The World's End

The World's End - Dir. Edgar Wright (2013)

Shaun of the Dead is widely considered to be one of the best zombie movies of the modern era. Yet, it also works as a great romantic comedy that just happens to have zombies in it. Hot Fuzz wasn't just a clever send-up of overblown action movies; it could also be enjoyed as a straight up action flick with car chases and stylish gunplay. Now, writer/director Edgar Wright teams with actors Simon Pegg (who co-wrote the screenplay) and Nick Frost once more to cap off his Cornetto Trilogywith The World's End. Once again, Wright isn't content to play around in one genre. The World's End is a wonderful mixture of drama, comedy, sci-fi, and 70's paranoia cinema along the lines of The Wicker Man or Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Andy Knightley (Frost), Steven Prince (Paddy Considine), Oliver Chamberlain (Martin Freeman), and Peter Page (Eddie Marsan) were the best of friends while growing up in the small town of Newton Haven. The glue that held the clique together was Gary King (Pegg), a real force of nature whose thirst for life was infectious. Time passed and everyone grew apart. They all left Newton Haven to become working professionals with the exception of Gary King, who hasn't changed at all in the past two decades. Unsatisfied with adulthood, Gary longs to relive the glory of his youth and the time he almost completed the "Golden Mile," an epic pub crawl through a dozen bars. In spite of bad blood between Gary and Andy, the gang gets back together to finish the Golden Mile, but find out the hard way that sometimes you can't go home again.

The World's End deftly explores various themes of disillusionment and middle-age malaise. While the characters appear to be successful, they aren't entirely happy. The meek Peter is the most obvious answer. He's clearly buckling under the pressure of working for his father-in-law and still harboring the effects of childhood bullying. Steven still pines for his unrequited love, Sam (Rosamund Pike), Oliver's younger sister who had a one-time fling with Gary in a men's room. Gary has had tremendous difficulty battling his addictions, which he masks underneath layers of braggadocio. There's also an aura of melancholy throughout the movie stemming from how much Newton Haven has changed since the protagonists moved away. The small town charm has vanished and been replaced by corporatized homogeny, a phenomenon sharply referred to as "Starbucking." That sense of nostalgia is wonderfully conveyed through a grainy prologue shot in 16mm of the gang in their high school days and a soundtrack of 90's Britpop (Primal Scream, The Stone Roses, etc.). Alone, these plot threads would have been more than enough to craft a satisfying dramedy. However, Wright throws in an additional twist that kicks The World's End onto a whole other level.

Nobody in Newtown Haven seems to remember the great Gary King. Has he really changed that much? No, you see, it's because the entire town has been taken over by robot duplicates from outer space. This allows Wright to stage several bar brawls infused with the type of choreography generally reserved for Hong Kong action films. Highlighted by fluid camera movements, the fights are innovative without forgetting that these are ordinary blokes engaging in fisticuffs. This is such a slick and gorgeously shot film, you'd never believe it was made with a budget of only $20 million.

The performances are strong all around, but Pegg and Frost are easily the highlights of The World's End. In previous outings, Pegg has played the straight man to Frost's overgrown man-child. Here, the dynamic has been flipped to fantastic results with Pegg injecting a surprising amount of pathos to the character. He probably won't get a lot of recognition during awards season, which would be a shame. As Gary, Pegg manages to walk a thin line between being a lovable scoundrel and a delusional jerk. If The World's End has any weak spots, one would be that Rosamund Pike, the only significant female in the picture, deserved more screen time along with Pierce Brosnan, who makes only a brief cameo.

Edgar Wright is one of the most exciting and original directors working in movies today. The energy and passion that he brings to his films is undeniable. The World's End is another cinematic triumph and one of the best pictures of 2013.

Rating: *** ½ (*****)

Another Year

Another Year - Dir. Mike Leigh (2010)

"You can't go around with a big sign saying don't fall in love with me, I'm married."
"Well, most people wear a ring."

British auteur Mike Leigh has a way of weaving complex layers into seemingly mundane conversations. Unlike most filmmakers who work from a fully fleshed out script, Leigh works hand-in-hand with his cast to build their characters beforehand and employs an improvisational style during filming. His movies never feel overly written or phony. The dialogue appears fairly ordinary on the surface, but Leigh has always been able to weave underlying complexities to his words. There are genuine and insightful emotions in his latest film, Another Year, which drops us into the lives of Tom (Jim Broadbent) and Gerri (Ruth Sheen), a married couple who have been together for over 30 years. There is no straightforward narrative to Another Year. Events unfold in an episodic nature to coincide with the changing of the seasons, from a hopeful spring to a cold and bitter winter.

