mcallister126 Reviews

The Swimmer (1968)

A captivating and thought provoking movie.

[9/10 · 12 February 2024]

A captivating and thought provoking movie.

We first see Ned (Burt Lancaster) at a garden party, on a sunny afternoon, in a wealthy part of Connecticut. He decides he is going to 'swim' home. He doesn't mean it literally, but plots a route via his neighbours' expansive properties, intending to have a swim in each of their pools.

As his journey home unfolds, we sense that his life has unravelled in recent years.

The neighbours clearly haven't seen him for a while, and some are less welcoming of his presence than others. It's apparent that he has had some kind of breakdown, and is under the delusion that he is still the man he once was, and that his circumstances and prosperity are what they once were.

We never get the full jigsaw, but enough of the pieces to form a picture.

This is a very good movie, and Lancaster plays the role superbly.

Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023)

Truly terrible

[1/10 · 12 February 2024]

I've never watched the Luther series, but gave this a go. There were plenty of implausibilities in the plot, to the extent that I couldn't tell if it was intended to some sort of fantasy.

Was it trying to be Bond, or Bourne? Whatever it was trying to be, it was a horrible attempt.

You want to give any movie the benefit of the doubt early on, but, as so often with this genre of movie, this descended into drivel, and the ending was beyond ludicrous.

We can overlook things like a man on the run always seeming to have money, and a phone that never needs charging. However, when he takes his 1980s Volvo on the ferry to Norway, pursing the super villain to his elaborate and remote Arctic lair, then the whole thing gets too silly.

This is a truly terrible movie.

Belfast (2021)

Easy viewing but unrealistic

[3/10 · 21 December 2023]

This is a very twee representation of a working class area of Belfast in 1969-1970, based loosely on Kenneth Branagh's childhood there.

Jamie Dornan and Caitriona Balfe are far too picture perfect for their roles. The dialogue is unrealistic, as is the backdrop.

Only Ciaran Hinds carries off a working class Belfast accent with any accuracy.

Dornan sounds like what he is: a Doctor's son. The little boy sounds like he attends some prep school in a leafy suburb. Judie Dench's accent is all over the place, and is totally miscast. The actors portraying the local heavies are even less convincing, and come across as no more menacing than a church choir.

It's easy to watch, in a 'Wonder Years' type way, and has some gentle humour, just don't assume that it bears much resemblance to reality.

The Reckoning (2023)

No reckoning

[4/10 · 11 October 2023]

There really isn't much point in this drama, other than to see how Steve Coogan manages to portray Jimmy Savile.

Coogan was an impressionist in his younger days. He thus looks and sounds quite like Savile, but doesn't convey the sleaziness and menace of the man.

No doubt the BBC will be slapping themselves on the back for making this drama, but the crux of the matter is that there was no reckoning. Savile never answered for his criminal acts, and thus the ending of this drama can only be unsatisfactory.

The fact that the BBC for many years gave this man his biggest platform, and his crimes apparently went unnoticed and unreported, is maybe what needs to be addressed, in drama form or otherwise.

What's Love Got to Do with It? (2022)

Bad romcom

[2/10 · 2 August 2023]

Excruciatingly bad with just about every corny cliché they could cram in.

Cosy middle class 'Love Actually' type nonsense, with a cross culture aspect thrown in, in an attempt to give it a slant.

It's a romcom, but with very little com, and a tiresomely predictable rom.

A man in his early 30s is about to get married, mainly to please his family.

He is really in love with the girl next door, as she is with him, but they have never expressed their true feelings towards each other. As the marriage approaches, those feeling simmer. Yes, you get the picture.

The fact that he is of Pakistani heritage, and his parents want him to marry within their religion and culture, (rather than for love) is supposed to be the point of difference in this movie.

It could have had potential, but sadly it's just another formulaic romcom, of the type that has been done many times before, and much better than this.

23 Walks (2020)

Wooden acting

[3/10 · 1 July 2023]

This is an easy going, undemanding sort of a movie that stumbles along, without any real flow or cohesion.

It's about two sixty somethings, who are now single, and meet up while walking their dogs. The movie is supposed to show how their relationship develops over the course of 23 walks.

Simple enough, but, to be honest, it's only the two dogs that make it watchable.

Alison Steadman carries off her role competently, as you would expect.

