Review: The Limehouse Golem (UK Cert 15)

London, 1880. A series of gruesome murders have taken place, by a serial killer who has been nicknamed 'The Limehouse Golem'. Inspector John Kilbride has been newly assigned to the Golem case when he uncovers a potential link to a current trial: the music-hall star Elizabeth Cree stands accused of poisoning her husband John; John Cree was one of four main suspects in the Golem case. With time running out before the jury make their decision, can Kilbride uncover the identity of the killer- and possibly save Elizabeth's life?  

It's a gritty, grimy, Grand Guignol tale full of direction, misdirection, and more than a few twists, ably directed by Juan Carlos Medina (Painless) and starring Bill Nighy as Kilbride and Olivia Cooke as Elizabeth Cree.

Nighy gives a wonderfully stoic, measured performance as Kilbride. A good detective who would have gone further but for rumours that he 'wasn't the marrying kind', he feels like he's being offered as a sacrificial lamb when assigned the Golem case. Yet, through his doggedness and veracity, he follows the leads wherever they go. Interestingly (and quite refreshingly), there's no real suggestion of any romantic feeling between Kilbride and Elizabeth; he simply wants to save her from the hangman's noose if it's revealed her husband was the infamous murderer and she acted to stop the Golem. The role of Kilbride was initially meant for the late Alan Rickman but Nighy's performance is superb and one of his strongest, in my opinion. 

Olivia Cooke is similarly strong as Elizabeth. A young woman, abused and mistreated, trying to make something of herself and her life, falling in with the music-hall crowd then falling in love with a man who wanted to save her. It would be easy for Elizabeth to be played as a martyr or a fallen woman but there's something simultaneously fragile yet steely in Cooke's performance. It's an impressive performance and, as the film progresses and Kilbride's interviews with Elizabeth continue, there's more and more layers revealed to the character. 

The rest of the cast are pretty solid too, with a lovely louche turn by Douglas Booth, seeming to channel Russell Brand as cross-dressing music-hall star Dan Leno whose care for Elizabeth is evident. But did his care for her drive him to do something dreadful? Leno is also one of the other Golem suspects, and the film makes an interesting choice by presenting each of the suspects in turn in situ as the killer as Kilbride reads the Golem's diary. Daniel Mays gives solid support as Kilbride's faithful Sergeant, George Flood, who shares an unexpectedly tender yet understated momen with his superior which is a real highlight of the film. Eddie Marsan plays 'Uncle', the music-hall manager, with a combination of avuncular care and iron fist... but even he has a secret or two.

Sam Reid's turn as the potentially murderous John Cree is an interesting one; Reid exudes an air of menace without being stereotypically evil, so you definitely get the impression that you wouldn't want to cross him. In fact, there is the suggestion that Cree may have caused a few deaths before the Golem murders begin. There's also a strong performance by Maria Valverde as Aveline, the Cree's maid but former music-hall performer, whose relationships within the household are complicated, to say the least.  

The film is adapted from Peter Ackroyd's 1994 novel (with the screenplay written by Jane Goldman). Ackroyd uses real people within his book to give an air of verisimilitude, and the film does the same. Leno was a real music-hall performer and the other Golem suspects are German philosopher Karl Marx and English novelist George Gissing, so in one sequence, you get to see the oddly amusing sight of Marx sawing a prostitute's head off (now there's a sentence I never thought I'd write!) Make no mistake, the violence is strong- but because it's so stylized and over-the-top, it becomes less visceral or disturbing. The presentation of the murders feel so theatrical that they're almost difficult to take seriously. 

The script and the production work hard to evoke the genuine feeling of grit and grime in the backstreets of London and the quaintly seedy nature of the music-halls. Costume and production design are top notch and really capture the spirit of those times. 

It's an accomplished piece of film-making and, if you're a fan of detective stories, whodunnits, or courtroom dramas, The Limehouse Golem is one I'd heartily recommend.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Tez

Review: The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (UK Cert PG)

Putting 'Second Best' in the title of a movie is a bit of a gamble. It suggests that it might not be as good as the first (always a risk with sequels anyway). However, I found The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel to be just as good.

The original film was a bit of a sleeper hit back in 2012 and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. A perfect Sunday afternoon film, gentle, warm, funny and bittersweet. The second is more of the same; director John Madden and writer Ol Parker are back on board, as are most of the original cast. And you don't need to be of an equivalent age to the characters to sympathise or empathise with them; their stories speak to everyone. 

