The Keeper, The Current War and Animals

I had never heard about this film until it was advertised as a one off Senior Screen showing. Although clunky in parts, The Keeper was generally a fine interpretation of how it was in the late forties for an ex German Prisoner of War in North West England. As you might guess, he was not always popular. But it said a lot for the character of Bert Trautmann that he persevered in his love of goalkeeping.

The football part of the story was very familiar to me, the background was entirely new. The human and romantic drama is interwoven well, however the screenplay was not the best and the acting suffered as a result. The German/British joint production was headed by director,writer Marcus H. Rosenmuller. In the hands of another director, this could have been so much better.

Somewhere inside The Current War is a great movie struggling to get out. Maybe they should have changed the title to "Edison" and concentrated on the exploits of this genius instead. But no. Here we are treated to a mind numbing battle between the great inventor and George Westinghouse about the adoption of either alternating current or direct current  complete with small scenes of their respective domestic lives.

The idea of trying to portray the different characteristics of the two men left me quite bored, as it did most of the critics. Coupled with the fact that they never meet until the very end. A story about Thomas Edison might have explained the wonder of the first light bulb and electric power generation as well as sound recording and early moving pictures that are only touched on.

On the subject of power generation, I think it is assumed we already knew where that came from? But going back with Edison to his creation of the Pearl Street Power Station would have made a lot more sense. A huge missed opportunity.

Having read the reviews of the book by Emma Jane Unsworth, Animals did not seem the most likely story to make into a movie. A play maybe? My lasting impression was did the two flat mates ever go to work? And how did they cope with all the hard partying that filled their lives on screen.

The film suffers that predictable flaw when the author of the book adapts it for the screen herself. That is not to say that the script is poor, just at times the bickering is more embarrassing than smart. Holliday Grainger and Alia Shawcat as Laura and Tyler are well cast, the former particularly excellent as the aspiring novelist. Who knew that Jackson Brodie's assistant could act this well. Any movie where the lead struggles with her first novel has my vote. One scene in a cafe full of budding authors making notes was fine, it just did not need repeating.

Yes, that was the problem with the movie, too much repetition. Director Sophie Hyde might have done better alongside a fresh writer for the screenplay, but she does a pretty good job in the circumstances. If someone decided to rewrite as a play, I would definitely want to see it.