THE GUARD

Police drama

F.Y.I.
In Gaelic the full official title of the Irish national police force is Garda Síochána na hÉireann. The English translation would be the "Guardians of the Peace of Ireland” but they are more commonly referred to as the Garda, meaning the police.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Brendan Gleeson: Garda Sergeant Gerry Boyle
Rory Keenan: Dublin transfer Garda Aidan McBride
Gary Lydon: their boss Garda Inspector Stanton
Don Cheadle: FBI agent Wendell Everett
Michael Og Lane: 12-year-old Eugene Moloney
Fionnula Flanagan: Boyle’s mum Eileen
Liam Cunningham: Francis Skeffington, boss of the drug smuggling gang
Clive Cornell: the muscled thug Mark Strong
Liam O'Leary: his partner David Wilmot

REVIEW
Set in the western coast of Ireland, this tale of criminals and corruption is unlike others in that the two leads are so different. With clever writing and crisp editing it moves along at a rapid rate. Although Sergeant Bolye’s wry comments and persona elicit most of the humour there are other oddball characters that add to the fray.

One thing I found missing though: the Irish are famous for their quick witty repartee and clever retorts. And there was none of that. Guess you can’t have everything?

CLASSIFICATION

for pervasive language, violence, drug references and sexual content.

THE IDES OF MARCH

Political thriller

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Ryan Gosling: campaign press secretary Stephen Meyers
George Clooney: presidential hopeful Pennsylvania Governor Mike Morris
Marisa Tomei: New York Times reporter Ida Horowicz
Philip Seymour Hoffman: Morris’ campaign manager Paul Zara
Evan Rachel Wood: intern Molly Stearns
Paul Giamatti: rival campaign manager Tom Duffy
Jeffrey Wright: Senator Thompson

REVIEW
It gets off to a slow start with so much talk about political intrigue that I was seriously thinking about leaving. But then things started to look up when two people meet in a bar for a drink. From that point on I was riveted to the outcome as I was unsure of what would transpire in this depiction of politics in America.

Certainly it is a good film, but could have been better had it not fell victim to Ralph’s Rule of Redundancy:
Any film where one person (George Clooney) takes on more than 2 key positions (Director, Producer, Writer and Star) has at least one major shortcoming: in this case it is lack of independent judgement by not editing out much of the first third.

But the strong supporting cast and excellent performances compensate to a great extent.

CLASSIFICATION

for pervasive language.

P.S.
In the early Roman calendar the middle of the month was known as the ides. The best known one (thanks to Shakespeare) took place in March 44 B.C., the day Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in the Roman Senate by a group of conspirators led by Marcus Brutus.

P.S.S.
Less well known perhaps is that March 15 is the date of the Ohio Primary.

DRIVE

Crime drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Ryan Gosling: the Kid, a mechanic who moonlights
Bryan Cranston: his boss Shannon, owner of an auto-repair shop
Albert Brooks: Shannon’s mob contact Bernie Rose
Carey Mulligan: Irene, a Denny's waitress
Kaden Leos: her 7-year-old son Benicio
Ron Perlman: Bernie's nasty partner and pizzeria owner Nino
Oscar Isaac: Irene’s husband Standard
Christina Hendricks: his accomplice Blanche

REVIEW
I love it when movies make use of the visual aspect to tell the story rather than having a bunch of words to accomplish the same task. In this case because the principal is a man of few words (about two dozen in total) his body language and facial expressions are all we have to go on. But that’s enough.

The supporting cast are excellent, the car chases really well done and the tension almost palpable. And it’s almost guaranteed to take your mind off your troubles.

The squeamish like me will have to avert their eyes a couple times as the degree of violence gets quite brutal at times.

CLASSIFICATION

for strong brutal bloody violence, language and some nudity.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
• Regardless of the actual speed he drives, the car’s speedometer never moves off 30 miles per hour.
• This is one of my classic nitpicks: when the driver abruptly hangs up, the person on the end of the line, Bernie, hears a dial tone. In reality the dial tone is only heard when first picking up the phone before dialling. That’s why it’s called a dial tone.

DOLPHIN TALE

Drama
Based on a true story

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Nathan Gamble: 11-year-old Sawyer Nelson
Austin Stowell: his cousin Kyle Connellan
Ashley Judd: Sawyer’s mother Lorraine
Cozi Zuehlsdorff: 11-year-old Hazel
Harry Connick Jr.: her dad Marine Biologist Dr. Clay Haskett
Kris Kristofferson: Hazel’s grandfather Reed
Morgan Freeman: prosthetics specialist Dr. Cameron McCarthy

REVIEW
With a strong story line about the persistent and determined efforts of many to help an animal this inspiring true life tale is certainly a “feel-good film”.

Although there are moments when it stretches credibility a bit, for the most part is comes off as realistic, in large measure because of the acting which is not “over-the-top”. How refreshing.

One other thing: it runs a tad too long despite the fact there are several contrived plot devices that could have been easily eliminated to cut down the running time.

CLASSIFICATION

for mild thematic elements.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
• The exposed end of Hazel’s frozen lemonade stick grows and shrinks from one shot to another.
• Lorraine’s double necklace moves about on its own even when she’s standing still.

P.S.
Not being an expert it strikes me that they go to extaordinary lengths in preparation for the least damaging type of hurricane, a category 1.

MONEYBALL

Sports drama
Based on a true story

F.Y.I.
Sabermetrics is the specialized analysis of baseball through objective, empirical evidence, specifically baseball statistics that measure in-game activity. The term is derived from the acronym SABR, which stands for the Society for American Baseball Research.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Brad Pitt: Billy Beane, General Manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team
Jonah Hill: Peter Brand, 20-something-year-old Yale economics graduate
Philip Seymour Hoffman: Art Howe, the A's manager
Robin Wright: Beane's ex-wife Sharon
Kerris Dorsey: their 12-year-old daughter Casey
Arliss Howard: owner of the Boston Red Socks

REVIEW
Sport teams rely upon scouts to check out players at the development level and assess their ability to move up to the big league. That is until a new unorthodox scouting method was developed. And that’s what the story is all about.

As one movie-goer leaving the theatre was overheard to say “even as a non-sports fan I enjoyed the movie and understood most of what they were talking about”. In fact the movie is more about the force of personalities and methods used than what the players actually do on the field.

Although Brad Pitt is terrific in his portrayal of Billy Beane, the rest of the supporting cast is also outstanding.

Despite a running time of over two hours what with its snappy dialog, quick cuts and intriguing story line it does not seem a minute too long.

CLASSIFICATION

for some strong language.

CHASING MADOFF

Documentary

REVIEW
Although Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme is at the heart of it, this is a film about one man’s 10-year struggle to be heard.

Harry Markopoulos, a portfolio manager in a Boston options-trading firm along with his colleague Frank Casey tried repeatedly to warn the authorities of Madoff’s malfeasance. They even approached the Wall Street Journal and other reputable news outlets with their story.

How these agencies handled the information provided them is to gain an insight into what prompts people in power to wilfully ignore the facts.

The main shortcoming of this documentary is not having an on-screen interview of any of these individuals and no mention that such an attempt was made.

CLASSIFICATION

THE DEBT

Mostly in English with subtitles as required

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Helen Mirren: retired Mossad secret agent Rachel Singer
Romi Aboulafia: her daughter Sarah
Tom Wilkinson: former Mossad agent Stefan Gold
Ciarán Hinds: former Mossad agent David Peretz
Jessica Chastain: 25-year-old Rachel
Marton Csokas: the young Stefan
Sam Worthington: the young David
Jesper Christensen: Dr. Dieter Vogel

REVIEW
Skipping back and forth between events in 1965 and 1997 in telling the story about an intelligence operation serves only to confuse the issue. In part because the older men look so unlike the younger versions and their relationship with Rachel is poorly defined. But the main problem is that most of the 1997 segments add nothing to the main storyline so why include them?

The acting is excellent across-the-board with several really difficult roles handled superbly.

CLASSIFICATION

for some violence, language.