Author: Rosalynn Try-Hane

The Caravan is a solid British drama. It’s the character driven vintage kind with nuanced performances from the central characters that make you think maybe it’s time for a caravan renaissance. The Caravan takes familial drama to the next level through tightly scripted dialogue by Chris Green and Simon Powell, the latter also directed the film. There are strong performances from Mark Sheals and Darren Connolly supported by the immensely talented Shirley Henderson and Karen Hassan.

Blame, redemption, father-son relationships, loss and sickness all play their part in this drama when Georgina Langley dies of cancer leaving behind her husband and son who haven’t spoken or been in the same room as each other for 5 years. Her dying wish expressed in her will is for them to reconcile by restoring the family caravan together – will they honour her wish or will their apparent hatred for each other triumph.

This is a film that could have turned into a melodramatic mess but it is held together by a script that reveals secrets along the way – a trail of breadcrumbs Hansel and Gretel style. There are no fireworks and there doesn’t need to be. This is what filmmaking is all about and the writers, Chris Green and Simon Powell, provide a scenario that touches on universal truths of forgiveness and loss. Whilst not everyone has lost a parent – you can lose a parent that is living by becoming complete strangers and secrets that seemed to be backed up by sound reasoning at the time lead to resentment and misunderstandings that can take years to understand forgive. The weaker elements of the film was the over use of the dramatic music whenever grief entered the shot totally unnecessary in my opinion and the final 5 minutes. For a film that tried and mostly succeeded for the most part to engage the viewer’s intelligence by allowing them to fill in the gaps the ending just felt forced.

Mark Sheals and Darren Connolly are the central reasons why this film works so well – they are convincing and relatable as the father and son who were once so close and are now strangers. The scene in which they toast their late wife and mother with whiskey is heartbreaking in it’s raw portrayal of loss and fragile forgiveness.

If you want to watch an intelligent, well made British character driven drama then download The Caravan which will be available from 16 March on digital release.

Well hello there Mr Grey: I came, saw and wouldn’t mind seeing you again in Part 2. Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson star as Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele in the film adaptation of 50 Shades of Grey.

Did you even bother reading the book? Well if you did wow you have stamina and if you didn’t you will be pleasantly surprised by what in my opinion was a poorly drafted trilogy of fan fiction turned into a visually aesthetically beautiful film with an above par soundtrack. The story is that of billionaire Christian Grey interviewed for the College newspaper by sweet, innocent, virginal Anastasia Steele. She falls for him and he tells her that’s not his thing but shows her his playroom – not an x box in site but a myriad of whips, rope etc. He wants her all to himself but will she sign up to his version of “love”.

The direction is incredible along with the cinematography although there are too many rain/thunder metaphors.The scriptwriter deserves a medal and Sam Taylor-Wood directs with a firm hand showing that sexy doesn’t have to mean naked bodies and sexual organs flailing all over the place. For a film that is all about BDSM, dominance and control the sexual tension and innuendos actually made me think back to old hollywood and An Affair To Remember – less is more and sometimes the viewer doesn’t need to see everything to be turned on. The weakest part of the film was in fact the character of Christian Grey. Jamie Dornan didn’t bring enough of that dark, psychopathic brilliance from his time in The Fall and beardless he just isn’t very sexy.

Consider this film as part 1 – a familiar entrée – you’ve had it before but can’t quite remember where and not as spicy but still tantalises the tastebuds. Part 2, and there will be a part 2, will bring the spice to awaken all your senses or at least that is the hope.

This is worth going to the cinema for, leave your expectations behind and relax and enjoy a visually beautiful film. 50 Shades of Grey is on general release everywhere in the UK.

The Boy Next Door must be hallucinating if he thinks this is a thriller. The film directed by Rob Cohen and starring and produced by Jennifer Lopez is the erotic thriller film you’ve seen innumerable times before but with added unintentional laughs splattered all through it.

The Boy Next Door is about Clare (Jennifer Lopez), a high school English Literature teacher recently separated from her cheating husband who meets the mysterious Noah (Ryan Guzman) who moved next door to help his sick great uncle. Her interest peaked and she gives into temptation with such a delicious young man who gives her a first edition of the Iliad but wait no papyrus well, of course not, as it’s a first edition of a translation of the Iliad. She allows him to devour her when he whispers to her: “No judgement, no rules, just us…let me love you Clare”. Some of the other lines I missed because of the howls of laughter.

The film takes on preposterous plot twists and the ending is just so ludicrous that it left the cinema audience howling with laughter. This is supposedly an erotic thriller of what happens when you make a mistake mixed with all consuming passion yet it doesn’t even manage to step into the shade let alone the light of the inimitable Fatal Attraction. However, I must admit that I haven’t laughed that much whilst watching a thriller and everyone else in the cinema laughed at all the dramatic moments.

If you want to watch a thriller then keep looking. However, if you are in need of a good belly laugh filled evening then The Boy Next Door delivers with it’s absurd and completely predictable “thriller” by numbers film.

In cinemas nationwide from 27 February 2015.