Category: REVIEWS

Uncut Gems: BRWC LFF Review

Fresh from the success of the terrific Heaven Knows What and the wonderfully absorbing Good Time, the Safdie Brothers’ latest film is a roller-coaster of thrills from start to finish, proving themselves once again to be true masters of suspense cinema, capable of unnerving any audience. 

In Uncut Gems, Adam Sandler plays a jewellery dealer with a mountain of debts, facing a race against time for his life, in a New York-based crime thriller that carries a level of grit not seen in Hollywood for many years. It has a particularly authentic feel to it, thanks in large part to the raw and chaotic style that the Safdie Brothers have now perfected.

This is an absolute masterclass in tense, pulse-racing cinema, designed to discomfort the viewer in the best way imaginable. It’s genuinely edge-of-your-seat stuff, and the erratic nature of it all is at once unsafe, unnerving and unpredictable. 

In amongst the thrills are plenty of legitimate laughs, in what could only be considered a black comedy in the strongest possible sense. It’s certainly not for everyone, carrying with it the potential of being either your favourite film of the year or your least favourite, but those who find themselves wrapped up in it will find it impossible to forget. 

Of course, the main talking point with this film is that of the terrific central performance from Adam Sandler, who proves once again that, when given strong material, he is an extremely capable dramatic actor. Much like Punch-Drunk Love and The Meyerowitz Stories, the range in his performance is admirable, and much credit must go to the Safdie Brothers for their work with actors, as we saw with Robert Pattinson’s career-defining turn in Good Time.

Adam Sandler is a difficult man for film lovers to like. In many ways, the films he makes and the way he conducts those productions represents the very worst of Hollywood and just how shallow mainstream cinema has become, but its testament to his performance that these preconceived opinions are largely forgotten after about three minutes, with films like Grown Ups and Jack and Jill a distant memory. He is outstanding in this film, in a role that utilises both his dramatic and comedic talents, and that’s really all that matters. 

Uncut Gems is utterly relentless from start to finish; a true force of nature that is excruciating to sit through yet impossible to look away from. Its provocative style will prove no doubt to be divisive, but those who engage with it will be rewarded with one of the most high-pressure, adrenaline-fueled American films in years. 

Bad Education: BRWC LFF Review.

Having first burst onto the scene in 2017 with the astonishingly brilliant Thoroughbreds, Cory Finley’s sophomore picture is a real-life tale of a school embezzlement scandal that took place in the early 2000s. 

Bad Education is, as one might expect, a whip-smart black comedy, tackling dark themes in a satirical and often highly cynical fashion. Unlike Thoroughbreds, Finley is not the writer here, although it’s fascinating to see that Mike Makowsky penned the script, having attended the school himself at the time of the scandal. His keen, observational eye is present on the screen, with the story meticulously playing out in a manner that always feels natural. 

Finley has a real knack for visual storytelling; his willingness to make even the most mundane of conversations as enticing as possible really helping to bring the story to life. A less inventive filmmaker may have wound up with a fairly forgettable production, but Finley admirably wants his films to be memorable for his audiences, finding entertainment value in the most genuinely distressing situations. This talent is present in both of his features, and there’s no question of an intrigue around what he might do next. Thoroughbreds and Bad Education are, if nothing else, films from an artist with a unique perspective on the world. 

Hugh Jackman is on top-form here, with one of the strongest performances of his career as Frank Tassone, a fascinating and multi-layered protagonist, while the supporting cast add to the film’s energy and drive, with Allison Janney and Geraldine Viswanathan in particular producing stellar work here. 

Ironically, Bad Education is one big lesson; a study in self-preservation, and how the world really works. It’s as infuriating as it should be, but a lesson that feels arguably more potent now than ever, and Finley’s approach is snarky, intelligent and wickedly funny. 

The film’s themes, while socially relevant, are not quite as interesting or refreshing as in Finley’s masterful debut, so it sadly lacks the same qualities that made Thoroughbreds so special and unique, but it’s just clever and entertaining enough to work. Bad Education is an extremely witty and well-constructed, razor-sharp black comedy, and a strong reminder of just how good an actor Jackman can be in the right role. 

