Rating: MMMMM

Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Running time: 112 mins
Cert: 12A

Last night I was lucky enough to get into a free preview screening of Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, the new film from director Edgar Wright, who also co-wrote the screenplay of this comic book adaptation. That’s Edgar ‘Spaced’ Wright. Edgar Shaun of the Dead Wright. Edgar Hot Fuzz Wright.

So those were my reasons for being OH SO VERY excited about seeing this movie – I hadn’t read the comic book or kept up with the pre-production gossip online, instead I’ve just spent a couple of months treasuring the lovely warm prospect of a new Wright film, and hoping that makes me laugh halfway as much as his previous collaborations with the glorious Pegg and Frost team. As I’m still utterly buzzing 12 hours after watching it, any fans worried that the hop across the pond may have meant a move away from the quirky, charmingly silly humour his previous British comedies were characterised by- well they can just start getting ridiculously excited instead.

As you’d expect from the trailer, we follow Scott Pilgrim in each of his visually awesome battles with the seven demented exes. Afterwards, we all agreed that Michael Cera was absolutely the perfect match for Scott’s dialogue, which was often very, very funny, but made hysterical by Cera’s faltering, understated manner. So many throwaway lines keep coming back to me that on paper just wouldn’t, but were perfect little moments that took me by surprise. I never want to see him in another Judd Apatow comedy- they’re not bad, but it would ruin the memory of him in this infinitely more quick-witted film.

The supporting characters in Scott Pilgrim’s world are far more hilariously drawn that I had any right to expect. You’re whipped into the quick-fire sarcasm of his bandmate friends, (who are endearing and are refreshingly not teeth-grindingly quirky as in so many indie flicks) and this made me more than happy to suspend my disbelief when all the really silly stuff kicked off. And boy does it ever kick off.
The action fits surprisingly well into the snowy Toronto setting, provided you’ve left enough of your cynicism at the door. Rather than realistic martial arts, expect instead to be left gawking at the comic book-capery it does so well. As far as I could see, no actual blood and gore will be strewn about in the final edit, which is entirely in keeping with the tone of the film and something I’m quite relieved about. Gore is all well and good in its place, but I felt the increasingly tragic zombifications towards the end of Shaun of the Dead really jarred with the slapstick at times.

Another thing we were agreed on was that the humour was far less exclusive than other slacker comedies, or indeed action comedies we’ve all seen recently. While the whole film is essentially both a very funny computer game AND comic book up on the big screen, with in-jokes to tickle die-hard nerds of either persuasion, none of this stops anyone else laughing. It didn’t matter in the slightest if you didn’t know where a pixelated gaming sight gag came from (for there are many) came from, it was still funny to me and every other person who can’t even play Mariokart successfully. There aren’t jokes for the lads, and token ones for their girlfriends, there is just joke after joke that will leave both sexes weak and spluttering at the memory long after.

Scott Pilgrim sets out to combine action, comedy and romance and does a damn fine job of blending the three throughout so that no aspects feel tacked on. Romance does however suffer slightly from a lack of screen-time- although Scott battles each evil ex for the love of the apparently too-cool-for-anything Ramona, I did wonder what exactly was so great about her that he would get beaten up seven times in a row. But the relentless action and humour didn’t leave me much time to ponder this, or the other issue that has since started to niggle at me. Will anyone else agree with me that maybe having our hero fight the exes for ownership of his girl is a little off-colour? Feisty though she is, Ramona falls victim to the ‘Bella Swan paradox’- the story revolves around her, but it’s largely the blokes who get to do all the fun action stuff. There is a wicked girly fight (calm down) but Buffy this ain’t.

The music gives the fight scenes some real fire power in my opinion, and is as integral to the film as the offbeat ‘kerpow!’ and ‘zap!’ animations that pop up at just the right moments to punctuate the very ordinary Toronto. To those literally-minded/boring people who may complain that this, and the action sequences are too zany and unrealistic, I will say that the weirdness of Scott Pilgrim’s world all comes directly from how teenage and 20/30-something slacker gamers might view things from a sideways angle. They spend days and nights solving puzzles, arming up and beating each level, a pattern which is seamlessly integrated (God knows how, it’s an utter miracle) into this story. The end result is gorgeous on screen, even to my pixel-blind eyes.

Although Edgar Wright was sitting RIGHT THERE in the cinema as I left the post-preview screening market research interview, there was something I just couldn’t bring myself to go up to him and say. So here it is:

“Edgar Wright, your television and film work has given me so much joy and will be forever embedded in my life. So much so, that a like, if not a love for ‘Spaced’ is an essential requirement for any boyfriends, past and future- I am completely incapable of sleeping with someone who hasn’t seen ‘Spaced’ and laughed like a fool with me at it.”

