Father Brown (seasons 1-4)

(Amazon UK link)

I have been familiar with GK Chesterton’s delightful creation, ‘Father Brown’, since my teens. This fictional Roman Catholic priest in the early 1900s is adept at solving crimes, with insight and local knowledge, combined with compassion and surprising energy. I last read one of the books about him in 2018. But I had somehow missed that Father Brown had inspired a lengthy TV series - I believe it’s up to 11 seasons now. 

One of our sons had seen the show, and liked it so much that he sent us a DVD box set of the first four seasons for Christmas 2022. We started watching it towards the end of January 2023, and have watched one episode most weeks (occasionally two episodes) since then. We finally reached the end of the fourth season last night. 

My first surprise was that the series is set in the 1950s rather than at the start of the century when Chesterton was writing. Mark Williams, whom we knew as Arthur Weasley in the ‘Harry Potter’ films, is excellent in the title role. However, he’s not at all as I had imagined Father Brown from Chesterton’s writing. Still, once I realised that the series is ‘inspired by’ Chesterton’s character rather than actually based on the stories, I was able to adjust and see the TV show for what it is. The TV Father Brown is certainly wise, energetic, kind and likeable. He’s also quite persistent, and has a lot of courage. 

His Irish housekeeper, Mrs McCarthey (Sorcha Cusack, whom I recall as a much younger ‘Jane Eyre’ in the 1970s adaptation) is an excellent addition to the storyline. She provides some stability to Father Brown’s life, cooking meals for him, dealing with church accounts, and generally accompanying him in his ministry as well as his criminal investigations. She is also responsible for some low-key humour now and again; although these are crime stories, they have moments of light-heartedness which we appreciated. 

Two other significant characters are the wealthy Lady Felicia (Nancy Carroll) and her driver Sid (Alex Price). Sid isn’t part of Father Brown’s congregation, and has some criminal tendencies himself, such as the ability to pick locks; this regularly comes in useful during investigations. Lady Felicia is a bit snooty but very generous, and she often clashes with Mrs McCarthey although the two are, deep down, quite fond of each other.

As always, what I appreciate most in a film or TV series is the characterisation, and I thought that excellent, particularly between the four principle actors. There’s also some banter - and some antagonism - between Father Brown and the local police inspector. In the first series this is Inspector Valentine (Hugo Speer), and in the second and third season he is replaced by Inspector Sullivan (Tom Chambers). Both gradually come to respect Father Brown, and reluctantly admit it in their final episodes when they are moved to other locations. 

The third inspector is introduced at the start of the fourth season: Inspector Mallory (Jack Deam) is the most cynical of all, but gradually develops a kind of grudging liking for Father Brown, despite calling him ‘Padre’, and regularly telling him to leave the scene of the crime. Sergeant Goodfellow (John Burton) makes a good foil for the inspectors, and usually has a lot of respect and trust in Father Brown. 

The stories themselves are widely varied. In forty-five episodes, we didn’t think any of the settings were the same. There’s an overall theme, of course: in most of them somebody dies or is found dead, and eventually Father Brown figures out who the perpetrator was. He uses his intuition, his excellent observational skills, and his knowledge of human nature to probe deeply into what has happened, and why. He saves many innocent men from execution - for this is the era when people were still hanged if believed guilty of a serious crime.

Most of the stories are set in the village of Kembleford where everyone knows everyone else, although some include visitors, and there are some residents whom we only meet once or twice. There are stories set in local homes, involving a variety of people from the Pope to visiting vagabonds. Some relate to former war crimes, some to family feuds, some to medical discoveries or abuse… and so much more. Each time we think the writers must surely have run out of ideas, yet another setting or motive emerges.

I very much liked the slow pace of the series, and the countryside images as well as the interactions between the main characters. I also appreciated the lack of gore; occasionally I had to close my eyes, but there was very little overt violence, and the bodies, when shown, mostly looked asleep. The overall rating of this box set is 12, which I think is about right, given the nature of the plots; it's unlikely to appeal to children anyway. 

I appreciated the way that God is taken seriously, too. It’s not a ‘preachy’ series, but, like Chesterston’s original, Father Brown comes across as a devout man with a living, vibrant faith. 

Still, having watched four series over the past twelve months, it’s time for a change. So although I would recommend this to anyone who likes light crime television, we’re not going to look for the later seasons on DVD. 

Review copyright 2024 Sue's DVD Reviews

Saving Mr Banks (Emma Thompson)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s nine-and-a-half years since we watched the film ‘Saving Mr Banks’. I remembered liking it very much, and recalled the basic outline, but had forgotten all the details. We knew it was based on a true story, of course, and decided to watch it again last night.