Moffie: Review

In Oliver Hermanus’ unflinching look at homophobia during Apartheid-era South Africa, 18-year-old Nicholas must hide his sexual tendencies while completing his two years of mandatory military service, amid the country’s conflict with Angola. 

Moffie is certainly not perfect, with clear-pacing issues slowing the film down, and a third act that loses itself completely, but what works simply works too well for it to matter. This is mostly an exceptional film; one that hits all the necessary emotional beats and gets across its messages without preaching to its audience or detracting from its central story and characters. 

There’s no denying that Moffie is excruciatingly tough to sit through, with Hermanus offering us a brutally realistic portrayal of the systemic homophobia at play here. The majority of the film takes place in an army boot camp, with violence and behaviour comparable to war itself, and the soldiers subjected to awful treatment, nothing short of undeserved and unwarranted. In this country at this time, the general view is that there isn’t much worse than being gay, and this isn’t something Hermanus has shied away from. His film gets under your skin in a meaningful and memorable way. 

What makes Moffie powerful and moving, in spite of the brutal nature of many of its scenes, is the relationship at the heart of it. Nicholas’ plight is made more difficult by Stassen, a fellow soldier who he immediately feels a connection to. This bond is never oversold. It’s perfectly played, understated and real, with Kai Luke Brummer’s central performance convincingly layered enough to sell it, despite the minimal screen time they actually share. It’s this relationship that makes the otherwise difficult story worth sitting through, if only for the glimmers of hope it offers on rare occasions that maybe, just maybe, this will turn out okay. 

Moffie is utterly remorseless and unbearably difficult to watch at times, while still being a visceral, tender and poignant look at human connection. It’s a film that will stick with you long after the credits have rolled and one that rises above its minor flaws to drive its message home.

Fire Will Come. With a title like that you know you are in for something vicious. It is the story of two people, Amador and Lois. Lois is a young firefighter, part of a troop that specializes in forest fires. Whereas, Amador, on the other end of the spectrum, is an arsonist. Before long a huge fire starts to sweep the land – one which Amador is accused of starting. The two of them find themselves crossing paths as the fire keeps on burning.

Fire Will Come is not one of those dramatic takes on a natural disaster that big budget studios like to put out. You know the ones – where a rising star takes the lead as bigger and older names pop up here and there, as everyone reflects on what is important in life. And thank our lucky stars that it’s as far away from Roland Emmerich as you can get. No, this Galician-language film is a slow-burning (no pun intended) display of visual and audio storytelling.

The opening scene has a bulldozer charging its way through a forest – felling trees in its wake. It’s a simple image. Some might even call it a mundane thing. But the visuals are dark. There are shadows everywhere, with only the orange light of the dozer lighting up the scene. The dozer itself is the brightest point of the scene as it carries on felling the forest. And the sound is claustrophobic.

When it had started, I thought that, for a minute, I had put the wrong film on – that I had accidentally mixed it up with a monster movie or some fantasy with dragons. This is because the screen just roars itself to life. There’s deep growling everywhere – the only other noise being that of the trees. It doesn’t take a genius to work out what this represents. 

That is exactly what the rest of the film is like. It is powerful. It grips you early and it carries on with such imagery. It feels hot, just like there is an actual fire ready to seep out of your screen. It’s scary yet fascinating, just like fire.

The performances are good across the board, although I will admit that none of them are anything special. The characters are interesting and do help you get through the film as you are watching it. But I must admit that I do struggle to remember them after watching it.

The same can be said for simple dialogue scenes. When Fire Will Come needs to take it slow and simply let the dialogue carry a scene – it doesn’t fall flat exactly – it is considerably weaker than the rest of the film.

Fire Will Come will not win any awards for dialogue or slower moments. But to be fair, there are not what the film is about. This is a film of powerful images and unsettling noises. And as such, it is powerful. Undermining that would be as unnecessary as complaining about a lack of plot in a John Wick film. It’s not an easy watch, nor a quick one despite a shorter runtime.

But the imagery and sound design blend together so perfectly that it becomes a unique film that is certainly worth your time.