Operation Mincemeat, Everything Everywhere All At Once and Benediction

 

An all star British cast in Operation Mincemeat made the best of a less than great script, all except Colin Firth who seemed to melt under the main role. Or was that director John Madden trying for pathos and failing. It seemed more like a TV movie with a very limited budget. The story was just not gripping and the sentimental ending was out of place. The story was bolstered by a poor romance between the sixty something Firth and Kelly McDonald doing her best. I wasn't sure about having a narrator in the shape of Ian Fleming. 

But for the remaining cast, it was spot the star. Penelope Wilton was terrific as ever, as were Alex Jennings, Mathew Macfadyen, James Fleet, Paul Ritter, Jason Issacs,  Simon Russell Beal, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Bonner, Mark Gattis and Hattie Morahan. And Johnny Flynn in a strange supercilious performance as Ian Fleming. So whether it was Michelle Ashford's adaptation of the book or John Madden's ponderous direction, they did not make the best of the amazing talent at their disposal. Which was a shame.

There was great family story in Everything Everywhere All at Once struggling to surface in an ocean of multiverse type fights. Which I try to avoid. The flashing editing was OK once or twice, but the repetition made my brain hurt. Michelle Yeo was great in the lead, and Jamie Lee Curtis at her surly best. Otherwise I should have ignored the positive reviews.

Benediction (a strange title) was a high class piece of filmmaking, almost theatrical in it's presentation. Terence Davies has written and directed a bleak, sombre yet gripping biopic of Siegfried Sassoon, the World War 1 poet. The scenes are mainly made up of two characters talking, and it could have been equally good on the stage. However, that would never have attracted the acting talent in this movie. And you may miss the close ups of the characters expressions that are never less than outstanding. 

Jack Lowden is fine in the lead role of the younger Sassoon, but for me, the supporting cast have given the performance of their lives. Ben Daniels is quite brilliant in the small role of Dr Rivers. Peter Capaldi, Anton Lesser, Simon Russell Beal, Kate Phillips, Jeremy Irvine (highly obnoxious as Ivor Novello), Geraldine James and Kate Phillips are equally great. The screenplay is full of the gay characters' sharp and clever wit. For the ending, I preferred the one cinematic ploy as characters faces morph from one to another. But we have to endure the heart rending face of Sassoon instead.