Movie reviews

Movie Reviews this week looks at the Oscar winning biographical drama The Blind Side.
It is an absolutely charming story, of Leigh Anne Tuohy played by the lovely Sandra Bullock (Speed), and the story of her adopted son, and you can see immediately why she won the best actress Oscar.

She plays a conservative mother in a very nice and well-off neighbourhood, who sees Michael Oher played very convincingly by Quinton Aaron, one rainy night walking aimlessly, she asks her husband Sean played by Tim McGraw (Four Christmases), to stop the car, she asks him where he is heading seeing he is just in a t-shirt in the pouring rain, he says he is going to the gym, she asks him again why he is going to the gym, and tells him the gym closed a while back, and for him not to lie to her, he says he is simply going there because it is warm.

Prior to this, we are told the story of how Mike got into the school in the first place. The coach at this Christian school, Burt Cotton played charmingly as always by Ray McKinnon (Randy and the Mob) had been approached by a fellow to allow his son into the school, as well as Mike, the coach sees Mike and the man's son playing basketball and sees the potential of Mike making them famous on a sporting arena, so convinces the board that it is their Christian duty to let him in. However in class Mike seems distant minded, and all the teachers are worried as he seems the slowest in the class, except for one particular teacher Mrs. Bower played the lovely Kim Dickens (Hollow Man) who notices Mike remembers the majority of what the teachers are saying, as he is able to describe in his own words the grasp of what it is they are saying, but may not necessarily write it down as eloquently as they wanted. As all the teachers are discussing Mike's ability one day, wondering if he can write, Mrs. Bower shows them a note that Mike had written that had been thrown in the trash, speaking of his sadness and what the teachers expect of him, to do all the work alone.

Leigh asks where he lives, his parents, or grandparents, Mike shakes his head nonchalantly, and Leigh amazingly takes him to her home, with a mild confrontation with her husband as to how long Mike is going to stay, he asks "This is just for the one night"? Where Leigh nods absentmindedly, but the expression on her face is already thinking of much longer term.

Mike gets along with Leigh's two children, her son S.J. played very impressively by Jae Head, and her daughter Collins played by the adorable Lily Collins, Leigh asks her how she would feel if Mike moved in with them permanently, she nonchalantly agrees, and when Mike is asked how he would feel moving having Leigh and Sean as his legal guardians, he smiles and thought he was already part of the family.

The Blind Side turns out is a very beautiful movie, of acceptance and love that a young man needs, and the struggle one woman faces with social services, her social circles, and the community in trying to make one boy's life better, and what makes this movie even more amazing is this is a true story.

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Labels: adoption, biographical, drama, film review, film reviews, films, football, Jae Head, Kim Dickens, Lily Collins, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Quinton Aaron, Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side, Tim McGraw

Movie Reviews this week looks at the charming biographical drama An Education.
It stars the lovely Carey Mulligan (Bleak House) as Jenny, a very bright sixth former, on her way to studying English at Oxford, currently studying her A levels during 1961.
She is pushed by her well meaning father Jack, played with a great deal of melancholy by Alfred Molina (Dr. Octavius in Spider-man 2), and her supportive mother Marjorie, played by Cara Seymour (Hotel Rwanda), you can tell immediately from his demeanor that this is a little biographical if not the entire movie, there is a scene that gives an idea of how far things have changed where Jenny's boyfriend drives up to a black family waiting on the pavement playfully picks up one of the kids and takes them into an apartment, on returning Jenny asks how he knows those "Negroes"?.

As Jenny goes home one day after a cello lesson, a mysterious stranger David played by Peter Saarsgard (Jarhead), offers her a lift, well in fact he offers her cello a lift, saying he is worried such a lovely instrument would be damaged in the rain, and he wouldn't want her to jump in the car with a complete stranger, so she can walk while he drives. As a flirtatious teenager surprised at the attention she agrees, and after a short while walking and talking she enters the car and is dropped promptly at her front door.

He is charming enough, and soon he starts to stop outside of her school, and the inevitable romance commences, at first viewers may be a little perturbed why an older man would want to date a young school girl, but after sometime you do realise David does genuinely care for her. Surprisingly seeing he so well cultured, Jenny's father agrees to the liaison, then of course it is 1961, and he sees his daughter's options are either excelling academically and going to Oxford, or meeting a very wealthy and cultured individual, and being looked after, as he puts it "He wouldn't want you if you were thick".

David somehow manages to convince Jack to allow him to take his daughter on weekend trips, along with his friend Danny played by Dominic Cooper (The History Boys), and his girlfriend Helen played the gorgeous Rosamund Pike (Surrogates, there is a sarcastic scene where all four of them are in Oxford, and Danny mentions the dread of having to suffer for three years here, where Helen agrees, when in actuality Rosamund Pike did go to Oxford), and even to Paris.

Jenny after sometime sees the rigmarole of going to school and studying hard only to find a boring job and be in it for the rest of her life, as too depressing and she confronts her headmistress played by Emma Thompson (I am Legend), after it is found that she is dating an older man; that could interfere with her education. She states during this confrontation that her stance of leading a studious and boring life to get into Oxford only to enter into a studious and boring job for the rest of her life has to be justified, for future students who may have the same questions.

An Education is a brilliant and well made movie, and you can see immediately why it has Oscar nominations protruding throughout, especially for it's main character Jenny played by Carey Mulligan.
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Labels: 60's, Alfred Molina, An Education, biographical, Cara Seymour, Carey Mulligan, Dominic Cooper, drama, film review, film reviews, films, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Peter Saarsgard, romance, Rosamund Pike

Movie Reviews this week looks at the romantic drama Veronica Decides to Die. This is a very well made movie, starring the lovely Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as a young woman Veronica Deklava, in an excellent job, with a great family behind her, who simply decides she wants to commit suicide, she is tired of the route her life is going towards, and is expecting to continue in her job until she meets a man, they get married, later on he has an affair, they have an argument, she forgives him, it happens again, but this time she is too tired to bother to confront him about it - this is how she sees how her life will pan out.

She types a suicide letter for her parents, and takes an overdose of several pills, fortunately for her she doesn't die, but as expected is taken to a psychiatric treatment centre, paid for by her parents, which is headed by Dr. Blake played by David Thewlis (The Big Lebowski, he looks surprisingly similar to David Wenham, Dillios in 300).

When she awakes, Veronika is disappointed her attempt to commit suicide did not succeed, and is dreading having to see her parents and having to explain to them the possible motives behind this suicide attempt; or indeed to deal with the world at large (she works at a bank that is well known in her local community, and an investigative journalist finds out she made a suicide attempt and tracks her down to the treatment centre in order to make a scoop), when she still has the same feelings towards her existence.