My initial concern was that it might be a bit twee. However, what really lets the film down is the wooden acting of Dave Johns. He is just so unconvincing that it's difficult to empathise with his character. Nor can you relate to the issues in the film because of this.

Blue Lights (2023– )

Poorly researched

[1/10 · 28 March 2023]

Blue Lights might be ok, if it was set in any other UK location. However, it is set in Northern Ireland, where there is an added aspect to policing, namely that there are people who actively seek to kill police officers. Police in Northern Ireland carry guns, not for the purposes of making arrests, but for self defence.

Probationary police officers are not sent into potentially life threatening situations, such as those depicted in this drama.

Nor are they sent out on duty in the sort of slap dash, ill informed and poorly prepared manner that is depicted in this show.

This drama is poorly researched, badly cast, and unconvincing from start to finish.

An Irish Goodbye (I) (2022)

Fairly nondescript

[4/10 · 21 March 2023]

It won an Ocsar, so you have nothing to lose by taking 23 minutes to watch.

However, it wouldn't be noteworthy, except for the fact the one of the actors (James Martin) has Down's syndrome.

James plays Lorcan, a youngish adult, who has been living in rural Ireland with his mother. She has died, and James' brother Turlough is home from England for the funeral, and to sort out her affairs.

There is a bit of sentimentality, in two brothers reacquainting after their mother's funeral, and some gentle humour, but it's mostly humdrum stuff, with nothing to distinguish it, other than what I have mentioned in the first paragraph.

The Wonder (I) (2022)

A waste of good actors

[2/10 · 21 February 2023]

This is a movie about an 11 year old girl, which could easily have been written by an 11 year old (apart from the gratuitous sex scene maybe)!

It's clumsy, cliché-ridden drivel. I thought we might even see a leprechaun, sitting on a hump backed bridge, smoking a pipe.

There isn't much of a story, and what there is, is downright daft.

A young girl, in rural 1860s Ireland, apparently hasn't eaten for 4 months, but seems perfectly healthy.

The village committee and her family are claiming that she is being sustained by God, without food, and is thus a 'Wonder'.

To validate her state, the committee has brought a nurse from England, simply to observe the girl at her home for two weeks. The nurse and a local nun take turns, round the clock, to chaperone the girl.

It's obvious that she is receiving nourishment from somewhere. That's the essence of the movie ie where is she actually getting it from, what is the motive behind her apparent fast, and who is orchestrating it? The nurse aims to find out.

Now that may sound mildly intriguing, and, with Ciaran Hinds and Toby Jones, you would think this movie might have some backbone.

It doesn't. It's a weak movie, and a waste of good actors.

The Pale Blue Eye (2022)

Uninspired

[3/10 · 8 January 2023]

There are some impressive names at the top end of the cast list, but unfortunately they are mostly miscast.

Christian Bale acts well (as you would expect) in the lead role as the lugubrious detective, as does Toby Jones as the doctor.

The film on the whole is well shot and atmospheric.

However the story is weak and uninspired.

The Bale character (Landour) is called into a military academy to investigate the disemboweling of a young cadet's body, after his apparent suicide by hanging.

After a repeat incident involving another cadet I would like to say the plot thickens, but it really doesn't. The story remains weak throughout, and just ambles along to a ridiculous conclusion.

Bloodlands (2021–2022)

Better than many

[7/10 · 31 October 2022]

This was worth watching overall, better than the first series, and better than many series of its type.

A few scenes did drift into the implausible and, like so many crime dramas, the conclusion was a bit feeble. It's almost as if the writers of these thrillers just go with the flow, without thinking about an end, then hastily cobble something together.

However, the ending is not enough to give you the familiar 'why did I waste time watching this?' feeling.

The characters, acting and interactions were mostly good and authentic (especially DCS Twomey). The main exception was the ludicrously miscast, slightly camp American gangster. While he was key to the denouement, fortunately he didn't feature too much.

Louis Theroux: Forbidden America (2022– )

Garbage

[1/10 · 14 February 2022]

Nothing new, revealing or shocking to see here.

This is just another Louis Theroux freak show.

While the subjects may well be worthy of opprobrium or ridicule, they mostly come across as immature, maladjusted or downright pathetic, rather than menacing or threatening.

I watched 40 minutes of this wretched programme and that was more than enough.

