It’s Complicated

• Released Internationally on 23/12/09
• Released in Malta by KRS on 27/01/10

In a nutshell

Jake and Jane have been divorced for ten years, after being married for fifteen. Jake has now remarried. When the ex-couple spend a weekend in New York for their son’s graduation, things get complicated.

Mid-life crises

This light-hearted romantic comedy manages to strike a good balance between fluff and drama, and builds a believable relationship dilemma between its two main protagonists. Since their divorce, Jane has taken time to adjust, but is now finally getting herself together emotionally. But empty-nest syndrome looms as her youngest daughter leaves the (huge) family house, and the loneliness isn’t helped by constant reminders about her dry spell from her girlfriends. Jake, in the meantime, is in a hectic marriage to a much younger woman with a harebrained son, and as he is dragged to fertility clinics by his trophy wife, he admits that he has become a ‘walking cliché’.

Happy families

The ex-pair meet occasionally, and the animosity has cooled, but it takes a full-blown family weekend like old times to bring out buried emotions, and with a lot of insistence from Jake, things start to happen. This proves badly timed for Jane’s architect, Adam, who is also divorced, and with whom Jane was starting a tentative flirtation. The triangle provides ample fodder for situation comedy and tough decisions, and the film manages to remain interesting without following any wildly unpredictable path.

Who’s in it?

Meryl Streep caps off yet another outstanding year with her omnipresent role as Jane. Torn between a steady situation she was getting used to, and the promise of fresh excitement, she is faced with all the tough decisions, and she manages all the complications convincingly, switching from lover to ex-wife to mother to cook to first date seamlessly. She continues to excel into her 60s, after an amazing turn in Julie & Julia, and a subtle but classy role in Fantastic Mr. Fox. Alec Baldwin (30 Rock, The Cooler) is single-minded and often hilarious as Jake, whilst Steve Martin (Bowfinger, The Pink Panther) gives a restrained but likeable performance as the nerdy but nice Adam. Baldwin and Martin will be hosting this year’s Oscar ceremony, which sounds promising. The supporting cast complete the complex family trees nicely, especially John Krasinski (The Office, Away We Go) as the fiancé of Jane’s eldest daughter, who starts off awkwardly but ends up having some of the funniest moments in the film.

In the end

Nancy Myers, who previously directed Something’s Gotta Give, The Holiday and What Women Want (as well as writing the former two), continues with her winning formula – light, fun, romantic comedies featuring top-class actors and tackling various relationship issues at different stages of life. Her script is as pleasant as usual this time around, and the cast, especially Streep, deliver. Romance and comedy, with some extra class.

Trailer:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/itscomplicated/ (High-res QuickTime)

Traitor

• Released Internationally on 27/08/08
• Released in Malta by KRS on 27/05/09

In a nutshell

In the same vein as the recent Body of Lies, The Kingdom and Syriana, this film offers yet another view into the war on terrorism, by focusing on a handful of individuals and incidents which are clearly an important part of the global picture. The difference here is the positive light shed upon Islam, and the clear message that it is individuals who are the enemies and heroes in this war, not entire religions or nations.

What lies beneath

Samir Horn is a complex character. A devout Muslim, half Sudanese and half-American, he was educated and trained in the USA, and seems to be motivated by the memory of looking on helplessly as his father was killed in a car bomb. After the explosive prologue we first meet the adult Samir as he trades weapons in Yemen, and ends up in a local jail with poor prospects of getting out. Given a lifeline by the FBI, he calmly refuses to cooperate, but eventually manages to get out anyway. Never falling off their suspect list, his involvement in the ensuing terror attacks is often uncertain, and both the FBI and the audience are left guessing what sort of rage lies beneath his cool exterior.

Who’s in it?