Matters are further complicated when she is told the dosage of pills she has taken has caused her to have a heart attack, that resulted in an aneurysm that is getting bigger, and even though her suicide attempt failed, she doesn't have long to live, and there is no way of treating it.

Veronika begins to contemplate on what she would like to do seeing she has a very short time left, at first she is nonchalant on the idea of doing anything while she waits to die, until she meets a fellow psychiatric patient Edward played by Jonathan Tucker (The Black Donnellys), who Blake has been trying for some time to get him to communicate with the people around him (he simply does not talk, and seems to live in a dream world existence, watching nature, insects, and just spending time alone), Blake would consider this his crowning achievement if he can break through Edward's problem.

It turns out that Blake finds out Veronica used to play the piano when she was a child, and strategically places a piano in a place where she cannot miss it. One day she walks past it, possibly feeling bored, she at first tries out the keys of the piano with some random taps, then plays a lovely classical tune, which enchants Edward (who was listening nearby), she notices him watching her playing the piano, and the attraction builds (still with Edward not speaking a word).

As Veronica begins to fall for Edward, it then begins to dawn on her the enormity of what she is going to miss.

Veronica Decides to Die is a very interesting drama, and this movie has solid acting throughout.

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Labels: David Thewlis, drama, film review, film reviews, films, Jonathan Tucker, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, relationships, romance, Sarah Michelle Gellar, suicide, Veronica Decides to Die

Movie Reviews this week looks at the dark drama As Good As Dead. This is a very surreal movie starring Cary Elwes (Liar Liar) and the much loved Andie Macdowell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) as Ethan Belfrage and Helen Kalahan respectively, it also stars the stalwart Brian Cox (X-Men 2) as Reverend Kalahan.

We join the movie as Reverend Kalahan preaches to his congregation, at first glance it seems just like a normal church service, with the preacher speaking to his congregation about becoming shepherds, but as the camera pans across the audience and the surroundings in the church, you notice Swastikas, and Nazi symbols, not to mention some of the congregation could easily be taken for Neo-Nazis. As Kalahan continues to preach, it pans to his wife, who is looking on admirably, as Kalahan speaks; a member of the congregation gets up, as if the words of Kalahan had triggered something in him, we find out later that he went off and killed several immigrants in a bus, in an unprovoked rampage before shooting himself.

We move forward several years, to Ethan who is entertaining his lovely daughter Sarah played by the adorable Emma Kantor; before being whisked away by her mother Kate, played by Nicole Ansari-Cox. Ethan is facing some problems with his landlord who is trying to evict him, so he can build a new lucrative residential property, but Ethan is determined not to move, and he is prepared for any tactic his landlord will try. Soon after the initial confrontation with his landlord he is paid a visit by two men, he assumes they are with his landlord and doesn't open the door, they come back later and trap Ethan in his flat. They proceed to torture him, while asking him to confess, he desperately tells them he doesn't know what they are talking about, all the while he assumes that his landlord had sent them to force him to relinquish his flat, but it turns out Kalahan, the preacher at the beginning had been killed, soon after the unprovoked rampage by a member of his flock, and these two men; one Jake played by Matt Dallas (The Indian) and the other Aaron (played brilliantly even down to the Southern accent) by Frank Whaley (Swimming with Sharks); are out for revenge, ordered so by Helen, who joins all of them later on.

Ethan is adamant he doesn't know what they are talking about and despite their torture he doesn't deviate from his story, the audience will no doubt feel this is a case of mistaken identity that is about to go horribly wrong, especially when Ethan's lovely next door neighbour Amy played by Jess Weixler is equally bundled in to the shenanigans, and is used as a guinea pig to get Ethan to confess to all that his torturers would like him to confess to, while frighteningly for Ethan his wife and daughter are wondering why he hasn't showed up and may just come to his flat to investigate.

As Good As Dead is a very dark movie, and many will be impressed by the acting abilities of all involved.

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Labels: Andie Macdowell, As Good As Dead, Brian Cox, Cary Elwes, crime, drama, film review, film reviews, films, Frank Whaley, Matt Dallas, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, torture, violence

Movie Reviews this week looks at the wonderful festive movie a Dog named Christmas.

It stars an endearing young man with special needs, Todd played wonderfully by Noel Fisher (Final Destination 2), he has a thing for helping injured animals, and we join the movie as Todd helps a wounded mammal, while being looked upon by a certain dog, who we shall soon get to know a little bit about later on.

Todd goes home to his farm, run by his parents George and Mary Ann McCray, played by the stalwart Bruce Greenwood (Star Trek 2009), and Linda Emond (Law and Order: Special Victims Unit) respectively. They run a farm, where George tends to the cows, and Mary tends to the horses, all their children except Todd have left home, but since Todd is special in more ways than one, the parents are extremely protective of Todd.

Todd happens to find out about a local dog shelter that is offering their dogs to a home till Christmas, where upon they can return the dog, Todd excitedly tells his parents about it, only for George to dismiss it, despite Todd's protests. It turns out George has some issues he hasn't quite got round to dealing with yet. He is a veteran of the Vietnam War, and he is still heart broken over losing his beloved dog; he found and took a liking too while in Vietnam. He is aware that the dog shelter run by Hailey, played by the lovely Carrie Ruscheinsky, really would like the adopters, to not just have the dog over Christmas but permanently adopt them too, he want to show Todd that the world isn't as easy going as the warm and affectionate manner the family treats him and he is used to at home (and you can tell the family is affectionate when they all get together for a Christmas meal, and delivering of presents), and he tells Mary that it is about time he starts to learn this.

Eventually after much persuading by Mary he gives in, but is adamant that Todd returns the dog on December the 26th, which he constantly reminds him of, a lesson he hopes to teach Todd about sticking to his word. Todd goes to the dog shelter and after browsing through most of the dogs, he settles on a dog that has just been brought in the previous day, as luck would have it, it turns out it was the same dog watching him while he looked after the injured mammal, Hailey tells him the dog hasn't been named yet, so Todd names him Christmas. Christmas is already trained and Todd can't wait to show the rest of his family the interesting tricks it can do. However there is the inevitable confrontation that faces Todd on having to let go of Christmas after December 25th, or can he possibly convince his immovable father otherwise?

A Dog named Christmas is a lovely family movie, that is endearing and charming at all angles, not just for dog lovers.

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Labels: A Dog Named Christmas, Bruce Greenwood, Carrie Ruscheinsky, Christmas, dog, drama, film review, film reviews, films, Hall Mark, Linda Emond, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Noel Fisher, special needs

Movie Reviews this week looks at the drama The Men Who Stare At Goats. The title of this movie itself is intriguing as it doesn't give a clue what the movie is about.

