Two Line Reviews - #464

Movie: The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

Plot: A congressman losing his election to New York Senate lets his loser's speech get altered thanks to the inspiration he draws from his 'love-at-first-sight'. He sees her later once, misses her many times again. It takes some time for him to realise nothing at all was mere coincidence that he is just a part of a mesh of guys working on a much bigger and stranger plan! He tries to unshackle himself off their chain, follow his free-will in pursuit of his love. Will his efforts go in vain?!

What Works?

• This creation of George Nolfi is quite strange in the sense that you get to know where it is heading only half-way through the film! In spite of that, the film doesn't sag anywhere and keeps one engrossed - All credits to the convincing answers at the end!
• Matt Damon and Emily Blunt share a charming chemistry and that plays its part in making the film tick.
• The very concept that is the core of the film is brought out pretty decently thanks to some nice action sequences, CG work,camerawork,music & a classy group of Bureau members (The Afro-American lad being the most prominent of the lot!)

A nice mockery of the limitations of human ability to pursue free-will!

Two Line Reviews - #463

Movie: Paradesi (Thamizh, 2013)

Plot: In 1939, villagers of a barren land are given an attractive promise of work and wealth upon migration to the British managed tea estates. When they reach, they understand the cruelties they have to go through. They are exposed to exploitations and unfair extensions of their work tenure, giving them miserable years of suffering. Through his hero, Bala even shows their miseries in not having even the chance to communicate with their dear ones back home!

What Works?

• After a very mediocre outing in Avan Ivan, Bala is back to his gruesome best and delivers an intense and well-thought out subject in his impeccable style!
• Among the baggage of surprises is the efforts of Atharva Murali! He has definitely shown how talented he is, with his spontaneity. His Rasa/Ottuperukki character is sure to be remembered and held alongside some very prominent characters in Thamizh Cinema.
• Vedhika, Dhanshika, the couple who act as the hero's friends & the local village characters are perfectly cast and enact their roles superbly, which is not surprising given Bala is at the helm of affairs!
• Bala, for the first time, has moved away from the Raja family for music and G.V. Prakash's score and tracks give ample proof on why it wasn't a bad decision after all!
• The unperturbed camera-work of Chezhiyan aids the story-telling and elevates itself in shots such as the Interval & Climax sequence! Kishore's editing comes in handy in such sequences as well.
• Bala & team's careful research is clearly visible in terms of the art-work, the costumes, the accent of the dialogues, the references made to Gandhi (who had worked for the rights of Tea Estate workers in Bihar and elsewhere during that time!) & a gutsy take on the exploitation exercise underwent by Christian Missionaries during that time (whose effects are still to be seen in hill-lands dominated by Christians)!

Bala is back to what he does best - Giving Intense, Disturbing films high on artistic values!

Two Line Reviews - #462

Movie: A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

Plot: Three Britishers and an American plan and rob diamonds from a bank. Two of them betrays the third who in turn stashes the diamonds in a secret place and gives the information to the 4th. The first two decide to befriend the attorney of the man caught to locate the diamonds. What follows are arousal of passions, love and a four-way battle of wills for winning the diamonds!

What Works?

• Riotous comedy thrillers are among the most difficult of genres to execute and in an effortless show, Charles Crichton & John Cleese pull it off quite nicely!
• The screenplay filled with a mix of expected and unexpected turns, providing ample scope for fun, works!
• All 5 prime characters deliver the goods well but the role of Jamie Lee Curtis as the seductress plays pivot!
• The irrelevant suspense music that comes up at places could not have been more fitting to the genre!
• Sequence comedies and the tussles involving the American, the Brit and the pet-lover bring the roof down.

Heavy dose of sensuous & hilarious entertainment!

Two Line Reviews - #461

Movie: Rang e Khoda (or) The Colour of Paradise (Persian, 1999)

Plot: A blind kid studying in a city school for the blind comes to his country-side home for vacation and spends some nice time with his Granny and sisters. In a fight between his father and his granny on how his future should be, the kid's extremely special skills are about to get compromised.

What Works?

