THEGAYUK

Tag: Three Star Film Review

The latest three-star film review from THEGAYUK.

  • FILM REVIEW | Logan Lucky

    ★★★ | Logan Lucky

    The man who gave us Sex, Lies and Videotape, Out of Sight, Erin Brockovich, Magic Mike, and the Ocean’s Trilogy (Steven Soderbergh) has returned with a film that, while it’s not groundbreaking, is littered with excellent performances but its a case of been there seen that.

    So alike Logan Lucky is with Ocean’s Twelve and Thirteen that it could as well have been Ocean’s fourteen but set in the Confederate state of Virginia. Logan Lucky is the story of a bank robbery, a bank robbery that’s so cleverly planned and executed that it’s a bit unrealistic and unbelievable.

    Channing Tatum is down on his luck Jimmy Logan who can’t seem to get a break and keep a job due to his permanent limp. His daughter, Sadie (a memorable and amazing little Farrah MacKenzie) is a beauty pageant winner wanna be, and she’s in the care of his ex-wife Bobbie Jo (a very good Katie Holmes). His one-armed brother Clyde (a good as usual Adam Driver) owns a bar called Duck Tape, and they have a sister Mellie (Riley Keough). Jimmy, after talking to brothers Sam (Brian Gleason) and Fish (Jack Quaid), who have mentioned that their other brother Joe (Daniel Craig, at his best ever, better than his James Bond character), who happens to be incarcerated, can and will break out of jail and can help the gang break into the underground cash-handling system at the Charlotte Motor Speedway during one of the it’s busiest days of the year – the Coca Cola 600 race. Did I mention that the plot is a bit far-fetched?

    Clyde (who got himself arrested just for the sole purpose of helping Joe escape jail for the day) and Joe successfully, in another ridiculous moment, escape jail. And it’s then a dream team attempting to steal money from a stadium chock-a-block full of people yet there is absolutely no one guarding the underground area where the money is dropped in via a tube system. Absolutely no one, not a security guard, employees, garbage collectors, no one at all. And all seems to go according to plan, thus lacking in any suspense whatsoever.

    It’s in the performances where Logan Lucky is saved, barely. Craig is fantastic as the seasoned thief, Driver is good (as always) as the one-armed brother. Holmes surpasses expectations as Jimmy’s ex-wife who is now married to a wealthy man (more of her in the future please), while Seth MacFarlane is unrecognizable and fantastic as an arrogant personality famous for who knows what. The script, by Rebecca Blunt, has some very good moments but Logan Lucky is basically “Ocean’s 14” but with a better cast and a cool and quirky Southern vibe. Perhaps Soderberg’s next film will be an original, this one certainly wasn’t. But he’s putting together “Ocean’s Eight” at the moment, so it will be more of the same.

  • FILM REVIEW | Tom of Finland

    ★★★ | Tom of Finland

    FILM REVIEW | Tom of Finland
    (C) PECCAPICS

    We all know who Tom of Finland was, but not many people know the real life story of the man behind the sexy images – Touko Laaksonen. The new movie ‘Tom of Finland,’ tells us about his fascinating, and interesting life.

    But it’s a bit of a shame because the film is not very exciting. It should have been given that this man is most famous for his drawings of muscular and very well-endowed men in various incriminating sexual positions, but this aspect of the film takes a bit of a backseat to the more biographical nature of his life. Laaksonen, (ably played by Finish actor Pekka Strang), was a decorated officer in WWII and fought in battles against the Nazis where he was face to face with the enemy, and which makes an indelible impression on him for life. After the war, he returns home to live with his homophobic sister Kaijia (Jessica Grabowsky) and leads a very unexciting life working at an advertising agency. It’s only when he starts drawing men is when he starts feeling alive, more so because he starts to explore his sexuality in a place where it was illegal. Laaksonen then falls in love with the young lodger Veli (Lauri Tilkanen) he and his sister take in. This relationship instils confidence in Laaksonen and this is when his artistic talent starts to blossom.

