Gone Girl (2014)

Director: David Fincher
Screenplay: Gillian Flynn (based on his book)
Cast: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris
Music: Trent Renzor and Atticus Ross
Time: 150 minutes
Bottom-line: Brilliant direction and script, except for the climax

Few reasons I liked Fincher’s films were because they had good, entertaining stories, and because he knew to use just the right amount of violence in his films. Gone Girl, his latest film, turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. The mystery thriller film starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike in the lead roles is about how a man searches for his missing wife. What started out as a good thriller ended poorly, with a climax I still can’t understand.

Affleck as Nick

July 5th: On the fifth wedding anniversary of Nick (Affleck) and Amy Dunne (Pike), the former finds his wife missing from their house. The matter gains a lot of publicity because her parents were the authors of a children’s book series, whose inspiration was Amy. Detective Rhonda Boney (Kim Dickens) is assigned to the case, and initially she seems to believe that Nick is innocent. However, Nick’s unusual behaviour makes the public think that he killed his wife. Flashbacks show that their marriage wasn’t a perfect one, and that Nick and Amy often fought. Nick comes to know about Amy’s ex-boyfriend, Desi Collings (Harris), against whom she had filed a restraining order. After Boney finds signs of a struggle inside the house, it becomes clear that the whole “kidnap” of Amy was staged. The question is, who staged it, and for what? And where is the “gone girl”?

Pike as Amy

The first hundred minutes or so are brilliant. The plot has been built very well, with several twists rapidly coming up one after another. With the platform for the climax strongly set, I expected the film to become an edge of the seat thriller, but what I saw was completely unexpected - in the good sense and the bad. Wen the truth is revealed, I could not help but admire the ingenious planning of the whole set up and execution; Gillian Flynn is a genius to have thought of the plot! What I didn’t like is the happenings of the last half hour or so. (Spoiler alert!!) As far as the first half is concerned, she wants to stay away from Nick. Then what happens in the interview that suddenly makes her change so much that she would even kill for it? The smooth flow of the story became turbulent because of what was meant to be a “twist”, but to me, the last half hour was a letdown. Amy killing Nick would have been a better ending, for at least then it would be a proper revenge story – maybe she tries to get him arrested and when that does not work, she decides to take him on herself... or something like that.

Harris as Desi 

On the other hand, I feel that in Gone Girl, Ben Affleck gives one his better performances as an actor. I am not saying it is amazing or such, but just that compared to his other performances, this one was a lot better. But the real star was Rosamund Pike, who is also nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award this year. Amy’s character is the most complex of them all, and the Pike has portrayed her, with a variety of emotions and expressions, is simply stunning. There are several scenes where her acting is amazing - towards the end, the scene where she gets robbed, to name a few - and too appreciate it you have to see the film yourself. All the others have also done superbly, especially Kim Dickens, Carrie Coon – who plays Nick’s sister – and Tyler Perry – who plays Nick’s lawyer. The way the characters have been created is the highlight (as Nick’s lawyer says, “You two are the most messed up people I have ever known.”); in my view, “messed-up” is the perfect description for Nick and Amy!

David Fincher’s Gone Girl didn’t come up to my expectations – the climax messed it up, but in other aspects, especially acting, the film is excellent. There were few trademarks of Fincher I could spot, starting with the deeply messed-up characters, the way violence has been employed, the cinematography and the way he has shown the dark side of marriage. The film is smooth most of the way, and Pike’s performance is superb till the end. Gone Girl is far from Fincher’s best work, but overall, is a decent film. Read the book; you'll enjoy it far more than the film.

My Rating: 3.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 88%

The Imitation Game (2014)

Director: Morten Tyldum

Screenplay: Graham Moore (based on the book by Andrew Hodges)

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Mark Strong

Music: Alexandre Desplat

Time: 114 minutes

Bottom-line: A spellbinding film, with Cumberbatch at his very best

There have lived many scientists, mathematicians and inventors whose works have often gone unnoticed. Some of them have been honoured posthumously, and who knows – maybe several works of other famous scientists are yet to be discovered. One of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century, whose work during the Second World War went unnoticed for decades, was mathematician and cryptanalyst, Alan Turing. The Imitation Game is a biopic on this genius, and the film focuses particularly on his efforts during WWII. The film is nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. 

Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Alan Turing

Behind every code, there is an enigma. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing. The story contains several timelines, from 1928 to 1953, that is, from Turing’s school days till the year before his death. During World War II, the Nazis used an Enigma code to send messages. It was, at that time, the most difficult code to break. Turing approaches Commander Denniston, requesting an opportunity to try his hand at deciphering the code. Turing doesn’t get along with the other scholars and cryptographers who are already employed, and begins working on a machine by himself. He employs Joan Clarke (Knightley) who is also a cryptanalyst. Soon it becomes clear that only a machine, and not man, can crack the code, and that Turing cannot do it alone. How the group of code-breakers at Bletchley Park try and crack the Nazi code is what the film is about. 

The father of computer
science: Alan Turing

I think it has become quite evident from the nine episodes of Sherlock that Benedict Cumberbatch has a knack of portraying characters who are “smarter than the rest”. Here too, he may not exactly resemble Turing in looks, but his acting is impeccable. The way he delivers his dialogues (with that constant stammer too), his body language and facial expressions are perfect. Cumberbatch has a good chance of bagging the Oscar this year. Keira Knightley supports Cumberbatch with a superb performance as Joan Clarke. I liked the way the contrast is shown between Turing and Clarke – the former, eccentric, completely serious and indulged in work, while the latter is equally smart but more jovial. In both the film and in real life, the relationship between Clarke and Turing was short-lived. Knightley is nominated for the Oscar in the Best Supporting Actress category. The other actors portraying the code-breakers, including Matthew Goode, Alan Leech, and Matthew Beard have done well.  

Joan Clarke (left), played by Keira
Knightley (right)

In terms of accuracy, I feel that The Imitation Game is okay, and does justice to Alan Turing, though there are several instances of historical inaccuracy. The period settings and costumes seemed pretty accurate to me. The pace of the story is well-set, and I feel that whatever should have been conveyed in the 114 minutes has been conveyed. Now, Turing is an interesting man to make a biopic about because there are many things people do not know about him, and the film attempted to throw light on that aspect. But there is the sensitive issue about Turing being a homosexual. Nevertheless, Tyldum and Moore have done well to portray the incidents that are not too “insulting” or such. Few instances have been modified to give dramatic effect, but nothing else. For example, the machine here is named Christopher (after Turing’s childhood friend), whereas in reality it was known as the Bombe. Unlike the way Turing is portrayed in the film, sources say that in real life he had several friends, and a good sense of humour too. 

A quote I found interesting

The epilogue tells us that Turing committed suicide on June 7th 1954, aged 41, but the cause of his death is still a debate. The epilogue also tells that in 2013, Queen Elizabeth II granted him a royal pardon, and honoured his achievements. The sad part is that while Turing homosexuality became a public issue, the fact that his machine shortened the war by nearly two years – thereby saving thousands of lives – remained secret for over fifty years. The last two lines pretty much summarise the genius in Turing: Turing’s work inspired generations of research into what scientists called “Turing Machines”. Today, we call them computers. 

With Cumberbatch and Knightley putting their best efforts into acting, The Imitation Game stands a good chance of winning many awards this year. The script is excellent, and the film is a delight to watch. As one of the taglines of the film says: It took a man with secrets, to break the biggest one: Turing may not have been the perfect man, but I believe that, as I type this on my desktop, all of us should know the true brilliance of Alan Turing, the father of the modern computer. A nice, clean biopic, The Imitation Game is a film that you should not miss.

