The latest film from Robert Schwentke, ambiguously titled RED – short for Retired and Extremely Dangerous – both surprised and disappointed me in various capacities. Surprising in seeing the level of genuinely top class acting talent scattered throughout the film, surprising also in being one of the few DC Comic adaptations not released by Warner Bros (DC’s parent company) and surprising in how much fun it ultimately was. However it also disappointed me for being, annoyingly, like every other action film I’ve came across throughout 2010.

The film tells the highly charged tale of retired CIA agent, Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), struggling to adapt to his lonely and rather pedestrian life, after spending years jetting off to various destinations killing people. Through, seemingly, boredom Moses strikes up a relationship with his pension officer (Mary-Louise Parker) over the telephone which through inexplicable events leads to them meeting under intense circumstances.

Being on the run from the US government, Moses calls in favours from old friends. The insanely paranoid Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich), the wise and battle-worn Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman) and an ex-MI6 agent Victoria (Helen Mirren). After jetting around the country with seemingly little direction or purpose, the team eventually discover why they’re being targeted leading to some predictable but, nevertheless, satisfying conclusions.

It must be said Bruce Willis lead the line brilliantly in this film, putting in an old school Willis performance. Fans of the Die Hard films will undoubtedly be entertained by his contribution in RED. Though there’s striking similarities unlike his most iconic on screen persona, Frank Moses is arguably a more likeable soul than John McClain, much more relaxed and romantic at heart as well as ultimately just looking for some companionship after years of being a cold hearted killer. His on screen chemistry with Mary-Louise Parker was terrific despite the slightly awkward yet comedic introduction the pair have in the film’s first act – something which, bizarrely, wouldn’t be totally out of place in most romantic comedies.

The real strength of the film however was in Frank’s relationship with his older colleagues. John Malkovich was truly brilliant when he hit his hysterical best. He often delivered the best lines and made the film a lot more zaney and frantic, which worked wonderfully to counteract Willis’ cool persona. Morgan Freeman on the other hand was simply playing the Morgan Freeman we’ve seen time and time again, but frankly I have zero problem with that. Helen Mirren was surprisingly delightful, adding a layer of elegance to a film littered in big guns and explosions, it also was clear for all to see how much fun she was having with this role – also striking a brilliant on-screen relationship with a former KGB agent played by Brian Cox.

Shamefully, the film fell on the same sword various other action films this year have unfortunately fell upon. If you read my reviews of The Losers, The A-Team, Salt and, to a slightly lesser extent, The Expendables, once again we have another film where the best the writers can muster up is corrupt, evil and ultimately faceless US government agents as the protagonists main threat.

This was made even more irritating because there’s always that one agent who ‘is only doing their job’ – this time being Karl Urban – who inevitably helps the team by the end of the film. I never mean to get ranty, but frankly I’ve had enough. At least Salt had crazy f*cking Russians as the villains.

All that said, underneath the impressively over the top set pieces and strangely plausible romantic comedy which forced its way into the plot, the message RED was trying to portray was actually quite sweet. A story which attempted to address a person’s issues with his own mortality, and that inability to let go of a life which essentially defines who you were.

Final Thoughts
It may have a high calibre cast and feature some extremely enjoyable outings from Willis, Malkovich and Freeman. However, like many to come before it, RED lacks originality, failing to add anything to a genre which has unfortunately regressed on itself in the past year. That said I’d still happily watch this bunch of pensioners over the underwhelming Losers, the tired, steroid-pumping crew of The Expendables and the frankly over-hyped A-Team.

3/5

See This If You Liked…
The Expendables, The Losers, The A-Team

RED is in cinemas everywhere now.

The sheer concept of The Social Network pretty much demonstrates why I could never be actively involved in the film industry – outside of a critical capacity of course. If one was to approach me with the idea for an origin story set around the global phenomenon Facebook, I would have laughed them straight out of the office. Which would have been a crying shame, because I would have cheated a lot of people out of an excellent film.

David Fincher, with the help of screenwriter Aaron Sorkin – chief writer of The West Wing – crafts a beautifully told tale based on the real life events, albeit with a few artistic liberties taken here and there, at time mimicking the cinematic classic, Citizen Kane.

The film follows Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) from his – not so -humble beginnings as an overly obsessed computer geek blogging in his Harvard dorm room, all the way to his world famous law suits with his once former partners – which resulted in some of the messier court cases seen this century.

Regardless of how accurate Zuckerberg’s portrayal was, Sorkin still managed to construct a truly gripping character study – much to the credit of Eisenberg’s brilliantly witty and neurotic performance. Unlike Orson Welles’ iconic Charles Foster Kane, Zuckerberg seemed to rarely be interested in money or power (though I bet he’s not really complaining about it now), and didn’t seem to even invent Facebook for that sole reason.

His true motivations were far more fascinating. Instead of having this young, hotshot, college student trying to make a more “open world”, we get a man who is petty, spiteful and ironically one of the most socially inept people you’re ever likely to encounter. There is an overwhelming feeling, from the film, he made Facebook just to prove a point that he could, rather than intending to start a revolution – much to MySpace and Bebo’s dismay I’m sure.

The supporting performances from the well conceived ensemble were just as vital to this brilliant drama as Eisenberg’s. However it was safe to say, mostly, no one came out of The Social Network with their reputations intact. The only real exception was co-founder, Eduardo Saverin, played with a degree of sympathy and honest emotion by the excellent Andrew Garfield. Which is strange because, in a way, he represented the greedy capitalist side of the tale. He joined Zuckerberg in this ambitious venture because he wanted to make money, and often came to blows with his original partner because of their clashing of visions for the company. Despite these conflicts, Saverin was possibly Zuckerberg’s only true friend, making their colossal lawsuit all the more tragic in the end.

Justin Timberlake’s rise as a creditable actor continued with a solid performance as the bane of the music industry and inventor of the once mighty Napster (remember that?), Sean Parker. He was brash, arrogant and helped Facebook become the global force we’ve come to know it as today. Parker’s character was interesting because he often came across as the evil little voice whispering everything and anything into Zuckerberg’s ear. The accuracy of these accounts are definitely open to interpretation, regardless however, it still makes for genuinely gripping cinema.

Adding a bit of light hearted comedy to the darkly proceedings was Armie Hammer’s dual roles as both Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. They were typically like every other preppy American university jock we’ve seen time and time again from countless John Hughes movies to the likes of Animal House. The hilarity being the conflict between the pair on whether to take action or not – with one brother desperately wanting to take Zuckerberg down, while the other shows his reluctance based on the simple reason it’s ungentlemanly for a man of Harvard to go down such a petty route.

The other most notable contribution to the film was the surprisingly minor role of Rooney Mara as Zuckerberg’s disenchanted girlfriend at the very beginning of the film. Her, quite reasonable, rejection of Mark’s horrid spite kick starts the whole Facebook phenomenon into action. And once all is said and done, and Zuckerberg has been revealed to be nothing but a lonely abominable billionaire who has subsequently screwed over everyone who has ever tried to help him, the film’s closing moments hint at slight redemption for the character. Something Charles F. Kane never really had the pleasure of experiencing until his final dying moments.

I’ve spent much of this review praising the strong, well developed characters created. However, much praise should also go to Fincher’s ability to tell a brilliant story oozing with atmosphere and even a degree of intensity. He even covers his own artist licence on the story-telling with this quite touching scene involving Zuckerberg and one of his own council when he admits, “I’m not a bad person” and the female lawyer admitting that a lot of these depictions in lawsuits that often completely exaggerated to benefit of the plaintiff. Strangely adding some sympathy for an otherwise deeply troubled individual.

The film’s rich and darkly elegant atmosphere is also heavily attributed to the truly fantastic electronic/ambient score composed by Nine Inch Nails’ frontman Trent Reznor and famed musician Atticus Ross, which results in one of the most distinctive film soundtracks seen in a film all year. Actually listening to it while I type…

Final Thoughts
Given the absurdity of the film’s basic premise, would it be fair to say David Fincher is something of a film-making genius for actually making this work? A truly fascinating drama about the conception of a website which has defined the past decade. Facebook isn’t just a social networking site, it’s an addictive way of life for a lot of people (something this critic is even guilty of). Will The Social Network’s portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg be one of cinema’s great villains for the ages, or equally one of its most tragic? Either way I’m clicking the “like” button on this movie…*

[rating:4.5]

Minutes into Werner Herzog’s new film, My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done, you can already see echoes of his previous film released this year, the absolutely excellent, Bad Lieutenant. From the suburban noire vibes to the broody eclectic score, you would nearly be forgiven thinking it was a direct follow-up.

Just to spice things up a bit, taking on producing duties was none other than David Lynch. Though having written the script almost 15 years ago, I’m surprised it has taken until now for Werzog to make the film, which is loosely based on real life events.

The story centers around the deeply disturbed, Brad McCallum (Michael Shannon), who has recently just killed his own mother (Grace Zabriskie). Through a series of disorientating flashbacks, the audience is given glimpses into Brad’s strange motivations for committing the act. At times these particular scenes only seemed to raise more, mind-boggling, questions than actual coherent answers.

Michael Shannon’s performance however, was nothing short of remarkable. Brash, outspoken, childish, psychotic, disturbing and at times even quite comedic. Though Lynch didn’t seem to have any real creative input, the film was scattered with nods towards his own work. Especially in the skin-crawling portrayal of Brad’s controlling and psychologically suppressed mother.

While Willem Defoe was merely a bystander to the chaos unfolding, at the scene of the crime, it was through the stories of Chloe Sevigny and Udo Kier’s characters where we begin to gain some sort of perspective into Brad’s psyche.

Herzog’s intentions were clear in his mirroring narrative to the ancient Greek tragedy of the Oresteia trilogy, as Brad became increasingly more obsessed with the actions of the main character. Going deeper, there was a sense Herzog wanted to delve into the darkness which lurks inside all men, their lingering doubts with religion and mythical higher powers, as well as the contempt for their fellow neighbours. It was a shame though this message got, somewhat, lost in the execution of the feature.

While the scenes with Brad producing the stage production of the Greek play made a degree of sense towards his resulting intentions. As did the utterly bizarre treks to his Uncle’s ostrich farm where he even acquired the murder weapon in question – despite the Lynch-esque scene in a snowy neighbouring forest where a midget magically popped up dressed in a tuxedo. The production fell however, in the scenes set in Peru where he encountered a life changing event which offered very little explanation into his motivations other than the character was simply a very odd individual with no real sense of purpose or direction – however maybe that is the point.

Final Thoughts
Werner Herzog’s latest is a strange, disturbing, and even at times, darkly comedic exploration into the mind of a killer. Unfortunately, the film often came off as slightly disorientating and muddled in its overall delivery, despite the fascinating leading performance from Michael Shannon. Though, perhaps it should be renamed My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Been On*?

3.5/5