Jay-Kavanaugh Reviews

Death at a Funeral (2007)

Funny but not very British

[6/10 · 29 January 2008]

Anyone who makes a comedy about a funeral and manages to pull it off deserves a medal and this is certainly one hilarious movie. It sails so close to the edge, no, it sails _on_ the edge and still manages to stay just on the right side of decency.

The characters are all very well acted although Simon played by Alan Tudyk was definitely my favourite, completely out of his tree after accidentally taking acid.

Although I really enjoyed this film, I still found something not quite right with it. I really wasn't sure what it was until I read some other comments here and then I realised that it's really not a typical British film even though it's trying very hard to be one. The problem is a distinct lack of subtlety. If you watch any of the Ealing comedies or Carry-On films, you don't actually hear people cursing or see people covered in human excrement even though the implication might be there. It's as if the director lost confidence in the audience. Quite a shame really because he obviously knew what he was doing.

Contact (1997)

Inside this mess is an excellent film struggling to get out

[7/10 · 21 November 2005]

My expectations for this film were very high. I'm a sci-fi fan and it recently made a top ten list of sci-fi films. In the end I found it a mixture of excellence and drivel. The excellence includes Jodie Foster, always good value and she doesn't disappoint here. The plot is first rate too. Not completely original, being loosely based on 'This Island Earth' but takes it in a new and interesting direction.

So the film obviously started on the right track but then the makers went down to their local 'film-scripts-R-us' where they spent approximately £1.50 and the result was worth every penny. The first 30 minutes of the film is totally irrelevant. I found one very small event that had something to do with the main plot but you would miss even that if you blinked. The middle part of the film is a series of unconnected sub-plots that leave you wondering when the main feature is going to start. We also have the Hollywood Standard Romance (TM) bolted on the side which clutters an already cluttered film. The result of all this is a film that feels way too artificial and I didn't get any feeling of involvement.

The mystery and action when it did eventually start was crammed into the last part of the film and left more questions than it answered. There seems to be a fairly significant plot hole as well. Not wishing to give anything away but consider the message that was sent and then the explanation of it later on. Doesn't add up.

Yet somehow in all this chaos is a really original idea. I just wish the makers would have had a bit more courage to make more of it.

The Pacifier (2005)

Surprisingly fun and a lot better than I expected!

[7/10 · 7 August 2005]

I really don't understand why I liked this movie but I did. It's daft, the plot is completely unbelievable and the acting is over the top in places but somehow it just all falls together and it's a really fun movie.

Perhaps it's the dysfunctional family (simpsons anybody?) or the way tough-guy Vin Diesel plays his character tongue-in-cheek. Whatever, this movie is full of laughs and the acting is great all round. The kids all give good performances and their characters are more believable than in most movies.

I don't usually like these type of movies (Kindergarten cop had me squirming in my seat) but this is definitely recommended if you don't want something too taxing on the brain.

True Crime (1999)

Predictable and unbelievable

[3/10 · 7 August 2005]

This is a really bad film. Clint Eastwood stars as an aging newspaper reporter who tries to prove a man on death row is innocent. He does a reasonable job but he's fighting an uphill struggle against a predictable plot and a formulaic script and it rather seems that his heart wasn't in it this time.

Both the main characters are rather unbelievable. Clint looks about 90 years old in this movie and the idea of him spending half his time in bed with various women takes the biscuit. The convict (played by Isaiah Washington) is also unconvincing, having apparently transformed from a small time criminal into some sort of philosopher. This seems to be some attempt to drive home the anti capital punishment message but just makes the whole thing look laughable.

Well at least I didn't have to pay to see this one (saw it on the plane).

The Butterfly Effect (2004)

Original and entertaining

[8/10 · 16 January 2005]

This is certainly an excellent film. It's strengths are originality and an intelligent script that really makes you think. It's quite a relief to be free from all the formulaic nonsense that Hollywood usually pumps out. The plot centres around a young man (Evan) who finds he can go back in time and change history but gets more than he bargains for. This sort of plot is a minefield but the film pulls it off pretty well. There are a few minor holes in the plot (well if he knew that then why didn't he...) but it didn't really detract from the story at all. The plot is also less than subtle at times, never completely over the top but some of the events could have been a bit less extreme.

