The Muppets (2012)

The Muppets gets a brilliant revival from director James Bobin and screenwriters Jason Segel (who also stars) and Nicholas Stoller who have re-energised a dormant franchise. The whole gang returns, which is plenty of cause for celebration.  With this story about a major showbiz comeback for Kermit, Fozzie bear, Miss Piggy and the rest, the filmmakers have smartly created a new Muppet character named Walter whose heart and soul drives this film – and indeed the whole franchise – forward.

This slight but thoroughly enjoyable family flick is, as they say, a film for all ages. No matter whom you’re taking to the cinemas.  Hell, even if you decide to go on your own, you can’t go wrong with this one.  James Bobin’s modest reinvention of the Muppet franchise blends the low-tech puppeterring style of the late Jim Henson with some tremendously fun old-school song and dance numbers.  It moves along episodically from one stage to the next - and captures the spirit of Henson’s Muppet show admirably, meaning that its core audience are probably adults in there 20’s and 30’s, but it’ll also be terrific for little children and grandparents.

As plots go, it’s the same as most reunion films you’ve seen before. And it’s when the group start re-forming that one thing becomes clear: The Muppets may not have been away for as long as you think, but it’s certainly a long time since we’ve seen them being funny in the way they were in the original Jim Henson TV show. The film’s that followed Henson’s death, even the utterly brilliant The Muppets Christmas Carol, attached the group’s weirdness to existing stories. The beauty of the latest film is this: They’re allowed to be weird and crazy in their own way, and not follow a particular narrative.

Segel clearly has a passion to drive this reboot forward – he even included his love for the Muppets in comedy, Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008). He took the concept to Disney, which certainly was looking for a new take on the franchise that went missing for nearly ten years, but his and Stoller’s vision won the day and so does this joyous and hilarious movie. Starting out with a sweet toe-tapper , “Life’s a Happy song”, sung by Gary (Segel) and his Mupper brother Walter, the pair vacation to Hollywood’s with Gary’s long-term girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) where Walter feeds his obsession with all things The Muppets by visiting their famous studio. But when they get there, they discover the place has gone way down hill and The Muppets have gone out of business. On top of all that, an evil Texas oilman (Chris Cooper) plots to bulldoze the site so he can dig for oil. Walter and Gary decide to help The Muppets raise enough money so they can but the studio back. So after enlisting Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and Gonzo, they now have to put on one last show to save The Muppet studio.

Segel and especially Adams make an adorable leading pair and the mild self-mockery of the whole enterprise is very much in the Henson spirit of old. There’s also Celebrity cameos, too  many to mention all here, but some include Jack Black as a rage counsellor, Emily Blunt as Miss Piggy’s receptionist (reprising her role from Devil Wear Prada?) Whoopi Goldberg, Sarah Silverman, Selena Gomez and Alan Arkin just to name a few of them.

Make no mistake, the kids may enjoy it, but this film was made purposely for grown-up fans. This is The Muppets as you remember them: Funny and charming.

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Shame (2012)

Sitting in the theatre watching Steve McQueen’s new film, the sexually charged ‘Shame’, I enjoyed it quite a bit. After the screening, I was walking with another film critic and he asked what I thought. Now, normally this would be a straightforward question, but in trying to explain what I thought, I actually wasn’t sure how to respond.

There are many things in Shame that are absolutely breathtaking. Michael Fassbender, for one, is simply outstanding. He gives a subtle, stripped-down and absolutely brutal performance as Brandon: a man who needs sex –not wants – needs to have it. He hardly says anything but you can’t take your eyes off him. One minute he’s quiet and controlled, seeming to have things completely in hand, next moment he has succumbed to a terrifying burst of rage.

Shame hints at a conventional movie narrative a fair bit more than McQueen’s previous film ‘Hunger’. But it’s first and foremost a visual and sonic symphony: a journey through New York where words are mostly redundant. I would say we get 12 or so minutes into the film before anyone actually says anything, concentrating on a tense and powerful scene showing Brandon (Fassbender) trying to pick up a married woman on the subway. When we do arrive at the first words of the film, it’s only Brandon asking a co-worker what happened to his porn-infested computer.

Both Brandon and Sissy (Carey Mulligan), his drunken, slutty and suicidal sister, are on self-destructive paths but we never learn about their pasts and seemingly don’t need to know.
Sissy’s arrival in Manhattan is the catalyst of Shame. Before his sister arrives, Brandon’s life is a carefully measured series of quick sexual encounters with strangers, prostitutes, and women on the subway. There are cracks in the veneer of his life, like his office computer, infected by a virus caught from the mass amount of porn he’s been downloading. His life has a very definite pattern and these periodic cracks are akin to a stopwatch counting down to his impending, escapable doom.

Sissy is the polar opposite of her brother. Brandon, some sort of business professional, wears low-key blues and greys, while Sissy, a struggling nightclub singer, dons a bright red hat and vintage leopard print coat. Everything about him is designed to blend; everything about her is designed to stand out. She falls desperately in love at the drop of a hat, is loud, moved by momentary passions and drives Brandon absolutely crazy with the chaos of her life.

Fassbender and Mulligan both give immense, irresistible performances as people drowning in a sea of sexuality and self-hatred. Shame isn’t an easy film to sit through, to describe or to figure out but it’s riveting and spectacular cinema.

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Devil's Double (2011)

Before talking about the film itself, an acknowledgement should go to director Lee Tamahori for making a film about Iraq. Many directors would take one look at a story involving Iraq, particularly one that closely involved the Hussein family, and say thanks, but no thanks, before hailing the nearest cab. This film is, if nothing else, a brave move on a narrative front.

The Devil’s Double firmly hangs on one actor and two performances: those of Dominic Cooper who plays both Iraqi Lieutenant: Latif Yahia and Hussien’s rather unhinged son: Uday Hussein. Latif enters a living nightmare when he is forced to play a body double for the insane Uday who has no gripes about taking what he wants, when he wants it and will gladly kill anyone who gets in his way. Although this film is not without its problems, amongst them: Uday seems to be dating a woman who inspired some of Lady Gaga’s less-inspired looks, Cooper is fantastic in both roles and, if there’s any justice, these performance will put him in high Hollywood demand.

Tamahori has approached this film in pretty much the same way he approached all of his other films. The soundtrack is loud and boasts some of the biggest hits of the 80’s (including Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood), it’s a bit of a strange feeling to think about a mass murderer like Uday getting down to a bit of ‘You spin me right round’ on a Friday night. The action is violent and frequent and often far too gratuitous. One scene in particular involving a newlywed is probably the most disturbing you’ll see this summer (unless you watched The Zookeeper). Certainly not for the squeamish this film feels a bit like watching an MTV-produced film about the Gulf War with The Hussein family being turned into pimping gangsters that wouldn’t look out of place in a Scorsese film.

Those expecting The Devil’s Double to provide an eloquent history lesson should know that politics of the early 90’s are of little interest here. The Gulf War is nothing more than a lurid backdrop to the darker side of Iraq: one that’s full of drugs, pimps and young prostitutes. The ending to this picture is also decidedly flat and Cooper’s Gaga-esque love interest (played by Ludivine Sagnier), well, isn’t of any interest at all. This said until its less-than-exhilarating conclusion Tamahori’s film never lets you up for breath, constantly putting you on edge whenever Uday is on screen and leaving you in perpetual doubt over what he’s going to do next. For hard-core film fans Cooper’s performances are worth the ticket price and if gratuity is your thing then I’ve no doubt that you’ll find it brutally entertaining throughout.

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Friends With Benefits (2011)

After the disappointing No Strings Attached (2011), Mila and Justin have the second stab of the year at a rom-com about two friends having sex with each other without getting emotionally involved. Gratefully Friends with Benefits is raunchier and on the whole much, much better.

