Review: 'Spy' - Intrigue can be hilarious

Spy

Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Jude Law, Jason Statham, Miranda Hart

Directed By: Paul Feig

Written By: Paul Feig

117 Minutes     Rated MA

Melissa McCarthy is a very funny woman; great timing and places herself in situations that lend themselves to a hearty laugh. She makes brave and wise choices and brings delight to an audience – ah how refreshing is that when you go to a cinema these days.

This comedic confection is a send up of Bond, Spooks and a bit of Bourne. When Jude Law as super spy Bradley Fine is ‘taken care of’ by nasty Rayna Boyanov(splendidly played by Rose Byrne although she needs to return Gillian Anderson’s annoying Brit accent to her) Melissa as Susan Cooper steps up to avert nuclear destruction and give Byrne what for. She has been in the ear of Law as his guide in tricky situations literally speaking into his earpiece and warning him of where baddies are when Law is trying to take them down. It’s a sexy little deceit and works well as a good stepping off point for the film.

Beautiful shots of Paris and Budapest were particularly thrilling and the staging showed this relatively ‘small’ comedy had a hefty budget.

Melissa carries the film perfectly, Law is splendid as Bradley Fine  (I could see him as the next Bond but maybe that ambiguous sexuality would be too much for the diehards), Byrne works well and Bobby Cannavale (Byrne’s real life partner) puts in a good turn as Baddie number two. Add Jason Statham as the big talking but incompetent agent Rick Ford for some delightful self-deprecation of an action hero.  If that isn’t enough the incredible and incomparable Miranda Hart steps away from TV (‘Miranda’ and ‘Call the Midwife’)to steal her scenes while giving perfect support to Melissa and showing the big screen is ready for her.

Action aplenty with the suitable infusion of slapstick, car chases and comedy business makes this film simply a really good hoot. Oh sure it’s tosh and it lacks sophistication but frankly I don’t give a good god-damn. I cringed at times with some of the corniness for sure but mostly I laughed and laughed. Paul Feig wrote and directed another of my favorite comedies ‘Bridesmaids’ and he has done another hilarious job again.

I notice some reviews question the film’s feminist credentials while others hail it as a benchmark for celebrating the feminine hero. I have to say I did not notice any particular emphasis on whether the main characters/heroes were male or female. To me it was a story of a spy and her antics in dealing with baddies and some of her less able cohorts. I’m not sure how it fares on the Bechdel test; there are two women in it who talk to each other and not about the men as ‘men’ so it ticks boxes but really was that deliberate or just the way it turned out?  Call me stupid but I was simply looking for entertainment and I got what I wanted.

If ‘Mad Max’ is too popular to get into, ‘Woman in Gold’ not your cup of tea or ‘A Royal Night Out’ is your idea of self-flagellation then I unreservedly recommended ‘Spy’ to you.

3 ½  out of 5

Review: Testament of Youth - A Testament to Movies

Testament of Youth

Starring: Alicia Vikander, Kit Harrington, Taron Egerton, Dominic West, Emily Watson

Written by: Juliette Towhidi based on the autobiography of Vera Brittain

Directed by: James Kent

129 minutes    Rated: M

I remember the TV mini-series ‘Testament of Youth’ back in the early 80s. It was of its time and produced to reflect the style of historic drama that BBC and Granada excelled in. It was in the ‘Brideshead Revisited’, ‘Glittering Prizes’ and ‘I Claudius’ stable. Those Brit dramas nourished us here when the closest we came were the ABC dramas such as ‘Seven Little Australians’ and ‘Power Without Glory’, great shows but could have been superb with a few more dollars and a sincere commitment.

I read the first book in the trilogy as a result of enjoying the TV series. So my memories of the story are warm and nostalgic. Forty years on the BBC has had another go at the story under its BBC Films label.

Vera Brittain’s part memoir is about the period in her life when she served as a nurse in the First World War. Enveloping this captivating story are her Oxford years, her love life and her brother’s war story. She is a woman of privilege confronted by a world of tragic equanimity and tragedy, heartache and hardship.

Vera is played (surprisingly) by Swedish actor and dancer Alicia Vikander, who bears an uncanny

likeness to a young(er) Keira Knightly and what a great job she does. We last saw her in ‘Anna Karenina’ and ‘A Royal Affair’ where she shone. This time again her performance is nuanced, eloquent and sharp. She is quite a presence on screen and someone to watch in the future. 

Vera is introduced to one of her brother’s friends Roland Leighton quite nicely acted by Kit Harrington. We ‘Game of Thrones’ fans are pleased to see Jon Snow step out of the Blackwatch garb, shed the beard and gel back the hair. I liked his performance although his grin grated a bit. Not sure why he used the grin because it never ‘appears’ in GOT so can’t be a ‘natural’ expression. The relationship between Roland and Vera is convincing and touching which enables the twists of fate that ensue to be most effective.

Playing a key role is Taron Egerton as V’s brother Edward. As the centrepiece to the three males and Vera’s connection he melds it all expertly and delivers the character beautifully. The subtle reference to his sexuality (apparently much debated after the book’s publication)is handled well and given no more weight than a mild ‘oh I see’.

Other acting commendations go to Dominic West and the ubiquitous Emily Watson as the parental Brittains, Colin Morgan as Victor, Miranda Richardson gorgeous and effecting as Miss Lorimer and the almost always delightful Joanna Scanlon as Aunt Belle (don’t remember her from the original series but thought she added great color to the movie).

There are some beautiful visuals, a wonderful palette and delightful countryside. There are two terrific scenes, one in the camp hospital in France where the camera sweeps out over a field of soldiers on stretchers and another set of shots to convey the passing of time and season rather poignantly showing beautiful scenes but not one person or creature in them.

