The power but so little glory
VICE
(15, 132 mins)
Adam McKay
Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Sam Rockwell
Director: Stars: DESTROYER
(15, 121 mins)
Karyn Kusama
Nicole Kidman, Sebastian Stan, Scoot McNairy
Director: Stars: THE MULE
(15, 116 mins)
Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood, Bradley Cooper, Dianne Wiest, Andy Garcia
Director: Stars: SECOND ACT
(12A, 104 mins)
Peter Segal
Jennifer Lopez, Milo Ventimiglia, Vanessa Hudgens
Director: Stars:
TUESDAY was the day of the Oscar nominations, that eagerly awaited moment when a completely transparent panel of unbiased, incorruptible industry experts reveal the best films of the previous year. And if you believe that, I’ve got a vintage crop of magic beans for sale on eBay. All proceeds go to The Donald Trump Foundation, a wonderful charity that probably does amazing things for entirely worthwhile causes.
For obvious reasons, bashing Republicans has become a popular sport in Hollywood, which could account for the eight nominations for Adam McKay’s muddled film about George W Bush’s Vice-President Dick Cheney. An unrecognisable Christian Bale probably deserves his Best Actor nod for playing dodgy Dick but I don’t understand the Best Director, Best Picture or Best Original Screenplay nominations.
I spent too much time thinking about Margot Robbie in a bubble bath to concentrate on the story. In McKay’s previous Oscar-winner, The Big Short, you’ll remember that moment when the Australian actress lathered up while explaining sub-prime mortgages. It was a witty cameo reaching for an entertaining way to explain the crushingly dull 2008 banking crisis.
Here McKay’s surreal flights feel smug and unnecessary. His story is straightforward: Cheney is a ruthlessly ambitious oilman who was in the
Vice,
track down a man called Silas who seems to have some connection to the murder. In the early 1990s, fresh-faced Erin has teamed up with FBI agent Chris (an excellent Sebastian Stan) to infiltrate a gang of armed robbers.
Kidman’s transformations are distracting but I became fascinated by the character. This smart thriller is this week’s Best Picture.
If you live near a royal palace, you’ve probably been too busy scanning for Land Rovers to think about the Oscars but Clint Eastwood provides another angle to Prince Philip’s dilemma. If 97 is too old to drive, is 88 too old to direct a film? has some troubling moments but I think Clint can hold on to his licence for the time being.
Loosely based on a true story, Clint directs himself as Earl Stone, a mean old man who is driving drugs for a Mexican cartel. For a while the film coasts on star charisma. Scenes of Clint cavorting with topless girls are icky but it’s fun watching the old stick run rings around his handlers and Bradley Cooper’s DEA agent. Sadly, it’s not just a crime caper, it’s also a tale of redemption: gardener Earl takes the job so he can honour a promise to pay for his granddaughter’s wedding.
Nobody expects him to come good and you can’t blame them; 12 years ago, he stood up his daughter at her wedding so he could collect an award for his lilies. Would anyone do that? And does he need an action-packed adventure to learn he was wrong?
JThe Mule
ENNIFER LOPEZ is on much safer ground in a pleasant comedy drama that harks back to her romcom hits. Like 2002’s Maid In Manhattan, the pop star is playing a New Yorker with ambitions beyond her station.
We meet Maya Vargas (Lopez) as she interviews for the manager’s job at the store where she has worked for 15 years. After her spectacular presentation, a mogul says the job has “minimum requirements” and brings in a dolt who’s her new boss.
There is more heartache at home where boyfriend Trey (Milo Ventimiglia) tells her to swap the career for a baby. Maya doesn’t want to be a mother. As rational women can’t make this decision in a schmaltzy comedy, we start looking for a tragic back story. After splitting with Trey, life starts to turn around when she lands a dream job at a cosmetics firm, thanks to a fake CV and forged certificates.
Will she fake it to make it and shake up the stuffy corporate world with her blue collar smarts? And will she go on an emotional journey leading her to discover her maternal instincts and learn the value of being yourself? You don’t need a business degree to know the answers.
Second Act,