Ahem. While I can’t yet declare the same obsession for Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, it has pretty much blown his previous films out of the water. The same amount of love and attention to tiny funny details has gone into the film that made ‘Spaced’ so infinitely re-watchable. If Edgar Wright does not become a very rich man there is something very wrong with the world’s film viewing public.

Rating: MMMMM

Clint Eastwood’s latest film, Invictus tells the story of the true events that followed the 1994 election of Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa, and Mandela’s subsequent attempt to unite his fragile and divided country with the help of South African rugby captain, Francois Pienaar.

Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon,
Running time: 133 mins

Based on John Carlin’s bestselling book, ‘Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Changed a Nation’, Invictus begins just after the release of Nelson Mandela from prison – with one scene in particular capturing the separated nature of the country, presenting two playing fields bisected by a long road – on one side white schoolboys play rugby, on the other black children play football. In this scene along with many others (and coupled with the use of real archive footage) Eastwood clearly and simply presents South Africa as a culturally divided nation torn apart by apartheid, but one that Mandela (Morgan Freeman) aims to rebuild.

Following the dissolution of the apartheid system and the oppressive politics that went with it, there is feeling in the country that all symbols and remnants of white Afrikaner power should be disbanded in order to build a new South African identity. However, Mandela recognises that this could potentially deepen the cultural rift between whites and blacks. While attending a Springboks rugby match, Mandela realises that uniting the country behind the national team would be a great foundation on which to build the new South Africa. President Mandela therefore enlists the help of the Springboks’ captain, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) and the two work together to make the rubgy team an emblem of national unity and one that all South Africa could support.

From the outset, Invictus is a warm, intelligent, inspiring film that presents its vision of hope with impressive conviction and overwhelming power. The film boasts a great script, (which is in fact surprisingly funny as Freeman is given some charmingly pithy one-liners as Mandela) great performances and a wonderful spirit that will win over those not au fait with rugby, sport or knowledge of the period in South African history. Eastwood has delivered a beautiful film that combines wonderfully directed personal scenes (those between Mandela’s security team are great, as are those between the President and Pienaar), emotional and haunting moments (where Pienaar visits Mandela’s cell on Robben Island is wonderful) and fast-paced adrenaline-charged rugby sequences.

In a role he was seemingly born to play, Morgan Freeman is completely convincing as Nelson Mandela, possessing all the gravitas and presence needed to play the man who has become such a symbol of greatness and goodness around the world. While Freeman’s accent does falter at times, this is a minor problem in a performance that is otherwise pitch perfect – Mandela is never presented as all-knowing and godlike, but a man struggling with his own problems, living apart from his family and estranged from his wife.

Matt Damon is also very good as captain Francois Pienaar, lifting what could have been (in the face of the Mandela character) a fairly dull and quiet role into the realms of inspiration, particularly in the Robben Island sequences and the closing stages of the rugby world cup final between South Africa and the fearsome New Zealand All Blacks.

Invictus is a wonderful, charming and uplifting film that will satisfy sports fans and newcomers alike. Eastwood has produced a piece of work filled with moments of sheer joy that will have you misty-eyed and a sense of hope that will stay with you long after the credits have rolled. One of the best films of 2010 so far, just fantastic.

Rating: MMMMM

Review of British television show ‘Gavin and Stacey’ first published in a January 2009 issue of Spark*, the newspaper of Reading University Students’ Union.

“Oh?! What’s occurring?!?” asks Nessa, arguably the best conceived character of the plethora of offbeat personalities in BBC Three’s Gavin and Stacey. And what exactly is occurring with the show is something short of magical. Gavin is a boy from Billericay, Essex. Stacey is a girl from Barry, South Wales. Together they are the glue that holds together two very different social worlds that collide when Gavin and Stacey’s phone-call romance blossoms into relationship that “stretches across two nations”.

To make a comment on the plot of Gavin and Stacey would give away each series finale, and also it is unquestionably difficult for one reason: nothing much happens (although this is more true of the second series than the first). And surprisingly, this lack of major set-piece event is what makes the show truly inspired. To generate such witty and at times very poignant drama from admittedly day-to-day goings on, like Pam (Gavin’s mum) sending Mick (Gavin’s dad) to Tesco in search of vegetarian food.

