Gary Oldman Goes Spy Catching in 70's Britain

Trailer

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Tomas (Let the Right One In) Alfredson directs this new adaptation of John le Carre’s famous 1970’s set spy thriller starring Gary Oldman as retired spy catcher George Smiley brought back in to British Intelligence to find a Soviet mole at the very top of the organisation.

I’ve never read le Carre's book and am only vaguely familiar with the old 1970’s BBC adaptation with Alec Guinness as Smiley, so I went to this mainly as a fan of Alfredson and Oldman. And because it has a top notch cast featuring the likes of Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, Toby Jones, Kathy Burke, Mark Strong and John Hurt.

And it didn’t disappoint.

This is a brilliant film with brilliant work by the cast and their director. Oldman deserves an Oscar nom. As Smiley he is quietly compelling and the model of restrained cunning and intelligence though hampered by an emotional weakness around his estranged wife and haunted by some of the things he’s done in his past. Mark Strong is equally as good as a field agent sent out on a mission that goes wrong and who has to then live with the personal consequences. As director, Alfredson paints a suitably drab atmosphere of 70’s Britain – crumbling old buildings, horrible wallpaper and tacky Wimpy Bars (an old British chain for fast food), all beautifully brought to life by spot on art direction and moody cinematography. And the themes he explores are very similar to those in Let the Right One in. Many of the characters here are loners, separate from life. They don’t join in. They watch from the outside. They are all essentially lonely and emotionally damaged people. Also, as with Let the Right One In, Alfredson isolates his characters, often using windows as a barrier. They are seen looking out of them a lot, looking at a world they don’t feel a part of. Then there is the pacing. It is glacial. There is no big action. Instead it is all about conversations, subtle mind games, red herrings and double crosses by oft middle-aged men in bad suits, usually in drab rooms. But it is all utterly absorbing and highly cinematic, showing us a whole new world, the kind we would never normally see; showing us the toll this world takes on these people. This is the true anti-James Bond or Bourne. Only the always good Tom Hardy as field officer Ricky Tarr comes close to a Bond-esque life, working out in Turkey to get secrets from a possible Soviet source, then seducing the guy's wife, thinking that she is the real source. There is no huge climax to the movie either, only Smiley finally working out who the mole is and springing his subtle trap, followed by the sad and grim aftermath.

Tomas Alfrdson's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a beautifully written, acted and directed film with a refreshing adult tone and feel. It requires patience and a certain level of intelligence from its audience. As much as I love my fun/escapist movie entertainment, it is a welcome relief to go see something now and again that is unapolagetically adult and artistically demanding of its audience. 4.5 (5)

Never upset a Swedish hacker

Based on the first book in Swedish writer Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO is, for the most part, a fairly straightforward crime mystery/thriller.

The story goes like this. Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), a middle-aged, falsely disgraced journalist, gets a job working for Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube), the elderly head of a rich and powerful family run business cartel. Henrik wants Mikael to try and solve the forty-year-old disappearance and presumed murder of his grand niece, Harriet, who he doted on. A large part of this investigation takes place in a remote snowbound village located on an island just off the coast, linked to the mainland by a single bridge. The village is mostly made up of members of the cartel’s ageing Vanger family, all of whom are potential suspects in the forty-year-old mystery of Harriet’s disappearance. But the case is old and cold with the police having long given up on it. There seems not much hope of any new clues. And at first, just like everyone else, Blomkvist makes no headway. But then he gets some unexpected help from an unlikely source – an antisocial, deeply troubled, though incredibly smart young woman called Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace). Lisbeth is a gifted hacker working for a security firm where she’s been charged with keeping electronic tabs on Mikael. But the more she watches him, the more she becomes fascinated with his investigation in to the Vangers. And she begins to see things in the investigation that he is missing. Unable to resist, Lisbeth emails Mikael, giving him some of the answers he's missed. Pretty soon the mismatched pair join forces for real and together try to solve the mystery of Harriet's disappearance.

So far so more or less textbook whodunit mystery thriller. However where THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO scores points above and beyond other similar genre fare is in its themes and the distinctly dark, brutal and disturbing undercurrent always lurking beneath the surface.