    Instead of getting sexier and more erotic, Tom of Finland the film maintains its understated and muted tone. As Laaksonen’s work (who by now goes by the name Tom of Finland given to him by his publisher) becomes more well known around the world, he goes to Berlin and then is whisked away to Los Angeles at the behest of a rich gay patron (played by Seumas Sargent) where we get glances of men frolicking in a swimming pool but it’s not enough to warrant any sort of excitement in a film that should be releasing hormones right and left. Some of the supporting characters start getting sick but there’s no real mention of the words HIV or AIDS in the film and it’s this disease that hits his community hard, at a time when no one really knew how the virus was contracted. And with no timeline mentioned in the film, it’s a bit difficult to know when these events took place to put the story into some sort of context.

    Directed by Finnish Director Dome Karukoski and written by Aleksi Bardy, Tom of Finland has, of course, a very Finnish feel to it (definitely foreign and a bit dull and grey), which may or may not have impacted the film’s lack of excitement and dramatic possibilities. But the cast are all very believable and Strang does a very good job of playing Laaksonen’s life over a span of 50 years (!!). But Laaksonen deserves a more fitting tribute. He was a seminal figure in gay culture, one of the most influential and celebrated figures of twentieth-century gay culture, and ‘Tom of Finland’ the movie is not quite what I’d hoped it would be.

    If you want real excitement, there is the Tom of Finland Organic Vodka to try – launched in the UK last month. Made in Finland from a blend of the finest organic wheat and rye with no added sugar, the vodka pays tribute to Tom of Finland through its smooth, spicy taste and flavour and it’s sexy packaging. The vodka was launched to coincide with the release of Tom of Finland.

    The vodka is available now from select retailers including Gerry’s Wines and Spirits in Soho, London for an RRP of £32.50/50cl. I’ve tried it and it is superb.

  • FILM REVIEW | Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

    FILM REVIEW | Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales – Captain Jack Sparrow is back for the fifth and final time in the search along with everyone else for Poseidon’s Trident which is the only thing that can save him from an army of zombie pirates.

    Nutshell – Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and all are back for one final time before setting sail into the sunset – God even Paul McCartney turns up too. The undead Captain Salazar escapes from the Devil’s Triangle which Jack Sparrow had trapped him in. He wants revenge by eliminating every pirate from the earth and Jack’s only hope is an artefact that gives full control over the seas – cue the mother of all chases across land and over and under the sea to tie up all the loose ends of 11 hours of fun films in this hugely successful franchise.

    Running Time – 129 minutes; Certificate – 12A.

    Tagline – ‘Dead Men Tell No Tales’ or ”All Pirates Must Die’

    THEGAYUK Factor – Orlando Bloom is one hot fukka with the second biggest peen in Hollywood to Jon Hamm allegedly but he goes missing for the middle of the film so the eye candy is taken up by young newbie Brenton Thwaites. Pirates are hot and we’re sure they enjoyed each other below decks as you can see in the recently released gay porn version of this franchise ‘Pirates’ from Men.com featuring UK Gay Porn megastar Paddy O’Brian shagging over the yardarm on a real pirate ship.

    Cast – Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, David Wenham & Kevin McNally.

    Key Player – Ever since the first movie when he was a supporting character these films are all now about Johnny Depp and here he has a lot more funny lines than normal – he also has this character down pat and really carries the weight of this massive movie.

    Budget – $350 Million making it one of the Top 10 most expensive films ever – $90 Million was added due to Depp’s divorce trauma’s, him busting his wrist and having to return to the States and that dog smuggling into Oz problem but it will still make a nice profit worldwide.

    Best Bit – 0.31 mins; A truly great bank heist that fits the tone of these films perfectly although it is ripped hook, line and anchor from the climax to Fast And Furious 5, but hey ho, it still works a treat. Don’t get distracted at the end of the epic stunt sequence at the bridge bit though as there is an awful blooper where six horses suddenly all disappear at once.

    Worst Bit – 0.42 mins; The David Wenham character representing the British Navy is not so much unnecessary but wholly obsolete and somewhat confusing and why does he want the Trident anyway?

    Little Secret – The Pirates’ films are the 9th most lucrative franchise of all time and this is the most expensive to date. After Keith Richard’s from the Rolling Stones as his dad here we get Paul McCartney from The Beatles playing Jack’s Uncle and singing Maggie Mae from the Let it Be Album. This was supposed to be the last Pirates ever but just this week they have announced number 6 and Keira Knightley will be back for the whole thing next time.

    Further Viewing – The Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest, At World’s End, On Stranger Tides for 11 hours of Jack madness plus Cutthroat Island, Blackbeard, Treasure Island, Hook and 10 years in the making Roman Polanski’s ‘Pirates‘.

