Review: Dead Man Down

Year: 2013
Director: Niels Arden Oplev
Screenplay: J.H. Wyman
Starring: Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace, Terrence Howard, Dominic Cooper

Synopsis is here

"You were expecting art" I was told by my podcast cast co-host after this shambolic viewing of Dead Man Down. A statement not even worth a response in my view. If I'm going into a film with a title such as this, with the knowledge that the film is produced by World Wrestling Entertainment Films, I know I'm not getting "art". When comments such as the aforementioned a thrown around, it's often used as an excuse not to engage with any of a films flaws. No, I was not expecting something that would inspire revolution. I was expecting B movie thrills. Unfortunately I was awestruck by the dullness that inhabited Dead Man Down, I found it hard to find any spark of enjoyment.

Dead Man Down is one of those movies in which is rooted down with such silliness, you realise that the film itself comes to a standstill if you were to try and rip out its problems. Characters must continue with their stupidity in order for the film to function. Characters act dumb while the audience are near yelling at the obvious. To think that a crime boss, who rose up the ranks and is now being elaborately threatened, can act so blind around those around him, cries foul. But to suggest this; means the film no longer ceases to be.

I may be looking at this the wrong way, but I don't think so. Right from the start we have the drop on the characters ahead of time. We have no suspense or tension. There's no anticipation because we're clear steps ahead of the game. We are waiting for a cast who is fair to good for the material to finish the puzzle you completed yesterday. And we are doing this at a snail’s pace. 

Director Niels Arden Oplev may be riding on his credentials gained from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but that film thrives on the energy of its outlandish plot and the forcefulness of its female protagonist; Lisbeth Salander, played by Rapace. Here Oplev's muse is diluted from complex construct to damaged damsel with little to do other than look pretty and helpless. The scars placed on Rapace's face by the makeup artists do little to deter her sex appeal, or convince of any serious disfigurement, no matter what the neighbourhood kids say. 

Oplev had a fun mystery to pull apart with Dragon Tattoo. Here he only has a pensive Colin Farrell furrowing his brow so hard, you could plant potatoes in the lines. The tale of revenge that takes place here is formulaic and boring, and save for the film’s final set piece at its climax, there is little to take note of. 

Films like this need a certain amount of urgency. If not, bored viewers may tug at it its frayed edges and tear it apart. I had more fun trying to guess which wrestlers had bit parts as hired goons. I didn't expect "art" but the best B movies are entrenched in their genre enough to be subversive, outrageous or smart. Dead Man Down does none of these things. But the least it could have been is exciting.

Review: Side Effects

Year: 2013
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Screenplay: Scott Z Burns
Starring: Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Catherine Zeta Jones

Synopsis is here

If the rumours are true (and the interviews point towards yes), it seems that Side Effects will be Steven Soderbergh's final theatrical feature. Threatened once before but now looking much more definite, the announcement is an intriguing one. At age 50; the chameleon-like director still looked like he had a lot more in him. This said, the film maker has stated he is tired of the format and would rather spend his time painting.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. A television interview on CBS with Quentin Tarantino had the motor mouth director mention his worry of becoming "out of touch" as he got older. Some could say that he may have a point. There's nothing wrong with going out on a high, and while others may draw attention to some elder statesmen who have placed some decent turns in their career "twilights". I doubt many would pick those later films over the likes of Taxi Driver, Manhattan, One Flew over the Cukoo's Nest, M.A.S.H and the list goes on.

So Soderbergh has decided to end the career here. Not with a bombastic, mega multi dollar showcase (imagine Ocean's 14), but with a tightly controlled psycho thriller which highlights not only the assured direction of the director, but the themes that have followed him throughout an industrious career. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who noticed that a few of the films revelations rely on sex, lies and videotape.

