OUR BRAND IS CRISIS

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie
Writers: Peter Straughan
Director: David Gordon Green

After a number of years out of the political game consultant/strategist "Calamity" Jane Bodine is lured back into the murky world of election campaigns, heading to Bolivia to take on the seemingly impossible task of turning the arrogant, unpopular Pedro Castillo (Joaquim De Almeida) into a man worthy of re-election. Oh yes, Castillo was President before and few people liked him the previous time so Jane has her work cut out. To make matters even worse, front runner Victor Rivera is way ahead in the polls and has Jane's longtime rival Pat Candy (Thornton) as his consultant. As the tagline has it, may the best campaign win...

A political comedy/drama with Bullock and Thornton front and centre, produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov - got to be a winner, right? Wrong, I'm afraid to say. If you're expecting a satire with teeth then allow me to tell me that this has been to the dentist and it'll be on nothing but soup for a while. I have no problem that the film's targets are easy ones, what I do have a problem with is that it manages to somehow miss those targets by a mile at almost every turn.

So what kind of messages are we given? Politicians might not be very nice guys. Not exactly a revelation. Come to that, the people who are trying to get them elected might just be even worse. Tell me something I don't know. Treated with the sort of merciless humour that a film such as The Big Short - also out this week, and a whole lot better than this - employed, this could still have worked extremely well but too often the story is bogged down in sentiment and inexplicable slapstick. Bullock's character falls down stairs, has a chair collapse under her as she attempts to stand upon it and even throws up into a bin mid-meeting. Yes, Sandra Bullock is fantastic at being a klutz but what point does it have here?

Then there's the rivalry between Bodine and Candy. A lot is made of how much Jane really wants to get one over on Pat so I was expecting nothing less than fireworks whenever they found themselves in the same space. Well, it's less a case of fireworks and much more like a sparkler that some idiot throws water on before it's really got going. Every time Bullock and Thornton squared up to each other I was thinking "this time is it's really going to escalate" and just about every time it was the same result - couple of minor barbs then one of them wanders off. I was desperately waiting for some Sorkin-style hilarious/brutal verbal kickings that just never came.

That's not to say there isn't the odd laugh but it is only the odd laugh. And towards the end, when the movie comes up with its best - if obvious joke - involving a singing telegram, I was left thinking "That's odd, I laughed". The political machinations don't feel particularly inspired either, instead degenerating into a series of tit-for-tat moves that are passed off as genius by the script but just seemed like common sense to me. Maybe I'm just good at playing dirty.

It's testament to the talents of Bullock that, beyond the pratfalls and some tiresome frat-level antics involving firing projectiles at Thornton's hotel room and then mooning his campaign bus later on (look, don't go to this just because you now think you get to see Sandra Bullock's arse, it may not even be hers), I still found her character interesting. The quirks and flaws of Jane Bodine are writ large here. And explained by either Jane or other characters in case you didn't pick up on why she is like she is.

As for Billy Bob Thornton, he's more than up to the task of playing the smooth, seasoned shark that is Pat Candy but there's not enough of him in the film. He doesn't loom over Bodine's campaign as he should and ends up being an irritant rather than a genuine threat. Not Billy Bob's fault and I direct you to his amazing turn in Fargo Season 1, you will not be disappointed. Anthony Mackie, as fellow Castillo campaigner Ben, barely registers because he's given so little to do and a short scene in which his character is given a bit of history feels clumsily grafted on.

For a political comedy drama, there's much less in the way of politics than you'll be looking for, any comedy is thin on the ground and any truly dramatic moments are fleeting. Their brand may be crisis but it's not a brand I'll be buying in future.



More links to reviews plus a bunch of random stuff on Twitter! - @darren_gaskell

THE DANISH GIRL

Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Amber Heard
Writer: Lucinda Coxon
Director: Tom Hooper

In 1920s Copenhagen, well-regarded artist Einar Wegener (Redmayne) agrees to stand in for an absent model in order for wife Gerda (Vikander), also an artist, to make progress on a painting. What begins as something of a joke, as Einar gamely dons stockings for Gerda's art and is christened "Lily" by friend Ulla (Heard with the exuberance turned up to 11), suddenly takes on a life of its own as Einar steps out in Danish society as Lily and comes to believe that he is in the wrong body...

