Film Review: Free Fire (dir by Ben Wheatley)

Posted on April 21, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Last night, I saw Free Fire, the latest film from the visionary British directing-and-screenwriting team of Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump.

Free Fire takes place in Boston in the 1970s. We know it’s the 70s because of all the wide lapels, the flared jeans, and the impressive facial hair. In short, everyone looks like an extra from Thank God, It’s Friday. Note that I said Thank God, It’s Friday and not Saturday Night Fever. None of the characters in Free Fire could pull off John Travolta’s white suit. As much as they try to pretend otherwise, everyone in this film is low rent. No one is as clever or street smart as they believe themselves to be. Even more importantly, no one is as good a shot as they think.

The film takes place in a decrepit warehouse, the type of place that is strewn with rats and hypodermic needles. Chris (Cillian Murphy), Frank (Michael Smiley), Steve-O (Sam Riley), and Bernie (Enzo Cilenti) are members of the Irish Republican Army and they’ve come to the U.S. to purchases weapons. Chris and Frank are no-nonsense professionals. Bernie is a well-meaning moron. Steve-O is a drug addict who, the previous night, got beaten up after he smashed a bottle across the face of a 17 year-old girl.

Working as intermediaries are Justine (Brie Larson) and Ord (Armie Hammer). Justine specializes in keeping jumpy people calm. She and Chris flirt as they wait for the guns to arrive. As for Ord — well, let’s just say that Ord was my favorite character in the film. He’s always calm. He looks really good in a suit. And, whenever things get intense, he’s always quick to light up a joint and make a sarcastic comment. This is probably the best performance of Armie Hammer’s career so far. (Or, at the very least, it’s the best performance of his that I’ve seen. I hear that he gives an excellent performance in the upcoming Call Me By Your Name.) Certainly, this is the first film that I’ve seen, since The Social Network, in which Hammer seemed to be truly worthy of the hype that has surrounded his career.

Finally, there’s the gun dealers themselves. There’s Martin (Babou Ceesay), who seems to be fairly low-key professional. There’s Gordon (Noah Taylor), who is a henchman who looks disconcertingly similar to Chris. And then there’s Vernon, who is from South Africa and who is constantly talking and smiling. Not surprisingly, Vernon is played by Sharlto Copley. Finally, Harry (Jack Reynor) is a driver who desperately wants to impress Ord. Harry loves John Denver and he also loves his cousin. In fact, he loves his cousin so much that, when he recognizes Steve-O as the junkie who smashed a bottle across her face, Harry pulls a gun and starts firing.

The rest of the film deals with the resulting gun fight, which is complicated with two mysterious snipers (Patrick Bergin and Mark Monero) suddenly open fire on both of the groups. Who hired them and why? That’s a mystery that could be solved if everyone stops shooting and yelling at each other. Of course, that’s not going to happen because 1) no one is a good enough shot to actually get the upper hand and 2) almost everyone in the warehouse is an idiot.

At it’s best, Free Fire mercilessly parodies the excessive violence of modern crime cinema. When it comes to crime films, most people just remember the shoot outs so Free Fire takes things to their logical extreme by just being a 90-minute gun fight. At its weakest, Free Fire occasionally becomes exactly what it’s parodying. The film’s structure — one night in one location — proves to be limiting. At times, you find yourself really wishing for a flashback or at least a little exposition to explain who everyone is outside of that warehouse. The cast is full of good actors and they all give good performances but the characters are, at best, thinly drawn. At times, it was difficult to keep track who was who. I especially found myself mixing up Michel Smiley and Sharlto Copely. It was all the facial hair.

About 30 minutes into Free Fire, I was already composing a bad review in my head but, by the final shot (and yes, the double meaning is totally intentional), Free Fire had won me over. It’s an experiment that doesn’t really work but it’s so relentless and dedicated to seeing its story to its conclusion that I couldn’t help but appreciate the film’s efforts. When the guns finally did stop firing and the end credits started, I was shocked to discover that, without even realizing it, I actually had gotten just a little caught up in the film’s story.

Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump previously gave us one of the most memorable films of the decade (so far), A Field in England. Free Fire might not quite work but I’ll always make the time to see the latest from Wheatley and Jump.

Here’s The Red Band Trailer For Free Fire!

Posted on March 5, 2017 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi, everyone!

When Jeff and I went to see Logan on Thursday night, one of the many trailers that played before the film was this red band one for Free Fire. Free Fire is an action comedy, one that I think is meant to satirize the ultra violent heist films of the 90s and early aughts. Seriously, there are parts of this trailer that should make Guy Ritchie cringe.

That said, this trailer is also about a minute too long. At first, everyone in the theater thought it was kind of funny but then, around the two minute mark, the yawns started to kick in. “Are they just going to shoot at each other for the entire trailer?” someone asked.

The answer is yes. And you know what? The trailer probably doesn’t do Free Fire justice because this movie was directed by Ben Wheatley and I’m still having dreams inspired by his oddly hypnotic A Field in England. I’ll follow him anywhere!

Free Fire has a March 31st release date in the UK and an April 21st release date in the States.

Anyway, here’s the red band trailer for Free Fire!

No Ewoks, No Jar Jar: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016, directed by Gareth Edwards)

Posted on December 18, 2016 by Jedadiah Leland

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

The evil Galactic Empire spent what had to be billions of Imperial credits to build the greatest weapon in the universe. It was known as the Death Star and it housed a laser so powerful that it could blow up a planet with just one shot. And yet, for all the effort and all the years that were spent building it, the Death Star had one glaring vulnerability, an exposed exhaust valve that the Rebel Alliance twice used to the destroy it.

