Movie Review: Crooked House (2017)

Genre: Crime Mystery  

Director: Gilles Paquet-Brenner  

Starring: Max Irons, Stefanie Martini, Glenn Close, Terence Stamp, Julian Sands, Gillian Anderson, Christina Hendricks  

Running Time: 115 minutes  

Synopsis: In 1950s England, Sophia Leonides (Stefanie Martini) asks private detective Charles Hayward (Max Irons) to investigate the death of her grandfather Aristide, a wealthy Greek tycoon. Sophia believes Aristide was poisoned, and the suspects include his new young wife and former Las Vegas showgirl Brenda (Christina Hendricks), his ex-sister-in-law Lady Edith (Glenn Close), his son Philip (Julian Sands), and daughter-in-law Magda (Gillian Anderson). Charles' investigation is complicated by memories of his brief wartime fling with Sophia, and growing interest in the case by Scotland Yard's Inspector Taverner (Terence Stamp). 

What Works Well: This classy adaptation of the Agatha Christie whodunnit benefits from brisk pacing, lavish locations, and a colourful cast of suspects. As a relatively low-key but still astute investigator, Charles Hayward doggedly reveals a complex web of motives, conspiracies, illicit affairs, and interpersonal jealousies, casting suspicion in all directions. Even Aristide's younger grandchildren, the astute pre-teen Josephine (who observes and writes everything) and the cynical teenager Eustace (who is unafraid to ask the boldest questions), get involved in the machinations, along with their tutor. 

What Does Not Work As Well: Too many characters within the Leonides mansion vie for the same screen time, and many have to settle for shorthand representations. Given the complexities within this family, the ending is rushed, and although the gather-all-the-suspects-in-a-room climactic scene is mercifully avoided, Charles' sleuthing efforts also don't amount to much.

Key Quote:

Josephine: The murderer is never the one you initially suspect.

All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.

Movie Review: Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

An intense character study, Leaving Las Vegas explores a friendship at the margins of society, where two knowingly damaged people connect in search of pure companionship.

In Los Angeles, middle-aged Ben (Nicolas Cage) is a full-blown alcoholic. Estranged from his ex-wife and son, he lives a life of nothing but excessive drinking and womanizing. Ben is not surprised when he is fired, and uses his final paycheque to relocate to a sleazy motel room in Las Vegas with every intention of drinking himself to death.

A chance encounter with prostitute Sera (Elisabeth Shue) evolves into an unlikely friendship. When her Russian pimp Yuri (Julian Sands) meets troubles of his own, Sera invites Ben to move in with her. He accepts on condition that she never asks him to stop drinking. She continues working as an independent prostitute, and their relationship evolves towards genuine caring.

An admitted alcoholic with no intentions of drying out and a prostitute proud of her profession make for an unlikely pair to place at the centre of a would-be romantic drama. And yet director and writer Mike Figgis, adapting John O'Brien's semi-autobiographical book, fearlessly marches his film towards the down-and-out fringes seeking humanity's unifying sparks.

Leaving Las Vegas carries echoes of Midnight Cowboy as it teases out compassion from the filthy corners where human debris accumulates. Despite a neon-bathed Las Vegas featuring prominently as a backdrop, neither Ben nor Sera are here to enjoy the town. Alcohol is the only source of Ben's pleasure, and any room he occupies is soon overflowing with bottles. Sera navigates her profession with a survivor's practiced efficiency, maintaining a steady disposition and even demonstrating a level of empathy towards Yuri.

Ben and Sera reach a core understanding that they can care for each other only if they don't impose conditions of change. Maintaining their self-destructive trajectories is essential to who they are; and the relationship exists strictly on an "as is" basis. Figgis strips out most of their backgrounds, highlighting the immediacy of here and now: it shall not matter to Ben and Sera how they got here, only that they are here, now, and can be companions through the emotional darkness.

And it's vivid immediacy Figgis searches for, often drowning the dialogue with melancholy music. At their stage in life Ben and Sera really have not much of value to say to each other; closeness is what matters.

Nicolas Cage's descent into Ben's abyss is almost physically painful to watch, and ensures the film is always walking to the edge of despair. Elisabeth Shue finds the role of her career, providing Sera with remarkable restraint and quiet acceptance, plus a layer of searching tension just below the surface.

Leaving Las Vegas is the end of frivolous escapism, but departure is softened in the presence of a soulmate.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.

Movie Review: The Killing Fields (1984)

A historical drama, The Killing Fields delves into the horror of war and subsequent genocide in 1970s Cambodia.

It's 1973, and New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) is covering the American secret war in Cambodia. He is ably assisted by local journalist and all-round fixer Dith Pran (Haing S. Ngor). They are joined by laid back photographer Al Rockoff (John Malkovich) and British journalist Jon Swain (Julian Sands). A civil war is also tearing Cambodia apart, and by 1975 the communist Khmer Rouge revolutionary forces gain the upper hand against the government.

