Reviews

Likes ants swarming from a nest, the crowds flock into the arena just in time to see an ice hockey match between the loose-leafs and the pelicans - well that's what it eventually says on the score sheet. The teams are led by "Fearless Ferguson" ("Goofy") and "Icebox Bertoni" ("Goofy") and a heated rivalry is guaranteed! Under the arbitration of "Clean Game Kinney" ("Goofy") - the casting budget was obviously an issue here, off we go and pretty soon it's end to end stuff with the crowds having little idea who's doing what before the much anticipated carnage ensues on and off the ice! As ever, the game is carefully judged to come to an head with a few seconds left to go, and is accompanied by a pun-ridden commentary that tries to keep the punters vaguely informed of the chaos. Indeed, as things hot enough up there's even an opportunity for a "Spitfire" to shoot, too! Does anyone really care about the result - the teams sure don't. Good fun, this - loads of action and hats off to the breathless commentator, too!

A seven a.m. Alarm clock starts off the daily routine that "Goofy/George" must endure, always anticipating the relaxation of that Sunday morning lie in. That is, of course, until "Junior" decides that dad has slept for too long, mum wants to do the hoovering, the phone rings and then there's the washing machine, trumpet practice - maybe even a visitor for lunch. I know: some succour from a delve into the Sunday paper? Fat chance - peace is elusive! "Junior" and the dog want a leisurely drive to the coast? More a traffic jam of like minded optimists! Quickly his thoughts turn to the relief of Monday when he will be glad for the chance to get back to the sanity of work! It's quite an effective observation of the Sunday madness that so often constitutes the epitome of the day of rest for the working man! People who say "Happy Monday" always annoy me but maybe they have a point! Mum keeps a sensibly low profile, too!

I've only ever seen one pro basketball game and this pretty much summed it up. An inordinate load of hype, a cheering crowd stoked on sugar, caffeine, alcohol or more and a game that was almost incidental until the last few minutes when, of course, it was still evenly balanced and set for a cliffhanging ending. This time it's "Goofy" who plays just about every role from the lone visiting fan to the despondent coach, the player always left on the sidelines to the gangly player taller then the hoop. Just like the game itself, I didn't really love this. It's quickly enough paced but overly repetitive and the joke is brought home just once too often.

"Goofy" (aka "George") is delighted to be a dad! No sooner is it born, though, than he is immersed in the cycle of washing, sterilising, ironing, feeding and terrifying it with his baby talk! Sleep? Well he's on night-duty too as that relentless feeding routine shows no sign of letting up! A family trip to grandma with more luggage than was used on the D-Day landings follows before the little critter makes it to the walking and talking stage - and then we get the quarrelling, bickering, playing and you can just tell what's coming next - yep, boisterousness and strops! It's quite a fun look at parental indulgence, the relentless of fatherhood and the innocence (and belligerence) of a child. Will poor "George" ever get a moments peace?

Tasked with ensuring that the magician's trunk makes the 5.15 train, station master "Goofy" sets off to load it onto his cart. He barely gets it ten yards before dropping it and releasing an whole load of the magician's tricks. Just how many rabbits are actually in the hat - and how is he ever going to coax them back in? Well that particular problem just spawns plenty more as the next few minutes uses an amiably scored animation to illustrate a variety of magical tricks. A raging bull, a boxing kangaroo and maybe even some clues to offer us a potential solution to some of their secrets. "Goofy" is a good foil for this kind of daft storytelling and I found this quite good fun for five minutes, or so. Will the trunk ever make the train, though...?

