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

Morning Glory (Rachel McAdams)

(Amazon UK link)

We first saw the film ‘Morning Glory’ back in 2014, and had no recollection of what it was about. We did recall one or two scenes when we re-watched it last night, but had forgotten all the details.

Rachel McAdams stars as the young, ambitious workaholic Becky. She is an assistant producer at a TV company in the United States, and is considered by all her colleagues to be in line for a promotion. So it comes as a huge shock when she’s told that, sadly, they have to let her go. Someone else is being appointed as senior producer, and they have to make cuts.

Stunned, she starts applying for any job she can find - and is eventually offered one at a low-rated company whose breakfast show is not doing very well. She is convinced she can turn it around, although the staff are not exactly encouraging. Diane Keaton is wonderful as Colleen, one of the newsreaders - but Colleen is pretty fed up of the series of producers that have come and gone, some of them good, some of them not - none of them staying long.

Becky’s first move is to fire the other newsreader - or ‘anchor’ as they call them - due to his rather creepy suggestions. And then she’s stuck, needing someone else to work with Colleen, unable at first to find anybody suitable. But she does her research, and realises that Mike Pomeroy, a former serious journalist and newsreader, is under contract to her TV company, and is currently paid for doing almost nothing.

Harrison Ford is excellent as the grumpy, self-centred Mike who thinks breakfast television is beneath him. He cares about serious news stories, but nobody wants those when they’re having their early morning coffee. And he and Colleen don’t much like each other so their ‘banter’ - when he eventually agrees, reluctantly, to do the job - is decidedly unusual.

There’s much more, of course. All the staff throw their questions and problems at Becky in a way that felt quite overwhelming to me, and I was sitting on a comfortable chair just watching! Her energy is astonishing, her commitment and love of her work admirable, though they make it difficult for her to sustain any kind of relationship. I found her style somewhat exhausting, clearly intended as an exaggeration and effective in the way the story is told, with rapid scene changes, and snippets of Becky in many locations, mostly on her phone.

There isn’t a whole lot of plot, but it’s a different story from the norm; there is unsurprisingly a romantic element but it’s kept very low-key. Adam (Patrick Wilson) is great as the guy who is quite attracted to Becky - and even, somewhat, understands her compulsion to keep thinking about her job.

I wouldn’t class it as one of my favourite films, but it was well-made, with some great acting and superb timing by the principal characters. We loved the grumpy Mike, contrasted with the exaggeratedly bright Colleen, and appreciated some insights into a busy American breakfast TV show. It was also good to see Diane Keaton in a role very different from her more normal roles as a harassed but competent mother.

The rating is 12; I wouldn’t be comfortable showing it to anyone under the age of about 14 or 16, as the romantic thread does become somewhat steamy, though there's nothing explicit. But I can’t imagine younger teens or children would be the slightest bit interested. The only ‘extra’ is a deleted scene that wouldn’t have added anything much to the film.

Recommended for a light evening’s viewing that doesn’t need much thought.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Family Stone

(Amazon UK link)

When I was searching online for some Christmas films, one of the recommended ones was ‘The Family Stone’. I knew we had that on our shelves; apparently we watched it in January 2014 after buying it from a UK charity shop. But neither of us had any recollection of the storyline. So we decided it would be a good one to watch last night.

The film takes place over the course of just three days in the run-up to Christmas, with a brief epilogue a year later. At the start of the film, we see adult offspring arriving at the family home. Diane Keaton is, as ever, wonderful as a slightly harassed but very affectionate mother figure (Sybil Stone). Sybil is happily married to Kelly (Craig T Nelson) and they have five very different children.

Everett (Dermot Mulroney) is the oldest and he’s dressed, at first, like a 1940s American film star, in a suit and tie, looking slightly out of place in his rather bohemian family. He is bringing his girlfriend Meredith (Sarah Jessica Parker) to meet the family for Christmas. She is stressed and uptight, convinced everyone will hate her. She lacks any kind of intuition, tact or empathy, it appears, and continually makes unhelpful comments. It doesn’t help that one of Everett’s sisters, Amy (Rachel McAdams) met Meredith previously, and they did not hit it off at all.

