, as whoever this mystery man is, it would be a good idea to take him out.

So Maya is sent to Afghanistan, where she is to oversee the mission to the compound. A SEAL team is put together and with the latest in stealth helicopter technology, they fly into Abbotabad to assault the compound. One of the helicopters loses power and crash lands within the walls of the compound. The team goes in and obliterates the three men who are in there, including Osama bin Laden, whose body they take with them. They also take any hard drives and intel that they can get their hands on. Once they are back at base, the team is welcomed with open arms by everyone, whilst Maya is left to contemplate what she is to do with her life now that her goal that she has been working on for a decade is completed.

Katheryn Bigelow has put together a movie that pulls no punches. Whilst it's hard to tell what actually happened in the events leading up to the operation at the end of the movie, most of the events revolve around real bombings and the detaining of real life individuals. The casting of the movie is amazing.  None of the actors have huge star power, so they are believable in the roles that they play. Jessica Chastain is brilliant as Maya and you can really see that following through with this mission means everything to her. Jennifer Ehle is great as Maya's friend Jessica who really wants to show her friend that she wants to do her best on this mission. Mark Strong plays Maya's boss in Washington and really wants to believe that bin Laden is in Pakistan.

I found the torture scenes at the beginning to be confronting, but that is how matters were handled and it is a brutal and honest truth. The water-boarding scenes, in particular, were pretty full on. The mission at the end is shown to be a far from clean mission, resulting in the loss of a state of the art helicopter and civilian casualties that should have been avoided.

The film opens with a black screen where we hear the various radio chatter that happen on 9/11, including one iconic 911 call from one of the towers. The film also has news footage from various attacks throughout the decade, as well as press conferences from both George W. Bush and Barack Obama. These give insight into the world that was happening around the events of the film.

Verdict: Spanning almost a decade, this film shows that the events leading up to the death of Osama bin Laden were not as easy as some might of thought. Although I was not a huge fan of The Hurt Locker, I think Katheryn Bigelow has done a much better job this time around.