"Mr Walker" ("Goofy" in a suit and tie) is a man of "average" intelligence who considerately avoids stepping on an ant as he walks to his garage to head to work in the morning. Thing is, once he gets the engine on it all goes to his head and he becomes the maniacal "Mr. Wheeler" in traditional "Jekyll & Hyde" fashion. Unfortunately for him, everyone else using the road takes the same thoughtless and aggressive approach to their journeys and soon accidents and pile-ups accrue. It's quite a clever look at just how silly the whole concept of getting there ten seconds earlier is; of getting there momentarily before a colleague, finding that elusive parking space or of not caring a jot for other road (or kerb) users. A concept turned on it's head when our driver reverts to pedestrian status and briefly and fearsomely appreciates the selfishness of motorists. Might he learn? What do you think...? Maybe patience is a virtue?

I didn't always like the "Road Runner" cartoons - I always felt he was a bit too smug as he constantly outwitted the not very "Wile E. Coyote". This time, the increasingly frustrated cat tries just about everything to entrap the racing bird, and goodness only knows how much he was paying the "Acme" company for dynamite, rockets, railroad track - even magnetic birdseed. This is essentially a dozen or so quickly edited escapades that sees an entertaining, if entirely predictable series of failures on the part of a very determined coyote. Maybe try glue next time - it almost worked for "Sylvester" with "Speedy".

It's hard to know what's more impressive here. The precision engineered tools used to make this nuclear power plant core, or the meticulously completed core itself. From the large housing that will contain the fuel rods to the perfectly rounded and polished conduits for the water, the cables and the seeming endless stream of coloured wires that wouldn't look out of place in a telephone exchange, we are shown the astonishing degree of accuracy involved in the construction of this, Germany's first nuclear power plant in 1961. I didn't love the slightly doom-laden score from Oskar Sala and it's a very dry presentation, but it's still an effective display of mankind's ability to innovate.

I always thought "Speedy Gonzales" was a carpet seller when I was younger. He just ran around endlessly shouting "underlay, underlay" all the time. This entertaining short animation sees "Sylvester" doing his best pied piper impersonation as he tries to round up all the pesky mice that keep raiding his supply of queso! Thanks to some original thinking and some glue, he almost succeeds but Tabasco isn't meant be drunk neat! It moves along a pace and though is a little repetitive, is still quite an enjoyable five minutes that left me, once again, feeling sorry for the poor old cat and remembering I don't much like flute music!

I'm not sure too many other G. I.s in Germany after the war looked quite so pristine as "Tulsa" (Elvis Presley) and his squad as they bet that "Dynamite" (Edson Stroll) can't get a date with the lithe local dancer "Lili" (Juliet Prowse) who has a bit of a reputation rejecting the amorous advances of soldiers. If they win, well there ought to be enough cash for "Tulsa" to go home and own his own nightclub. Thing is though, about five minutes after the bet his pal is posted to Alaska and so he must try to fulfil the wager himself! Initially she's not remotely interested, but yes... it is all that predictable. Elvis fans will probably enjoy this as an expertly staged, choreographed and lit vehicle for a star who doesn't look remotely natural at any stage and who simply cannot mime to his own songs. His regular "Jordanaires" get in on the gig too, but most of the renditions of songs like Carl Perkins's timeless "Blue Suede Shoes" as well as "Wooden Heart" and "Pocketful of Rainbows" look like they are episodically shot and inserted into the weakly constructed drama that does, to be fair to Prowse, offer us one glimpse of her dancing skills. This is a very sanitised image of "The King" that looks like production line stuff from the most risk averse of marketing departments from end to end. Not great from anyone, sorry.