The actual Swedish title of the film and its source book is MEN WHO HATE WOMEN. A very apt title. Brutal misogyny is at the heart of this film. Primarily it is about men who abuse and mistreat women for various fucked up reasons. It also mixes in other forms of hatred and bigotry including Swedish Nazism complete with all its ghastly anti-Semitic poison. Nurture vs. nature is another major theme of the story. Just how responsible is a criminal for his or her crimes and how much is blamed on upbringing or society? And then their is the corruption and the greed of big business and giant corporations, the moral black hole that seems to exist beneath our so-called western liberal democracies. To me this story seems as much a dark indictment on Swedish society as it is an intriguing mystery thriller. Now, I know next to nothing about Swedish society, so I have no idea how true any of this is of Sweden. But from what we see on the news and read in the papers, such ghastly things do go on almost everywhere. And we are being financially, socially and morally bankrupted by greedy power seeking institutions. Yes, city bankers, I’m looking at you.

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO also scores highly with its characters – chiefly the fascinating Lisbeth, a messed up, abused and deeply troubled young woman with a razor sharp mind and a vicious ruthlessness that would mean you’d never, ever wanna mess with her. Lisbeth is a great character - sullen yet sexy, violent yet fragile, tragic yet determined. She is always utterly compelling in how she deals with all the bad shit life throws at her. Playing Lisbeth, actress Noomi Rapace is outstanding. She dominates the screen whenever she is on it, carrying with her so much introverted, barely restrained pain and anger. The scene where she gets her own back on a vile, abusive official is gross but also punch the air great. Go girl! Rumour has it that the obligatory Hollywood remake (albeit a David Fincher one…whew!) might have the UK's very own Carey Mulligan playing Lisbeth. Personally I’d like to see Noomi reprise the role. But I could easily see Carey doing a darn fine job too. As journalist Mikael Blomkvist, Michael Nyqvist is also very good. He is pretty much the heart of the film. He's a decent, hardworking, honourable guy who’s been dishonoured by powerful forces and is looking for some kind of a way back, a way to prove to the world who he really is. Nyqvist gives his character a tired, worn down look and feel as well as a gentle, caring and perceptive nature. He is a rumpled everyman who just wants to do the right thing and make sure those who do wrong get punished appropriately.

The direction by Niels Arden Oplev is solid and effective without ever threatening to become particularly dynamic or stylish. But it does the job and tells the story while relying mostly on the characters and the plot to keep the audience interested. Elsewhere the cinematography is suitably crisp and stark and helps sell those icy cold Swedish locales. All the other tech credits are perfectly fine.

Although not as amazing as the hype suggests, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO is certainly a good film. It's a nicely compelling mystery/thriller that's raised up a few notches by some decidedly dark and challenging themes and by a wonderful central performance from Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander, the new, cool, messed up, badass girl on the block. 4/5

Trailer

Brick: Sam Spade the Teenage Years

Brick is an interesting and mostly successful experiment in mixing two genres you’d normally think were un-mixable. In this case the teenage high school drama and the old fashioned hard-boiled detective film noir.

Cynical street smart loner Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gets a rambling phone call full of fear and desperation from his ex-girlfriend Emily (Emilie de Ravin) who recently dumped him to run around with some nefarious types including drug dealers, thugs and pot heads. Brendan can’t ignore Emily’s jumbled plea for help because he is still in love with the girl. And so he sets out to find her. Despite him being the odd man out at school, Brendan always keeps his ear close to the ground and has a quick mind and a sharp tongue that gets him in to all sorts of bloody scrapes in his mission to find Emily. And find her he does, right at films start in fact, dead in a drainage tunnel. The search for her is then told in flashback in true detective film fashion before the story moves on to the search for her killer and the reasons behind her murder. Brendan single-mindedly investigates Emily’s life since she left him and the weeks and days leading up to her death. He searches for clues and uses contacts and bluffs so as to find out what happened to the girl he loved who broke his heart. Brendan's investigations soon lead him to meet with possibly the most archetypal character in such tales: the femme fatale. In Brick this role goes to Nora Zehetner as Laura, a slinky, stylish, doe-eyed lovely who hangs out with the villains and who has her eye on Brendan. As with the best of the genre the story soon leads to convoluted plotting - who was doing what to whom, secret affairs, rip-offs, double crosses and other similar shenanigans.

What is particularly cool about Brick is how it really does play to the iconography of the detective film/film noir genre. Brendan is basically a proto-Sam Spade. He is smart, tough, cynical and quick with deadpan one-liners and vicious retorts. He travels the town and the school interrogating people, beating info out of strung out junkies and avoiding the come-on from the occasional young lady he meets along the way. But as well as dishing out the occasional bout of violence, Brendan also gets the proverbial kicked out of him throughout the story. So much so that by films end he is a blooded and broken and limping mess. Like any good hard boiled gumshoe he also has a mutually beneficial yet antagonistic relationship with the authorities - in this case the school’s Assistant Vice Principle Trueman (Richard Roundtree.) Also, at the end of the tale, Brendan kinda wins and yet doesn’t, the events of the story leaving him even more hard and cynical than he was at the start.

