24 | June | 2019 | Movie Reviews 101

Director: Mark Murphy

Writer: Mark Murphy (Screenplay)

Starring: Robert Kazinsky, Samantha Barks, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Ed Speleers, Tony Way, Ivan Kaye, Anna Chancellor

Plot: A fairy tale romance takes an unexpected turn when Mark discovers his beautiful bride-to-be, Connie, has actually been plotting against him.

Tagline – There’s something Odd about Getting Even.

Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Laugh Out Loud Comedy

Story: For Love or Money starts when former bullied school kid Mark (Kazinsky) meets the former love of his life Connie (Barks) at her boyfriend’s funeral, when Connie and her business partner Johnny (Speleers) learn Mark might become mega rich, Connie gets involved in dating Mark hoping to get half his money once he gets it.

When Mark learns about Connie’s plan, he decides to go on his own mission to make her life a living hell until he can finally break her giving away her plan.

Thoughts on For Love or Money

Characters – Mark is the average joe, he has worked hard to get where he is, he doesn’t have much luck with the women though, he finds a way to be awkward around them, he thinks his life has turned around when he meets an old school friend, only to learn the truth about her intentions, forcing him to go out to get revenge with on her. Connie is the gold digger that is using Mark for a big payday, she is pretending to love Mark and even agrees to marry him, only she finds herself being put through the ringer, once he learns the truth. Kendra was once Connie’s best friend who was left embarrassed by Connie, she is willing to help with the revenge as she wants to be involved too, only she starts to question just how far they are going. Johnny is the business partner of Connie, he gives her the idea to use Mark for money, he is the kind of guy that you just look at and go, what an asshole, calling every single woman sugar tits. Tim is the best friend to Mark, that gets laughs of plenty through the film, along with his dog Ducky, he is dry to everything that happens in the film.

Performances – Robert Kazinsky is great in the leading role, he gets to show comic timing and enjoyment for what his character puts Connie through, in a way where we support him. Samantha Barks is great in this role, she manages to give us a character that we hate, but also sympathise for. Rachel Hurd-Wood does get plenty of strong moments in the film, with her character getting the important moments in the film. Ed Speleers does seem to have a lot of fun with his role in the film where he gets to play a complete asshole, it could be argued the Tony Way is a scene stealer in this film nailing the comedy every time in the film.

Story – The story here follows a man that starts dating his school crush, only to learn that she is only dating him to get to his money, where he decides to use this against her to get revenge. This story does put everything on the table early on which does give the story a nice spin on what we are used to seeing. It is nice to see a story where the victim gets to turn the tables, having fun knowing that the truth is only going to hurt them, seeing how far he can push things before breaking her. It would be fair the story doesn’t paint love in a very god way, though it does show how difficult it can be to move on with life when you believe somebody is perfect for you.

Comedy – The comedy in the film will give you plenty of laughs, Tim gets most of the laughs, while Johnny is the one you laugh at the most.

Settings – The film gives us an everyday setting which shows how life can keep on going even if the big plan is going on in the background, no location is used for an iconic moment.

Scene of the Movie – Camping.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The final moments.

Final Thoughts – This is a funny romantic comedy that gets to show just how life can go in different directions, it turns a gold digger character on its head too.

Overall: Funny comedy that will leave you laughing most of the time.

Rating

This has been selected for X because of the main characters name Xolani.

Director: John Trengove

Writer: John Trengove, Thando Mgqolozana, Malusi Bengu (Screenplay) John Trengove, Batana Vundla (Story)

Starring: Nakhane Toure, Bongile Mantsai, Niza Jay, Thobant Mseleni, Gabriel Mini, Zwelakha Mtsaka

Plot: Xolani, a lonely factory worker, travels to the rural mountains with the men of his community to initiate a group of teenage boys into manhood.

Tagline – Some stories can’t be retold

Runtime: 1 Hour 28 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Shocking Look at Love

Story: The Wound starts when factory worker Xolani (Toure) returns to his community outside of Joburg to help with the initiation process of the teenage boys to manhood, he teenager Kwanda (Jay) is a family friend, which is meant to help the process for the teenager.

Xolani gets to see his own secret lover Vija (Mantsai) who is also performing an initiation, but the two men get to return to their forbidden ways. As the initiation continues Kwanda must learn just what this means to the other young men, as Xolani must keep his own secret from everybody else.

Thoughts on The Wound

Characters – Xolani is a factory worker who knows his roots through an initiation process for teenagers to become men, he has returned to be a ‘caregiver’ to his initiate, he gets to rekindle a forbidden love with a married man, which they must keep secret, even if this is the highlight of his life. Vija is a married man who is also a ‘caregiver’, he is much stricter than Xolani and is a lover of his, he knows just how forbidden their love is and will go after anyone who gets in their way. Kwanda is a rich kid that is going through this initiation, he does question the process which puts his position in danger.

Performances – Nakhane Toure is wonderful in the leading role, showing us the commitment to his character has for this love. Bongile Mantsai and Niza Jay in the supporting roles are both brilliant too, which is a completely well acted film throughout.

Story – The story here shows an initiation being performed on teenager boys as they become young men, it takes them away from their family’s and leaves them in the care of a man known as a ‘caregiver’ who helps heal the wound, we have two caregivers that are involved in a gay relationship, which they can only have on these events who have very different lives away from the initiation. This does show us how a culture treats their young men, which shouldn’t be a practised in this modern world. we do get to deal with forbidden romance, in a culture that doesn’t accept homosexual relationships. By having two major world issues going on, it shows us how the country is just as happy to sweep them under the rug, rather than learn to accept them, which is interesting to see,

Romance – The romance side of the story shows the love two men can have, only for a short time, only if nobody else knows, in a culture that isn’t ready to accept them.

Settings – The film is set in a mountain range in South Africa, this location is where the people go every year for the initiation.

Scene of the Movie – Mountain top.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Its not an easy subject matter when you look at the initiation process.

Final Thoughts – This is a very interesting movie showing us how forbidden love between two men can be in a culture that still practises a form of gender mutilation.

Overall: Culture shock.

Rating