The acting is fine. Some people here have commented on the casting but I didn't have any problems with it, in fact I thought the characters were generally pretty good.

So I guess I'd give this an 8/10. It loses one point for lack of subtlety and one for (possibly impossible to fill) plot holes.

Léon: The Professional (1994)

A masterpiece (but don't bother with the American version)

[13 November 2004]

A highly enjoyable and involving film. The basis of the film is the relationship between hit-man Leon (played by Jean Reno) and Matilda (played by a rather young Natalie Portman). Following the murder of her family, Matilda moves in with Leon, not that he has much choice it seems. There, she tries to persuade Leon to teach her the tools of the trade so she can get her revenge.

What made this film for me was the main characters. The tension between them is gradually built up, without ever going over the top. Reno and Portman are perfectly cast and their acting is flawless. Stansfield, played by Gary Oldman is a rather demented police chief and although good, is a little too far fetched for my liking.

I was lucky enough to watch the international version. It appears that they cut nearly half an hour of character development out of the American version (presumably because the Americans couldn't cope with it, bless 'em) and this leaves the whole film rather confusing and pointless. Each to their own.

The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

Good special effects.

[18 October 2004]

Saw this on a long-haul flight a couple of weeks back and it was a toss-up between watching it or reading the in-flight magazines. The movie won but only just.

The basis of the film is that global warming disrupts the ocean currents and plunges the earth into an ice age. This happens so suddenly that people are stranded and planes crash etc. etc. The rest of the film is about groups of survivors trying to make it back to civilization.

Although there were a few good bits, notably the special effects, the film as a whole was fairly tiresome. For a start, the main disaster happens far too early with very little suspense or build-up. Then we're back to the standard formula of assorted groups of people trying to get to wherever they are supposed to be going. The characters are largely unbelievable and the script is totally inane. And how is it when someone has been traveling for days they still look like they're dressed up for a night on the town?

The science in this film is really appalling. Nothing wrong with the basic idea of global warming but it's full of physics-defying events that left me groaning with despair. Guess I shouldn't be too surprised by this but this is a film with a real ecological message so to get the facts so wrong won't do the cause any good at all.

Well if you treat this as a piece of fun and something to see on a rainy afternoon its OK.

Withnail & I (1987)

Brilliant but maybe too close for comfort

[24 August 2004]

This is one excellent film. I think you have to be English to really appreciate it, maybe even to understand it. What was really scary though was how accurately it mirrored people I actually knew at university. Apart from the main characters who I'm sure were living just across the street from me, there the dope dealing room mate, the rich 'eccentric' uncle with the house in the country, the drunken barman and the poacher, well I've met them all too.

I guess what makes the film so good is that it finds so much humour in real life situations (maybe rather extreme real life, but real life none the less) and doesn't have to wander off into fantasy land. Oh that other film makers would do the same.

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

A bit wide of the mark

[22 August 2004]

Unlike in the US, the European press has generally been pretty anti the Iraq war all along, so the general feeling this side of the pond was that something fishy was going on, even if we didn't quite know what it was. So it was with great interest that I watched this film. Now the first part seemed pretty good. All our fears were confirmed about what Bush & co were doing and I was left with the feeling that any doubts that the US administration were a bunch of cowboys were totally misfounded.

The second part of the film I found pretty distasteful though. It basically concentrates on the civilian and US military casualties and is very obviously grossly biased. Apparently Iraq was full of shiny happy people before the US invaded. I think not.

So not entirely happy with the film as a whole, I did some research on the web. I can recommend Dave Kopel's site (amongst others) to provide 'the case for the defense' as it were. Studying these sites was a very enlightening experience. Suddenly a lot of 'facts' in the film were much less clear and I was amazed how I had allowed myself to be mislead on some issues. Just shows the real power of the media.

So this film is definitely a 'must see'. But don't watch it in isolation.

And finally, given that in places the film is such an obvious distortion and given that this will likely create a backlash, could it be that Moore is actually a republican?

12 Monkeys (1995)

La Jetee is better

[21 August 2004]

To me this film was a bit of a disappointment. Definitely not a bad film but the feel of it doesn't seem to sit comfortably. For a start it's a rip-off of La Jetee (and this is admitted in the titles at the start). La Jetee was very artistic with no real pretentions to be any sort of adventure film. The Twelve Monkeys tries to be both and ends up being neither. You are led into believing this is has a solid, well thought out plot and then suddenly something really stupid happens. Well that's fine for an 'art' film but this just isn't imaginative enough to be one of those.