Sharply placed against the backdrop of big pharmacy and insider trading, Sodenbergh carefully blends topical issues to create near plausible horrors. Before the outrageous mechanics of the final third take hold, we are exposed a nightmare of dubious after effects, presumed wrong doings and shady double takes. Framed in a dreamy soft focused haze, nearly every shot in Side Effects (Sodenbergh lenses' the film under the name Peter Andrews) layers a tinge of self doubt within a viewer. You notice that much like a drug addled mind, the world around these characters are blurred and obscured. Sometimes only the character is in focus. Yet even so, their words bring no clarity. 

Soderbergh's tricky thriller does much to prime us correctly so even the films more lurid moments later on have a feeling of plausibility. This has much to do with the films two leads as well as its smart direction and scripting. Jude Law hasn't been this watchable for years, getting the subtle ruthlessness of his character down to a tee. Yes, he comes to the aid of an ill woman, but like a Coen's movie, notice just how quickly he's willing to snap at the dangling carrot. Rooney Mara is even better. Showing her display in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo wasn't a fluke, she acing every scene with the ability to managing to be scared and scare at the same time.

Whether or not Soderbergh leaves the cinematic world, he has undoubtedly made a sizable dent in it. Side Effects shows the work of a craftsman: assured, accomplished and solidly built. He could be tired of the format; he could hold the same fears as Quentin. Either way his swan song makes sure he goes out flying. 

Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Year: 2009 (U.K Release 2010)
Director: Niels Arden Oplev
Screenplay: Rasmus Heisterberg, Nikolaj Arcel
Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace

Plot synopsis is here

This week there was rumblings that that English language remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in the works may fall into the hands of David Fincher (he is looking more like James Cameron by the day). It's interesting (read not surprising) that Fincher would be looking at such a project because to me The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo feels a lot like a Swedish Seven. Those last two words placed together should either freak out those who hate the idea or get fans even more intrigued.

Based on the first novel of Stieg Larsson's The Millennium trilogy (Original Swedish title is the very aptly named Men who hate women), Niels Arden Oplev's film is a heavy one. Not only does the film have enough graphic imagery to make someones crotch crawl back into themselves, but the dense plot strands demand your attention throughout the 152 minute running time. This isn't your average crime thriller, but a headstrong, character driven beast which might take a while to get into but was never uninteresting in the slightest.

A website I frequent, compared the film to the Da Vinci code, finding the plot to be too heavily based on computer searches to be appealing. This is something i disagree with, as it's the characters (considered cold and stereotypical in the same review) which we follow that make the film so appealing. The plot may be more than a little "out there" but the burning intensity that Noomi Rapace gives the character Lisbeth kept my eyes glued to the screen. A resourceful yet emotionally stunted girl, who hides her secrets with her brilliant ability and upfront attitude. Her outward look shows a woman who is always in control and yet the tiny inflections and fragile glances by Rapace barely conceal the character's vulnerability. It's a woman who is no damsel in distress (watch her fight) but is still struggling to cope with a deeper inner conflict. Stereotype? To some. Absorbing? Most definitely.

Plaudits should also go to Michael Nyqvist whose "lost" face is actually one constantly fraught with disillusionment. Divorced, with an upcoming jail sentence looming; he takes a job he really wasn't sure about in the first place and find himself in a web of what may or may not be a conspiracy which could destroy what's left of him. Forgive him if he's not filled with a more fiery spirit. Nyqvist's Mikael Blomkvist is the calm "straight man" to Rapace's intense Lisbeth. The two work superbly in tandem so it's it's even more ballsy to keep the two separated for the narrative's first hour allowing the film to focus on building the characters of both.

As a thriller, TGWTDT is a constantly engrossing; it's admittedly outlandish story is still one of entertainment and solid internal logic, it's moments of humor are strangely playful amidst the morbid themes (Race, Misogyny, Greed) that are raised within the narrative. Director Niels Arden Oplev takes time in telling the story and still had me wanting to know what happens next to these characters. I have got long to wait as the second part of the film is on it's way very soon. If Fincher gets his hands on the project, then I expect the same level of interest.