Tag: biopic

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Movie Review

Welcome to Marwen (2018) Movie Review

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Writer: Robert Zemeckis, Carlone Thompson (Screenplay)

Starring: Steve Carell, Lesle Mann, Matt O’Leary, Nikolai Witschl, Patrick Roccas, Alexander Lowe, Eiza Gonzalez

Plot: A victim of a brutal attack finds a unique and beautiful therapeutic outlet to help him through his recovery process.

Runtime: 1 Hour 55 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Welcome to Marwen starts as Mark Hogancamp (Carell) as he builds the model world on World War II Belgium where he is the famous Cap’s Hogie, fighting Nazis along with a host of beautiful women from his own life. Mark is trapped in this world where he is struggling to recover from a brutal attack that has taken him out of his normal life, until he meets his new neighbour Nicol (Mann) who is willing to listen to his stories.

Thoughts on Welcome to Marwen

Thoughts – Welcome to Marwen is a unique biopic about a man that has struggled to cope with his life after a brutal attack, leading him to make his own world that will see him use this to try and channel the problems in his life, right before the final hearing of the men that attacked him. This will help highlight what it is like to be a victim of senseless crime, how the recovery process after the first stages of treatment, will see people create a world to fight through. This is such a unique way to tell the story, which will keep each seen having a strange edge to it. Steve Carell does shine in this role, showing the tragic side of what happened and his recovery, while getting a moment or two of comedy out of the film. In the supporting roles the women all shine, bring the different figures into his world. With the animation used to create the battle scenes with the figure all working wonderfully constructed, blending into the art project Mark is working on.

Final Thoughts – Welcome to Marwen is a wonderful look at recovery, through learning to stop blaming yourself for being the victim.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Thriller – K – Kajaki (2014) Movie Review

Director: Paul Katis

Writer: Tom Williams (Screenplay)

Starring: David Elliot, Mark Stanley, Scott Kyle, Benjamin O’Mahony, Bryan Parry, Liam Ainsworth

Plot: Kajaki Dam 2006. A company of young British soldiers encounter an unexpected, terrifying enemy. A dried-out river bed, and under every step the possibility of an anti-personnel mine. A mine that could cost you your leg – or your life.


Tagline – A film about bravery, courage, heroism and the ultimate sacrifice.

Runtime: 1 Hour 48 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Intense

Story: Kajaki starts as we meet the British soldiers in Afghanistan, doing general patrols in the heat, we see how they don’t get along with the locals and on a routine patrol Stu Hale (O’Mahony) steps on a landmine blowing his leg off, with the rest of the unit needing to come together to keep him safe and prepare him for transfer.

As they tend to the injured solider, they discover they are in a minefield, with Mark Wright (Elliot), Stu Pearson (Kyle) getting hit next, leaving Tug Hartley (Stanley) to risk his own life to try and tend to their injuries.

Thoughts on Kajaki

Characters – The characters are based on the real soldiers, they don’t get anything to make them over the top, they all free grounded, which is important, we follow soldiers that are going about their duty and either get injured by landmines or must work to save the lives of the others, we get to see moments of heroic actions, but most of the film is following the characters needing to remain calm through the situation.

Performances – The performances during the film are strong, like the characters, the actors make the characters feel realistic, showing the pain suffered, with the reaction of the ones watching over.

Story – The story follows a unit of soldiers that find themselves in the middle of a mine field with some injured, others needing to remain calm while treating the injured. This is based on real event, which saw the soldiers trapped. We do see this happen with a sudden impact, which is filled with shock for us, with the wounds looking as horrific are they were. While some of the story does go slowly because a lot of it is mostly waiting for rescue and just people needing to remain calm, which does slow down the intensity you would have imagined seeing them in the film.

Biopic/War – The biopic side of the film shows just how the men were standard and used their skills to survive, while the war side of the film shows that danger that can be found around any corner.

Settings – The film uses the setting to show how the one location could become a death trap, a place where they couldn’t survive with ease.


Scene of the Movie – The sudden blast one, it surprises us when it happens.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Most of the film suffers from lulls which shouldn’t be here.

Final Thoughts – This is an important moment that shows how soldiers must remain calm through difficult situations and the real events are show in brutal realism.

Overall: Brutal, though Slow.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – World Cinema – P – Battle for Sevastopol (2015) Movie Review

This is under P because of the sniper herself Pavlichenko.