I'd been watching this for ages before I realised that it was actually the real life Angela Lansbury (aged 35) playing Elvis's mother - he being 25 years old at the time! A bit of much needed cinematic licence in this otherwise really rather staged romantic comedy that doesn't really do anyone any favours. Having returned from Germany, "Chad" is at a loss as to what to do. He doesn't want to join the family fruit business, preferring to work with girlfriend "Maile" (Joan Blackman) - much to the chagrin of the aforementioned mum. Sorry, mom. "Maile" is a tour guide showing off all the beautiful sights of Hawaii. That's when he encounters the teenage "Ellie" (Jenny Maxwell) who takes a mischievous shine to him, causing no end of havoc between everyone, her teacher "Abigail" (Nancy Walters) and a bout of fisticuffs with just about the entire island! He's undoubtedly a charismatic man to watch but an actor he isn't. His renditions of "Blue Hawaii" and "Can't Help Falling in Love" demonstrate clearly that he can't lip-sync very well either. Lansbury adopts a squeaky accent and looks like she's having some fun, but the rest of it is all too rigid and unnatural looking - I think some of the cyclorama photography was just on a loop and even I know that you have to change chords playing an ukulele. I guess the star's timetable didn't allow Norman Taurog to spend too much time finessing what is just essentially a feel-good film for the star, but this is all pretty standard and unremarkable fayre from everyone.

Yikes, but what part of the Italian legal establishment doesn't come in for some pillorying from Marco Bellochio in this film? It all centres around judge "Mauro" (Michel Piccoli) and his ailing sister "Marta" (Anouk Aimée) who has pretty much brought him up. She isn't coping so well with reality and is frequently prone to suicidal flights of fancy until, that is, he introduces her to the rather roguish actor "Giovanni" (Michele Placido) to whom she takes a bit of a shine. It's the first time her brother hasn't been the sole focus of her attentions since they were children, so despite himself he starts to become a little jealous. He's not a man without influence around town, so decides to use that to ensure that this little fly in his familial ointment is duly swatted. There's a grand dynamic between the three characters as they are used to take swipes at family politics, envy and resentment and we also manage to have a go at some entertainingly small town provincial politics, petty corruption and eccentricities as this two hours really does fly by. It does play a little to stereotypes of age and attitude at times, and is maybe just a bit over-scripted but it's a slightly quirkier look at flawed domesticity and Aimée looks like she enjoyed herself for most of it.

Takes me back to the days when folks had to go to a bathhouse - we'd get half an hour and I'd share with my sister. Carbolic soap! Anyway, don't remember having attendants quite as easy on the eye as "Susan" (Jane Asher) and "Mike" (John Moulder-Brown). Most of the film is taken from the perspective of the latter, constantly horny, young lad who has the serious hots for his colleague. He's young and innocent and so gets his fair share of attention (and tips) from the clientele too - especially Diana Dors! "Susan" lives her life to the full, and that doesn't suit the increasingly possessive young "Mike". He starts to follow her and soon realises that she has a pretty drippy boyfriend "Mike" (Christopher Sandford) and is having a fling with his teacher (Karl Michael Vogler). Somehow he manages to get hold of a full-sized cardboard cut out of his dream girl as the latter half hour of the film descends a little too much into hormone-driven farce for me. It was rated X for the nudity, of which there is a little towards the end, but for the most part the sexual content is confined to the young man's head and JMB is quite good at imbuing his character with a degree of sexual frustration that I suspect we can all relate to. Asher, likewise, is quite effective as his manipulatrix and for an hour or so their teasing cat and mouse antics (she being the cat) are quite fun. Thereafter, though, I sort of lost interest and found it dragging. It's certainly worth a watch, but it's lost most of its oomph I'm afraid.

If you're at all interested in global history with a French slant to it, then this is a must watch. Though her narration is a little on the descriptive side, Claudine Nougaret takes us on quite a fascinating look at events filmed over his extensive career by acclaimed photo-journalist Raymond Depardon. We feature just about everything here from the French colonial events in Africa - the much medalled Bokassa included, through a succession of French Presidents dealing with issues across their country from immigration and industrial relations to poverty and urban troubles. Clearly as time progresses, so does the camera technology used allowing us even greater and more intimate access to his subjects as Nougaret incorporates occasional sound-bites from contemporaries to put some extra meat on the bones of these frequently quite potent images. For the most part, the photography was self-filmed by Depardon and in some of the more hostile or less developed environments, you do realise quite effectively just how perilous his projects were as he accessed areas and people in his quest for honest journalism. It's certainly a journal of France's recent history, but there's plenty for others to get from the narrative and the well constructed use of the archive.

