Film reviews

The Timaru Herald

A look at the latest movies showing on the silver screen.

SEPARATION City

Director: Paul Middleditch
106min

Tom Scott is the perennial Kiwi joker. In the late 1970s, then prime minister Sir Robert Muldoon tried to have him banned from the Press Gallery, but these days, he casts a cuddlier figure.

He has been trying to get Separation City made for more than two decades, which begs the question as to which Scott would hold the most sway over the final script.

Would it be the political cartoonist who hears every buzz within the Beehive? Or would it be a more rueful Scott, pining over missed chances? The answer is somewhere in between.

The film focuses on parliamentary secretary Simon (Joel Edgerton), who, after years of marriage to Pam (Danielle Cormack), is stuck in midlife malaise. He loves his wife, and the children, but something is missing, and it's not just the sex life. The emergence of beautiful cellist Katrine (Rhona Mitra) suggests something that might get him out of his rut.

Scott's script evokes Simon and Katrine's trepidations through alternating voice-overs, but it's a concept that hinders more than helps: for every line of quiet accuracy, there's a horrible clunker. Similarly, Paul Middleditch's direction is uncertain.

He bathes Wellington in an autumnal glow, but even during the broader comic moments, it's too serene. It's the moments away from the main romantic conflict which are most assured.

Scott is especially good at banter between men: Les Hill, as Simon's best mate and fellow gallery hack Harry, gets all the best lines, but most of the right emotional notes. This is a relationship with no complications.

Meanwhile, political insiders will wonder which former cabinet minister Alan Lovell's hapless Archie is based on: his speech at a Climate Change conference is too cringeworthy not to have been at least partly based on fact.

So it's a film of bits, held together by its performances. Rhona Mitra gives her character a ruefulness that the script never quite manages. Joel Edgerton is also a likeable lead, if a little too uncomplicated.

The film's central question whether certain people are wired for adultery is an intriguing one. Yet I'm not sure whether its ending was bittersweet or a copout. Separation City is a likeable film, but ironically, it's too strained for its own good. - MATTHEW LITTLEWOOD

Aliens in the Attic

Director: John Schultz
87min

Aliens are creating carnage at the movies these holidays, but it's not all bad. In this light-hearted film, "hu-mans" collide with animated aliens, and the result is fun.

Aliens in the Attic is an adventure comedy worth using as an excuse to get the kids away from the X-Box console when the holidays begin.

The film follows the concept of Nintendo Wii, a high-impact computer game, when young members of the Pearson family discover knee-high aliens living in the attic of their holiday home. Their battle decides the fate of the Earth.

But don't expect to be dragged from your seat by 90 minutes of impressive combat special effects the challenge between the "hu-mans" and aliens is toned down for younger audiences.

The film is also injected with some comedy thanks to Ricky (Robert Hoffman), an unfortunate character who becomes human bait.

But it's young Hannah (Ashley Boettcher) who deserves a mention, thanks to her ability to pull off the cuteness factor.

Hannah, the youngest of the Pearsons, is forced to keep the alien battle a secret from her parents.

Instead she manages to shock her siblings and cousins when she befriends one of the aliens the weakest link of the Earth invaders.

This movie is the perfect solution for those looking for entertainment in the coming weeks.

Children and adults will both enjoy it thanks to its quirky comedy and clever animation that makes the aliens appear lifelike.  - ALEXIA JOHNSTON

 

Dance Flick

Director: Damien Dante Wayans
84min

Silly is the only word to describe this flick. I'm no prude, I have no problem with cheeky jokes, and I certainly like the Wayans brothers, but this film just didn't do it for me.

Sure, they're good looking, and sure, they can be funny, but in Dance Flick, they were just good looking.

This spoof on dance movies follows Megan (Shoshanna Bush), who has a dream of becoming a professional dancer. Her mother is killed in a car accident on the way to watch her at her dance audition, so Megan hangs up her ballet shoes and calls it quits.

She moves in with her father, who lives as a squatter, and enrols in Musical High School. Charity (Essence Atkins) becomes her friend and Thomas (Damon Wayans Jr) becomes her eye candy. Thomas and Megan end up falling in love and enter a street-dance competition to win $5000.

The idea of the movie is fantastic. Films such as High School Musical, Step Up, and Honey deserve to be made fun of. They are so cliched and definitely appeal only to people who like to groove, girls who have not yet hit puberty or wannabe gangsters.

It was the Wayans brothers who brought us White Chicks and Little Man, and you may have seen one of them Damon in the television series My Wife and Kids.

All those productions were far better than this film, which reminded me too much of the Scary Movie flicks.

Only a handful of jokes were fresh. The rest you will have heard before.

There is a touch of over-acting too, the kind where the louder you speak, the funnier you are. It doesn't work in New Zealand, but maybe it does in America. Let's just say an R16 rating for this film is a bit generous or hopeful since the ones who would enjoy this a lot more would be anyone aged 15 or younger.

It also pays to have seen the dance films the movie makes fun of, or you might be left in the dark with many of the jokes. - KATARINA FILIPE