Girl in a slow train wreck
War On Everyone Cert 15 Funny and clever but not for Everyone The Girl on the Train Cert 15
SLEAZY, cynical and violent, this comedy cop movie goes to war on good taste. Two sharp-suited detectives are hunting a million dollars missing from a crime scene – which they have no plans to return. War On Everyone merrily heads for the gutter and features drugs, double-crosses, beheadings, strip joints and porn films. But its success or failure hinges on the appeal of the corrupt cop cops played by Michael Pe Pena and Alexander S Skarsgard. Skarsgard is hardd drinking, womanising T Terry while Pena is faf amily man Bob. Na Naming them after charactersh from the BBC sitcom The Likely Lads is one of the film’s many jokes.
Flash
Another sends up Hollywood typecasting by having Brit actor Theo James, from the Divergent film series, as an English criminal.
The action is in Albuquerque, New Mexico, home of hit series Breaking Bad. Such a cine-literate tale should really be set in LA.
Countless references to musicals, sci-fi, westerns and, of course, cop films are mixed up but make a surprisingly satisfying whole.
There are irreverent discussions about movies, art and philosophy.
Jokes about police brutality and racism are no less funny for being topical. The brilliant songs of Glen Campbell are used throughout.
War On Everyone veers about like the cops’ flash car in hot pursuit but the pace never flags.
It is ambitious and sharp but its shocking approach may not be to everyone’s taste. CALLING at all stations to murder via stalking, infidelity and kidnap, this chilly thriller is a very dull journey.
The adaptation of Paula Hawkins’s hit novel swaps the UK for the US and stars Emily Blunt as a suitably downbeat and occasionally manic Rachel, the alcoholic girl on the train.
On her daily commute to New York, Rachel thinks she sees evidence linked to the disappearance of a local girl.
Ridiculous plot twists means we can’t take any of it seriously.
Yet it lacks the trashy sense of fun and gleeful malice which made Gone Girl such an entertaining watch.
The story pootles along through a flat landscape of scenes devoid of big screen spectacle.
The finale is so silly it caused giggles at the world premiere. I imagine that’s not the response the director was hoping for.
The film is like a lacklustre Sunday evening TV mini-series whodunnit. But not one worth missing Poldark for.