The Danish Girl is a fascinating story and in Tom Hooper's hands it's handled with taste and sensitivity. Arguably, it's handled with too much taste and sensitivity, the chocolate box scenery, beautiful costumes and mannered dialogue threatening to mute the film's important message. I can understand that a movie centred around a transgender character is not going to be everyone's cup of tea but this movie goes out so far out of its way to avoid offence that it's chaste when it ought to be challenging.

Okay, there is occasional nudity but this is dealt with an almost apologetic way. I half expected someone to lean into the shot and say "Look, we know you might be watching this because you liked The King's Speech. We can get through this. Another twenty seconds and there's a lovely shot of the marketplace near the waterfront".

And yet, despite the fact that I felt the subject matter wasn't given the treatment it should have been, the excellent performances hold the interest and keep the movie very watchable. Eddie Redmayne may be a little too precise in his female mannerisms and to me he always looks like he's about to burst into tears but he certainly convinces as Einar/Lily and elicits our sympathy. We're fearful of him being ridiculed as his female alter ego and we feel disgust for those who bully him for not conforming. This goes quite a way to erasing the memories of Redmayne's very odd turn in Jupiter Ascending. I just reminded you of that, right? Sorry.

And if Redmayne is good, then Alicia Vikander is even better. As Gerda, she is called upon to be the emotional anchor for Einar and the emotional journey her character takes is just as complex as that of her husband. Vikander has an ineffable screen presence and she plays Gerda with a great deal of care, giving a fine performance that, for me, is the reason to see the movie. Matthias Schoenarts and Sebastian Koch are effective as, respectively, Einar's childhood friend Hans and the kindly, forward thinking Dr. Warnerkros but it's Vikander that walks off with the honours here.

There's no doubt that this is a production of no little quality with fabulous period detail, beautiful locations and an exceptional cast. I believe the main thing that holds The Danish Girl back from being a truly excellent film it that it fails to show the same bravery in its portrayal of transgender issues as Lily Elbe demonstrated when confronting the attitudes of a society that didn't, couldn't and wouldn't understand her situation.



More review stuff and other 140-character shenanigans on Twitter! @darren_gaskell

RIDE ALONG 2

Starring: Kevin Hart, Ice Cube, Tika Sumpter
Writers: Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi
Director: Tim Story

After the box-office success of the first Ride Along movie, Ice Cube and Kevin Hart return for a second helping of mismatched buddy action. Ben (Hart) is now a rookie cop but he's still being a pain in the arse to hotshot detective James (Cube), not least because he's about to marry James' sister Angela (Sumpter) and he's pestering to assist on a drug case which will take them to Miami.

Did I say rookie cop? Just checked, yes I did. That makes him the perfect candidate to help crack a major drug ring in Miami. Still, this is Ride Along 2 and James thinks that if Ben fails to prove himself on a real investigation it will end his daydreams of being a supercop. James' boss doesn't seem to mind that a clearly unqualified officer is pursuing a lead on a drugs baron and Angela would like Ben out of the way for a few days to stop him clashing with the wedding planner, so hey, why not? Hey, I was free for a few days, how come I didn't get the call to join them in Florida?

Okay, this is hardly Heat in terms of the police procedural details so I'd generally be willing to cut this kind of action comedy some slack but the plot is just a series of convenient discoveries and Macguffins upon which to hang chases, shootouts and Cube-Hart comedy banter. This would be fine if the chases, shootouts and comedy banter were up to scratch but unfortunately they aren't.

This is not to say that Ride Along 2 is awful. It isn't. It's competently made, it's reasonably well acted and it has a couple of amusing sequences. The problem I had is that it's just so formulaic and goes through the motions in such a depressingly programmed way that I was checking my watch to the point where I thought it had stopped. The script is really at fault here, falling way short in terms of either laughs or thrills, falling back on some of the laziest stereotypes it's possible to cram into a comedy cop movie.