Director: Sergey Mokristkiy

Writer: Maksim Budarin, Max Dankevich, Leonid Korin, Sergey Mokritskiy, Egor Olesov (Screenplay)

Starring: Yuliya Peresild, Evgeniy Tsyganov, Oleg Vasilkov, Nikita Tarasov, Joan Blackham

Plot: A story of Lyudmila Pavlichenko, the most successful female sniper in history.

Runtime: 1 Hour 50 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Interesting Look at Historical Figure

Story: Battle for Sevastopol starts as we meet Lyudmila Pavlichenko (Peresild) daughter of an English teacher, and Captain, who proves to be an expert marksman on a casual day out at the shooting range, she gets recruited for training by the military, while wanting to continue her studies and fall in love with a doctor Boris (Tarasov).

When World War II breaks out, Lyudmila finds herself drafted as one of the elite snipers, during this time, she builds up a reputation of being the deadliest woman in the war, killing over 100 soldiers to help her country in the fight against Hitler.

Thoughts on Battle for Sevastopol

Characters – Lyudmila Pavlichenko is known as Lady Death because of her sniper kill numbers, we follow her from her quiet student era, to her first recruitment to the war and when she met first lady Ruzvelt who wants to learn from her and educate her. The time we follow shows her to be a cold character, not finding love easy and not blinking with the number of soldiers she kills. Along her journey Lyudmila meets different soldiers, a doctor that offer her a chance of love or try to put their own power over her, with Eleanora Ruzvelt being the woman that wants to learn more about her, understand how she could make such a difference.

Performances – Yuliya Peresild is wonderful in the leading role, she brings to life both sides of her character, the deadly soldier and the woman who wants a normal life. In the supporting cast we have everyone performing well, despite a couple of reporter roles feeling heavily dubbed and not fitting the scene they are in.

Story – The story here follows Lyudmila Pavlichenko from her college years, war stories and her interactions with Eleanora Ruzvelt, the ups and downs of these stages of her life and the stories behind her incredibly high kill count for the Soviets. The way this story is told splits between the different stories, where he jump into the war time moments as the interactions get filled in, the scars, the reason behind everything she does, it does all work well, with them playing out more like memories of the 1942 version of her. While the story may have changed from the truth about her for dramatic effect in the story, the facts behind her kill count does remain true.

Biopic/War – We do follow a couple of stages of Lyudmila’s life, while what she did in the war was incredible breaking barriers along the way, it is see how she is willing to tell the stories which is amazing to see.

Settings – The film shows us the difficult situations Lyudmila finds herself in, with the war settings showing the horrors of the conflict, while the American settings show us just how she never fitted in the crowd locations.


Scene of the Movie – The final speech.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The love angles don’t seem as interesting as the rest of the film.

Final Thoughts – This is an interesting look at another major figure in the World War II conflict, showing us how they made themselves big names in the war effort.

Overall: History Lesson 101.

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Movie Review

Big Miracle (2012) Movie Review

Director: Ken Kwapis

Writer: Jack Amiel, Michael Begler (Screenplay) Tom Rose (Book)

Starring: John Krasinski, Drew Barrymore, Ted Danson, Tim Blake Nelson, Stephen Root. Andrew Daly, Ahmaogak Sweeney, Kristen Bell, Vinessa Shaw

Plot: In small-town Alaska, a news reporter recruits his ex-girlfriend – a Greenpeace volunteer – on a campaign to save a family of gray whales trapped by rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle.

Runtime: 1 Hour 47 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Big Miracle starts when local reporter Adam Carlson (Krasinski) doing a story around Alaska, he finds himself finding a big story, three grey whales trapped in the ice. When the story grabs the attention of America, with Rachel Kramer (Barrymore) the ex-girlfriend and Green Peace activist looks to make help, with oil driller J.W. McGraw (Danson) seeing the PR stunt to help increasing his popularity.

Bringing everyone together for the difficult operation to rescue the whales, the world watches the incredible rescue attempt that will bring more people together.

Thoughts on Big Miracle

Characters & Performances – Adam Carlson is a small time reporter that has been working in Alaska for years, putting together small pieces, getting to know the people. This new story will help him gain the headlines, where he will be doing the right thing for the whales, the people and for his career. John Krasinski brings the charisma to this role, as well as he everyday nice guy figure we all know now. Rachel Kramer is the Green Peace activist that is always caught in a fight for the wildlife of the world. This latest story sees her doing everything she can, working with people she hates to rescue the three whales. Drew Barrymore is great here showing the emotional core behind the determination. We get to see the team effort here, from the oil barrel J.W. McGraw who is always looking for PR stunt before he gets emotionally invested in the saving the whales. The endless amounts of journalists looking for the big story. The locals that must embrace change and the military people involved in trying to make the change.

Story – The story here follows what seems like a small story of three trapped whales, that become an international story of an unlikely rescue attempt of the trapped whales, that had the world watching what seemed like an impossible task. This is based on the true story that took over the world, seeing how the world would come together in an attempt to rescue three whales, showing the different struggles they must look to overcome along the way. We see how different people’s thinking was put aside for the rescue attempts, letting people learn the different points of view that would end up changing parts of the world forever.

Themes – Big Miracle is a biopic that show the incredible people that came together from different worlds to save three whales, they each have their own reason for being there, with the same goal, to rescue the whales. The locations show us how the freezing temperatures would make this harder for outsiders to adapt too and how the town would look to let them into their lives to learn their culture.

Big Miracle is a heart warming drama that will show us just how much the human race could achieve if they worked together.

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Movie Review

Mr Jones (2019) Movie Review

Director: Agnieszka Holland

Writer: Andrea Chalupa (Screenplay)

Starring: James Norton, Vanessa Kirby, Peter Sarsgaard, Joseph Mawle, Kenneth Cranham, Celyn Jones

Plot: A Welsh journalist breaks the news in the western media of the famine in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s.


Tagline – The truth can’t be hidden forever. 

Runtime: 1 Hour 59 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Mr Jones starts as journalist Gareth Jones (Norton) who has famously interviewed Hitler, has turned his attention to the Soviet Union, wanting to learn more about how Starling is affording the expenses that they have been making. Gareth makes new connections in Moscow with Walter Duranty )Sarsgaard) the man everyone turns to when they arrive in Moscow, but it his star writer Ada Brooks (Kirby) that will give Gareth the advice he needs, which will see him head outside of the city to the Ukraine to expose the truth about what is happening in the Soviet Union.

Thoughts on Mr Jones

Thoughts – Mr Jones follows one journalist’s determined journey to look for as story in the Soviet Union, a story which shows how the country would control the stories about it, while hiding a bleak truth that will see millions die, only he doesn’t know this until he sees it first-hand. Gareth Jones must try to break the traditions of the journalists in Russia to break his own story, one that will show how other people will look to cover up anything coming out, where his story could just be spun into that, nothing but a story, while he knows it is the truth, an important truth that needs to be told. The performance from James Norton in the leading role is great, where he starts with the optimism he has about his stories, before showing just how broken he is about what he sees.

Final Thoughts – Mr Jones is an interesting look at one of the first story exposures of all time.



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Movie Review

The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021) Movie Review

Director: Lee Daniels

Writer: Suzan-Lori Parks (Screenplay) Johann Hari (Novel)

Starring: Andra Day, Leslie Jordan, Miss Lawrence, Natasha Lyonne, Trevante Rhodes, Dusan Dukic, Erik LaRay Harvey

Plot: Follows Holiday during her career as she is targeted by the Federal Department of Narcotics with an undercover sting operation led by black Federal Agent Jimmy Fletcher, with whom she had a tumultuous affair.


Tagline – Her Voice Would Not Be Silenced

Runtime: 2 Hours 10 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The United States vs Billie Holiday starts as we see how Billie Holiday (Day) found herself becoming the attention of the FBI after one of her songs turn heads, as it was depicting the lynching black people suffered through. The FBI managed to get Billie locked away for one year, before she tried to rebuild her career.

As Billie has been suffering from her own childhood trauma, she has an addiction to drug, this will soon become the battle between Billie’ addictions and the FBI desperately trying to stop her continue rise to stardom that could bring the bigger divide between the country.

Thoughts on The United States vs Billie Holiday

Thoughts – The United States vs Billie Holiday is a biopic looking to the battle between the singer Billie Holiday and the FBI who believed her song bought out a new rise because it exposed more of the horrors done towards black people in America, turning to her drug addiction to make her life a nightmare. We get to go through the different years where Billie continued to look to perform and always saw people coming after her, never letting her face her own dreams, or helping her handle the nightmares which pushed her into the way she became, from a life nobody should have experienced. The FBI’s relentless hounding of her does come off as disgraceful, showing they only wanted to make her quiet, while she entertained the fans of the world. Andra Day has been nominated for her performance, which is easy to see why because she is a demanding presence on camera. The supporting cast do give us strong performances throughout, though they never reach the same heights as her.

