Family fun caught in the sands of time
FOUR KIDS AND IT ★★★✩✩
(Cert PG, 110 mins)
Director: Andy De Emmony
Stars: Paula Patton, Matthew Goode, Michael Caine, Russell Brand, Ashley Aufderheide, Teddie Malleson-allen On Sky Cinema and NOW TV now
THE OCCUPATION ★★★★✩
(Cert, 15 107 mins)
Director: Steven Oritt
Stars: Zuzanna Surowy, Eryk Lubos, Michalina Olszanska
Streaming now on all major platforms
STANDING UP, FALLING DOWN
★★★✩✩
(Cert 15, 91 mins)
Director: Matt Ratner
Stars: Billy Crystal, Ben Schwartz Available on all major platforms
WHAT do you miss the most during lockdown? A couple of days ago my Top Five would have been pub, cinema, friends, workmates and family, although maybe not in that order.
Then I took delivery of that “home hair-cutting kit” I had rashly ordered off the internet.after five seconds with the clippers, my local barber had come from nowhere to storm to the top of my list.
And by now, I’m sure home-schooling parents will feel a similar way about those saintly people who put up with their children during term time.
So why not do what teachers do when they are too busy or hungover to stick to a lesson plan? Dim the lights and whack on a vaguely educational movie.
Four Kids And It, a breezy adaptation of Jacquelinewilson’s book (a sequel-ofsorts to E Nesbit’s 1902 Five Children And It) was due a brief cinematic release but is now on Sky’s subscription movie channel and its NOW TV app. Production values aren’t quite Hollywood level but quirky creature design, a wacky Russell Brand and a grumpy motion-captured Michael Caine make it work.
The fantasy centres around four step siblings on a getting-to-know-you holiday in Cornwall.things don’t start off well for American single mum Alice (Paula
Patton) and English divorcee David (Matthew Goode) when their two 13-year-old daughters – angry New Yorker Smash (Ashley Aufderheide) and sensible Ros (Teddie Malleson-allen) fight over bedroom space.
On an outing the terrible teens rush off to a secluded beach with five-year-old Maudie (Ellie-mae Siame) and nine-year-old gamer Robbie (Billy Jenkins) close behind.
There they discover Psammead, (say it Sam-me-ad), a flatulent sand fairy that offers wishes in the distinctive tones of Sir Michael Caine.
This sort of magic, says the grouchy sprite, rarely works out how one expects. Ros does have a slight edge, however, having perchance discovered a dusty copy of Nesbit’s book. Local aristocrat Tristan Trent III (Brand) also seems to know the Edwardian classic and has a cabinet in his taxidermy room reserved for the Psammead.
Before Brand’s showdown with Sir Michael (I know who my money would be on), the kids exhaust their wishes by travelling back in time and zooming around in charmingly iffy flying scenes. Aufderheide overdoes it a bit as the spoilt Yank but Malleson-allen makes a very likeable heroine, building on her promise in 2016’s Swallows And Amazons.and beneath the fart gags and the action scenes, there are worthwhile messages about the importance of conservation and the value of teamwork.
The film gave this adult something to mull over, too.when Tristan, showing a five-year-old around his collection, called some African idols “ethnically insensitive erotica”, I emitted a worrying chortle.
Have I really missed Russell Brand?
AFTER The Occupation, no one will feel like comparing this virus business with the Secondworld War.this classy and quietly gripping true story recounts the experiences of Sara Goralnik, a 13-yearold Polish Jew who stole her Christian friend’s identity to flee the Nazis.
Self-isolation would have been heaven for Sara (a steely Zuzanna Surowy) who ends up hiding out with rural Ukrainians, a mostly vile bunch who seem to hate Jews even more their German overlords.
Finding a job on a farm, Sara spends three years caught between her lusty boss and his angry wife. But Sara is a survivor. After waking up one morning talking Yiddish, she learns how to sleep with cloth stuffed in her mouth.
When a local offers to reunite her with her “grandmother”, Sara trills with excitement, while secretly dreading running into the old bag.
The director spent time with the real Sara before she died in 2008.There have been more action-packed war movies, but few have felt so chillingly authentic.
Standing Up, Falling Down is a little short on laughs, but Billy Crystal adds sparkle to this comedy drama. Ben Shwartz plays Scott, 34, who’s back in his parents’ suburban New York house after failing to make it as a stand-up in LA.
Finding that his old pals have settled down or moved on, he forms an unlikely friendship with Marty (Crystal), a hell-raising, 65-year-old alcoholic dermatologist. Crystal might always be known for When Harry Met Sally, but this could be his most accomplished performance as an actor. Mad Marty could have tipped into caricature, but Crystal gifts him heart and humour.