Everett has another sister, Susanna (Elizabeth Reaser), who is there with her daughter Elizabeth (Savannah Stehlin) who must be about eight. Elizabeth is as lacking in tact as Meredith but in rather different ways. Their other brothers are Ben (Luke Wilson) who arrives late, dressed very casually, and makes caustic comments, and Thad (Tyrone Giordano), who is both deaf and gay, who comes with his partner Patrick (Brian White). These characters interact in ways that adult siblings might, with a deep underlying bond of affection but also a great deal of teasing.

Several subplots blend together realistically as we learn more about each of the family members and the dynamics between them. Meredith continues to make herself increasingly disliked, calling her sister in desperation and moving to a local hotel to stay with her. But the sister, Julie (Clare Danes) turns out to be a likeable, attractive person and Everett finds himself liking her increasingly…

There’s not a whole lot of plot as this is a character-based romantic comedy with the romantic element being fairly low-key, and rather muddled at times. But there are some excellent comic moments; the expressions on Kelly’s face are superb, and there’s a brilliantly choreographed (and very messy) scene towards the end which made us laugh - not with schadenfreude, but with the clever way in which one bump or messy surface leads to neatly to a further disaster.

We loved the way that the middle aged parents are so relaxed, on the whole. They accept their offspring’s love lives and friends and welcome them all, with plenty of food and places to sit, and a generally untidy but friendly appearance to the house. So their feeling that Meredith is the wrong person for Everett is all the more telling. We also loved the way that sign language is part of the way the family communicate with each other - something that would happen naturally when one of them is deaf.

There’s also a very sad thread intertwining; it would be a spoiler to say what it is (and actually we don’t know many details), meaning that the epilogue scene, a year later, is bittersweet. It’s delightful - with new members of the family, and their determination to carry on - and also very poignant.

We thoroughly enjoyed ‘The Family Stone’ and also liked seeing some of the ‘extras’ including a few deleted scenes, some; bloopers - mostly when Meredith’s character dissolves into laughter as she’s about to utter one of her tactless comments - as well as some characters discussing their roles, and the film in general.

Rated 12, probably due to several references to intimacy although there’s nothing explicit. Only minor bad language, and minor violence - one character slaps another a few times - but the film is unlikely to be of interest to younger children anyway.

Highly recommended.

You can find other reviews and more information about this film, including a short trailer, at the IMDb site: The Family Stone.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

Mean Girls (Lindsay Lohan)

(Amazon UK link)

A lot of our DVDs feature recently retired or elderly people, and none of them felt particularly appealing last night. So we decided to re-watch ‘Mean Girls’, which is set in an American high school. Rather the other extreme, and I recalled finding it a bit strange, despite our son having recommended it. We first saw it in 2009 and I had not seen it since then, so although I remembered the name of the main protagonist, I had forgotten just about everything else.

Lindsay Lohan is very well cast as Cady (said like ‘Katie’ with an American accent). She is sixteen, and going to school for the first time. She’s been homeschooled while her family has been travelling - most recently in Africa - and while her parents are decidedly strange and protective, she seems quite normal and likeable, if a tad naive, when we first meet her. She feels a bit nervous going into a large and noisy high school for the first time, and nobody seems to want to speak to her.

But eventually two people - Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese) befriend her. They look somewhat gothic, and are part of a clique of artists, or oddities, and they decided that Cady is something of a misfit too. They explain to her that the population of the high school is divided into many different cliques or groups: the sporty ones, the nerdy academics, the Asians… and many other stereotyped groups. In particular they point out the ‘Plastics’ - three attractive girls with lots of make-up who strut around as if they own the place. They’re treated as mascots for the sporty types, and set the trends for clothing. And they always hang out together.

Then one of the Plastics decides to adopt Cady, inviting her to sit with them at lunch time. They tell her all their rules, which seem quite petty, but when she speaks to her friends they want to use her as a spy, to find out exactly what the Plastics do, and what they talk about. Cady agrees reluctantly. The Plastics are not the brightest of students and she feels that their lives are rather selfish and frivolous.

She is in fact quite academically inclined and particularly good at maths. She’s working in a 12th grade calculus class behind a rather attractive guy, Aaron (Jonathan Bennett), and realises that in order to persuade him to speak to her, she must pretend to be struggling, and to make some mistakes.