The story was originally conceived by Steve Martin, who besides his prolific acting career has also contributed his writing skills to many of his projects including Roxanne, Bowfinger and the recent Pink Panther sequels. He also adapted his own novel, Shopgirl for the screen, and this time around the film owes much to him due to the clever concept of a main character that could easily fit in on either side. His co-writer, Jeffrey Nachmanoff (who also wrote The Day After Tomorrow) got promoted to director during the course of the film’s production, and he delivers the goods with a snappy, engaging and character-driven film. Don Cheadle (Crash, Hotel Rwanda) stars as Samir Horn, and proves to be a handful for the pair of FBI agents portrayed by Guy Pearce (Memento, L.A. Confidential) and Neal McDonough (Desperate Housewives, Flags of our Fathers). His friend and ally in the terrorism underground is Omar (Said Taghmaoui - The Kite Runner, Three Kings) whilst his contact on the other side seems to be Jeff Daniels (The Hours, Good Night and Good Luck).

“The Truth is complicated”

Much like the above-mentioned Body of Lies, a convincing element of the plot is the mixing of scenes from the streets of the Middle East and from the offices of the US with scenes which we outsiders can recognise from the news, thus suggesting a possible back-story for certain events of this decade. And although this particular angle of the story might be a flight of fancy, it tries and often succeeds to skirt around the usual negative image of Islam related to these incidents. Samir’s religious convictions seem to be at odds with his actions, but as events unfold we start to understand whether he is indeed a holy man, or an extremist. But even when his role becomes clearer, the film reserves a few twists for the end and manages to remain entertaining until the credits roll.

Trailer:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/traitor/ (High-res QuickTime)

The Pink Panther 2

• Released Internationally on 06/02/09
• Released in Malta by KRS on 11/02/09

The sequel to the reboot

Inspector Jacques Clouseau is back, whether the world likes it or not. The bumbling French detective, made famous by Peter Sellers in the 60s and 70s, is once again out to reclaim France’s national treasure, the priceless pink diamond dubbed ‘The Pink Panther’. With a chequered history, and featuring numerous actors throughout the years, the franchise now contains eleven films, spanning over forty-five years, and of greatly varying quality. Steve Martin enjoyed moderate success when he revived the role in 2006, and most of the cast of that film are back for this sequel, as is the titular diamond with a habit of getting stolen.

The dream team

The world is in a state of panic as a mysterious criminal who goes by the name of ‘The Tornado’ swiftly makes off with priceless artefacts from England, Japan and Italy. An international team of the greatest detective minds is assembled, and based on previous achievements Clouseau is asked to lead the team. This doesn’t go down too well with his boss, Chief Inspector Dreyfuss (John Cleese, replacing Kevin Kline from the 2006 film), who firmly believes Clouseau is a nitwit. This impression is soon shared by the rest of the dream team, and after numerous public embarrassments he is thrown off the team, and the mystery solved without him. Or so they think.

All-star cast, in all-star locations

The main box-office draw is presumably the cast, which include Jean Reno (Léon, The Da Vinci Code) and Emily Mortimer (Young Adam, Match Point) reprising their roles from the 2006 outing as members of the French police staff. The dream team includes Andy Garcia (The Godfather Part III, Ocean’s Eleven) representing Italy, Alfred Molina (Frida, Spider-man 2) representing the Brits, and the stunning Aishwarya Rai as a crime expert from India. Jeremy Irons makes a brief and laconic appearance as a rich art expert thought at one point to be the ‘tornado’ in question. Very nearly upstaging all these big names are the wonderful European locations used extensively throughout the film. Set primarily in Paris, the film is a virtual tour of the city, both indoor and outdoor, and the French action is interspersed with scenes in The Vatican and other historic locales, adding some much needed class to an otherwise sometimes ridiculous film.

Silly isn’t always funny

This is the most jarring flaw of a generally fun film. A number of sequences deteriorate into poorly-executed slapstick, and despite his many talents Martin doesn’t always have the panache to pull them off. Some scenes are painful to watch, especially with stars like Garcia and Molina having to spout cringe-inducing dialogue. Thankfully, the film is peppered with a few sequences that do in fact work, and occasionally work wonderfully, but overall the film is evidently trying too hard to be funny.

In the end

Steve Martin has showed us he can be one of the funniest actors around, but despite successfully managing to revive the Clouseau character, it’s far from his best work, and the surrounding film is often flat and simple. Still fun at times, with a few genuine laugh-out-loud moments, but it works best simply as a tourist guide to Paris.

 

 

 

Trailer: