Trumbo (2015)
Genre: Drama
Certification: 12
Duration: 124 minutes
Directed by: Jay Roach
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Elle Fanning, Alan Tudyk, John Goodman
KRS Releasing Ltd

In 1947, Dalton Trumbo was Hollywood’s top screenwriter until he and other artists were jailed and blacklisted for their political beliefs.

The film, based on the biography Dalton Trumbo by Bruce Alexander Cook, recounts how Trumbo used words and wit to win two Academy Awards (best writing, The Brave One and Roman Holiday) and expose the absurdity and injustice of the blacklist, which entangled everyone from gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (Helen Mirren) to John Wayne, Kirk Douglas and Otto Preminger.

The tale begins in 1947, when Trumbo is summoned to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee and asked whether he has ever been a communist. He ends up jailed in 1950 for refusing to talk straight to Congress. In jail and out, in Hollywood and during a self-imposed exile in Mexico, Trumbo writes some 30 movies under different pseudonyms, which he never reveals. But during the 1967 Academy Award ceremonies, a certain Robert Rich is announced as the writer of the year’s best original screenplay, The Brave One, but no one came to pick up the award. Eventually, Trumbo is identified as the writer. In 1960, Trumbo returns triumphantly to the spotlight with the films Exodus and Spartacus.

Cranston has been praised for his role and is in fact nominated for an Oscar for best leading actor, but the film’s director and screenwriter did not get such positive comments.

Don Jolin of Empire Magazine wrote that Roach, who directed the light comedies Austin Powers and the Meet the Parents films, “lacks the flair to elevate Trumbo visually or structurally – it is broad and flat and straightforward chronological” but gives him credit for a “lightness of touch”. Were it not for Cranston, however, the critic says the director would not have pulled it off.

Meanwhile, Peter Debruge of Variety wrote: “John Mc-Namara’s stodgy screenplay seldom inspires more than mild chuckles, passing up a rich opportunity to satirise the political hypocrisy of the paranoid times it depicts.”

The film has earned around $8.1 million in box office receipts worldwide since its release last November.

Ratings
IMDB: 7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 73%
Empire Magazine: 3 stars

Thrill-seeking stunts are the order of the day in Point Break.

Point Break (2015)
Genre: Action
Certification: 12A
Duration: 114 minutes
Directed by: Ericson Core
Starring: Edgar Ramirez, Luke Bracey, Ray Winstone, Delroy Lindo and Teresa Palmer
KRS Releasing Ltd

The US-Chinese production is a reboot of the successful 1991 film of the same name, that starred Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze.

The plot sees thrill-seeking criminals performing a series of daredevil stunts to steal money and gems, only to give it away to the poor and less fortunate. A young recruit from the FBI, Johnny Utah (Luke Bracey taking over Reeves’s role) suspects that only extreme athletes could pull of these heists. So utilising his own special skills, he infiltrates the gang of thieves after befriending their charismatic leader, Bodhi (Edgar Ramirez). As Johnny experiences the rush of their lifestyle, his superiors fear that his loyalties are being tested.

Director Ericson Core, who started his career as a director of photography, did not earn the good reviews such as Katryn Bigelow’s original film. His picture is replete with dazzling action but reportedly it is “bereft of purpose”.

Sean O’Connell of Cinemablend wrote that the film “takes the outline of the original and translates it for an audience that has chugged 15 energy drinks and stayed up for a week”.

James White of Empire Magazine laments that “this ambitious reboot fails to generate any of the same excitement” of the original film.

Maggie Lee of Variety said: “What weighs the characters down is not their parachutes or rock-climbing gear, but their sententious First World guilt and bland casting.”

Made on a budget of $105 million, the film earned a total of $129 million worldwide since its release on December 25.

Ratings
IMDB: 5.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 9%
Empire Magazine: 2 stars

Catherine Zeta-Jones sets pulses racing in the film version of beloved British sitcom Dad’s Army.

Dad’s Army (2016)
Genre: Comedy
Certification: PG
Duration: 100 minutes
Directed by: Oliver Parker
Starring: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Bill Nighy, Michael Gambon, Toby Jones, Mark Gatiss
KRS Releasing Ltd

The wartime comedy is based on the popular British sitcom that first aired on BBC from 1968 to 1977. It ran for nine series and 80 episodes in total.

Director Oliver Parker tries to capture the spirit of the series in this film, starring high-profile UK stars such as Catherine Zeta-Jones, Bill Nighy and Michael Gambon.

It is 1944 and World War II is reaching its climax. The Allies are poised to invade France and finally defeat the German army. But in Walmington-on-Sea morale among the Home Guard is low. However, their new mission – to patrol the Dover army base – is a great chance to revive spirits and reputation, that is until glamorous journalist Rose Winters (Zeta-Jones) arrives to write about their exploits, setting the pulses racing and putting the local women on red alert.

Suddenly the platoon is faced with a spy threat and the outcome of the war is suddenly at stake. So it falls on the unlikely heroes to stand up and be counted.

The film received tepid reviews. General comments were that it plays on the nostalgia factor rather than breaking new territory and conjures chuckles rather than loud laughs.

Dad’s Army, however, topped the British film charts in its opening weekend, with an intake of £2.08 million.

Ratings
IMDB: 5.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 37%
Empire Magazine: 2 stars