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What's new on the big screen |
| Get Smart |
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And so the drought of fresh ideas in Hollywood continues, with yet another remake of a vintage TV show. At least the folks behind Get Smart got things spot on when it came to casting. Stepping into a role that fits him like a bespoke tux, Steve Carell is perfect as Maxwell Smart, the bumbling, but likeable, secret agent created by Mel Brooks in the late '60s.
Peter Segal's big-screen version of the spoof series has Smart working as a frustrated analyst at secret agency CONTROL. While brilliant at intelligence gathering, he really wants to be out in the field alongside dashing operatives like Agent 23 (Johnson). When terror organisation KAOS attacks CONTROL, compromising the identities of most of its agents, Smart gets his chance to play James Bond alongside sexy spy Agent 99 (Hathaway).
It's at this point, with Smart and Agent 99 working together to stop a diabolical plan by KAOS, that Get Smart properly clicks into gear. The combination of Hathaway's smooth operator and Carell's accident-prone agent works well, and results in some crackling exchanges and excellent comedy set-pieces, from a hilarious mishap in an aeroplane bathroom to some bizarre ballroom dancing. The two leads get decent back-up from Johnson, who shows fine comic timing, and Alan Arkin as CONTROL's harassed chief.
It's a good thing the actors are in top form, since the film's plot is so needlessly convoluted that you'll tune out in between the action sequences. Rumour has it this is the start of a franchise — if they can keep the cast together, it might actually be a smart move.
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| Hellboy II: The Golden Army |
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Guillermo del Toro shows why he is regarded as such a visionary with a spectacular sequel that sees Hellboy take on an evil elf prince. Action-packed, funny and visually breathtaking, this whets the appetite for the director's upcoming Hobbit movies.
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| Somers Town |
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A youngster who arrives in London from Nottingham strikes up a touching friendship with a Polish teenager in another superb offering from Shane Meadows. A poignant coming-of-age tale.
PIERRE DE VILLIERS |
| You Don't Mess With the Zohan |
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This has the makings of a total disaster. The king of low-brow comedy Adam Sandler trying to get laughs out of the troubles in the Middle East? Look out.
Yet, despite stomping around in a minefield You Don't Mess With The Zohan manages to be something of a return to form for the comedian. Sure, there are moments that make you want to throw something at the screen, but so ludicrous is Sandler's new comic creation that it's hard not to crack up at the sight of him.
Zohan is Israel's greatest counter-terrorist, a 'Rembrandt with a grenade' and an astonishing range of skills that include catching bullets in his nostrils and swimming like a dolphin. Only what he really wants to do is leave the fighting behind to become a hairdresser.
So, one day while battling arch nemesis The Phantom (Turturro), Zohan fakes his own death and moves to New York to make his dream come true. There, posing as an Australian, he ends up at a salon owned by a Palestinian woman and soon has horny old ladies lining up for haircuts with very happy endings.
Trouble eventually finds Zohan in the shape of a ruthless property developer who wants to take over the neighbourhood and a vengeful Palestinian cabbie (Schneider).
Frustratingly, Dennis Dugan's film is a mixture of the sublime and the downright awful. While the gags — from Zohan trying to cut kids' hair to a game of feline hacky sack guaranteed to drive Peta nuts — are frequently funny, the 'can't we all just get along' message is forced and clumsy.
Patchy, then, but certainly a cut above Sandler's other recent offerings.
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| Star Wars: The Clone Wars |
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This animated Star Wars feature sees Anakin Skywalker and his new apprentice set off to save Jabba the Hutt's kidnapped son. While it doesn't make up for those awful prequels the animation is, at times, jaw-dropping.
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| Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day |
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Frances McDormand is superb in this screwball comedy that sees a governess step outside her comfort zone and into the glitzy world that surrounds her new employer, an American entertainer. Bright, breezy and very charming.
PIERRE DE VILLIERS |
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| Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day |
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Frances McDormand starts as a stuck-up nanny in 1930s England who's absolute last resort in work, is becoming a 'social secretary' to Amy Adams. This entails amongst other things, marshalling her three suitors and finding something to eat! Went in blind for this one not knowing anything about it but came out pleasantly surprised!
Raj Kumar |
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