It stars Ewan McGregor (the younger Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace) as Bob Wilton, a journalist whose wife has just left him for his boss, he is feeling sorry for himself, and contemplates going to Iraq on a hunch after finding out about some psychic division of the U.S. military, he hopes to write about this that will get him recognition, and that doing this will stand him in good stead with his wife, and maybe she can see that he is doing something of major importance, so he can initiate a reconciliation with her. Whilst in Iraq he comes across Lyn Cassady played by the stalwart George Clooney (Ocean's Eleven, Up In The Air). At first glance with the stories Lyn tells Bob, the audience just as Bob, begins to wonder about the mental well being of Lyn.

Lyn constantly refers to himself as being a Jedi, while Bob dismisses it as absurd (I am sure the irony of Ewan McGregor playing a Jedi in the last three Star Wars movies is not lost on the audience). After a while you realise Lyn did indeed work for a special branch of the U.S. military called New Earth Army, led by the charismatic Bill Django played by the legendary Jeff Bridges (Star Man), Bill soon after the Vietnam war tried various aspects of the hippy lifestyle, and is recruited to lead the New Earth Army, where amongst other things the students were taught remote viewing: Being able to tell the exact location of where someone is just by thinking about them, Lyn reveals the military kept goats in an abandoned medical centre, which were used to train soldiers on how to dress a wound, he also reveals his psychic ability was tested on goats, hence the name of the movie.

The New Earth Army had Lyn as its star pupil, and one of Bill's ingenuous techniques was to get his pupils to dance, and even say a little prayer to the Earth for eating its produce, these new age techniques, were found to be a little irritating to one of the other recruits Larry Hooper played by the dependable Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects), who has plans to launch a coup to take over the New Earth Army, not to mention being a little jealous of Lyn for his impressive psychic abilities.

Whilst in Iraq there is a little bit of reality for Bob, when on a journey with Lyn, their car breaks down in the desert, and as luck would have it someone comes along to pick them up, but they are taken as hostages instead, while Lyn calmly states nothing is going to happen to them, at this point the audience will no doubt be wondering just as Bob is, if Lyn has blurred the line between reality and fantasy.

This is an intriguing movie, and you are left wondering just how much of this story does the author himself believe as true. The opening credits does state most of the story in the movie is truer than you would believe, it is an interesting point of view, and regardless of its veracity it is compelling to watch.

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Labels: Action, biographical, drama, Ewan MacGregor, film review, film reviews, films, George Clooney, hippy, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey, military, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, The Men Who Stare At Goats, true story

This the fourth installment of this well loved science fiction drama.
We join the movie finding Marcus Wright played by Sam Worthington (Hart's war) about to be put to death in a Federal penitentiary, but not before he signs his body over to Cybernet (the precursor to Skynet) headed by Dr. Serena Kogan played by Helena Bonham Carter (Fight Club).

We next see him in the year 2013 where he wakes up as if from a long dream, and happens to come across Kyle Reese played by Anton Yelchin (Star Trek), who lets him know that there is serious danger about in the form of various types of machines, terminators, special machine bikes, as well as harvesters, taking humans to some kind of prison, and even underwater machines. This is where we also meet John Connor with the war with the machines well underway. He is already a highly ranked commander in "The Resistance", and the pockets of humanity listening to his broadcasts are already slowing turning their allegiance to him, especially when one of the generals of the Resistance General Ashdown played by the veteran Michael Ironside (Total Recall) has found a new weapon that could turn the war for humanity; by disabling a machine by some kind of electromagnetic pulse however he is bent on winning the war regardless of the human cost. He has given use of the weapon to John Connor and a test outing seems to show that the weapon works.

Unfortunately Kyle Reese is captured along with his quiet associate Star played pretty well by the adorable Jadagrace, and they are placed in a harvester headed to one of Skynet's headquarters, but Marcus escapes. He runs into a female Resistance fighter, Blair Williams who eventually takes him to John Connor, but not before he saves her from some savages, there is a lovely scene where she says she is cold and would like to lie down next to him, she lays her head on his chest and says she hasn't heard a heartbeat in a while, and says his heartbeat is strong really strong, however something very strange is revealed that makes for edge of the seat excitement. Marcus tells John that Kyle Reese has been captured and is headed to Skynet's headquarters, knowing what John already knows of the future, he is adamant to save Kyle regardless of the commands of his superiors which is going to lead to the inevitable confrontation that could divide the entire Resistance.

It stars Christian Bale (Batman Begins) as our eponymous hero, and the gorgeous Moon Bloodgood (that name alone just sounds like she belongs in science fiction [it wouldn't be out of place in one of the Twilight saga], however the name isn't American Indian but Dutch and Korean) as Blair Williams, her character is very similar to that of Jessie Flores played by Stephanie Jacobsen in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

We also get to see a terminator that looks frightening just like Arnold Schwarzenegger, the audience may do a double take if it is really him. Schwarzenegger's trademark phrase is repeated by none other than John Connor in a scene that is nostalgic for the fans.

The movie is as exciting as the previous sequels, with some great scenes and hopefully more sequels are in the pipeline.

Labels: Action, Anton Yelchin, Christian Bale, drama, film review, film reviews, films, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Ironside, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Sam Worthington, science fiction, Terminator Salvation

This is a very powerful war related drama detailing some of the emotional turmoil that are not touched on when dealing with war, starring Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko) and Tobey Maguire (Spiderman) as Tommy and Capt. Sam Cahill respectively, two brothers with Sam a respected member of the army and about to be deployed to Afghanistan, while Tommy is the brother frequently involved with clashes with the law.

We join the movie as Sam leaves for Afghanistan, but not before collecting his brother Tommy from his most recent stint in prison. It turns out Sam is the pride and joy of their father Hank (played by the veteran Sam Shepard [Stealth]) unlike Tommy, who their father regards as a constant disappointment. The relationship between Tommy and their father is elaborated during a birthday meal at Sam's place, prepared by his wife Grace, played by the gorgeous Natalie Portman (still the wonderful actress that first graced our screens in Leon), Tommy tells Grace that the meal is very good, to which his father says "Compared to what...jail"?

Soon after being deployed to Afghanistan, Sam's helicopter is shot down, and the dreaded news is brought to Grace. That same night, Tommy true to form so far, comes to the house drunk, having brought back the keys of Sam's car, as Sam told him to use it whenever he wanted before he left for Afghanistan, only to be told the sad news.

