THE LINCOLN LAWYER

Murder mystery

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Matthew McConaughey: Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Mick Haller
Laurence Mason: his chauffeur Earl
John Leguizamo: bail bondsman Val Valenzuela
Ryan Phillippe: Beverly Hills playboy Louis Roulet
Bob Gunton: the Roulet family lawyer Cecil Dobbs
Frances Fisher: Louis’ mother Mary Windsor
William H. Macy: private investigator Frank Levin
Marisa Tomei: Mick’s ex Maggie
Josh Lucas: assistant D.A. Ted Minton

REVIEW
I don’t know if there are street-smart wise-guy lawyers like Mick in LA but there should be. It’s refreshing to see a lawyer who comes across as somebody you’d like to sit down and have a drink with. Perhaps it’s the way McConaughey plays it but it makes for an entertaining outing.

The well written story plays out quickly with enough clues for solving the mystery rather than leaving the viewer totally befuddled; that’s worth the price of admission alone.

The acting is uniformly very good and the characters more-or-less believable. Something you don’t see too often in movies of this sort.

CLASSIFICATION
for some violence, sexual content and language.

UNKNOWN

Thriller

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Liam Neeson: Dr. Martin Harris
January Jones: his wife Liz
Diane Kruger: taxi driver Gina
Karl Markovics: Dr.Farge
Eva Löbau: Nurse Gretchen Erfurt
Bruno Ganz: former Stasi agent Ernst Jürgen
Sebastian Koch: seminar host Professor Bressler
Frank Langella: Martin’s longtime colleague Professor Rodney Cole

REVIEW
It is far too complicated to make any sense of it. And too long at almost two hours in part because the chase scenes go on forever.

But back to the storyline: there are far easier ways to accomplish the task at hand than this convoluted mishmash round-about method involving at least a half dozen people on both sides. It gets to the point there is no way of knowing what is real or not, why the bad guys (or are they the good guys?) are out to harm our hero.

After a while you just give up trying to figure things out because it does not make any sense, hoping that at the end the dénoument will clarify things. Well sorry to tell you but it doesn’t.

CLASSIFICATION
for some intense sequences of violence and action, and brief sexual content.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
• While in the taxi on their way to the hotel Dr. and Mrs. Harris pass a roadside clock that shows the time to be 8:37 but moments later he checks his cell phone and the time shown is 9:03.
• While checking in he tells the receptionist his name but she addresses him as Mister Harris, something that would never happen in a five star hotel.
• The Band-Aid he has on his forehead changes position from one scene to the next
• When Martin takes the subway he checks his watch; it reads 2:18 but a minute later when he alights the platform clock shows it to be 9:30.
• Unlike the real thing his Canadian passport has a clear film covering the photo page.

RANGO

84th Academy Award for Best Animated Feature film

Animated Western

PRINCIPAL VOICES
Johnny Depp: Lars, a pet chameleon later known as Rango
Alfred Molina: Roadkill, an armadillo
Isla Fisher: the rancher's daughter Beans, a desert iguana
Ray Winstone: Bad Bill, a gila monster
Ned Beatty: Mayor Tortoise John
Bill Nighy: Rattlesnake Jake
Abigail Breslin: Priscilla, a mousy schoolgirl
Harry Stanton: Balthazar, leader of the robber gang

REVIEW
Although the movie poster would have you believe this one is for kids, that is deceptive because it definitely is not for young children. In fact, some older children will be frightened by the sight of the ferocious hawk swooping down on the townspeople about 15 minutes into the film. And if that is not scary enough wait until the western diamond back rattlesnake shows up with its menacing fangs threatening evil to all.

Although the animation is state-of-the-art, most of the creatures are unpleasant to look at, particularly the extreme close-ups with warts and all. And how about trying to focus on the storyline while some poor bird is walking around with the shaft of an arrow sticking out of one eye?

There’s no shortage of violence to keep the kids amused including shooting off someone’s unmentionables to settle the score. But there definitely is a shortage of humour, at best the odd groaner from time to time.

CLASSIFICATION
for rude humor, language, action and smoking.

FUNKYTOWN

Drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Patrick Huard: tv host Bastien Lavallée
Janine Theriault: his wife Connie
Paul Doucet: gossip columnist Jonathan Aaronson
Raymond Bouchard: record producer and nightclub owner Gilles Lefebvre
Francois Létourneau: his son Daniel
Justin Chatwin: Tino, a waiter in his mother’s restaurant
Romina D’Ugo: Tino's girlfriend Tina
Geneviève Broillette: aspiring singer Mimi
Sarah Mutch: Adriana, a model

REVIEW
Stories about the “underbelly” of a city do not appeal to everyone: certainly not to me, even if it is about the disco days of Montreal back in the ‘70’s. The best thing about this film is the music but that peters out about half way through and the rest is a drag. At 2 hours and 12 minutes it overstays its welcome by about 1 hour and 12 minutes.

There is far too much emphasis on the gay side of the disco scene and the gutter- talk replete with lots of swear words and foul insults I find offensive. With hindsight I should have walked out.

CLASSIFICATION
for disturbing images, violence, nudity, language and some drug references.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
• After leaving the disco Tino is wearing a light brown leather jacket. Between shots the collar on the right hand side moves about although he never once touches it.
• In Canada beer was sold in bottles called “stubbies” from 1962 onwards until replaced by the long-neck bottle in 1986. During one bar scene there are two long-deck bottles that would not have been available when these events took place in the late ‘70’s.

P.S.
I took these candid photos of the crew setting up for the scenes inside the restaurant where Tino worked.

THE WAY BACK

Drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Jim Sturgess: Janusz, a Polish POW
Ed Harris: Mr. Smith, an American
Colin Farrell: Valka, a Russian street thug
Alexandru Potocean: Tamasz, an artist
Sebastian Urzendowsky: Kazik, a 17-year-old Pole
Gustaf Skarsgård,: Voss, a Latvian priest
Dragos Bucur: Zoran, a Yugoslav accountant
Saoirse Ronan: Irene, a 16-year-old Polish woman

REVIEW
This survival film about a group of prisoners is in part a travelogue with stunning vistas as they make their escape “to the south”. As usual Harris and Farrell turn in great performances but the others are equally convincing.

It’s a tad too long at 2 hours and 13 minutes with more than a few opportunities to whittle it down without taking away from the story.

CLASSIFICATION
for violent content, depiction of physical hardships, a nude image and brief strong language.

NO STRINGS ATTACHED

Romantic comedy

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Natalie Portman: Dr. Emma Kurtzman
Ashton Kutcher: Adam Franklin, television producer
Ophelia Lovibond: his girlfriend Vanessa
Kevin Kline: Adam’s father Alvin
and others no doubt

REVIEW
It is not likely anyone other than the target audience (women between the ages of 17 to 24-years-old) will find very much to like in this fanciful story about today’s attitude towards casual sex.

For the target demographic there is lots to see including very much of Ashton Kutcher in fact, about 99% of him with only a small towel affording him any measure of modesty. By contrast Natalie Portman manages to keep her clothes on (well at least her undergarments) despite the frequent passionate sex scenes.

The dialogue is sprinkled liberally with potty-mouth references and lots of raunchy situations. I could see where all this was headed so I walked out.

CLASSIFICATION
for sexual content, language and some drug material.

MADE IN DAGENHAM

Drama
Based on a true story

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Bob Hoskins: union representative Albert Passing
Geraldine James: union shop steward Connie
Kenneth Cranham: union head Monty Taylor
Sally Hawkins: Rita O’Grady, employee at Ford’s plant
Jaime Winstone: Sandra, the pretty employee
Daniel Mays: Rita’s husband Eddie
Rupert Graves: Peter Hopkins, a senior Ford executive
Rosamund Pike: his wife Lisa
Miranda Richardson: Secretary of State Barbara Castle
John Sessions: Prime Minister Harold Wilson

REVIEW
Things were different back in the late ‘60’s when women were paid lower wages than men for the same work. In Britian the Labour government along with the company’s union agreed with this practice. The film is about what ensued when the women at one plant finally took a stand against this injustice.

An entertaining film in part because I suspect the screen writers took some liberty with the actual facts. However great attention to detail has gone into the costuming that lends it an air of authenticity.

The acting is uniformly good with more than a few humourous moments, some of which went over my head because of the strong British accents.

CLASSIFICATION
for language and brief sexuality.

P.S.
The expression “to be at sixes and sevens” is an English idiom to describe a state of confusion or disarray, of being all mixed up.