The Front Runner - Review

1988. Ah, the halcyon days of US politics. When the press publishing rumours of a reported affair was enough to have a candidate drop out of the race.
That is not a spoiler. It is the crux of this true life story of Senator Gary Hart. America's golden boy. The titular "front runner" for the Democratic nomination and the man many believed was capable of beating George WH Bush and be the next President... Unfortunately the man just couldn't keep it in his pants!
Jason Reitman's expose of this story is about more than just one man however. This captures a monumental turning point in how the press and the media reported on politics.
Gary Hart's position was that his private life behind closed doors did not affect his ability to perform his job or influence his policies. It was a view that until that point many agreed with, including the likes of The Washington Post (which actually makes for an interesting double bill with The Post), but there were others that believed that politicians needed to be held to a higher ethical and moral standard than others and if you were in the public eye, you were fair game.
Jackman is terrific as Hart. Using his natural charisma and abundance of charm to be the man who could be President when talking about policies (or women) but is equally stiff and awkward around cameras, with his frustration and anger reaching boiling point.
Reitman fills out his cast with regulars such as JK Simmons (once again on fine expletive dropping form), Vera Farmiga and a host of talent that would slot quite easily into a walk and talk segment on The West Wing.
However this is where the film finds itself lacking. It seems churlish to compare and contrast but while it does a perfectly adequate job of retelling the story in the style of a 70s/80s political drama, what it really needs (with the monumental change in the focus of the media at the time) is the satirical bite and razor sharp wit of Aaron Sorkin or In The Loop or The Thick Of It. Satires and comedies that have become worryingly more like documentaries.
On paper, this movie had everything you would for in a prestige Awards season film (great cast, seasoned director, based on a true story, timely political statement), however just as Gary Hart found out to his cost, sometimes that is just not enough and you go from The Front Runner to Also Ran in a heartbeat.

3 stars

BlacKKKlansman - Review

2018 is being widely viewed as a game-changing year in cinema. The #MeToo movement is starting to make changes behind the scenes in the industry; LGBTQ+ are beginning to experience more representation on the big screen (Call Me By Your Name, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Love Simon and Hearts Beat Loud); #52FilmsByWomen.
However when 2018 comes to a close, two of the most important films to be released this year will both feature "Black" in them.
Black Panther is the highest grossing film in the US, and second worldwide to Avengers Infinity War. It caused Hollywood to sit up and take notice that African-American audiences will come out in force to see strong, heroic black characters on the big screen. It represented a huge step forward.
Spike Lee's BlacKKKlansman also features a strong, heroic black character but looks back at the past and to the future to show that not much has really changed and there is still a lot of work to do.
Based on one of those incredible true stories that sounds too crazy to be true, John David Washington (son of Denzel) stars as Ron Stallworth, an African-American police officer who managed to become a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
A new recruit to the Colorado Springs police force in the early Seventies, the rookie takes a huge punt and calls up the local chapter of the KKK and establishes a rapport with them and gets invited to join.
Obviously he cannot attend himself so it becomes a joint operation with a white officer playing Stallworth while at the meetings. This responsibility falls to Philip "Flip" Zimmerman (the always excellent Adam Driver).
The investigation that follows is simultaneously hilarious and terrifying.
The humour naturally comes from the juxtaposition of this intelligent, streetwise man taking the KKK for a ride as he worms his way into the Klan over the phone. Even getting to the man at the top of the chain David Duke (Topher Grace).
Given what transpired in the investigation, it is safe to say that the KKK do not come out of the film looking like the sharpest tools in the box as the two Ron Stallworths run rings around them. In fact, there is a certain trio that make the Nihlists from The Big Lebowski look like criminal masterminds.
However Lee never looks to dampen or diminish the threat, power and hate that made them so dangerous.
This is evident in several scenes; A crosscutting between a Black Student meeting where a lawyer talks about a horrific case and the initiation ceremony for new KKK members that ends with a party and watching Birth Of A Nation; the naive Stallworth stating that America would never elect a man like Duke to political office and the ending of the film which jumps forward to real life footage of the Charlottesville protests from last year that saw the death of a protester by white supremacists driving through people.
It was a stark reminder that the fight is not over and the war rages on. For despite it being a period piece, it feels fresh and startlingly relevant as many of the phrases and language used e.g. "America First" generated awkward laughter in the auditorium due to its prevalence in Trump's campaign.
BlacKKKlansman is easily Spike Lee's best and most important film since The 25th Hour and it is a welcome return to form for one of cinema's most important voices. So Do The Right Thing and watch it on the big screen ASAP.

4 stars

The First Purge - review

Who knew that five years ago when The Purge was released, a high concept horror about a vision of America where all the violence and hatred was released in one night, that it would go on to become the most socially relevant and prescient franchise of the last decade?
Shockingly, what started out as a film listed as "Science Fiction" on Imdb.com, the concept and events witnessed in the four movies have become increasingly plausible and realistic.
As the franchise has grown and evolved, any pretence of being influenced by real world events has disappeared. While The Purge was self-contained and The Purge Anarchy broadened the scope of the action, in 2016's The Purge: Election Year had a female presidential candidate under attack from right wing Purge fanatics wanting to preserve their way of life.
In The First Purge, we witness the very first iteration of the experiment that would define a nation. It is localised to Staten Island and offers citizens $5000 to remain on the island during the experiment, along with higher incentives for active participation.
Much of the action is focused on one of the "Projects" and the African-Americans who live there. They are the ones that need the money most but what the Government don't count on is the sense of community within these areas. They would rather stay together in churches or host street parties dancing to "This Is America" than participate (okay, maybe not quite).
Yes, these people are angry. But not at each other, at the government.
When participation is deemed too low. The New Founding Fathers Association (NFFA) send in groups of white mercenaries disguised as the KKK and other racist organisations to wipe out large swaths of the population.
Only when their livelihood and lives are threatened, the community decides to fight back. Ending in a third act that sees a drug dealer D'Mitri (hey, drug dealers can be good people to) strip down to a white vest and go all John McClane in an apartment block.
I mean, it makes sense. Can't sell drugs to the community if there is no one left in the community!
Jokes aside, given everything that has happened (and is happening) in these communities in America over the last few years, this film feels chillingly real and that is what is truly scary.
"Just remember all the good the Purge does" i.e. makes perfectly adequate action/horror movies with a disturbingly authentic political subtext.

3 stars

The Post - review

Picture the scene. An angry, irate President of the United States is on his phone, badmouthing and threatening the nation's newspapers for publishing stories that show their decision making, character and government in bad light.

Ah, it's almost too easy isn't it.

Back in 1971, The Pentagon Papers scandal, 7000 pages of classified government documents that proved that a number of administrations had deceived the American people about the Vietnam war, saw the owner and editor of The Washington Post put everything on the line to fight for their rights under the first amendment and freedom of press. Not only to keep their paper going but for the rights of all newspapers.
Astoundingly, this is a fight that is still going on today in the era of "Fake News" and "Alternative Facts". Now, more than ever, the papers still have a duty and an obligation to hold our governments accountable. Because as editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) says "If we don't, who will?"
The decision to publish ultimately lies with the owner of the paper, Katherine "Kay" Graham (Meryl Streep) who has taken over the running of the family business. Originally passed over in favour of her husband, she assumed the role following his tragic death.
The Post might not win the big awards this year but it would certainly win the title of Most Socially Relevant Film of 2018. Even though it is based on historical fact, you couldn't have scripted a more timely and important film for the times we live in. For not only is the integrity and freedom of the press under attack but with the current #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, the role of women in society and business is going through a period of tremendous change.
When the audience is first introduced to Kay, she is not seen as an equal by the entirely male members of the board. She has men talking over her or mansplained to on a constant basis.
Yet she finds the resolve to take ownership of her paper and decides to publish the story, no matter the cost.
Sarah Paulson, as Bradlee's wife, gives an affective and moving speech about Graham's bravery in standing up to the board and choosing to run the paper in her own way and how hard it must have been.
"When you've been told time and time again that you are not there, it's hard to believe that's not true"
It's a quote that is still resonant today and it can be applied to the woman who have courageously chosen to stand up and hold men accountable for their actions.
The most shocking thing about The Post is not the fact that some 46 years on, we are still having the same arguments about the freedom of the press or that men find the idea of a female boss astounding.
No, the most surprising fact about The Post is that it is the first time that Spielberg, Streep and Hanks have worked together. This dream team coasts along, all within their comfort zone, and while they might not be firing on all cylinders, even an average day for this trip is a great day for cinema and ultimately delivers a stirring ode to the power of the press, a wonderful nostalgic look at the old school methods that reporters had to use to find their sources and publish the news (there was no Google and no internet). It's little wonder that there are so many scenes of people anxiously waiting on or receiving phone calls.
One even wonders if Tom Hanks himself supplied all the vintage typewriters used in the Washington Post offices?
It reminds us that we have come on leaps and bounds since the Seventies but there is still a lot of vital work to do. As evidence by the final scenes where a woman is relaying the Supreme Court's verdict that "Freedom of press for the governed not the Governors", only to be shouted over by a man who has received the information by fax!
It is also admirable that Spielberg ends the film with a scene that could have served as a post credit sting setting up the Watergate scandal and a Washington Post Extended Universe linking to All The President's Men.

4 stars