Paul, The Fighter and Unknown

"Tired, lazy and trite", "dull, formulaic,disappointing" - just a few of the criticisms, not on Rotten Tomatoes, but taken from Neil Fox's review in the local paper. I guess when you are starting out as a critic, it seems cool to bash something as mainstream as the new movie from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. But "Paul" is an enjoyable and funny piece. Although, as Danny Lee (from Film 2011) suggested, there was something a little strange about our two heros combining their talents with director Greg Mottola and Seth Rogan, the voice of Paul. You just wonder how much imput these two had. It was like "Hot Fuzz" meets "Superbad", as Simon and Nick may have pandered to the American audience. But no real harm done. It was a clever device to have the alien arriving on earth many years ago and this explained how he looked, after I had originally groaned at his unoriginal appearance. There were lots of references to other sci fi movies for us followers to enjoy, some more obvious than others, particularly the ending. But why does it need the 157 visual effects artists listed on the credits? Tell me, please.

David O.Russell has done a great job directing a boxing story that could have been so mediocre. Instead, he has given his excellent cast on "The Fighter" free reign to conjure up some wonderful characters, particularly Oscar winning Christian Bale and Melissa Leo. Although their performances are occasionally a little over the top, the film would otherwise have been somewhat boring. They contrast well with dour lead Mark Whalberg and the excellent Amy Adams in her best performance to date. The writing is strong and apparently reflects the true story of boxer Micky Ward, although his Irish background is never mentioned. The ending seemed far too upbeat for such a gritty drama, and I had to remind myself that this was a true story. Otherwise it did seem far too good to be true.

"Unknown" is a vehicle for new action man Liam Neeson. After his hard man role in the violent thriller "Taken", he now takes on a seemingly more upright persona as American biochemist Dr Martin Harris. And we swop Paris for Berlin, although it has not enhanced it's reputation in my eyes as one of the cities I would like to visit. "Unknown" is a standard thriller as Neeson tries to piece together why someone has taken his identity and others are out to kill him. Obviously all becomes apparent, with a huge twist, towards the end. There are some reasonable set pieces where the tension builds, but the fights and car chases are nothing new. It was good to see January Jones at last (as Neeson's wife) after hearing about her in "Mad Men" and Diane Kruger fits the bill perfectly as his saviour. Frank Langella also adds his weight in a neat cameo performance. Direction, sound and cinematography all go to make a decent movie. It was nice to see something made on real film, the previous two having been made on digital. And it showed.