Argo (15)

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Set in a tense 1980 Iran Argo is a slow, highly strung thriller, which has now been gilded by its success at the Oscars. Actor come Director Ben Affleck, who received a Golden Globe for his direction but wasn’t nominated for an Oscar, plays the emotionally devoid Tony Mendez. He comes up with a novel way of rescuing six American Citizens, who are hiding in the Canadian Embassy, having escaped from the marauding hordes, who have occupied the American embassy. It’s Affleck’s plan so he has to enlist two old timers, played by the big guns Alan Arkin and John Goodman, to help him set up the back story, to make it plausible, and then alone he heads into the unstable Iran.

Argo is intercut with vintage film footage of the political coverage of the time and we witness the aggression and fear on the streets, from which the six Americans are running. Affleck opts to cut in close on the anxious faces of the victims and the silence on screen is not relieved by a sound track. At times you want ‘the six’ to speak but you know they can’t in case they are heard or they incite a reaction from any agitated revolutionists they encounter. Everything is raw and uncompromising, awkward and the outcome unsure, unless of course you know the story, as it is based on real life events.

Underlying the main plot is Affleck’s struggle with his family, his separation from his wife never truly explained, but we have a sense of his sadness running through the film. He works to reach out to his son but his job prevents him. He also watches the relationships within ‘the six’ and uses what he sees as motivation to recognise the important things in life.

Much has been made of Argo and at times the film is gripping but this falls away all too often, levelling out at somewhere between dull and mildly interesting. There are not enough intimate moments just a group anxiety and we’re left with little sense of who ‘the six’ are and what Ben Affleck truly thinks. All too often rather than a concise line of dialogue he delivers a subtle smile of a distant stare. The triumph of this film is the atmosphere, the edge of fear and the simulation of a shocking political situation, but the downfall is that it’s all too easy to forget who was actually in the film other than the Director himself.

70/100

Skyfall (12A)

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The much anticipated latest edition of James Bond, featuring Daniel Craig as Bond, explodes on to the screen with an Oscar winning theme tune and the same no nonsense attitude we have come to expect from the straight faced secret agent. The opening sequence is a trail blazing pursuit cut short unexpectedly, the result being the rebirth of a tragic hero who is perhaps feeling his age. Bond is then released to finish the mission, he was prevented doing the first time round, and salvage some nationally important data. But he is soon up against the impressive portrayed Silva, an ex-agent bent on seeking revenge on M and played by Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men).

Bardem rolls up in a theatrical way. He speaks in a heavily accented English, has died his hair an off yellow and flaps his hand around a in nonchalant way, hamming up his campness, and seems to have combined these traits to establish his own brand of baddie. At first it is difficult to believe this somewhat over the top image of a man but as we learn more about him his twisted nature is revealed and to a certain extent he is accepted into the great canon of Bond villains. His presence is impressive.

Naomie Harris (28 days later) appears as agent Eve and Ralph Fiennes (English Patient) as Gareth Mallory and M’s new boss or so it seems. Both are excellent and will no doubt feature in the next Bond film their characters becoming more involved as the story moves forward. M, played by Dame Judi Dench, is implacable, unforgiving and hard until the end. She has more than ever been held up, in this version of Bond, as the vision of the ‘stiff upper lip’ and does not give an inch. She brings to the screen all her experience and washes the film with credibility.

 There seems to be everything you could need in this incarnation accept for one thing. The Bond Girl is a strange bit part played by Berenice Marlohe. When she appears she is exotic and has a power screen presence, with an interesting back story, but her role is short lived. Bond fails to save her or even give it much of a go. One of the reasons why Daniel Craig’s Casino Royal was the best Bond Film ever made was because of Bond’s connection with Vesper Lynd played by Eva Green. There is little of this in Skyfall. The emotion element is perhaps Bond’s link with his past and we glimpse a sense of the loss of his parents. Yet somehow this only weakens him where as his love for Vesper empowered a dark man who seemed to have no hope, and riveted us to our seats. Skyfall is intriguing and bleakly impressive.

73/100

Looper (15)

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Looper is about an assassin called Joe, who has signed up to a fixed term contract. He blasts anybody sent back through time, at a given location, and then disposes of the body. The problem is one of these faceless bodies will one day be him, or in other words his older sixty five year old self. It’s a bizarre type of suicide and an interesting idea.

Looper had some intriguing press coverage before its release. This was centred on the actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt who players the young Joe, the lead character, but more importantly the younger version of Bruce Willis. He had apparently spent time with Willis perfecting his facial expressions and with the aid of a few prosthetic adjustments, pulled off a very convincing younger version. Perhaps the best aspect of the impersonation is his knack of pausing when Willis would pause and then that small, slightly angled, smile for effect.

The film moves on at a pace and although Paul Dano and Jeff Daniels put in good performances Looper is really about three people; the two lead actors and the feisty Emily Blunt as Sara and mother to the Mutant child Cid. Blunt plays out her desperation well and Willis is suitably unsympathetic.

The old and young Joe tussle with what they want from the future, one having lived it the other hoping to change it. Sometimes they are on the same side and then a decision has to be made about which future will become a reality and we are kept guessing up until the end as to who and what might be the outcome. With any time travel film you have a feeling that anything could happen but Looper does well to not overly complicate matters and the ending appears at first glance a satisfactory one if unexpected. Just don’t spend too long analysing the ins and outs of the plot. Looper does slot nicely into the sci-fi time travel genre and presents a dark and yet interesting concept.

77/100