Emma Thompson is perfect as the rigidly uptight writer PL Travers, in the early 1960s. Indeed, it took me a while to realise who the actor was. Mrs Travers (who allows very few people to use her first name) is a very proper Englishwoman in her sixties. She was briefly famous for having written the classic novel ‘Mary Poppins’, but doesn’t want to write any more, and - as her agent points out - she’s facing poverty, unless she is willing to discuss turning the book into a film. 

Mrs Travers hates the thought of her creation being animated, or turned into a musical, and has resisted offers from Walt Disney Productions for twenty years. But, unwilling to lose her house, she agrees at last to fly to Los Angeles to meet the team who would like to adapt her book. However she insists that she will write the script, and she will have the last say on every detail. 

There’s some mild humour as she comes up against airline staff and passengers, and some wonderful asides with Ralph, the personal chauffeur allocated to her for her time in California. But there’s also a great deal of poignancy; much of the film is shown in flashback form, when the young Helen went through some very traumatic scenes in her childhood. 

I hadn’t looked at the DVD cover, so had forgotten that Tom Hanks plays Walt Disney himself in this film. He’s so good that I hadn’t realised who he was until the credits roll at the end. Walt Disney is portrayed as a likeable man, who really wants to make this film after promising his young daughters that he would, two decades before. 

The film of ‘Mary Poppins’ is so well-known that it’s not a spoiler to say that eventually Mrs Travers agrees to the making of the film, although she’s unimpressed with several of the songs, and horrified at the thought of some animated sequences. And part of the storyline involves her getting to know the team, and gradually - reluctantly - accepting them. 

But the more powerful part of the story takes place fifty years earlier, when the young Helen, oldest of three girls, sees her beloved father lose his job, and descend into alcoholism. She’s a thoughtful child who adores her father, and is devastated when one of his promises cannot be kept. And as Mrs Travers sees flashbacks of her past, Walt Disney finally begins to understand what the book is really about… 

I don't suppose it's entirely true to the real story. But at the end, over the titles, we hear some of the recordings made during the actual meetings in Los Angeles. It's good that they were kept, and suggests that, at least to a reasonable degree, the story is accurately told. 

I was mesmerised by the film, even if I ended up (like the first time) with the song ‘Let’s Go Fly a Kite’ as an earworm. It’s beautifully made, realistically done, with just the right blend of gentle humour and poignancy. I would recommend it to everyone who has ever seen the film of ‘Mary Poppins’ (or read the book); indeed, having now watched this again, I want to see ‘Mary Poppins’ again, as I didn’t recall at all the few sequences shown from it in ‘Saving Mr Banks’. 

Very highly recommended. The rating is PG, possibly because there are some rather tense and gory scenes from the childhood flashbacks. But a young child probably wouldn’t really understand this anyway; I probably wouldn’t want to show it to a child younger than about eleven or twelve. 

Review copyright 2024 Sue's DVD Reviews

About Time (Domhnall Geeson)

(Amazon UK link)

We had never heard of the film ‘About Time’ when we spotted it in a UK charity shop a month or so ago. The cover looked interesting - and we’ve liked other films with Rachel McAdams - and the blurb on the back sounded intriguing. A light romance with a time travel element could have been decidedly weird, but we thought it worth a pound.

We watched it last night, and found it quite enthralling. Rachel McAdams is excellent as the young, attractive but quite shy Mary. However the star is undoubtedly Domhnall Gleeson, who is perfect as 21-year-old Tim. Tim is a likeable young man, from a family that’s quite secure if a tad odd. His mother (Lindsay Duncan) is bohemian, open-minded, and very caring. His father (Bill Nighy) finds it hard to express emotion but is clearly very fond of his son. And his sister KitKat (Lydia Wilson) is into yoga and New Age.

Tim himself is a bit lanky, red-haired and somewhat socially inept. He would really like a girlfriend but doesn’t quite know how to behave with girls, becoming awkward when around attractive girls. We see him at the family New Year’s Eve party, trying to socialise but not getting beyond a smile and handshake.

Then Tim’s father tells him a family secret.  All the males of the family are able to travel in time, within their own life, to re-live (and possibly change) any specific incident or longer period, as they choose. It’s all a bit bizarre and Tim thinks it’s an elaborate joke but he follows the somewhat unlikely instructions… and is able to relive the New Year’s Eve party with slightly more success.

The rest of the film sees him experimenting with going back in time, mostly for brief periods, to make changes in things he wished he had done. But he quickly realises that it’s not as straightforward as he thinks… trying to help one person means that he loses a contact he made in a previous incident. Altering the past can have many ripples in present reality - as he discovers a couple of years later, when trying to prevent a nasty accident to a family member.

Romance blossoms, eventually, thanks to some of the changes and due to a mutual attraction, initially based on friendship and shared interest although it very quickly turns into a more physical relationship with scenes that I would have thought would merit a 15 rating rather than 12. There’s no frontal nudity, and nothing explicit, but a lot is implied. There’s also quite a bit of ‘strong’ language. I wouldn’t want a younger teenager seeing this - some older ones would find it embarrassing too. Apparently it’s rated R in the more prudish United States.