The film starts out as a rom-com that jokes about other rom-coms. Mila Kunis plays Jamie, who is sick of romantic comedies that tell her everything will turn out ok and that true love is really out there. Justin Timberlake plays Dylan, a guy who doesn’t like to get into deep and meaningful relationships after going through his parents’ divorce. The pair first meet after Jamie head-hunts Dylan for GQ magazine. She brings Dylan to New York and persuades him to take the job. And, well you can pretty much guess what happens next.

Friends with Benefits has a slightly braver approach to the storyline than other films in the genre, with an honest look at the mechanics of sex. It’s not actually very sexy, but it is funny. Director Will Gluck did a great job with Easy A and has brought over the same comedy tone (albeit with a few more swear words) and has an easy, natural pace. That is until the third act, which is typically bland and overly serious. It has a side storyline involving Dylan’s Dad which is totally unnecessary and has too many of the clichés it was only too happy to joke about in the first two acts. Although this diminishes the films charm though, it doesn’t destroy it completely.

Timberlake and Kunis make a charismatic pair and create a decent on-screen chemistry. Kunis in particular does a great job and you could see her starring in similar roles that made household names of Reese Witherspoon and Katherine Heigl. Timberlake also rises to the occasion, giving a performance that proves he can do more than just sing, dance and, err, sing. Woody Harrelson is great in the relatively small role and gets the laughs you’d expect from a sidekick character, but once again it’s Patricia Clarkson who steals the film as Jamie’s party loving mother. Patricia was brilliant in Easy A and has done another great job for Gluck here too.

Friends with Benefits doesn’t do anything new with the rom-com but it’s certainly a lot more open about relationships then many others which makes this one of the better films of the genre. The film has plenty of charisma and laughs but ultimately fails to deliver on its early promise.

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The Inbetweeners Movie (2011)

After the huge success of the Inbetweeners TV show it seemed inevitable a film would be made to say a final farewell to the boys. After being dumped by the love of his life, Simon (Joe Thomas) decides to go on a lad’s holiday to Malia with his mates Will (Simon Bird), Jay (James Buckley) and Neil (Blake Harrison). The guys are hoping for “sun, sea, sand, sex, booze and sex” but what they get is rubbish hotels, OAPs and embarrassing sunburns.

The lads have made a successful transition from television to cinema and the audience will find themselves knee deep in crude jokes and hilarious performances. The adventures of the four lustful lads on a booze-drenched holiday contain enough hilarious gags to fill out the extended time they normally don’t get in the television series. The introduction to the boys starts off in England as they reach their last day of school and are given a hilarious send off by their headmaster (surely all headmasters would love to give a send-off like Mr Gilberts?) We also get to see the rest of the excellent supporting characters from the TV show turn up in the first 10 minutes before the guys head off on a holiday of a lifetime.

The show always had strength in depth and the film is no different: the four girls they meet on holiday are well fleshed-out ladies (in terms of performance and not actual size) They all provide great punch-lines of their own and are far more than just eye candy for the lads. But of course it’s the four lads we came to see and they don’t let us down. They deliver a believable portrait of young blokes growing up amongst all the booze and vomit. The performances from Bird, Buckley, Thomas and Harrison are spot on. They all have hilarious set-pieces – the dance off scenes to impress the girls are pure comedy gold. But they also have some emotional moments, including a scene where the guys realise that this is maybe the last time they will all be together.

There were fears that the Inbetweeners movie would be awful, with a feeling that most British teenage films turn out to be, well, rubbish. But this is no Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000) and screenwriters Iain Morris and Damian Beesley should be congratulated for making a film that is much closer to great American youth films like American Pie (1999) and Superbad (2007).

Yes the film suffers from repetition and it’s fair to say the film is just an extra-long episode of the show. But that’s what the fans wanted, a film that is a fitting end to a great show and one that offers continuous gags and hilarious moments throughout. Hands down the best British teenage comedy in years and possibly the best comedy you’ll see this summer.

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