A partly true story about Gary Johnson who, although not a detective, worked undercover in Texas posing as a hitman. Glen Powell is excellent in this role, although I thought he was a little wooden in Anyone But You. However, all the cast are great under the superb direction of Richard Linklater. so a highly entertaining movie. I wasn't sure where it was going in the first hour, but the twists and turns in the final third are terrific. A film with nearly all dialogue for an hour and three quarters. That's just up my street.
Having seen the previous two films, I had no intention of seeing another in this franchise. But Wendy Ide in The Guardian gave it four stars, and it did seem different. This was my first time back to the Odeon in Aylesbury, having given up my Cineworld season ticket at Hemel Hempsted, and invested in a new monthly pass. The screens are smaller than I was used to, so will just have to go nearer the front. But the seats in this "Luxe" conversion are deep, wide and spacy.
As for the film, I enjoyed the locations in New York, especially inside an office block and a church as our intrepid duo seek shelter from the alien invasion. The plot of this prequel, such as it is, is well constructed and at least lets us know how we got to those later stories. Lupita Nyong'o is very good in the lead and has good support. The director has, thank goodness, spared us from too many scenes that involve the aliens. The story is all about survival and that is fine. All the better for being a ninety minute movie. And that Frodo, the black and white cat steals the show.
There is so much that is wrong with this film, I wonder why I enjoyed it so much. I'm just glad I didn't read any of the, mostly, awful reviews before I went. It is too long (well over two hours) especially for a light relationship film. There is zero chemistry between the two stars despite Scarlett Johansson's best efforts. She is by far the very best thing about this movie, Channing Tatum is the worst. Almost an embarrassment, he should stick to action films, here he is completely wooden and out of his depth. Johansson is constantly appealing, charismatic and totally carries the film. It is actually quite weak when she is not on screen.
So this is partly a rom com (no. not really), docu drama, light comedy and history lesson. It has high production values, a huge cast and it looked really good. Costume designer Mary Zophres has made the ladies look fashionable for the time. Except that the mainly male cast all look the same. Assistant Anna Garcia (a rising star) started with an orange and black striped dress that looked like our very first sofa from 1968). Woody Harrelson is a cut above in acting terms as the nasty government fixer. Writer Rose Gilroy has made a very decent script. The film was light and enjoyable and despite it's failings, I loved it.
The soundtrack was OK. Sweet Soul Music, These Foolish Things, Moon River, To Love Somebody and Fly Me to the Moon among others. But I wanted a much better choice.
In July 1969 I was twenty four and I set my alarm for the moon landing of Apollo 11. Half asleep, I watched in awe along with countless millions of others. History in the making.
No comments:
Post a Comment