The Americans evacuate from the capital Phnom Penh, and Sydney arranges for Pran's family to leave. But Pran stays behind with the foreign reporters, and helps release them from captivity when crazed Khmer Rouge militiamen overrun the capital. Later all remaining foreigners take refuge in the French embassy and are eventually evacuated, but Pran as a local is forced to stay behind. Shipped to the countryside as a labourer, he has to pretend to be an uneducated taxi driver to try and survive a horrific genocide perpetrated by the new regime.

Based on real events, The Killing Fields uncovers the atrocities of war through the story of a deep friendship between two reporters. Directed by Roland Joffé and produced by David Puttnam, the film creates an overwhelming sense of despair at warmongers' insatiable ability to cause inhumane suffering at a massive scale.

With minimal dialogue, unblinking camerawork and no shortage of gore, Joffé recreates a country descending into hell, first with the help of foreign intervention and then through a particularly virulent form of communism that literally aimed to set the country back to year zero. But The Killing Fields adds to its impressive impact by also spending time on the restless pauses between events, the hours and days of waiting for something to happen as boredom and agitation dominate the psyche.

Plenty of dialogue is in the local Khmer language or French, and Joffé provides no subtitles, heightening the sense of realism for journalists trying to piece together the story in a foreign land. The hazards of the profession are well represented, but the film is mostly concerned with the suffering of the locals: foreigners like Schanberg have evacuation avenues open to them, and can flee despite the overwhelming guilt packed into their luggage. The locals have to endure whatever twisted notions of rebuilding the victors choose to impose.

And in the film's harrowing second half the focus switches firmly to Dith Pran's remarkable ordeal of survival, the country now run by madmen and children carrying rifles. Dith witnesses the killings, barely survives several brushes with death, and traverses a countryside littered with mass open graveyards. And as the abominations unfolded and around 1.7 million people were slaughtered, the world could not be bothered to care, eager to forget the doomed military misadventures in southeast Asia.

In his first acting performance, Dr. Haing S. Ngor, himself a survivor of the Cambodian killing fields, won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (although Pran is very much the lead character in the film). Ngor bring a level of exceptional authentic humanity to the role, whether never giving up on talking his way to survival or silently observing the carnage unfold while plotting his next escape.

The Killing Fields portrays the disheartening reality of brutal military conflicts, and the rousing exhilaration of friendships enduring over the years and across oceans.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.

Movie Review: A Room With A View (1985)

An adaptation of the E.M. Forster novel about a young British woman falling in love with a free-spirited man, A Room With A View is a gorgeous coffee-table movie, with beautiful costumes, scenery and performances making up for a thin plot and slow pacing.

It's the early 1900s. On a trip to Florence with her chaperon and older cousin Charlotte (Maggie Smith), the young and curious Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) meets fellow British vacationer George Emerson (Julian Sands), a rather strange and passionate young man traveling with his talkative father Mr. Emerson (Denholm Elliott). Lucy and George witness a scuffle between two local men that turns into a murder, and George comes to Lucy's assistance when she faints from the excitement. They are gradually attracted to each other, and on a subsequent trip to the Italian countryside they share a spontaneous and sexy kiss, much to Charlotte's horror.

Upon returning home to the English countryside, Lucy has a suitor waiting in the stuffy form of Cecil Vyse (Daniel Day-Lewis). Lucy is content to go down the road of marrying Cecil, until fate intervenes and the Emersons move in as tenants at a nearby house in Lucy's neighbourhood, reigniting the potential for romance between Lucy and George.

One of the biggest successes for the duo of director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant, A Room With A View is a lush exercise in visually rich romance. Ivory makes almost every scene an idyllic painting to remember, with opulent colours, breathtaking views and lavish costumes. From the plazas of Florence to the fields of rural Italy and onto the English countryside, A Room With A View is as much an artistic feast for the eyes as it is a narrative for the heart.

The plot itself is slight, and unfolds at a leisurely pace. The romance between Lucy and George is based on little except coincidence and the thrill of the illicit, and there is nothing in the script by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala to explain why the feisty Lucy and the rather distracted George should actually enjoy each other's company.

More interesting are the three secondary characters. Charlotte carries a look of perpetual mild panic, unable to control Lucy and witnessing an eruption of lust. The senior Mr. Emerson always has something to say and is never shy about saying it, occupying the centre of every conversation. And Cecil Vyse is the definition of stuffiness, the antithesis of Lucy and an easy man to discard in the chase for adventurous romance.

With an undercurrent of dry humour, A Room With A View pokes fun at Victorian attitudes towards morality lingering in the early part of the 20th century. Lucy and Charlotte agree to never mention the kiss between Lucy and George, no so much to protect Lucy's character but rather Charlotte's reputation for allowing the kiss to happen. And the film outlines British haughtiness towards Italians, who are perceived by Charlotte and her fellow older aged travellers as little better than wild natives.

The performances are note perfect, Helena Bonham Carter providing a bright spark of rebellion for Lucy to play with, while Maggie Smith finds every possible expression of worry, given that Charlotte needs them all. Judi Dench makes a relatively brief appearance as English author Eleanor Lavish, touring Italy for inspiration.

A Room With A View is distinguished entertainment, making up with decorum what it lacks in excitement.

All Ace Black Blog Movie Reviews are here.