But even that didn’t detract from excellent acting, with some cleverly written scenes that were amusing, even if we didn’t laugh aloud, and others that were quite poignant. I was completely drawn into the story, and surprised to find, when it ended, that it had run for nearly two hours. The time travel element makes this romantic comedy unusual, and much more interesting than many. There are plot holes and inconsistencies of course - it's inevitable with time travel - but they didn't detract from the enjoyment of the film.

There are also some quite thought-provoking comments about family life in general, and the importance of appreciating our loved ones and enjoying each day as it comes. Perhaps a tad schmaltzy at the end, but that wasn’t a problem for us. We thought it an excellent film, and look forward to seeing it again in a few years. Highly recommended, if you like this kind of thing.

There are no extras on our DVD, but it didn’t really need them.

Review copyright 2023 Sue's DVD Reviews

Death comes to Pemberley (TV Series)

(Amazon UK link)

I had not heard of ‘Death Comes to Pemberley’, but my son and his wife watched the mini series and read the book, and loved them so much that they gave the DVDs (and the book) to me for Christmas. We decided to watch the DVDs over three weeks - it’s three hour-long episodes - and while I was a tad dubious at first at the thought of a sequel to ‘Pride and Prejudice’, we both enjoyed it very much.

The series was made by the BBC who always seem to be good with period dramas. As such, the settings and costumes seemed entirely authentic. The dialogue wasn’t really that of Austen - the book on which this is based was written by PD James - but it didn’t much matter. And while the storyline is rather far removed from ‘Pride and Prejudice’, or anything else Jane Austen wrote, it has a ring of authenticity.

The story begins with Darcy and Lizzie, now married for ten years or so, planning a huge ball. The domestic staff are very busy and Lizzie clearly on good terms with them, as well as being an efficient manager. However my only real problem with the films is that Lizzie - Anna Maxwell Martin - seemed too old. I gather the actress is around the same age as Matthew Rhys who played Darcy, while she should have been rather younger, but her manner and assurance didn’t feel like those of Elizabeth Bennet; yet her clothes were dreary; it looked as though she either never changed, or had several identical plain dresses.

However it’s a minor complaint, and I soon got used to this very different portrayal of a main character. Her younger sister Lydia, I thought, was brilliantly cast (Jenna Coleman) and has exactly the right amount of frivolousness and self-centredness. She is possibly the best Lydia I have seen. The Bennet parents are believable too, and the local magistrate (Trevor Eve) is excellent in his role. Best of all, in my view, is a cameo appearance of the supercilious Lady Catherine, who was perfectly portrayed by Penelope Keith.

Back to the gist of the story: Lydia’s husband Wickham (Matthew Goode) is determined to take his wife to the ball even though they are pointedly not invited. Events in ‘Pride and Prejudice’ made it impossible for the Bennets to receive Wickham although Lizzie tries to remain in contact with her sister. They’re driving through the estate when Wickham’s friend Denny suddenly rushes out of the coach. This leads to the tragedy which has been foreseen in the earlier scenes, and which was expected, given the title.

Wickham is suspected of violence, and most of the rest of the story involves the investigations, although there are other side stories which turn out to be more significant than I realised at first.

I found the ending quite tense, and the conclusion perhaps a tad too neat and tidy, but it all works well even if ardent Jane Austen fans disapprove of it.

The rating is 12, possibly due to the violence, or the implications of immorality;  or possibly due to a fairly tame scene of intimacy towards the end of the book. Sadly there are no ‘extras’.

Definitely recommended.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's DVD Reviews

Philomena (Judi Dench)

(Amazon UK link)

I am pretty sure that Amazon recommended the film ‘Philomena’ to me because I have liked so many films starring or featuring Dame Judi Dench. I was given the DVD for my birthday a few months ago, and last night we decided to watch it.

The advantage of waiting some months before watching new DVDs is that I had entirely forgotten the blurb and reviews which I had read beforehand. I had even forgotten that the movie was based on a real life story, although as it progressed I realised that it almost certainly was. There was realistic film footage that was evidently of a real person.

The main character, Philomena, is brilliantly portrayed by Judi Dench. The actress must have been almost eighty when this was made, but we had no difficulty believing her to be the 68-year-old Irish Philomena, whom we first meet when she lights a candle in the church. Her adult daughter sees her crying, and Philomena shows her a photograph of a small boy, whom, she says, would have been fifty.

Philomena’s daughter had no idea that she had an elder half-brother, Anthony, who was adopted when he was three. She accepts this revelation in a way that seems rather too easy, and asks a former journalist, Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) if he would consider helping her mother find her son. Martin isn’t keen at first but he’s lost his former job, so eventually agrees.

Most of the film follows Philomena and Martin as they travel, first around Ireland and then further afield in the hope of finding some clues to Anthony’s whereabouts. This is interspersed with scenes from Philomena’s life as a teenager, played believably by Sophie Kennedy Clark. We see the young man she met and kissed, without any idea where this might lead. We see, too, the strict convent where she was sent by her family, who disowned her when she was obviously pregnant. There are scenes following the birth, which was traumatic in the extreme, and her years working in the laundry at the convent, seeing her son for only an hour each day. We also, eventually, learn of what happened when Anthony was adopted, and why she didn’t see him again.

Although billed as a comedy, it’s a bittersweet story of discovery, and also of the growing friendship between the unlikely pairing of a hard-nosed political journalist and an elderly woman who sometimes seems naive, yet has seen (and experienced) a lot of suffering. The on-screen chemistry between the two is excellent, with Philomena becoming more confident, and Martin realising that people matter more than stories.

To say much more about the story would be to give spoilers. We were caught up in the film almost from the start, finding it sad yet with some superb one-liners and comic moments to lighten the serious nature of the film. It was very powerful, demonstrating the cruelty that apparently wasn’t uncommon towards unmarried mothers in the 1960s, and also the power of forgiveness.

There’s one ‘extra’ on the DVD, explaining how the real Martin Sixsmith came to meet the real Philomena. Both of them were on the set and somewhat involved in the making of the film, although a book was written first to bring this kind of situation to the public eye. We found the extra, with commentary from most of the main characters and the director, as well as the ‘real’ people, to be almost as moving as the film itself.

The rating is 12, which I would say is about right. There are a few instances of ‘strong’ language, and some traumatic scenes, including that of childbirth; yet there’s no nudity or violence, and nothing explicit.

Very highly recommended.

Review copyright 2018 Sue's DVD Reviews

Just One Day (Andy Garcia, Vera Farmiga) aka At Middleton

(Amazon UK link)

As with most of the films we watch for the first time, ‘Just One Day’ was recommended to me by Amazon. I had not previously heard of it, nor - as far as I know - either of the main actors. So I suppose it was recommended based on the genre of other films I had liked, and I was given it for my birthday a few months ago. We decided to watch it last night, after quite a tiring day.

The story takes place during one day at the campus of an American university called Middleton. Indeed, the film is entitled ‘At Middleton’ in the US, which is rather more descriptive as a title. We first meet the somewhat uptight banker George (Andy Garcia) driving his son Conrad (Spencer Lofranco) to an open day at the university which George thinks is right for his son. Conrad doesn’t want to wear a smart shirt and tie, and is clearly rather unimpressed with the whole idea of going to Middleton.

We next meet Edith (Vera Farmiga) driving her daughter Audrey (Taissa Farmiga, who is apparently Vera’s much younger sister) to the same open day. However Edith is rather flaky, and really doesn’t want her daughter to go there, while Audrey is very determined and focussed. We soon learn that she has something of a crush on an elderly linguistics professor, whom she has been longing to meet after studying his books.

The two pairs meet when Edith drives into a parking spot which George had been aiming for, and the contrast between her flamboyant, bohemian attitude contrasts nicely with his formal, somewhat uptight personality. They’re caught up in a tour with rather a boring student guide, and the two parents get separated from the group, and join forces.

Initial antipathy makes way for a realisation that in some ways they are kindred spirits, despite very different characters. Edith persuades George to keep away from the tour, inventing an imaginary personal tour and lying without compunction to her daughter. They explore the campus on ‘borrowed’ bicycles, climb a high tower despite George’s terror of heights, join in various classes, and gradually realise they are extremely attracted to each other…

I liked the upside-down idea of the film: that the parents behave in ways that one might expect teenagers to do, while the potential students follow the group and don’t do anything dramatic. Their stories intersperse somewhat with their parents’ escapade. Audrey meets her idolised professor and hears some hard truths from him, while Conrad discovers some things about Middleton that he likes very much.

There’s some humour in the various antics that George and Edith manage during the course of just a few hours; there’s also some poignancy, and more than a hint that neither is particularly happy. The chemistry between them is excellent. The ending is left open, and I found that a bit unsatisfactory, but overall we thought it a well-made light-hearted film.

Rated 15 in the UK, and R in the stricter US. There’s one brief sexual scene (from a distance) and a few instances of strong language. No nudity, no violence, and I’d have probably rated it as 12 or PG-13. However there’s a drug-related scene, which is probably what pushed it higher; nothing disturbing, as it was meant to be humorous, although we thought that scene rather flat. Still, given the subject matter, it’s unlikely that anyone younger than 15 would be interested anyway.

Review copyright 2018 Sue's DVD Reviews

Enough Said (Julia Louis-Dreyfus)

(Amazon UK link)

I’m not sure why this film was recommended to me by Amazon. I don’t think I’ve heard of any of the actors before, although it fits well into the ‘rom com’ genre. I put ‘Enough Said’ on my wishlist after reading a few reviews, and I was given the blu-ray for my birthday earlier in the year.

Last night we wanted something light to watch, and this fit the bill nicely. Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars as Eva, who works as a masseuse. She is fairly amicably divorced, and close to her eighteen-year-old daughter. At a party she meets a middle-aged and somewhat overweight man, Albert (James Gandolfini), and while she feels no attraction, she quite likes him and a friendship develops.

The friendship is obviously going to lead to something more (it’s that kind of film). But it’s taken fairly slowly, with a lot of banter and some good chemistry that leads them to becoming close friends. Albert is also divorced, and also has a daughter who’s about to head off for college. So the two have quite a bit in common, as well as their shared sense of humour.

Meanwhile, Eva has also become friendly with a poet called Marianne (Catherine Keener) after meeting her at the same party, and then becoming her masseuse. Marianne is yet another divorcee, who spends a lot of time ranting about her ex-husband, whom she rather despises.

The main plot focuses on a somewhat unlikely coincidence, which would be a spoiler to reveal, and then a great deal of cowardice - or perhaps outright dishonesty - on Eva’s behalf as she doesn’t reveal something she has discovered that could drastically affect her new friendships. A side-story, never fully resolved, involves her daughter’s best friend.

There are some amusing moments in this, and the acting is believable enough, although it’s a bit of a strange film without a great deal of plot. We could relate to the trauma of seeing one’s offspring depart for university, knowing they’re moving on and becoming separate. But the complexity of relationships, and the acceptance of divorce and remarriage as ‘normal’ was a bit depressing, and some of the humour was not really to our tastes.

The film is quite fast-paced, under an hour and a half in all, and we quite liked it, though it’s not one we’d necessarily watch again. I thought the rating of 12A (PG-13 in the US) was about right; there’s no violence and nothing explicit.

However I wouldn’t want to watch it with a younger teenager. There are a lot of ‘adult’ references, and frank discussion of body parts and intimacies. There is also quite a lot of bad language; not the worst words, but still more than I’m comfortable with.

The blu-ray has an ‘extra’ containing outtakes, mostly involving one or other character laughing at inappropriate times.

Review copyright 2017 Sue's DVD Reviews

Sunshine on Leith (The Proclaimers)

(Amazon UK link)

I was staying with relatives. After an enjoyable family party, they suggested watching a DVD. From a pile of those I hadn’t seen, they suggested watching this one. None of us knew anything about it, other than that it included music from the band The Proclaimers. The front cover said it was the ‘feel-good’ film of the year in 2013, and it promised to be something a little different from the average rom-com.

‘Sunshine on Leith’ opens with some rather disturbing images of war, and I thought I might not like it… but the action quickly moves to the lives of two young soldiers (George McKay and Kevin Guthrie), returning to Edinburgh from a spell of duty in Afghanistan. One of them is in love with the other’s sister…

There are several subplots to this film, and I found it a bit hard to keep track of who was whom, as there were several characters, including large numbers of extras. There’s a new romance, an anniversary party for one of the soldiers’ parents (I never did remember which was which) and a disastrous proposal. There are several scenes set in pubs, and there’s also a traumatic side-story about an illegitimate daughter, recently discovered, which threatens to break up a happy marriage…

While the topics and settings are completely different, I was reminded more than once of the film ‘Mamma Mia’ featuring songs by Abba. It felt as though several of the scenes were set up in order to introduce a song, rather than because they added to the story - and, in classic musical style, everyone drops what they’re doing and the extras, who were hanging around drinking beer or just walking along the road, suddenly join in with well-executed choreography.

It was nicely done, and the finale - the one song we all knew - was very enjoyable. However not all the storylines were really resolved, and there were too many gut-wrenching moments for it to be a ‘feel-good’ film, as advertised. Still, it was a nice bit of escapism, worth seeing once.

The rating is PG, which I think is about right, although I doubt if it would appeal much to children. There’s a small amount of violence, nothing explicitly adult and not much implied.

Review copyright 2017 Sue's DVD Reviews

Delivery Man (Vince Vaughn)

(Amazon UK link)

I don’t remember where this DVD came from. It’s not something I put on my wishlist; perhaps it’s one my husband was given. Or perhaps it’s something we spotted in a supermarket in the UK, or even a charity shop, and thought it worth watching. Whatever the reason, it’s been in our unwatched DVD drawer for some time, until we finally decided to watch it last night.

‘Delivery Man’ is about the somewhat hapless David (Vince Vaughn) who works as a meat delivery man in the family business. He has clearly made some poor decisions in the past, and is far too easily distractible, as he regularly arrives late to work, or fails to make deliveries in time. On the other hand, he’s friendly and has a soft heart.

