American: The Bill Hicks Story

American: The Bill Hicks Story is an in-depth documentary looking at the life of a truly great and revolutionary comic talent in the aforementioned Bill Hicks. The film makers must be applauded for finally documenting the life of Hicks and doing so with the approval of his family. The interviews were well conducted with a variety of people from Bills life, and those interviewed only commented on their dealings with Bill and not hearsay. There is an abundance of footage of Hicks in early or small performances which give a fascinating insight into some of his lesser known routines. However due to licensing fees there is a lack of his more famous acts, sorely missing is the infamous 12^th Letterman set, that was cut from the show much to Bills chagrin. Although the interviews were well conducted the interviewees rarely appeared on screen, instead we were subjected to photos of Bill that had been strangely animated, this made it hard to work out at times who was talking, a case where simplicity would have trumped visual flair by adding greater intimacy. There were also no interviews with the women of Bills life, a shame but one I understand was out of the director’s hands. Overall this was an abdicate take on the groundbreaking comedians life, however with a little less fiddling on their Apple Macs the makers could have produced a much more emotional film.

Score: 3/5

Imitation of Life

Imitation of Life is a film that is as relevant and fresh today as when it was made in 1959. It is the story of a young white widow who employs a black widow as a maid and how they both struggle to successfully raise their daughters. As you can probably guess by the fact I mentioned the race of the two women, their ethnic origin plays a huge part in this movie, however it is not a simple case of racism, this movie takes a brave look (especially for the time it was made) at the subtle ways racial discrimination can veer its ugly head and the dominant effect it can have on one’s life. This film doesn’t stop there though, it also takes profound looks at other social struggles such as female independence and growing up. The only grumble I have with this film is that although the acting performances were perfectly adequate, no one shone to the levels that this movie deserved. This however is a very small complaint and I recommend you dig out this true gem from yesteryear.

Score 4/5

Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2 was an enjoyable but deeply flawed movie that in typical sequel style could not compete with its predecessor. This is the part where I would usually do a one sentence synopsis, however I can’t sum up the plot in one sentence, as there were so many narratives going on that none of them appeared to be the main one we were supposed to pay attention to. And this was the films biggest problem, for example it appeared Mickey Rourke was the main villain, however instead of standing out and taking centre stage he was lost in the shuffle and often forgot about. I feel all these problems were due to the fact that Jon Favreau (Director) and Marvel Studios spent too much time setting up their Avengers franchise and not enough time making this the great movie it could have been. Now onto what was good about this movie, Robert Downey Jr. was as mesmerising as he was in his previous portrayal of Tony Stark and shared heart pounding chemistry with Gwyneth Paltrow as they flawlessly delivered witty and intelligent dialogue. The effects were also a site to behold and showed that we now live in an age where movies can do comics justice in the spectacle department. These attributes made Iron Man 2 a good movie, however with more care and editing in every department it could have been a great movie.

Score 3.5/5

Harry Brown

Harry Brown is an incredibly realistic and gritty tale that is disappointingly let down by its final act. Michael Caine plays Harry Brown, a pensioner who witnesses the council estate he lives on ruled by unruly gangs and after seeing a lack of action by the police decides to take matters into his own hands. Although this narrative may sound formulaic and clichéd, it was in fact expertly handled by director Daniel Barber, who crafted this tale in a highly believable fashion. Mr. Barber clearly had a lot to say about the current problems in today's society, this film is especially critical of the violent happy slapping youth culture and a bureaucratic establishment that seems unable to tame it. His commentary on these aspects were so effective that I found myself more than once shaking my head in disgust and was often consumed with anger during the viewing. Two thirds into the film I was pondering where I would rate it between 4 and 5, and then the last twenty minutes commenced and this movie went from a raw brutal drama, to a ridiculous over the top affair. We were suddenly subjected to action sequences and the sort of coincidence only a film script writer would consider. I can't help but feel a more subtle ending would have made this the best British film for many a year.

Score 3.5/5