Sonny (Dev Patel) and Muriel (Maggie Smith) travel to California to try and get funding to expand the hotel. The company have said they will send an inspector to the hotel to report. So, when the dashing American Guy Chambers (Richard Gere) arrives, Sonny assumes he is the inspector. Meanwhile, Douglas (Bill Nighy) and Evelyn's (Judi Dench) nascent relationship hits a few stumbling blocks, not least when Douglas' wife Jean (Penelope Wilton) breezes back into town, whilst Madge (Celia Imrie) has a difficult choice between two suitors and the hotel prepares for Sonny's wedding to fiancee Sunaina (Tina Desai). 

Performances are really strong across the board. Smith steals the piece with her waspish putdowns as the irascible Muriel. Nighy and Dench are lovely as the stumbling, bumbling would-be lovers (like something out of a Richard Curtis movie). Dev Patel retains the ebullience and optimism shown in the first film, and Celia Imrie gets some drama along with the humour as a woman caught between two men. The burgeoning relationship between Guy and Sonny's mother (Lillete Dubey) is played really nicely, with a wonderfully written dinner scene between the two a highlight of Ol Parker's script. 

That's not to say the script is perfect - there's a bit of contrivance, especially with the hotel inspector subplot (the answer to that is quite obvious)- but it pulls off the balance between laughter and pathos and, what's refreshing is, it doesn't batter you over the head with some of the plot points. They're handled nicely and subtly and there's one in particular that will bring a lump to your throat.

You could argue that there's no need for this film (truth is, there's very rarely a need for any sequel). That said, this is a gentle and inoffensive slice of escapism and a pure joy from start to finish.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Tez

Review: Pride (UK Cert: 15)

The Miner’s Strike of 1984. Members of London’s gay community realise that they have much in common with the miners: they’re both vilified by Thatcher’s government, the police and the front pages of the tabloids. The miner’s unions refuse to accept the money that the LGSM (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners) have collected, so instead they travel to the mining village of Onllwyn to help the families first-hand. Reluctant to accept money from the colourfully dressed gays, the people of Onllwyn are eventually won over by LGSM’s members. At a time when Britain had never been so turbulent or divisive, two poles apart communities end up forming firm friendships and fighting each other’s battles.

Films “based on a true story” have been drowning in money over the last few years. They’re a safe bet, audiences happily paying to see real-life David and Goliath exploits. Pride is another film based on real events, but what makes it an arguably modern-day classic is how assured it is, the mix of comedy, drama and heart-breaking moments all perfectly handled.

There are some big names amongst the cast of Pride, actors immediately recognised both here and over in the US; Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Paddy Considine, all putting on spookily convincing Welsh accents. Nighy is a one-note actor, the quirky English gent, but he has always played that note amazingly well. Here, Nighy gets a bit more to do as quiet, weary committee member Cliff, who is feeling the struggle of the long fight against Thatcher. It’s not until he befriends the gays that Cliff gets his gusto back, fighting not just for his village, but his new-found comrades. Staunton is given the routine role of feisty Welsh pensioner, but she gets more than her fair share of culture clash one-liners. Considine, famous for playing morose, psychologically complex characters (Dead Man’s Shoes, The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher) plays Dai, a friendly, gentle soul and one of the key players on Onllwyn’s committee. Dai is an uncomplicated man when it comes to right and wrong, Considine relishing the stirring speeches he is given, dialogue that is down-to-earth and genuine; you don’t feel like you’re being cynically forced to cheer for the underdogs.