• Had Majid Majidi made this film in a more reputed Hollywood, the film would now have been among the best of classics! It has something for every type of audience.
• The metaphors & symbolic touches that appear all through the film shows the taste and brilliance of its maker!
• The Kid gives a performance that is on par with, if not better than, the best of kid works in world cinema. The boy resembling a young Rafa Nadal made me connect even more!
• In bursts, the granny & the father show their capabilities and the selfish human norm is brought to viewing pretty nicely.
• The locations and the non-chalance of music & photography add quality.

A Touching classic, a masterpiece!

Two Line Reviews - #460

Movie: Special 26 (Hindi, 2013)

Plot: A group of 4 con-men posing as IT Sleuths, lay out careful plans and loot illegal wealth off Politicians and Businessmen. The CBI gets involved in chasing the con-men who leave no trails and on their landmark 50th Con-attempt, they pose as CBI Officers & recruit a special group of 26 officials to make the biggest of their heists. CBI, working its way into their attempt, makes its own plans to catch them red-handed when they are in action. Do the con-men outclass the CBI with their Special 26?!

What Works?

• Neeraj Pandey showed us what he is capable of with his A Wednesday. This one, again of the cat-and-mouse format, reiterates his capabilities in deftly handling subjects and screenplays of that kind.
• Akshay Kumar deserves appreciations for his neat performance as much as he deserves it for sharing screen space with a lot others, including Anupham Kher who makes more than a mark as Mr. Sharma!
• The Manoj Bajpai, Jimmy Shergill sequences offer a nice match-up and adds to the excitement.
• Sanjoy Chowdhury's background score that is on a 'repeat' mode in the film plays its role in keeping us engaged. The dialogues with shades of dark humour works quite well!

What Doesn't?

• For one, the portion involving the hero's love affair could have easily been done away with! Kajal Aggarwal ends up wasting film reels as she doesn't even have the usual glossy song-dance sequences in this! And those build-ups preceding each heist - That was going overboard!
• The film's overall content has the same flaw a recent Thamizh heist film had! There is a big twist but things would have been a lot easier for the con-men if that twist hadn't even been On!

Not very special, but definitely watchable!

Two Line Reviews - #459

Movie: Ray (2004)

Plot: Ray Charles is a blind Afro-American Jazz music star who peaked to stardom in the 1960s. The film traces his way up in the 50s, the hiccups he had to go through and a slew of incidents in his childhood which made him who he went on to be!

What Works?

• Taylor Hackford, the maker, has got things right in the way he decides what to concentrate on, in a very inspiring story of a rags to riches pianist! The right mix of music, emotions and fun make this an interesting watch.
• Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles is excellent and his facial mannerisms remind us of the blind men we may have come across in our lives; His hallucinations of fear, his anger against betrayers and his show of helplessness when he deviates are all so natural that you end up admiring his show!
• The sound tracks carry the film when it moves closer to falling into the sag-zone traps!
• Kerry Washington as Della Bea, his wife is classy but the other 2 roles that leave a mark are those of Ray's mother and the kid who plays Ray's childhood self; He's unbelievably emotive!

Ray of(fering) Hope! A very good Biopic!

Two Line Reviews - #458

Movie: Crónica de una fuga (or) Chronicle of an Escape (Spanish, 2006)

Plot: Following the Argentine coup d'état in the 70s, In 1977, rebels against the military takeover are kidnapped and probed. In it wrongly gets caught,among others, a goalkeeper of a Football club. How the tortured souls persevere, think and escape makes for the core tense last hour of this gem of a film.

What Works?

• I am already a huge fan of the way the Argentines make their films and this film only strengthens my loyalties! Natural, stylish presentation comes naturally for a lot of them, it seems - Here, Adrian Caetano who calculates and sets the tempo that gets built up slowly culminating in a pulsating climax!
• The conversations in the detention centre, the hatred of the officers, the sorry-state of the prisoners and the resolve of the few left-over are all captured marvelously in the indoor shades and lights.
• Music plays its role without even telling you 'I am there' and that's how good background scores ought to be!
• Performance-wise, Rodrigo who plays the Goalie Claudio steals the show - He's your typical South American hero and giving him a worthy fight are the man who plans for their escape & the police officer with the shades.