Apparently these types of clique, albeit caricatured in the film, are actually a normal part of many American high schools. And they form the basis of the story, although the Plastics are the main ones involved. Cady is surprisingly prone to peer pressure, and starts not just dressing like the Plastics but behaving like them too, talking behind their backs, saying unkind things about people she’s come across, and attempting to turn them against each other.

It’s actually quite a thought-provoking film with some important insights into the power of words. It highlights some of the problems that can arise when people lie to each other, or refuse to accept those who are different in any way. Cady is excellent in her part, and her transformation - and the inevitable, eventual realisation of what she’s done - is entirely believable.

The school staff are shown as quite a mixture: the head and the maths teacher are encouraging and inspiring, although others are rather caricatured and unhelpful. There are some quite amusing moments, though nothing that made us laugh aloud, in addition to the important message underlying the film.

All in all it made a good light evening’s viewing and I expect to watch it again in another decade or so. Rated PG, and there’s nothing explicit, but rather a lot of scenes of ‘making out’ in various degrees of intimacy, mostly implied. So in practice it’s more suitable for older teenagers, who are the intended audience, as well as adults.

Review copyright 2021 Sue's DVD Reviews

Midnight in Paris (Owen Wilson)

(Amazon UK link)

I had never heard of this film, and it’s not one that would naturally have been recommended to me. However I happened to read a review of it on a consumer site, and my interest was piqued. It went on my wish-list and I was delighted to be given it for a recent birthday. We decided to watch it last night simply because it was the shortest of the ones remaining in our to-be-watched drawer.

‘Midnight in Paris’ starts with some very nice scenery and some rather too loud jazzy music. I quite like jazz in its place, and when I thought this was going to be the background to opening titles, I didn’t mind it at all. But no titles appeared, and the music became louder as the images of Paris continued for much longer than we’d have expected as an opening sequence. We had to turn the sound down at one point as the high notes were almost screechingly loud.

Then the story starts. We meet an American family who are visiting Paris. The parents - caricatured materialistic types - are there for business. Their daughter Inez (Rachel McAdams) decided to tag along, as did her fiancé Gil (Owen Wilson). Right from the start they seem like an ill-matched pair. He’s evidently a romantic, who loves the nostalgic feel of Paris, and the beauty of the buildings. He wonders if they could live there after they’re married. But Inez doesn’t want to live anywhere other than the United States.

Gil is a successful Hollywood scriptwriter, and Inez appears to care more for his success and wealth than for him as a person. She’s rather scathing about his current project of writing a novel, although he’s easy-going and seems to brush off her negativity. Still, when she decides to go dancing with some old friends, he says he’d rather go for a walk, as Paris is so romantic at night. He manages to get himself lost, and sits down for a rest just before the clock strikes midnight…

...at which point an old-fashioned car arrives and he’s persuaded to get inside. The situation gradually becomes surreal, as he finds himself amongst people whose novels he has admired… apparently he’s gone back in time to the 1920s, an era he believes reflects the glories of literature. I thought this was supposed to be a dream sequence at first, but he repeats the experience the following day, meeting famous artists as well as writers, and a very attractive girl…

I had to accept that, essentially, it’s a semi-fantasy plot, which includes time travel but without any worries about the potential problems. Whether or not these forays into the past were a dream, or a subconscious wish, or reality (so to speak) is left open. But the contrast is made between Gil’s romantic nature and Inez’s materialistic side. As he becomes more inspired to write, given advice by people who care, and begins to fall for the girl in the 1920s, his relationship with Inez deteriorates rapidly. And thank goodness for that. Right from the start I was hoping they would break up.

There’s an underlying message or theme to the film: being contented with one’s own era, taking life as it comes, going with one’s heart. There’s some humour, nicely mixed in with the story; once or twice we even chuckled aloud. The scenery and filming are gorgeous, the costumes stunning, and despite the oddness of the storyline, I was left feeling both nostalgic and uplifted.

Rated 12; basically due to several sexual references, although there’s nothing explicit, no violence, and no nudity. Mild language. Unlikely to be of interest to anyone under the age of about fifteen or sixteen anyway; it’s necessary to know the names of at least some of the best-known artists and writers from the 1920s in order to get the point of the forays into the past.

Recommended, if you like character-driven stories that are light, slow moving and somewhat thought-provoking. It's only 90 minutes long, but quite intense; the length felt exactly right.

