Recently I saw three films on DVD that I didn’t bother going to the cinema for because I thought they looked a bit crap. Imagine my surprise when the films in question all turned out NOT to be crap!
Layer Cake
Imdb link
Dir: Matthew Vaughn
Date: 2004
Length: 105min
Layer Cake has been out for ages now, I don’t know why I never saw it. I suppose it’s main importance as a film is as a pre Bond Daniel Craig reference point. I had only ever seen him in Munich where he was an angry South African Mossad version of Bond, in Layer Cake he is Bond like but also does his Daniel Craig thing as well. This film is also of note as it’s the only thing I have seen Sienna Miller in. In the last few years of Sienna Miller press coverage I have constantly been left thinking ‘who the fuck is this person?’. Now it appears she’s famous because she’s in this for 5 minutes.
It’s the cast of Layer Cake that makes this film so enjoyable, it has a thrilling plot and loads of violence too, but its great to see Dexter Fletcher get some work. And Colm Meaney is really good in it, acting his heart out as if to make up for all those years of standing next to a transporter console. And of course Michael Gambon’s there too, like an evil Dumbledore. My only complaints are too much voice over and crap very end. With this film I had a Chinese from Headington’s excellent ‘Yumi’. Score: 7/10
The Departed
Imdb link
Dir: Martin Scorsese
Date: 2006
Length: 151min
The Departed got 4 Oscars so finally it was time to see it. I didn’t bother in the past due to the presence of Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon. The all star cast is made up from nearly everyone in the Team America Federation of Actors Guild (F.A.G.). Although you’d have to swap Sean Penn with Ray Winston (which is an interesting concept in itself). Anyway this film is a proper Scorsese effort nearly getting up there with Goodfellas on many occasions. DiCaprio and Damon turn out to be quite bearable. Jack Nicholson also does an amazing impression of a rat in it. In fact everyone in this film is good, but you actually forget about the actors and Scorsese due to the super tense Cops and Robbers plot.
Its an epic weighing in at two and a half hours but I experienced no arse numbness and bearly noticed the passage of time, which is an essential quality in the long ones. I was dissapointed when I found out it was a remake of Asian movie ‘Infernal Affairs’ which I subsequently had a look at the other day. But I think ‘The Departed’ is a worthy re-working of the story and I certainly found it easier to follow, so I don’t think its was a lesser rip off. Worth seeing for Ray Winston’s death scene alone. With this film I had greek style lamb. Score: 8/10
Little Miss Sunshine
Imdb link
Dir: Jonathan Dayton
Valerie Faris
Date: 2006
Length: 101 min
Unlike the previous two films Little Miss Sunshine is not a hardcore tense ultra violent gangster film with sex and drugs – one of the reasons I didn’t bother with it in the cinema. I thought it was some rubbish Rom-Com with Jennifer Aniston in it. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Little Miss Sunshine is actually a very funny road movie featuring a totally dysfunctional family on their way to a beauty pageant for little kids. The humour is pretty dark at times, but very well balanced with the emotional moments of the film. The sentimentality never vears into mawkish over the top nausea that so many American comedies can. Little Miss Sunshine’s cast was excellent once again, I am a fan of Steve Carell which is what persuaded me to watch the film in the first place. And this film got two Oscars, so it must have done something right!. With this I had Roquefort Steak and roast potatoes with mange tout (Rodney). Score: 7.9/10
