Movie Review - Pride

Pride (2014)

Starring Ben Schnetzer, Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, Paddy Considine, Andrew Scott, George MacKay, and Joseph Gilgun

Directed by Matthew Warchus

While the jovial atmosphere nearly always omnipresent in Pride is welcoming and certainly entertaining, Matthew Warchus' film about a group of gay and lesbian activists working to help Welsh miners during a year-long 1984 strike finds itself a bit too packed to the gills with quirky characters to really make an impact.  The removal of a variety of subplots would've trimmed down the rather extended runtime and created a more concise and resonant piece.  As it stands now, Pride is a decent film, but always finds itself teetering on the edge of overstaying its welcome.

Although the subject matter can get serious at times, Warchus keeps the atmosphere relatively light-hearted while detailing the mining strike and the oftentimes anti-homosexual attitudes of 1980s England.  Plus, despite the abundant and sometimes superfluously large cast, all the actors assembled here more than adequately provide the requisite humor and drama necessary for their individual characters.  Ben Schnetzer is certainly captivating as the film's lead, emoting the proper amount of strength and vulnerability in the role of the leader of his founded group - LGSM (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners).  Aided by the jaunty Imelda Staunton, buttoned-up Bill Nighy, and charming Paddy Considine as Welsh townsfolk who welcome LGSM to assist them in raising money for the miners, the cast clicks.

The successful cast, in the end, makes it all the more unfortunate that the movie doesn't quite click as well.  Pride is fine, but "fine" could've been so much better with a little more working with the script in order to excise some of the extra side stories.

The RyMickey Rating:  C+

Movie Review - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)

Starring Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Penelope Wilton, Celia Imrie, and Dev Patel

Directed by John Madden

Old people say the darndest things!  Sometimes they poke fun at the youth.  Sometimes they discuss their sex life for yucks.  And then there's always the humorous racist ones who've never moved out of the dark ages.  And each of these types of elderly folks has taken up residence at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in India.  Join them for two hours peppered with moments of laughs, but very little story or substance.  But if Viagra is on your (or your significant other's) bedside table, this may be just the movie for you!

There are some great performances here from very talented British folks.  Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, and Billy Nighy are just a few of the notable long in the tooth stars on display and they all attempt to make director John Madden's film as watchable as possible.  Those three celebrities and several others take on the roles of aging British citizens who, in their old age, decide to travel to India either wanting a change in atmosphere or for monetary reasons or for seeking discounted medical help.  They all settled on staying at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel run by the young Sonny Kapoor (Dev Patel) thanks to the establishment's lovely brochure promoting luxury accommodations for the elderly, but upon their arrival they realize Sonny may have misrepresented his rundown complex.  Still, as the group settles in, they realize that India has so much to offer that it my even turn the most racist of people (Maggie Smith in a one-note role) into the most magnanimous by film's end.

The film's problem is that it's entirely too simplistic.  We are well aware of where all these folks' stories are going to end up from the very beginning (with the exception of Wilkinson's character who, although he goes through a rather touching story arc, felt oddly out of place with the rest of the film's overall tone).  There's no depth here and that would be fine if the film didn't attempt to strive for deep meaning.  Whimsicality is perfectly acceptable...they just should've gone for that here rather than trying for something more.

Then again, I don't really think The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was made for me.  Were I forty years older and heading into my seventies, I might have gone gaga over it, but I have not reached the milestone of needing to wear Depends so I'm not the film's demographic.  Yes, I realize that there's flippancy in that last statement, but I really mean no disrespect to the film's audience.  There are people who will love this movie and it's great that the filmmakers behind this decided to (successfully...at least from a box office standpoint) appeal to an under-represented audience.  But perhaps because I wouldn't be allowed to check in to the Marigold Hotel, this one just didn't prove successful for me.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

Starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush, Bill Nighy, and Chow-Yun Fat

Directed by Gore Verbinski

And just like that, any goodwill the Pirates of the Caribbean series earned with the second film, Dead Man's Chest, is tossed aside thanks to the third film, At World's End.  All the fun and adventure that was present in the former is bogged down by darkness and dreariness in the latter.  Even if we were to put aside the storyline that is rife with innumerable and incomprehensible double crossings, At World's End doesn't even look good, awash in muted grays and blacks, monotone in its drabness -- there's nothing even visually appealing to latch onto.