For years, fanboys debated why the Empire would go to the trouble to build a super weapon with such an obvious design flaw. I have to admit that I was often one of them. No one else seemed to care but, to us, this was a huge deal. If the Empire could figure out how to blow up a planet with one super laser, why couldn’t they figure out how to protect that one valve?

Now, thanks to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, we have an answer. We not only know why that valve was there but we also know what was meant in New Hope when the rebel general said that the plans to the Death Star had been stolen at great cost.

Rogue One is a fan’s dream, one that answers questions while expanding on the Star Wars mythology. Unlike the previous prequels, it adds to the story without cheapening the original films. In fact, of all the Star Wars films, Rogue One is the first to make the Death Star into a believable weapon of mass destruction. When it appears over one planet, it blots out the sun. When it blows up a rebel base, we see the destruction from inside the base instead of observing it from the safety of Death Star. Director Gareth Evans does for the Death Star what he previously did for Godzilla.

Unfortunately, like Godzilla, the action and the special effects in Rogue One are usually more interesting than any of the film’s characters. Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Alan Tudyk, and Riz Ahmed are all good actors but they’re all playing underwritten parts. No one steps up like Harrison Ford did in the original trilogy. Commander Kennec, played by Ben Mendelsohn, has a little more depth than the typical Imperial villain but, for better or worse, the film’s most memorable performances come from a CGI Peter Cushing and James Earl Jones providing the voice of Darth Vader.

Despite the underwritten characters, Rogue One is still the best Star Wars film since Empire Strikes Back, a return to the grittiness, the thrilling action, and the awe of discovering new worlds that distinguished the first two movies. For once, a Star Wars film seems to have more on its mind than just selling toys. Though we already know what is ultimately going to happen to the Death Star at the end of New Hope, Rogue One is a frequently downbeat film. There are no Ewoks and, to great relief and rejoicing, Jar Jar is never seen. The closest that Rogue One gets to comic relief is Alan Tudyk providing the voice of a cynical robot. The emphasis is on the horrors of war and even the rebels are troubled by some of the things that they have done. For once, the Rebel Alliance actually feels like a rebellion and the evil of the Empire feels real instead of cartoonish.

Rogue One is projected to be the first of many “Star Wars stories,” stand-alone film that will expand the universe and hopefully clarify some of the points that were left unclear by the original trilogy. I think it’s going to be very successful very Disney. I’m just dreading the inevitable Jar Jar origin story.

For Your Consideration #1: A Field In England (dir by Ben Wheatley)

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

With this being awards season, a lot of attention is being given to a small handful of films. That’s not necessarily a bad thing because I love some of those films. However, with all the focus being some narrowly directed, we run the risk of forgetting that Boyhood, Birdman, and Whiplash weren’t the only memorable films released this year. With that in mind, I’ve decided to post 10 quick reviews of some other films that, if I was in charge of things, would be given some awards consideration.

We start things off with Ben Wheatley’s haunting and psychedelic period piece, A Field In England.

As you might be able to tell from the above trailer, A Field In England is not necessarily an easy film to describe. The film takes place in the 17th Century, during the English Civil War. Reece Shearsmith plays Whitehead, who is an apprentice to a never-seen alchemist known as The Gentleman of Norwich. Fleeing from a raging battle, Whitehead meets three deserters, Cutler (Ryan Pope), Jacob (Peter Ferdinando), and Friend (Richard Glover). Cutler offers to lead them to a nearby ale house but instead, he takes them to a desolate field where Cutler secretly drugs them with hallucinogenic mushrooms and then demands that they pull on a rope that appears to be attached to a stake in the middle of the ground. Pulling on the rope leads to the sudden appearance of Cutler’s boss, the haughty and sadistic O’Neill (Michael Smiley).

O’Neill, it turns out, is also in some way connected to the Gentleman of Norwich. He claims that there is a treasure buried in the field and only Whitehead — as the apprentice to an alchemist — will be able to find it. At first, Whitehead refuses to help O’Neill but then O’Neill takes Whitehead into a tent and does …. well, he does something. The film never makes explicit what happens in that tent and the result is one of the most hauntingly disturbing scenes that I’ve ever seen.

And from there, things only get stranger. Jacob and Friend are forced to dig for the treasure while Whitehead consumes more and more mushrooms. The characters occasionally freeze in place, creating a painterly tableaux. A character dies and then repeatedly returns to life. Most ominously of all, a black sun appears in the sky, seeming to grow with each new outrage.

Obviously, A Field in England is not a film for everyone. That’s what makes it a truly memorable and brave cinematic experience. At a time when so many movies are ruthlessly designed to take absolutely no risks, A Field In England is willing to run the risk of being incomprehensible. However, the film itself is so well-directed and acted and the black-and-white cinematography is so hauntingly gorgeous that it doesn’t matter whether or not it makes any sense. In fact, after a while, you start to truly love the fact that it does not. This is pure cinema and therefore, it’s exactly the type of film that not only deserves but demands to be seen and honored.

Unfortunately, it’s also a film that has been ruled ineligible for any Oscar nominations, which is a pity. However, regardless of what the Academy may say, it still deserves the consideration of film lovers everywhere.