A very nicely presented Escape Chronicle!

Two Line Reviews - #457

Movie: Ameerin Aadhi Bhagavan (Thamizh, 2013)

Plot: A mafioso betrays his master in a deal and earns his wrath in Thailand. A woman whose life he saved before comes for timely help and takes him to Mumbai. When he is arrested and beaten brutally, he doesn't understand why! When he understands the reason, he sets off on a journey to annihilate those responsible for his sufferings!

What Works?

• Does anything work at all was the question I had when I was typing the header! Maybe, there are sparks of Ameer (the maker of 3 solid films ranging from good to great) that show up in, say, the way the Heroine's character has been handled consistently and some spark-filled sequences in the 2nd half.
• The lead pair - 'Jayam' Ravi & Neetu Chandra have put in sincere efforts in their roles as Rani & Bhagavan. Bhagavan would have been a pretty big break for Ravi if the role had had some strong basis! Its effect fades away after the initial few minutes.
• Yuvan's background score is pretty good & the bits and pieces of Bhagavan Rap make some scenes hold stead!
• The pre-interval twist was nice ( I didn't guess, even though one of my friends did!)

What Doesn't?

• My initial guess was that Ameer wanted to make Scarface and seeing rushes of Billa-2, he wanted to alter things a lot! He ends up rubbishing his first half letting it go with too many untied ends!
• Even the Bhagavan portion doesn't have a lot of crisp episodes; What is shown is cliched and talks less of the purpose of the ruthless villain.
• Ravi definitely has to take care of his voice modulation. While he tries to be rough in accent, in places, his dialogues make one laugh and later, feel for the lad.

Half-baked. On a second thought,no..not even half! Give it a miss.

Taking on the tag-line 'A Mafioso Action Love Story', my friend said 'Mafioso', 'Action' & 'Love' were there as promised, but not the final item in the list! That sums things up perfectly!

Two Line Reviews - #456

Movie: Amour (or) Love (French, 2012)

Plot: An elderly 'over-the-80s' couple lead an independent life. When the wife undergoes a stroke and gets paralysed on one side, the mutual love they share comes to the fore to make them sail through the trouble they face in trying times! A definite tribute to all love stories that have passed the longevity test!

What Works?

• I have only heard great words about Michael Haneke, the maker so far! After seeing his carefully laid work here, I understand why he is rated as the best film-maker in all of Europe over all the years! He lets us go deep into the characters and makes us enjoy and suffer with them!
• Jean-Louis Trintignant & Emmanuelle Riva have to be given as much credits as Haneke deserves for living such roles at such an age when you can grasp only so much! They perform unbelievably well!
• The dialogues within the family and the ones that show the intimacy of the couple are as classy as they come.
• The impeccable Camerawork that sneeks through their house makes the viewing more special!

Painstakingly moulded Masterpiece! Balu-Mahendra's Veedu types

Two Line Reviews - #455

Movie: Les Misérables (2012)

Plot: In tumultuous times in France, a man sentenced for stealing a loaf of bread chooses to escape from parole and leads a better life under a new identity. When an opportunity presents itself in the form of taking care of the daughter of one of his workers, an officer from his past comes back to hunt him and after years, the stage is set for them to meet during the historical June Rebellion!

What Works?

• 'Bravo' to the gutsy efforts of Tom Hooper and team in trying to bring a Victor Hugo story & a Schönberg Boublil musical based on the same story together and bringing together, they have done it handsomely!
• The power-packed star caste is an added bonus - Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and others ensure that Jean Valjean, Javert, Fantine etc. will stay in our minds for a long time to come!
• The kids Cosette & Gavroche steal the limelight in their limited roles.
• For the roles of Samantha Barks & Carter-Cohen, the tracks play a vital role in making them memorable!
• The long shots involving crane camera movements and graphics add to the grandeur the songs like 'Look Down' provide.

Colossal & a definite Classic!