    Any Good – It is basically a carbon copy of the first movie with bigger set pieces and more CGI. As that was the best one of the series and they have upped the humour here then this is definitely a return to form and is very welcome in that it is shorter too. All good fun but nothing really new here to be honest and it will get a bit lost in the midst of a very busy Summer of sequels.

    Rating – 65% out of 100.

     

     

  • FILM REVIEW | Their Finest

    FILM REVIEW | Their Finest

    ★★★ | Their Finest


    A film about London in 1940 during The Blitz is finally being released in theatres – Their Finest – a year and a half after principal photography began and 6 months after it had its European premiere at the London Film Festival in October 2016.

    I’m not entirely sure why it has taken this long for the film to finally make it into the cinemas – it’s not a bad movie, but it’s also not a great movie.

    Their Finest details a motley crew of screenwriters tasked with writing a script for a film that would hopefully lift up Britain’s flagging spirits during WWII as well as inspire America to enter the war. That’s a lot of responsibility for three people to take on, in a film based on the 2009 novel by Lissa Evans. Gemma Arterton’s character Catrin Cole (based on a real woman, Diana Morgan, who wrote for Ealing Studios) actually has no screenwriting experience, but she’s basically just looking for a paycheck to help her artist husband Ellis (Jack Huston) pay the bills. But she gets more than what she bargained for when she’s hired by the British Ministry of Information to assist Tom Buckley (a very good Sam Claflin) on a film script. Winston Churchill tells them that they need to write a story that will inspire the nation, and so they write a propaganda film amidst all that is happening in Europe. But it’s Bill Nighy as the leading man of their film (playing Ambrose Hillard) who steals the movie. He’s wonderful and witty and oh so debonair when he’s on set in the making of the movie within the movie, and he’s wonderful off the set when he’s telling jokes to the rest of the cast and crew, and tender and fatherly when he is giving advice to Catrin. But all is not ok in her life, she catches her husband cheating on her on one of her few visits she makes to their home, and her and Buckley realize they have more in common with each other than just putting words to paper. Set this all against the backdrop of WWII and what you’ve got is a classic in the making.

    But Their Finest is not quite a classic. Some of the scenes look a bit staged, not very realistic for a film that relies on the portrayal of London during the Bliz. Arterton is fine and lights up the screen with her beautiful face, and Claflin is very handsome as her mentor, but director Lone Scherfing (who directed the wonderful An Education with Carey Mulligan) along with a script by Gaby Chiappe, don’t quite make it 100% believable. Production values are fine, costumes wonderful and the score very dramatic when it needs to be, but it’s Nighy that you will remember – he’s deserving of nominations for this film – but the film itself not so much.

  • Film REVIEW | Nocturnal Animals

    Film REVIEW | Nocturnal Animals

    ✭✭✭ | Nocturnal Animals

     

    NOCTURNAL ANIMALS film review
    Credit: Merrick Morton/Universal Pictures International

    Tom Ford’s highly anticipated second film, Nocturnal Animals, is both brilliant and confusing, no thanks to its three stories in one arc.

     

    Amy Adams is art dealer Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) who lives high above the Hollywood Hills in a seemingly loveless marriage to her philandering husband Hutton (Armie Hammer). One day she receives a book called Nocturnal Animals written by her ex-husband Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal, in one of his best performances in years). It’s been 19 years since they broke up, well actually Susan broke it off with him, and she hadn’t heard or seen of him since then. So it’s bit unusual for her to receive a book from him, knowing that he’s been a struggling writer all his life. While her husband is away on one of his many business trips, she settles down to read the book. It’s then that Nocturnal Animals the book becomes a whole second movie, a second movie so brilliantly written, acted, and told that it should’ve been the movie that is Nocturnal Animals.

    The book is a tale of revenge, rape and murder, brutal and in your face and it’s directed wholly at Susan. While it’s obvious it’s a work of fiction, it’s brutal and horrific. The book as we see play out tells the story of fictional character Tony (Gyllenhaal) with his wife Laura (Isla Fisher) along with what could be (or not) their daughter – this plot point is not very clear, driving in Texas when they’re menaced by a gang of rednecks led by Ray Marcus (Aaron Taylor-Johnson in a performance you will never forget which won him a Golden Globe Award). The menacing turns much much worse, but only towards the women, and it’s too much to give away here to explain what happens to them. Suffice it to say you will be on the edge of your seat while this story is unravelling. And Oscar-nominated Michael Shannon is the cop who is roped in to investigate the grizzly crime.

