bencaandrew Reviews

Late Night (2019)

Could've achieved more, but nonetheless a fun, moving film.

[7/10 · 30 January 2021]

Late night is closer in structure to a Character driven romantic comedy than it is to anything else. Romance however is substituted for a platonic and strained relationship between talk show host/comedian (Emma Thompson) and aspiring writer (Mindy Kaling).

Overall the film presents a heartwarming story and provides a few laughs along the way, though this isn't the all out comedy some would expect.

The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019)

Fun, adventurous drama, for someone unfamiliar with the novel

[8/10 · 18 January 2021]

Let me start by saying I'm not familiar with the book, or indeed any other adaptations.

I imagine this is a blessing, from reading other reviews I'm sure this take on David Copperfield neglects many plot points that are crucial to underlying the themes of the novel, whilst at the same time exaggerating certain characters which some may see as diluting the storytelling.

Nonetheless, being blissfully ignorant of what I should have expected, I found this to be a delightful film full on fun and interesting characters, beautiful sets in bright colours, and still with some serious contemplation on the theme of class struggle.

Dev Patel carried this film superbly, with notably sharp performances from Tilda Swindon, Hugh Laurie, Peter Capaldi, Benedict Wong, and Daisy May-Cooper, among others. The film features a very diverse cast, which I'm sure for some dilutes the Charles Dickens period aspect, however in the world Iannucci creates this couldn't be less problematic. Every character being defined by his or her individuality is a key premise of the story as told in the film, and this is the only thing that is reflected in the casting. There is still an attempt to truly reflect the livelihoods and cultures that existed in Britain at the time, Iannucci only seems to try to remove ethnic origins from the equation in the world he creates, allowing the film to focus on class as the only significant cultural divide.

The majority of the screenplay is told from the perspective of David Copperfield through his own recollection, often from childhood. As such it exists in a realm of super realism, and Iannucci uses this incredibly well to create a fantastic world and bring a sense of escapism, set free by the power of imagination. Awareness of this is key however, to avoid confusion in scene transitions and exaggerated storytelling.

Overall, those who are willing to enjoy this adaptation with an open mind will find themselves immersed in a beautiful, heartwarming and incredibly funny world for the duration of 2 hours.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

Funny, yet touching and engaging drama

[8/10 · 5 November 2020]

A film based on a surreal yet true story set in a context that reflects many of the issues of today.

Whilst the plot can be complicated and surprisingly fast paced at times which can make it difficult to keep up, the overall storytelling and thematic evolution provides more than enough to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Touching upon racial tension, police brutality, political activism, and abuse of power, the film is furthermore stimulating and contemporary, yet remains accessible, comedic at times and crowd pleasing.

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Great songs, good dancing, disrespectful writing

[4/10 · 23 October 2020]

I had high hopes for this film. The Bee Gee's soundtrack and choreographed dance routines were undeniably fun, they alone would have merited a 7/8 were they tied together by some form of coherent storyline.

Alas, not only was the film edited into a series of unexplained events with little storytelling value, but the writing was consistently underlined with misogyny and ignorance. From start to finish antisocial behaviour was glorified from harassment to disorder and even the extremes of confrontational and sexual violence. These emotive scenes served no productive purpose in the film to elevate the level of character development other than to make abundantly clear the level of indifference members of production have for the women they imagined. None of the perpetrators of this violence and sexual aggression face punishment or even self-awareness, the only consequence being blaming of the victims and even in these scenes they weren't given a moment of focused storytelling.

Though the standards of the time were different, I struggle to believe this was ever an acceptable screenplay to produce. To have a male-orientated film is perfectly justifiable, yet to revolve this film around the conquest of females without giving one of those female characters a scene in which they weren't directly judged on sexuality or allowed a wider development shows a genuinely disgusting outlook on the part of the writers, in my personal opinion.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

A thrilling and satisfying conclusion

[9/10 · 30 April 2019]

Kevin Feige and the Russo Brothers have done a fantastic job here. The film is guilty of a fair amount of inevitable plot holes, for which it cannot be considered a 10/10; yet it does a fantastic job of bringing a worthy conclusion to the 22 MCU films so far. It succeeds in juggling the many character arcs, moving pieces and increasingly complicated storylines whilst keeping the movie focused and making room for some truly thrilling action sequences in addition to many laugh-out-loud moments.