Having said this, the sitcom certainly has its share of hilarious and comical situations, but the mileage from it really comes from the characters. Mathew Horne as Gavin and Joanna Page as Stacey are both excellent, giving convincing, sympathetic and wonderfully endearing performances. Despite them being the respective hero and heroine, it is other characters that steal the show – namely Bryn, Nessa and Smithy.

Rob Brydon is on top form as Stacey’s Uncle Bryn, an eccentric who gets very very excited about small things like his new sat-nav or digital camera, “It’s got sepia… although I think it’s faulty because it just makes everything look brown…” The aforementioned Nessa, Stacey’s best friend (played to perfection by the show’s co-writer Ruth Jones) is a wonderful creation, with such a colourful past that it is sometimes hard to keep up with her hilarious back-story. A few gems in Nessa’s past include: dating both Mohammed Al Fayed and Dodi Fayed, being one of the original members of All Saints, travelling the world on a cruise ship and working as a drug smuggler. Fellow co-writer James Corden plays Smithy (Gavin’s best mate) with aplomb, juxtaposing perfect comic timing with genuine pathos.

Gavin and Stacey is a genuinely heart-warming show which is both very sweet (but never overly sentimental) and utterly believable. The dialogue is uncompromisingly real, with none of the stagey sitcom writing seen in shows of lesser calibre, where everything is delivered with awful self-conscious smugness. Although not included in the series 1 and 2 set, the Christmas Special shown in December 2009 was an absolute joy, delivering yet more fresh, witty and wonderful Gavin and Stacey goodness. It’s enough to make you fancy a “tidy” omelette. Fabulous.

Rating: MMMMM

Review of the first season of hit US television show ‘The West Wing’, article first published in October 2008 issue of Spark*, the newspaper of Reading University Students’ Union.

If you thought ‘political drama’ was the veiled attempt at a Labour party leadership bid, or the exhaustive BBC coverage of the Labour party conference, think again. Despite it being almost straight-jacketed into the aforementioned genre label, The West Wing is far removed from those dull notions. Poignant, thought provoking, thoroughly engaging and often hilarious, this is drama at its best. It just happens to be political.

The show’s pilot episode, ‘Premiere’ sets the tone, atmosphere and verbal pace for the rest of the series – and it is this, the verbal exchange that is the jewel in the crown of The West Wing. Aaron Sorkin’s whipcrack dialogue and clever verbal sparring fires from the mouths of his exceptional characters, making for witty repartee rarely seen on primetime television: “the President, while riding a bicycle on vacation in Jacksonhall came to a sudden arboreal stop” – how White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry (the superb late John Spencer, who in fact sadly died during filming of season 7) describes how the President rode his bike into a tree. Although at times the lines are hard to keep pace with and the policy acronyms too copious (‘POTUS’, ‘DEA’, ‘DNC’, ‘ATWA’ etc), these are minor drawbacks in the face of such compelling viewing.

The primary reason for the show being so compelling (razor sharp dialogue aside)?  The characters. Each one, from aide Charlie Young (Dulé Hill), through to Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) is exceedingly well cast, bringing humour, pathos and genuine humanity to the screen. Richard Schiff as Communications Director Toby Ziegler shines particularly in the episode ‘In Excelsis Deo’ where a winter coat he gave to charity leads him to organising a funeral for a homeless Korean War veteran. Even the supporting roles (Mrs Landingham, Admiral Fitzwallace) are played to perfection. And with the ‘Leader of the Free World’ himself, President Josiah Bartlet being so well portrayed, US citizens could indeed be forgiven for exclaiming “don’t blame me, I voted for Martin Sheen!”

Unafraid to tackle controversial issues (and matters which still hold sway in Presidential election campaigns), The West Wing pulls no punches. Early in the series, members of the religious right meet with staffers in an attempt to procure an apology for an on-air insult (“Lady, the God you pray to is too busy getting indicted for tax fraud”), and consequently enter into a bargain exchange for a crackdown on pornography, condoms in schools (they say it like it’s a bad thing!) and the implementation of school prayer. Unluckily for the representatives of ‘The Lambs of God’, they don’t get too far:

Reverend: “If children can buy pornography on any street corner for $5, isn’t that too high a price to pay for free speech?”

President Bartlet: “No. On the other hand, I do think that $5 is too high a price to pay for pornography”.

Pure genius. Accused by some for being too liberal (causing the show to be dubbed “The Left Wing”) and criticised for glorifying all things American, you can see how the tone might grate after a while. But with drama this good, you’re too engaged to care!

Rating: MMMMM