At World's End picks up soon where Dead Man's Chest left off, continuing many of the same storylines revolving around pirates Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), and Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and their attempts to stave off the onslaughts of both the "evil" British Navy and man-fish hybrid Davy Jones (Bill Nighy).   Honestly, I can't even begin to detail what's actually happening in this flick.  Characters backstab others nearly every ten minutes, allegiances change at the drop of a hat, and no action occurs until the film's final forty minutes battle (after a never-ending talky two hours prior to that) during which it's near impossible to tell what's going on because every single person and every single ship looks exactly the same -- muddied and dank-looking.

Much moreso than in the past movies, mysticism and magic play a big role and it's not for the better.  By the end, the screenwriters abandoned any sense of cohesive story.  I'd even go so far as to say they threw up the middle finger to the viewers by abandoning all logic and essentially saying "screw you" to loyal fans.  In an attempt to feel very epic in scope and story, they just made a very uninteresting and unappealing conclusion to what was expected to be the final chapter of a trilogy.  Here's opening the fourth flick can revive a bit of adventure, excitement, and humor of the second flick.

The RyMickey Rating:  D

Movie Review - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

Starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Bill Nighy, Stellan Skarsgård, and Jack Davenport

Directed by Gore Verbinski

I realize this isn't necessarily popular opinion, but I think the second flick of the Pirates saga -- Dead Man's Chest -- is actually a fairly solid effort and better than the first film.  While Chest lacks the absurd humor and overall charm of Black Pearl, it more than makes up for that in its solid action scenes and more cohesive story.

Rather surprisingly, I couldn't help but think Johnny Depp's kooky Jack Sparrow got pushed a bit to the wayside in this one with Orlando Bloom taking on more of a leading role with his character of Will Turner finding himself fighting to free his father (Stellan Skarsgård) from a life of indentured servitude at the hands (or, more fittingly, claws) of Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), a half-man, half-tentacled sea creature.  That said, Sparrow certainly plays a key role in a film that pits nearly all of its main characters -- Jack, Will and Elizabeth (Keira Knightley), and Davy Jones -- against one another in a quest to gain their respective freedoms (of which I'm not going to discuss seeing as how nearly everyone in the world other than me had seen this flick given that it's the fourth highest grossing film of all time).

For someone that didn't particularly like when the first film placed its focus on Will and Elizabeth, I greatly appreciated that Dead Man's Chest gave everyone a solid storyline instead of just Jack Sparrow.  If you're going to have three main characters, it's best to give all three something to do and this flick does that a lot better than Black Pearl. It also helps this film immensely that the action sequences are a bit better staged and we don't need the background set-up that is always present in the first movies of any series.  Granted, I can't help but think that director Gore Verbinski could have edited things down a bit (I didn't really need to see three Kraken attacks...two would have sufficed), but overall, this is a solid action film that fares a bit better than its predecessor.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Rango

Rango (2011)

Featuring the voices of Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher, Abigail Breslin, Ned Beatty, Alfred Molina, and Bill Nighy

Directed by Gore Verbinski

Just because a western is animated doesn't mean it's going to change my opinion about the genre.  Westerns bore me immensely and they always seem like they contain some moralistic gruff hero tracking down some corrupt bad guy who wronged someone in a small town.  Rango's got the same vibe although the hero isn't gruff; rather the titular character is a literal and figurative chameleon, theatrically changing his characteristics to best suit his situation.  And while I may not dig the genre of Rango, it's a film that I very much admire for many reasons.

Reason 1:   Voice Acting -- I'm not one that gets won over when animated flicks pull in some big-name actor to voice a character.  If anything, that big star can be a detriment if I'm unable to disassociate their voice with their physical appearance.  In the title role, however, Johnny Depp is pretty fantastic.  Nowadays, bigger stars than Depp are hard to come by, but the actor's vocals are charmingly irreverent and  absolutely solid.  He embodies the character (or perhaps, vice-versa, the animators used his vocals to embody their character).  But it's not just Depp that's winning.  The British Isla Fisher tackles the quirky role of Beans, a spunky gal with an exaggerated Southern twang, with gusto.  Although Depp and Fisher are certainly the leads, the vocal talent is top notch across the board.  Together, the voices breathe life into the odd characters of the town of Dirt who are desperately trying to find out who stole the town's water supply.

Reason 2: Animation -- Richly detailed characters, a beautifully realized run-down setting, and wonderful effortless movements are three of the key reasons why Rango's animation is some of the best you'll see this side of Pixar.  Director Gore Verbinski (best known for his Pirates trilogy with Mr. Depp) cleverly filmed his voice actors working together (rather than the usual "animation separation" that occurs with voice actors recording separately in sound booths) while wearing makeshift costumes and utilizing flimsy props so that the animators could see various interactions and movements prior to animating.  This unique approach to animation showcased little mannerisms and facial expressions with astounding clarity and, for this animation buff, was a much appreciated aspect to the film.