To be fair to director Hope Dickson Leach, she has clearly not had much money with which to produce this adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's short-ish story. What we end up with is a really pretty dry, dingy and paceless version with an enthusiastic but really only competent cast delivering the goods. "Utterson" (Lorn Macdonald) in an ambitious Edinburgh lawyer who is introduced by his friend "Harry Jekyll" (Henry Pettigrew) to the wealthy brewing magnate "Sir Danvers" (David Hayman). Now this gent has a cunning plan to build an huge national monument on the bog-soaked, corpse-ridden, Calton Hill on the outskirts of the city. "Utterson" is tasked with making it possible - regardless of the graves. Meantime, his friend "Jekyll" is becoming a little poorly looking, his behaviour erratic and he also seems to be increasingly under the influence of his enigmatic friend "Mr. Hyde". Getting next to no information from housekeeper "Poole" (Alison Peebles), "Utterson" must try to find out what's happening to his friend before something tragic occurs. It's an hard story to do well at the best of times - think of the character in the money-didn't-matter "League of Extraordinary Gentleman" (2003), so I don't think it was a daft idea to try and present this more within it's means. The monochrome photography goes some way to creating an eerie city well enough, but the acting is straight from rep. It's great that Hayman continues to support Scottish movie-making, but the whole thing just looks like a stage play on, admittedly, quite a few different sets. The production is sterile and wooden, and neither Macdonald nor Pettigrew are anything like convincing with their depictions, especially as the madness grips the latter character and the tension is supposed to mount. I'm afraid to say there are at least three better versions of this in a pretty saturated movie market of Jekyll & Hyde stories.

Xavier Dolan pretty much tries to rewrite the gender identity book with this overly long, but quite potent look at the life of "Laurence" (Melvil Poupaud). He is a pretty discontented man who announces to his long term girlfriend "Fred" (Suzanne Clément) that he is deeply unhappy in his own skin, and that he feels he would be much more fulfilled as a person if her were to be a woman. She's a bit taken aback, there are the "is it me?' conversations and then the realism sets in for her. That realism is even more difficult for his parents. His father, well he takes a slightly more stereotypically rejectionist perspective but his mother (Nathalie Baye) has a far harder time reconciling his choices. Though in response to his "Will you still love me", she comes out with "Are you becoming a woman or an idiot?", you sense that her world is in just as much turmoil as that of her son who now wishes to be her daughter. With the family stresses bubbling away, he starts to dress more freely and that attracts comments at work. He's a literature lecturer - perhaps a vocation that might provide for an atmosphere of tolerance and alternatives? Well, no - not quite, and pretty soon he is without a traditional form of anchor in his life, but no less determined. The story is set across a ten year period during which "Laurence" moves towards realigning his sex and dealing with the consequences for him and those around him. Poupaud is really quite effective at illustrating the peaks and troughs of his new life, of the days of joy and empowerment tempered with those of depression and isolation. Baye also delivers strongly as a woman conflicted and not at all certain of what is best for her child - and there is something plausible about her behaviour. Then there's Bellair's effort as his lover. That doesn't work quite so well for me, but maybe that's because I felt the behaviour written for her character just didn't resonate with realistically very often. It is over-written. There is way too much dialogue and at times I wanted them to shut up so I could take things in and assemble the scenario in my own mind. It has it's thought-provoking moments, and it also has some dry humour to lighten the mood every now and again as, in the end, Poupaud does make you care.

