By Troy Ribeiro 

FILM: Cinderella
CAST: Cate Blanchett, Lily James, Richard Madden, Helena Bonham Carter, Nonso Anozie
DIRECTION: Kenneth Branagh

Disney’s live-action film Cinderella, crafted with pomp and splendour as a typically traditional fairytale by director Kenneth Branagh, reiterates the oft heard story of how an orphan girl, harassed by her cruel step-mother and equally harsh step-sisters, marries a Prince. Laced with life-lessons for everybody, this film is more than just a sweet fantasy romance drama.
The tone of the narration is laid at the very beginning, when little Ella (Eloise Webb) tells her mother: “I believe in everything.”
And, as the story unravels, you are aware of what to expect and yet, wonder how the film got its name Cinderella, when the protagonist is called Ella.
The telling has all the elements like a caring father, a nasty step-mother Lady Tremaine and her daughters Drisella and Anastasia, Prince Charming, Fairy Godmother, the Pumpkin turning into a carriage, the mice into horses, lizards as footmen, the goose as the carriage rider and the glass shoes. They make you nostalgic.
As the story moves at a brisk pace with a few distinctively funny and emotional moments, you are glued to the screen. You simply become aware of the freshness of the approach and the simple, yet minute, logical stances that the director takes. And where it deviates and expands upon, it does so in ways that add nuance and depth. These help not only to make the tale credible, but likeable also.
The film belongs to television actress Lily James who plays the grown-up Cinderella. Her sweet demeanour is reflected by her “kindness and courage”.
And physically, her transformation from a housemaid to “the beautiful princess to be” is mesmerising. Aptly paired opposite her is Richard Madden, the charming prince who she fondly refers to as “Mr Kits”. The onscreen chemistry between them is palpable and that makes their romance believable.
Ben Chaplin and Hayley Atwell as Cinderella’s loving and caring biological parents are functional. Their scenes with Cinderella are synthetically sweet. Their equation seems tailored to heighten the contrast delivered by the antagonists.
Cate Blanchett as Mrs Tremaine, Sophie McShera as Drisella, Holliday Grainger as Anastasia and Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother make their presence felt with dramatic overtures. Their scenes are theatrical and engaging.
The dialogues are characteristically a Disney product — very crisp, chirpy and intermittently spiked with tasteful and elegant humour.
The computer-generated images are of fine quality and captivating. - IANS

A tale of love and hope

FILM: The Water Diviner
CAST: Russell Crowe, Olga Kurylenko, Yilmaz Erdogan
DIRECTOR: Russell Crowe

Dedicated to the memory of all those nameless people who died or were lost during the World War I, The Water Diviner is based on true events that occurred nearly a century ago.
It is the poignant tale of a bereaved Australian farmer who travels all the way to Gallipoli in Turkey, to get the remains of his three sons who went there to fight. They are now missing and presumed dead.
Packed with the strappings of an epic, actor Russell Crowe’s maiden directorial venture, The Water Diviner is a complex tale of love and hope.
Blessed with the power of dowsing — a type of divination — employed in attempts to locate ground water, Joshua Connor is prodded by his grief-stricken wife Eliza with, “It’s been four years, you can find water but you can’t find your own children. You lost them.”
Hurt with this accusation, he promises her that he would find them and get them home. So he sets out on a mission, after her death.
Joshua travels to Turkey and after an initial hurdle at the immigration, he finds fate intervening with his plans. He is guided by his dowsing ability, a dream, coffee reading and unlikely allies like a Turkish Officer, Major Hasan and a young widow Ayshe who owns a hotel in Istanbul.
Technically, the film is brilliantly crafted. The war scenes are graphic and gruesome. — By Troy Ribeiro/IANS

Intense and emotionally charged

By Troy Ribeiro  

FILM: Danny Collins
CAST: Al Pacino, Jennifer Garner, Annette Bening, Bobby Cannavale
DIRECTOR: Dan Fogelman

