An uneven movie in my opinion, Battle of the Sexes is entertaining enough but I found the central character, Bobby Riggs, to be pathetic rather than funny. Steve Carell does a decent enough job, probably too decent that we resent Bobby so much. Emma Stone is again OK as a boring Billie Jean King, but for me, the star was Andrea Riseborough's manipulative Marilyn Barnett. She just gets better and better. There was a splendid cameo from Alan Cumming as the designer Teddy Tinling ( I cannot remember anything he has done since Goldeneye). And Sarah Silverman was aslo very good as Gladys Heldman. A good screenplay (as always) from Simon Beaufoy let down by some dull directing by Jonathon Dayton and Valerie Faris.
Wonder is a sensitively made movie that is both interesting and, in it's own way, quite powerful. The cast are all very good. The critics are almost unanimous in calling the story of a boy with facial disfigurement inspiring and heartwarming. And it is. Just a little bit too predictable.
This was the seventh British move in a row that I thought was outstanding. The Man Who Invented Christmas is part drama and part fantasy as Charles Dickens struggles with writer's block. The way the two are superbly merged is all down to the director Bharat Nalluri (I thought his Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day to be equally good) and writers Susan Coyne and Les Standiford who wrote the book. The British cast again rise to the occasion. Dan Stevens and Christopher Plummer revel in their leading roles but some of the minor characters are superb. Morfydd Clark as Mrs Dickens, Donald Sumpter as Jacob Marley and newcomer Anna Murphy are all excellent. A Christmas treat shown early on Silver Screen at £3.45 was a gift.
P.S. On another level, this could be considered as a course in creative writing, as Dickens gains inspiration from events happening around him. Stumbling on a graveyard at night, he meets a grumpy old man burying his business partner.
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