This is one of the most entertainingly bizarre films I've ever seen. The title really only comes into play at the end, and that does put a little context into that, but for the rest of it we follow the curious activities of "Mr. Oscar" (Denis Lavant) who travels the city in an enormous white limousine that wouldn't have looked out of place in Atlantic City, being driven by "Céline" (Edith Scob). His departure in the morning, suited and booted, would lead us to believe he is some high-powered financial operative; his phone calls talking about 150% etc. Fuel that illusion til his driver informs him that his first "appointment" of the day is detailed in a file. To our surprise, we are now drawn back into his car to find it a fully equipped dressing room, complete with make up lights and an extensive collection of cosmetics and costumes. Thereafter, throughout the day, he assumes a series of disguises and carries out some mysterious and/or shocking tasks with the likes of Eva Mendez, Kylie Minogue and Michel Piccoli. He is at one moment a disagreeable vagrant, then doing his own virtual "John Wick" combat scenes in a CGI suite - but why? Who is this man? What on earth is it all about? It's clearly got a moral, well a collection of morals, and these gradually fall into place, but I still took quite a while to realise... It's a wee bit slow at times, but the variety of performances from Lavant are almost vaudeville in their range - there's barely a task to which he cannot turn his creative hand! It won't be for everyone, this, but it's quirky and innovative and far removed from the mundane and procedural. If you're going to watch it, though, turn off all your distractions and give it an undivided two hours, otherwise it will lose it's effectively accumulating punch!

John Gordon Sinclair got a BAFTA nomination for his efforts here in 1981 before the film went on to take the best screenplay honour in 1982 - and it's his charming effort as the lovestruck, geeky, teenager from Cumbernauld that endures even now. He is the eponymous lad who isn't on form with the school football team so is moved into goal. He's not exactly pure dead brilliant, but perks up when the apple of his eye - "Dorothy" (Dee Hepburn) shows some interest in joining the team. A girl playing football! Don't be absurd! Well the school decides it needs to win more than it needs to worry about her sex, so in she comes to the team and that gives the hapless "Gregory" a chance to befriend her a wee bit more and maybe even to pluck up the courage to ask her out for a bag of chips! What ensues is a gently comedic enterprise that invites all of us to recollect our acne-years, when hormones were raging, decisions were lousy and we all had the hots for someone (usually someone unattainable) at school. What he doesn't know is whether she's the least bit interested in him - with or without his best pal's dapper white jacket. It's an engaging rather than ground-breaking observation of teenage life but it also reminds us of the internecine way we all looked out for each other (ostensibly) as our bodies started their adult and sexual phases. His character is also well supported by savvy little sister "Madeline" (Allison Forster) and there's a even a bit part for Scots comedy legend Chic Murray. It's a bit dated, but the principles still apply and it's an easy ninety minutes that makes you cringe in all the right places.

You wouldn't want to be policeman "Nishi" (Takeshi Kitano). His young child died a few years earlier, his wife is terminally ill in hospital and his partner at work takes a bullet that renders him paraplegic. Unsurprisingly, he hits the skids a bit and his priorities become compromised. When his wife is told she can come home, he is determined to make that happen - but where will the money come from to facilitate her? Well he goes and borrows some money from some unsavoury types he has encountered in his career. With his sole raison d'être now being to spend as much time as he can with his ailing wife, some of his other decisions become more and more dubious and requiring of increasingly dangerous and violent action as his creditors demand repayment - in cash or in kind. This is really quite an effective mix of the romantic and the brutal. It illustrates the vulnerability of even the most robust of human beings when touched by tragedy and despair - and when that person is a cunning and capable killer, these risks for all become ever more exacerbated. There's not a great deal of dialogue here, it's mostly Kitano reacting to and dealing with the scenarios he faces trying to sustain that sense of stability and to deal with his crescendo of guilt and it's quite enthralling at times to watch. It does plod along a little at times, and can also be repetitive but it's a different style of dark drama that shows us an human side of someone not motivated by power, or money, or revenge.