Writer Dan Fogelman’s maiden directorial venture Danny Collins is a fictional, melodramatic redemption story of an ageing rock star with an indulgent past. It is based on true incidents.
In 1971, British folk singer Steve Tilston, then 21 years old, was a promising talent on the scene. Unbeknown to him, John Lennon of the Beatles fame wrote a letter to him after he read Steve’s interview in the now-defunct music magazine ZigZag. Unfortunately, Steve received this letter 34 year later.
Similar to Steve’s experience, the narration of this film takes off with Danny Collins (Al Pacino) being interviewed by the music magazine called Chime-M on June 30, 1971. He was featured in the magazine for being a creative genius on the road to stardom.
But over a period of time, Danny Collins is a disillusioned artist, playing to the gallery.
Forty years later, Danny Collins is now an ageing singer. He prances awkwardly in a lacklustre manner on stage crooning his signature song, Hey baby doll. He still has his audience eating out of his hands, but deep within, he is a lost soul.
Midway through his tour which also happens to be his manager Frank’s retirement plan, he receives the long lost inspirational letter from John Lennon, which was written 40 years ago. Stunned, he abruptly cancels his tour, gives up on drugs and decides to discard his bohemian lifestyle. He emphatically tells his manager: “I’ve decided to make some changes in my life.”
So making Woodcliff Lake Hilton in Jersey his base, he sets out to re-examine his life and songs. He charms his way into the lives of the hotel staff, manager and his estranged son, Tom’s family.
Fogelman, who had earlier written Crazy, Stupid Love and Tangled, has finely crafted Danny Collins. Narrated in a linear mode, the screenplay is non-complicated, simple and schematic.
The script is backed by ace performances.
The film truly belongs to Al Pacino. He is undisputedly a brilliant actor. He shines as the mature, lacklustre rockstar. He is intense, charismatic as well as creepy at the same time.
Pacino is aptly supported by Annette Bening as the prim and proper professional Mary.
Music plays an integral part in the narration and John Lennon’s works like Imagine, Working Class Hero and Beautiful Boy are marvellously incorporated into the narration.
This film with high quality production values truly makes for fine viewing and should not be missed. -IANS

DVDs courtesy:
Kings Electronics, Doha

Odd couple

By Barbara Vancheri

FILM: Get Hard
CAST: Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart
DIRECTION: Etan Cohen

In Get Hard, Will Ferrell’s character doesn’t just cry. No, the Bel Air multimillionaire blubbers.
After all, hedge fund manager James is facing 10 years in San Quentin for securities fraud and embezzlement — even though he insists he’s innocent. The fiancée who bought James a guitar and a performance by a Grammy winner for their engagement party has no desire to stand by her man.
Being clueless, entitled and racially insensitive, James assumes that Darnell (Kevin Hart), owner of a small business that washes executives’ cars, has been to prison because he’s African-American. Yeah, that doesn’t go over well with Darnell either, but he agrees to help James toughen up in exchange for $30,000, which can enable his family to move to a better home and school district.
They’re off in a comedy that would be even more offensive if it did not star Ferrell and Hart and if both characters didn’t predictably show their softer, more open-minded sides after the initial salvos.
But don’t watch Get Hard expecting a movie with subtlety and nuance.
The funniest moments come when Darnell borrows a familiar film story to advance his non-existent criminal cred and James bonds with a no-nonsense gang led by Darnell’s cousin (rapper Tip “TI” Harris who has done some time in real life).
Ferrell starts off as a privileged Ivy Leaguer but reveals he’s a big, naive kid who is unwilling to utter the N-word, even to curry favour with white supremacists. Darnell, meanwhile, begins to realise that James might have been framed. The easier, often cheaper laughs displace the early, pointed contrast between the one-percenters and the rest of the world.  —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS

DVDs courtesy:
Saqr Entertainment Stores, Doha