Some dimwitted reviewers here are making the assumption that a low rating is an indication of support for the people in the programme. It is not!!

It is simply that these Louis Theroux 'let's mock the weirdos' programmes have become a bit tiresome.

The Responder (2022– )

Mediocre

[2/10 · 1 February 2022]

Because this was written by a former police officer, it seems to be getting an easy ride from critics.

However, knowing the job and being able to write a drama about it are two different things. The writing for this series leaves a lot to be desired, as does the directing.

The characters and interactions are unconvincing, and the dialogue dreary. Martin Freeman of course acts well, but is miscast in the role here (albeit the writer envisaged him for the part). His uniform is even too big for him, to the extent that his trousers look like Charlie Chaplin's.

There are 5 episodes, but I had enough after 2 and a bit.

The Nest (I) (2020)

Not bad

[6/10 · 17 January 2022]

For a movie with little cohesion, and no real depth to the story or the characters, this is strangely quite watchable. The acting is pretty good all round, particularly from Jude Law in the lead, but you keep waiting for something to happen, or for something to be revealed, but instead it just ambles along.

It centres around an ostensibly successful financial trader in the 1980s, whose career and family life unravel somewhat, when he returns to London from New York to take up a new job opportunity.

His American wife and their 2 children don't cope well with the change, and his supposedly wonderful job turns out to be rather less than he had anticipated, or had led others to believe.

He doesn't exactly crash and burn, it's really just a familiar sort of tale about a chancer who gets exposed, and the big deals that are just around the corner never materialise.

No Time to Die (2021)

Massive disappointment

[2/10 · 1 January 2022]

This was a massive disappointment, and the worst Bond movie by some way. Badly written, badly directed, with some very unconvincing acting. At times it resembled 'The adventures of Tin Tin' cartoon.

All previous Bond movies have been rewatchable, some more than others, but there was nothing in this movie to encourage another viewing.

The storyline was weak, sloppily put together, and went on far too long. Of course there was the requisite dosage of car chases, explosions, gunfights and glamour, but very little else. A very poor effort all round, and a big improvement needed for the next one.

Calibre (2018)

Well worth a watch

[8/10 · 16 November 2021]

While this film is of a familiar theme (city boys get into trouble when looking for wilderness adventure), it has enough of a difference to make it very watchable.

It was well acted by a convincing cast, well filmed, remained within the realms of plausibility, and maintained a sense of tension and unease throughout.

Also, unlike other such movies, it didn't have a weak or predictable ending.

Two old school friends (mid-late 20s) set off for a deer hunting trip to the Scottish wilds, and base themselves in a small village. Marcus is a laddish investment broker. Vaughn is more reserved, and has a pregnant fiancée.

Marcus's cockiness, and readiness to familiarise himself with a local girl in the pub, rubs the villagers up the wrong way from the off.

They drink until late, yet set off early for hunting the next day. They are the worse for alcohol, but Marcus has taken a stimulant to offset any lethargy.

Of course things don't go to plan. A tragic accident (or carelessness on their part) throws them into turmoil, and with each turn of events their predicament gets worse.

The Vanished (2020)

OK

[5/10 · 28 May 2021]

This is actually alright. You begin to suspect what might be going on pretty early, but it's not glaringly obvious.

It's a bit disjointed in parts, and far fetched in others, but that's standard fare in these type of movies.

I wouldn't re-watch it but it's reasonable viewing throughout.

Taking Lives (2004)

Loses its way

[2/10 · 28 May 2021]

It starts ok, and is in the 'let's give it the benefit of the doubt' category after 30 minutes. From there it lurches from implausible to ludicrous to laughable. It's similar, but significantly inferior, to several other serial killer pursuit movies.

There are some good names in the cast, but some very bad casting. One of the characters is about 20 years too young, and that keeps you thinking 'but it can't be him', so you watch on. You shouldn't.

As someone else said; if you like looking at Angelina Jolie then this film is worth watching. Otherwise not.

Fatale (II) (2020)

Just silly

[2/10 · 19 May 2021]

It's clear from the title and early scenes that this was attempting to be Fatal Attraction with a difference.

The difference is that this quickly unravels into complete nonsense. It's a film that is big on style and low on credibility.

I just about watched to the end, mainly because it was time for bed and it wasn't worth starting to do anything else.