Green Room - Review

The date Friday the 13^th is synonymous with misfortune, horror and a guy with a hockey mask. Replace the guy with the hockey mask with an evil Patrick Stewart and you have this week’s new release Green Room.

Following a gig in a Neo-Nazi bar, punk band The Ain't Rights find themselves in a Green Room that is witness to more horror and carnage than the aftermath of an Ozzy Osbourne or Justin Bieber gig.

Forget a bottle of Jack Daniels or 1000 brown M&M's in a brandy glass, the only thing on their rider is staying alive… and that is not a copy of the Bee Gees song either.

The band must survive the night and fight their way out in the hope that they might play one final encore. Patrick Stewart however, in a role that is more American History X than Professor X, is determined to stop them. In fact you could say he will “make it so” that they are a one hit wonder.

With all great horror films, writer/director Jeremy Saulnier wastes no time in effectively setting up the band dynamics before it all goes south and he ramps up the tension and violence all the way to 11 whilst shredding more nerves than guitar solos along the way to a bloody crescendo.

Having filmed Blue Ruin and Green Room, one wonders if Jeremy Saulnier will complete his own Three Colours trilogy with a red-based film. Perhaps Red Rum? A sequel to The Shining or a biopic of the Grand National-winning horse maybe?

4 stars

A Long Way Down - review

High Fidelity is my all-time favourite book, one of my favourite films and one of the best book-to-film adaptations of all-time.

A Long Way Down is a very long way down in terms of quality.

The suicidal "Topper House 4" consisting of a disgraced TV presenter (Pierce Brosnan), a single mother struggling to cope looking after her disabled son (Toni Collette), a party girl and politician's daughter (Imogen Poots) and mysterious pizza boy and cancer sufferer JJ (Aaron Paul) meet on New Year's Eve at the top of a tall building and agree not to commit suicide until Valentine's Day.

The film looks at the bond that grows between them when their story hits the tabloid headlines and whether or not this new found friendship will prove enough to change their outlook on life (and possible death).

All of the characters have problems but it is the film which has the biggest problems.

The tone of the film is horribly misjudged as it bounces around from light-hearted comedy to social drama to emotional melodrama to Brits abroad lark and never settles on one making it difficult for the audience to affectively relate and emote.

Plus despite each character getting to narrate a different part of the story and explaining their reasons, they never really show us the inner turmoil and struggle that has led them to the point where ending it all is the only solution for them.

Imogen Poots is the film's saving grace and the only one who manages to strike the right balance between comedy and tragedy, helped by the fact her character has mental health issues potentially brought on by a family tragedy and/or pills.

A "comedy" about suicide that tackles the subject matter with kid gloves? Unlike its protagonists, the film falls flat on its face.

1 star