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Jonathan's review of Everybody's Fine
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"I rather loved it"
It may just be that I'm the perfect audience for 'Everybody's Fine'. It speaks to men of a certain age, and fathers in particular. The idea of a dad who's spent years communicating with his children through their mother has a powerful kind of familiarity, and the efforts of Robert De Niro's character to turn that around are really warm and entertaining.
Apart from anything, it's just a pleasure to see De Niro having some substantial screen time, when so many of his appearances in recent years have been little more than cameos. And also to see him working so well alongside a younger generation of actors, among whom Kate Beckinsale is very effective, while Sam Rockwell delivers another splendidly judged performance.
For all that. I'd happily concede that the film won't suit every taste. The idea of a former telephone engineer coming to grips with problems of communication might suggest that the story's a little too neat and contrived, and at times, so it is.
And there are moments which you will either love or hate. When De Niro catches up with each of his grown-up children, he sees them as they were when they were tiny - a device which I found kind of magical, but which others might find a little too much to take.
Cynics the lot of you, I say. In many respects 'Everybody's Fine' may not be a remarkable film, but I rather loved it. -
JONATHAN'S REVIEW OF MICMACS
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"silly rather than satirical"
I wanted and expected to like MicMacs a lot more than I did. It's crammed to the rafters with visual flourishes, but that's part of the problem. The level of design effort and the thought which has gone into making every scene almost perversely odd are so distracting that it's impossible to engage with the characters or the story.
Not that there's much of a story to get hold of anyway - just a series of strange ideas bundled together without rhyme or reason, and you'll look long and hard for anything resembling a consistent, credible narrative.
Nor does the film have the kind of bite which would justify using something as grotesque as the arms trade as the premise for a comedy. It's just silly rather than satirical, with an ending that's not just awkwardly misjudged but will also look second hand to anyone who's seen Ken Loach's 'Looking for Eric'. If you're going to end a film with a gimmick, it should at least look original.
It's not a movie devoid of fun, but the enjoyment that is on offer is buried beneath layers of self-conscious invention, which are smothered all over a basic storyline which just doesn't suit this kind of cutesy oddball approach.
Credits
- Production Manager
- Marian Lacey
- Sound Recordist
- Phil Clayton
- Presenter
- Jonathan Ross
- Director
- Howard Brenner
- Producer
- Tom Webber
- Assistant Producer
- Bex Palmer
- Assistant Producer
- Emma Pollock
