Starring: Mel Gibson, Renee Russo, Gary Sinise & Lili Taylor
Directed by: Ron Howard
DVD Review **
At last, a strong, solid thriller to get the juices flowing. Straightforwardly effective in a Fugitive sort of way, it's also equally gripping.
Rich self-made airline tycoon Gibson has it all. Oh, except his son, who has been kidnapped at an outdoor event. The kidnappers demand 2 million, and Gibson and Russo are set to pay up, with the knowledge that 7 out of 10 victims come back safe and sound.
Despite a trailer which says way too much yet again, and far more than I have here, it is better to just go with the flow on this one. The film works since all the decisions taken are rational, reasonable or understandable, and the audience goes with the parents on their gut-wrenching journey. Cleverly, the wealth of the parents works to gain the audiences sympathy, since it removes all distractions - they can afford the ransom easily, but how can they guarantee the safety of their son?
The cast are all on top form, the direction sure and steady (Howard on form again), and the script excellent - the bad guys are particularly strong, believable and three dimensional.
What emerges is a theme of official law enforcement versus vigilantes, and it does play into the hands of the 'ave-a-go culture at times. But as a story, and a piece of nail biting entertainment, it's hard to fault.
Starring:Jonathan Pryce, Johnny Lee Miller
Directed by: Giles McKinnon
Story of a WW1 war hero sent to a psychiatric hospital in Scotland following his questioning of the war's direction. Filled with tortured conversations about the meaning of life and poetry, the film comes over as a chattering classes stage play. Plenty of horror and doom, but no life and little perceived reality.
Starring: Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Jeff Goldblum & Harry Shearer
Directed by: Philip Kaufman
DVD Review ****
This is a film that time has inexplicably forgot. Particularly strange given that, as a piece of history telling the story of the US/USSR space race in the 50's and 60's, the film itself really is almost timeless.
The story begins in a remote Californian Air Force base, following the daredevil test pilots trying to break the sound barrier. These people are deemed to contain the right titular "stuff" by the newly formed NASA, and duly sign up to an alternately gruelling and bizarre program that equips them for the even more dangerous rigours of space travel.
This is jolly entertaining, if a tad indulgent in its early stages and containing at least one too many "I'm gonna push the envelope" shouting matches. The incredibly strong cast are uniformly excellent, none more so than the FBI double act of then debutante Goldblum and the Simpson's Harry Shearer. Having apparently wandered in from a completely different movie, the pair are hysterical as they advise a bumbling government and go on a recruitment drive.
Director Kaufman somehow just about keeps it all on track though, and (ignoring the frequently horribly dated music) adds atmosphere and flourishes to what could have just been drab history.
Starring: Nicholas Cage, Sean Connery and Ed Harris
Directed by: Michael Bay
America is, of course, renowned for it's theme parks. But The Rock demonstrates that Disneyland, Universal and Wet 'n Wild have a hot new contender - Alcatraz.
Ed Harris is holding the US government to ransom with his biological weapons, set up on the ex-prison and aimed at sunny San Francisco. A crack government team is dispatched, but after all these years Alcatraz is still as inpenetrable as ever, as this time it's - hey! - stopping people getting in. The team includes FBI Chemical expert and Volvo driver Cage, and Connery - a man who doesn't officially exist and the only person to escape the prison in the bad old days.
If things are a bit patchy up until this point (what on earth is going on in the car chase?), the fun starts on the island. Cage and Connery have a right old laugh killing bad guys, and this is where "Alcatraz - The Ride!" comes in. Old mining trains, suspended cable-car cages, rotating hammers and firebursts are just some of the hitherto unknown thrills that would have been available to all the inmates. Why, it's the happiest place on earth! It's tremendous nonsense, and the bonus is that Ed Harris has an above average and interesting bad guy to portray.
Since all this is supposed to take place out of the public's eye, it's odd that no-one seems to notice that the zillion-trips-a-day tourist boats are gathering barnacles back at the pier. Still, who cares about the plot? Can I have another go?
Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion ** (Short Review)
Starring:Lisa Kudrow, Mira Sorvino & Jeanne Garofalo
Directed by: David Mirkin
Great cast of female leads flounder with poor material. Two kooky friends travel back to their High School Reunion - no surprises there, then - inventing a tall tale of success to impress ex-schoolmates. Characters neither funny or likeable enough to really engage, with Garofalo in particular wasted.
All reviews / articles copyright Guy Rowland (1998).