The news of Sam's death brings a change to Tommy, and he tries to make up the gap of a father figure Sam's daughters Maggie and Isabelle, played by Taylor Geare and the wonderfully talented Bailee Madison (Phoebe in Wonderland), when Tommy first came to the house before Sam was deployed to Afghanistan, Isabelle opens the door and tells him that their mother doesn't like him (which she can overhear, and gently scolds her not to say such things, but to be fair Tommy takes it in his stride), but after a while the two girls cannot get enough of their uncle, as he does all the things they like, ice skating, snowball fights, much to the delight of Grace, and it becomes apparent that there is an attraction between Tommy and Grace, but the morality of taking such a relationship further seeing Sam has just been lost in Afghanistan is a stumbling block that neither Grace nor Tommy may be willing to confront, but this is one of the interesting parts of the movie.

For whatever reason Tommy does enjoy coming to pay Grace a visit (and his father does seem to have taken a change towards him, seeing his most treasured son is lost), and uses the opportunity to fix the kitchen, and play with his nieces, but the audience wonders if some spark may happen between the two.

The stellar cast bring out the conflicting emotions well on screen, from the torn brother, and lonely wife, the movie is exciting on how the various conflicting emotions all pans out, as well as the subject matter that is hardly given any preferential treatment when dealing with the war genre.

Labels: Afghanistan, Bailee Maidson, Brothers, drama, film review, film reviews, films, Jake Gyllenhaal, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Natalie Portman, romance, Sam Shepard, Taylor Geare, Tobey Maguire, War

This is an interesting drama starring the stalwart George Clooney (Ocean's eleven) as Ryan Bingham, whose job is to fire individuals from organisations who have designated Ryan and his company to do this on their behalf. As Ryan gets to travel all over the world he has accumulated a lot of air miles to the point that he gets special reservations, and an assortment of cards entitling him to various incentives due to his air miles accumulation.

Ryan tries to be as sympathetic but yet firm as he tells employees that they have been let go, but his boss Craig Gregory played by Jason Bateman (The Break-up) has brought in Natalie Keener played by the lovely Anna Kendrick (Twilight) a recent Cornell graduate with an interesting software that could mean that staff no longer have to be given the personal touch when they let people know that they have been fired. Ryan is not happy that his personal touch is being replaced by software, but his boss Craig convinces him to take Natalie with him on his visits, to show her the ropes so to speak.

Ryan is also aiming to accumulate enough air miles to get a much sought after gold card, that would mean he had accumulated ten million miles, and will have his name on an airplane wing for his loyalty. While at a bar he comes across Alex Goran played by the lovely Vera Farmiga (Running Scared), who is equally fascinated with loyalty cards. They spend the night, and agree to keep in touch when next they need each other.

Ryan has been away in chasing his dream, that he has neglected his family, where his youngest sister Julie played by the lovely Melanie Lynskey (Coyote Ugly) is getting married, her elder sister Kara played by Amy Morton asks Ryan to take pictures at famous destinations he visits, with a cardboard cut-out of Julie and her groom to be Jim Miller, played by Danny McBride (Tropic Thunder, absolutely hilarious in Pineapple Express), it turns out due to the economic crisis, the couple have suspended any plans for a honeymoon and instead have asked various friends and family who are travelling to take pictures of idyllic destinations with their cardboard cut-out.

During their rounds Ryan's boss Craig, encourages Ryan to let Natalie fire a few people to see how she gets on, and Craig is so impressed by her performance he gives the go ahead for the software to go live, much to Ryan's disapproval.

Ryan sees Natalie as someone who has a lot of growing up to do, while she on the other hand wonders why he is not married, has no children and has no intention of settling down, Ryan calmly explains that this is the life he has chosen and he is OK with it. His philosophy so far will soon come into conflict with his personal desires, as he believes all relationships, belongings, including homes, cars, accessories are all baggage that should be put in a rucksack and discarded, as they weigh an individual down, in fact he gives motivational speeches based on this theory, but during their trip, and visiting his sister who is about to be married he begins some reflections on how his life has panned out, and begins to open up to the possibility that he is lonely, and would like to find someone to spend that loneliness with.

It is an interesting romantic drama, and at the end you realise the early documentary style footage were from genuine reactions from people who had been fired.

Labels: Amy Morton, Anna Kendrick, drama, film review, film reviews, films, firing, George Clooney, Jason Bateman, Melanie Lynskey, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, recession, romance, Up In The Air, Vera Farmiga

This is a fascinating drama, shot in a documentary style with excellent performances from the largely unknown cast.

It stars Nisreen Faour as Muna Farah, a single mother living in the Palestinian Territories, working in a bank, and recently divorced from her husband, we meet her as she goes shopping for groceries. She sees a well dressed woman, and she immediately hides from her, we find out later that the well dressed woman is the new woman in the life of her husband, and hence the reason for the furtiveness.

We get to see and commiserate with her life, as she deals with the hours of road checks, to get to and from work, as well as pick up her son Fadi played by Melkar Muallem (he reminds me of Lou Ferrigno of the Incredible Hulk) from his private school, as well as looking after her mother.

Muna's life is about to change, she receives a letter because a visa application to the U.S. when she was still with her husband has been approved, and although Muna is reluctant to go, leaving her elderly mother with her brother, on showing the letter to her son, he encourages her, and she sees this as a new lease of life especially for him, to get away from the hardship of life in the Palestinian Territories.

We get a glimpse of the problems faced by many Palestinians at customs in airports all over the world, because when she arrives, she is asked which country she is a citizen of, she replies that she has no citizenship, the clerk asks her which country she is from, she says she has no country, which the clerk seems amazed, and asks if she is a Palestinian or an Israeli, she says she is from the Palestinian Territories. Prior to this there is a slightly humorous scene when he asks her occupation, and although she speaks English, as well as French and Arabic, she says "Yes we are occupied".

On arriving she is met by her sister Raghda Halaby (played by Hiam Abbass) and her husband Nabeel who has a medical practice, played by Yussuf Abu-Warda.
Unfortunately customs had seized several belongings including a cookie box, which had her entire savings in it, so she arrives with nothing but the two hundred dollars Fadi's uncle gave him as a going away present.

She enrols Fadi at a local high school, and goes about looking for a job, but is soon downcast, as even with a degree she is unable to find suitable work. Fadi on the other hand is having to deal with the usual taunts that he is a suicide bomber from his classmates, while his cousin Salma played by the lovely Alia Shawkat tries her best to get him to fit in.

The movie is set soon after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the audience will feel for the plight of Muna and her sister's family, with undeserved animosity being shown towards them in many areas of their life for simply being Arabs.

It is a lovely movie with superb performances from the stellar cast, that at the end resounds hope.

Labels: Alia Shawkat, Amreeka, drama, film review, film reviews, films, friendship, Hiam Abbass, immigrants, immigration, Melkar Muallem, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Nisreen Faour, palestinian, Yussuf Abu-Warda

This is a very entertaining comedy drama, focusing on Tracy Orbison played by Hubbel Palmer, a very talented poet working at a Walmart type store, but feeling very low on confidence because of his weight.

