Knight And Day

 

Knight And Day

Dir: James Mangold

Starring: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard

Tom Cruise, trademark grin ever at the ready and a quip never far from his lips, romancing the girl, beating up the bad guys, performing impossible stunts and taking part in outrageous car chase sequences. That’s exactly the movie audiences would have flocked to the cinemas to see him in ten years ago even if the movie boasted an absolutely brainless plot and even more brainless moments (how come the hero can take out dozens of bad guys from a hundred yards with a single shot but they miss at him point blank range even when they are supposed to be equally skilled and how come they are aiming to shoot him dead from hundreds of yards but when they have him dead to rights at point blank range they suddenly decide to engage him in a conversation) within the plot – remember the first Mission: Impossible?

But the audiences have stayed away from Cruise’s latest even though director James Mangold (3:10 To Yuma, Walk The Line) does a decent job of keeping things humming, even if this is his first summer action flick. And the audiences weren’t even tempted by the fact that Cruise has been paired here with Cameron Diaz who looks lovelier and is more charming than in many of her more recent films and who, as everyday gal June Haven, makes a nice foil for Cruise’s super spy Roy Miller as Roy involves her in a MacGuffin of a plot to keep a perpetual energy device from falling into the wrong hands. But the plot is hardly the point in movies of this sort.

Perhaps audiences have become more discerning but the same audiences turned Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen into a global box-office smash. So perhaps it’s true that no star can guarantee a hit anymore or perhaps it’s truer that Cruise and Diaz’s days of superstardom are numbered – if they aren’t already over.

Cut to chase: For a summer action rom-com, I’ve seen better but I’ve also seen a lot worse.

Despicable Me

Despicable Me

Dir: Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud

Starring: (voices of) Steve Carell, Russell Brand, Jason Segel, Julie Andrews

Produced by Illumination Entertainment, a new company headed by Chris Meledandri, the guy behind the Ice Age movies from Fox Studios, Despicable Me is a fun romp which combines elements of Mad Magazine’s Spy v. Spy and Pixar’s The Incredibles with the mock-ghoulish zaniness of The Addams Family, as two fiendish (fiendish, I tell you) super-villains try and outdo each other in terms of villainy (who can steal the Great Pyramid at Giza or who – gasp! – can steal the moon first?) and world domination.Gru (Steve Carell) is the Despicable Me of the movie’s title and with the help of his British evil scientist accomplice Dr. Nefarious (an unrecognisable Russell Brand) and his army of little yellow creatures called (what else) minions plans to wrest the title of the world’s greatest super-villain back from nastily nerdish Vector (Jason Segel). But to succeed in his plans he needs the help of three little orphaned girls.

Will the little girls be able to turn Gru away from the path of villainy? No prizes for guessing – especially as it turns out that Gru has always had mommy (Julie Andrews) issues. Despicable Me isn’t quite at the level of Pixar productions in their ability to engage the adults as well delight the kiddies but it is fun nevertheless, the animation has zip and inventiveness and there are even a few heart-warming moments.

Cut to chase: Zippy and zany. Worth a look.

 

Toy Story 3

Dir: Lee Unkrich

Starring: (voices of) Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty, Michael Keaton, Jodi Benson

If you go by such animated franchises as Ice Age or Shrek then to hope to get a decent third entry in a series is to expect a minor miracle. In fact, the law of diminishing returns usually sets in with the second movie (Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a particularly good example of a truly terrible sequel). So in a way the geniuses at Pixar Studios, the people behind such animated classics as Wall-E and Up, had already beaten the odds with Toy Story 2 which was in every way as good as the first movie. Could they recreate the magic with a third film? It looked difficult, especially considering that the last one appeared more than a decade ago.

All the old favourites toys – including the cowboy Woody (Tom Hanks) and the astronaut Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) – are back and there are some new additions but for a while as the latest Toy Story unfolds one thinks the dreaded disease sequel-itis has struck again. It’s not as if the movie isn’t good in its first half – it is and the laughs, especially the ones surrounding Barbie (Jodi Benson) and a metro-sexual Ken (Michael Keaton) and a Buzz switched into Spanish-language, Latin lover mode, are expertly induced – but there’s nothing in it which would suggest that a third film really needed to be made. But in its second half not only does the movie take off it soars as Woody, Buzz and co. try to break out of a children’s day care centre to which they have been consigned through a convoluted set of events. As Toy Story 3 becomes a prison break movie the animation also kicks into high gear with some inventive visual compositions and play with light and textures and some very exciting action sequences (which could actually be a little scary for the very little ones). And by the time the movie nears its climax it also becomes a quiet meditation on the passage of time, nostalgia, the impermanence of our existences (pretty heavy stuff for a children’s film) and the power of love.