The younger cast is equally as good as the established British actors, even if not all of them get the screen time they deserve. Ben Schnetzer, as Pride’s main character, gay activist Mark, firmly holds your attention. There’s a touch of arrogance to him, but he’s unwavering about fighting the good fight, refusing to give up. Mark’s passion and enthusiasm keeps up the pace virtually throughout Pride; it can’t fail to rub off on everyone who watches it. George MacKay is the hard-not-to-feel-for Joe, a twenty-year-old struggling with the realisation he is gay. Joining the LGSM (Joe’s parents think he’s on a college cookery course), they help him to be proud of who he is rather than keep his sexuality hidden (any remotely suspect reading material is hidden in Joe’s room), and his transformation is gradual and convincingly fleshed out. Stars of British television Dominic West (The Hour, Appropriate Adult) and Andrew Scott (Sherlock, Blackout) play a couple who run the book shop that acts as LGSM’s headquarters. West and Scott are polar opposites, yet that’s what makes the strong bond they have so believable. West is flamboyant, speaking his mind, and has no issues in letting everyone know he’s gay. Scott plays Gethin, a Welshman from North Wales who left for London after his family turned their backs on him when he came out. Gethin is introverted, he doesn’t dress like the rest of LGSM, and he has a temper that gets him into trouble. West and Scott couldn’t be more different, yet it’s the glances and smiles they give each other, holding hands, chatting in bed, the things that all couples do, that make them charming to watch.

Sadly, some of the young characters are thinly written. The only reason Freddie Fox’s Jeff is in the film is so the Welsh children can braid his hair. Also, the lesbians – with the exception of Faye Marsay’s Steph – feel like they’re light relief rather than fully developed characters; they’re the butt of several jokes when they decide to form their own separatist group to help the miners.

These are tiny faults in an otherwise superb script from Stephen Beresford. There are one-liners a-plenty here and not just the obvious working class miners meet the gays jokes you would expect (“The only problem we’ve got that they haven’t is Mary Whitehouse”, Mark argues, “and that’s only a matter of time.”). The trailer for Pride was misleading in that it made the film look like it was portraying the Miner’s Strike as a jolly old knees-up. Instead, Beresford refuses to shy away from just how much the strikes and pit closures crippled mining communities like Onllwyn: two or three families living under one roof because they couldn’t afford to pay bills; police seeing the miners as “little people”; the miners being literally starved back into work. Beresford also writes several scenes that highlight the spread of AIDS and the misconceptions surrounding the virus in the early eighties. In one of Pride’s most heart-breaking scenes one of the characters meets up with an ex at a nightclub. Instead of a heavy-handed monologue accompanied by an emotional score, the ex tearfully says, “I’m doing the farewell tour.” You instantly know what this means and you cannot fail to start welling up. Beresford has written dozens of scripts for theatre, which explains why the melting pot of comedy, drama and punch-to-the-gut tragedy all neatly links in, scene after scene, and why most of the characters, despite such a large cast, feel like individuals, instead of being by-the-numbers.

You could pick apart Pride if you wanted to. While the hardships of the miners is far from toned down, I thought more could have been shown, such as the police’s behaviour towards the miners (which Arthur Skargill once likened to a “Latin American state”), and the number of ghost towns and villages that were dotted around Wales after the pit closures. It’s a tough balance as Pride’s agenda is to give audiences an uplifting and feel-good film. If the script was crammed full of political idealism and activism, only a small number of cinema-goers could stomach it. Pride finds a just-about happy medium.

Very few films can manage the feat of discussing heavy subjects such as politics, activism, sexuality, HIV/AIDS, bigotry, trade unionists, and so, so much more and have you cry cheerful, emotional tears by the time the credits come up.  This is one of the many reasons why Pride is the equal of British heavyweights such as Brassed Off, The Full Monty and Billy Elliott.

4 out of 5

Matt

Review: About Time (UK cert 12A)

What would you do if you could time travel? Win the lottery? Sleep with some ridiculously good looking person from the history books? In Richard Curtis’s latest, About Time, he focuses on the smaller, but no less important things: re-living a favourite day all over again, or telling someone you love them when you should have said it first time round.

Richard Curtis is a writer and filmmaker who has had a lot of stick thrown his way over the years. “His work is sickly sweet, lovey-dovey, and a pop song gets played every five minutes!” Personally, while I don’t worship at the altar of Working Title films, even his downright average work has the odd well-timed laugh and funny-because-it’s-true observation.

About Time is one of Curtis’s best films, maybe even his best, and another lesson for Hollywood on how comedies today should be done.

One of the many reasons the film works so well is down to its cast. In the two series of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror, the stand-out episode for me is Be Right Back, primarily because of Domhnall Gleeson’s childlike and chilling performance. In About Time, Gleeson is given so much to do, and he does everything absolutely right; he makes comic expressions and the delivery of Curtis’s Stephen Hawking-smart script look barely-lift-a-finger easy.