So, yes, many of the genre conventions and archetypes are present and correct. And that includes the dialogue too.

The words in Brick zing at a pace and are delivered in sharp, dense, aggressive monologues, expositions, one-liners and retorts. It really does sound like an old Bogart film only with its own playful style added, which is still kinda weird when coming from the mouths of teenagers in such contemporary and blandly recognisable environments. But I love stuff like that. I love stuff where language is played with and used in different and creative ways. It’s part of the reason I love Joss Whedon’s work and have loved everything so far from Diablo Cody. The only problem with the language in Brick is that it is delivered at such a pace, sometimes being mumbled as well, that it can often be difficult to make out. You have to listen pretty darn hard to what is being said.

Of the cast Joseph Gordon-Levitt is excellent as Brendan. He really does sell the tough, cynical world weary loner while also managing to appear as a vulnerable everyman with his thin body, straggly hair, plain clothing and glasses. It shouldn’t work. And yet it does. This is a testament to Gordon-Levitt’s talent. He is one of the best young actors working in films today. Nora Zehetner as femme fatale Laura is also very good. She captures the spirit of the role perfectly. You can see why any man would fall for her but can also sense the danger and manipulation behind her lovely eyes. Lukas Haas as Pin, the drug dealer, is low key, weird and pretty creepy. He reminded me of Barnabas Collins, the vampire from TV’s Dark Shadows. He looks like him, dresses like him and is similarly otherworldly. Noah Fleiss as Tugger is scary and effective in the psychotic thug role. And Matt O’Leary as Brain, Brendan’s only friend and his main source of help is strong as well. The rest of the cast are all fine with Richard Roundtree doing a fun turn as the hard ass cop…um…I mean Vice Principle who’s always on Brendan’s case.

Writer/Director Rian Johnson took nine years to write and then to finally make Brick after scraping up less than half-a-million bucks from friends and family. He shot it in twenty days in and around his own hometown using real locations (no sets) such as the local high school where he went as a kid. The script was actually written around the real key locations of the film: the high school, the drainage pipe, the phone box etc. And using the sparse locations and minimal to non-existent design and art direction lends Brick a realistic, stripped down feel. Johnson directs in an arty yet precise manner. Every shot is carefully constructed to sell story and character with the editing being just as sharp and precise. There is an excellent foot chase through the school built mostly around sound effects of shoes hitting concrete before then ending in a blackly humorous way. Also, DP Steve Yedlin did a great job in lighting the film. There is a beautifully lit sequence in a dark basement where Brendan uses sunlight and a mirror to search the room.

All in all Brick is an interesting and pretty entertaining experiment of a film helped a great deal by a strong cast - especially the ever-impressing Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I can’t say I loved Brick as I’m not a massive fan of the genre it is mostly riffing on, although I can appreciate the iconography and coolness associated with it. To take the central idea of moving that genre in to a high school setting where the emotions and experiences of everyday teen life - its angst, its first loves, its rivalries - are already heightened and seem world shattering to those involved was a bold and interesting choice. I expect a lot of people just won’t get over the film’s obvious mix of genres and will find the language used by the characters faintly ridiculous. But if people can get past that and can get in to what Rian Johnson was aiming for (and mostly hitting on target) then Brick should intrigue and entertain in equal measure.

Need help? Call The Equalizer

I’ve just finished watching my cheaply bought DVD of The Equalizer season one.

For those not in the know The Equalizer was a US TV show set in New York that ran for four seasons from 1985 to 1989 and starred the wonderful Edward Woodward as retired super spy Robert McCall. McCall, disenchanted with his former work in international espionage, decides to give his time and abilities (mostly free of charge) to those most in need. Often utilising irregular contacts from his old life as well as in local law enforcement, McCall helps ordinary people who are being victimised or persecuted and for whatever reason have nowhere else to turn. Basically he’s a one man A-Team who offers his services anonymously through an ad in a major New York paper that simply reads 'Got a problem? Odds against you? Need help? Call - The Equalizer'

I didn’t remember that much about the show having only seen it when it was originally on the box over twenty years ago. However I did remember loving it as a kid - especially McCall’s satin black Jag he uses to tear around the Big Apple. And I remembered the wicked cool title sequence and the awesome theme music by The Police’s Stewart Copeland (see below.)