Review copyright 2015 Sue's DVD Reviews

Morning Glory (Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton, Harrison Ford)

(Amazon UK link)

Always on the lookout for a new DVD to watch, I browsed through Amazon’s recommendations some months ago, and liked the look of this one. I put it on my wishlist, and was given it for a recent birthday. I watched it with my husband and one of our adult sons, and we all enjoyed it very much.

Rachel McAdams stars as the energetic Becky, who works too many hours for a morning television show in the US. Her workaholic tendencies are clear, and her colleagues are convinced that she will be promoted. It thus comes as a huge shock when she learns that she has actually been fired. Desperate for a job - any job - she leaps at the chance of directing another morning show called Daybreak with another TV station. It's a show which has been struggling in the ratings and may well be axed.

Becky certainly provides a breath of fresh air as she attempts to sort out the many problems and questions that the staff of Daybreak are having, and decides as one of her first actions to fire one particularly obnoxious news anchor. This means that she’s left with just one anchor - Diane Keaton is brilliant as the loyal but cynical Colleen - so she decides to recruit an experienced (but obnoxious) former newsreader. Harrison Ford is a wonderfully grumpy curmudgeon playing a part very different from his usual roles.

It’s all slightly predictable, I suppose; Becky naturally falls in love but makes a hash of it at first; she tries some experiments which have mixed results, and the grumpy anchor finds himself thawing against his better judgement. These are not spoilers as they are pretty much inevitable. There are some humorous situations although I would not call this a ‘comedy’ as such; the busy newsroom filled with equipment went right over my head, but appealed to my husband who has worked in similar situations.

The romance, too is not a huge part of the plot despite it being billed as a rom-com. I do wish the couple hadn’t been seen going to bed together; it seems to be a requirement for modern movies, although it was tastefully done with no nudity and nothing particularly explicit. There’s some bad language, too, which really wasn't necessary; I would have rated this as 15 myself but the censors chose a more liberal 12. I recommend that parents check the advisories at the iMDB website before watching this with young teens, although many will, no doubt, have seen far worse.

That aside, we thought this film was extremely well done, and it made an enjoyable evening’s entertainment for us all. The characters are nicely eccentric, and it’s a 'feel-good' kind of story overall. Definitely recommended to adults and older teens who like this kind of thing, particularly to anyone who has worked in the television industry.

The movie length is 103 minutes, and there are subtitles available in a few European languages. No extras, although there’s the option to turn on a commentary (in English).

Review copyright 2014 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Vow (Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum)

(Amazon UK link)

I don't remember where we acquired the DVD of 'The Vow'. Perhaps I put it on my wishlist due to a recommendation by Amazon. Perhaps we bought it somewhere when we were in the UK. We had no idea what it would be about, when we picked it up to watch, but hoped it would be fairly lightweight. 

Paige (Rachel McAdams) and Leo (Channing Tatum) are a young married couple who are still very much in love. Leo runs a recording studio, Paige is a talented sculptress. Then a horrible accident at the end of the first scene leaves Paige with the past five years of her memory completely missing. She does not recognise her husband, and is surprised to find that she is no longer engaged to someone else.

With several flashbacks, we see what Leo and Paige’s life has been like. We learn how they first met, and what happened when they got married. These scenes intersperse with her physical recovery from the accident, with her parents getting more and more involved.

It’s an intriguing premise, one which I would have thought was a bit unrealistic, but for the fact that this story is quite closely based on a real incident. The brain, as the doctors mention, is unpredictable - so apparently this kind of thing might potentially happen. It could have been rather maudlin. But this film this was well made, paced exactly right in our opinion, with excellent acting from the main characters and a little humour to lighten the underlying plot. Paige’s parents are perhaps caricatured to some extent, but that didn’t matter. Most of the other people involved have minor roles and I didn't even try to keep track of them.

Leo is determined to help Paige regain her memory. The film looks at the question of whether, under different circumstances, people would fall in love all over again if they had the opportunity. The vows they wrote and made at their wedding are mentioned more than once, and Leo's unselfish unconditional love for his wife is extremely moving. We found the film quite emotionally draining, perhaps because we knew that it was a true story (although we did not know how it would end).