    Nocturnal Animals also replays the beginning of the relationship between Susan and Edward – how they met on a New York City sidewalk, then had a loving relationship, only for Susan to drop him (it’s not clear why she leaves him).

    All of this is played out in just under two hours. Nocturnal Animals is a haunting romantic thriller with tension throughout, but it’s also a bit of a letdown after the brilliant A Single Man. Adams doesn’t have much to do except read the book in which the most exciting scenes of the film play out. A couple plot points are head scratching – a phone call Susan makes to her daughter – a real daughter or it she a hallucination due to Susan’s lack of sleep – (nocturnal), and Edward’s grudge for 19 long years – really? Nocturnal Animals is a movie that is so cruel and cynical, a story so much about disloyalty and especially about revenge, and it becomes very very violent and very very dark, and Ford dedicates it to his husband Richard and their son Zach. A bit narcissistic if you ask me.

    Now available for Digital Download, Blu-Ray™ and DVD
    From Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

    BLU-RAYTM, DVD & DIGITAL BONUS FEATURES:
    The Making of Nocturnal Animals – Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Ford, and other cast and filmmakers recount how they brought such a unique story to life including:
    -Building the Story – Tom Ford and cast examine the central characters and how they fit into the story.
    -The Look of Nocturnal Animals – Filmmakers and cast discuss how the cinematography and costumes give the film such a distinct and rich feel.
    -The Filmmaker’s Eye: Tom Ford – See how Tom Ford’s attention to detail adds layers to the two interwoven stories at the center of the film.

  • FILM REVIEW | Retake

    FILM REVIEW | Retake

    ★★★ | Retake


    An unusual love story takes place in the new film ‘Retake.’

    But is it really a love story? Handsome businessman Jonathan (Tuc Watkins) has returned to San Francisco to relive a trip from his past – a trip that was with his late lover Brandon. So Jonathan picks up hustlers on the streets and pays them to play the role of Brandon by adding a few squirts of cologne and a black wig. One of the hustlers fails miserably at the task, however, another one, Adam (Devon Graye), who looks a bit like Brandon, easily settles into the role, enough so that Jonathan takes him on a car ride to the Grand Canyon, a trip that Jonathan and Brandon were never able to complete because of Brandon’s death from a drug overdose on the trip.

    Jonathan has Adam totally re-enact Brandon’s persona – from having him wear his actual clothes to making sure he drinks Brandon’s favorite drink – and Jonathan also has Adam copy Brandon’s gestures. Lines are blurred when Adam starts acting like himself and Jonathan appears to be falling for Adam and not Adam’s Brandon. But will their relationship survive the road trip after Adam confronts Jonathan about photos he has found in his briefcase that all too weirdly mirrors the exact places and poses Jonathan had Brandon pose for on their ill-fated trip?

    ‘Retake,’ aptly named because of the re-staged photos with Adam, literally takes us on a journey of a man who tries to relive his past. Watkins is a bit stiff as Jonathan, however, Graye is everything you would want him to be; sexy, charming, flirty, fun, and after he cuts his hair to look like Brandon, handsome.

    Writer and Director Nick Corporon brings us an original story that, though at times falls flat and and is a bit unbelievable, ultimately win our hearts and becomes one we can identify with for those of us who have suddenly lost a partner.

    VOD/DVD release is on Jan. 10th

     

  • FILM REVIEW | Friend Request

    FILM REVIEW | Friend Request

    ★★★ | Friend Request

    Be careful when you accept a Facebook friend request, because the person requesting might be a lunatic.

