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by Mary K. Morgan - member of the St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association.
It’s show time! Why not find time this month to escape from the hum-drum and catch a movie?
I especially suggest spending some time with Miss Pettigrew if would like to get a new perspective on love and life.
MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY (PG-13) A delightful romp in the thirties in London when, although on the brink of war, the social scene was a whirl of parties, trysts and scandals. Enter Miss Guinevere Pettigrew (Frances McDormand), recently fired housekeeper with a propensity toward speaking her mind. In an act of desperation, the aforementioned domestic, takes matters into her own hands and secures a position with a Miss Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams), an American entertainer with a flair for complicated romantic involvements. Immediately upon her arrival at Miss Lafosse’s doorstep, Miss Pettigrew is swept into a whirlwind of activity. And in one day, her world is turned upside-down.
Directed by Bharat Nalluri, whose experience lies primarily with small screen productions, the film is very smooth and polished. Everything goes together well. And the visit to the thirties is flawless. Great performances and a wonderful, upbeat script make this one of the best films I’ve seen so far this year. Miss Pettigrew lives for a day, and the good thing about it is that she takes us along for the ride.
Rating: 4
THE BANK JOB (R) A gang of amateur thieves take on a major caper and manage to pull off the biggest bank heist in British history. Beginners’ luck, perhaps, but this tale makes it look very well planned.
Whenever a film is “based on a true story,” there’s really no way to discern which parts are accurate and which are purely fictional. Fortunately, there are plenty of historical sources from which one can garner the basic facts of the notorious robbery and the film merely fills in the details.
Used car dealer Terry (Jason Statham) has a past that has left him on the wrong side of some local gangsters. As a means of raising some fast cash, he gets in on the major bank robbery plan that proves to be much more than it seems at first glance. As rehearsed, the gang of
thieves is to gain access to the safe deposit room of the bank through a tunnel, open as many drawers as time permits and make off with the cash and baubles of London’s wealthiest families. Only after the caper is executed do they learn what they actually have in their possession and the danger they are in.
If you happen to be a fan of “caper” movies and thoroughly enjoy the twists and turns of a good convoluted crime story, be sure to catch this one before someone tells you the ending.
Rating: 3
SEMI-PRO (R) Will Ferrell fans, prepare to be set up for one of the funniest basketball movies, ever. The era is the seventies and Jackie Moon (Ferrell) is the ultimate basketball coach, player, owner, and promoter, you name it — and all to keep his beloved minor league team, the Flint Michigan Tropics, on the boards. So far they had been able to stay afloat. That is until it was announced that the minor league is to be disbanded and only the top six teams will be invited to the majors. Needless to say, Jackie pulls out all of the stops in an effort to be number six in the league. It’s a fight for survival and sometimes it isn’t pretty, nor are Jackie’s signature basketball shorts, but it’s sure funny.
Director Kent Altman does a great job with funny man Ferrell as well as Woody Harrelson and the guy with the gigantic Afro, Andre Benjamin. Coming in right at 90 minutes, this one is a quick dribble of laughs.
Rating: 3
10,000 B.C. (PG-13) With an historic title that often defies history, this film can be an exciting adventure if you are willing to let go of the timeline you learned in social studies class. Facts aside, feel free to join the youthful hunter, D’Leh (Steven Strait), in his death-defying journey across many terrains and times to save his beloved Evolet (Camilla Belle). Traveling with a few tribesmen, the brave D’Leh has a tussle with a saber-toothed tiger and pre-historic birds, not to mention strange humans from other lands, as he refuses to give up on finding his woman.
The CGI effects are quite good and the set of the lost civilization that the men stumble across is impressive, but whether they are impressive enough to hold up at the box office, only time will tell.
Rating: 2
Not worth mentioning — but I will —are:
George Romero’s Diary of the Dead, adds nothing new to zombie lore, but gives us the shaky camcorder effect a la Blair Witch Project. That combined with those old-school, unstable zombies and you might need a Dramamine for motion sickness. Ahh, I forgot “the media is the message.”
Funny Games Ten years ago director/ writer Michael Haneke created a film by the same name and it had a message. That message is back, and is still cloaked in a very sadistic story of two young sociopaths who torture an innocent family. Don’t let the title fool you, there is no fun here and there are some very bad games.
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