Idea worth bearing with
SUPPLIED Very much a film of two halves, both of them excellent, Australian director Garth Davis’ debut feature deservedly lapped up accolades from around the globe earlier this year. Adapted from his book A Long Way Home, this is the tale of Saroo Brierley (Sunny Pawar, Dev Patel) a young Indian-born, but Tasmanian-raised man desperate to find the original family he lost more than two decades earlier. This isn’t your mother’s brother’s U.N.C.L.E. While Guy Ritchie’s 2015 reimagining of the popular 1960s Cold War TV spy series is set in the same period, it owes more of a debt to the James Bond films of the era. From the bold subtitles to clever flourishes involving the full frame, camera angles, focus, editing and sound, Ritchie constantly keeps the audience interested, even if the story isn’t exactly anything new.
Brigsby Bear is one of the most imaginative, charming and realistically acted movies to come out in ages.
This new documentary gave the late George Michael an opportunity to revisit his past and put the record straight about his musical development, his battles with his record company and the pain of losing his partner. Told through a cast of A-list superstars, including Stevie Wonder and Elton John, this is billed as the true story behind the headlines. Brigsby Bear (M) 97 mins BRIGSBY Bear is a gentle, purehearted delight of a film, with a winning idea as its core. It unassumingly impresses as one of the best films of 2017.
Twenty-five-year-old James is the No 1 fan of Brigsby Bear Adventures, a 1980s-style children’s TV programme through which he has learned all about the world. (A poster on his Brigsby-obsessed bedroom wall states ‘‘Curiosity is an Unnatural Emotion’’, which ought to ring all your alarm bells.)
When the show suddenly ends for reasons best not spoiled here, James tries to find a way to finish its production and share Brigsby’s joys.
Even as I write this, I can feel your attention waning. No, wait! Brigsby Bear is one of the most imaginative, charming and realistically acted movies to come out in ages.
While its premise has dark undertones, the story is completely devoid of cynicism or mockery – not a compliment you can pay to many contemporary films – and its performers (who range from a delightfully non- Star Wars Mark Hamill and familiar face Greg Kinnear to TV-smalltimer Kyle Mooney) are so honest in their portrayal that you float though the movie on a cloud of warm fuzzies.
It’s also surprisingly un-flashy in its production, which may account for the evident love shown throughout its 90-minute run-time and the probable lack of big studio interference.
The director comes from a career in TV and short films, but this feature debut screened at the Sundance and Cannes film festivals; co-writer and star Mooney cut his teeth on Saturday Night Live, yet his utterly credible portrayal of a man-child discovering the travails of growing up in the real world is simply outstanding (reminiscent of young Jacob Tremblay’s incredible performance in Room).
It may sound rash, but Mooney fully deserves an Academy Award nomination next February.
Brigsby Bear consciously evokes the long-ago youth of its target audience, with James sporting Rainbow- inspired T-shirts and the local detective hoarding classic Coke bottles in his office fridge.
The VHS tapes of Brigsby Bear Adventures also return us to a simpler time, before kids bullied each other with smartphones and people yearned for celebrity via reality TV.
But Brigsby’s most powerful quality is its enormous pathos. It’s not a snarky parody or played for laughs at its immature protagonist’s expense, but a refreshingly creative tale which is utterly heartbreaking in its kindness while at the same time spellbindingly heart-warming. Let your curiosity be piqued. – Sarah Watt