A duffer’s guide from a viewer whose familiarity with the play is limited to switching channels the minute “Memories” came on the radio. Tom Hooper’s (The King’s Speech, Les Miserables) feral recitation yields a uniquely unpleasant moviegoing experience. The design is hideous to behold, with character perspective that’s disorientating to …
Oddly focussed docudrama, riddled with capriciously off-balance compositions, on a disastrous interlude in the illustrious career of English football manager Brian Clough, his runaway ambition and runaway confidence in his rivalry with fellow manager Don Revie ("I wouldn't say I'm the top manager in the country, but I'm in the …
The story of Gerda, a struggling portrait painter (Alicia Vikander) who loses a husband but gains a compelling subject — there’s nothing like a broken heart for inspiration! Of course, the losing and gaining are all of a piece, born from her man Einar’s (Eddie Redmayne) conclusion that while nature …
As masters of speech, British actors stutter superbly (think of Derek Jacobi in I, Claudius). This lovably intricate, humane film from Tom Hooper and writer David Seidler dramatizes how the unexpected king, George VI, overcame his handicap in uneasy 1936. There is wonderful acting rapport between Colin Firth’s stiff, shy, …
Sincere story of answered prayers, mostly those of one Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), an ex-con who tastes mercy and tries to break free from his criminal past (he stole a loaf of bread). But the reformed man is pursued by Javert (Russell Crowe), a lawman who does not believe reform …