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| It's Complicated | Film review In his classic work, Pursuits of Happiness, the Harvard philosopher and film critic Stanley Cavell identified a significant branch of the 1930s screwball comedy as "the Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage". He was discussing pictures like The Philadelphia Story and His Girl Friday that turn upon the imbroglio occasioned by a good-looking, well-heeled youngish couple discovering shortly after their divorce that they're still in love. The suave ex-husband was typically played by Cary Grant while Ralph Bellamy tended to be cast as the ex-wife's decent but dull fiance.It was a way of getting around or sending up the Hays office production code, and the writer-director Nancy Meyers, a student of film comedy noted for her participation in the remakes of Father of the Bride and The Parent Trap, has retrieved the format for a much-changed society. Her slickly entertaining It's Complicated features a few deft changes. First, the characters are now in their 50s; second, they were married for 20 years and have been divorced for a decade; third, they have grown-up children; fourth, there's a lot of mutually satisfactory sex. Myers also appears to have drawn on her own experiences, having been divorced for 10 years from her longtime collaborator, writer-director Charles Shyer, who, in the meantime, like the hero of her film, has remarried and has a second family.In her fifth film of the past 18 months, the 60-year-old Meryl Streep, as indefatigable as she is versatile, plays mother-of-three Jane Adler, a baker and caterer with a successful business in Santa Barbara. Her ex-husband, Jake (Alec Baldwin), a handsome, self-consciously charming lawyer somewhat going to seed, is remarried to a younger woman with a five-year-old son and is attempting to have another child. One night staying at New York's Plaza hotel (where else?) while attending their son's graduation ceremonies at Columbia, Jane and Jake get drunk together in the Oak Room (from which Cary Grant was abducted in North by Northwest) and finish up in bed. They awake with the coarse Jake fondling Jane's crotch and shouting: "Home sweet home."The embarrassing affair continues back in California where the kindly, bashful architect Adam (the Ralph Bellamy figure, played by Steve Martin) is courting Jane and she's shrieking delightedly about her predicament with three chums, fellow divorcees right out of Sex and the City.The film is lightweight, likable, rather overlong and a piece of wish-fulfilment. But its central thrust is similar to Ingmar Bergman's deadly serious Scenes From a Marriage: wedlock can be the death of romance; love can be better the second time around (even with the same partner); the greatest challenge to a relationship is making that transition from midlife crisis to sensible middle age. Meryl Streep, who's as good an actor as Liv Ullmann and a much better comedienne (nearly in the class of screwball specialist Carole Lombard), is excellent and Alec Baldwin pitches his performance somewhere between Cary Grant and Burt Reynolds. Their children are a terrible trio, as disapproving of their mother's rediscovery of her sexuality as Jane Wyman's in Douglas Sirk's All That Heaven Allows or the middle-aged mother's in Fassbinder's Fear Eats the Soul. Would children actually react like this?ComedyRomanceMeryl StreepAlec BaldwinSteve MartinPhilip Frenchguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Rob Roy: a Highland fling where they've flung out the history Michael Caton-Jones's 1995 yarn trod a Braveheart-like path in its attempt to ennoble another Scottish folk hero. Unfortunately, where context was needed, they inserted sudsy romanceDirector: Michael Caton-JonesEntertainment grade: D+History grade: DRobert Roy MacGregor, known as Rob Roy, was an outlaw and a folk hero at the time of the Jacobite risings.International relationsHairy, sturdy-thighed Highlanders swarm manfully through the glens, hunting cattle thieves. Meanwhile, the English-accented Scottish aristocracy β the Duke of Montrose (John Hurt) and his fictional sidekick Archibald Cunningham (Tim Roth) β mince around in lace and curly wigs. "It is years, your grace, since I buggered a boy," simpers Cunningham. "I thought him a girl at the moment of entry." So far, so Braveheart: the baddies are English and queer, the goodies are Scottish and ruggedly hetero. And by "Scottish", the film means "American". There's even an irrelevant subplot about one of Rob Roy's men wanting to emigrate to America. This would appear to be little more than an embarrassing attempt to beguile Hank and Barbara McDonald of Wichita, Kansas into believing that Rob Roy is about them. It's a shame the film couldn't give Hank and Barbara more credit. If it was just good, they might go and see it anyway.PoliticsThe political intrigues and bloody battles of the Jacobite risings, and Rob Roy's audacious role, have inspired such storytellers as Walter Scott; Daniel Defoe is sometimes said to have written the pamphlet that made Rob's reputation. As far as this film is concerned, though, context is a snore. The events shown, where real, span approximately the years 1712 to 1722, yet the uprisings of 1715 and 1719 are nowhere to be seen. The film skips the rising of the clans, the disembarkation of the Old Pretender, and the battles of Sheriffmuir and Glen Shiel. Instead, it offers a series of pastel-tinted, romance novel-style soft porn sequences of Rob (Liam Neeson) and his age-appropriate wife Mary (Jessica Lange) getting it on amid the heather. Presumably, this is aimed at Barbara McDonald. There is the occasional punchup or swordfight, to keep Hank McDonald awake. LawIn the film, Montrose invests Β£1,000 in Rob's cattle business. But Montrose's tax collector, John Grahame of Killearn (Brian Cox), and Cunningham steal the cash, leaving Rob caught short. It's true that Montrose lent Rob Β£1,000 β in fact, he did so every year between 1702 and 1712. And it's true that the money disappeared in the final year. But it was nicked by one of Rob's own men or, some suggest, by Rob himself. The charge may be unfair: he had a reputation for honesty. Still, no historian suggests he was the cuddly peacenik shown here. Rob once growled that he "never desired a more pleasant and satisfying breakfast any morning than to see a Whig's house in flames". Among his raids was an attack on the kirk in Arngask during a service β he forced the congregation to strip and then stole their Bibles. The armed assault and robbery of churchgoers, complete with enforced nudity in plain sight of the altar, might not delight Hank and Barbara. No surprise, then, that it isn't in the film.ViolenceCunningham and Grahame of Killearn find Mary alone. To provoke Rob into retaliation, Cunningham rapes her. Grahame (called Killearn in the film) watches in horror. There is a legend that Mary was raped under such circumstances, but obviously not by Cunningham, who didn't exist. The rapist was supposed to be Grahame. Grahame or his men may have treated Mary roughly when they met her, but most historians doubt there was sexual violence. Rob Roy often saw Grahame afterwards and at one point took him hostage β but treated him courteously. Had Grahame really raped his wife, Rob probably wouldn't have been quite so friendly. Mary did not, as in the film, end up pregnant by her alleged rapist, unless she gestated for four years. The incident occurred in 1712. The only child Mary had after that, Robin Og, was born in 1716.VerdictThe occasional action-packed set piece can't redeem this overblown Highland soap opera.Period and historicalAlex von Tunzelmannguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Golden Globes 2010: full list of winners Roll call for the 67th annual Golden Globe awards, chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association from this list of nomineesBest motion picture β dramaAvatarBest performance by an actress in a motion picture β dramaSandra Bullock, The Blind SideBest performance by an actor in a motion picture β dramaJeff Bridges, Crazy HeartBest motion picture β comedy or musicalThe HangoverBest performance by an actress in a motion picture β comedy or musicalMeryl Streep, Julie & JuliaBest performance by an actor in a motion picture β comedy or musicalRobert Downey Jr, Sherlock HolmesBest animated featureUpBest foreign language filmThe White Ribbon (Germany)Best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a motion pictureMo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by SapphireBest performance by an actor in a supporting role in a motion pictureChristoph Waltz, Inglourious BasterdsBest director β motion pictureJames Cameron, AvatarBest screenplay β motion pictureJason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the AirBest original score β motion pictureMichael Giacchino, Up Best original song β motion pictureThe Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart), Crazy HeartBest television seriesMad Men (AMC)Best performance by an actress in a