It's the USSR in the early 1960s and though the Soviet Union is sending messages to the world of it's success, it's citizens are frequently on the verge of starvation. Even the most ardent of Communist party supporters find it hard when the government puts up the prices, but the wages remain static. This proves the final straw for some factory workers in a small town, who dare to go on strike. Not only that, but they invade the local party HQ where they are disgusted to find the occupants have a supply of cognac and Hungarian sausage. This is all quite traumatising for the loyalist "Lyudmila" (Yulia Vysotskaya) who is a died in the wool supporter but who is genuinely quite abhorred by the military's reaction - a feeling only augmented when she discovers that her young daughter has gone missing. Was she caught up in the silent aftermath? Unlike many, she still has some freedom of movement in this now locked-down town, and so we follow her increasingly desperate search for the girl and encounter the might of a state that brooks no resistance to it's authority. It's a pretty potent indictment of the tyrannical state that uses indoctrination to thrive, and of one that has no compunction when it comes to killing to retain and demonstrate control. It's not necessarily anti-Communist in itself, more anti-authoritarian. It encourages "Lyudmila" (and us) to consider the old adage about absolute power, of fear and retribution. Using a documentary style of photography, Andrey Konchalovskiy clearly has his own views on the Soviet state to impart here, but that message is easily transferred to dictatorships the world over, and with a strong and progressively emotional effort from Vyotskaya as a woman whose life is now upside down, whose values have been challenged and whose priorities have been well and truly shaken, is quite powerfully presented. Blood won't clean easily from asphalt - so you need to re-tarmac the street!

This is the second "Quartet" film to feature Dame Maggie Smith and I definitely prefer this one! The story is set in a retirement home for musicians and singers, and one that is gearing up for it's annual fund-raising gala as well as for a much anticipated new arrival. It's that latter event that sets the cat amongst the pigeons for the amiable threesome of "Wilf" (Sir Billy Connolly), "Reggie" (Sir Tom Courtenay) and "Cissy" (Pauline Collins - who ought surely to be a dame by now?). The legend that is "Jean Horton" - a veteran of La Scala, duly arrives and it turns out that she (Dame Maggie) used to be married to "Reggie" and now he's a bit upset. Meantime, the gala - under the direction of the flamboyantly hammy "Cedric" (Sir Michael Gambon) is facing a disaster after it's star turn had to pull out. The three friends conclude that the best plan to save their home might be to reconstitute their legendary quarter from "Rigoletto" - but can they all forgive and forget long enough to take to the stage? It's Collins who steals this for me. Her character is a bit of a dippy and good natured amnesiac who serves well as the lynch pin between the flirtatious and cheeky "Wilf" and the more highly-strung divorcees. The writing is funny enough, but it's really the characterisations that work best here. You could easily imagine that places like this exist for people who made a decent enough living when stardom shone, but had little to fall back on as old age crept up on them leaving them isolated and skint. The only true songstress here, Dame Gwyneth Johns, joins in the joke merrily parodying the luvvie-types with gusto and also providing us with a glorious version of her (original) "Vissi d'arte" from "Tosca" too. It's all a bit predictable, sure, but Dustin Hoffman keeps it out of the realms of sentimental cheesiness and everyone here looks like they are having fun making film designed to enjoy rather than over-think.

For many years since his retirement "Espósito" (Ricardo Darín) has been haunted by a brutal case of rape and murder that he was unable to solve. He decides that maybe the best way to formulate his thoughts and re-order the investigation is to write a novel, so with the help of an antiquated old Olivetti from his friend, and the new departmental boss "Irene" (Soledad Villamil) he starts to reconstruct the investigation. Using transcripts and photographs, he alights on the woman's schoolfriend "Gómez" (Javier Godino) who has long since disappeared from the scene. Increasingly, he becomes convinced in this man's complicity and now consulting with the dead woman's widower "Morales" (Pablo Rago) we all start to learn a little about the backstory, and it's complex, violent and tragic in equal measure. Can his deductions find the truth? This is a great example of a methodological and forensic drama that looks at the crime, sure, but it takes almost the same amount of time and effort to examine the strongly built characterisations. The nature of obsession, the desire for closure and completion - all addictive aspects of human nature that Darín and the almost perfect pacing from Juan José Campanella deliver here. It's a mystery that works on several levels evaluating the effectiveness of legal process and modern policing whilst reminding us that those exposed to crime are also affected, sometimes profoundly, by what they encounter. This works really well in a cinema, if you can. The frequently intimate style of the photography and the sparing use of light at times makes this an eerily effective watch that is rarely straightforward.

