Film Review Club

Underwater is a horror/sci-fi film set deep in the Mariana Trench as a group of workers try to find a way to the surface after an earthquake slowly destroys their underwater mining facility. Directed by William Eubank, it’s a fight for survival for Norah and her team. CAST & THE ACTING  Kristen Stewart leads the cast as Norah Price, one of the leaders in the film. She actually suits the role really well and delivers a pretty good performance. I don’t think it can compete with her recent roles in films like Spencer but it is a very different type of film, requiring a very different acting approach. She is supported by Jessica Henwick who plays Emily, T.J. Miller who plays Paul Abel and then a few lesser known actors. The rest of the cast do okay, Miller delivers in the comedic role and he is effective, I am a fan of his humour. I can’t help but think the casts biggest issue was not selling the danger they were in. They were all relatively calm considering the high stakes situation t

Set in 1940’s New York Stanton Carlisle joins a travelling circus, learning the craft of Mentalism from a Clairvoyant and her husband. Armed with his knew knowledge he paves a way to success by swindling the wealthy and elite. But his ambitions ride along side a lot of danger.  CAST & THE ACTING  The cast is led by Bradley Cooper who plays Stanton and he delivers another fantastic performance, he has definitely cemented himself as one of my favourite actors. The different versions of his character throughout the film perfectly depict the journey of greed and ambition but it’s done on such a personal level that the audience becomes super invested in Stanton Carlisle. I would say the supporting acts are almost split in two, the first half Cooper has Willem Dafoe to bounce off of and he, as always, is incredible. He does well to sell a character that the audience can never really trust, despite  the kindness he extends to Stanton. Cate Blanchett plays Dr Ritter and she is introduced i

Afterlife is a comedy drama written by Ricky Gervais. It follows Tony a man who is struggling with depression after the death of his wife. The series uses cynical humour to highlight the grieving process as Tony decides he wants to live long enough to punish the world.  CAST & THE ACTING  Ricky Gervais leads the cast as Tony and it’s definitely one of his best roles to date. The humour never fails to land but his dramatic acting also creates such a strong emotional connection to the audience. His performance can really make you laugh out loud and cry in the same episode. The rest of the cast is made up of other English comedians and actors and they all bring something unique to the story. Gervais recently said in an interview that he wrote the characters knowing which actors would play them and that’s really clear once you watch Afterlife because it’s like they were born to play these characters. So I was really impressed with the casting here. PLOT & THE STORYLINE  The storyli

The Kings Man is the prequel to The Kingsman films, directed by Matthew Vaughn we see how a group of underground, unknown militants help defeat the worlds most dangerous tyrants that are causing the world war. This group is what later becomes, The Kingsman agency.  CAST & THE ACTING  Ralph Fiennes returns as the founder of The Kingsman agency and also the Duke of Oxford. He is supported by Harris Dickinson who plays his son Conrad, Gemma Arterton who plays Polly and Djimon Hounsou who portrays Shola. The bulk of the cast do pretty well, contributing to the impressive combat choreography and overall silliness of the film. The Kings Man is actually packed with famous cameos, which all play their part well. Rhys Ifans performance was the one I enjoyed the least, not because he necessarily performed badly but his character was just too silly even for a Kingsman film. I think my favourite performance was from Harris Dickinson because he created a character that the audience could route

Licorice Pizza is a coming of age film directed and written by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film follows the friendship between 15 year old Gary Valentine and 25 year old Alana Kane during the 1970’s. Gary is a young businessman always looking for the next opportunity and he recruits Alana to help as she attempts to resist his advances the pair go on a journey of friendship and love. CAST & THE ACTING  The acting is really good in Licorice Pizza, led by Cooper Hoffman as Gary Valentine and Alana Haim as Alana Kane. Considering this is one of Hoffman’s first film roles it seems he has certainly inherited his late fathers talent for acting because he was so comfortable and confident in the role. There are a lot of guest appearances from more familiar faces such as Bradley Cooper, Sean Penn, Skyler Gisondo, Maya Rudolph and even John C Reily. However the focus is definitely on the two leads who deliver such intimate and natural performances, that create authentic and relatable characters

Mother/Android is a sci-fi thriller directed by Mattson Tomlin and is set in a post-apocalyptic world where androids have taken over America. Georgia and Sam are trekking across the country to find a safe place to give birth to their child, attempting to avoid the murderous androids along the way. CAST & THE ACTING  Chloë Grace Moretz leads the cast as Georgia and she actually delivers a really strong performance. Granted there’s not an awful lot for the cast to do at the start of the film but by the time the ending comes Moretz portrays such incredible emotion that she really impacts the audience. Sam is played by Algee Smith and unfortunately I don’t think he’s anywhere close to matching Moretz’ performance. He portrayed a man wanting to prove he can protect his family really well but everything else kind of felt slightly one dimensional. Where Moretz was making the audience cry at the end of the film, he wasn’t really showing any emotion at all and considering the circumstances,

Pat is just released from a mental Health facility 8 months after attacking his wife’s lover, keen to get his life and his marriage back on track with the help of his new friend Tiffany. The film is directed by David O. Russell and won Jennifer Lawrence an Academy Award for best actress. CAST & THE ACTING  The cast is simply brilliant, I was aware of Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence leading the film as Pat and Tiffany but I didn’t know that they were supported by the likes of Robert De Niro and Chris Tucker. The performances were great, so much so that Jennifer Lawrence even received an Academy Award for best actress. Bradley Cooper portrayed a character with bipolar and he handled it so well, he could have easily have won the best Actor award alongside Lawrence. The pairs chemistry looked so natural, creating a wonderful partnership between the two characters that had me so invested in their journey. Robert Di Niro also performed well, my favourite scene of his was when his ch

Beautiful Boy is directed by Felix Van Groeningen and follows Nic, a boy who on the surface seems to have everything, good looks, good grades and a strong family but when he turns to drugs and becomes addicted to Meth it’s up to his father to help pull him out.  CAST & THE ACTING  Timothée Chalamet and Steve Carell play Nic and his father David Sheff respectively. This is certainly another dramatic role for Carell and he performs well, convincingly portraying a father, desperate to save his sick son. Equally, it’s another strong performance from Chalamet who committed and lost weight for the role to convincingly portray the effects of meth on a persons body. As well as being physically committed, he also excelled in the emotional moments of the film and there are more then a few of those! The pair clearly had a lot of trust between one and other because a lot of the scenes rely on them both being extremely vulnerable and that trust between the actors created some really heartbreaki

Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, directed by Patrick Hughes is the sequel to Hitman’s Bodyguard and follows Michael Bryce as he tries to leave body-guarding behind to better his mental state. He is then forced back into the game by his previous clients wife Sonia, needing his help to rescue Darius from the mafia.  CAST & THE ACTING  Ryan Reynolds returns as Michael Bryce and as usual delivers a charismatic performance, filled with comedy and hilarious stupidity. He might only really play one character in every film but there’s no denying that his comedy always lands, he has to be one of, if not the best in Hollywood at doing what he does. His chemistry with Samuel L Jackson is great and the two of them produce so many funny moments. You then add Salma Hayek into the mix and even Morgan Freeman and it suddenly becomes even funnier. However the negative to all that is that you’re never going to get any serious moments, the more emotional moments that can connect with audiences on a deeper

The Last Duel is directed by Ridley Scott and set in the 1300’s. Jean De Carrouges is a respected knight known for his bravery on the battlefield and Jacques Le Gris is an intelligent squire who is one of the most respected nobles in the court. Carrouges wife courageously steps forward and reveals Le Gris raped her, leading to a duel to the death between the two men. CAST & THE ACTING  There is a stellar cast with Matt Damon playing Jean De Carrouges and Jodie Comer playing his wife Marguerite. The pair deliver fantastic performances, the way the story is told in the film requires subtle changes to each of their characters depending on which perspective we are seeing them from. I can imagine this was rather challenging for the actors, having to establish three different versions of their character and having to sell each one as if it was the truth. Adam Driver portrays Jacques Le Gris and similarly too Damon and Comer, he also delivers a strong performance. Ben Affleck has a less s

Invasion is an Apple TV exclusive series and follows a number of individuals from around the globe as they deal with an alien invasion. From an American soldier in Afghanistan to a Japanese space technician, can they help fight back?  CAST & THE ACTING  The majority of the cast was relatively unknown to me, the only actor I recognised and was actually really excited to see was Sam Niell who plays a sheriff in the series. Unfortunately he only had a tiny role in the first episode and he was never to be seen again. However despite Invasion lacking big names this certainly didn’t mean that the acting was sub par, I think everyone done a really good job, delivering solid performances that convincingly sold the storyline. It was good to see a wide range of nationalities from Japanese actors to British actors and they even ensured that it covered the alien invasion from the perspective of different age groups too. Billy Barratt played Casper in the series, a young school boy who has an i