television series β dramaJulianna Margulies, The Good WifeBest performance by an actor in a television series - dramaMichael C Hall, Dexter Best television series β comedy or musicalGlee (Fox)Best performance by an actress in a television series β comedy or musicalToni Collette, United States of TaraBest performance by an actor in a television series β comedy or musicalAlec Baldwin, 30 RockBest mini-series or motion picture made for televisionGrey Gardens (HBO)Best performance by an actress in a mini-series or motion picture made for televisionDrew Barrymore, Grey GardensBest performance by an actor in a mini-series or motion picture made for televisionKevin Bacon, Taking ChanceBest performance by an actress in a supporting role in a series, mini-series or motion picture made for televisionChloe Sevigny, Big LoveBest performance by an actor in a supporting role in a series, mini-series or motion picture made for televisionJohn Lithgow, DexterCecil B DeMille award:Martin ScorseseGolden GlobesTelevisionAwards and prizesJames CameronRobert Downey JrSandra BullockMeryl StreepJason ReitmanMartin ScorseseJeff Bridgesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Being a pop star doesn't neccesarily make you a film star Steve Rose digs out some of the most forgettable pop star film rolesMariah Carey's last attempt to conquer the movies, airbrushed autobiopic Glitter, served only to briefly unite the world in derision. So now she's back in a more humble role, as a social worker in Precious, and earning praise for her down-to-earth performance. Precious also finds an ordinary-guy role for crotch-rocker Lenny Kravitz, as a nurse. Is this the best today's singer-actors can hope for? Back in the golden age, it seemed you could put any old rock star on screen. Bowie, Jagger, Lennon, Dylan, even Art Garfunkel, but judging by the current batch, things aren't going quite so well β¦Marilyn Manson: The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things One thing about having an elaborate stage get-up is nobody knows what you look like without it. So even though a dressed-down "Brian Warner" (above, middle) was a perfectly good redneck dropout in this JT LeRoy adaptation, nobody recognised him. It was less blink-and-you'll-miss-it than "keep your eyes permanently peeled and you'll still miss it".Jack White: Cold MountainYou could see what Anthony Minghella was thinking when casting his civil war epic: "I need someone who can sing a nice countryish song at the end, who won't need a costume and won't mind being given nothing to do except look glum on a horse. What? Will Oldham's busy?"Jessica Simpson: The Dukes Of Hazzard Simpson fought off the likes of Britney Spears and Jessica Biel to land the denim hotpants of Daisy Duke for this godawful remake β only to display the screen presence of a lobotomised carp. Apparently no one told her she'd have to wear the shorts and, like, say stuff at the same time.P Diddy: Monster's BallIn a movie that will be chiefly remembered for Halle Berry's Oscar speech, Diddy, sorry, "Sean Combs", applied himself with great dedication to the portrayal of a remorseful convict on death row (the prison one, not the record label). Judging by his hammy interpretation, the crime was aggravated scene-milking.Britney Spears: Crossroads"Just be yourself," they told Britney for this sisterhood flick, her supposed star vehicle. Which turned out to be a big mistake. "OK, now let's try you just being yourself, but in your underwear."Will.I.Am: X-Men Origins: Wolverine As mutant cowboy dude John Wraith, his superhero power was the ability to teleport himself in an instant. But seeing as all he did was stand around in a Stetson, no one noticed he'd been there in the first place.Devendra Banhart: Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist Resplendently bearded and cardiganed, Banhart puts his freaky heart and sensitive soul into his one line β "oh, you'd know" β uttered to Norah in a late-night checkout queue. Sadly, only about four people who saw the film were still awake by that stage.Noel Gallagher: Mad Cows Gallagher has always dreamed of being John Lennon, but the closest he got on film was this atrocious 90s Britcom starring Anna Friel, during which he's to be spotted traversing the famous zebra crossing on Abbey Road. So he was literally following in Lennon's footsteps. Success!Mariah Careyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
'Avatar' passes 'Titanic' on worldwide chart LOS ANGELES (AP) -- James Cameron is king of the world again.... hosted.ap.org |