My Rating: 4.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 90%

Jigarthanda (2014)

English Translation: Cold Heart
Director: Karthik Subbaraj
Story: Karthik Subbaraj
Cast: Siddharth, Lakshmi Menon, Bobby Simhaa 
Music: Santhosh Narayanan
Time: 171 minutes
Bottom-line: Full of surprises, the main one being Simhaa’s performance!

Despite being more or less a typical masala movie, Jigarthanda somehow races past the other films to emerge as one of my favourites of 2014, because it has not one or two, but loads of surprises! This film by Karthik Subbaraj stars Siddharth, Lakshmi Menon, Bobby Simhaa and Karunakaran in the lead roles. Though the film is a longer than needed, it manages to provide all round entertainment mainly because it combines various genres: gangster, drama, comedy etc.

Karthik (Siddharth) is a short-film director, looking for an opportunity to showcase his talent. In one such reality show for upcoming directors, he gets rejected in the semi-final round, but a producer is willing to produce Karthik’s first feature film. However, the producer demands that the feature should be a gangster film. So Karthik goes in search of an actual gangster, and he comes to know about “Assault” Sethu (Simhaa), a ruthless, psychotic gangster in Madurai, who burnt a person alive for just writing an article about him in a magazine. Karthik decides to make a biopic on Sethu, and he goes to Madurai to do so, with the help of his friend Oorani (Karunakaran). Things go well initially, and Karthik also falls in love with a girl called Kayal (Lakshmi Menon). But soon, Sethu finds out that someone is spying on him, and Karthik finds himself in a deep mess, that could well ruin his life...

Siddharth as Karthik, and Lakshmi Menon
as Kayal

You would have seen posters classifying Jigarthanda as a “musical gangster” film. It is not a musical, in any way; gangster, yes. The film is not mainly about the doings of “Assault” Sethu, but about how Karthik manages to make a film about him. First we see how Karthik tries to get information from Sethu’s powerful but stupid hitmen, and when those fail, he tries to spy on Sethu himself, and this puts him in a very dangerous situation. How he escapes from there and how he is able to use the situation to his advantage is what the film is about. Jigarthanda is much more violent than any other recent Tamil film that I have seen, but that’s part of the thrill. You get the hint that there is going to be a lot of killing from the moment Sethu gives his entry. Spoiler: The twist in the story that Karthik shoots the film unknown to Sethu is similar to the theme of films like Velli Thirai and its original Malayalam movie, but still, till that instant, you would never have guessed that Karthik would do such a thing.

Simhaa as "Assault" Sethu

On the other hand, the film offers you plenty of laughs. The comedy track is not a separate one, but is cleverly interwoven with the main theme. In between the bloody murders you will also find yourself laughing, especially after the entry of the character of the acting coach. The romance between Karthik and Kayal is not given much screen time, though it affects the story. What might be bothering you now is the duration of 171 minutes – I feel that importance has also been given to character development, so the 171 minutes is worth it. A rigorous inspection would probably find about ten minutes of needless scenes, but other than that, the pace never slackens.

As far as acting is concerned, only two words come to mind: Bobby Simhaa. After Soodhu Kavvum and Neram, this is the third film I am seeing him in, and this could be his best performance for a long time to come. “Assault” Sethu could never been as terrifying as this if someone else had acted in place of Simhaa. Towards the end of the film, the nature of Sethu’s character changes, and Simhaa has done extremely well to change his acting style accordingly. Siddharth and Lakshi menon have done a decent job, but could have improved a lot. Karunakaran, in his third or fourth film, does well to provide humour.

Jigarthanda is not a film that will be enjoyed by people of all ages, mainly because of its violence, and not everyone will be amused by the jokes. But nevertheless, if you are willing to see any entertainer, then this would be one of the best movies of 2014 to meet the needs. It may start slowly, but never slows down after that. It is nothing more than a light-hearted, but effective entertainer that gives you enjoyment... just like a cup of jigarthanda!