    Friend Request

    That’s the premise behind the new movie ‘Friend Request.’ In it, popular girl Laura (Alcia Debnam-Carey) briefly speaks to loner Ma Rina (Liesl Ahlers), who is a bit out of place at school with her unusual appearance and head always covered by a hoodie. In Ma’s mind they are now friends. So Ma sends a Facebook friend request to Laura, but Laura notices that Ma has zero Facebook friends. Laura reluctantly accepts the friend request much to the dismay of her boyfriend Tyler (William Moseley) and best friend Olivia (Brit Morgan). Ma then starts commenting on practically every post that Laura has ever written. Ma becomes more psychotic and weird when Laura has a birthday dinner but doesn’t invite Ma. When Ma sees photos of the party on Facebook, she becomes angry at Laura and goes from friend status to psycho bitch stalker status. Then it’s announced at school that Ma has committed suicide, yet someone is posting dark eerie video on her pages and on Laura’s page, and Laura is unable to unfriend her. And Laura’s friends are unable to deactivate their accounts as well, and one by one they are being killed off due to their association with Laura. While Laura’s 800-plus Facebook friends start unfriending her, who is behind the deaths and the constant Facebook postings? Will Laura be the next victim to Ma’s revenge from the grave?

    ‘Friend Request’ is a film for the Facebook generation. It’s all about collecting friends, whether you really know them or not, and living your life, through Facebook. As the intensity of ‘Friend Request’ builds, it gets a bit sillier and sillier, especially with lines like when Olivia tells Laura to ‘unfriend the dead bitch.’ Then a policeman says – with a straight face – ’someone had a rough day,’ after the brutal death of one of Laura’s friends. ‘Friend Request’ echoes films like ‘Carrie’ and ‘Final Destination’ where friends are killed off one by one, so the body count is there but the suspense really isn’t. And some of the death scenes are a bit ridiculous and over the top. But should you accept this friend request? I say yes!

  • FILM REVIEW | The Danish Girl

    FILM REVIEW | The Danish Girl

    Oscar-winning Director Tom Hooper (‘The Kings Speech’) and Oscar-winning Actor Eddie Redmayne (‘The Theory of Everything’) bring us the life of a male Dutch artist who, with the support from his wife, becomes a woman, in the new film ‘The Danish Girl.’ ★★★

    Based on the book of the same name by David Ebershoff, ‘The Danish Girl’ tells the real life story of Einar Wegener (Redmayne) who never felt right as a man so transitioned into a woman, being one of the first known recipients ever of reassignment surgery. It was with the support of his wife and fellow painter Gerde Wegener (Alicia Vikander) that gave him the courage and hope that helped him through the transition to live the rest of his life as Lili Elbe. But the film portrays Einar’s transition and Gerde’s acceptance as a dull one, there are no real revelations, nothing exciting about the story, and even Redmayne’s performance is a bit under the radar. It’s Vikander who steals the movie right from under Redmayne’s corset.
    The movie tells us that Einar’s interest in all things transgender suddenly happened when Gerde asked him to fill in for a female model who didn’t show up for one of her painting sessions. So she asks Wegener to put on a dress so that she can finish the painting. Wegener likes the way it feels, but more importantly he likes the way he looks in it, and this suddenly awakens Einar’s inner woman. This takes place in 1926 while the couple was living in the liberal land of Copenhagen, though such things were not done, nor not even discussed back then. But with Gerde’s full support, and help, Einar starts dressing up as a woman outside of their house. Things get a bit more complicated when another man, Henrick (Ben Whishaw) takes an interest in Einar, who by this time has started calling herself Lili.
    Gerde is asked to go to Paris so that she can work for a local art dealer, and while her career flourishes, their marriage slowly dissolves. And a childhood friend of Lili’s, Hans (Matthias Schoenaerts) shows up and forms a complex triangle with the couple. And it’s not long before Einar goes ahead with the surgery.
    ‘The Danish Girl’ is dull. It’s not a sweeping European love story where love conquers all in the midst of one man’s gender confusion and one woman’s loyalty to such man. Hooper’s direction can’t bring Lucinda Coxon’s boring script to life. Not even the actors can accomplish this.
    Redmayne is good as Einar/Lili, yet there were times when I thought I was still watching him play Stephen Hawking. It’s his eyes, he blinks them quite a lot in this film, just like the way he did in ‘The Theory of Everything.’ However, ‘The Danish Girl’ is pretty much Vikander’s movie.
    She’s beautiful and emotional and accepting when the times call for it – it’s just as good a performance as Felicity Jones was as in ‘The Theory of Everything.‘ Vikander’s star is on a meteoric rise, having appeared in three films this past year (‘Ex Machina,’ ‘The Man from U.N.C.L.E.‘ and ‘Burnt‘). She’s currently filming the fifth Bourne Identity film with Matt Damon and Tommy Lee Jones and has two other features coming out in 2016. I was very disappointed that ‘The Danish Girl’ was not as good as I had hoped, perhaps it might be better to read the actual book, and skip the movie.by Tim Baros

  • FILM REVIEW | Irrational Man

    Irrational Man | ★★★

    Woody Allen’s 47th film, ‘Irrational Man’, sticks to several themes he’s already explored in a few of his previous films, and is not one of his best.