His weight has brought some friction between him and his mother Agnes, played by Kathleen Quinlan (Scofield's mother in Prison Break). His sister Peggy played by the lovely Mary Lynn Rajskub (24), tries to keep the peace between them, while Tracy just takes whatever his mother says as deserved punishment.


As Tracy day dreams with his poetry, he comes upon a chance meeting to visit a theatre show, where Truman Hope played by William Baldwin (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), plays the lead, Tracy is so mesmerised by Truman's performance, when he finds out that Truman is undertaking an acting class locally, he is eager to sign up, and hopeful for a meeting at the end with Truman.

At work Tracy is promoted to assistant manager by his well meaning boss Mr. Grigoratus, played amicably by Bruce McGil (Time Cop). We get a feeling of the relationship between the two, in the beginning when Mr. Grigoratus tries to set Tracy on a double date with him and his wife, he notes down on a piece of paper to ask his wife if she has any "fat friends". Tracy is also in charge of looking after the new recruit Kendis Coley, played by Vincent Calo (The Guild), Kendis asks Tracy to help him out by pretending to be his father in order to meet the Principal at his school, as he is in trouble, he says the Principal has never met his father and he is from Laos, at first Tracy refuses, but sees that this would be an impressive stunt to pull for his acting credentials, and that it would also get him the friends he craves, so he agrees to do the favour by pretending to be Kendis's father in order to get the Principal at his school to go easy on him. After the stunt, Tracy is so impressed that he stays in character a little longer, equally Kendis's friends are impressed that Tracy was willing to do this for Kendis and pulled it off, and soon become friends with him. Tracy sees this as a window to blossom his acting, and a door into the minds and hearts of the misguided youths, however the leader of the teenage gang Shawn played by Nick Lashaway (The 40 Year Old Virgin), has some ominous plans for Tracy, he indicates this by having Tracy go into the local store and get them some alcohol, when he comes out with the alcohol the teenagers all take it and disperse from him, while Tracy naively asks "I thought this was for your parents"?

It turns out that there is a painful lesson on life for Tracy to learn, and although he is well meaning at most times, he finds out that people are not to be trusted not even Truman, who he idolises at first but finds out he is being used, when he gets tickets to a play for himself and Truman, but on the day Truman turns up with another student from the acting class, and asks Tracy to relinquish his ticket to her. He eventually finds out Truman also has eyes on his sister, much to his despair. The movie also delves into his weight problem, and the possible issues that might have contributed to it, especially from his mother's side.

It is a very well acted drama, and viewers will be impressed by how the issues are tackled.

Labels: Bruce McGil, drama, film review, film reviews, films, friendship, Hubbel Palmer, Humble Pie, Kathleen Quinlan, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Nick Lashaway, Vicent Calo, William Baldwin

This is a very well made war related drama, following two soldiers who notify relatives of their loved ones who have died in combat.

It stars the stalwart Woody Harrelson (No country for old men, Zombieland) as Captain Tony Stone, who has hand selected Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery, played by the brilliant Ben Foster (Pandorum, Birds of America, Angel in X-men: The Last Stand) to join him on his rounds.

Will has just come back from a deployment in Iraq, where he had three months left for his tour, but he and his platoon were caught up in an IED (Improvised Explosion Device) that has left him with a limp, and constantly needing eye drops for his left eye. We meet Will as he is called in to see his commanding officer, where he is told he is to be assigned to Tony (who is in the room, and a veteran of Operation Desert Storm). His commanding officer says for the job of notifying relatives of the passing of their loved ones, they need someone who is absolutely calm, and they believe he fits the bill, although Will resists that he has no counsellor training, he eventually agrees.

Tony discusses the job and responsibilities of the role, he stipulates there is to be no touching of the relatives, not even a hug, no mincing of their words, use either "dead" or "died", not "gone missing", he tells a story of a woman who was told her son "was no longer with us" and she spent a considerable amount of time thinking that he had defected to the other side. He is given a manual of the rules, and a beeper, that he should respond to at any hour of the day or night.

It turns out apart from his injuries Will had another heavy issue on his heart, that of his girlfriend Kelly played by the lovely Lena Malone (Donnie Darko), who he let go, and is soon to be married to someone else, although they do have some kind of a strange relationship, it turns out as Will puts it he let her go so she wouldn't get any visits from the likes of Tony.

The two soldiers who are at disputes over the interpretation of the rules, and their duties, soon become close, and reveal to each other some of their deepest pain, Tony in his battle with alcoholism, and Will with the pain of his ex.

In amongst this they constantly face up to a barrage of abuse from relatives who have just been told of the terrible news of the passing of their loved ones, and each time you wonder and hope it doesn't escalate into something ominous for the two soldiers, as there is no one else for the relatives to take out their rage, anger and frustration at that precise moment after learning of the death of a loved one than the two soldiers who are unfortunate enough to have brought them the news.

On one occasion, a wife Olivia Pitterson played by the gorgeous Samantha Morton (Minority Report, The Libertine), who had been told of the bad news, does not display the typical reactions Will and Tony have come to expect, she even thanks them for telling her the news, and mentions it must be difficult for them, Will goes back to find out if there is anything she needs, or maybe to determine why she displayed hardly any emotion, and it soon becomes obvious he is falling for her.

It is a very emotionally charged tale, and puts in focus the very difficult job of passing on the terrible news to relatives of members of the army, who have been lost in combat; in a scrutinizing and raw light.

Labels: Ben Foster, drama, film review, film reviews, films, friendship, Iraq, Lena Stone, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, romance, romantic, Samantha Morton, The Messenger, War, War dead, Woody Harrelson

This is an interesting sci-fi drama, about a monster devouring the inhabitants of a small town in Alaska with barely 300 people in it.

It turns out due to man's use of fossil fuels the polar ice caps are melting, which imprisoned mythical creatures from Norse legend The Wyvern, that apparently were created to feast on the dead, but were unsatiated that they moved from the dead to the living, then to all they could find even biting Odin the ruler of Valhalla, hence he banished them to be imprisoned in the polar ice caps for all eternity.

We start off when an unlucky camper enjoying a nice day of fishing cuts his finger on his hook, and walking over to the stream to examine it, his blood drops into the river and moments later the Wyvern, with what looks like the head of a dinosaur, the tail of a snake (a very powerful tail for that matter) and a body with two legs and two wings, makes the hapless man a quick meal.

