Movie Review: Fast Charlie (2023)

Genre: Action  

Director: Phillip Noyce  

Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Morena Baccarin, James Caan  

Running Time: 90 minutes  

Synopsis: In Biloxi, Mississippi, Charlie Swift (Pierce Brosnan) is a hitman and fixer for crime boss Stan (James Caan). A hit on low-level criminal Rollo goes a bit wrong, but allows Charlie to connect with Rollo's ex-wife Marcie (Morena Baccarin), a taxidermist. Meanwhile New Orleans crime boss Beggar (Gbenga Akinnagbe) moves in on Stan's turf, leaving many dead bodies behind. Charlie vows revenge, and learns that Beggar is desperate to recover incriminating evidence hidden by Rollo.

What Works Well: Pierce Brosnan cuts through the action with effortless confidence, and a few moments of viciously dark humour deliver an effective punch. The production values are decent, and the energy level sustained. Charlie's narrated philosophy is better than it needs to be, as is the jagged romance that he develops with Marcie.

What Does Not Work As Well: This is stock hitman's revenge material straight from the generica action file, with an auto-pilot plot that cannot survive any level of scrutiny. Multiple violent murders never seem to trouble any enforcement authorities, a compact disc is still considered a relevant MacGuffin, a large amount of cash is stored in a small flimsy box, barely defined allies pop up to save Charlie at the most opportune moments, and all of the bad guys disappear when convenient. 

Key Quote:

Charlie: It is not really letting go of the past that sticks with you. It's coming to terms with letting go of the future that will never be. 

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Movie Review: The Thursday Murder Club (2025)

Genre: Crime Mystery Dramedy 

Director: Chris Columbus  

Starring: Helen Mirren, Ben Kingsley, Pierce Brosnan, Celia Imrie, Naomi Ackie  

Running Time: 118 minutes  

Synopsis: At the Coopers Chase retirement home in England, residents Elizabeth (Helen Mirren), Ron (Pierce Brosnan), and Ibrahim (Ben Kingsley) form an amateur club to solve cold murder cases. Elizabeth has mysterious connections in the enforcement world, Ron is a former trade unionist, and Ibrahim is a retired professor. They are soon joined by new resident Joyce (Celia Imrie), a retired nurse. A controversial plan to redevelop Coopers Chase and evict the residents seems to result in a murder, and the amateur sleuths team up with police constable Donna De Freitas (Naomi Ackie) to delve into the case.

What Works Well: This is a lighthearted Agatha Christie-adjacent mystery, riding on effortless star charisma and picturesque English countryside settings. The whodunnit elements are carefully crafted, with enough peripheral but essential characters and motivations to sustain the guessing game. The sub-plots encompass a cold case involving a woman stabbed and thrown from a window, Ron's son (a former boxing contender reduced to shadowy jobs), a falling-out between business partners, a Polish handyman, and another elderly resident (and former law enforcement official) now in a coma.

What Does Not Work As Well: Lighthearted also borders on lightweight and frivolous, and the few attempts to introduce a bit of jeopardy (Elizabeth has a couple of threatening encounters) don't convince. Fun and entertaining, but never more than that.

Key Quote:

Joyce (excited): Now we've got a real case to solve, isn't that wonderful!...obviously, RIP and all that.

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Movie Review: Black Bag (2025)

Genre: Spy Drama  

Director: Steven Soderbergh  

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Naomie Harris, Pierce Brosnan, Marisa Abela  

Running Time: 94 minutes  

Synopsis: British counterintelligence officer George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) has to find out which intelligence team member sold a top secret cybersecurity weapon to enemy agents. One of the suspects is George's own wife Kathryn (Cate Blanchett), the head of the signals division. Other possible traitors include up-and-comer James (Regé-Jean Page), satellite imagery specialist Clarissa (Marisa Abela), staff psychiatrist Zoe (Naomie Harris), and case officer Freddie (Tom Burke). George has to safeguard his marriage while deploying mind games and state-of-the-art surveillance to uncover the culprit.

What Works Well: An amalgamation of John le Carré and Harry Palmer with a dash of the Smiths, this is a mostly grim but sometimes wry spy whodunnit. Michael Fassbender elegantly channels Michael Caine and creates in George Woodhouse a cold-as-ice agent who made his legend destroying his own father (deservedly so). He now faces a moment of truth with his wife, having to rely on deep reservoirs of trust to counteract mounting evidence of guilt. All the suspects are adept at playing spy games, and director Steven Soderbergh gets into a groove of simultaneously presenting and casting doubt on all the necessary details. 

What Does Not Work As Well: The tone awkwardly oscillates between serious and absurd, and the dialogue is more glib than thoughtful. For a group of supposedly clever spies, way too many of these characters are bedding each other and losing control of their emotions and libido. 

Key Quote:

Clarissa: When you can lie about everything, when you can deny everything, how do you tell the truth about anything?