The quite moving finale is in fact the most fitting of send-offs for these beloved characters and, as such, I really hope that the rumours of a 4^th instalment in the series turn out to be completely unfounded.

Cut to chase: Takes a while to take off but then it soars

The Switch

The Switch

Dir: Josh Gordon and Will Speck

Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Thomas Robinson, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum, Juliette Lewis

Most rom-coms are predictable affairs and so it is with The Switch, based on a much darker short story by Jeffrey Euginides, “The Baster”.  Equities analyst Wally (Jason Bateman) may have missed his chance at love when he let his relationship with television producer Kassie (Jennifer Aniston) drift into the “friends” zone. So when it comes time for Kassie – whose biological clock is ticking – to find a sperm donor she opts not for Wally but for a more conventionally handsome, college professor Roland (Patrick Wilson).  But, in a bout of drunken forlornness which he later doesn’t remember, Wally switches Roland’s “donation” for his own. Cut to seven years later and Kassie returns to New York, 6-year old Sebastian (Thomas Robinson) in tow. As far as all are concerned Sebastian is Roland’s son so it only makes sense for her to hook up with the father of her child but Wally still carries a torch for her. And why is Sebastian so much like him in so many ways? Do we really need to guess where the movie goes from here?

This predictable journey to the eventual destination is made somewhat palatable by Jason Bateman’s Wally, a misanthropic, cynical, ill-dressed hypochondriac who is an unlikely lead for a romantic comedy. Also helping is the real love story of the movie: the growing bond beyond Wally and Sebastian (who is precocious in typical Hollywood fashion but, thankfully, not too precocious) which makes Kassie kind of redundant to the proceedings. The movie also benefits from the laughs provided by Jeff Goldblum and Juliette Lewis as Wally and Kassie’s respective BFFs (some viewers may also be tickled to be reminded of the fact that before a certain Mr. Pitt moved on from Ms. Aniston’s arms to the charms of Ms. Jolie he used to be in a serious relationship with Ms. Lewis). All in all, I wouldn’t run to watch this but I’ve seen worse.

Cut to chase: Predictable but done decently enough.

Tere Bin Laden

Tere Bin Laden

Dir: Abhishek Sharma

 Starring : Ali Zafar, Pradhuman Singh, Rahul Singh, Piyush Mishra, Nikhil Ratnaparkhi, Sugandha Garg

 Debutant writer/director Abhishek Sharma’s Tere Bin Laden is a low-budget but smart, funny farce (and thankfully far removed from the inane slapstick comedies which are all the rage in India these days). It follows intrepid Pakistani television reporter Ali (our own Ali Zafar) who, after being denied a visa many times, comes up with an audacious fake Osama Bin Laden tape to make enough cash to buy his way to the land of his desires, America.

 Passport/immigration agency Lashkar-e-Amreeka (“proudly invading U.S. since 2002”) is the organisation which will arrange passage for him (some of their plans to get Ali to the U.S. are outrageously funny) if he can cough up enough cash for a fake passport. But Ali is perpetually a pauper and his dreams appear destined to fail until he happens upon an Osama look-alike in chicken-farmer Noora (Pradhuman Singh).

 The movie zings along as Ali and his cohorts (the funniest of which is radio talk show host and budding communist Qureshi, played by Rahul Singh) put together the fake video with an unsuspecting Noora as their accomplice. Proceedings sag a bit once the video is released to unintended consequences and an alarmed America retaliates (typically overreacting) but luckily the movie is short enough for the laxness to not prove fatal. Overall, this is very much worth a look and funny to boot. The entire cast comes through with flying colours and Piyush Mishra as the miserly owner of Danka, a low-rent television channel, is excellent and shouldn’t be overlooked.

 It’s a pity that local censors and politicos (who really need to get themselves a sense of humour) have seen fit to ban this movie in Pakistan. TBL may ruffle a few feathers but then satire is meant to do that and there is nothing particularly offensive here – not even for the USA which, after all, remains the ultimate goal for Ali.

 Cut to chase: A short, smart sassy satirical farce. Check it out.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Dir: David Slade

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Bryce Dallas Howard, Dakota Fanning

The Twilight movies have become immune to criticism. It doesn’t matter what movie reviewers may have to say about the films they will still rake in billions at the box-office as long as there are 14-year old girls screaming at the screen rooting either for Edward, the sullen vampire (Rob Pattinson) or for Jacob, the hot-blooded werewolf (Taylor Lautner) as the two vie for the affections for our still human (and still virginal) heroine, Bella (Kristen Stewart). And since there is an endless supply of 14-year old girls (not including the 14-year olds trapped in the bodies of the 41-year olds) the success of the movies is assured.