Rachel McAdams is the Andie MacDowell/Julia Roberts role, but she has so much more to do than previous Curtis female leads. She’s quirky, but believable; sweet, but not annoying. Like Gleeson, she also has her fair share of one-liners and moments of embarrassing physical comedy, which she handles with ease. McAdams is an underrated actress, having sleepwalked through far too many average rom-coms and weepies in her career. In About Time she proves that, when given a script that allows her to do something other than smile and look pretty, she deserves to be near the top of the list for leading actresses.

Special mention has to go to Bill Nighy. There are films where you can’t imagine anyone else playing a certain role, and in About Time, the film would definitely not have worked if someone other than Nighy played Gleeson’s father. Here, Nighy is given free reign; he is quietly eccentric, delivering his occasionally barking dialogue in an understated way, with a glint in his eye that Nighy does so well.  Here he is everyone’s favourite memory of a father, grandfather or uncle. Nighy and Gleeson provide the majority of the film’s funniest and upsetting moments. The scene where Nighy explains to Gleeson that he can time travel is a faultless mix of uncomfortable silence and odd looks. Later, when Gleeson realises, due to time travel jiggery pokery, that he can no longer see his father is, honest to God, heart-breaking.

One final mention acting-wise has to go to Rev’s Tom Hollander as Gleeson’s miserable as sin uncle with an acid tongued answer to everything. He may not appear in the film much, but there are plenty of belly laughs when he does.

All the finest acting in the world isn’t much use if the script doesn’t even make decent toilet paper. The problem I have with Love, Actually is that Curtis turned the sweetness and lovey-dovey shtick all the way up to eleven. It was the film equivalent of a Starbucks Frappuccino; so sugary sweet it will rot your teeth. All the dialogue and touching moments drowned in the sickliness of it all.

About Time’s sickly-sweet scenes are few and far between. The film isn’t about action packed time travel adventures in a police phone box or a DeLorean, and it avoids the big questions around time travel, but what it does is highlight the more human things we would do if we were able to travel back in time: spend more time with our children, get to know our loved ones better, and have the most amazing sex possible.

Richard Curtis can’t completely avoid the sunshine candyfloss sweetness. A scene involving Gleeson and McAdams running around the Underground, all touchy feely and big wide smiles, could have been cut. Also, where the couple’s wedding reception in a marquee gets ruined due to the rubbish British weather, but they’re not bothered as they stare into each other’s eyes, felt more like an advert for some chocolates.

This is a minor niggle. About Time is another British comedy great. Expect to be thinking a lot during its two hours; not how you would change the world or use and abuse your time travelling powers, but how would you use your gift on the people that really matter to you. Make sure you bring a hanky or some tissues along, not only will you be laughing, but you’ll be pretending your hay fever’s playing up again.

4 out of 5 stars

Matt

The Watchers' Advent Calendar: 22nd December

Day 22 of The Watchers' Advent Calendar and the end is in sight! Just two more doors to open (as it were). Today's offering is from a film that has become a bit of a modern Christmas classic.

* * *

Love Actually (2003)

Richard Curtis' charming portmanteau comedy-drama set at Christmas features a star-filled cast including Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Alan Rickman, Rowan Atkinson, Martin Freeman, Colin Firth and Laura Linney, and shows various characters negotiating the paths of life, love and relationships.

One of the strongest threads is that of Billy Mack (a BAFTA-winning performance by the brilliant Bill Nighy), a washed-up singer aiming for the Christmas Number 1 single with 'Christmas Is All Around' (a take-off of 'Love Is All Around' which was used in Curtis' Four Weddings And A Funeral and topped the UK charts for fifteen consecutive weeks during the summer of 1994).

For those who haven't seen the film, here's the video for 'Christmas Is All Around':

The answers to yesterday's quiz are:

1. The singer who teamed up with Bing Crosby for a version of 'The Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth' and starred in Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence is David Bowie

2. In Elf, Edward Asner plays Santa Claus

3. In The Nightmare Before Christmas, Jack's ghostly dog is called Zero.

4. Imelda Staunton provides the voice of Mrs Santa in Arthur Christmas.

5. 'Jingle Bell Rock' can be heard during the opening scene of Lethal Weapon.

Come back tomorrow for the penultimate entry of The Watchers' Advent Calendar!