The maddening winds of change

The Wind (1928)

Directed by Victor Sjostrom this film based on the novel of the same name stars Lillian Gish, Lars Hanson and Montagu Love. A young woman from Virginia moves out West to live with her cousin on an isolated ranch.

The story here is a fairly simple one but I really like the way that the wind works both as an example of the harshness of frontier life but also as a metaphor for the way that life can change you or cover up transgressions. While this is not exactly the story you think of when you think of a western I thought it worked really well. Lillian Gish is excellent in the lead role, a rarity in westerns of any era and there are some nice touches in the direction as well.

5/5

Man plays a man playing a woman playing a woman

Tootsie (1982)

Directed by Sydney Pollack this film stars Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr and Bill Murray. A New York actor finds that he is so hard to work with no one will hire him so he poses as a woman to gain a part in a soap.

The plot of this film is fairly standard rom-com fare but the man posing as woman gimmick puts a nice spin on things and allows for at least a superficial look at the differences between the genders. There are some pretty funny moments, especially the scene where all is revealed and the film does a good job of staying clear of what could have been the easy, more offensive humour. Bill Murray being in the film is a nice surprise but he is a little underused, Hoffman does a good job in the lead roles and carries the film.

4/5

Needs more Arkin

Stand Up Guys (2012)

Directed by Fisher Stevens this film stars Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, Alan Arkin and Addison Timlin. An ageing former gangster is let out after a 28 year stretch and meets up with a former college to celebrate his release.

You could say that this film is an easy watch, it never really challenges the viewer but always does just about enough to keep you focused. There are a few funny moments and while there are some good moments of the characters nostalgia the film does not deal with old age seriously. I would say all the best moments are when Alan Arkin are on screen but sadly this is not a big enough portion of the film on personality alone.

3/5

Lies and rubbish

Love and Honor (2013)

Directed by Danny Mooney this film based on a true story stars Liam Hemsworth, Austin Stowell, Teressa Palmer and Aimee Teegarden. Two soldiers on leave during the Vietnam war return home to find why one of their girlfriends has split up with them.

While this film may claim to be based on a true story I do wonder how much given that it conveniently hits so many of the standard genre beats. In a genre littered with great films this is one of the least nuanced about the Vietnam war and the main characters are all written really poorly. It is hard to find much to praise in this film and even the film making really fails to catch the cinematography of the era.

2/5

Reds in the beds

Reds (1981)

Co-written and directed by it's star Warren Beatty this film also features Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Maureen Stapleton. Two left leaning American reporters fall in love in on the eve of WW1 and travel to Russia during the revolution.

The plot of this film is very much the story of two people rather than the story of the world changing events they witness and I have to say I find that story less interesting. While the story does a fairly good job of showing the negative side of both the revolution and the fracturing politics of the period in the US I found the first third of the film spends far too long on opening relationship of the protagonists. At the time this film was nominated for a slew of Oscars (picking up three) but I found this film a rather slow and less interesting watch than other films on this subject.

3/5

Anarchy in the US

The Purge (2013)

Directed by James DeMonaco this film stars Ethan Hawke, Lena Headly, Max Burkholder and Adeliade Kane. In the near future on one night every year all laws are suspended to allow society a “pressure release”.

The plot of this film is clearly supposed to be a criticism of social conservatism, libertarianism and anarchists but I am not sure that it ever really goes far enough in exploring the reasons behind these philosophies. Ultimately the story is a fairly standard thriller that does not do much beyond the ordinary. Some of the action sequences are not bad but they lack much tension and a lot of the characters have little depth to them.

3/5

Savaging history

Savage Grace (2007)

Directed by Tom Kalin this film based on real events stars Julianne Moore, Stephen Dillane, Eddie Redmayne and Elena Anaya. Over several decades we follow the relationship of a socialite and her family as they have a number of unorthodox relationships.

It seems that at times the plot of this film strays from real events and it does not accurately represent character relationships. I would liked to have seen a larger focus on the son's decent into mental illness which seems like it should be the most important part of the story here. There are decent performances from the cast but there is rarely much exploration of why the characters act the way they do.

2/5