Happy as Lazzaro (2019)
Genre: Drama
Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Starring: Adriano Tardiolo, Agnese Graziani, Alba Rohrwacher, Tommaso Ragno, Nicoletta Braschi, Sergi López
Duration: 128 minutes
Class: 12A
KRS Releasing Ltd

The Italian film, directed by Alice Rohrwacher (Heavenly Body, The Wonders) follows a good-hearted young peasant named Lazzaro  (Adriano Tardiolo) and a nobleman (Tommaso Ragno), named Tancredi, cursed by his imagination.

Life in their fictional isolated village is dominated by Tancredi’s terrible mother, a marchioness (Nicoletta Braschi). At one point Tancredi asks Lazzaro to help him orchestrate his own kidnapping and a loyal bond is sealed between them. Lazzaro ends up in the big city for the first time in search of his friend and finds himself like a fish out of the water in the modern world.

Happy as Lazzaro, which has Martin Scorsese as one of its producers, was lauded by critics and won the best screenplay as the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

Among the reviewers, A.O. Scott of The New York Times, wrote: “Alice Rohrwacher’s mesmerising new film, sets out a table of bittersweet neo-realist and magical-realist delicacies.”

David Edelstein of Vulture magazine described it as an allegory but also “a barbed-wire satire with a view of capitalism as dry as those hills”.

He continued: “The rich exploit the poor. The poor, their innocence shattered, scam the rich.”

Ian Freer of Empire commented: “Happy As Lazzaro is slow and its narrative twist will alienate some. But this is deliberate, singular film-making, at once poetic and down-to-earth, from an unsung talent. Let’s be clear: Alice Rohrwacher should be cherished.”

And the critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads: “Happy as Lazzaro uses a friendship’s ups and downs as a satisfyingly expansive canvas for a picture rich with thematic and cinematic depth.”

Ratings
IMDB: 7.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 89%
Empire: 4 stars

Ryan Reynolds lends his voice to the cute super sleuth Detective Pikachu in the first live animation adaptation of the Pokémon franchise.

Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019)
Genre: Action
Director: Rob Letterman
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith, Kathryn Newton, Bill Nighy, Ken Watanabe, Suki Waterhouse, Rita Ora
Duration: 110 minutes
Class: PG
KRS Releasing Ltd

The beloved manga and video game character gets a live action adaptation for the very first time. And it’s being directed by an American, Rob Letterman, known for such films as Monsters v Aliens (2009), Shark Tale (2004) and Gulliver’s Travels (2010).

The film follows Tim Goodman (Justice Smith) as he searches for his father, an ace detective named Harry who goes mysteriously missing.

Aiding in his investigation is Harry’s former Pokémon partner, wise-cracking and cute super-sleuth Detective Pikachu (voiced by Ryan Reynolds).

The film received good reviews, with Molly Freeman of Screen Rant saying: “Detective Pikachu is wholesome, silly fun, with solid world-building and stunning CGI Pokémon that are complemented well enough by its story.”

Olly Richards of Empire showered Reynolds with praise. He commented: “It’s impossible to overstate how much this film owes to Ryan Reynolds. Even if you don’t understand Pikachu’s world, everyone can understand a great joke superbly delivered.”

Peter Debruge of Variety was a bit more critical of the movie.

He wrote: “Though consistent with the game (with a few extra but obvious twists thrown in for good measure), the story of Detective Pikachu doesn’t allow nearly enough Pokémon-related action, while the quality of the computer animation falls far short of the basic level of competency audiences have come to expect from effects movies.”

The film opens in Malta on Friday.

Ratings
IMDB: 7.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 70%
Empire: 3 stars

Kathryn Prescott gets some puppy love in A Dog’s Journey.

A Dog’s Journey (2019)
Genre: Adventure
Director: Gail Mancuso
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Marg Helgenberger, Betty Gilpin, Josh Gad, Kathryn Prescott
Duration: 108 minutes
Class: PG
KRS Releasing Ltd

Based on the novel of the same name by W. Bruce Cameron, the film follows the same dog and the same formula as 2017’s A Dog Purpose, but this time it reorients its human narrative around a young woman’s troubled road to love and self-fulfilment via the companionship of various devoted puppies.

The film,directed by Gail Mancuso (30 Rock, Gilmore Girls), earned good reviews. Guy Lodge of Variety wrote: “A Dog’s Journey largely succeeds in spite of its own ickiest instincts. Even as its storytelling hovers on the border between capable and risible, the film knows exactly which dog-lover buttons to push, particularly those nearest the tear ducts.”

Mike McHill of The Guardian called the sequel a “corny canine caper” while Nicholas Barber of The Wrap commented that the melodrama does not have quite the same pedigree as A Dog’s Purpose.

Ratings
IMDB: 7.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 73%
Empire: N/A