I think probably Terry Gilliam is trying to be something he isn't. The Time Bandits and especially Brazil were brilliant films simply because they weren't trying to copy anything. I'm eagerly waiting for his next film but meanwhile this one goes to the back of the drawer.

Collateral (2004)

Yawn

[19 August 2004]

Well this film starts well enough. Foxx is a rather wacky cab driver in LA who goes on a roller coaster ride after picking up hit man Tom Cruise. The idea is fun to start with and the acting is top banana. Tom Cruise is especially fine as the almost mechanical Vincent and Foxx's character is the perfect compliment.

The setting of LA is pretty boring to be honest. It means the film has the feel of a TV cop series.

The real problem though is that you can pretty much guess the entire plot after the first 30 minutes. There are no plot twists or surprises and everything has been done before. Has no-one in Hollywood got ANY imagination?

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

Waste of a good idea.

[16 November 2003]

This is an OK action movie but it should have been so much more. Terminator and terminator 2 were landmark films but this is just unimaginative, even trashy. I guess I didn't actually hate it but I really hope someone remakes this properly in a few years time.

Dark Star (1974)

Cult classic

[3 November 2003]

Well OK this may not the most enjoyable film I've seen but it is certainly one of the most unique and cynical films ever. I find myself pulling out the tape and watching it again every couple of years just to give myself a reality check with all the Hollywood tripe you get these days. To make the most of it you need to watch a couple of Star Trek episodes first and then watch this. Instead of the clean-cut, politically correct, join-the-dots films that are so common now, you get a feeling that this might just be the way life on a space ship would really be.

It was really way ahead of its time. People now comment that films like Star Wars and Alien were the first to make sci-fi more 'realistic' but Dark Star pre-dates both of them by several years. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is where Scott Ridley and George Lucas got some of their ideas.

Them! (1954)

Classic sci fi

[3 November 2003]

One of my all time favourties. It may be a bit dated, especially in the special effects department but the plot and acting are really good and for once the characters are (just about) believable. A few cliches maybe but in a way that adds to the film. I wasn't even born when this film was made but somehow I find it so much more entertaining than modern films.

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Great film, maybe a little over polished. Don't be put off by the subject.

[13 July 2003]

Before I saw this film I rather thought that it was going to be a difficult one to watch. Instead it takes the main areas of John Nash's life and and turns them into moving but still entertaining film. It's true the film doesn't really do justice to him and I would have preferred a slightly deeper insight into his rather complex life but I still found it fascinating.

Bowling for Columbine (2002)

Worth watching but obvious bias

[4 July 2003]

*Minor spoilers*

Well it seems the world is becoming polarised. There are those who love America and those who hate it. This movie is really intended for the latter. Having said that, it's an interesting viewpoint about how the media works in frightening people into buying guns. The problem with the film is that it falls into the same trap. By vilifying America with an all too obviously bias, it makes you suspicious about the motives of the makers of the film. I actually found myself feeling sympathy for the NRA. I guess there's a first time for everything!

The Others (2001)

Excellent all round!

[3 July 2003]

This is what a ghost story should be. Superb acting all round, a good plot and a really eerie atmosphere. You won't find any of the usual Hollywood cliches here. OK, I'm not saying it was perfect, there are a few minor flaws and a few people have said they spotted the twist at the end but so what? This was a pleasure to watch.

28 Days Later (2002)

Arty-farty filming ruined a good flick

[1 July 2003]

Good plot idea (although seems rather familiar to the 1970s BBC series 'survivor' or 'day of the Triffids'), but the film didn't really work for me and I found it more irritating than enjoyable. Some of the filming I thought was really impressive, particularly the early scenes which had real atmosphere. But they couldn't just leave it there could they? Nope, someone obviously got a new editing machine for Christmas and they weren't going to put it down. And why do people think it's clever to film everything in the rain and the dark? The resulting rapid-fire shots with strange angles and lighting meant that I really didn't follow a lot of the action, particularly towards the end and I don't think I could face seeing it again.