Biutiful (Alejandro González Iñárritu)
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Biutiful follows the life of Uxbal (Javier Bardem), a single father living in poverty. After being diagnosed with cancer he must insure the safety of his children, clear his debt and resolve his sins so that he may pass safely into the afterlife. However, a past in drug trafficking, a career in transporting illegal immigrants and an abusive, unstable ex-wife bring him no end of misfortune. Biutiful is gut-wrenchingly dismal from start to finish – even moments of happiness are overshadowed by tragedy. Running just under two and half hours, it is by no means a leisurely watch but, thankfully Iñárritu’s film is still worth the effort.
Rodrigo Prieto’s cinematography gorgeously captures the desolate area of Barcelona, where the film is set, and no member of the cast stumbles in their performance. The narrative at times becomes too intricate, dealing with multiple themes and stories, many of which seem present only to amplify the misery. However, Biutiful is ultimately a story dedicated to fatherhood and when matched with Bardem’s impeccable leading presence, the two (dare I say it?) work beautifully together.–Ariel Lewis
Buried (Rodrigo Cortés)
First, the obvious: Buried is a formidable, and rather miraculous, technical achievement. The 95 minute film takes place entirely within the confines of a coffin, where independent contractor Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) has been buried by terrorists somewhere in Iraq. Director Rodrigo Cortés’ camera swerves dynamically through the seemingly unworkable space, with cinematographer Eduard Gau’s shadowy compositions (the character only has a flashlight, a lighter, and a cell phone to work with) looking like striking pen-and-ink drawings. Another obvious point: Buried is something of an actor’s showcase for Ryan Reynolds, who is called upon to enact each of the seven stages of grief many times, often in close proximity to each other, completely convincing throughout. Here is the surprise: it’s a terrific entertainment, social commentary and all, with a race-against-the-clock structure that feels like good, pulsating pulp.–Will Sloan
Good Neighbours (Jacob Tierney)
In an unassuming apartment building in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood of Montreal, four neighbours play a part in an elaborate crime spree inspired by misguided love, alcoholism, and the cats. Victor (Jay Baruchel) stars as a needy and painfully clueless elementary school teacher who moves into the apartment above waitress-by-day cat-lady-by-night Louise (Emily Hampshire) and the seemingly charming, decidedly unsettling, wheel-chair-bound Spencer (Scott Speedman). As Victor clumsily attempts to ingratiate himself among his new neighbours, an eerie connection to a string of violent murders emerges. And as tensions run high between Louise, and their cat hating, francophone, alcoholic neighbour, it becomes clear that this connection can only end in gratuitous and uncomfortably hilarious bloodshed.
Director Jacob Tierney’s follow-up to last year’s The Trotsky creates a tense and claustrophobic thriller/comedy that, despite the looming prospect of a serial killer on the loose and the desolate backdrop of Montreal in early winter, creates a thrilling movie that is not so much plot-based, as it is a study of unlikeable people. Through spot-on performances and brief but pointed dialogue between characters, murder and mayhem become the backdrop to an uncomfortable clash between unrequited love and Louise’s lack of interest in anything besides her two cats. Interactions between neighbours build in intensity with perfectly paced, and methodically repeated scenes of nightcaps and dinner-parties, and Tierney’s reliance on shock value (the crime scenes are caricatures, tempered by almost robotic characters) makes the painful movements of individuals who never seem to leave their somewhat dingy apartment building, interesting.–Emily Kellogg
Heartbeats (Xavier Dolan)
When an early scene of Xavier Dolan’s Heartbeats features a young man and woman dressing, applying makeup, then walking towards each other in slow motion while one blows cigarette smoke, set to a Spanish cover of “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down),” it is easy to deduce that Dolan is a fan of Wong Kar-wai circa 2046. But when his camera also lingers fetishistically on the woman’s backside, pressing tightly against her vintage dress, that homage turns into plagiarism. Ditto Jean-Luc Godard, a well-known influence on 21-year-old Dolan’s first film I Killed My Mother, who is quoted not just in a series of self-consciously verité faux-documentary interludes in which several millennials talk about their love lives, but also in four separate dreamy post-coital interludes where the characters are bathed in primary colours (red, green, yellow, blue) in a way not exactly dissimilar to Brigitte Bardot in Contempt.
Dolan throws plenty more visual styles into this film about two hipster best friends (Monika Chokri and Dolan – his camera loves him so) whose relationship is complicated by a mysterious, magnetic third wheel (Niels Schneider), but these selfish, shallow characters never seem like more than pretty faces to pout, and walk in slow motion. It’s tempting to say that Dolan at least has a good eye, but he’s stolen it from someone else.–WS
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (Woody Allen)
If you believe that life is filled with sound and fury and ultimately signifies nothing, then Woody Allen’s latest effort, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, might be your kind of film. The plot revolves around the lives of two married couples, Alfie (Anthony Hopkins) and Helena (Gemma Jones), and their daughter Sally (Naomi Watts) and husband Roy (Josh Brolin). Being of a ripe age himself, it’s surprising to see Allen’s portrayal of elderly divorcees reduced to one-dimensional stereotypes: Helena has an emotional breakdown and becomes obsessed with the occult while Alfie deals with forlorn bachelorhood by courting a streetwalker named Charmaine. Sally is a constant point of irritation throughout as she fills her days droning about her husband’s lack of success and the emotional state of her mother.
The one plus side is Brolin, who is able to play a neurotic writer/part-time chauffeur without becoming a bumbling mess. Greg (Antonio Banderas) and Dia (Freida Pinto) act as hollow eye candy when Sally and Roy need a distraction from their deteriorating careers. Banderas’ performance is rigid and lifeless while Pinto, referred to as an “exotic, beautiful creature” proves to be an extremely awkward muse. The story slithers its way to a climax and ends just when things get interesting. Viewers are left grasping at thin air for any sense of attachment. While the bouts of boredom and bellowing may be part of Allen’s overall view of life, it’s all so facile and unpersuasive that getting past the first hour proves to be a daunting task.–Damanjit Lamba