My Rating: 4/5

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

Director: Brad Bird
Screenplay: André Nemec and Josh Appelbaum
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton
Music: Michael Giacchino
Time: 132 minutes
Bottom-line: Gripping action... impossible to miss!

Tom Cruise reprises his role as Agent Ethan Hunt in the fourth installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise. The 2011 film comes with more action, more thrills and a much tougher mission. The cast includes Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg and Paula Patton in the lead roles, with Anil Kapoor, Michael Nyqvist and Léa Seydoux in the supporting roles.

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt

After a brief opening sequence in Budapest, the story immediately shifts to Moscow, where Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is spending his time in a prison. Newly promoted field agent Benji (Pegg) and Jane Carter (Patton) rescue Ethan from the prison, and en route to receiving his mission, Carter tells Ethan that they are looking for a certain “Cobalt”. The task Ethan receives is that he should infiltrate the Kremlin’s archives to extract information about Cobalt. Something goes wrong, and Ethan is forced to abort. He barely escapes, when the Kremlin is bombed. He later comes to know that the Russians have held the IMF responsible for bombing the Kremlin, and so, the American President has initiated Ghost Protocol: the entire IMF has been disavowed. Analyst William Brandt (Renner), Carter, Benji and Ethan are all that is left of it. The team comes to know that Cobalt has acquired a nuclear launch-control device, and all he needs to launch the missile are the activation codes. The four of them are the only ones left to stop him from creating a nuclear war. The mission begins...

Jeremy Renner as Brandt

Now the key thing to remember is, when Tom Cruise does something, it always works out. Of course, this is not new... this has been happening since the time of James Bond, and even before that. When you create a hero who provides non-stop entertainment, the viewers often have to take reality out of the picture. But despite this constraint, MI: 4 is impressive in almost every other aspect. First off, the action: in my view, MI: 4 contains some of the best action sequences among films of this decade, in my view. I think the sequence of Ethan Hunt scaling the glass surface of Burj Khalifa is quite popular, even among those who haven’t seen the film yet. But the film also contains some other impressive stunts, like the sandstorm chase that follows, the Kremlin sequence, and of course, the finale between Ethan and Cobalt in Mumbai. Again, remember, when Ethan climbs the Burj, all of Dubai’s security are too lazy to notice him, or the glass panes he breaks. And Ethan is probably the only one who can drive a BMW i8 at high speeds on a Mumbai road!

Patton as Jane

To compromise for the superhuman talents of the heroes, the writers decided to give a tougher mission. I guess that’s what MI: 4 the most interesting film of the series, because it is about just four people who stand against nuclear war (as the tagline says “No plan; No backup; No contact; No choice”). The story moves at breakneck pace, and what I found amusing is the way the writers’ minds worked when they decided the stunts Ethan would perform: like the way he re-enters the Burj from outside, and the way he drives the car off the platform ten storeys down to disable the missile in time!

Simon Pegg as Benji

Tom Cruise has done a remarkable job in the film. He plays the lead role with unmatchable style and he does exactly what the audience want him to do: entertain them thoroughly, without a pause. Accompanying him with another commendable performance is Jeremy Renner. Simon Pegg does well do provide humour whenever needed. Only Paula Patton, I felt, could have improved a little bit more. But another interesting piece of information is that all the stunts were performed by the actors themselves, without any stunt doubles. The cinematography was top-notch, and in fact, Brad Bird insisted on using the IMAX format rather than 3D to get sharper images. The background score was superb too, and the title sequence of the film was also innovative.

The picture on the left is one that
 has been going around
for a while, showing Tom Cruise actually posing
on the top of Burj Khalifa's spire.
The second picture gives you an idea of how the
shooting took place.  

While Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol certainly requires you to start watching it with an open mind, which is ready to believe anything it sees, the film provides everything that you expect from an action film: stunts, thrills, car chases... everything – watch out for the Burj Khalifa sequence, in particular. This is one hell of a ride that you can’t miss, especially if you are a fan of action films.

My Rating: 3.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 93%