Elf (Will Ferrell)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s unusual for me to watch more than one film in a week. Almost unheard of two days in a row, but that’s what we decided to do in this post-Christmas week, when we’re both tired, it’s cold out, and we’re both feeling in need of some light-hearted entertainment.

So, what better than the Christmas movie ‘Elf’? I had seen this recommended many times but had not acquired it until a few weeks ago. We knew little about it, other than that it featured Will Ferrell as an oversized elf… but we don’t mind a bit of surreality and hope it would be fairly undemanding.

It opens with an introduction by Papa Elf (Bob Newhart), explaining what elves do, and how they all aspire to work in Santa’s toy factory at the North Pole. Until thirty years ago, he said, no human had ever set foot in the factory. Then the scene shifts back to a baby, put to bed by a nun in an orphanage, when Santa arrives with a sack of presents. The baby manages to climb out of his cot and crawl into the sack of toys, and is thus transported to the factory where Papa Elf offers to raise him.

The baby is known as Buddy, and never really understands why he’s so much bigger than all his friends, yet slower at making toys. He overhears a worrying conversation, then at last his father tells him the truth. Buddy sets out to the magical city of New York, to find his biological father.

Buddy’s father Walter (James Caan) had no idea that Buddy even existed. He’s a somewhat grumpy workaholic who has little time for his wife or son Michael. And Buddy is not just overly cheerful and somewhat hyperactive, he’s extremely naive. He has no idea how to interact with people… but he does have immense skill at Christmas decorating.

So yes, reality had to be suspended, and we didn’t worry too much about the strange visual effects that looked extremely old-fashioned. The film was made in 2003 and that’s really the only part that dates it. The acting is good, the resulting chaos and confusion quite amusing at times, and in the end it’s a feel-good encouraging story with an exciting climax as Santa’s sleigh stops working due to the lack of Christmas spirit.

There are places where the story doesn’t entirely hold together: Santa, after all, had been in his workshop, but no mention is made of whether he is human. He appears as more like Buddy than like the elves, but perhaps he’s a race apart. Buddy’s travels from the North Pole to New York are equally glossed over. He wears his elf suit and sits on a bit of floating ice, then somehow ends up in New York looking as fresh as ever. What did he eat? Where does he find money to buy things? Where does he keep his money, given that he has no baggage…?

I suppose the film is most often seen by families. Having said that, if a child still believes in Father Christmas, and hasn’t raised any questions, it might be best not to see this just yet. While there’s a ‘real’ Santa in the film, many questions are asked about why people don’t believe, and a ‘fake’ Santa, in a shopping mall, is unmasked. And the rating is PG rather than U, as there are one or two minor instances of bad language, and a few subtle innuendoes. I suspect they would go right over a child’s head, but as the rating suggests, parental guidance is recommended.

I thought it a good film overall, one that we’ll most likely see in another two or three years during the festive period, and would recommend it to anyone building up a collection of Christmas movies.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's DVD Reviews

Hope Springs (Colin Firth)

(Amazon UK link)

A couple of months ago we watched one of our DVDs with the title ‘Hope Springs’, and last night we watched the other one. Both are billed as romantic comedies, both are about relationships and are mildly amusing in places rather than hilarious - but there the similarity ends.

It’s a long time since we first saw the second ‘Hope Springs’, which stars Colin Firth as a young man called, appropriately, Colin. He is a talented artist visiting the United States, and we quickly learn that he’s nursing a broken heart. His fiancee Vera (Minnie Driver) has behaved quite callously, and he wants to forget her.

He stays at a motel managed by Mr and Mrs Fisher (Frank Collison and Mary Steenburgen) who are responsible for much of the humour. Fisher has a most unusual and expressive face, and is one of the first people Colin draws. Mrs Fisher introduces him to Mandy (Heather Graham) who is supposedly a grief therapist. But she is rather a confused person, and she and Colin are quickly attracted to each other…

The story is something of a classic love triangle - inevitably Vera arrives and Colin is caught between her and Mandy, both wanting him, while he isn’t entirely sure what he wants, and tries to hide things from each of them, which naturally enough causes them both to become upset with him.

There are some other interesting characters in the film - the mayor (Oliver Platt) who is smug and entirely self-centered, quite amusingly so when he meets Colin and has his portrait drawn. And there are shopkeepers who take an inordinate interest in Colin…this is small-town America at its best.

There’s nothing deep in the film, and much that is shallow, but the acting is good the chemistry between Colin and both the leading ladies is excellent, and we learned in the ‘making of’ extra that in fact Colin Firth and Minnie Driver had been close friends for years, something that came across well in the film.

Colin’s comic timing is excellent and while in places I winced rather than chuckling, we did smile several times, and I found some of the dialogue quite amusing.

Rated 12A which seems about right, though I might have opted for 15. There’s quite a bit of implied sex, though nothing explicit, and I don’t recall any strong language. It’s certainly not suitable for children; unlikely to be of any interest to younger teenagers either. But for us, it made a good evening’s light viewing.

Recommended.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's DVD Reviews

Parenthood (Steve Martin)

(Amazon UK link)

We wanted something lightweight to watch a couple of evenings ago. The last time we saw ‘Parenthood’ was over ten years ago, so we thought it could be a good one to watch. Steve Martin is always good value. The front of the DVD case shows him holding two children upside down.

We had entirely forgotten the story, though it was obviously about family life. I quickly realised that I had confused it, in my mind, with ‘Cheaper By the Dozen’, which also has Steve Martin as a somewhat harassed father.

In ‘Parenthood’, Steve Martin plays Gil Buckman, who is determined to be a perfect father. In the opening sequence of the film, we see Gil as a boy, rather neglected by his father. So it is quickly clear that he is trying to compensate for a less than perfect childhood.

Gil is married to Karen (Mary Steenburgen) and they have three children. Kevin, the oldest, is having a hard time fitting in anywhere. He’s quiet, and not particularly athletic, and is not helped by Gil’s rather pressurised insistence on coaching their school baseball team and putting Kevin in important positions.

Gil has three siblings. One of them is Helen (Dianne Wiest), who is an uptight single mother. She has an older teenage daughter Julie, and a younger teenage son, Garry. Julie is in a serious relationship with a young man called Tod, whom her mother disapproves of, and Garry keeps sneaking out of the house and behaving in other strange ways.

Susan (Harley Jane Kozak) is another sibling, married to Nathan (Rick Moranis) who is also determined to be a perfect father. They have just one daughter, whom they are raising to be as intellectual as possible. The little girl is quite cute but the story rather over-the-top. Nathan is very rigid in his thinking, and this causes stress with Susan who is more relaxed - or would like to be.

Then there’s Larry (Tom Hulce), the youngest and least responsible sibling, who nobody has heard of for a couple of years. He appears at a family gathering and is welcomed by his long-suffering parents. He has a surprise for them… but he’s unappealing, too much of a manipulator and narcissist.

There isn’t a great deal of plot as such; the film is character-based, and revolves around family get-togethers and other interactions between the siblings. Jason Robards is excellent as the rather grumpy father, who nonetheless loves his children - even if he has a hard time showing it. We had entirely forgotten that there’s a great deal of poignancy to the story, and some quite difficult issues are dealt with: absent fathers, teenage hormones, depression, and more.

There’s some humour too; overall, it’s a light-hearted film. Steve Martin is excellent at comic timing, and there are a few great one-liners that made us chuckle. There are some significant innuendos and discussion of sexual activities, which are what give this a 15 rating in the UK, despite no nudity (other than briefly with a small child), no serious violence, and only the mildest of bad language.

The pace is good, the dialogue mostly excellent, the acting either believable or deliberately caricatured, as appropriate. The children do as well as the adults without being twee or annoying.

Overall we enjoyed this film very much and look forward to seeing it again in another ten years or so.

Review copyright 2019 Sue's DVD Reviews

Did You Hear about the Morgans? (Hugh Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker)

(Amazon UK link)

We wanted something light, perhaps mildly amusing, and not too long. We picked out several possibilities from our drawer of unwatched DVDs, and decided on ‘Did you hear about the Morgans?’ starring Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker. I assume Amazon recommended this one to me because I’ve enjoyed other films with these actors. It was given to me for my birthday earlier in the year.

Hugh Grant plays Paul - at least, his character’s name is Paul, although he doesn’t seem any different from most of the other characters Hugh Grant has played. It doesn’t matter. His slightly self-deprecating very English style works extremely well in this, a story which is essentially about a marriage.

Sarah Jessica Parker is Paul’s wife Meryl, who has a high-powered business leading an estate agency in New York. She's a slightly ditzy extravert. Paul is also a business tycoon, and we quickly learn that their marriage has broken up. They have been separated for three months. Paul is much keener than Meryl to get back together, or at least to spend some time together. During the dinner which they manage to squeeze into their busy schedules, we learn a fair amount about them both, and some of the strains that caused them to separate.

Then they go outside and witness a terrible crime… and the perpetrator sees them both. Their lives are in danger, so they’re sent, by the local police, to a tiny village in Wyoming. It’s about as different from New York City as is possible, and Meryl is at first quite resistant…

There’s an underlying tense thread relating to the criminal who is determined to find them. Interspersed with their attempt to fit into life in small-town Wyoming we see brief scenes of their PAs back in New York attempting to get on without them, and we see just how easy it is for them to be traced after a couple of foolish mistakes are made…

However the majority of the film is about Paul and Meryl’s marriage, as they are forced together in fairly small quarters, united in their culture shock in such a tiny, relaxed environment which is such a contrast to their usual lives. Gradually they learn to adjust, in ways that are sometimes quite amusing in a low-key kind of way. There are some great one-liners, mostly delivered by a straight-faced Paul. Hugh Grant excels at this kind of thing.

‘Did you hear about the Morgans?’ fit our requirements perfectly. It’s not the greatest film, although I’m sure we’ll see it again at some point. But we enjoyed it, and afterwards watched one of the extras which showed the locations of the film and how they were chosen.

The crime thread makes it a bit different from the average rom-com. There’s some violence though no gore, and some quite tense scenes, not just the ones involving the criminal. The UK rating is PG which slightly surprised me, but I suppose that’s because of the lack of bad language and intimate scenes.

I wouldn’t want a sensitive child to see this. Some of the tense scenes could lead to nightmares in some young children. I would have rated it 12, and note that the more conservative US censors have given it a PG-13 rating. However, given the subject matter, I can’t imagine anyone under the age of about fourteen or fifteen would have any interest in it anyway.

Recommended.

Review copyright 2018 Sue's DVD Reviews

Hope Springs (Colin Firth, Heather Graham, Minnie Driver)

(Amazon UK link)

It doesn’t take much to confuse me. So, I was mystified by finding reviews of a film I had seen - the 2012 ‘Hope Springs’ starring Meryl Streep - and one I had no recollection of, starring Colin Firth, with the same title. I did realise fairly quickly that these were entirely different productions, and put the latter on my wishlist, as it sounded like a good film. We watched it last night with our younger son, who is in his 20s.

Colin Firth’s character is also called Colin. He’s an Englishman who is very talented at charcoal portraits, and arrives in a small town called Hope in the USA. We quickly learn that he’s suffered a painful betrayal, and is running away from his memories of his ex-fiancée, Vera.

He stays at an inn, owned by a friendly couple who send him a therapist, the vibrant Mandy (Heather Graham). There’s a strong attraction between the two, after a slightly shaky start, and Colin is beginning to feel that he can move on, when Vera (Minnie Driver) turns up, determined to woo him back…

The overall plot is fairly predictable, but the detail is unexpected, and beautifully done. Mandy is decidedly quirky with a host of problems of her own, and Vera is not the harpy she first seems. There’s a very good chemistry between Vera and Colin, which is explained in the brief documentary ‘extra’: apparently the two have worked together many times and know each other well.

And it’s a lot of fun. Some ‘rom-com’ films are high on the romance but have little comedy; others rely on slapstick or bawdy humour that appeals to a limited audience only. This one (mostly) gets it just right: the timing is superb, the script cleverly written. There are some obvious cultural misunderstandings that lead to humour, but most of it is understated and all the more amusing as a result. There are some decidedly silly sections too, and it’s not a thought-provoking or even memorable film - but we liked it.

There’s some lovely scenery - the autumn colours are there in full - but the story is character-based, and the settings less relevant. The three main players are excellent, with the minor ones portraying lovable caricatures who add to the whole. The pace is just right, and at around 90 minutes, it felt like a perfect length.

Rated 12 in the UK, PG-13 in the US, I think that’s probably appropriate. Most of the bad language is minor - and not excessive - and we only noticed one incident of so-called ‘strong’ language. There are, unsurprisingly, some bedroom scenes, but they’re tastefully done; people are shown in underwear more than once, but they are not directly shown doing anything ‘adult’. There are plenty of implications; however the storyline is such that I can’t imagine anyone under the age of about fifteen or sixteen being interested anyway.

The only ‘extra’ is a brief documentary featuring most of the main characters, explaining that most of the filming was done in heavy rain.

Recommended, if you want something lightweight and enjoy the romantic comedy genre.

Review copyright 2015 Sue's DVD Reviews

Parenthood (Steve Martin, Mary Steenburgen, Dianne Wiest)

(Amazon UK link)

I very much like films with Steve Martin, which is probably how 'Parenthood' appeared on my wishlist. The blurb suggested something fairly light-hearted, and sure enough it made a good relaxing evening's viewing.

Steve Martin stars brilliantly as the father of three, trying to relate well to his children, juggling parenthood with his job and also his wife. He has three siblings with very different attitudes to family life. One of them has two rebellious teenagers, one is over-protective, and is hot-housing his small daughter, and the third pretty much ignores his delightful son.

The film is entirely character-based, like most of my favourite books, with plenty of interaction between the various siblings, cousins and other characters. Of course they’re mostly exaggerated, but nonetheless, I could see at least a grain of reality in everyone.

There's humour (some of it rather risqué), and some pathos too. I just wished the topic of home education had come up with Kevin, the sensitive child who was very unhappy at school.

Although Amazon UK lists this as PG, our version states that it is rated 15. I assume that’s because of several innuendos and sexual references. But there’s nothing explicit, no nudity, no violence, and – as far as I noticed – no bad language. Perhaps it was down-rated. In America, the rating is PG-13. Unlikely to be of much interest to young children anyway, but very enjoyable for adults wanting something light, not requiring too much brainpower, and yet surprisingly thought-provoking.

Recommended.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews