Jul 5 2021

Dirt Music (2019) Movie Review

Dirt Music – Nice Romance

Director: Gregor Jordan

Writer: Jack Thorne (Screenplay) Tim Winton (Novel)

Starring: Kelly Macdonald, Garrett Hedlund, David Wenham, Aaron Pedersen, Dan Wyllie, Chris Haywood

Plot: The stunning landscape of Western Australia is the backdrop for an impassioned tale of love and grief in Gregor Jordan’s adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Tim Winton.

Runtime: 1 Hour 45 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Dirt Music starts as we meet lonely former nurse and housewife Georgie (Macdonald) who is known for going off from her fisherman husband Jim (Wenham), this time she meets Lu Fox (Hedlund) a poacher who fishes the same waters as Jim.

As Georgie starts to get closer to Lu, she starts to think of another life, while Lu is filled with his own haunting memories of a family he once had.

Thoughts on Dirt Music

Characters & Performances – Georgie is a housewife that sees her life feeling empty and routine, needing to find something new, she gets caught up in the attention of a poacher who she sees something fresh in, wanting to spend time with him, putting her own marriage on the line for a guy she barely knows. Kelly Macdonald does give us a grounded performance, which will show us just how difficult certain stages of life can be. Lu Fox is the man Georgie meets, he is poacher off the shore of her home and the two strike up a connection, he does have a dark past, one which will see him filled with regret, pain and loneliness. He does need to find himself before he can move on with his life, something Georige offers him, if he lets her in. Garrett Hedlund is great in his role here, he shows how his character wants to move into the isolation from the world and just how important it is for his character. Jim is the husband of Georgie who is a fisherman that has seen her have her own times away from him before, he is calm about it, knowing she will come back no matter what, he ends up helping her in the search for him.

Story – The story here follows a housewife that is finding her life feeling empty which will see her turn to a stranger who is lost in his own life, giving the pair a chance for something new in life, whatever the risk might be. This is a story that will show just how difficult life will become for people and sometimes you can meet people someone that will change everything. We do get everything you would expect to push the people to each of these limits, personal tragedy that needs healing. We do have to say the film does feel slightly longer than it needs to with how it handles certain aspects of the story being dragged out more than they need to.

Themes – Dirt Music is a romance movie that uses the ideas of finding a new person in life can help turn life around, with the beauty of the Australian backdrop for the film adding everything to a dream world.

Dirt Music will be available on Digital Download from 19th July

Final Thoughts – Dirt Music is a nice enjoyable romance movie.

Jun 26 2021

After Everything (2018) Movie Review

Director: Hannah Marks, Joey Power

Writer: Hannah Marks, Joey Power (Screenplay)

Starring: Marisa Tomei, Maika Monroe, Gina Gershon, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Jeremy Allen White, Joe Keery, Dean Winters

Plot: A young couple’s relationship develops quickly when one of them is diagnosed with a life-changing illness.

Tagline – Love is Sick

Runtime: 1 Hour 35 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Romance 101

Story: After Everything starts as we meet Elliot (White) a young man that discovers that he has cancer, one that should be easier to treat and when he meets Mia (Monroe) he starts a new whirlwind romance where the two move very fast about the changes in life, as Mia tries to help him through his treatment with Dr Harden (Tomei).

We see how the two look to build a life together, even if things don’t go well in Elliot’s treatment, showing how a relationship can be hard to build when you don’t know what the future holds.

Thoughts on After Everything

Characters – Elliot is a young man that has been trying to build an app, while working in coffee shop, he discovers that he has cancer and keeps it to himself for the first steps of the treatment, while starting a new relationship with Mia, one that gives him confidence to fight the disease, only it doesn’t seem to give him the focus on what to do with his life. Mia is a young lady that meets Elliot who brings her out of her shell, even after her roommates often try to put pressure on her to meet someone. She falls in love and finds herself moving forward in her career, but struggles with the new life together. We do have the support friends, the parents and best friends that will always be around for advice.

Performances – Jeremy Allen White and Maika Monroe in the leading roles are great together, they do show the ups and downs they are going through and how they can affect the lives together or alone.

Story – The story here follows a young couple that meet, fall in over, even though one has just learnt about his cancer, the pair work together to get through the struggles, only to learn the troubles a young relationship could have. This is a story that shows how life can become more difficult when it comes to dealing with unexpected news, fighting an illness and jumping into things too quickly. We don’t spend much time on the cancer side of the story, focusing more on the relationship between the two, as we see just how they struggle to make things work, everything does feel like a whirlwind romance with the tag on of cancer, rather than anything else, which doesn’t seem to have the same impact in the story.

Comedy/Romance – The comedy in the film isn’t that strong, while the romance is more of a true reflection of how love can work, with the ups and downs.

Settings – The film uses the settings to show us the everyday life, we don’t get any icon locations for the couple, just showing what could be for them.

Scene of the Movie – The first meeting.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Just turning to drugs to solve the problems.

Final Thoughts – This is an interesting look at how a relationship happening around a new cancer diagnosis, could bring out the best and worst in people, with strong performances, even if the story become more predictable.

Overall: By the Book.

Jun 2 2021

Ordinary Love (2019) Movie Review

Director: Lisa Barros D’Sa, Glenn Leyburn

Writer: Owen McCafferty (Screenplay)

Starring: Lesley Manville, Liam Neeson, Esh Alladi, Melanie Clark Pullen, Matthew Sharpe, Geraldine McAlinden

Plot: An extraordinary look at the lives of a middle-aged couple in the midst of the wife’s breast cancer diagnosis.

Tagline – Love doesn’t give up.

Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Ordinary Love starts as we meet Joan (Manville) and Tom (Neeson) a retired couple that go about their everyday routine, until one day Joan discovers a lump on her breast, Tom remains strong as Joan goes through the procedure that will to investigate the lump, learning she has breast cancer.

As Joan starts her treatment, Tom does all he can to help, being there for every appointment and every session, making she Joan has the support she needs through the treatment.

Thoughts on Ordinary Love

Characters – Joan is the one that discovers she has a lump and must go through the cancer treatment, she is filled with the fears that come with it, hoping and fighting to make sure she can beat it. To is the supportive husband that is looking to remaining strong through ever moment, showing his frustrating of the hospital, while alone he is broken inside. The pair give us a realistic look at how the treatment can put a strain through even one of the strongest relationships between two people that love each other.

Performances – Lesley Manville and Liam Neeson are both incredible in this role, to give us such a natural couple image on screen, going through such a tragic event.

Story – The story here follows a retired couple that have a simple life which gets changed by when one get diagnosed with cancer and we see how the pair look to fight through this horrible disease. This is a raw story that shows how a couple will work together through one of the worst events of their lives, how it will bring a strain on their relationship, change things, but the love will always be there between them.

Romance – The romance side of the film shows just how much the couple love each other, despite what they have been through and how much they must work together through the treatments.

Settings – The film gives us an everyday setting to show us how the lives of the couple are simple and even the treatment can be an everyday routine to keep.

Scene of the Movie – Tom confined in their daughter’s grave.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Nothing.

Final Thoughts – Ordinary Love is one of the most realistic looks at love through the most difficult times, with stellar performances from Lesley Manville and Liam Neeson.

May 23 2021

Step Up (2006) Movie Review

Director: Anne Fletcher

Writer: Duane Adler, Melissa Rosenberg (Screenplay)

Starring: Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan, Damaine Radcliff, De’Shawn Washington, Mario, Drew Sidora, Rachel Griffiths

Plot: Tyler Gage receives the opportunity of a lifetime after vandalizing a performing arts school, gaining him the chance to earn a scholarship and dance with an up and coming dancer, Nora.

Tagline – Every second chance begins with a first step.

Runtime: 1 Hour 44 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Step Up starts when Tyler Gage (Tatum) finds his friends getting him into trouble, where they break in and destroy a fancy dance schools props, he gets his punishment, 200 hours of community service, where he must help out in the school.

When one of the students Nora (Dewan) needs a rehearsal partner, the only suitable person she can find is Tyler, who has the time to help, giving her a new perspective on life, and showing Tyler a more serious approach to everything.

Thoughts on Step Up

Characters – Tyler is a slacker minor criminal, causing problems with his friends most night, which sees him getting caught and forced into community service in a school that he was part of vandalizing. He ends up helping a dancer rehearse for her big performance, learning to try and take life more seriously, while still dealing with the rejection that has hindered his whole life. Nora is the dancer that is desperate to find herself rehearsal partner, this is her big chance in class and she learns more from Tyler to break out of the traditional style that has been left for her to follow. Mac and Skinny are brothers that are Tyler’s best friends who have gotten Tyler in trouble before, with Miles being one of the students that Tyler helps push himself to reach the next level of his career. With Lucy being the best friend of Nora, with her own problems.

Performances – Channing Tatum proves himself in a leading role here, showing he has the dancing skills to match the troubled outside world role he is taking on, with Jenna Dewan fitting the dancing with ease, showing us the conflict her character is going through. The supporting performances are strong through the film, getting the serious moments when they need to, along with moments of comic relief.

Story – The story here follows a directionless young man who finds himself doing community service in a dance school, where he finds motivation to fight for something when he teams up with one of the dancers in the school. This is a story that plays into the idea that people can change if they find their motivation in life, people can support people from different worlds, ones that people wouldn’t have expected to find them from either. It shows that if you don’t try, you might not even get a chance you deserve in life, no matter where you come from.

Crime/Romance – The crime side of the film shows us just where Tyler has come from, showing how he needs to get things back on track if he is ever going turn his life around, with the romance, showing us what could happen when you least expect it.

Settings – The film uses the settings to show the different backgrounds Tyler and Nora have come from.

Scene of the Movie – The performance.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Nora’s outside the school life isn’t as inspiring to change as Tyler’s.

Final Thoughts – This is an entertaining dance movie that shows us that you can learn to change by taking a chance from life.

Apr 2 2021

The Drifters (2019) Movie Review

The Drifters – Nice Finding Yourself Movie

Director: Ben Bond

Writer: Ben Bond (Screenplay)

Starring: Jonathan Ajayi, Lucie Bourdeu, Tia Bannon, Ariyon Bakare

Plot: Koffee, an African migrant, and Fanny, a French waitress, are two lost souls who attempt to find home in one another and escape the labels that inevitably leave them homeless. A sun-drenched romance about identity.

Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Drifters starts as we meet a French waitress Fanny (Bourdeu) and an African migrant Koffee (Ajayi) who are both studying English in London who meet and after Koffee needs to go on the run from his past, the two look to go on their own adventure around the country, with plans to reach America.

As their adventure continues they get closer and learn that the lost souls might well have finally found a place for themselves in this world.

Thoughts on The Drifters

Thoughts – The Drifters follows two people Koffee and Fanny who are from different backgrounds, that come together to go on their own adventure and learn more about themselves as they search for a place to call their own. They are both dreamers, who have left their homes to take this risk. Jonathan Ajayi and Lucie Bourdeu are both wonderful to watch, as they give us the captivating performances that make us just want to see where they will go next. The negative side of the film comes from the attempted adventure doesn’t seem to go much further than this one location, where they will need to find a way to survive in this world. There are a few scenes which feel like they are all about the fantasy of a better life, the one they have both searched for, for years, which is the most interesting side of the film.