November 16th 2023
Saltburn
A Savage Christmas
Pain Hustlers (streaming on Netflix)
Vengeance: A Love Story (streaming on Netflix)
This week from me sees two strong mainstream releases, plus two not so strong Netflix streamers.
Dir: Emerald Fennell
Length: 127 mins
 |
© Universal - the upper class get worked over
by a fellow who is not what he seems
|
On a scholarship, and coming from a dubious background, Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) seems like an outsider at Oxford University. Overly eager to make friends and gain acceptance, he befriends handsome, popular, posh party boy Felix (Jacob Elordi), son of a wealthy family which owns a 12th century sprawling mansion called Saltburn. When Oliver does Felix a favour, the kind-hearted rich boy invites Oliver to spend the summer with him and his family at Saltburn. The family are a motley crew, ex-model mother, Elspeth, (Rosamund Pike), father and archetypical toff Sir James (Richard E Grant) preside over the mansion, with their sexually loose daughter Venetia (Alison Oliver) and Cousin Farleigh (Archie Madekwe). What transpires over that summer is, to say the least, unexpected. Keoghan seems physically perfectly cast for the role. Having a slightly shifty look matches his character's personality, seemingly polite, almost self-effacing, but with quite a different persona lurking under the surface. The parents are so quintessentially upper crust Brits, they almost seem like caricatures and are, to me, not totally believable, but this is no doubt part of the intended sending up of a "certain class" of Pom: rich, entitled, overly extravagant, and definitely stiff upper lip. With overtones of The Incredible Mr Ripley, the film's narrative gets darker as it progresses. Each character seems to fit some psychoanalytical textbook "type", and the discernible sexual and homoerotic overtones are deliciously handled, with a near-final scene in which Oliver prances naked quite something to behold! With its sumptuous look, plot twists and intriguing characters, Saltburn is a fun and fascinating watch.3.5 - well recommended
A Savage Christmas
Dir: Madeleine Dyer
Length: 90 mins
 |
© Bonsai Films - family dysfunction loves to
rear its head at Christmas |
The Savage family is meeting for its annual Christmas get-together at the family home in Queensland. The dysfunctional family consists of parents James Snr (David Roberts), an ex-footballer, and wife Brenda (Helen Thomson) along with their son Jimmy (Ryan Morgan), daughter Leia (Rekha Ryan) and adopted son David, who is now a trans woman, Davina (Thea Raveneau) and who hasn't seen the family for several years. Davina brings along her trans boyfriend Kane (Max Jahufer). There's also James' brother, loud and crass Uncle Dick (Gary Gilshenan). The Christmas get-together has always been a fraught affair, but this year some heavy-duty family secrets emerge, ratcheting up the tensions. Add into the mix the late arrival of unexpected guest Peter (Gary Sweet) and you have a recipe for an explosive celebration. I haven't laughed out loud so much in a long time as I did with this clever, at times silly, and totally fun film. There's a lot that rings true in the story - the awkwardness, forced bonhomie, back-stabbing and not-so-subtle sniping that pervades many family festive functions. Great to see that the trans couple are played by trans actors, and that theme is handled insightfully, and intelligently. Some of the humour borders on farcical, but for me (remembering humour is so subjective) it really works in a self-deprecating, typically Aussie way, that captures so much we love, hate, and cringe over in our national character and our family dynamics.4 - highly recommended
Dir: David Yates
Length: 123 mins
Streaming on Netflix
 |
© Netflix - pharma companies behaving
badly - again! |
Liza (Emily Blunt) is a single mum working in a pole-dancing bar, when she gets a job offer from Pete (Chris Evans) to work for a start-up pharmaceutical company run by Dr Neel (Andy Garcia). The company pushes a cancer drug called Lonafen (fentanyl-based), claiming it to be non-addictive. Soon business starts to boom, encouraged by speaker programs, and the employment of very pushy, good looking female sales reps. But as things move into the gray world of illegal doings, success cannot last. The film has its basis in a real life pharma scandal and is certainly eye-opening as to the way the industry operates. At times the plot seems a bit too slick and unrealistic, with too much emphasis upon the greed and decadence of the pharma company, and too little on the serious topic of opiate addiction and patients who died. But Blunt is excellent in her role, and the appearance of Schitts Creek favorite Catherine O'Hara as her mother is a welcome cast addition. An OK, moderately pleasing entertainment. 3 - recommended
Dir: Johnny Martin
Length: 99 mins
2017 - Streaming on Netflix
 |
© Netflix - Cage in a relatively
muted role. |
Single mum Teena (Anna Hutchison) is gang raped as she walks home from a party with her daughter Bethie (Talitha Batman). The four accused scumbags hire lawyer Jay Kirkpatrick (Don Johnson), renowned for getting people off. When justice is not served, local cop and Iraq veteran John Dromoor (Nic Cage) decides to take matters into his own hands. Well, that's 99 minutes of my life I won't get back, but . . . there's something magnetic about Cage regardless of the calibre of the film he's in. (Usually, not so magnetic or rampaging here!)
The real reason I included this viewing mistake is to alert you to a fabulous site created by film critic Luke Buckmaster. It's called the the Cage Gauge and is an outline and rating system of every Cage movie ever released. Luke says: Celebrating one of cinema's most original and distinctive actors, the core philosophy underlying The Cage Gauge is that every Nicolas Cage movie is worth watching—because every Nicolas Cage movie has Nicolas Cage in it.
1 - hmmm - unless you're a diehard Cage fan, don't bother!
PS. It ranks at no 89 (very low) in the Cage Gauge.
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