We then meet some of the people in this idyllic town, Claire played by the lovely Erin Karpluk (Being Erica), who runs the local restaurant everyone congregates to, the local doctor, Dr. David Yates played by David Lewis (White Chicks) who is in love with her, while she only has eyes for Joe Suttner played by Nick Chinlund (Ultraviolet), a drifter who is waiting for an insurance payout for his truck, and holding a very sore heart over the loss of his brother in the same incident. He offers to fix the steps of Claire's restaurant for free, while she offers him breakfast on the house, he politely refuses but she insists that this is the least she can do, we get an idea of how close and friendly everyone is by the fact that some of the customers (if not all of them) don't have to pay for any meals.

Soon afterwards Dr. Yates visits Joe in his caravan, to fix his arm, but really to ask him to lay off Claire as he reckons Joe will be leaving the town as soon as his insurance payout comes through, while Claire and himself will still be in the town, Joe assures the doctor he is not interested in Claire, the doctor apologises and leaves Joe's caravan, but unfortunately he is attacked by the Wyvern, and only his arm is left for the Sheriff, Chief Dawson played by John Shaw (Happy Gilmore) and Joe to discover.

The whole town now faces a desperate race against time to get outside help, relying on General Travis Sherman played by the late Don S. Davis (Stargate SG-1), who previously had tried to get an emergency message to be aired from the town radio station after spotting the creature, but his request was denied by the town's Disc Jockey Hampton played by the lovely Tinsel Korey (The Twilight Saga: New Moon).

When the whole town eventually finds out that there is a monster on the loose, they all face the challenge of contacting help from the outside, and the even more daunting task of what to say to get anyone to believe them.

It is a lovely action thriller very similar in character to Tremors.

Labels: Don S. Davis, drama, Erin Karpluk, fantasy, film review, film reviews, films, John Shaw, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Nick Chinlund, sci-fi, science fiction, suspense, thriller, Tinsel Korey, Wyvern

This is a very well made crime drama starring John Leguizamo as two characters Dante Mendoza and his twin brother Perfecto.

It starts off with a seemingly ordinary day where a cop Alberto Santana played by Benny Nieves and his partner Joe Bruno played by the stalwart Harvey Keitel (Pulp Fiction), have come to wish Alberto's daughter Celeste a happy birthday, as Alberto , his wife Gina played by Diane Venora (The 13th Warrior) and Celeste are walking arm in arm towards Celeste's present, a gunman from nowhere turns up and shoots Alberto point blank, then hands Celeste a pamphlet that reads "A Message from the Lord".

We meet Celeste several years later who is now a police officer and played by the gorgeous Florencia Lozano (One Life to Live, she looks very much like Matt Parkman's wife in Heroes), and whose partner is none other than her father's partner Joe. She is still very bitter at not having caught the murderer of her father, who also at the same time period that her father was killed, killed two businessmen that had committed insurance fraud, where a fire is set to dilapidated buildings in order to collect the insurance money.

In turns out that a similar murder has just taken place with the trademark of "The Ministers" where two armed men wearing a hairy face mask, enter a drug fueled neighbourhood and proceed to shoot all the men they encounter, but leave the women as witnesses, with one of them quoting scripture to her as his partner kills the others.

Celeste is extremely keen on taking the case, much to the despair of her boss, Captain Diaz played by Wanda De Jesus (Blood Work), as well as Joe. Joe on the other hand feels a little guilty for the death of his partner after so many years, and the last thing he would like is for Celeste to put herself in danger, when he has ingrained himself into their family, and considers her his daughter.

Matters come to an interesting twist when one of the twin brothers responsible for killing her father Dante, takes a liking to her and proceeds to charm his way into her life, first by offering to fix her car which has broken down, if she will go out on a date with him, he asks her if she has a jack, she says no, then he says that would mean extra, as in dinner instead of a date, he then asks her if she has a spare tyre, she says no, and he says that could mean dancing and maybe more.

The other twin Perfecto who has the upper hand amongst the two, is still intent on revenge for the harm that has been done to him, while Dante would like to put the past to rest, seeing he is falling for Celeste, but as things go, it is clear things will never be this straight forward.

John Leguizamo is impressive in both roles, playing the more level headed of the twins Dante charmingly, as well as the psychotic and jealous twin Perfecto in equal measure. The suspense will keep the audience at the edge of their seat, on how it all pans out.

Labels: crime, drama, film review, film reviews, films, Florencia Lozano, Harvey Keitel, John Leguizamo, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, romance, romantic, suspense, The Ministers, thriller, Wanda De Jesus

This is a very strange crime drama, starring Nicholas Cage (Next) as Detective Terence McDonagh, investigating the murder of a Senegalese family during Hurricane Katrina.

We meet Terence and his side kick Stevie Pruit played by Val Kilmer (Tombstone) in a prison where a convict is pleading with them to help him get out of the flooding jail he is trapped in, from their ridicule of the plight of the convict, we realise Terence and Stevie are not exactly upright holders of the law. Terence going against his behaviour so far, and facing ruin of his expensive undergarments jumps into the filthy water in what we assume is to save the drowning convict, the scene cuts to Terence at the doctor's where he is told he must be on medication from now on, for injuring his back, Terence asks if he will be on medication for ever, the doctor's facial expressions gives the game away, even though he says there are great advances being made in dealing with such conditions, you realise Terence will have to be on medication for the rest of his life for his bad back; and indeed throughout the rest of the movie he walks with an obvious painful haunch.

It turns out Terence is not only hooked on the prescription medication he is taking for his bad back, but also hooked on a lot more harder drugs, which he gets from anywhere he can, first by stopping party goers and going through their belongings to find any narcotics, and from his girlfriend who is also a prostitute Frankie Donnenfeld, played by Eva Mendes (Hitch).

Despite his indiscretions, Terence doesn't stop being a policeman, and he seems to make amends for his obvious imperfections, by following through with whatever task he has been laden with as an upholder of the law, in this case to find and bring to book the murderer of the Senegalese family.

To aide him bring the main suspect Big Fate (played by Xzibit) to book, he has found a witness Daryl, played by Denzel Whitaker (Forrest Whitaker's son, and Carter in Brothers and Sisters), who he has to protect until the case goes to trial. Unfortunately things are not so straight forward. Frankie has been ripped off by a customer until Terence using his power and reputation as a police officer to get the customer to pay Frankie. It turns out the customer is connected to the mob and they are set to extract the amount he paid as well as "interest", or else Frankie and Terence would be in a heap of trouble.

Added to this, things are not going so well for Frankie, as his behaviour has landed him into being scrutinized by Internal Affairs, which is not helped with his drug addiction.

It is a strange tale of crime and addiction from the point of view of one whose job is to uphold the law, and the question of our protagonist being able to redeem himself seeing he is as criminal as the criminals he chases, is what holds the suspense together.