I rather wish we hadn’t read the blurb on the back, which gives away the huge plot twist that shatters David’s life when he learns something so unexpected that he doesn’t know how to deal with it. Since I had read it, I saw the early part of the film - setting the scene with his family, and girlfriend, and his general cluelessness - almost as filler, rather than relaxing and enjoying the story as it unfolded. I liked the scenes with his lawyer friend (Chris Pratt) and his four rather wild children, but was waiting for him to find out what I knew was coming...

The second part of the film follows him as he comes to terms with the incredible news he has been given, gets involved in a possible court case, and gets to know several individual people whom he would not otherwise have met. To say more would give away the storyline; suffice it to say that David appears as a likeable person with a very warm heart, a bit of a fish out of water in his family who are more practical and hard-working, albeit less intelligent.

It’s rated 12 (PG-13 in the US), which is about right given the nature of the story; I doubt if it would be of any interest to anyone younger, in any case. There’s a bit of bad language, and several innuendoes that are relevant to the plot. There are also one or two intense scenes and hints of violence, though none shown.

All in all, we enjoyed it even if the ending is somewhat predictable. The acting is all rather caricatured, but then the story itself is bizarre and unrealistic, and it’s certainly rather different from anything we had seen before.

Having said that, apparently ‘Delivery Man’ was a re-make of a former film by the same director, which was called ‘Starbuck’. We haven’t seen that, but some viewers of both claim that the original is better.

Review copyright 2016 Sue's DVD Reviews

Not Another Happy Ending (Karen Gillan)

(Amazon UK link)

This isn’t a film I’d ever heard of, but our son is quite a fan of Karen Gillan. She is probably best known for her role as Doctor Who’s companion Amy. Our son brought the DVD with him on a recent visit, so we could see it together.

‘Not Another Happy Ending’ features Jane Lockhart (Karen Gillan) as a successful writer who has been published by a small, almost unknown agency. Unfortunately, she’s the agency’s only success. Moreover, she is so pleased with how popular her book is that she’s become, apparently, too happy to write.

She’s living with a rather arrogant screenwriter (Henry Ian Cusick) who is going to write the film of her book. I found it a bit confusing that he looked rather similar to Tom (Stanley Weber) who clashes so much with Jane at the start of the book that he’s evidently going to fall for her…

The story is about Jane’s block and the tension in the publishing house, enlivened Tom’s efforts to try and make her unhappy to prompt her to finish her second book. There are brief forays into Jane’s difficult relationship with her father, providing some thoughtful background. There are also some surreal scenes when Jane’s protagonist apparently comes to life and starts hassling her…

The style was confusing to me, with some strangely angled shots that - so I was told afterwards - should have forewarned of what was coming, and some rapid passages of time to move the story forwards. There are mildly amusing sections, mostly involving Tom and his mate Roddy (Iain de Caestecker) as they coame up with increasingly dubious ways to try and make Jane miserable.

The film gives a few insights into life in a struggling publishing house, and the problems of an author who is feeling blocked. The acting is mostly good, although some might struggle to understand the often rapid and quite strong Scottish accents (switching, a little erratically, to a French accent as far as Tom is concerned).

The storyline is predictable, which isn’t a problem with this kind of film. The humour is mostly understated, which is also fine as far as I’m concerned. Bad language is minimal, and there’s nothing explicit, although one rather unexpected nude scene (tastefully done) is probably what took the rating to 12 (12A in the US).

We didn’t dislike it, and it made a pleasant evening’s viewing, but it was nothing special. If you like Karen Gillan it certainly involves her and she plays the role well. But unless you’re interested in the inner workings of a writer’s mind, this movie  might leave you a bit bemused.

Review copyright 2016 Sue's DVD Reviews

The English Teacher (Julianne Moore)

(Amazon UK link)

I don’t know why the DVD of 'The English Teacher' was recommended to me, but it sounded good from the reviews. I was given it for Christmas just over a year ago and it’s taken us this long to decide to watch it.

Julianne Moore stars as Linda, a single teacher in her forties. She lives on her own, and - according to the introductory voice-over - mostly enjoys her days, living vicariously in the novels she devours. She’s an inspiring teacher whose students enjoy her classes, and she’s fiercely independent. So much so that when an ex-student happens to see her, she rather over-reacts at first…

Michael Angarano co-stars as Jason, a young man who has graduated from university and written an incredible - if dark - play but has been unable to find anyone interested in performing it. His widowed father, he tells Linda, wants him to give up on his dream of being a writer and study instead to be a lawyer. 

Linda is determined to help out, and convinces her school to put on the show, no expense spared…

On the whole it’s light-hearted, the school production being caricatured and full of its own drama on the sideline. The main cast - including Greg Kinnear as Jason’s father - are excellent and believable. While the ending is somewhat predictable, there is an unexpectedly sordid incident - done with humour but still rather cringeworthy - that made me less certain about the likely outcome.

The storyline is not particularly original, but it’s nicely done on the whole. The rating is 15 (or an even more cautious R in the US) which I think is right: there was a fair amount of ‘strong’ language, which I could have done without, as well as a bit of violence and the rather obviously sordid scene mentioned above. I can’t imagine that this would appeal to anyone still at school; I would have found it embarrassing in the extreme when I was a teenager.

Still, we liked it, and thought it made a good light evening’s entertainment. So on balance I would recommend it.

The film is around an hour and a half long, and the only extras are some cast/crew interviews.

Review copyright 2016 Sue's DVD Reviews

Summer in February (Dominic Cooper, Emily Browning)

(Amazon UK link)

We came across this film when in the UK; it was on the special offers shelves at a local supermarket. Described as a powerful love story set in Cornwall, we thought it would make a good addition to our collection, although we had not heard of it before, nor of any of the actors.

We watched it last night with our twenty-something son.

‘Summer in February’, as we discovered after watching it, is a true story set in the early part of the 20th century. It features a group of artists who live, work and socialise in Cornwall. Early scenes set in a pub are probably realistic, but very confusing. Even as Brits we had a hard time understanding some of the accents. I should think they would be impossible for anyone from outside the UK.

Moreover, there are so many people in the pub scenes that it was difficult to work out who were the main characters. I nearly gave up watching after fifteen minutes. Perhaps I should have done so, as it turned out to be a very depressing film.

The love story angle isn’t, in my view, particularly well played. AJ, the main protagonist (Dominic Cooper), comes across as both cruel and shallow, while Florence, a hopeful young artist (Emily Browning), is naive and selfish. There isn’t much chemistry between them at all. Gilbert (Dan Stevens) is the only reasonable character in the film, and he gets a pretty bad deal.

Apparently the real AJ - also known as Alfred - Cummings was a talented painter of horses. This comes across in the film, but if his private life was half as unpleasant as portrayed, I wouldn’t want one of his paintings, no matter how good it was. I hadn’t previously heard of him or any of the artists shown.

Other characters - Florence’s brother, and another couple - seem almost irrelevant to the story. Presumably they were in the film because they were part of her life, but the plot seems disjointed, and nothing much gets resolved. Perhaps it’s meant to reflect reality too closely.

Still, the scenery is stunning, the settings believable, and I had a good feel for the place and the colony of artists who (apparently) existed there, giving Cornwall its name, later in the century, as a haven for art.

The UK rating is 15, which is appropriate given the subject matter. For some reason there's no US rating. Bad language is not too much of a problem; there are some uses of ‘strong’ words but in the context they were not too disturbing.

The violence is minimal, the intimate love scenes not shown directly. There is, however, some gratuitous nudity which doesn’t do anything for the film, and made us even less inclined to like it.

As is probably clear, we didn’t enjoy ‘Summer in February’ and I wouldn’t recommend it. But someone who likes true-story films with gorgeous scenery, and who doesn’t mind a tragic and depressing ending might like this better than we did. It's evidently very popular with a lot of viewers.

Review copyright 2015 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Love Punch (Pierce Brosnan, Emma Thompson)

(Amazon UK link)

We were wandering round a supermarket in the UK and spotted this - along with several other DVDs - on offer, at less than £3 each. We had never heard of this particular film. But we know of and like the two main stars (Pierce Brosnan and Emma Thompson) and we both like the rom-com genre, on the whole.

Last night we watched it with our mid-twenties son. He also liked the sound of it based on the actors and the blurb on the back. We were all quite tired and wanted something fairly fluffy: a ‘feel-good’ story that didn’t require too much thought. ‘The Love Punch’ delivered on all counts.

The story is about a divorced couple. Richard (Pierce Brosnan) is a wealthy businessman on the point of retirement. He’s starting to feel his age, with various ailments getting worse. Moreover, despite being something of a womaniser, he seems to be losing his touch. There’s more than a nod to his previous role as James Bond in this story, but it’s not necessary to be a fan of 007 or even to have seen his movies.

His ex-wife Kate (Emma Thompson) has also grown older, and is suffering the first pangs of being an empty nester. Their geeky son is already at university, their daughter about to depart for her own studies. I could empathise quite strongly with her mixed feelings of pride and misery as she watches her daughter drive away. Their good friends and neighbours, Jerry and Penelope (Timothy Spall and Celia Imrie) try to encourage Kate to meet someone new. Although she’s not particularly keen, she is determined to make an effort.

Then disaster strikes Richard’s business, and he turns to his ex-wife. From this point the plot starts to become increasingly surreal - at times, very silly - with the kind of slapstick humour that doesn’t usually appeal to me at all. But somehow it works. The script is amusing, the timing perfect, and the little digs at James Bond (even I know he’s the one who generally organises car chases…) add to the enjoyment.

It’s not the greatest film I’ve ever seen, but it was undoubtedly entertaining and kept us interested from the start. Emma Thompson is particularly good. The ending is somewhat predictable but left us with a happy-ever-after feeling that perhaps life isn’t as bad as it’s often portrayed.

I thought that the rating of 12 (PG-13 in the US) was about right. There was some minor bad language, and one or two instances of ‘strong’ language which weren’t too obvious. There were hints of bedroom scenes but nothing explicit, and some brief implied nudity that was oddly amusing.

I think one has to be in the right mood for this kind of film. Don’t expect anything thought-provoking or deep, and accept the silliness for an attempt to entertain.

There are no real extras on the DVD. There are some interviews with the main cast but they were, frankly, rather dull and we gave up watching them after a few minutes.

Recommended if you want something light-hearted and don’t mind silliness and low-key slapstick.

Review copyright 2015 Sue's DVD Reviews

Doctor Who, Series 7 (Matt Smith)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s taken us a long time - more than ten months - to watch Doctor Who, series 7. Partly this was because we were travelling for quite a part of the summer; partly because we knew this was the last series currently available on DVD. Series 8 started broadcasting in the UK as we were watching the last few episodes of series 7, but won’t be available as a DVD set for some months.

This is the last season starring Matt Smith as the Doctor, and the first with Clara (Jenna Coleman) as the Doctor’s companion. Each episode is complete in itself. There are no cliffhanging multi-parters. But there’s an overriding story arc about who exactly Clara is. This begins quite early in the season with some interesting and confusing scenarios, and is not resolved until the final episode.

The first part of this season - five episodes - were broadcast towards the end of 2012. The rest were shown in 2013. They followed on from the Christmas 2011 special, ‘The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe’, which ends with the Doctor making a brief visit to Amy and Rory, the Doctor’s married companions from the previous series. They then accompany him in the first few episodes of this series, overlapping with the time when Clara’s mysterious presence begins to make itself known.

There are daleks, aliens, cybermen, weeping angels and dinosaurs in this series, as in previous ones. In a sense it’s more of the same kind of story: aliens threaten, the Doctor saves the world (or, for variation, the Universe). But then, that’s what Doctor Who fans want. I find it astounding that the team continue producing such good scripts with variations on the theme when there’s really only one basic plot.

Matt Smith isn’t, in my opinion, as talented an actor as his predecessor, David Tennant. That doesn’t always matter; there’s an ‘otherworldly’ and somewhat scatty appeal to him which I was finally getting used to as the series came to a close. But in the penultimate episode when The Doctor is playing chess with himself as two distinct personalities, we felt that Tennant could have done this so much more convincingly.

While some of the scenes here and there were over-fast and too tense for my tastes (sometimes I shut my eyes if there was too much suspense), I enjoyed the dynamic between the Doctor and Clara, and I thought the final episode was particularly good. The mysterious story about her origins is very clever indeed; it kept me intrigued and had a very clever explanation in the end.

We learn quite a bit about the Doctor during this series, including the fact that his ‘real name’ is not just a secret but has immense power. River Song (Alex Kingston) makes a couple of brief appearances - I gave up even trying to understand the ‘wibbly wobbly timey-wimey’ dimensions - and all in all, we thought this another excellent series.

Review copyright 2014 Sue's DVD Reviews

Saving Mr Banks (Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks)

(Amazon UK link)

We had no idea what to expect from this DVD when relatives suggested we watch it with them. I’d seen it on Amazon and thought about adding it to my wishlist, but never in fact did so. I wasn’t even sure I would manage to stay awake for what, I learned, was essentially a true-life drama about the making of the film ‘Mary Poppins’.

How wrong I was! 'Saving Mr Banks' is a very well-made story, with Emma Thompson starring as the abrupt and somewhat bad-tempered PJ Travers, and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney. Set mainly in the 1960s, there are also flashbacks to PJ Travers’ childhood, with a happy-go-lucky impoverished father and a hard-working mother who struggles to make ends meet.

There are some tear-jerking moments along with some humour, and wonderful characterisation from the two main characters. Some of their interactions would have seemed unbelievable, had they not been based on what actually happened, as recorded for posterity on tape.

This movie gives a great insight into the way films were made in that era, as well as showing how songs were composed and also the way that an author clearly had a tremendous input into the script and general production of a film based on a book. I don’t know how true to life PJ Travers’ eventual capitulation was (that’s not a spoiler; we know perfectly well that a film of Mary Poppins WAS made, and was a tremendous success, despite the author’s reservations) but it was exceedingly well done.

The UK rating of 12 seems about right to me. While there's nothing indecent, or any mention of intimacies, and only the mildest of bad language, there are some scenes that could be quite disturbing to young children. I'm a little surprised that the US rating is only PG.

Definitely recommended to any adults and teens who have enjoyed the classic film … even though I found that the song ‘Let’s go fly a kite’ got stuck in my brain for the next 48 hours after watching 'Saving Mr Banks'!

Review copyright 2014 Sue's DVD Reviews