The Riot Club, A Walk Among The Tombstones and Maps To The Stars

After a good opening, The Riot Club descended into something that would have been far better in the theatre. The play on which the movie is based (Posh) is entirely set in a pub's dining room, and when the film's action moves here, it seems far too claustrophobic for the big screen. Laura Wade has adapted her play for the movie and it seems a little too amateurish for my taste. Again, director Lone Scherfig is limited by the location. After her terrific work in An Education  and One Day, I'm not sure what she could have done better given the script and setting. The same can be said for the acting. However, the film does stir the emotions, if only to hate the nastiness of the story.

I was far more at ease with A Walk Among The Tombstones. A vehicle for Liam Neeson's new persona as an action hero, this time as unlicensed private detective, Screenwriter Scott Frank (a long list of creditable movies to his name) has adapted a Lawrence Block novel and also taken on the directing role. Shot wholly on location in late 1990's Brooklyn, the plot involves murder and kidnap. The violence is used sparingly although the plot is a little predictable. But the location direction and Neeson's presence made this a worthwhile outing.

I hadn't seen a David Cronenberg movie since 2007's Eastern Promises. Maps To The Stars is a very different movie. Apparently, he and screenwriter Bruce Wagner had been developing this original satirical story of Hollywood celebrities for many years. At first this seems to be a very wordy and brutal exploration of LA stardom. It took some getting into. But gradually the Cronenberg we know and love takes over. He ramps up the hallucinatory sideshow and lets it do it's worst. The cast is just fantastic, headed by an Oscar worthy performance from Julianne Moore. But almost as good are the Weiss family. John Cusack in his best performance for years, wife Olivia Williams on the edge and son Evan Bird as the awful child star Benje. And to cap things off, Mia Wasikowska is brilliant as the damaged Agatha.