Labels: crime, Denzel Whitaker, drama, drugs, Eva Mendes, film review, film reviews, films, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Nicholas Cage, The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, thriller, Val Kilmer, Xzibit

This is a very well acted, drama with Isaiah Washington (Dr. Preston Burke in Grey's Anatomy) as a catholic priest Father Andre James, who has come to a new school with some hidden secrets.

It turns out his predecessor has gone missing without any explanation for quite some time, hence the principal of the school Father William Jennings played by the gravely voiced Robert Loggia (Funny Money) has asked his old friend, Father Andre James to step in and fulfil the previous priest's duties. Father James on the other hand has to impress the priests already there, notably Father Thomas Peters played by the stalwart Bob Gunton (Warden Norden in the Shawshank Redemption), and Father Alfred McKavee played by John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox in Star Trek: Enterprise).

There are the usual antics going on in an all male boarding school, or indeed any school for that matter, bullying, disrespect for their teachers, and looking at indecent magazines. Father James has to run the gauntlet of impressing not just the boys in the school but also his fellow clergymen, and in the midst of this tries to reach out to help one particular boy Parker Remy, played by Jordan Garrett who is a little cut-off from the rest of the boys, and is on medication. Father James would like to know the issues behind this , and would like to help the boy in any way he can. There is a lovely scene where the new priest tries to gain come camaraderie with Parker and the boys in general, he sits at Parker's table during lunch, and asks if the food is any good, Parker replies that it is not, Father James then says food this bad is only good for one thing, and soon afterwards a food fight erupts, with Father James in the midst of it, much to his embarrassment when the other priests walk in on the scene.

There is also a scene that elaborates the problems the boys are going through, with Father James joining in a basketball match where Jason Boyd (played by Andrew Lawrence), the local bully is leading the team, in their jostle for the ball Father James is knocked down, whereupon Jason says they are all fighting to get into the same schools, and to get the same grades, and if anyone is in their way, they get pushed aside.

Isaiah Washington's performance is mesmerising, and he goes deep into the character, blending effortlessly with the prayer rituals, and trying to help the boys at the school, and at the same time trying to defend his actions in front of his superiors and fellow priests.

There is a particularly poignant scene where Father James stays in the room of Parker after Parker asks him to; on account of being scared, on leaving the room the next morning, he is spotted by Father Peters, and brought in front of the Principal, where he is made aware that such actions could be deemed reckless if the press ever got hold of it, and its implied connotations could easily ruin a lifetime's work.

This is one of the first movie of its kind that deals with the difficult and painful subjects of abuse from the point of view of the priests, it is handled respectfully all through.

Labels: Andrew Lawrence, Bob Gunton, child abuse, drama, film review, film reviews, films, Isaiah Washington, John Billingsley, Jordan Garrett, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, priest, Robert Loggia, The Least of These

This is a fascinating crime drama, starring the dependable Eric Roberts (Final Analysis , big brother of Julia Roberts) as Merle Hench, an enforcer for a mob headed by regular on-screen baddie, Robert Davi (License to Kill) playing Murdoch, with an impressive Irish accent.

We meet Merle as he deals with some street punks that have stepped into his territory, however on his return to a meeting with Murdoch and all his henchmen he is reprimanded for not dealing with the punks more forcefully, much to his embarrassment in front of everybody.

Murdoch suggests to Merle about retiring, and using some of the money he has saved up for some kind of pension plan, and to let the "young bloods" take the risks. Merle politely declines the offer, and heads back to his routine, of gambling with a local money lender Larry Cobb played by Keith David (Crash), and flirting with a waitress Jackie played by the gorgeous Irina Bjorklund (even more impressive she is Finnish, with no trace of a dialect), at a bar he frequents who Merle affectionately calls "Dollface". He asks her unexpectedly if she would be willing to leave her life and go on the road with him, she tells him to be careful how he phrases it, because one day she just might.

It just so happens such an opportunity presents itself, Merle gets set up by one of Murdoch's henchmen to rob an establishment that holds money belonging to the Mafia, with Doyle played by Paul Dillon (the Lao speaking manager in one of the episodes of C.S.I.) as their caretaker, as the place is robbed Merle manages to shoot down some of Murdoch's henchmen, this puts him in good favour with Doyle who believes his story that he has been set up. During the ensuring robbery Merle comes upon a bag with several thousands of dollars in it, he takes the cash and makes a proposal to Jackie to run away with him, she says it wouldn't be the most silliest thing she has ever done, but if she didn't she would regret it for the rest of her life, and so she comes along with him.

Jackie suggests to Merle to explain to Doyle that Murdoch was behind his framing, and if he can get Doyle to chase Murdoch for the remainder of the cash that was stolen they would both be able to get away without looking behind their backs. Unfortunately things are not so clear cut, as Doyle had surveillance video footage all around the area when the robbery occurred, and Merle was seen taking a stray bag, which Doyle would like back.

The couple's desperate attempt to flee when they are being pursued by Murdoch and his henchmen, as well as the various interests of the Mafia is what keeps the suspense going, if they can survive to start again, as well as Merle getting over "The Butcher" nickname he has come to hate so much.

As action crime dramas go, this is a very decent movie, we even get to sympathise with our protagonist, although he is in a criminal organisation he simply wants to turn a new leaf.

Labels: crime, drama, Eric Roberts, film review, film reviews, films, gun, Irina Bjorklund, mafia, mob, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Paul Dillon, relationship, Robert Davi, romance, The Butcher, violence

This is a well made comedy drama for a journey of self discovery, focusing on a law student Sherman Black played by Michael Shulman who discovers a little about himself and life from a road trip with a two-time Olympian, Palmer played by James LeGros (Ally McBeal).

We meet Sherman with his girlfriend Marcy played by the lovely Lacey Chabert (she has grown quite a lot since the amazing child actress in Party of Five). Marcy has issues with Sherman for not taking charge and making his own decisions, it turns out every aspect of his life is being controlled by his powerful mother Evelyn, played by Donna Murphy (she still looks as ageless as she did with Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: Insurrection), she controls which law firm he chooses to do his internship, and is against him spending the summer with Marcy.

Sherman decides to go against the grain and prove to Marcy that he can make decisions for himself, and attempts to ignore his mother's wishes by spending the summer with Marcy, without letting her know, he intends to just turn up at her door step, in the process he happens to bump into another fellow who helps him with his luggage, on both of them reaching Marcy's front door, he is a little surprised to see Marcy kissing the guy, she eventually notices him and while he walks away in a rage, she follows him, but instead of apologising she says "this is what it seems" and tells him she is just trying to explore the different options life has in store for her.

