Lucky Number Slevin review

 Number 504 on the top 1000 films of all time is Paul McGuigan's 2006 neo-noir thriller 'Lucky Number Slevin.'

Slevin Kelevra (Josh Hartnett) is a victim of mistaken identity. Believed to be his friend Nicky, he is thrust into a war between two mob bosses - the Boss (Morgan Freeman) and the Rabbi (Ben Kingsley.) This is all while Slevin tries to evade the ruthless hitman Goodkat (Bruce Willis.) Together with the love interest and coroner Lindsey (Lucy Liu.) Slevin has to survive however he can. But all is not what it seems.

The general problem with the noir and, by extension, neo-noir films is that they are so overly-convoluted. The Big Sleep is notorious for its incomprehensible plot. Lucky Number Slevin is no exception. Major spoilers lie ahead.

Things are all relatively straightforward until the film's conclusion where everything is explained in the most complicated way possible. Slevin has actually been playing both mob bosses against in each other. This is to take revenge for how they murdered his father when Slevin was a child. To top everything off, a corrupt cop Brikowski (Stanley Tucci) murdered Slevin's mother. And, of course, he is the cop investigating the Boss and the Rabbi. Naturally he comes under Slevin's radar too.

This was a contrivance too far. I don't see why they had any reason to connect Brikowski with the main pot. it was all so unnecessary. Plus Slevin was supposed to be killed at the same time at his parents. Carrying out the hit was none other than the ruthless Goodkat who spares Slevin as he is a hitman who has suddenly developed a conscience because of ... reasons. And then Goodkat becomes a mentor to Slevin helping him to take revenge.

And despite having some major acting talent, Kingsley and Freeman are both Oscar winners, none of the characters were particularly memorable. Maybe that's because the characters weren't particularly memorable.

Although the mistaken identity element did produce some funny parts earlier on, the overall convoluted plot and one-dimensional characters made this an unenjoyable watch.

The Bucket List review

 Number 869 on the top 1000 films of all time is Rob Reiner's comedy-drama 'The Bucket List.'

The blue-collar mechanic Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) and the grumpy old billionaire Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) meet in hospital after both are diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. With only months left to live, the two embark on a trip to complete their own respective bucket lists.

This film had lots of potential. It had two great actors in the form of Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. Between them, they share four Oscars. It's a fun plot-line with plenty of opportunity for laughs and tears. And it was very funny. Jack Nicholson was very good as the grumpy, old, misanthropic billionaire. It might be a overly-familiar role for him, but he does it very well. Much of this humour comes from his constant abuse of his poor valet Thomas (Sean Hayes.) But Nicholson and Freeman had very good chemistry with the characters being polar opposites of each other. I may also argue Freeman is now type-cast as the wise, old mentor, but again he is always great.

Yet despite all this potential, the film felt very lacking. I feel like they could have done a lot more. Its runtime is just under one hundred minutes and it spends most of that on the beginning and the ending meaning that the middle is rushed. Considering the middle is the characters fulfilling their titular bucket lists, I was expecting much more. Some key character beats were reduced to a simple montage. There were lots of funny moments like Chambers and Cole sky-diving, but it felt like a very small, unimportant footnote. An extra half hour or even twenty minutes might have helped to bring things together more. 

Also what was with the awful CGI? Obviously I wouldn't expect Nicholson and Freeman to really be on top of the great pyramids of Giza, but I also wouldn't expect it to look so fake either. Maybe Reiner spent the film's budget on Nicholson and Freeman's salaries?

The Bucket List isn't a bad film per se. There are good performances and plenty of hilarious and heart-breaking moments. But they could have done a lot more than they did.

Gone Baby Gone review

 Number 561 on the top 1000 films of all time is the crime thriller 'Gone Baby Gone.' It was directed by Ben Affleck in his directorial debut.

Based on a Dennis Lehane novel, Gone Baby Gone follows two private investigators in Boston, Massachussetts Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) and his girlfriend Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan) are investigating the case of the missing four-year-old Amanda, but they soon uncover a much bigger mystery. Amy Ryan co-stars as Amanda's mother Helene Macready. Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman also star playing police officers DS Remy Bressant and Captain Jack Doyle respectively.

For a directorial debut, Ben Affleck did a very good job. Arguably better than some of his other films *cough cough* Argo. Gone baby Gone is a taut and tense thriller that keeps its audience on its toes. When Amanda goes missing, it's clear that she had a less than a happy homelife - her mother is a toxic, neglectful junkie. Enter Amy Ryan. The average viewer might not recognise that name, but she starred on NBC's sitcom 'the Office.' She does comedy well, but she did drama even better. I thought she was brilliant in this role. Well-deserving of her Oscar nomination. Helene is presented as an awful mother - only caring about her daughter once she goes missing, but she is a very sympathetic character.

Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan were very convincing as the two leads. Patrick Kenzie is dark, broody and doesn't play by the rules, yet he always has the calmer Gennaro to help him see straight. The two worked well together. And eight years later, Casey Affleck went onto win the Oscar for Manchester-by-the-Sea where he played another dark and broody character. And he does dark and broodiness very well. As a private investigator, he often finds himself torn between what is leally right and what is ethically right. And this is what leads to the conclusion that raises all types of interesting questions.

*Spoiler alert* Patrick and Angie discover that Amanda was actually at the heart of a massive conspiracy. Her uncle Lionel (Titus Welliver) and Ed Harris abducted her together to save her from her neglectful mother. They deliver her to Captain Doyle, who had previously lost a child, who will endeavour to give her the best possible life - a life far better than her mother who once forgot her for two hours in a boiling car.

Patrick wrestles over what is the right thing to do. Should he return her to her mother or leave her with Captain Doyle? Doyle would give her a loving home. Patrick picks the former leading to the disintegration of his personal and professional relationship with Angie. yet upon returning, Amanda home Patrick wonders whether he has made the right choice. Helene is nonchalantly going off on a date and leaves Patrick babysitting. She gives her daughter her favourite doll - Mirabelle. But Amanda later says the doll is actually called Annabelle. Her own mother didn't know the name of her daughter's favourite doll.

It's certainly no happily ever after, but it is an effective ending. it raises a number of different issues and questions. And this is what separates Gone Baby gone from other thrillers. Definitely worth a watch.

Glory review

 Number 353 on the top 1000 films of all time is Edward Zwick's 1989 US civil-war drama 'Glory.'

Glory tells the true story of 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment - one of the earliest African-American regiments within the Union army. It is commanded by the white officers Colonel Robert Shaw (Matthew Broderick) and Major Cabot Forbes (Cary Elwes.) Some of its troops include the hot-headed Silas Trip (Denzel Washington,) the older and wiser John Rawlins (Morgan Freeman) and the well-educated Thomas Sears (Andre Braugher.)

I certainly cannot attest to the historical aspect of Glory, but it was a thrilling warm film that gave a well-rounded review that the 54th infantry faced. Its black soldiers suffered racism from their white counterparts and weren't paid as much as them either, while their white officers were constantly left lacking vital supplies needed by their men. It also highlights the interpersonal differences between the black soldiers - notably between Sears and Trip. The two initially clash on their radically different upbringings and perspectives. Trip resents how Sears acts and talks like a white man, while Sears rails against Trip's accusations of him not being truly black.

Both actors were great, but Washington especially so. He won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar and I think his win was more deserving than his one in Training Day. Silas Trip was a far more nuanced character than Alonzo Harris. And Washington played him with a lot of vulnerability. Morgan Freeman was also good as the wise and calming John Rawlins. And I particularly liked Andre Braugher. He and Washington were great together.

The black actors were superior to their white counterparts. I do think Matthew Broderick was miscast. He was just too young for such a role. This was only three years after he starred in Ferris Bueller's Day Off and it was difficult seeing him as anything other than the high-school slacker. He just looked scared all the time; whenever he spoke it was like he was trying to convince both himself and the audience that he was mature enough for such a role. I understand this is partly the character. Shaw is supposed to be young, inexperienced and unsure of himself, but Broderick did little to persuade me that he was the right man for the job.

Honestly, I think his co-star Cary Elwes would have made a better lead. Elwes had already proved himself a capable leading man in the Princess Bride. Although he wasn't great here either. He had a strange accent that varied between American and his native English accent.

Glory strayed into melodrama at times. I could have done without the grandiose, instrumental score and characters dying in slow motion. Where it shone was its quieter moments; particularly when the black soldiers are singing a gospel song on the eve of their first big fight. This was a brilliant scene that highlighted the camaraderie and close relationship between these men.

Glory is certainly a good film. Yes, it is cheesy at times and Matthew Broderick was dreadfully miscast, but it was still a noble attempt to bring the efforts of the 54th infantry to the big screen.

Million Dollar Baby review

Number 227 on the top 1000 films of all time is Clint Eastwood's 2004 sports drama Million Dollar Baby.

Clint Eastwood plays Frank Dunn, an irascible boxing coach and gymowner. When Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) asks him to train her, he refuses as she's a girl. But thanks to some gentle encouragement from his friend and former protege Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris (Morgan Freeman,) he soon changes his mind.

I'm going to say it now. I don't like boxing. It doesn't interest me. And as such, boxing films don't interest me regardless of whether they're Rocky, Raging Bull or Million Dollar Baby. I was bored for much of this film but that was more down to my own personal likes and dislikes rather than the film itself.

But I do have one valid criticism and that is Clint Eastwood's acting. He is great director, but he always acts the same character. In Gran Torino he is a grumpy old war veteran, in Unforgiven, he is a grumpy old bounty hunter and in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, he is a grumpy, old cowboy. You get the picture. Million Dollar Baby was no exception to this rule. He plays a grumpy, old boxing instructor with a secret heart of gold. How he was nominated for a best acting Oscar, I will never understand.

But I do understand why Hilary Swank won the Best Actress Oscar and Morgan Freeman, the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Their characters were far more interesting to watch. Maggie has a dysfunctional relationship with her trailer trash, welfare fraud families, while Scrap went blind in one after one fight too many. It was interesting to see how these two characters relate to each other, due to how they both have dark backgrounds.

Seeing Scrap knockout the obnoxious upstart boxer Shawrelle Berry (Anthony Mackie) was one of the best parts of the film.

The ending also surprised me. I thought it would be a cheesy happily ever after, but it was anything but...Dunn arranges for Maggie to fight the German champion Billie "The Blue Bear" Osterman who has a reputation for fighting dirty. In the fight, The Blue Bear sucker punches Maggie and she falls onto her stool and breaks her neck, leaving her as a quadriplegic. To make matters worse, her leg is amputated when her bedsores become infected. She asks Frank to euthanise her which he reluctantly does. I totally thought she would make a miraculous recovery and take down the Blue Bear, but it wasn't to be. And I liked this ending better. It wasn't a fairytale ending, but something more realistic and powerful.

Overall, while Swank and Freeman were great, I just didn't care for this film. But that's just because I don't like boxing.