Take Olivia Munn as tough, feisty Florida 'tec Maya. We know she can handle herself because she incapacitates Ben on their first meeting. We know she's feisty because she can give as good as she gets in the snappy dialogue department. However, her character's main area of expertise seems to be that she has boobs. Which means she turns up to one location wearing a sports bra - Hey, look guys! Boobs! - and then uses said boobs, squeezed into a slinky dress, to distract drug lord Antonio Pope (a luckless Benjamin Bratt) whilst Ben is trying to steal files from Pope's computer. Maya is apparently an ace cop, crack shot and skilled driver but BOOBS. Got that? BOOBS.

Back to poor old Benjamin Bratt, saddled with a bad guy role so ineffectual that I was left thinking that there must be another, bigger, badder bad guy behind him. No, Antonio Pope is not only a stupefyingly dull businessman but he's also a stupefyingly dull villain to boot, possessing all the threat of a minor ailment and becoming the unwelcome recipient of the screenplay's very worst lines. Pope is the sort of guy Hans Gruber would send to pick up his laundry.

I say all of this with a certain amount of frustration because if these performers had actually been handed something with even a smidge of potential I'm sure the results would have been much more satisfying. It's obvious that Cube and Hart play really well off each other and it's testament to both of them that this remains just about watchable. If the material had matched their talents then I could have well been talking about something special. As it is, Ride Along 2 is a disappointing, join-the-dots enterprise which squanders the considerable skills of its participants.

Ride Along 2? Nah, it's okay, I'll walk.



Want to know when I'll next spout random crap about movies? Follow me on Twitter: @darren_gaskell

THE REVENANT

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domnhall Gleeson
Writers: Mark L. Smith, Alejandro González Iñárritu
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu

 

Frontiersman Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) is attempting to lead a hunting party back to safety when he's mauled by a bear and severely injured. Captain Andrew Henry (Gleeson) asks for volunteers to stay back and tend to Glass while he goes to get help. One of these volunteers is John Fitzgerald (Hardy) who hardly waits for Henry to disappear over the horizon before he's murdered Glass's half-Pawnee son and left the frontiersman for dead. But Glass is made of much sterner stuff, fighting for survival in a forbidding landscape and driven by revenge...

Let me begin by saying that The Revenant is a film that many of you will not like. It's over two and a half hours long. There are long stretches of this where there is absolutely no dialogue at all and when you do get dialogue it's often delivered in a molasses-thick accent by Hardy or a croaked couple of words from DiCaprio. The violence is grimy and bloody. The plot consists of suffering piled upon suffering piled upon suffering. Like the sound of it?

And yet, even though all of this would seem to be a formula for one of the least watchable movies ever it's a breathtaking, riveting journey which immerses the viewer in the action right from the off with a jaw-dropping opening in which Henry's group struggles desperately to escape from a sustained attack by a group of Arikara Indians. It's a nightmarish set-piece, gorgeously and clearly filmed by ace cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, perfectly capturing the confusion and terror of being besieged by a quick, intelligent, ferocious enemy. From a technical viewpoint, it's one of several "how the hell did they do that?" scenes this film can boast.

There's very little let up either. It's not long until Glass unfortunately happens upon the aforementioned bear, which is another remarkably-crafted sequence, a prolonged, terrifying and merciless fight between man and beast which is so up close and personal that the bear's breath fogs the camera at one point. And even when all of that's done and you're trying to catch your breath (again), The Revenant has only hit the 45-minute mark.

Yes, it may be something of an endurance test but what a superb and powerful piece of cinema Iñárritu has created here. Equalling his commitment to the material is the astonishingly accomplished cast, headed up by DiCaprio who has been rightly tipped for Oscar glory here. He is Glass and the frontier is his home, whether he's plotting the safest course through unforgiving terrain or chowing down on raw fish or bloody chunks of bison. 

Hardy is, of course, outstanding too, giving Fitzgerald huge depth and making him a fascinating villain. His actions may be nigh on impossible to forgive but it's understandable why he makes the decisions he does. Gleeson is first-rate as the somewhat out-of-his-depth Henry, as is Will Poulter as the young, conflicted Bridger, a boy attempting to grow up quickly in a world of grizzled, disillusioned men.

Very much like its locations, The Revenant is beautiful and bleak, sublime and savage. It may not be a movie you will want to watch over and over again but it will only take one viewing to make its mark.



Want to know when my next review is up? Follow me on Twitter: @darren_gaskell

THE HATEFUL EIGHT

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Director: Quentin Tarantino

Bounty hunter John Ruth (Russell) is transporting his prisoner Daisy Domergue (Leigh) to the town of Red Rock, where Ruth will collect ten thousand dollars and Daisy will hang. A blizzard forces them to take shelter in a cabin where others have taken refuge from the severe weather. It soon becomes abundantly clear that something ain't right...

In the interests of full disclosure I'll admit that I'm something of a fan of Quentin Tarantino's. Reservoir Dogs is, in my opinion, one of the greatest movies ever made. I've lost count of how many times I've seen it and I can quote entire scenes worth of dialogue. Ask me what I think Madonna's song Like A Virgin is about.

And yet whilst I think The Hateful Eight is good, it's not great. There are things in its nearly three-hour running time (I was part of the non-70mm screening crowd) that don't work for me. The fact that it's nearly three hours is one of those things. The first half - dare I actually say this? - drags a lot more than it ought to. The second half, where the plot really picks up and you're plunged into primo Tarantino territory, is thoroughly entertaining but that first hour is really going to test the patience of some.

And yet, even though the second half is chock-full of QT's signature funny/nasty shenanigans it's sort of a retread of Reservoir Dogs in that it's a bunch of guys in one location trying to work out who isn't who they say they are. Yes, Ruth and fellow traveller Marquis (Jackson) are taken in slightly different directions to Mr White, Mr Pink et al but the echoes of Tarantino's peerless debut are hard to shake.

Maybe it's because I am such a fan of Quentin Tarantino and that I look forward to a new film of his so much that my expectations are always stratospherically high, which is probably going to mean that I can only be disappointed. However, I really did try to reign in my excitement for this one, viewing it with rationality as opposed to being a drooling fanboy.

The thing is, you should still go to see this because a somewhat underpowered film from Mr Tarantino is a whole lot better than the best output of many other directors. The cinematography is stunning and wrings the maximum possible out of the wide-wide-widescreen format. Ennio Morricone's score has all the classic Western ticks and beats. As you'd expect, there are chucklesome one-liners and lengthy speeches delivered by actors having a ball with the material they've been given. And yes, there's startling, OTT violence.

As for the performances, there's not a duff one in sight. Samuel L. Jackson has rarely been better, Kurt Russell is suitably terrific, Walton Goggins and Tim Roth are hilarious....the list goes on. It's clear to see they're enjoying themselves and that enthusiasm for their roles leaps from the screen. It's just a shame that it takes so long for everyone to come together and bounce salty dialogue off each other.

Is it a masterpiece? Well, considering the previous paragraphs, it's obvious that I don't believe it is. However, it's certainly well-crafted and has many inspired moments. A bit of judicious editing wouldn't have gone amiss, that's all.

MY TOP TEN MOVIES OF 2015

So here it is, folks, my Top Ten Films of 2015. Some of these films may not have been made in 2015 but I saw them in 2015 and that's what makes them eligible for the list.

The films are listed in purely alphabetical order. It was hard enough to pick a Top Ten, let alone rank them...


AMY

Asif Kapadia's heartbreaking documentary shows the young Amy Winehouse as a pleasant, funny and talented individual who loves to hang out with her friends, wants to sing the songs she loves and doesn't care about fame. Knowing how the story ends makes these early scenes particularly poignant and it shows what Amy could - and should - have been if her sudden rise to prominence had been handled differently.

The second half of the movie becomes more and more difficult to watch as the paparazzi descend on the poor girl, her lifestyle somehow having been deemed public property when she probably should have been left alone. The constant flashes of dozens of cameras are hard enough to take when watching on a screen so I can't even begin to comprehend what it's like when you're the subject. It left me with the feeling that the public's need to scrutinise every aspect of a celebrity's existence means we were all complicit in Amy's tragic demise and I left the cinema both upset and angry. Skilfully done, Mr Kapadia, that's the sign of a powerful piece of work.

BAIT

Dominic Brunt's follow-up to relationship drama/zombie infection hybrid (I will never tire of typing that) Before Dawn sees best friends Bex and Dawn (Victoria Smurfit and Joanne Mitchell, both excellent) pursuing their dream of opening their own cafe with a little help from benefactor Jeremy (Jonathan Slinger) who agrees to invest some of the cash upfront to get them started. Problem is, Jeremy's a loan shark and, as his intimidation tactics become more and more violent, there seems to be no way out.

Uncompromising, brutal and with 2015's most despicable bad guy in the shape of Slinger, Bait is an accomplished horror/thriller which features two well-developed central characters we genuinely fear for when bad things begin to happen. Even Slinger isn't a one-dimensional rent-a-psycho, demonstrating a calm, calculating, businesslike approach to even the most hideous acts of terrorisation. You'll still be absolutely desperate for him to get his comeuppance though.

With genuine thrills, a story that gets straight down to its grimy business and a memorably bloody climax, Bait delivers on every level. And for a fraction of the cost of your average Hollywood attempt at something similar. Which would be nowhere near as good, by the way. 

EX MACHINA

Whizkid programmer Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is invited by the CEO of his company (a to spend a week at his private estate in order to fully test the artificial intelligence of state-of-the-art robot Ava (Alicia Vikander) in Alex Garland's sci-fi mind-bender, offering up big questions about what it means to be human and whether a machine could ever come close to replicating that experience.

Vikander excels as Ava, delivering a subtly off-kilter performance which is supplemented by absolutely beautiful effects work, painting a thoroughly credible picture of the next step in A.I. It's thrilling, it's funny and its payoff was something I wasn't quite expecting. You will probably be asking yourself an inordinate amount of questions, as I was, once the end credits begin to roll.

THE GIFT

Joel Edgerton writes, directs, produces and acts in this smart, suspenseful tale which sees married couple Simon and Robyn (Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall) relocate to California in search of a fresh start where they run the into the somewhat odd Gordo (Edgerton), an old acquaintance of Simon's. At this point you'd be right to expect the familiar stalker movie playbook to be run but proceedings take an unexpected turn and the plot evolves into something far more intriguing and satisfying whilst still delivering a couple of quality scares.

Edgerton is excellent, constantly keeping the audience off-balance by having Gordo be unrelentingly awkward and downright strange throughout so you're never sure if he's harmless or just very good at pretending to be that way. Acting honours here though go to Jason Bateman whose facade slowly, surely begins to crack over the course of the movie and reveals something much darker and disturbing underneath. The nicest gift of 2015, a thriller that subverts expectations and delivers a fine conclusion that doesn't descend into the gorefest so many other directors would have opted for.

HE NEVER DIED

My favourite movie from this year's Celluloid Screams festival features Henry Rollins as Jack, a curmudgeonly type with a very, very, very long list of previous jobs, a murky secret and a daughter he never knew he had showing up out of nowhere to disturb his routine of watching TV, playing bingo and frequenting his local diner, where potential romance with caring waitress Cara could blossom if only he wasn't so bloody morose. Well, that and the fact that....but we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Comedy horror is notoriously difficult to get right but He Never Died is adept at wringing both the yuks and the yucks out of its premise. There are plenty of hilarious moments (Rollins' deadpan reaction to almost everything that befalls him - be it mundane or extreme - is particularly amusing) but the laughs are never allowed to undermine the genuinely nasty twists and turns of the story. More adventures of Jack, please!

STEVE JOBS

Certainly not to everyone's taste - if you're not a fan of the Aaron Sorkin's trademark rapid-fire walk/talk schtick then two hours of it isn't going to win you over, nor is its overtly theatrical three act structure, each act a different product launch (Macintosh, NeXTcube, iMac, in that order) and portraying a different crossroads in the life of Steve Jobs. Then there's Steve Jobs himself of course, complex, controversial and possibly not the most sympathetic of characters at the best of times. In fact, there are more than a few things about this film that appear to be putting you off watching it.

Don't be put off. This is talky, but the dialogue is snappy, it's barbed, it's funny. You'll need to keep listening as well for seeds that are planted in Act One but don't bear fruit until Act Three. So you're not convinced by the clever-clever script? Well, I don't know why you wouldn't be but, in that case, see it for Michael Fassbender's performance. His portrayal of Steve Jobs shows a man who doesn't need to be adored as long as he fulfils his vision. Yes, he's a dick quite a lot of the time but you can see why. You won't come away from this hating Steve Jobs - you might not love him but you'll certainly understand him. You want a more sympathetic character? Kate Winslet plays someone nice in this. You'll like her. Come on guys, Danny Boyle directed this! He's great! Just watch it, okay?

STILL ALICE

Linguistics professor Alice Howland (Julianne Moore) is diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in a movie that have been an easy target for criticism regarding Oscar bait but treats its story and its characters with a credibility and sensitivity that I hope would have won over most of the cynics. The performances are great across the board in this, but Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart and, of course, Julianne Moore herself are worthy of a special mention.

Free of the soapy histrionics that plague too many movies of this kind, what you're left with is a warm, resonant and profoundly affecting look at how Alice and her family tries to come to terms with such a life-changing event. There are no easy answers nor does this film suggest so.

I'll admit that I sat in my car after the screening and couldn't drive away for several minutes because I was sobbing into the steering wheel. To whoever waited for that parking space until I got my act together, your patience was appreciated. I'm sorry couldn't see who you were, everything was still a bit blurry.

THEY LOOK LIKE PEOPLE

Perry Blackshear's micro-budgeted tale of rekindled friendship and suffocating paranoia is a masterclass in using limited resources to their absolute maximum. A cross between an indie bromance and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, best buds Christian and Wyatt find themselves hanging out together again after a long time apart. Christian listens to a lot of self-help advice on his media player. Wyatt listens to people on the phone telling him that the apocalypse is coming and he is one of the chosen few who will battle the evil creatures intent on taking over the planet...

If I've made this sound a little wacky let me assure you that TLLP plays it absolutely straight, steadily cranking up the feeling of dread and throwing in the odd unexpected jolt to really set the nerves jangling. The final fifteen minutes delivers tension like nothing else I've experienced in a long while, building to a moment which had the entire Celluloid Screams audience holding their breath. The conclusion is brilliantly handled but that's all I'll say, there's no giving the game away here.

It's possible that you may watch this and wonder why I was waxing so lyrical about it but you should seek this out because it's something truly different. Personally, I thought it was wonderful and shows that horror has far more to say as a genre than just having a bunch of college kids being killed by an axe-wielding maniac (although, done well, there's nothing wrong with that either).

WHIPLASH

A movie about drumming that's shot as if it was a thriller. complete with a towering, terrifying performance from J.K. Simmons as Fletcher, the tyrannical conductor of a music conservatory's jazz band who will stop at nothing to unlock the potential he sees in student Neiman, played by Miles Teller.

Simmons, as Fletcher, is simultaneously horrible and hilarious, barking blistering criticism at his stumbling charges all in the pursuit of ultimate greatness. It would be easy for Teller to be overshadowed in what is a much less showy role but he plays off Simmons well and when push comes to shove Neiman isn't exactly the most likeable of people either. He's just a sweetheart next to Fletcher. Hell, anyone's a sweetheart next to Fletcher.

Exhausting, intense but ultimately uplifting and chock-full of great music, Whiplash provided an early 2015 treat which was seldom bettered.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Just outside the Top Ten but still a must-see. Again, they're listed in alphabetical order as follows:

Ant-Man - A lower-key Marvel superhero movie, played as a comedy heist thriller? Yes, please.

Foxcatcher - Superb performances from Carell, Tatum and Ruffalo in a shocking true story.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night - Ana Lily Amirpour's striking, stunningly shot black and white vampire tale with an iconic performance from Sheila Vand.