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Movie Review: I.T. (2016)

Genre: Thriller  

Director: John Moore  

Starring: Pierce Brosnan, James Frecheville, Anna Friel, Stefanie Scott, Michael Nyqvist  

Running Time: 95 minutes  

Synopsis: Private jet aviation tycoon Mike Regan (Pierce Brosnan) is seeking approval to take his company public. He lives in a modern technology-enabled home with his wife Rose (Anna Friel) and 17-year old daughter Kaitlyn (Stefanie Scott). Independent IT support technician Ed Porter (James Frecheville) proves capable at work, and Mike asks him to troubleshoot his home's smart system. But Ed is unhinged, becomes obsessed with Kaitlyn, and his creepy behaviour gets him fired. He unleashes vengeance by taking control of all the technology in Mike's home, car, and business.

What Works Well: The setting of Mike Regan's home is snazzy, allowing Pierce Brosnan to ooze success through his usual suave persona. James Frecheville is suitably creepy as the deeply troubled tech wizard antagonist, and Michael Nyqvist adds a dose of gravitas as a shadowy fixer. The dangers of trusting seemingly competent strangers bubble to the surface in the more competent first half.

 

What Does Not Work As Well: Many secondary characters just check-out and disappear, key plot points (like the initial public offering, Regan's financial difficulties, and Ed's potent threat to ruin Mike's business) take convenient breaks when it suits the script, and the most logical choices (like the Regans checking into a hotel and calmly uninstalling the smart home system) are discarded for lousy decision-making. Overall, director John Moore traps the second half action in the no-man's land between techno-thrills and primitive bare-knuckles-and-guns chicanery.

Key Quote:

Ed: You know the smart panels in your home have built-in cameras?

Mike: I had them disabled. I like my privacy.

Ed: Good luck with that.

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Movie Review: False Positive (2021)

Genre: Suspense Drama  

Director: John Lee 

Starring: Ilana Glazer, Pierce Brosnan, Justin Theroux, Gretchen Mol  

Running Time: 92 minutes  

Synopsis: Desperate to conceive, married couple Lucy and Adrian (Ilana Glazer and Justin Theroux) turn to fertility specialist Dr. Hindle (Pierce Brosnan). Lucy is soon pregnant with triplets: twin boys and one daughter. Hindle suggests selective reduction to increase the chances of a successful pregnancy, and against the advice of both Hindle and Adrian, Lucy chooses to terminate the twin boys and keep the daughter. As her pregnancy progresses she starts experiencing disturbing visions, leading to suspicions that she may be the victim of a conspiracy.

What Works Well: The bargain-level Rosemary's Baby vibes occasionally achieve the desired chilling effect, and Lucy's travails are a decent metaphor for every mothers pregnancy apprehensions. Enough doubt is cast on whether she is losing her mind, suffering from sophisticated gaslighting, or genuinely the target of malevolence to maintain a base level of interest. Pierce Brosnan delivers a masterclass of entitled smarm. 

What Does Not Work As Well: The final act is a mess of untidy resolutions, ensuring that in retrospect, none of the key plot elements make much sense. The gap between Lucy getting pregnant and the key revelations is too long, confining most of the running time to incoherent snippets, distractions, and cheap feints, including a bewildering secret homosexual interlude, lots of skulking around in the dark, side trips to a spiritual midwife, and arguments over a magazine.

Key Quote:

Dr. Hindle: You are...one hundred percent pregnant.



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Movie Review: Butterfly On A Wheel (2007)

Also Known As: Shattered  

Genre: Crime Thriller  

Director: Mike Barker  

Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Maria Bello, Gerard Butler  

Running Time: 91 minutes  

Synopsis: In Chicago, successful marketing executive Neil Randall (Gerard Butler) is on the fast track to career success and living the good life with his wife Abby (Maria Bello) and young daughter Sophie. Suddenly their life is upturned by a mysterious abductor (Pierce Brosnan) who holds Neil and Abby at gunpoint and threatens to harm Sophie unless they complete specific tasks. Neil and Abby frantically try to meet their abductor's demands while trying to understand his motivations and summon help.

What Works Well: Director Mike Barker quickly cranks up the tension and maintains an elevated level of thrills, close-calls, and frantic decisions-under-pressure. The three lead cast members add plenty of quality star power, and the action is supplemented by no shortage of cerebral dueling, the antagonist and victimized couple locked into a game of mental upmanship. The final act features a couple of juicy, if highly unlikely, twists.

What Does Not Work As Well: The plot holds on to its secrets too tightly and for too long. The abductor's identity and cause are stubbornly opaque, confining most of the obstacle course episodes (take item A to location B or else the child dies) into samey treatment with no context. 

Key Quote:

Never pick a fight with someone who's got nothing to lose.



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Movie Review: Spinning Man (2018)

Genre: Philosophical Crime Drama  

Director: Simon Kaijser  

Starring: Guy Pearce, Pierce Brosnan, Minnie Driver  

Running Time: 100 minutes  

Synopsis: Dr. Evan Birch (Guy Pearce) is a Professor of Philosophy with a tendency to desire his female students. When a cheerleader goes missing in the nearby woods, Detective Malloy (Pierce Brosnan) investigates and Evan emerges as a suspect. He denies any wrong doing, but evidence linking him to the disappearance starts to emerge, straining his relationship with his wife Ellen (Minnie Driver). Meanwhile, Anna (Alexandra Shipp) is the latest student attempting to seduce Evan.

