Category Archives: Drama

Brief Encounter (1945)

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2007 #76
David Lean | 83 mins | DVD | PG

Brief EncounterCelia Johnson and Trevor Howard star in the classic romantic drama from highly acclaimed writer Noel Coward and highly acclaimed director David Lean.

The central character’s relationship is, famously, a very British affair — all awkwardly repressed emotions, discussion of the weather, fear of society’s opinions, stolen passionate kisses, guilt, indecision, true love and endless cups of tea. The witty screenplay, direction, and lead and supporting performances are all excellent.

Undoubtedly and deservedly a true British classic.

5 out of 5

Brief Encounter is on Film4 tomorrow, Friday 31st October 2014, at 5:20pm.

It placed 6th on my list of The Ten Best Films I Saw For the First Time in 2007, which can be read in full here.

Mean Creek (2004)

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2007 #69
Jacob Aaron Estes | 86 mins | DVD | 15 / R

Mean CreekA group of teenagers concoct a plan for revenge on a bully in this drama from first-time writer/director Estes. Whilst the premise might sound straightforward and liable to be morally simplistic, the writing, acting and direction combine to make a film that is complex, tense, tragic and ultimately believable.

Some might argue it loses its way a little towards the end, almost struggling to find a suitable conclusion, but it doesn’t do so enough to make it anything less than an excellent film.

Highly recommended.

5 out of 5

Mean Creek placed 3rd on my list of The Ten Best Films I Saw For the First Time in 2007, which can be read in full here.

Heat (1995)

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2007 #68
Michael Mann | 164 mins | DVD | 15 / R

HeatHeat will probably always be best remembered for two things: the excellent running shoot out on the streets of L.A., and De Niro and Pacino on screen together for the first (and, so far, last) time.

There’s a lot more to it than that, of course: ostensibly a cops-and-robbers crime drama, the film follows the personal lives of each side as well as the usual professional actions. The cop-with-failed-marriage / criminal-with-successful-relationship juxtaposition may already feel clichéd, but it works well enough here, and is well executed without distracting from the meat of the plot — which is, still, the crime and justice.

5 out of 5

Mystic River (2003)

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2007 #66
Clint Eastwood | 132 mins | DVD | 15 / R

Mystic RiverThe acting is the main draw of this Oscar-winning murder drama, in which three childhood friends who grew apart are brought back together when one of their daughters is murdered. Tim Robbins is particularly excellent, easily earning his Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Unfortunately most of the plot is not far above the standards of your average police procedural show, albeit fleshed out with more insight into the various characters and plot complexities — and, of course, with superior acting from all involved.

4 out of 5

The Woodsman (2004)

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2007 #65
Nicole Kassell | 84 mins | DVD | 15 / R

The WoodsmanKevin Bacon stars in this compelling drama.

If anyone saw Channel 4’s recent Secret Life, this treads very similar ground — recently released paedophile struggles to fit back into the world and avoid recommitting former crimes. But whereas C4’s drama was issue-driven this is character-based; it doesn’t necessarily make it better, but it does make it different. Bacon manages the tricky task of eliciting sympathy and understanding as the paedophile (though perhaps not as much as Matthew Macfadyen did).

A relatively intelligent look at what is usually a mindlessly treated subject.

4 out of 5

Monster (2003)

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2007 #63
Patty Jenkins | 105 mins | TV | 18 / R

MonsterCharlize Theron uglies up (and wins an Oscar) portraying Aileen Wuornos, one of America’s first female serial killers, in this ‘true crime’ biopic. The film focuses on her 9-month relationship with Selby, played by Christina Ricci, which is also the period in which she killed several men (many of them, especially initially, not undeserving of their fate).

Theron gives a truly transformative performance that, with the obvious aid of the script, helps you understand Aileen, her actions and her motivations, and reveals a lot about her character without resorting to tacky flashbacks or unwieldy info-dumps.

4 out of 5

Capote (2005)

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2007 #61
Bennett Miller | 110 mins | DVD | 15 / R

CapoteIt is, unsurprisingly, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Oscar-winning lead performance that dominates this movie. While the title might suggest a biopic, the film actually concentrates on the five year period in which Truman Capote researched and wrote his non-fiction novel In Cold Blood.

While this process forms the structure of the plot, the title gives away what the movie is actually ‘about’ — in and around the mechanics of the murder investigation and Capote’s work process, it’s the character of the man, and how it’s affected, that is really revealed to the viewer (in a subtler way than my blatant highlighting of it here would suggest).

4 out of 5

The ‘other’ Truman Capote movie from the mid-noughties, Infamous, is on BBC Two tonight, Friday 5th June 2015, at 11:50pm.

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

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2007 #60
Robert Benton | 100 mins | TV | PG

Kramer vs. KramerThe acting is what shines in this multiple-Oscar-winning custody drama. Troubled wife Meryl Streep leaves husband Dustin Hoffman within the first five or so minutes (today she probably wouldn’t leave ’til the end of the first act) and suddenly busy, work-driven daddy has to look after their young son all on his lonesome.

I personally didn’t find the later courtroom scenes quite as edge-of-your-seat intense as some have, but you can’t fault the abilities of the actors. Perhaps particularly noteworthy is the kid, played by Justin Henry, though clearly it wasn’t good enough to launch a decent career for him.

5 out of 5

Sense and Sensibility (1995)

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2007 #58
Ang Lee | 131 mins | DVD | U / PG

Sense and SensibilityA host of familiar British faces turn up in this Oscar-winning adaptation of the Austen-novel-with-the-name-like-Pride-and-Prejudice-only-not. Fans of any of the following will love this film: Jane Austen, costume drama in general, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant, Kate Winslet.

For the rest of us, there’s still lots of enjoyment to be had. Austen’s plots may be virtually identical and you might be able to spy the endings almost from the start, but there’s fun to be had getting there. Hugh Laurie’s small supporting role is particularly worthy of mention.

4 out of 5

It’s All Gone Pete Tong (2004)

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2007 #57
Michael Dowse | 86 mins | DVD | 15 / R

It’s All Gone Pete TongIf you’re into dance music/clubbing/Ibiza/etc, then this film is definitely aimed at you. As for the rest of us normal folk… well, to be honest, it’s actually a fair bit better than I was expecting!

The main reason I wanted to see it was because I’d heard it had interesting sound design; other than that, I thought a clubbing-based ‘comedy’ really wasn’t for me. Turns out it’s not as much of a ‘comedy’ as I expected, though there are some funny bits (and some mere attempts at funny bits).

By the end, there’s an odd feeling of having seen something a great deal better than expected, but still with a certain oddness that holds it back.

3 out of 5