Tom and Gerri are the classic hippies who have aged into contented suburbanites. Tom works as a geologist while Gerri is a counselor at a medical center and sometimes she takes her work home with her. Their home becomes a way station for their damaged and disillusioned friends. The most prominent of which is Mary (Lesley Manville), a co-worker of Gerri's, who is a talkative ball of neediness. With a drink frequently in hand, Mary allows a never-ending stream of ramblings to flow from her mouth. It seems Mary fears the moment she becomes silent is the moment she is no longer the center of attention. But, behind her mask of perkiness lies a lifetime of pain and failed relationships. Growing more and more desperate, Mary starts flirting with Tom and Gerri's son, Joe (Oliver Maltman), who is half her age. It isn't that Mary is a cougar; just that she sees Joe as the only means to become a part of this family who has it all together.

Another friend who drops by is the overweight Ken (Peter Wight). After a boisterous dinner, Ken reminisces late into the night about his lot in life. He bemoans his dead end and how everything in life is now for "young people." Much like Mary, he attempts to drown his sorrow in a good, stiff drink. In fact, Ken has a thing for Mary, who wholeheartedly does not reciprocate those feelings proving that even at rock bottom, beggars can be choosers.

While performances are strong across the board, it is Lesley Manville who has garnered the lion's share of notices. There have been several notable performances in Leigh's past work such as Blenda Blethyn in Secrets & Lies, Imelda Staunton in Vera Drake, and Sally Hawkins in Happy Go Lucky. Manville's powerhouse portrayal of Mary turns a potentially unsympathetic, one-note caricature into a tragic figure. During the rare moments of silence, Mary can't help but hide the accumulated sorrow of her past as her eyes sink into a sullen state of despair.

Not as fatalistic as Naked or Vera Drake, Another Year is tonally close to the hopeful optimism of Happy Go Lucky. All the while the kitchen sink pessimism that has been one of Leigh's trademarks periodically knocks on the door.

Rating: *** (*****)

Harry Brown

Harry Brown - Dir. Daniel Barber (2009)


Now, this is the kind of role I want to see Michael Caine play. Following in the footsteps of Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino, Caine takes up the mantle of the septuagenarian avenger in Harry Brown. This isn’t Caine’s first foray into the revenge film. He famously starred in one of the best revenge movies (and one of my favorite films of all time) in Get Carter.

As Jack Carter, Caine played a suave, yet vicious, gangster searching for his brother’s killer in the seedy underbelly of Newcastle. In Harry Brown, Caine is a former Royal Marine collecting his pension and living in the council estates (the British equivalent of the projects) in South London. It is a very ugly and dehumanizing world that Harry Brown lives in. At least Newcastle had a working class charm to it, the estates of Harry Brown have an ultra-modern brutalism to it. The building he lives in looks almost like a filing cabinet where society’s castoffs are stuffed in and quickly forgotten. The film was shot on location in the Heygate Estate which bares similar architecture to the infamous car park from Get Carter. Just like the car park, the Estate has been torn down to make way for gentrified reconstruction.

Harry Brown opens in a shocking manner with an amateur video recording of two drugged out youths joy riding on their bikes and shooting off a gun. They terrorize a mother pushing a stroller and unintentionally kill her before being struck down by a truck while fleeing the scene. The area is rife with crime and drugs thanks to the local youth gangs.

Brown lives alone in his apartment while his wife lays comatose in the hospital. He is late for her dying moments after taking the long way because the local hoods gather around a more convenient underpass. The last straw comes when Harry’s best friend and drinking buddy, Leonard (David Bradley) is murdered. The investigating detective (Emily Mortimer) has her suspects, but not enough evidence to arrest them. So Harry dusts off his old service pistol, goes for a walk in the middle of a night, and winds up killing a mugger in self-defense. With a new purpose, Harry is dead set on hunting down Leonard’s killers.

In one of the film’s most unsettling scenes, Harry attempts to purchase guns from a drug dealer frighteningly realized by Sean Harris (who played Ian Curtis in 24 Hour Party People). Harry strikes an uneasy deal as homemade pornography plays on the TV and an OD’d girl lays sprawled out on the sofa.

Even though he’s close to 80 years of age, Michael Caine can still make you believe he can kick your ass. And he probably could. He is easily capable of switching from hardassed to heartfelt. Director Daniel Barber (in his feature-length debut) and writer Gary Young (who also penned the DTV actioner The Tournament) have created a very nasty world for Harry Brown.

However, the film has very little to add to the genre. Harry Brown doesn’t have the deeper meaning of Gran Torino. It doesn’t transcend the trappings of its ‘Kill ‘em all and let God sort it out’ philosophy. More sensitive types may bemoan the way the film reinforces the fascistic overtones common with vigilante pictures.

Rating: ** ½