MOVIES
The Sunday Age
Sunday March 27, 2011
RATING: 2.5/5THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU(M, 106 minutes). On general releaseAfter he falls in love with a free-spirited young woman, a politician finds himself at odds with a mysterious group of suited men bent on recalibrating reality. Starring Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie, John Slattery and Terence Stamp, writer George Nolfi's directorial debut is a loose embellishment of a 1954 Philip K. Dick short story and is enjoyable hokum until it surrenders to its cornball inclinations.RATING: 3.5/5BARNEY'S VERSION(M, 139 minutes). On general releaseAs Barney remembers it, and his version (conveyed in flashback) is all we have to go on, he's not as contemptible as many around him seem to think. Adapted from Mordechai Richler's 1997 novel, Richard J. Lewis' drama is distinguished by fine performances by Paul Giamatti and Rosamund Pike, and is especially noteworthy for the way it manages, finally, to make the plight of a character as thoroughly dislikeable as Barney so moving.RATING: 4/5BIUTIFUL(MA, 147 minutes). On general releaseIn Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's drama, the outstanding Spanish actor Javier Bardem plays a man who is facing his own mortality and the result is a sustained, mesmeric performance full of flawed humanity. Bardem's Uxbal is a small-time fixer who lives in Barcelona's underbelly and as his end approaches, he desperately tries to tend to his splintered family. By putting aside multiple storylines and juxtaposed outcomes to focus on one man, Inarritu has made his best work to date. Craig MathiesonRATING: 3.5/5BRIAN ENO: ANOTHER GREEN WORLD(18+, 60 minutes). At ACMI from Friday to April 4According to Bono, British composer-artist Brian Eno is "a mind-expanding drug". Frequently glimpsed only through his influence on others, from Roxy Music through U2 to Coldplay, he's front and centre in this absorbing documentary, made for the BBC's Arena series. Reflecting on his influences, his work as an artist and his desire to escape the straitjackets imposed on people like him, he emerges as a creative and intellectual force to be reckoned with.RATING: 3/5THE COMPANY MEN(M, 104 minutes). On general releaseHeadlined by a strong performance by the resurgent Ben Affleck as a successful business executive who simply cannot grasp his and his family's new circumstances after he's laid off, The Company Men is a cleanly made drama about the sudden savaging of white-collar ranks in America during the global financial crisis. The finale veers suddenly towards the optimistic, but much of the film is a telling commentary on boom-time excesses and how employment becomes your identity. CMTHE FRENCH FILM FESTIVALEnds today at the Como, Balwyn, Westgarth, Kino and Brighton Bay cinemasAmong the offerings on the final day of this year's festival is Olivier Assayas' 155-minute reshaping of his 330-minute TV series Carlos (2010) about the notorious terrorist who became known as "the Jackal". Assayas says he originally conceived the project as a feature designed to move beyond the conventional media stereotypes that characterised his subject's career. Absorbing viewing, it boasts an intense performance by Venezuelan actor Edgar Ramirez as Carlos.RATING: 3.5/5GRIFF THE INVISIBLE(M, 92 minutes). On general releaseNothing is quite as it seems in writer-director Leon Ford's appealing feature debut, both a superhero satire with a difference and a gentle romantic comedy. Ryan Kwanten plays the superhero-wannabe whose life seems to be running off the rails until he meets a kindred spirit (Maeve Dermody). It's a refreshingly original tale about two misfits trying to get their act together.RATING: 2.5/5HOWL(MA15+, 83 minutes). At the NovaSince 1978, documentary filmmaker Rob Epstein has been charting the recent history of homosexuality in the US, at first alone (Word Is Out, The Times of Harvey Milk) and then with Jeffrey Friedman (Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt, The Celluloid Closet). Their new film deals with beat poet Allen Ginsberg and the 1957 obscenity trial of his poem, Howl. Mixing readings, dramatisations featuring a powerhouse cast (including James Franco as Ginsberg) and animations, it's equally fascinating and infuriating.RATING: 4/5KiSS ME AGAIN(MA15+, 150 minutes). On limited releaseEmotions are running on overdrive in writer-director Gabriele Muccino's moving 10-years-on sequel to 2001's The Last Kiss. All of the characters from the earlier film are living with the aftermath of the mistakes they've made. Starring Stefano Accorsi, Vittoria Puccini, Giorgio Pasotti and Pierfrancesco Favino.RATING: 2/5LIMITLESS(M, 105 minutes). On general releaseBased on Alan Glynn's 2001 first-person confessional novel and starring Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish and Robert De Niro, Neil Burger's thriller tells the story of a down-and-out New York writer who's transformed into an upmarket wheeler-dealer by a wonder drug that allows him to access 100 per cent of the information in his brain. The problem is there are side effects and consequences, even if the film ends up sidestepping too many of them.
© 2011 The Sunday Age