Be that as it may, while the third instalment is an improvement on the mope-fest that was the second movie as it has a bit more going on in the action department as well as some nice interplay between the three leads, it is still mostly more of the same. The first movie took the “becoming a vampire = losing one’s virginity” metaphor as far as it could go. Three movies about sexual awakenings, sexual yearnings and abstinence with the same characters have stretched the subject just about as far as it can go. It doesn’t help that the three young leads (physically appealing as they may be) don’t provide much depth to their roles and mainly act with a scowl (Pattinson), a pout (Stewart) and a washboard stomach (Lautner).

If you haven’t been watching the earlier movies and reading the Stephanie Meyers books on which the series is based the plot can be a bit hard to follow as well (I’ve seen the earlier movies and I still got a bit confused). It appears that Bella needs protecting (I’m not sure how Edward and co. figure that out) from a bunch of rampaging, newbie vampires led by a mysterious flame-haired woman (Bryce Dallas Howard) which ultimately leads to nice battle sequence between the good and evil blood-suckers with a bunch of werewolves thrown in for good measure. But, I suppose, the plot is hardly the point for movies such as these – if you are a Twilight fan you’ll love this film. As for me, if I need a tale about vampires which is a metaphor for love, sex, death and the various passions which rule us, I’ll take True Blood over Twilight any day.

Cut to chase: Better than the 2^nd instalment but still spinning its wheels.

Well Done, Abba

Well Done, Abba

 Dir: Shyam Benegal

 Starring : Boman Irani, Minissha Lamba, Samir Dattani, Yashpal Sharma, Ila Arun, Sonali Kulakarni

 Shyam Benegal aims to catch lightning twice and garner the same kind of commercial and critical success that he did with his last outing, Welcome To Sajjanpur with another gentle comedy with a social message based in not-so-shining (i.e. rural) India. But while Abba has its moments (especially in its first half) and it’s always a relief to not be watching yet another NRI-pandering effort revolving around rich, beautiful people working themselves into a romantic tizzy in rich, beautiful settings the trouble is that the movie casts its net a bit too wide.

 The screenplay is cobbled together from three different short stories by three different writers with the result that the seams show as the movie tries to tackle a few too many issues in just one movie: bureaucratic corruption; illiteracy; the scarcity of water in rural areas; the selling of women to older Middle Eastern buyers; women’s rights; party politics; and that old favourite, communal harmony. So Abba ends up being at least half an hour too long with a long drawn out denouement that runs well past its climax.

That being said the movie still has a few things going for it. The gentle rhythm of Benegal’s storytelling, some genuinely funny moments and the fine acting by the ensemble cast. The ever-reliable and terrific Boman Irani as Armaan Ali (as well as his twin Rehman Ali) takes the lead, of course, but he is given fine support by Minissha Lamba (whose face seems to settled down after her unnecessary nose-jobs) as Arman’s feisty daughter Muskan as well as by Benegal’s various regulars such as Ila Arun and Rajit Kapoor. However, I do wish that Benegal had given more to do to two of my favourite supporting actors in Mollywood, namely Yashpal Sharma and Sonali Kulkarni. Still, the movie would have been a lot better with a tighter script and fewer targets in its sight.

 Cut to chase: Done well enough but could have been a lot better.

Once Upon A Time In Mumbai

Dir: Milan Luthria

Starring: Ajay Devgan, Emraan Hashmi, Kangana Ranaut, Prachi Desai, Randeep Hooda

“Once upon a time” – so begins many a familiar tale. And so it is with Once Upon A Time In Mumbai, a story which in its skeletal bones (chronicling the rise of a Mumbai underworld gangster and his feud with a former protégé) has been told often and over a period of a number of years by Mollywood. Included in these tellings and re-tellings are Deewar, a movie which went a long way towards establishing the legend of Amitabh Bachchan and a bunch of movies from the stable of Ram Gopal Varma, like Company and D.

Loosely based on the lives of and the relationship between Haji Mastan and Dawood Ibrahim, Journeyman director Luthria does a good job of recreating the Mumbai of the 70s (including a nice little nod towards the impact Dimple Kapadia’s Bobby played on the Indian consciousness of the time) including a certain amount of purple prose (thanks to writer Rajat Arora) which was de rigueur for the films of the day. However, the screenplay isn’t as taut as it should have been and there are certain events which are built up to be of great import but then end up going nowhere and certain plot points kind of escape logic. However, the film’s greatest drawback is its familiarity. The same problem plagues the lead performances. Once has Ajay Devgan in the Haji Mastan inspired role of Sultan Mirza and Emraan Hashmi as Shoaib Khan in the Dawood Ibrahim part and both are quite good – except that both of them have played similar roles in many a movie. Kangana Ranaut (who seems to have fallen prey to the Mollywood/Hollywood disease of having her lips plumped) and Prachi Desai are their respective molls and they do their job creditably enough as well.

Note to historians: familiar tales tend to be repeated with minor/major differences. The Haji Mastan/Dawood Ibrahim feud was replicated in the battle for control of the Mumbai underworld between Ibrahim and his own protégé Chota Rajan, earlier chronicled in Ram Gopal Varma’s Company.

Cut to chase: Done reasonably well but the tale is too familiar.

The Ghost Writer

The Ghost Writer

Dir: Roman Polanski

Starring : Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams, Kim Cattrall, Tom Wilkinson

Intelligent thriller – when was the last time you were able to say that? But The Ghost Writer, directed by Roman Polanski and co-written by Polanski and Robert Harris (adapting Harris’ novel The Ghost), gives us just that – a movie with Hitchcockian levels of suspense and pointed, thought-provoking barbs at the present state of geo-politics (one of the villains of the piece is a corporation which is supposed to evoke Halliburton).

Ewan McGregor is the titular character (never named in the movie) hired to ghost-write the memoirs of a recent ex-British Prime Minister Adam Lang (a very good Pierce Brosnan). Lang is clearly modelled on Tony Blair and as the ghost mines the mountain of material which he is supposed to pare, refine and turn into gold in 30 days (he’s working on a short deadline because his predecessor passed away suddenly in mysterious circumstances) he starts uncovering some incongruous facts. There is something mysterious going on here and there’s something dark about the otherwise charming and handsome Lang – an it’s not just the fact that he’s being hauled up in front of the International Court of Justice for cases pertaining to renditions connected to “the war on terror”. And as the ghost starts whittling away at the mystery the layers start peeling away not only from Lang but also the other people that surround him such as his wife Ruth (Olivia Williams) and his secretary (and possible lover?) Amelia (Kim Cattrall).

Polanski is clearly drawn to this material of a public personality in exile and being tried in the court of public opinion through the media. The omnipresent cynicism is of a piece with the majority of his work. But other than his obvious affinity for the material we get to see a master at work here – the atmosphere is moody and grey, the suspense grows organically (and Polanski doesn’t have to rely on frantic jump cuts to maintain interest) , and the actors give subtle, nuanced performances under his direction.

The movie isn’t perfect – the ending is bit too pat for my taste- but there also haven’t been too many other film which I’ve enjoyed as much recently.

Cut to chase: Moody, brooding, clever and intelligent.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Dir: Jon Turteltaub

Starring: Nicholas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Monica Bellucci, Teresa Palmer

A young boy is destined to be the greatest magician of all and to take on an evil wielder of sorcery in a climactic battle for power and control of the planet. Sound familiar? It should be because now it’s Disney’s turn to try and come up with its own Harry Potter-like franchise while also taking some inspiration (at least for one scene – and one of the better ones – in the movie) from the Mickey Mouse sequence of the same name in Fantasia.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice isn’t as intricate in its plotting nor is its world as minutely detailed as J.K. Rowlling’s books and the movies adapted from them but it does have the necessary light, breezy touch for escapist, special effects driven summer fare. It also has the ever watchable Nicholas Cage (in one of the better hairpieces I’ve seen him sport recently) in the role of Balthazar Blake, the sorcerer who must help the young Dave (Baruchel) claim his destiny and Cage does much to carry the movie. Baruchel is also likeable as is Teresa Palmer (a Kristen Stewart look-alike – Disney is really trying to cover all the demographic bases, aren’t they?) as Dave’s object of amorous pursuit. The reliable Alfred Molina clearly seems to be enjoying his evil turn as Horvath, Morgan Le Fay’s chief  minion and, of course, for us gentlemen the sight of the beauteous Monica Bellucci (as Balthazar’s flame and a sorceress in her own right) carries a small little spell of its own. The special effects are also pretty good.

However, by the time the movie winds down to its expected denouement, a tired sense of déjà vu seems to take over and its as if we’ve all of this many times before. For a Harry Potter-wannabe this is much better than Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief but that’s not necessarily saying much.

Cut to chase: Predictable and not exactly magical but not too bad either.