xxharrison Reviews

Paula (2017)

Edgy thriller plunges over the edge

[4/10 · 5 June 2017]

To begin with, this was good edgy stuff. There were some inconsistencies in Paula's character but then that can be true of life too. The slow moving first episode came, rather abruptly, to a climax. Then everything fell apart. At the start of episode two, I genuinely felt I must have missed at least half an episode. The characters had gone completely over the top, shouting, screaming and acting hysterically. It's all completely inexplicable. At least Paula is acting more consistently. She just goes to bed with whoever happens to walk through her hall door. Then she starts shooting wildly in a bathroom in an empty city restaurant at Christmas! Why is it Christmas all of a sudden? Or is it just that the production had too much to drink and thought it was Christmas?

SS-GB (2017)

Stage whispers spoil drama

[5/10 · 20 February 2017]

Stylish production, but overly so, to the point of being cartoonish. The characters seem to be aware they are in a period noir drama. Riley's role is a caricature, all fedora and husky voice. The breathy whisper he employs is almost laughable. When adopted by much of the cast it would make you weep. Listen, I know secret police are naturally secretive, but it helps if we, the audience, can hear what they're saying. Once again, a drama that alienates the viewer by excluding them from the dialogue. The broad sweep of the story is interesting and may hold up over time, but I think it would work better if all dialogue was subtitled.

Striking Out (2017–2018)

Legal drama fails to make a case

[4/10 · 15 January 2017]

Opens impressively and maintains good visual quality. Pity the script disintegrated so soon. The set-up, with Tara (Huberman) two-timed on her Hens' Night is okay, if hackneyed. What follows is a mess of cliché and improbability. The notion that a lawyer would allow a young homeless miscreant to organise a new office for her is absurd. In a downbeat coffee shop backroom too. Leather-clad femme fatale snoop is a bit of a cliché, to say the least. It's eye candy, but shallow. The media star in the first case was terrible, a monosyllabic goof with popping eyes – perhaps the actor couldn't recover from reading the script. Meanwhile Tara is slowly turning into the worst TV lawyer ever, inexplicably handing over all her money to pay for the wedding she's been cheated out of. Hello? Is she really a lawyer? We may wait for a second series to see if there's any improvement. If there is a second series.

What We Did on Our Holiday (2014)

Quirky family comedy hits the spot

[7/10 · 15 January 2017]

If you liked Outnumbered on TV, you'll probably like this. Trio of kids from dysfunctional London family head to Scotland for grandad's birthday. Not usually my cup of tea, but script and director get it right. The children have a believably offbeat take on reality, talking and doing as they would, and not as adults think they should. Tennant and Pike spark off each other as couple on verge of nervous break-up. Connolly is the perfect reprobate ancient. The host family exhibit a typical kind pomposity that is easy to lampoon. A relaxed pace that builds to a good comedy climax. The film steers clear of the chaos that such films sometimes court. I was pleasantly surprised. Worth watching!

Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

Disney and Poppins recreated

[8/10 · 13 January 2017]

Disney and Poppins were part of my childhood, to be sure. Doesn't mean I want to go back there, but this was a pleasant excursion. Thompson and Hanks are perfect as the leads. Interesting that two characters who, these days, garner mixed reviews are so sympathetically rendered, but in a real way. At the centre of this, Mary Poppins is retold from the perspectives of its creator, the scriptwriters and musicians who had to work with her (tough work) and Disney himself. Real life, real and imagined pasts and the world of Poppins are successfully intertwined. Ultimately, this is a film which knows what film-making is about, communicating a real story in a creative, entertaining and ultimately moving way.

The Flag (2016)

Flag doesn't fly

[3/10 · 30 December 2016]

The scenario is not all that promising to begin with. Disillusioned navvy (Pat Shortt) returns to Ireland for father's funeral, then hatches plan to return to England and reclaim the 1916 GPO tricolour from a British barracks. and return it to Ireland. So, a certain amount of farce and paddywhackery are to be expected. What we get is even worse, an awful mess that has no idea what it wants to be. The film lurches from farce to bittersweet, slapstick to romantic. I would use the word 'comedy' with above terms, but there isn't a line or event that's remotely funny. Despite a fine cast who do their level best to keep the thing afloat, the leaky scenario is quickly sunk by a woeful script and the failure of the director to impose any form of order or tone on the proceedings.