What I didn’t remember, though, was quite how violent and grim The Equalizer is.

Above I compared it to The A-Team. But that’s not fair. It’s pretty much the anti-A-Team having far more in common with Charles Bronson in Death Wish and Frank Millar’s or Chris Nolan’s Batman. The tone of the series is deadly serious. It is grim and chilly. The New York setting is used to its best and constantly evokes a worn and dangerous urban world where something nasty is lurking around every street corner, be it uptown or downtown. In The Equalizer people are stabbed, shot, beaten, raped – all sorts of nasty things. People get hurt, suffer and die. This ain’t the comic book shenanigans of Hannibal Smith and BA Barracus, no sir. Sure, the show trots out the usual formula plots you always get in shows like this: the obligatory hostage drama with McCall stuck at a wedding reception as a gang of Middle Eastern terrorists take it hostage. A siege drama with McCall and his son staying in an isolated log cabin having to fend off a gang of locals after McCall’s son rescues a girl who the gang was trying to kidnap. Familiar plots, yes, but nicely tense and quite brutal – especially for TV. But other plots are not quite so clear cut, often mixing in elements of McCall’s past, or him reluctantly taking on a job for his old friend and ex-boss, Control, played by the granite faced Robert Lansing.

It is notable that the show used a lot of talented actors throughout its run borrowing heavily from the local New York theatre scene. In this season alone I spotted Tony Shaloub, Will Patton, Lori Petty, Bradley Whitford, Keith Szarabajka, Saul Rubinek, Jon Polito, Jim Dale, Burt Young, Jasmine Guy, Patricia Clarkson, Fred Williamson, a very young Melissa Joan Hart as a little girl McCall protects from her abusive father. And…drum roll please…the legend who is The Guzman. Yes, Luis Guzman. Love that guy. The behind the camera talent is a whose who of 70’s and 80’s TV including stalwart producer/writer Maurice Hurley and director Richard Compton. But ‘new’ talent pops up as well. There is an episode called ‘Lady Cop’ about a young female police officer who is being pressured by murderous colleagues in to corruption. It’s a very good episode with good acting (Will Patton amongst others) and a story co-written by none other than Kathryn Bigelow who went on to do her own lady cop movie, Blue Steel, with Jamie Lee Curtis.

The Equalizer is a great show but far from perfect. Although grim, violent and serious it is also a little too formulaic and very much a product of the neon lights and Flock of Seagulls haircuts of the 80’s – many of which are very amusing to see. But it has one single brilliant thing going for it that more than cancels out its shortcomings:

Edward Woodward

As Robert McCall, Woodward is tremendous. He oozes charisma, confidence, capability and a taut steely menace. When he grabs a lowlife, roughs him up and yells in his face repeatedly: “I DO NOT FORGIVE!” You believe him. McCall is a stone cold badass. Despite being grey haired and bit on the portly side, you really do believe he could go medieval on a whole bunch of young punks and send ‘em home crying to mommy. The dude is scary. The overriding phrase I had stuck in my head while watching The Equalizer was ‘You don’t wanna fuck with McCall.’ But then being the ace actor Woodward was he also exudes a world-weary warmth and fatherly concern to almost all of his clients – especially the youngsters. Woodward also brings something rather mournful and lonely to McCall’s character. He doesn’t seem happy or fulfilled. It’s as if he has lost out on a real life of his own. He is a long time divorced and is fairly well estranged from his son. And we go on to discover that he and his ex-wife also lost a baby daughter. His ‘friends’ are all business related contacts and he spends almost all of his time working, helping people through his unique abilities, as if to fill a void in his life and to make up for things he may have done (or not done) in his past. I see a familiar format here. I think Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt must have been fans of The Equalizer when they spun off Angel in to his own show, as it’s pretty much the same format. Angel is a supernatural Robert McCall, helping the helpless and searching for redemption.

The Equalizer is a compelling, adult and very watchable slice of 80’s TV, far better than most of its ilk. But it is Edward Woodward who really makes the show, who kicks it up a gear in the entertainment stakes. He is fabulous. Watching him in action you wish that every big city had its very own Equalizer to balance the scales when things get to be really bad. Shame they never released season 2 as it is supposed to be the best of the lot.

R.I.P. Edward Woodward. You were a class act, sir.