The rating is 12A or PG-13, and that seemed about right to me. I doubt if anyone younger than about 15 would be interested in this film, but it’s not inappropriate for slightly younger children. The accident at the start is quite shocking although there's nothing gory shown. Other than that, there’s occasional swearing, mostly minor, and only one (rear) nude shot.

Definitely recommended, to men as well as women.

Review copyright 2014 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Family Stone (Sarah Jessica Parker, Dermot Mulroney, Diane Keaton)

(Amazon UK link)

I picked up the DVD of 'The Family Stone' in a charity shop in the UK a couple of months ago. The cover showed an all-star cast (not that I recognised anyone other than Diane Keaton) and the blurb on the back sounded appealing. Three of us watched it last night…

Sarah Jessica Parker stars as Meredith, a smart, but rather uptight and socially awkward executive. She is in a relationship with Everett Stone (Dermot Mulroney) and he’s planning to propose over Christmas. He invites her to stay with his rather bohemian family, which makes her very nervous, as she is convinced that they will all hate her.

Diane Keaton is wonderful as the laid-back mother in a long and happy marriage which has produced five children, now all adults. Dermot has two brothers - the rather slobby (but likeable) Ben, and Thad, who is profoundly deaf, and also gay.

There are two sisters as well: Susanna is married and has a small and precocious daughter, and Amy is not currently in a relationship. I found the two girls a bit similar at first but over the course of the 98 minute film, I felt as if I got to know them all, to the extent that I could recall all their names the following day.

The plot revolves around Meredith’s increasingly dreadful attempts at making the family like her, not aided at all by Amy, who makes every effort to make her look even worse than she is. So Meredith invites her glamorous sister Julie to stay, and Everett finds himself liking her very much…

I found the strong American accents slightly hard to get used to at first, but soon my ears attuned and it wasn't a problem. I very much liked the way that the family all used sign language naturally when communicating with Thad, at the same time as speaking. The acting, in general, is believable if (inevitably) stereotyped. There’s some slapstick in the kitchen, which is quite well done, even if it mostly made me wince rather than laugh; there are one or two amusing moments, and also some surprisingly heart-wrenching subplots which I was not expecting.

It was appropriate to watch at this time of year as the theme is Christmas; some secular Christmas songs are included, as is a great deal of snow and general festive decorating. While it wasn’t the greatest film I’ve seen, it makes a good addition to our collection, and is a little different from the average ‘rom-com’.

The rating is 12 in the UK, which seems about right; there’s no violence or anything overtly sexual, nor any seriously bad language, but there are plenty of innuendoes and sexual references. I am slightly surprised to find that the usually more prudish US censors have awarded this a PG rating. However, I very much doubt if anyone under the age of about 15 would be interested in this anyway.

The usual special feature are included - commentary, deleted scenes, and more.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews

Mean Girls (Lindsay Lohan)

(Amazon UK link)

I doubt if I would ever have chosen 'Mean Girls', which is marketed as a teenage film… but my son gave it to me, and said that I would probably like it.

He was correct.

Lindsay Lohan is extremely good as the home educated teenager Cady (pronounced Katie) who grew up in the African bush, but finally starts American high school at the age of sixteen. She finds it bewildering at first, with so many different cliques, but is adopted by two rather strange people. Then she  finds herself part of the ‘plastics’ set. These are attractive but not particularly intelligent girls who consider themselves to be role models and fashion leaders.

The entire thing was completely alien to me, so I could fully understand Cady's reservations. She begins by laughing at the idiocies of the ‘plastics’ but gradually finds that peer pressure makes its mark, and becomes drawn into their world. Unfortunately this even includes being nasty about some of the other students and teachers.

The plot is a bit bizarre, and I find it hard to believe that any high school could actually be that unpleasant. But Cady’s development as a character works well, and it was encouraging that a popular teen film is (basically) so positive about homeschooling.

Cady appears to be the most well-balanced and interesting person in her entire grade, seeing much of the behaviour of her classmates as barely distinguishable from the wild beasts she has come across in Africa. It was a pity that her parents are portrayed as so weird. But then again, they were less so than some of her new friends’ parents.

There were some moments in this film that made us laugh aloud, and we were glad that we saw it - it was very different to the kind of movie I would usually choose. So, all in all, I thought it an enjoyable and well made film... albeit not very deep.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews