Miss Sloane

Entertaining Miss Sloane

Miss Sloane
France/USA 2016
Directed by John Madden
UK cinema release print.

I didn’t know about Miss Sloane until a couple of weeks ago when I started noticing the posters and saw the trailer. This is possibly because the film is already 5 months behind the US release and, it turns out, was openly boycotted by the US gun lobby on it’s release... effectively killing its box office takings. If I’d have known that pro-gun people were that afraid of this powerful and entertaining movie then I would probably have rushed quicker to the cinema to see it. As it is... the pull of this one for me is that I’d seen Jessica Chastain, who plays the title character Elisabeth Sloane, in a few genre favourites such as Mama (reviewed here) and Crimson Peak (reviewed here) and I like her a lot. I also think she’s a real powerhouse of an actress and nowhere is that more ably demonstrated than in this riveting performance as a woman who has earned a big reputation as the ‘go to’ person to hire to lobby for you on particular issues in US parliament. Forgive me, by the way, if I get some of this political talk wrong as... I really don’t understand politics and the fact that I am willing to even half talk about them here maybe shows you that this is a film I really liked.

Now, the film starts of from a framing story which renders everything leading up to that framing device... which we catch up to before flashing back again every twenty minutes or so... as Chastain’s lead character is under fire in a trumped up Senate hearing investigating the illegitimacy of her ‘methods’ to successfully lobby against a specific issue. The film then starts proper as Miss Sloane’s agency is asked by gun lobbyists to ‘sell’ the idea of making firearms easily available as a positive thing to the women of America. However, this is something that really goes against the grain and she is given an opportunity, which she immediately takes, of quitting her firm and taking herself and as many of her team who want to go with her to a rival company to lobby for the exact opposite.

Now I’m not going to pretend that the issue of owning guns or not is a simple one. The bottom line is nobody should have them but the reality is... someone always will. It’s complex and I am far too naive and idealistic to get into that... especially in a film review. I mention it here to clarify that Chastain’s character is lobbying to make guns harder for the common thug on the street to have access to... by providing more rigorous checks before firearms are allowed to be bought. Which makes good sense to me as a short term workaround, to be sure.

So anyway, her and about half of her team are now working on behalf of something called the Brady Campaign for a firm headed by Rodolfo Schmidt, played here by Mark Strong, in direct rivalry to the people in Sloane’s old company. And there’s one of the reasons right there why this film is so electric. Not to take anything away from the other cast members in this movie, all of who do a blistering job and include stalwart John Lithgow as the senator leading the framing hearing but... Chastain is always brilliant and, frankly, Mark Strong just impresses me more and more every time I see him in anything. Together with some absolutely amazing costars, they contribute to an already powerful script full of ear catching dialogue, which is so beautifully pulled together by the director, John Madden.

The pacing on the film is almost '1930s screwball' furious and the performances, as I’ve said, all superb as the iceberg cool Miss Sloane is shown as the almost emotionless machine of a lobbyist using all kinds of espionage tricks to establish the outcome that she wants. This is all set up with Chastain’s opening, framing dialogue to the majority of movie, which also plays in the trailers from what I remember. And its just an absolutely brilliant and enchantingly well made ride but there is one slight weakness to the movie which, in this particular case, makes the film even stronger...

To explain that; what I mean is that although the film seems to be quite twisty and turny... it’s really not. The writers spend the first half  of the story setting up their ‘infallible’ title character before they start to show things going wrong for her and building on her vulnerability... except, if you’re like me, then you’ll known that the vulnerability is not necessarily a crack in the personae at all. Alas, the film is extremely obvious and, I have to say, within the first five minutes I had pretty much figured out what the denouement of the movie was going to be and, as it turns out, I was dead right. Now normally that would (and all too often does, unfortunately) annoy the heck out of me and, for the first third of the movie... I was kind of stewing over the obviousness of certain ploys the writers were using to try and distract me from the end game but, as I watched and the dialogue, acting and cinematography continued to win me over, I realised that if there was any other ending to this movie than the one they were building towards, I would have been incredibly disappointed in the film. So although I usually find the obvious ending to be a let down, here it was a welcome conclusion... my initial perceived weakness of the script became its strength, for me.

So it has all of that going on for it and, frankly, it’s just a gorgeous film visually too. The director uses the nice vertical set ups of walls and glass in the interior scenes to compartmentalise certain elements of the frame (as do a lot of great directors) and he does it in an interesting way. For instance, there’s a gorgeous shot which I wished he’d have lingered on longer, just after Mark Strong has sent Sloane’s team home for the evening to have a rest. It’s near the end of the movie and shows Sloane standing in the corridor full length on the left of the screen and, through and past the glass corridor coming down the middle/right side, Mark Strong siting down with his back to the camera and by the size and division of those two people in the frame, making a visual metaphor about how Strong’s character has begun to lose faith in Miss Sloane’s ability to win and using the mise en scene to visually (and presumably subconsciously, for some people) show the distance between them. It’s a wonderful shot in a film full of many such cool moments.

Max Richter’s, sadly unreleased on CD, score to this is kind of a minimalist masterpiece laying, stylistically, somewhere between Philip Glass and Hal Hartley’s musical compositions and it works really well here. It doesn’t overstate the obvious and it matches the icy veneer of the title character beautifully when it needs to. It highlights the things it needs to and stays out of the way when scenes call for it and it’s yet another score which highlights the need for this composers work to be released on a proper physical medium like compact disc.

And I don’t have much more to say on this one but I will say that, if you’re a fan of cinema and the way it can sometimes tackle important issues like corruption at the heart of a country, then you’d be really silly to miss this one while it’s doing the rounds. It’s not the kind of film I would usually repeat watch but I suspect I’ll be picking up the Blu Ray of this one at some point. Obvious or not, it deserves to be seen by a wider audience and it certainly doesn’t deserve the stupid numbers it got at the US box office. It also firmly seals the reputations, as far as I’m concerned, of Jessica Chastain and Mark Strong as being two of the finest modern actors working in cinema at the moment. Go see this one.

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Far From The Madden Crowd

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
2015  UK/USA
Directed by John Madden 
UK cinema release print.

So it’s almost two years since The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel arrived in UK cinemas and, for a film I wasn’t that up for seeing initially, it impressed me quite a bit (my review here) I now find myself in the unexpected situation of seeing a sequel. Unexpected because, frankly, it’s not the kind of movie I would imagine would get or, indeed, require one... and I suspect some of the cast and crew were as surprised as me by that turn of events.

Like the first one, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel captures a certain charm and spirit from its ageing cast which is fairly unique and unlike most anything else at the cinema at the moment. Most of the regular cast of the first one (those characters who survived) are back for this installment including Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Dev Patel, Ronald Pickup, Diana Hardcastle and the always lovely Celia Imrie... there’s also a “surprise return” from another of the main players in the first film but... I won’t spoil that one here.

They are joined in this one by Tamsin Greig, Richard Gere (an actor who I’ve always had a lot of time and respect for, even if I don’t agree with some of his role choices... but anyone who’s worked in a Kurosawa movie is okay in my book) and David Strathairn... all of them equally great actors and who are welcome additions to the cast, although Strathairn, regrettably, only has two scenes (more on that a little later).

The film has room for these new characters to shine, such as Richard Gere’s novelist, and it also allows them to bring out other characters who were less in the spotlight in the last film and show sides of their personality we were unaware of. Specifically, I’m thinking of Sonny’s mother, played by the beautiful Lillete Dubey, who gets her chance to shine in this one, playing opposite Gere for some great two handers.

If you remember the first film, the key redeeming character turned out to be the one everybody was set up to dislike... who was actually the hidden gem and salvation of the title institution run by Sonny (played by Dev Patel) at the end of the movie... the character played by Maggie Smith. This second film is told through her eyes somewhat, via a voice over on a letter she is writing, and even though her scenes are small and fleeting (it’s a big cast), she is the prism through which the main narrative thrust is viewed... and there’s a dramatic reason for that but, again, I won’t spoil that one for you here either.

My chief concern about a sequel like this was that they wouldn’t have enough for all the characters hanging over from the first film to do but, while the film is much less about reaching personal destinations than that initial story was, this one seems to be about watching the way the characters have settled down and are handling the situation they are in. It’s set only 8 months after the first installment and it seems to me that maybe it should have moved on two years in time, like the production, but in some ways it makes a little more sense to lessen the time in relation to the dynamics of one of the sets of character relationships... although the characters all look a little more 'settled in' than a mere 8 months suggests, I would say.

Like the first film, it’s very much an ensemble piece and, since the writers have not run out of ideas and situations for their characters, this means that everybody seems to get a little less screen time than I would have preferred. Which is a shame, especially when there were a couple of extended dance sequences which maybe could have been considerably cut. There’s also a tendency to leave much which is going on unsaid, in a most subtle fashion, from certain situations while other events are spelled out in a rather too obvious manner. For example, Bill Nighy’s revelation to the man repairing his bicycle that he’d like to marry the Judi Dench character is telling us something which is far too obvious already... although there is justification later in terms of another character knowing the situation through a relationship to the bike man. Having said that though, I really don’t think things like that needed to be spelled out when the cast were doing such a terrific job of economically conveying just what was going on in their heads.

Similarly, a scene between Maggie Smith and David Strathairn near the end of the movie also seems to be more about making the audience aware of something (which again I really can’t divulge here) but in this case, at least, the second of two marvellously electric scenes the two actors share in the movie, is absolutely subtle and understated and executed much more preferably, it seemed to me.

Some of the situations in the movie do get a bit over the top in that very British way which makes you question the tone, at one point. One sub-plot involving the possibility of a contract killing and a Scorpion Cab is just this side of outrageous to still work comfortably within the film and just saves itself from turning into something more like a TV situation comedy... although for a while there I was looking at it and thinking how well the theme and setting of this series of films would convert over to a TV sit-com (and I fully believe that will probably happen someday in the future... maybe not right away but I wouldn’t be surprised if they try it at some point in the next 15 years). However, the writing, direction, cinematography and acting all pulls it off and back in the right direction and it just misses being a parody of itself by the skin of its teeth.

While I think the movie could have been a little longer, or cut differently perhaps, to show just a little more of the characters we loved from the first movie, I think that this film will still please people who embraced the idea of the first film. This is perhaps lesser of a movie and it may be a bit obvious to say that the title of the movie, which is actually referring to a second branch of the titular dwelling, may also be paraphrased to say that, of the two movies, this is also the second best of them... but I would perhaps also urge audiences to acknowledge that the second best of such a high quality, well polished product is certainly deserving of an audience who I am sure, are going to appreciate it as much, if not more, than I. A good solid film and one which I will be grabbing for my mother on a Blu Ray at Christmas, I should think. If you loved the first one... definitely don’t miss out on this release.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Indierface!

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel UK 2012

Directed by John Madden

Playing at UK cinemas now

This is not really a movie I was that interested in going to see, if truth be told.

I’d seen the trailer and marvelled at the obviously very strong and excellent cast of British National Treasures involved and, though a movie starring such stalwarts would, inevitably, be well performed... well, the trailer was just cut together with so many humorous clichés that, I have to say, the movie didn’t really hold any real interest for me.

However...

Two young ladies of my acquaintance took it upon themselves to invite me to go with them on a cinema trip and so I found myself traipsing off to my local fleapit in pursuit of the treasures of India with some charming company and never once a grumble for me. I’m glad I did because, although the movie is certainly both well performed and cliché ridden, as expected, the whole thing is put together with a certain underlying intelligence that ultimately makes such things not just bearable but a pleasure to watch. There is a certain amount of sheer artistry in this movie... and not just in front of the camera either.

Based on the novel These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach, it’s not a film I can hold up in comparison with that original novel because, I’m sorry to say, I’ve not actually read it. So whether or not this movie retains something of the spirit of the source material in any way, shape or form is not something you’ll be able to glean from this review I’m afraid.

I’ve also not seen any previous films by director John Madden either (although I think his wife used to teach me graphic design at one point), so I’ve got no frame of reference to be able to tell you whether any key stylistic elements of his previous body of work are on hand in a blatant manner to add weight to this work in the context of a larger strand of cinematic art. I can only look at this movie in the context of a pleasant night at the cinema and leave it there.

So, okay then, the film deals with a group of older, but not in all cases wiser, people who I might, in all political correctness, refer to as either “Senior Citizens” or “ladies and gentlemen in their twilight years”. The main characters are introduced singly (with the exception of one “couple”), via subtitled names on the screen, in individual scenes which give the audience a quick flavour of their character and the reasons why they have all decided to travel to the place named in the title, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in India. Yes, this visual dramatis personae is composed of a mixture of movie stereotypes of older people we’ve all seen before, but there’s really nothing wrong with that and although these characters all stand on these stereotypes for a little way into their personal “inner journeys” in this movie, the majority (but not all of them) do manage to shake off the shackles of their well worn and familiarly written character crutches and develop and grow into a group of people that you do feel for and take interest in through the course of the running time.

The actual movie credits don’t kick in until our characters are first seen assembling together, in a line of chairs awaiting their flight to India, at the airport. Tom Wilkinson’s character, who is returning to India after an absence of 40 years and who has a corker of a back story I won’t reveal here, is the self-assured, confident one of the group who, since he at least can speak the language, kind of becomes the leader of this less than close knit community. A community which includes amongst its members... a hen pecked but loyal man and his “dragon by stealth” wife, a sex hunting gentleman and a bigoted xenophobe who makes good in the end (this last character played by Maggie Smith is a bit of a surprise turnaround and becomes almost the most influential character in the whole piece)... a bunch of hackneyed stereotypes to be sure but with such fine actors as Judy Dench, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton and so on in the cast, and with a screenplay that never really manages to put a foot wrong, life is breathed into these templates which will, as I pointed out before, leave you caring, crying and laughing with the characters as their stories play out.

I won’t give away too much of the plot as a) there really isn’t much of one and b) it’s not really a film about plot anyway... it’s about the little moments shared between people that become bigger things. What I will say, though, is that the framing of the shots and especially the movement of the camera are extremely well paced, edited and, dare I say, designed to both not show their hand, unless under scrutiny, or in any way jolt the viewer from being totally encapsulated in the film.

Long motion shots (often establishing shots) blend fluidly with static frames or slower shots, which in turn are intercut occasionally with hand held camera shots which perfectly pitch the hustle and bustle of the streets of India without actually dropping you out of the movie. I especially enjoyed a long sideways panning establishing shot at a fair speed which then cut into a static shot of a mobile phone jumping around on a desk (in vibration mode) which was, as a result of this, travelling from the right to the left of the shot at a similar speed to the previous shot, thus blending almost seamlessly with the design of the sequence without, I would guess, much viewer awareness (yeah, alright, I was aware of it but the person I was sitting next to wasn’t... I checked afterwards). There was some good “working director” stuff here, but so well polished at a technical level that everything melded to make an almost perfect viewing experience... and that probably helped a lot when it came to smoothing over some of the edits and retaining believability of the characters, especially in the opening 20 minutes or so.

So that’s about it then... if truth be told, this is probably not a DVD I’d buy for myself to watch again (although I might pick up a copy for a close family member when it gets released), but I would still thoroughly recommend this one if you want a priceless and moving experience at the cinema. There’s not a great deal of truly “nice” movies being made right now but this one is so slickly “nice” that it really does deserve to be seen. There’s a good, moral heart beating at the centre of this movie... and you can’t really ask a whole lot more than that.