The Way Back (I) (2010)

A long walk spoiled

[5/10 · 30 December 2016]

Hard to believe why anyone would think this might make a good movie. Basically, a group of people suffering misery in a gulag escape to suffer misery in the wilderness. They walk and they walk and they walk some more. The only hint of drama comes when they are followed by Saoirse Ronan, and they start to walk a bit faster. Even her introduction does't serve to spice things up. There is little meaningful interaction amongst the cast. Dialogue is stilted and sparse. Being self-consciously accented doesn't make it more intelligible. Farrell, while excellent, is all too convincing as a Russian speaking garbled English. Couldn't get what he was saying. Ronan once again does her impression of a middle class schoolgirl in an alien environment. Some controversy on whether this is true or made up. If it's made up, they could have developed the script some more.

The Five (2016)

Superior Mystery Drama

[9/10 · 15 May 2016]

The disappearance of a young boy some decades previously is the scene setter for a complex mystery drama from the pen of Harlan Coben. When the child's DNA appears at a crime scene, the four friends charged with his care must confront the ghosts of their past and resolve the mystery and conflicting hopes of their present life. The plot successfully weaves in and out between mystery thriller, police procedural and personal drama. The four lead characters are well written and, crucially, well contrasted. Each actor can hold the screen in progressing the narrative and the different personal narratives dovetail very well. are The casting of their younger selves is excellent. Good supporting cast too, with back stories complimenting the central narrative. Tight direction keeps us apace with the many twists and turns in the plot. The end is both surprising and convincing. Really superior drama. Strangely, considering the addiction to series these days, the story is so self-contained that it's hardly likely to spawn a sequel. Nevertheless, writing and direction and acting of such high calibre that some future collaboration would be welcome.

Interstellar (2014)

It's all to do with space and time.

[6/10 · 13 April 2016]

Interesting set up introduces us to a disintegrating near-future world. There's an intriguing reference to re-writing history, along the lines of Capricorn 1, where planetary exploration is faked in a film studio. McConaughey is the astronaut turned farmer who takes a circuitous, and somewhat unlikely, route back to being a rocket man. Interstellar tries to get the science right but quantum physics doesn't make for the best dialogue. Neither are helped by dropping the spoken track way down in the sound mix. McConaughey's tendency to speak through gritted teeth doesn't help either. Although it looks great and is often very imaginative, the film takes too much time exploring dead ends and detours. At times, it felt a bit like a very long trailer for a very epic series. And it really does seem very long, without ever settling on a unified theme. The time anomaly aspects were good, but too much time was spent getting there.

Hanna (2011)

Far-fetched action caper.

[3/10 · 13 April 2016]

An improbable scenario to begin with, it becomes even more far fetched and inane as it progresses. Too much suspension of disbelief is required to account for Hanna's uneven superpowers. She effortlessly outwits armies, adapting to the most varied conditions across continents without prior experience, yet struggles to outpace the cut-price duo sent to track her. There seems little point beyond the actual process of traversing continents. At times it resembles a folksy travel programme, with amiable hippies and Gypsy serenaders, then we're back in a ninja assassin game with shady punks and aimless pursuits. What's it all about? Who cares. The whole thing is risible.

Rebellion (2016–2019)

Rebels without a script, a dull account of Easter Rising.

[4/10 · 26 January 2016]

The Easter Rising of 1916 seems perfect for an exciting television dramatisation. Sadly, this isn't it. Telling the story from the perspective of smaller players might have served a human interest story well, except there's little of interest on that front. Instead, the central characters deliver speeches explaining their motivations and actions. This prevents the emergence of any engaging narrative, and doesn't help in explaining a complex situation either. I had hoped the commencement of hostilities might shake things up a little. Again, Rebellion disappointed. It utterly failed to capture the scale of the uprising, making it seem more like a series of side-street skirmishes. Why did the director feel that such a key moment as the storming of the GPO be shown as a peripheral dumb-show to the main action of a minor character being ejected from her taxi? The Proclamation was similarly trivialised. Meanwhile, the various narratives were unraveling as the unfortunate actors confronted ever more implausible plot developments.