It's certainly worth watching Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor 2: the Dark Wold, Avengers Assemble, Captain America the Winter Soldier or, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Doctor Strange and Thor Ragnarok at the least before viewing this film. As reflected by certain reviews, there are many parts of the film which would seem confusing or frankly boring without the knowledge of the various storylines involved, yet which will be of great interest to followers of the MCU.

Having watched this film I'm truly excited for phase 4 of the direction the MCU looks to be taking going forward.

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

A proud and poetic film, even if slow at times

[7/10 · 5 March 2019]

If Beale Street Could Talk is a film which deals with the notions of love, family, race, morality and faith. The premise is bold: A story about two lovers who conceive a child out of wedlock before one of them is accused of rape, potentially as a result of police discrimination. Yet this film doesn't rely on raw emotion, hatred and shock to hold the viewer, it deals with these controversial topics in a tasteful and stylistic manor. The score throughout the film is beautiful (perhaps excusing one particularly eccentric violinist) and carry's the viewer through many mundane scenes. However, these scenes are numerous, meaning the film is slow to take off. Many of the opening scenes attempt to make the viewer feel personally involved with close shot cameras in intimate domestic settings, however Barry Jenkins fails to make this work on the big scene, with many family moments feeling more suited to a stage production than a cinema. The performance of Regina King is powerful and merits her Oscar success, yet whilst the awards' spotlights have shone on her, the cast boasts a number of successful acting merits. With Kiki Layne, Stephan James, Teyonna Paris and Aunjanue Ellis putting in equally powerful performances. Having said that, Colman Domingo doesn't seem to gel with the other cast in family scenes, and Dave Franco fails again to show us that he's capable of playing anybody other than- Dave Franco- in a motion picture, despite his best efforts to fool us by this time wearing glasses and a kippah. Overall the film is a beautiful production which is well worth a watch on a quiet evening.

The Wife (I) (2017)

Interesting Character Journey

[6/10 · 4 March 2019]

The wife is not a film which will appeal to everyone. It's essentially a journey which revolves around and which is tailored to an academic elite. Furthermore, it's guilty of an overeliance on the interactions between Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce to carry the story, with little else in the way of cinematic influence and a lack of strong and convincing supporting roles. Despite this, this is still a powerful film with formidable performances by it's two leads.

A Star Is Born (2018)

Poetic and Moving film

[6/10 · 4 March 2019]

Bradley Cooper has delivered a powerful adaption of the previous films. The overall acting is superb, with Lady Gaga putting in a both seamless and moving performance, and with Sam Elliot going from strength to strength in his supporting role. Bradley Cooper is unlucky to have been snubbed for a best director, he pulled off some excellent crowd and tracking scenes. Furthermore the excellent cinematography was unlucky to be trumped by Roma for the Oscar.

It's understandable why there have been so many adaptations of this film, it's undoubtably a beautiful and poetic script which has a strong emotional grip of the viewer.

My main criticism of this film is that, for a love film, I don't think it dedicates enough attention to the falling in love of the main characters. This is the string that ties together all the major plot points and for me the main area that could be improved, as I feel the audience could be taken on that journey further to really empathise with the characters and make subsequent scenes even more powerful.

My final point, on a personal level, would be that the film deserved the many Oscar nominations it had. Nonetheless it was shameless at times, one or two scenes were disappointing to me and I think seeming 'artistic' was put ahead of integrity.

Roma (2018)

Neat, arty film

[7/10 · 4 March 2019]

You can see why this film was a favourite for Oscar nominations. The directing was undoubtedly superb: shocking and delicate scenes were dealt with tastefully and artistically. The long tracking shots from the perspective of Cleo (the maid) were both well executed and well purposed to allow the audience to experience the film from her perspective. This contributed to a melancholic yet comfortable tone which carries the viewer with ease through a somewhat mundane plot.