In his anger Sherman decides to go back to the law internship his mother had arranged for him, and hails a driver to give him a lift, and Palmer arrives, fresh from an unfortunate performance at a car dealership, which he left with a classic vehicle nicknamed "The Rooster", it turns out Palmer is estranged from his son, and would like to give him "The Rooster" as a graduation present, except his son graduated three years ago. After a short stop at a dinner, Sherman unfortunately finds out he has lost his wallet getting into Palmer's car, and has no option but to phone his mother for financial assistance, however he takes this opportunity to stand his ground against her demands, and stays with Palmer to prove a point to himself that he can make his own decisions.

The two unlucky individuals find themselves paired together at the home of Palmer's friend D.J., played by Enrico Colantoni (A.I.), and although they seem to be polar opposites; with Sherman intent on keeping a schedule, while Palmer on the other hand would rather take life as it comes, they end up learning from each other. While Palmer's Rooster is being fixed Sherman does some shopping around the town for his supplies, and bumps into the lovely and odd Addy, played by Brooke Nevin (The 4400), they become friendly and Sherman asks her on a date, unfortunately he cannot drive, neither can he swim, and ends up having Palmer drive both of them around, where they end up in a lake, in a very comical scene.

It is a lovely romantic movie, many will enjoy.

Labels: Brooke Nevin, comedy, Donna Murphy, drama, Enrico Colantoni, film review, film reviews, films, James LeGros, Lacey Chabert, Michael Shulman, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, relationship, Sherman\'s Way

This is a well made comedy drama, starring Ray McKinnon in two roles as Randy Pearson, a good natured happy go lucky "big shot" who owns a number of businesses, but is currently in a financial mess, and Cecil his twin brother.

Randy happens to borrow money from a loan shark, which unbeknown to him is connected with the Mob. Soon afterwards he starts getting phone calls from a Mob guy, Franco played by Paul Ben-Victor (Tombstone) as to when and how he is going to settle his debt, Randy tries to explain that as hard as he has tried he cannot come up with the money for the debt as well as his increasing debt with the IRS (Internal Revenue Service).

After asking around and finding out that he could be in some serious trouble with the Mafia, Randy contemplates selling one of his businesses to Elmore Culpepper where Burt Reynolds (Boogie Nights) does a short cameo.

Surprisingly Franco has a solution to his financial troubles, and that involves sending Tino Armani played surprisingly well by Walton Goggins (unrecognisable from his character in The Shield), to sort out his financial troubles, even so much as to pay off the IRS. On their first meeting Randy is amazed to find out that Tino has the same country dialect as he does, to which Tino responds he never judges people by the pigment in their skin or their dialect. After a while Randy is even more impressed by how seemingly good natured Tino is, and soon all in the small community are besotted by Tino. He even manages to improve the menu on one of Randy's restaurant businesses that had so many people queueing to get in when Randy arrived he automatically assumed there was an incident and that the police had been called. At this stage it should be mentioned Randy has an on-going problem with one of the local law enforcement officers Griff Postell, played by Brent Briscoe (Mulholland Drive) who seems to have it in for him at every opportunity, since Griff blames him for a "whooping" he gave him in the third grade, which many witnessed, but Griff subsequently gave Randy a "whooping" in the sixth grade, but unfortunately no one witnessed it.

As well as trying to solve his financial troubles, Randy has to cope with his wife Charlotte, played by the lovely Lisa Blount (The Accountant) newly acquired Carpal Tunnel Syndrome from dancing lessons she has been giving, which has left her a little depressed, and trying to patch the relationship with his gay twin brother and his partner Bill played by Tim DeKay (The Russell Girl). A relationship Randy has never accepted, much to the annoyance of his twin and his partner.

This is a surprisingly genial comedy drama, and it contains some classic scenes, especially where Randy is on the phone to Franco while at a rubbish tip.

Ray McKinnon is effortlessly adept between the two roles, and it is an entertaining movie many will enjoy.

Labels: Burt Reynolds, comedy, crime, drama, film review, film reviews, films, Lisa Blount, mafia, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, Paul Ben-Victor, Randy and The Mob, Ray McKinnon, siblings, Tim Dekay, Walton Goggins

This is a very touching drama about the relationship between an estranged father and his attempts to reconcile with his son.

It stars Sal Landi (24, Ugly Betty) as Skip, and his son Danny played by Matt Dallas (Kyle XY).

We meet Skip in a limousine, having a drink, but after a few moments, we see him stay still in apparent discomfort, while two of his companions wonder what is wrong. He is next at the doctor's being told that his liver is failing after years of substance and drug abuse, and at this stage he needs a partial liver transplant from an immediate family member, the doctor asks if he has any children, Skip doesn't answer, but later on Skip looks at a faded picture of Danny, and we realise he does have a son.

We meet Danny who is being cared for by Skip's sister, Carrie played by Jane Higginson (she has incredibly fascinating eyes), since his mother died when he was two. He calls her mum, and treats her as his own mother, however Danny lacks any direction and as Carrie's friend Mona played by Angela Lanza; is constantly telling her, he needs some direction in his life from a father figure. It turns out that Danny had been to a party a few days earlier where he was thrown out as he was not invited, and was simply crashing the party, although to be fair he was minding his own business, but the host realised she didn't know who he was, and so he was subsequently thrown out. In his anger and frustration, he vandalises a nearby shop, but left a vital clue, for the police to track him down.

Prior to this Skip makes an attempt to see his sister and Danny, but his attempts were dismissed by the both of them, as being too little too late. When Danny gets arrested for the vandalism, his bail is set at $50,000. Carrie as a nurse simply cannot afford the bail, and she calls on Skip to provide the bail, as a last gasp opportunity to save Danny from jail, in exchange he gets to spend some time with him as he wants while Carrie relocates to another nursing vacancy. Danny makes a promise to Carrie as a condition of being bailed to agree to go along with whoever is in the house while Carrie relocates for her new nursing vacancy, but the relationship between Skip and Danny is no better than a the beginning of the movie when they met after a long hiatus, with Danny eager to avoid him at every opportunity and Skip desperately trying to find a way into his son's heart. He happens to see in the garage, parts of an old worn out Indian bike, and knowing that at least Danny likes bikes, he decides to to use this as a way into his son's heart by enlisting the help of a father and daughter team, to help him get the parts and fix the bike. The father and daughter team of Ted and Shelby played by Corbin Timbrook and the gorgeous Alison Haislip respectively, have their own issues, with Ted's wife having walked out on him and Shelby. She spends most of the time fixing the parts of the Indian, and inevitably takes a liking to Danny, all the while being watched by Skip.

It is a poignant tale of a father's desperate attempt to save himself which may at the same time be able to repair the fragile relationship with his son and sister.

Labels: absent father, Alison Haislip, drama, family, father and son, film review, film reviews, films, ill health, illness, Jane Higginson, Matt Dallas, Movie Review, Movie Reviews, movies, romance, Sal Landi, The Indian