As with many a tale like this - we will probably never know the whole story of how the Russian submarine "Kursk" came to sink and of the desperate attempts to rescue the stranded sailors. What Thomas Vinterberg does here, though, is direct a film with a plausible, quite compelling, narrative that elicits good, solid, performances from Matthias Schoenaerts and August Diehl who manage to convey the claustrophobic scenes on board remarkably well. Max von Sydow exemplifies the old guard establishment figure to a T and lends all the more to the frustration that maybe more could have been done to save lives had politicking played a less prominent role in the salvage process. Any comments on the accuracy of the efforts at international collaboration would be speculative, but Colin Firth does imbue some genuine sense of eagerness to assist and an awareness of the urgencies involved. This is well worth a watch.

Think this might be the pinnacle of the Merchant Ivory storytelling world (with thanks to E. M. Forster), as a strong ensemble cast assembles to tell a tale of Edwardian Britain that brings into stark focus a class system that is just beginning to show some cracks. "Wilcox" (Anthony Hopkins) is what I suppose you'd call nouveau riche. A millionaire industrialist who has acquired quite a few grand country properties from the increasingly impoverished aristocracy. When his first wife (Vanessa Redgrave) dies at the eponymous country cottage, she has apparently promised it to her friend "Margaret" (Emma Thompson) but the family choose to disregard the bequeathing letter and she is none the wiser. Meantime, her well meaning and quite fussy sister "Helen" (Helena Bonham-Carter) has become aware of the hard working clerk "Bast" (Samuel West) who is married, sympathetically but rather unlovingly, to "Jacky" (Nicola Duffett) and not without ambition. "Wilcox" is set upon remarrying, and it's "Margaret" who gets the nod. Thing is, though, can there ever be any chance of any real love between them, or indeed for any of them, as the family ghosts - past and present, come back to haunt them and poor "Bast"? It's a grand looking saga this, and it plays the politics of the day well as there are three initially distinct strata of society gradually intermingling, some more willingly than others, throughout the unfolding drama. I actually thought it was the engaging effort from Duffett that stole the show, but Redgrave also contributes well, if briefly, as the ailing "Mrs. Wilcox" and Samuel West also stands out, portraying his character as a decent man who is a fish-out-of water at the best of times, but even more adrift after entrusting himself and his affairs to "Helen". It's a characterful study of human nature that shows up hypocrisy and delivers kindness, showcases nicely all the artifice of the creative talent and is worth a watch.

If you are a fan of "The Clash" then you might get more from this fly-on-the-wall, partially dramatised, documentary that follows their ascendancy in the UK towards the end of the 1970s. To give it some sort of narrative, there's a fan inserted into the mix and he serves as a conduit to not just the story of the four piece's musical journey, but also to illustrate a Britain that was wallowing after many years of ineffective government, out of control trades unions, and on the cusp of electing Margaret Thatcher (who does feature now and again telling us about the safety of old ladies walking along the street). What's interesting about their conversations is that the band vacillate entertainingly from the banal gibberish of stoned, drunk, opinionated would-be rock stars to perfectly lucid men with astute views of society and the causes of the misery which many of us Brits experienced at the time. The drama doesn't really work so well, but when they are on stage the thing can be quite electric, and the bands engagement with a wide demographic delivering some potently observational lyrics; plenty of ripe and vivid language, and some poor soul sent to the hotel corridor so another could get laid in their shared room brings some humour to it too. It's far too long and indulgently paced though, and there's not enough music to really stop in from becoming a bit too repetitive. Needs a shortening to tighten up the story, but still interesting enough.