Overall this film is a good viewing experience which possesses some excellent scenes yet lacks much in the way of entertainment.

Green Book (2018)

Well Rounded Road Trip FIlm

[8/10 · 7 February 2019]

Peter Farrelly has done an excellent job here in what can be described as his debut into the genre of drama. Don't be misled however, this film is in no shortage of comic moments to be found in the partnership between Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali; which goes from strength to strength. It must be said that both fully are deserving their respective Oscar nominations. Furthermore, the issue of race is dealt with in a notably tasteful manor; underpinning the story plot by vividly portraying the struggles of a black man in Southern America. Nonetheless, the film succeeds in almost having a 'feel-good' theme with respect to the relationship between Dr Don Shirley and Tony Lip, which blossoms as their journey goes on, overcoming both their own respective prejudices and the prejudices of the people around them.

The Christmas Chronicles (2018)

Feel Good Christmas Adventure

[7/10 · 6 February 2019]

Has everything a classic should have, but with a modern twist.

The storyline is cliched, the lines are cheesy, and it's a film which generally tries a bit too hard to earn the title of family-film. Is this a bad thing? No, not at all, this film fits the bill perfectly as a 'feel good' Christmas film.

Vice (I) (2018)

Chilling Comedy

[8/10 · 27 January 2019]

Adam Mckay follows on from 'The Big Short' to deliver yet another chilling contemporary comedy. A well-researched and well executed film with great performances from the core cast. The frequent reminders of the fact that this film is based on recent verified history add a sinister touch to comedic elements which excites the viewing experience.

Bird Box (2018)

A rushed storyline but overall good experience

[7/10 · 10 January 2019]

This film is certainly worth a watch.

The omnipresent threat of the entities that incarnate your worst fear works its way into every aspect of the film, leaving you with an underlying tone of suspense and unease which creates a good overall viewing experience.

To its credit, the film starts of very strongly with a harrowing opening sequence. Further scenes, however, fail to live up to this standard and come off as underwhelming. This is partially due to the lack of development during the film for supporting characters, scenes that should provoque emotion simply fail to do so as the audience has little investment in the consequence.

I'd therefore disagree with those who say the film could've been 20 minutes long, I don't believe 2 hours was long enough for a plot involving so many different stages and different characters. My personal opinion would suggest that it would need a miniseries to do it justice: whilst the action/horror scenes would be yet more sparce, they would leave a far greater impression if the character(s) involved had been given more than just a couple developing scenes.

Hostiles (2017)

Harrowing

[9/10 · 9 January 2018]

Forget the talk of the film being slow, this isn't an action film or an old school shoot 'em up western, anyone looking for that should search elsewhere. Whilst there some great action scenes, where hostiles excels is in setting the tone for an early American world where law and order rest of gun power. The cinematography is exceptional, meanwhile Christian Bale is superb playing a army captain who is seemingly tough and unflinching but shows an undertone of melancholy, Rosamunde Pike pulls of a great performance as a woman thrust into the ugly world of war and anarchy by a brutal attack on her family home, a scene is exceptional and unapologetically shocking. Overall the film is about the futility of trying to civilise a wild land built on violence, and about the tragedy and the sheer pointlessness of conflict against fellow man.

In Bruges (2008)

Refreshing Dark Comedy

[8/10 · 9 January 2018]

Whilst the start of the film is somewhat slow and unconvincing, this sets the tone for the rest of the film, and a great tone at that. Collin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson have great chemistry as the two hitman friends, whilst Ralf Fiennes is exceptional in his role as the psychopathic boss. The funny moments are set up by earlier comments, and the ridiculous moments almost seem plausible thanks to the consistent alt-reality tone of the film and the great work of Collin Farrell and Ralf Fiennes to support this. The script is unapologetic in its potential for offense but well crafted and with great hidden meaning in the metaphors of purgatory etc. Overall this is a fun and relatively original film, well worth a watch.