Reason 3:  Aim for the Adults -- It's not that Rango is inappropriate for kids, but it doesn't aim for the young crowd at all.  The humor is based more from clever references to other films in both the western and crime genres with a nifty and rather hilarious "cameo appearance" (of sorts) from quite a famous actor.  However, because of this lofty goal of not stooping down to a "kid level" in terms of humor, the moments that did aim for the kiddies (including one too many fart jokes) made me cringe.

Despite these reasons to love Rango, in the end, it's a western and I just couldn't get completely enveloped by the story.  Yes, I fully realize that it's a bias in me, but I'm not sure I'll ever really fall head over heels for a western.  I will say that Rango's a flick that I'd like to watch again and perhaps upon second viewing, my rating will inch up a notch or two.  But still, as it stands now, this is one animated flick worthy of checking out.

The RyMickey Rating:  B

Movie Review - Love Actually (2003)

Christmas Movie a Day #7
Love Actually
Starring Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kiera Knightley, and Bill Nighy
Directed by Richard Curtis

I understand that this isn't a perfect movie, but I really can't help but love it. There's just something so charming about this flick that wins me over every single time that I watch it.

Richard Curtis (writer-director of the recent Pirate Radio) crafts a movie full of interweaving tales of romance -- some of which end positively and others of which of conclude less than perfect. With the exception of the tale of the young Englishman who travels to the U.S. to work his British charms on unsuspecting American ladies and the story of the naked body double couple, there's not a bad story in the bunch. Particularly winning are Liam Neeson as a grieving widow dealing with his young stepson's first love and Emma Thompson as a wife who suspects her husband (Alan Rickman) of cheating on her with a hot office colleague. Hugh Grant as the new prime minister is also at his best here. Throw in Colin Firth, Laura Linney, and a hilarious Bill Nighy as an aging rock star and you've got one heckuva cast.

What's particularly enjoyable is that Richard Curtis is able to make many of these stories connect without ever seeming the least bit unbelievable. None of the relationships/interconnections ever seem forced even it's just as simple as a character sitting in the congregation at another character's wedding. That's a difficult task and Curtis was definitely up to it.

Once again, I realize this film isn't perfect, but it's one of my favorites, for sure. A new holiday tradition, perhaps, even if it's not the most "Christmas-y" movie around.

The RyMickey Rating: A-
The Christmas Spirit Scale: 6/10
(The Christmas Spirit Scale is a totally pointless rating that is simply my feeling about how "Christmas-y" the movie felt to me)

Movie Review - Pirate Radio (2009)

Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, and Tom Sturridge
Directed by Richard Curtis

Richard Curtis definitely has a distinctive directing and writing style and although he's not incredibly prolific, his three previous "big time" releases -- Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and Love, Actually -- are all darn impressive. I can say that he's a director whose films I would seek out and look forward to seeing.

Unfortunately, Curtis falters with his most recent effort, Pirate Radio (also known as The Boat That Rocked), the tale of a boat on the North Sea illegally broadcasting rock and roll over the airwaves despite the British government's stern warnings. As I was watching, I couldn't help but think that I would've loved to have seen this movie as a weekly tv series rather than as a movie. The film is about the quirky and funny characters and not about plot at all, and, unfortunately, that's its downfall. As a tv show, we could gradually learn about each of these humorous disc jockeys, but trying to squeeze all of these larger-than-life personalities into a movie didn't really work.

And the thing is, it's not like this is a bad movie. It's directed quite well (although there were one too many cutaway shots of people on the mainland dancing around their radios). The acting is really all top notch. Philip Seymour Hoffman is great as the seemingly grounded main DJ. Bill Nighy is hilarious as the founder of the pirate radio station. And everyone else is enjoyable to watch as well (with the exception of Kenneth Branagh as a government official whose role was much too one-dimensional and whose storyline brought down the rest of the movie).

Add to that, the great soundtrack featuring everything from the Beach Boys to the Moody Blues to Procol Harum to The Who, and you've got yourself an enjoyable two hours.

It's unfortunate that the movie's about nothing...just a series of little inanities that don't really mean anything in the grand scheme of the overall plot. This guy gets married, this guy finds out who his real father is, these two DJs are fighting about who's better...nothing matters because nothing's important.

And it's a shame because there's something here that would work so incredibly well. I enjoyed myself during this movie...I just wish I could have enjoyed it more.

The RyMickey Rating: C