    An older man being pursued by a younger woman is a plot device that Allen has presented to us many times before (Magic in the Moonlight and You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger). In Irrational Man, Joaquin Phoenix plays pot-bellied depressed middle age philosophy professor Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix).

    He’s the newest teacher at a small town college in Rhode Island. He’s single and doesn’t seem to have much going for him. However, two women vie for his attention; unhappily married fellow teacher Rita (Parker Posey) who fantasises them running away together to Spain, and student Jill (Emma Stone). Jill is in Abe’s philosophy class, and she is mesmerized by his teachings and his stance on life. They start to spend lots of time together outside of the classroom, much to the dismay of Jill’s perfect boyfriend Roy (Jamie Blackley). Abe tries and tries to resist the urge to sleep with Jill, though he has no trouble having sex with Rita.

    However, Abe’s relationship with Jill is becoming stronger and stronger, until he can no longer resist her, and they eventually sleep together. Jill is so smitten with Abe that she breaks the news to her boyfriend Roy that she wants to break up. The plot then takes a turn: one day at a diner Abe and Jill overhear a woman talking about a local judge who has ruled against her in a divorce proceeding and has awarded custody of her kids to her husband. She also tells the people she is with how the judge has destroyed her life. At this point Abe decides he’s going to do something about this woman’s problem. His decision rejuvenates him, it transforms him from someone who is aimless and depressed to someone who is full of life and energetic. And he actually does go through with his plan. Of course his actions are irrational, but to him they are rational. But does he think he’s pulled off the perfect crime?

    There’s not much more to the film’s plot which is probably why it’s only 95 minutes. But Allen does get more from his actors than what the script provides. Phoenix is perfectly cast as the loner professor who struggles with his identity but is lucky enough to have two attractive women vying for his attention. Stone overdoes it a bit as Jill, the student who has a good thing going with Roy but sees something attractive in Abe that we don’t see. Stone played a similar role in Allen’s last film – Magic in the Moonlight – falling for Colin Firth’s much older character. Posey is a delight as Rita, fantasising about a life with Lucas in Europe.

    But Allen’s script doesn’t provide much magic, it’s humdrum at the very best in a film that can be categorized as not one of his best. It also won’t have much box office appeal here in the UK- in the U.S. the film has made a measly $3.7 million – a far cry fromMagic in the Moonlight’s total gross of $32 million. At age 79, we’re sure there’s lots more films in Woody Allen’s repertoire to redeem himself from this one.

  • FILM REVIEW | American Ultra

    Take a bit of a James Bond movie, another part from Cheech & Chong, and mix it up with elements of the recent film ‘Spy’ and out comes the new movie ‘American Ultra.’

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  • FILM REVIEW | The Last Knights

    In the current climate of sword and sorcery fever, stirred up by the wonderful Game of Thrones, we are seeing a surge of books and films set in Machiavellian worlds, with plot twists and turns to keep you on your toes.

    This film is one of those – probably more by happenstance than by planning. This film seems to seek to ride that wave – however, it falls short, far short.

    A fallen warrior, one of the last knights of the title, seeks to avenge his former and now dishon-oured master against a cruel and corrupt ruler in a pseudo-medieval land.

    Beautiful backdrops, amazing scenery, weather fit for Winterfell and its frozen North, there just seems to be something missing.

    The cast work hard, the plot, in theory at least, should entertain but it fails somewhere.

    Have you ever settled down to watch a good movie, only to be left a little, well, a little flat and dis-appointed?

    With a cast that includes Clive Owen and Morgan Freeman, we could expect more but they can only work with what they have. The scenery is wonderful, spectacular even. The castles and courtyards appropriately epic, the costumes perfection.But, and its a big but, it doesn’t succeed – and I can’t put my finger on why?

    I read a few reviews on this film from Amazon and my favourite one read: “utter ball bag”. Not sure why this tickled me, but it did! It was also too harsh as it only gave the film 2 stars – I’d give it 3 and maybe a second watch at some point to check if my review was right.
    A mild-mannered 3 stars

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