What Works Well: Philosophical musings related to memory and truth mix with a standard police investigation of a shifty suspect. Unreliability as a foundation of thought and recollection emerges as an intriguing theme, Guy Pearce embodying uncertainty as either a natural condition or defence tactic. An understated Pierce Brosnan and an increasingly irritated Minnie Driver provide able support.

What Does Not Work As Well: With a limited number of suspects and mounting evidence pointing in only one direction, director Simon Kaijser and writer Matthew Aldrich (adapting a book by George Harrar) desperately needed a good third act, but they miss by a large margin. Incoherent padding leads to a desperate final 15 minutes that unravel into a rushed and unsatisfactory mess. 

Conclusion: Stops spinning just when it matters most.



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Movie Review: The Out-Laws (2023)

Genre: Comedy

Director: Tyler Spindel

Starring: Adam Devine, Pierce Brosnan, Ellen Barkin, Julie Hagerty, Nina Dobrev, Michael Rooker

Running Time: 95 minutes

Synopsis: Bank manager Owen (Adam DeVine) is about to marry his girlfriend Parker (Nina Dobrev). He meets her parents Billy and Lilly (Pierce Brosnan and Ellen Barkin) for the first time, and soon afterwards his bank is robbed. Owen suspects his future in-laws are the famous Ghost Bandits, who have long been pursued by the FBI's Agent Oldham (Michael Rooker). Billy and Lilly have unfinished business with ruthless mobster Rehan (Poorna Jagannathan), while Owen has to keep his bride-to-be safe and earn the respect of her family.

What Works Well: Some of the chase scene enjoy a manic vibe, and veterans Pierce Brosnan and Ellen Barkin cut through the nonsense with a nostalgic edge.

What Does Not Work As Well: This is a lazy and predictable crime comedy, underwritten and overacted in equal measures. Profanity is used as a crutch for a glaring lack of wit, few jokes land, the attempted plot is a childish mishmash of ideas, and Adam DeVine mugs his way into an embarrassing performance. Perhaps not surprisingly, co-produced by Adam Sandler.

Conclusion: The Out-Laws belongs in the outhouse.



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Movie Review: The Fourth Protocol (1987)

A Cold War thriller, The Fourth Protocol features a slick bombing plot but weak characterizations and derivative details.

In London, MI5 agents John Preston (Michael Caine) and Sir Nigel Irvine (Ian Richardson) uncover government official Berenson as a spy. They turn him to feed false intelligence to Irvine's KGB rival Karpov (Ray McAnally). In the USSR, Karpov is not aware his power-hungry boss Govorshin (Alan North) has recruited agent Valeri Petrofsky (Pierce Brosnan) for a false flag mission to detonate an atomic bomb at a NATO base in the UK. Karpov eventually gets wind of the plan from his ally Borisov (Ned Beatty).

Petrofsky travels to the UK, rents an apartment near a NATO base, and starts to collect the bomb components from Soviet courier agents. Preston suspects a plot is unfolding when he intercepts a detonator and locates a Soviet communications hub on English soil transmitting suspicious messages. KGB agent Irina Vassilievna (Joanna Cassidy) arrives to help Petrofsky assemble the bomb, as Preston races to connect the dots.

Based on the book by Frederick Forsyth, The Fourth Protocol carries a threat and teases out admirable tactical details, but is essentially a distilled version of The Day Of The Jackal. Here Petrofsky is the silent assassin going about his business with grim-faced efficiency as his counterpoint Preston scrambles to gather clues. Despite expansive direction by John Mackenzie, making excellent use of dreary English locations, the action ticks by rather soullessly.

Apart from the title barely being explained, a central problem is Petrofsky's nominal role in his own plot. Deploying a singular glare, Pierce Brosnan is left stranded, his character hired to push a button and otherwise reduced to a courier zooming on his motorcycle this way then that to collect pieces of the bomb, but not even tasked with assembling the components. Petrofsky has to kill a few people to keep the plot on course, but most of his victims are extras.

Much better is John Preston, navigating the bureaucracy of the British secret service and dealing with a buffoon of a careerist boss (Julian Glover as a suitably despicable pencil pusher). Michael Caine never needs to stretch, but ensures sustained watchability as the political Cold War subtext is presented with potent urgency. Public opinion in Britain is portrayed as turning against militarization, and especially opposed to the deployment of American bombers equipped with nuclear weapons. Govorshin of course times the detonation to coincide with thousands of protesters gathering at the NATO base.

Serviceable but not quite notable, The Fourth Protocol offers adequate ticks and borrowed tocks.



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Movie Review: The Ghost Writer (2010)

A drama and conspiracy thriller, The Ghost Writer (also known as The Ghost) mixes complex suspense with shallow characters before snagging on too many competing mysteries.

A ghostwriter (Ewan McGregor) is recruited to complete the autobiography of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), after the previous writer Mike McAra died by drowning. The ghostwriter travels to Martha's Vineyard, where Lang now lives with his wife Ruth (Olivia Williams) and assistant Amelia (Kim Cattrall). As soon as the ghostwriter starts to polish-up the book manuscript, Lang is accused of war crimes by his former Foreign Secretary Richard Rycart (Robert Pugh). Lang's entourage swings into damage control.

The ghostwriter uncovers inconsistencies in the former PM's stories about his entry into politics while at Cambridge, and is then thrust into the middle of Adam and Ruth's disintegrating marriage. He then starts probing Lang's shady connections to Harvard Professor Paul Emmett (Tom Wilkinson), and finds his own life in danger.

Directed and co-written by Roman Polanski based on the Robert Harris book, The Ghost Writer enjoys a brooding physical aesthetic and plenty of secrets waiting to be divulged. The isolated seaside location of Lang's villa adds an element of rugged isolation, emphasized by unwelcoming weather - it's almost always cloudy or raining. The narrative framework features an outsider attempting to reveal a politician's essence, and the writer's arc of discovery is as much a revelation of his own naivete as it is about uncovering the ugly games fuelling global politics.

But weaknesses lurk in the thicket of events. Neither the writer nor Lang are provided the opportunity to round into worthwhile people. Almost ironically nameless, the writer remains a blank canvass of aimlessness, bumbling into affairs beyond his pay grade. And the supposedly central figure of Lang, around which historical and current affairs swirl, is whisked away on trips to defend his reputation almost as soon as he is introduced. Only Ruth is afforded the luxury of exposition, and Olivia Williams grabs it with a performance of simmering toxicity.

The Ghost Writer is never less than engaging, but eventually detaches from fundamentals. The sub-quests start tripping on each other and Polanski appears unsure which story to chase. War crimes, typical CIA shenanigans, a broken marriage, secrets and lies from yonder years, a dead body washed up on the rugged coast, the threat of assassination by an unhinged assailant, and finally cliche thriller chase elements are crammed into a few days of the ghost writer's life. If only pompous political memoirs could really be this exciting.



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Movie Review: Dante's Peak (1997)

A natural disaster drama, Dante's Peak consists of predictable plot elements enlivened by spectacular special effects.

In a prologue set in Colombia, volcanologist Harry Dalton (Pierce Brosnan) loses the love of his life Marianne when their team is too late to pull out of a village and a nearby volcano erupts.

Four years later, Harry is dispatched to the small picturesque town of Dante's Peak in Washington State to check on unusual seismic activity at the long-dormant namesake mountain looming over the town. He connects with Mayor Rachel Wado (Linda Hamilton), a single mom of two kids and owner of a local coffee shop, and meets her ex-mother-in-law Ruth (Elizabeth Hoffman), who lives at the base of the mountain. 

Harry notices enough unusual activity to send for a full US Geological Survey team, including his boss Paul Dreyfus (Charles Hallahan). As a romance blossoms between Harry and Rachel, the team members deploy an array of sensors. Although the data is inconclusive, Harry instinctively senses a disaster is near. Just when Paul concludes no eruption is imminent and plans to pull out, a catastrophic eruption commences. Harry has to race to try and save Rachel's family and his life.

A throwback to the disaster movies of the 1970s, Dante's Peak lines up all the familiar cliches: the one scientist who foresees the disaster, the leaders of a quaint town who choose not to believe him fearful of spooking the businessman investor planning to pump money into the town, instinct and experience clashing with hard data and instrumentation, a romance forged under the stress of impending doom, and assorted annoying family members and pets, some more deserving of their fate than others.

Writer Leslie Bohem does just enough to make the two central characters interesting, the prologue effectively outlining the scar of loss on Harry's psyche, while Rachel is the small town gal done good despite the pain inflicted by a derelict ex-husband. Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton stay within the confines of the material but do elevate the quieter moments above purely derivative fare.

Where Dante's Peak does shine is in the special effects department, and when it's time for disaster to strike, the film is a visual feast. The science may be suspect and many details defy logic, but director Roger Donaldson dedicates the final third of the film to the volcano's angry eruption, and the scenes of carnage are widespread and all-consuming. Excellent digital effects and miniature model work bring to life tremors, earthquakes, lava rivers, fires, acidic lakes, collapsing freeways and bridges, and finally a spectacular pyroclastic cloud released by a blow-the-top-off-the-mountain explosion.

Dante's Peak is about to lose its status as the second most livable town in American (population under 20,000), and it will not go quietly.



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Movie Review: The November Man (2014)

An espionage action thriller, The November Man skips over logic gaps to extract satisfying thrills from a suitably complex story.

In 2008, CIA agent Peter Devereaux (Pierce Brosnan) and his protege David Mason (Luke Bracey) have a falling out after a botched job in Montenegro. Five years later, Peter is recruited by his former boss John Hanley (Bill Smitrovich) to extract would-be defector and Peter's ex-lover Natalia (Mediha Musliović) from Moscow. She has information compromising Russia's next leader Federov (Lazar Ristovski), related to his history during the Chechen wars.

The Moscow mission goes badly, with Peter and David landing on opposite sides. Natalia's information leads to Belgrade and the hunt for missing ex-refugee Mira Filipova. To find her Peter connects with refugee case worker Alice Fournier (Olga Kurylenko). Meanwhile New York Times reporter Simpson (Patrick Kennedy) is interested in Federov's history, while lethal assassin Alexa (Amila Terzimehić) is terminating everyone connected to the future President's sordid past.

An adaptation of the book There Are No Spies by Bill Granger, The November Man finds star Pierce Brosnan returning to James Bond-style spy action. The title refers to the bleak annihilation Peter Devereaux leaves behind, and this is a gadget-free, more gritty story of dirty global plotting for geopolitical gain. Director Roger Donaldson deserves credit for adopting straight-ahead, maintain-the-momentum pacing while keeping the multi-dimensional and fairly convoluted plot well within coherence limits.

Combining personal vendettas with mission-driven objectives, the action scenes are frequent but short, offering fairly standard thrills at a human scale with the added blessing of rational editing. Belgrade is the main setting and Donaldson makes good use of the city with brisk and bright location work.

The plot features no shortage of twists and turns, some pleasing if predictable and others outright absurd. Admirably avoiding a bland MacGuffin, The November Man is propelled by the grim history of the Chechen wars, the refugee and human trafficking crisis, the atrocities of civilian massacres and the rape and abuse of young women in the shadow of conflict. And the script, co-written by Michael Finch and Karl Gajdusek, expounds on the dark dilemmas inherent in the sometimes contradictory pursuits of justice and long-term global influence.

Pierce Brosnan cuts through the action exuding definitive confidence and little else. Luke Bracey follows suit, a younger version of the same. Olga Kurylenko bursts into prominence late on with a lethal disguise, while Bill Smitrovich adds good texture to the role of Hanley, the CIA man deeply embroiled in international, across-the-decades machinations. 

The November Man is rarely original, but fulfils the mission objectives with credible efficiency.

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Movie Review: No Escape (2015)

A straightforward thriller, No Escape is a harrowing tale of a family caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and forced to flee tumultuous events in a foreign land.

After the failure of his private venture, Texan Jack Dwyer (Owen Wilson) relocates his wife Annie (Lake Bell) and two young daughters to an unnamed country (suspiciously similar to Thailand) in South East Asia. He is starting a new job with the American company Cardiff, which has been commissioned to improve the national water system. On the flight Jack meets the mysterious Hammond (Pierce Brosnan), who seems to know the country well.

Soon after the Dwyers arrive, a violent coup d'etat overthrows the government. The Prime Minister is killed, and rampaging mobs take to the streets, hunting down and killing foreigners. Jack, Annie and the two girls barely escape to the roof of their hotel, but the murderous thugs are close behind, and the family's horrific ordeal of survival is just beginning.

No Escape suffers from a few unfortunate weaknesses. Similar to The Impossible, here again tragedy sweeps through a South East Asian country, but the focus is singularly on a white family. The locals are reduced to murderous goons or deep background extras, and they all exist free of any context.

And once the Dwyers are forced to run, the film defaults to an almost uninterrupted fight or flee construct, one narrow escape following another with barely a pause.

But at least No Escape commits to what it wants to do and does it well. Director John Erick Dowdle co-wrote the script with his brother Drew, and creates an undeniably exciting thriller. The Dwyers are allowed the required trace of unusual heroism, but otherwise remain a normal panicked family lugging around two young daughters to try and evade an unfolding hell.

Beyond the predictable family-is-all theme, Dwyer accentuates the do something survival ethos. Repeatedly Jack stays alive by finding the courage to act rather than just hide, a terrifying rooftop escape just one example of how the risk and reward calculus changes in the face of imminent slaughter.

On one rare occasion when the film catches its breath, Pierce Brosnan's Hammond character provides an abbreviated version of dark governmental geopolitical games perpetuating the coup. It's the slightest of nods towards a backstory, rudely interrupting No Escape as it races to the next cliffhanger moment, and the next one after that.

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Movie Review: Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

A cross-dressing comedy, Mrs. Doubtfire showcases the talents of Robin Williams but otherwise relies on obvious humour and simplistic emotional hot buttons.

In San Francisco, Daniel Hillard (Robin Williams) is a fun-loving actor married to interior designer Miranda (Sally Field). Daniel adores his three kids, teenagers Lydia (Lisa Jakub) and Chris (Matthew Lawrence) and the younger Natalie (Mara Wilson). After a raucous birthday party all but wrecks the house, Miranda decides she can no longer tolerate Daniel's juvenile antics and initiates divorce proceedings. He loses child custody and is heartbroken.

When Miranda advertises for an after-school housekeeper Daniel adopts the elaborate disguise of an elderly British nanny, calls himself Mrs. Doubtfire and secures the job, gaining the opportunity to see his kids a few hours each day. Ironically, Mrs. Doubtfire is tidy and responsible, and both Miranda and the kids are thrilled with her presence and homely advice. But life gets more complicated when Miranda starts to explore a romance with rich client Stu Dunmeyer (Pierce Brosnan), and Daniel pursues a real career opportunity as a children's television show host.

A comedy tailor made to unleash Robin Williams' comic excesses, Mrs. Doubtfire is two hours of accents, impersonations, and unconstrained and barely filtered jokiness. Most of it is funny, but little of it is sophisticated. Director Chris Columbus is happy to allow Williams to run loose, and makes no attempt to rein in his star.

The result is a broad and vivid comedy riding on the coattails of a simple concept, Williams in drag pretending to be a prim and proper English nanny. The plot evolves marginally to Daniel's determined efforts to disrupt ex-wife Miranda's new romance while scrambling to land a real job. Without ever getting serious about anything other than a father's love for his children, the film waves in passing at several themes including the devastating impact of divorce and the evolving nature of couplehood.

It all comes to a climax at a restaurant scene where Daniel has to be in both his real and adopted personas at the same time, and Columbus rumbles through this interminable sequence with the elegance of a dancing bear.

Nevertheless, there is no questioning Williams' talent to extract laughs out of any situation, nor his commitment to the role. He disappears under layers of clothes and makeup to bring Mrs. Doubtfire to life, and once he inhabits her bodysuit, wig and face, Williams creates and sustains a memorable and convincing dotty housekeeper. But despite all the juvenile physical humour and flapping of arms, the running time is too long, and the primary gag of Daniel having to frantically change clothes in short order to fool the right people at the right time is overused.

Mrs. Doubtfire sets the energy level at eleven, but it flares in all the obvious directions.

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Movie Review: Remember Me (2010)

A romantic drama, Remember Me creates characters worth caring about, but the pervasive emotional gloom is overwhelming.

In 1991, eleven year old Ally witnesses the murder of her mother in a New York City subway mugging. Her father Neil (Chris Cooper), a police detective, is emotionally devastated.

Ten years later, Tyler (Robert Pattinson) is approaching his 22nd birthday, and struggling with memories of his older brother's suicide at that age. He has a good relationship with his mother Diane (Lena Olin) and younger sister Caroline (Ruby Jerins), but can barely tolerate his cold and aloof corporate father Charles (Pierce Brosnan).

After a street brawl Tyler is roughed up by Neil. Tyler's roommate Aidan (Tate Ellington) learns that the grown-up Ally (Emilie de Ravin) is Tyler's college classmate and Neil's daughter, and encourages Tyler to start a relationship primarily to antagonize her father. But a genuine romance blossoms between Tyler and Ally, although his continued deep grieving will create challenges.

From its opening scene Remember Me carries a high level of intensity built on rage stemming from sudden loss and injustice. Neil and Ally are victimized by muggers, Tyler is in a cloud of fury over the loss of his brother, and the film will join the trio in an unrelenting haze of serious indignation. Director Allen Coulter and writer Will Fetters are all-in on the moping, highlighted by Tyler's narration, and while the mood can be crushing, the film deserves credit for not seeking easy pathways towards happy endings.

Intermittently flickering through the malaise is a sweet and serious romance. Together Tyler and Ally create an appealing if troubled couple, and their scenes of courtship and passion are organic and engaging. Coulter also leans on Tyler's young sister Caroline, a budding artist, to provide some perspective. She also has to deal with a deceased older brother and an absentee father, but without the rebellious adulthood tools available to Tyler. Consistent with the downbeat theme, Caroline has her own personal trauma to deal with in the form of school bullying.

Robert Pattinson carries the bulk of the film's weight with a James Dean-like performance. Brooding in one scene and combustible in the next, cigarette always at the ready, Pattinson floods New York with angry grief. He is convincing, but also seemingly unconstrained by Coulter.

Chris Cooper and Pierce Brosnan fare worse in more shallow representations, and their resolutions are either omitted or implausible. Meanwhile Emilie de Ravin pulls off a decent imitation of Kirsten Dunst, but Ally is disappointingly underwritten and stays closer to a plot device serving Tyler's journey.

Remember Me introduces a contextual twist in its final 10 minutes that is both unnecessary and effective, but also borderline manipulative. It's yet another layer of sadness to a story already suffocating in sorrow, but if nothing else, the tonal consistency is admirable.

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Movie Review: The World's End (2013)

A wayward invaders-amongst-us comedy, The World's End offers some fun but is hampered by a painful lack of ideas and weak execution.

In England, Gary King (Simon Pegg) is solidly in middle age and has wasted his life away. He still reminisces about the college night in Newton Haven when his group of friends attempted an epic pub crawl but only made it through nine of the twelve pubs before quitting. Gary reconnects with Andy (Nick Frost), Steven (Paddy Considine), Oliver (Martin Freeman), and Peter (Eddie Marsan) to convince them to try again and this time make it to all twelve establishments, ending at the appropriately named The World's End.

Other than Gary all the men have settled down into various careers and none are thrilled to see him, especially teetotaller Andy, but they humour their old friend mostly out of pity. They start the crawl again and bump into Oliver's sister Sam (Rosamund Pike), who had a quickie in the bathroom with Gary on that fateful college night. But more worrisome is the gentrified new look of the pubs, and the weird behaviour of the locals, soon exposed as robots with dark blue blood.

Combining routine middle aged male angst and overly-familiar something-strange-is-going-on-around-here into a comedy bowl, director and co-writer (with Pegg) Edgar Wright tries to wring a good time out of a tired premise. The success is patchy at best, as The World's End desperately searches for meaningful content, overreaching wildly in its climax towards explaining the entire human condition through an argument with a set of lights.

Despite plenty of fun to be had in the combat scenes between the easily fragmentable, blue ink spewing robots and the guys, Wright and Pegg falter in building their film on a shallow character base. Gary is a prototypical fast-talking (and mostly lying) drunk loser stuck in the glories of high school, and is not provided with any redeeming character arc. His four friends are generally blank slates, and The World's End trawls within a level of interchangeable disinterest.

Rosamund Pike as Sam suffers most of all, and it's not certain anyone knew why she was in the movie. Pierce Brosnan offers a glorified cameo as the college professor who makes an appearance during the second attempt at pub crawl completionism.

As for themes Wright and Pegg may be loosely aiming for, choose from the bland freedom-is-all-that-matters to friendship-is-forever hokum, with a pit stop at it's-better-to-be-a-down-and-out-bum-than-a-generic-robot revelation. It's all drowned in repetitive drinking and fighting scenes until the utterly unconvincing finale. The guys are trying to make it to the final pub, but neither the journey nor the destination are worthwhile.

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Movie review: The Love Punch (2013)

A wacky heist comedy romance, The Love Punch is a lightweight travelogue with just a modicum of quality.

In England, divorced couple Kate and Richard Jones (Emma Thompson and Pierce Brosnan) are approaching retirement age, living separate lives but still on speaking terms. Richard's retirement plans are thrown into disarray when the company he works for is foreclosed by a hedge fund and the pension plan gutted. Vincent Kruger (Laurent Lafitte) is the Paris-based heartless corporate raider, and he is about to get married to the glamorous Manon Fontane (Louise Bourgoin).

Kate and Richard concoct a plan to gate-crash the wedding and steal the $10 million diamond necklace that Vincent is gifting Manon. They call upon their friends Jerry and Penelope (Timothy Spall and Celia Imrie) for help, and the foursome plot a raid on the wedding reception being held at a lavish south of France estate. Meanwhile, Richard is doing all he can to win back Kate's heart.

Written and directed by Joel Hopkins, The Love Punch is utterly inconsequential but also occasionally harmlessly entertaining. Clearly conceived as a pretext to invest some French production dollars into promoting tourism on the big screen, the plot is a sorry excuse for some lush French scenery. On the slightly positive side, Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson inject just enough class to avoid a total loss, and the script throws up a few good quips, many courtesy of a pleasantly gruff Timothy Spall.

And within the absurd proposition of four retirees turning to high stakes crime, Hopkins manages to take a few shots at Brosnan's Bond history and offers some smart commentary about love as advancing age replaces giddiness with pragmatism. In pursuit of keeping it real, Kate and Richard find an unlikely ally in Manon, a modern woman who quickly snaps out of her white knight fantasy.

But despite the decent moments, The Love Punch is frivolous and ultimately just too silly, a scenic coffee table book converted to moving pictures with actors going through the motions but mostly getting in the way of the glossy imagery.

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Movie Review: Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)

A musical sequel celebrating more of ABBA's tunes, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again manages to easily outperform the original.

On an idyllic Greek island 10 years after the events of the first film, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is planning the grand reopening of the hotel Bella Donna, now named in memory of her mother (Meryl Streep) who passed away a year earlier. Sophie's marriage to Sky (Dominic Cooper) has hit a road bump, and her mother's former bandmates Tanya (Christine Baranski) and Rosie (Julie Waters) arrive to cheer her up. Sam (Pierce Brosnan) is the only one of her three "dads" in attendance, with Harry (Colin Firth) and Bill (Stellan Skarsgård) tied up in prior engagements.

In flashback, the adventures of young Donna (Lily James) after graduating from college are recalled. Eager to escape from her mother, Donna travels the world, meets the young and flustered Harry (Hugh Skinner) in Paris and then adventurous sailor Bill (Josh Dylan) in Greece. Upon arriving at the island, Donna falls for the dishy Sam (Jeremy Irvine). She has quick affairs with all three, but is soon alone on the island, carving out her new life only to discover she is pregnant. Back in the present, Sophie's plans for a celebration are disrupted by the weather and plenty of unexpected party attendees.

While it was admittedly a low bar to step over, Here We Go Again is an effortlessly better movie than its clunky predecessor. Directed and written by Ol Parker, the sequel is freed from the stage musical, and also delves deeper into the ABBA catalogue. This proves to be a blessing: with less emphasis on singalong moments, Here We Go Again not only demonstrates the remarkable breadth of the Swedish group's talent but focuses more on plot, characters and storytelling, and the result is a much more engaging viewing experience.

Also working in the film's favour is the split between two stories: Sophie's present-day sorrow at losing her mother and determination to celebrate her memory are made so much more powerful and poignant with the flashback scenes of Donna as a young vivacious woman finding herself and influencing the lives of three men in quick succession. Despite being full of music and telling two stories, Here We Go Again clocks in under two hours, Parker demonstrating admirable restraint and stopping every scene and musical number before excess creeps in.

Despite the flightiness, many creaky moments, acknowledged silliness and prevalent self-awareness, Parker manages to scale some emotional heights. Early on Sophie and Sky sing One Of Us oceans apart but together through some beautifully fluid camera and editing work. Past the halfway mark a small flotilla arrives at the island to the timeless tune of Dancing Queen, injecting the film with a large dose of nostalgic jubilation. And the affecting climax features a genuinely tender reunion of mother and daughter across a generation to the tune of My Love, My Life.

The talented Lily James as the young Donna adds immeasurably to the film, and shares the load with Amanda Seyfried, both actresses knowing their way around delivering a song with conviction but without pretensions. Streep gets just the one song, but absolutely crushes it. Cher appears late on, voice intact but otherwise a walking (barely) advertisement about the perils of Botox and plastic surgery.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is fun, frivolous and silly, all as expected, but unexpectedly also quite decent.

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Movie Review: Mamma Mia! (2008)

A musical set to the songs of Swedish group ABBA, Mamma Mia! is a frivolous exercise in threading a non-plot through more than 20 toe-tapping pop hits.

On a Greek island, 20 year old Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is about to be married to Sky (Dominic Cooper). Sophie's mom is the free spirited Donna (Meryl Streep), a former singer who now runs a bed and breakfast villa. Sophie never knew who her dad was, but secretly delves into Donna's diaries to uncover three candidate men: architect Sam (Pierce Brosnan), adventurer Bill (Stellan Skarsgård) and banker Harry (Colin Firth). Unbeknownst to Donna, she invites them all to the wedding.

Meanwhile, Donna invites her former co-performers and best friends Tanya (Christine Baranski) and Rosie (Julie Walters). When everyone arrives ahead of the wedding, the three men are astonished to meet each other, Sophie is surprised that she cannot immediately tell which of the men is her father, and Donna is shocked that three former lovers have appeared at her doorstep.

Directed by Phyllida Lloyd and based on the hit stage musical by Catherine Johnson, Mamma Mia! features Hollywood actors on vacation warbling ABBA songs, often quite badly. While Streep is as usual near perfect in throwing herself into a singing role, the rest of the cast are much less convincing, with Brosnan in particular almost painful.

Almost every well-known ABBA song is lined up and knocked down, including the title track, Money, Money, Money, Dancing Queen, Chiquitita, S.O.S., Take A Chance On Me, The Name Of The Game, The Winner Takes It All, Voulez-Vous and Does Your Mother Know. If nothing else, the film serves as a reminder of the group's superlative ability to conjure up singalong hits set to infectious melodies.

As a film Mamma Mia! fails on all cinematic counts. The non-singing scenes appear scripted on the spot and fail to create anything that resembles a plot. The choreography is amateurish, the acting almost embarrassing, the attempted jokes lame and the emotions utterly manufactured.

The only point of the movie appears to be to sing along to the music; otherwise Mamma Mia! is best left stranded on whichever secluded island will tolerate the noisy antics.

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Movie Review: The Foreigner (2017)

A revenge action thriller set against the backdrop Northern Ireland tensions, The Foreigner has almost too much plot but also plenty of well-executed action.

In London, a terrorist bomb blast claimed by the "Authentic IRA" kills many civilians, including the daughter of Quan (Jackie Chan), an elderly Chinese immigrant, restaurant owner, and special forces Vietnam War veteran. Quan has had a rough life, including losing two previous daughters as well as his wife. The British government leans on Belfast-based Irish Deputy Minister and ex-IRA member Liam Hennessy (Pierce Brosnan) to find out who is behind the attack. He has his own agenda to pressure the British cabinet into issuing pardons for former terrorists.

Quan identifies Hennessy as the man who could name the bombers, and relocates to Belfast to start pressuring the politician with acts of violence. Meanwhile Hennessy has his hands full trying to keep former IRA colleagues in check, as internal divisions emerge particularly with his friend McGrath. With Quan proving to be a formidable threat, Liam calls on his New York-based nephew Sean for help, while Hennessy's wife Mary (Orla Brady) has her own plans to settle old scores.

Tightly controlled by director by Martin Campbell, The Foreigner presents a new screen persona for Jackie Chan, moving into Liam Neeson territory as an older man resorting to violence to settle scores. Pierce Brosnan also steps forward with a refreshingly different role, moving away from his suave James Bond mannerisms and revealing a more conniving edge with a robust Irish accent.

While Chan and Brosnan infuse the two main characters with plenty of depth, the David Marconi script, based on the book The Chinaman by Stephen Leather, layers on hefty globs of plot. To its credit, The Foreigner is lot more than a standard vigilante story, but it also does expand in many different directions at once.

An Irish terrorist cell is holed up in a London flat, and one of the members has a close connection to Hennessy. Liam's wife and nephew have their own secrets and motivations. Concerned high-level government types walk in and out of offices, always on the phone and alternating between threatening and cajoling Hennessy towards putting a lid on the violence. A counterterrorism unit headed by Commander Richard Bromley (Ray Fearon) tries to catch up with both the IRA splinter group and Quan. A reporter becomes a pawn in the unfolding plot. The whole tenuous peace process in Northern Ireland is brought to the fore, as a hard fought peace hangs in the balance, middle-aged men who were once warriors dredging up the past and threatening the present. And numerous goons enter the picture to try and sort out Quan.

With so much going on, the film has to divide its time between the slow-burning internal Irish tensions and Quan's quest for revenge, and the plot holes multiply accordingly. The more notable logic gaps include Quan's remarkable ability to always be one step ahead of both his pursuers and the weight of the British authorities, plus his exceptional combat resiliency against multiple foes.

Nevertheless Campbell directs the action scenes with almost perfect pacing and intensity, finding the sweet spot where energetic editing supplements rather than overwhelms battle theatrics. The Foreigner has an overflowing narrative, but also enough talent to focus when it matters most.

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