John Wick - Action nirvana as Keanu Reeves almost makes me forget he was in Knock Knock by kicking some serious arse. And Lovejoy's in it!

Mad Max: Fury Road - It's a two-hour chase. But it's an AMAZING two-hour chase with some truly bonkers stuntwork.

The Overnight - Patrick Bryce's offbeat, chucklesome tale of a family playdate that turns very odd very quickly.

Straight Outta Compton - Great, energetic N.W.A. biopic that only sags when contract wrangling comes into it. Peerless tunes though.

The Voices - Ryan Reynolds as the world's nicest murderer with talking pets and a couple of talking heads in his refrigerator. See it for psychotic, misanthropic cat Mr. Whiskers if nothing else.

We Are Still Here - Ted Geoghegan's atmospheric, Fulci-inflected possessed house movie with Barbara Crampton, a ton of atmosphere and something unspeakably nasty in the basement. 

While We're Young - Fortysomethings Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts befriend twentysomethings Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried in Noah Baumbach's rather fine comedy/drama.

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson

Writer: Charles Leavitt

Director: Ron Howard

Massachusetts, 1850. Author Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) is carrying out research for his latest book and is particularly interested in the ill-fated voyage of a whaleship called Essex which has led him to a boarding house and its proprietor Tom Nickerson (Gleeson), reputed to be the last surviving member of the Essex's crew. Initially Nickerson refuses to divulge any information to Melville but Nickerson's wife insists that her husband rids himself of the torment which has plagued him through the years and so the tale begins, with Nickerson as a 14-year-old greenhorn witnessing not only a battle between whalers and whales but between George Pollard (Benjamin Walker), Captain of the Essex and First Mate Owen Chase (Hemsworth)...

Despite the obvious CGI on display here, Ron Howard has delivered a resolutely old school seafaring saga in which men are men and whales are brutally slaughtered for oil. The hunting sequences have an undeniable sense of style and tension but I feel I should warn potential viewers that whilst the movie pulls back on the full gory horror it still shows enough to demonstrate what a tough and questionable job it was even back then. As far as I'm concerned, the movie is showing exactly how things were back then - whale oil was a commodity and there was never a shortage of men looking to profit from that commodity. I can't say I didn't feel uneasy watching those sequences but the reality is presented here, as difficult as it may be to take.

Of course, a voyage wouldn't be known as "ill-fated" if something didn't go desperately and tragically awry and the second half of the movie piles on the grimness for the crew of the Essex as things go from bad to very bad to even worse than that. Supplies dwindle and the previously unthinkable has to be considered. This isn't so much feelgood as feel worried then feel shocked and then feel slightly nauseous.

Given the rather bleak goings-on this is still a mostly engaging yarn due to its effective action sequences and some fine performances, notably Gleeson as the haunted Nickerson and Hemsworth as the unflappable Chase. It's a shame that we don't learn too much about Cillian Murphy's character, in fact we learn so little about his character that I was annoyed about the astonishing waste of Murphy's talent. Also, the clash between Captain Pollard and his spiky First Mate Chase doesn't possess the dramatic heft it should, taking a back seat when it ought to be front and centre. It also doesn't help that the character of Pollard is given very little depth, which makes the confrontations rather lopsided - Chase seems the very essence of seafaring knowledge and Pollard seems like a bit of a twit.

As a matter of fact, save for the parts played by Hemsworth and Gleeson, the characterisations are sketchy to say the least. And, if I'm being really honest, Gleeson's role isn't the most complex but he has more to work with than almost everyone else in the cast and he elevates the proceedings with some deft, sympathetic playing.

So what we have here is an old-fashioned adventure yarn with a somewhat less old-fashioned darker edge, crafted by a director who's shown time and again that he knows what makes audiences tick. It teems with quality thesping talent. Who knows, with a favourable prevailing wind, ITHOTS could have been something special but it finds itself in the doldrums too often to make it the voyage of a lifetime. Having said that - and pausing to apologise for my dreadful nautical punnery - there's still enough here on balance to make it just about worth your time but it's a long way from being one of Ron Howard's best.