Category: Film

★★★★ | Chicklit

Four men try to cash in on the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon by writing their own racy novel in order to save a local pub in the new film Chicklit.

Set in a small village in Norfolk, the whole town seems to be reading She Came in Chains, a new BDSM book by author Lady Lovelorn, including local newspaper editor David Rose’s (Christian McKay) wife Jen (Caroline Catz).

So when the local pub is faced with closing unless a buyer can come up with £300,000 to save it, Rose has an idea – why don’t him and his pals write their own racy novel. So he enlists his card game buddies – pub manager Chris (Tom Palmer), school teacher Justin (David Troughton) and local bookstore owner Marcus (Miles Jupp – who owns the bookstore with his partner Geoffrey – James Wilby), to each write their own section of a ‘mommy porn’ novel in the hopes that they can get someone to publish it.

Well, David contacts London book agents Bonar and Law (John Hurt and Eileen Atkins), who are very interested in representing the book the men have called Love Let Her. They get a publishing deal but with one caveat, they need to have the author available to do book tours and signings. So David enlists his struggling actress sister-in-law Zoe (Dakota Blue Richards) to play the part of the ‘author’ of the book. But with the book becoming a success, it’s harder and harder for them to keep the book’s real authors a secret, and even more so when Zoe starts getting tired of promoting something that is not hers.

Ii is a cute and funny take on chick literature and how almost anyone with an imagination and a computer can write a saucy novel. Filmed like a 1970’s style television show in a small English village with typical local characters, it’s a film that’s both charming and cute. Hurt and Atkins almost steal the movie as the uproarious book agents while the delightful music of Alex Britten (related to Director Tony Brtten who also wrote the film with Oliver Britten – it’s a family affair), who sings as part of the pub’s house band, adds a nice touch. This film is recommended because it’s cute and doesn’t take itself too seriously.

★★★★ | Golden Years

The pensioners in the new DVD release ‘Golden Years’ try to get even at the system that they feel is robbing them.

It’s a cute and funny film about older people trying to get back what’s theirs. They feel the system is corrupt, so they take matters into their own hands. Retired couple Arthur Goode (Bernard Hill) and his wife Martha (Virginia McKenna), who is ill with Crohn’s disease, eke out a living on their pension while spending time at their local social club with friends Royston (Simon Callow), Brian (Philip Davis), and Shirley (Una Stubbs).

One day Arthur finds out that the company he spent a lifetime working for has gone bankrupt, and so has his pension. He doesn’t know what to do… how is going to be able to take care of Martha? An opportunity presents itself when, while in front of a bank when money is being delivered, one of the guards trips, falls and gets knocked out on the ground, while the guard inside the truck inadvertently hands over a container of money to Arthur, who gladly takes it and runs. It sets off an idea where he enlists Martha, and eventually his friends, to rob banks. Who would expect pensioners as bank robbers, with cucumbers acting as guns, of stealing money?

Golden Years is a delightful film with a cast of great actors all relishing their role as bank robbers. It gets even funnier when the local police keep thinking that the bank robbers are a malicious and very dangerous gang.

I would’ve liked to have seen more of Ellen Thomas, the loquacious and horny local diva, she’s got some of the best lines in the film. Some of the robberies the gang pulls off are, however, a bit unbelievable and far-fetched, especially when they’re attempt at running away is basically a slow walk. But nonetheless it’s a charming film that will make you think what retirement holds in store for you – perhaps robbing banks to get even with the system.

GOLDEN YEARS is available on DVD from Amazon
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