For a film that places the horror of war at its centre it is remarkable that we see no battles or bullets, well done. A lesson to Hollywood!

I did feel the relationship of the ‘three musketeers’ was not given any exposition, how did the three guys know each other and become so obviously close. The book definitely introduces Edward of course but also how he came to have Edward and especially Victor in his close circle. I don’t know why some simple dialogue wasn’t given to explain this. Surely the book isn’t that well-read now that every audience (or even most) member would know.

My other quibble is with the initial beach scene between Roland and Vera. There is a very odd POV to the scene and it lasts the whole scene. Roland faces to camera with a slight turn to camera right while Vera face almost perfect left profile. It is awkward and odd and I didn’t get it as it is then broken with a long shot where they face each other and Roland isn’t turned away from her in the manner the POV suggests. Thankfully it didn’t turn out to be some ‘clever’ theme for the rest of the film.

Vera was a pioneer in many ways and went on to establish herself as a fine novelist and an important advocate of women’s place in British society and politics. She even produced a strong political figure in her daughter Shirley Williams (Baroness Williams of Crosby), the Labour minister and one of the founders of the Liberal Democrats. Not bad for a girl who was likely destined to be a ‘gal in the country’ or at best an article writer for the local newspaper.  It’s always interesting to ponder on the ‘what ifs’ and for Vera if she hadn’t been awarded an exhibition at Oxford which  got her (after the horrendous exam) into Somerville first studying English and then, after the war, Modern History who knows what might have been.

Apart from my quibbles above the direction of James Kent is really fine and he delivers this well told story with an exceptional cast and gave me more than a couple of teary moments. You know when you consider the cast was heavily laden with TV actors we might be finally at a point where we can throw away the perception that TV actors aren’t ‘quite up to it’ when it comes to other mediums such as film or stage. Frankly I’d buy a ticket to see Messrs West, Harrington, Egerton and Scanlon in whatever they appeared in.

Grab the tissues and find a cinema to let this heartfelt, restrained gem wash over you.

4 out of 5

Review: Boychoir the Sounds of Heaven with Reservations

BOYCHOIR

Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates, Eddie Izzard, Debra Winger, Kevin McHale, Garrett Wareing

Directed by: Francois Girard
Screenplay:  Ben Ripley

109 minutes Rated: PG

When an 11 year old Texan boy with a magical singing voice ends up at the National Boychoir Academy it’s just got to turn out well doesn’t it? Add to that the kid has ‘issues’, not clearly defined but mainly spontaneous anger perhaps stemming from a drunken mother (oh well she dies), and there’s some sour to add to the sugar.

Francois Girard directs ‘Boychoir’ adequately but not exceptionally. It is tight at times and sloppy at others.  What he does do well is give us a story of a voiceless young man finding his voice through song and the choir. That is done convincingly and assuredly but that doesn’t always carry over to some of the performances and the script.

Hoffman’s performance has been lauded but I think there are significant lapses and falling back on technique and ‘tricks’ in his portrayal of the rigid choirmaster Carvelle. He often comes into a scene delivers a line or a pithy retort and then (invariably) walks out. That gets tiresome quickly and really doesn’t fit in with the arrogant and self-confident character he otherwise appears to be. I think he

would stand his ground every time until there was compliant silence and then maybe go but the petulant storming off was odd. He is also uneven in his delivery, sometimes dramatic and theatrical and other times natural, soft and endearing. The mix (and I think both styles were valid for this character) was not even handed and sometimes not logical.

At times Hoffman was in fact shown up by Garrett Wareing making his big screen debut as Stet. He is a bit unassured and awkward at times but somehow that fits in with the ‘troubled’ and confused angry kid. The script never requires him to have the redemptive ‘Oscar speech’ which might have tested his acting licks but I believed his performance and that’s a key goal to kick surely.

The usually reliable and ‘truthful’ Kathy Bates also struggled at times, only really rising in one dramatic moment. I think she was meant to be dominant and a bit feared but she seemed very wishy washy and hesitant.

The stand out for me was Debra Winger who featured at the beginning and returned towards the end. Playing the head of the young boy’s school Ms Steel, and his advocate, she was completely believable and strong.  We don’t see her enough in movies and I hope this is the platform to see more of her.

Eddie Izzard as Drake, is also a good ‘baddie’ but suffers from it being underwritten. He makes a good fist of the role but its thinness necessitates an archness that might otherwise not have been so if better written.

‘Glee’ graduate Kevin McHale throws away his wheelchair to put in a great, warm performance as Woolly the teacher. I look forward to seeing more of him in the years to come. He has a nice naturalness and his relationships with the choir and his ‘management’ colleagues convinced.

Josh Lucas has a small but pivotal role as Stet‘s father. It is surprisingly well written for such a small role and helps to produce a good performance which has a number of levels that he treks through very well. The same qualities he brought to ‘Red Dog’ show in this film and demands he gets the same sort of meaty and demanding roles that the likes of Ryan Gosling and Matthew McConaghey get, he is equal to the task.

Thinking about it, shouldn’t a film with characters named Stet, Woolly, Drake and Steel be (yet) another Marvel instalment? Tangent…

There is a lot to like about ‘Boy Choir’ and I did. The beautiful, beautiful voices in the choir scenes, the emotional points and the sheer decency of the story are what make the film. I was a weepy mess for a while after (poor man at the coffee shop must have worried whether I was distressed by the froth on my cappuccino). Attention to filmmaking and acting aspects plus another draft of the script would have made it unmissable.

Wait for the DVD.

3 out of 5