Final Thoughts – The United States vs Billie Holiday is an interesting biopic on an incredible musician that refused to back down.

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Movie Review

Shock and Awe (2017) Movie Review

Director: Rob Reiner

Writer: Joey Hartstone (Screenplay)

Starring: Woody Harrelson, James Marsden, Rob Reiner, Tommy Lee Jones, Jessica Biel, Milla Jovovich, Richard Schiff, Luke Tennie

Plot: A group of journalists covering former President George W. Bush’s planned invasion of Iraq in 2003 are skeptical of the President’s claim that Saddam Hussein has “weapons of mass destruction.”


Tagline – The Truth Matters

Runtime: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Slow Moving Thriller

Story: Shock and Awe starts in the aftermath of 9/11, journalists Jonathan Landay (Harrelson), Warren Strobel (Marsden) and John Walcott (Reiner) are looking to have the story about who was really behind the attack, being surprised that Iraq has become the main location for a connection.

As the story builds the pair start looking for comments which will hint the truth, as they looks to expose the reality of the future war with Iraq before it is too late and innocent American soldiers will become victims of a conflict they don’t need to be involved in.

Thoughts on Shock and Awe

Characters – Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel are the two head writers, they have sources in government and will only look to bring the truth to their readers, they are loyal to their contacts and will wait before publishing any stories. John Walcott is their boss, he will expect the stories that will bring the truth forward, he does want to stay ahead of rivals, but doesn’t want to make up stories which could bring the writers under flack. Joe Galloway is a Bronze Star winning former soldier who has written for years, he brings a fresh set of sources to the paper, as they look to get the truth.

Performances – We do have an excellent cast, where Woody Harrelson and James Marsden do work well together, Rob Reiner is strong too, while Tommy Lee Jones, does seem slightly wasted with the importance of his character.

Story – The story follows four journalists who looks to expose the truth on the war in Iraq before America went to war, only their sources won’t speak out and the pressure from other papers looking to publish stories which would endorse a war. We do have an interesting story, one that should have been pushed through harder, only it gets to pair needing to hold back, it shows how the government used a national tragedy to endorse a war which will be remembered as an important piece of history. Where this story isn’t the most interesting is following the early relationship between Warren and his new girlfriend Lisa, it is part of the story we don’t need to see and fills like filler. Nothing through this film feels as intense as it should be, when it comes to dealing with the truth, which other films like ‘Spotlight’ covered with ease.

Biopic – This is looking at the time when the journalists were trying to put together a story which could bring the system down, they had everything they needed, only they couldn’t push home the story.

Settings – The film uses the settings to show where the journalist work and how they were connecting with sources, only we do spend too much time with the personal life, distracting from the bigger story.


Scene of the Movie – Learning defeat.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Too much personal life filler.

Final Thoughts – This is a film that is trying to tell an important story, only it gets bogged down in parts it doesn’t need to be covering.

Overall: Journalism 101.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Oscar Nominations – Z – American Gangster (2007) Movie Review

This is under Z because of the screenplay writer Steven Zaillian.

Director: Ridley Scott

Writer: Steven Zaillian (Screenplay) Mark Jacobson (Article)

Starring: Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Lymari Nadal, Ted Levine

Plot: An outcast New York City cop is charged with bringing down Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas, whose real life inspired this partly biographical film.


Tagline – When Hoodlum Bumpy influences American Gangster Frank Lucas

Runtime: 2 Hours 37 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Overly Long Gangster Film

Story: American Gangster starts with the death of the most powerful man in Harlem, Frank Lucas (Washington) his righthand man steps up to take control of the business, where he first sees everything getting out of hand before making a major move to bring the heroin directly to America for his own team to cut and profit for.

Richie Roberts (Crowe) has been tackling the drug problem in Harlem for years, losing friends and a marriage to the world, he is given a team to look to take down the biggest people involved in the industry, in what becomes a battle of wits between Frank and Richie.

Thoughts on American Gangster

Characters – Frank Lucas steps into the role of Drug Lord of Harlem, he builds the business bigger than his mentor, he increases the money, bringing in a new deadly wave of drug usage, he will kill anyone that gets in his business, he will not accept loose ends in any of his dealings, which sees him become the biggest drug lord in the country. Richie Roberts is the New York prosecutor that has been trying to take down the drug world for years, it has cost him friendships, his marriage and soon to be son, he is one of the few remaining honest cops and gets given a team of his own choice to track the new increase in drug usage in the city. We do meet Frank’s family that are all in the business with him, working for him helping him raise his power in the city, his wife Eva who knows he has been breaking the law, but enjoys the money that comes with him and Detective Trupo an FBI agent that is on the take to keep Frank safe, he will always look to collect his payments no matter what is going on.

