MD – Much Ado About Nothing

Like an extended Rightmove video we get to canter around Joss Whedon’s house in the company of the lovelorn and love-struck as they connive, collude and crawl around every crevice. And what a delight it is. Whedon has captured the very heart of the populist and playfulness of Shakespeare in this adaptation of slight tale where all is fair in love and post-war.

The return to Chateau Whedon of a triumphant Don Pedro and his cabal along with his defeated brother Don John is the starting point for romance and treachery. Played out as an ensemble piece on one set this could have been stagey but Whedon varies camera angles and lighting to frame the energy and movement of an enthused cast. Like the best Woody Allen each character is introduced and defined quickly by their words and mannerisms. The richness of language ensures the actors enunciate; but nothing is forced. There is however a physicality across all the performances that enhances both the comedy and the pathos.

When done well, and despite the plot contrivances that, like Dickens, allows all the strands to be drawn together in a big fluffy bow, Shakespeare’s writing still has the power to tell stories that are both simple yet expose the complexities and inconsistencies of human emotion. When a cast and director ‘get it’ and play along the result can be fantastic. For all its lack of grandeur and scope this Much Ado hits the buttons so lacking in modern romantic comedies – a group of people you like, root for and understand the motivation for their actions. It’s an enormously enjoyable adaptation.

9/10

MD – Man of Steel

Man Of Steel is not so much a classic Superman tale as an alien invasion superhero movie. To be precise, with its premise of a super non-human race playing out its familial tiffs on Earth, right down to its small-town showdown and big city face off, its ‘Thor” - albeit without the Kenneth Branagh’s lightness of touch.  And that’s a great shame. Because for all of the interesting bits in Man of Steel, that essentially revolve around the young Clark Kent making choices about who he is and his loyalty between his origins and the potentially judgemental culture that has adopted him, there is very little originality here.

The Superman tale is always encumbered by the potential dullness of his invincibility and therefore part of the saving interest in the character is his struggle to assimilate whilst doing his anonymised good deeds. Here however Clark Kent ignores the perils of others to take on a second comparative persona. Like the equally immortal Logan, he wonders across the US and Canada in solitude seeking answers to the questions of his identity.

The crash-bang-wallop of his run in with a determined General Zod and co is initially impressive – the super-speed and heavy-hitting of their first face-off delivers a solid punch. But by the time face-off number three comes around it has become increasingly tedious.

The acting is generally fine although the charisma void that is Russell Crowe is fast becoming as unwatchable as Nichols Cage. Henry Cavell looks splendid and does all that is asked of him although the chemistry with Amy Adams is far from superhuman. Ultimately for all of the effort that Nolan and Snyder have put in to trying to find a different angle, Man of Steel ends up being a Thor/Wolverine mash-up.

6/10

MD – Behind The Candelabra

For all the weirdness and “blimey did he really wear/do that” this Liberace biopic has the undercurrent of the usual human frailties – fear of being alone, self-loathing and insecurity. 

It goes without saying that Michael Douglas delivers a fabulous “Lee” with frankness of both sexuality and physicality. He does competent camp and better bitter. But, in what is essentially a double-header, its Matt Damon’s film. With the more unsympathetic role he is the prism by which we view Liberace’s world and so his range of reaction needs to both reflect and challenge our own. That he spends half the movie seemingly unable to move most of his face because of the wonderful Rob Lowe’s surgery handiwork makes the realisation of the performance all the more impressive.

So we get a movie that takes us to the dark heart of human (not just gay) relationships dressed in furs and diamanté. It hits all the marks. Whilst you might not have wanted to be in their company at the time, these expressionless queens make a couple of hours rattle past.

8/10

MD - The Stone Roses: Made of Stone

The pivotal scene in Made of Stone - a second seminal goosebump inducing moment of the cinema year after the first radio play of 'Teenage Kicks' in Good Vibrations - is when the band start to play ‘Waterfall’ together again for the first time during rehearsals. Indeed the strengths of Shane Meadows’ approach to his subject is best demonstrated in the scenes without words when the music and the subconscious human response (whether from the band or fans) meld together as one. The reminiscence nature is emphasised through old-fashioned editing tricks of split screen and Slo-mo. 

The strength and frailties of the band are clear and present. This isn't a Squires/Brown axis movie but rather an appreciation of a real quartet with all the angst and conflict that the mono-named engine room brings to the dynamic. 

There's a lag midway in the build up to Meadow's own self-confessed (and self-indulgent) ‘Spike Island’ moment - a surprise free gig for fans. However the footage of the gig captured in monochrome is impressive.

Made of Stone never outstays its welcome with the narrative helped by a second act walkout and a resounding finale. A fine attempt at capturing the mojo of what are essentially a group of pretty un-engaging characters who somehow achieved, albeit briefly, a sum greater than their parts.

7/10

MD – The Purge

The Ballardian premise of an annual 12-hour State condoned crime free-for-all as a way to purge our anger and ‘feed the inner beast’ is a ideal opportunity to reflect on the cultural psyche of America particularly in the aftermath of community shootings and the war on terror.

The Purge takes a small-scale examination of the idea focusing on one family with a vested interest in the security systems that keep the middle-classes safe on Purge night. Ethan Hawke and Lena Headley are convincing as the parent pushed to extremes in what is essential a stranger-in-a–house movie that owes a lot to 'Funny Games' albeit whislt still keeping its audience safe and comfortable. Unfortunately the finale is telegraphed in the first 10 minutes of the movie.

Its still an intriguing ride that asks some potentially interesting questions but, by downsizing the plot, doesn’t go very far in answering them.  The depiction of high security gated communities contrasted with the disenfranchised victims of lawlessness recalled my visit to Cape Town a decade or so ago.

7/10