Performances – Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe are both great in this film, they both bring the characters to life as we understand both sides of their lives through the film. We do have an excellent supporting cast too who are all flawless in the film.

Story – The story here follows the rise of drug lord in New York where he become the most powerful man in the city and how one prosecutor risked everything to try and stop him, turning everyone in his own life against him. This is based on the real drug lord and the man that tried to track him down, it shows how both men’s lives changed through these years, one rose to fame, while the other lose everything because of his determination to stop the drug trade. We do get some excellent scenes which show the different lives the people have been living through this time, usually the holiday times, though we don’t get enough of the smaller details.

Biopic/Crime – Looking at the two main men’s lives show us how things changed and were risked to make the moves to do what they thought was right, it does show the criminal actions being conducted by Frank and his people.

Settings – The New York setting will show how the neighbourhoods would work together to make the business strong.


Scene of the Movie – The solo conversation.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It is too long.

Final Thoughts –This is an interesting look at one of the biggest gangsters in the history of America and what he did to change the system forever.

Overall: Strong Story, Too Long Film.

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Movie Review

Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) Movie Review

Judas and the Black Messiah – Powerhouse Performances.

Director: Shaka King

Writer: Will Berson, Shaka King (Screenplay) Will Berson, Shaka King, Kenneth Lucas, Keith Lucas (Story)

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback, Ashton Sanders, Algee Smith

Plot: The story of Fred Hampton, Chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party, and his fateful betrayal by FBI informant William O’Neal.

Runtime: 2 Hours 6 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Judas and the Black Messiah starts as we see a small-time car thief Bill O’Neal (Stanfield) get caught by FBI agent Roy Mitchell (Plemons) who cuts him a deal. The deal will see Bill avoid any jail time, if he will undercover in the Black Panther.

Bill needs to get close to the Chairman of the Illinois party Fred Hampton (Kaluuya) who has been spreading the word to bring about equality in America. Here Bill will find himself trapped by Roy who threatens him with jail or the Panthers who have the rumours of torturing someone who betrays them.

Thoughts on Judas and the Black Messiah

Characters & Performances – Fred Hampton is the charismatic leader of the Black Panthers in Illinois. He will give speeches that will motive people to follow him and learn from the messages he is trying to spread to the world, without resorting to violence. Away from the spotlight, Fred is a calm presence who just wants what everyone else does, a quiet life. Daniel Kaluuya gives us a brilliant performance, rightfully involved in the award conversation, the speeches grab your attention. Bill O’Neal is a car thief that pretends to be an FBI agent to rob other black men, caught in the act by real FBI agent Roy Mitchell. He is left to face a decision, jail time or go undercover in the Black Panther party. He does have the confidence to step into the position, but he is also filled with fear about what will happen if he gets caught, he is always looking over his shoulder in fear. LaKeith Stanfield is also brilliant here, with the performance that is filled with the uncertainty he is facing. Roy Mitchell is the FBI agent that recruits Bill, he seems to try and play it fair to start with, before changing as the time roles on, I do believe we did need more from this character, was he trying to help or just following orders. We do also get to meet different members of the Black Panther, each member wants the same things, but does have a different way of wanting to bring the change.

Story – The story here follows an FBI informant who gets recruited to go undercover in the Black Panther party to get close to the local chairman Fred Hampton. This is a story style we have seen before with many films where a person goes undercover in a gang/mob or in this case a political party and must keep their identity secret or face the consequences. We get to see how the man is recruited and gets left in the middle of no man’s land, facing jail or betrayal. We do focus more on this character’s different decisions over what the Black Panthers stood for and their battle against the Law who constantly framed them. We might have gotten more time looking at this side of the discussion, as it would put the spotlight on the people who did or didn’t make the right decisions.

Themes – Judas and the Black Messiah is a biopic looking at a great leader who was helping to make a change the right way and how he was betrayed. We do seem to focus more on the betrayal over the movement Fred Hampton was part of. The film does recreate the look of the late 1960s very well too.

Judas and the Black Messiah is an important drama that does have powerful performances from the lead stars.