FILM REVIEW: THE INFORMANT!

Roadshow Films
Now Showing

He has spectacles and he beefed up for the role, but there the similarities between Matt Damon and Russell Crowe's whistleblower characters, and their respective films, ends.

In Michael Mann's The Insider (1999), Crowe's character wanted to expose the evils of the tobacco industry. In Steven Soderbergh's The Informant!, Damon's Mark Whitaker, an executive with a corporation involved in agribusiness, wants to expose a pricefixing scam - or does he?

One of the delights of Soderbergh's film is that he never lets you entirely in on what's happening, preferring to reveal tidbits with every revelation that Whitaker makes to the FBI agents who have come to investigate his claims.

Another delight, and a revelation, is just how capable Matt Damon is with comedy. Granted most of his best lines occur in his stream-of-consciousness internal monologues, which generally have little to do with the onscreen action, but he renders a character who, however delusional, is completely believable.

After Che Parts 1 ans 2, and The Girlfriend Experience, Soderbergh must have felt like having some fun. And he does with The Informant! although at almost two hours, the continuous twists and turns become a little tiresome. That said, one has to appreciate his efforts to keep his films, and cinema generally, interesting.

Same goes for Damon, who could so easily coast on his all-American good looks and Jason Bourne heroics. The Informant! provides a means for challenging himself and could pay off big time with an Oscar nomination.

FILM REVIEW: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

Icon Film Distribution
Now Showing

Ten years ago, some budding filmmakers and three unknown actors headed into the woods armed with a handycam and a goal: to make a cheap-as horror movie with a high scare factor. Thanks to some canny online marketing, The Blair Witch Project was a box office smash and, at the time, the highest grossing independent film ever.

In 2009, the filmmakers have changed (writer/director Oren Peli) and there are just the two actors (Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat) but while the setting has gone from the woods to the seemingly inane domesticity of an apartment in California, the basic goal and result is similar. Almost.

I remember being genuinely scared watching The Blair Witch Project (I'll admit it, I'm a scaredy cat anyway) but while I was anticipating the big reveal during Paranormal Activity, I can't say I was ever on the edge of my seat nor did my hands ever shield my eyes.

There are some creepy moments in this film, slowly leading to that big reveal, but for the most part we are treated to an ordinary young couple dealing with a slightly greater problem than your average suburban tenants. We are also treated to a lot of sleeping: they must be the only couple with a video camera in their bedroom every night and not making a sex tape!

Made for just $15,000 and grossing over $100 million in the US alone, Paranormal Activity is a hit and no doubt will be here. Is it a great horror film? Perhaps not, but for the most part it delivers what it promises - cheap thrills.

OSCARS 09 REPORT #3: BEST ACTRESS

As is always the case, the Best Actress race has fewer contenders than Best Actor. That's more to do with good roles than good performances, but there have been some standouts this year with three (Mulligan, Streep, Sidibe) considered locks for nominations (*seen).

EMILY BLUNT – THE YOUNG VICTORIA*
After some scene-stealing supports, notably in The Devil Wears Prada, Blunt finally gets a lead role. The story of the young Queen's courtship and marriage is very watchable but not particularly inspired, much like Keira Knightley's The Duchess last year.

SANDRA BULLOCK – THE BLIND SIDE
Believe it or not the star best known for her rom-coms is considered a serious chance at a nom for The Blind Side, in which she plays a crusading mother of an adopted black child who excels at grid iron. Good box office for this feel good film doesn't hurt either.

ABBIE CORNISH – BRIGHT STAR*
As Fanny Brawne, the muse of poet John Keats, Cornish has the lion's share of screen time in Jane Campion's beautifully shot drama. While I wouldn't go as far as The New York Times, which compared her to Kate Winslet, this is certainly a career-defining role.

MARION COTILLARD – NINE*
While there is a bevy of beauties in this musical, early buzz says the French actress makes the biggest impression. Having won Best Actress just two years ago is of course a double-edged sword: she is fresh in the voters' minds but two from two may be too much too soon.

HELEN MIRREN – THE LAST STATION
Three years after winning for her portrayal of QEII, Mirren is back playing another historical figure of sorts, the wife of Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer, who is somehow going Support?).

MICHELLE MONAGHAN – TRUCKER
A very limited release in the US won't help Monaghan's chances but raves by the likes of Roger Ebert can't hurt. Monaghan plays a truck driver forced to reconnect with her estranged son. This year's Frozen River, perhaps?

CAREY MULLIGAN – AN EDUCATION*
I'll admit it, I am firmly in the Mulligan camp. I love An Education and that is mostly for this young Brit's wonderful performance. There's no histrionics or emoting, but Mulligan gets every nuance of her character's coming-of-age just right.

SAOIRSE RONAN – THE LOVELY BONES*
Freakishly good in Atonement (2007) for which she was a Supporting Actress nominee, here Ronan plays the main character, Susie Salmon, raped and murdered on the way home from school, who then proceeds to watch over her family from Heaven. Everybody loves a Saint, right?

GABOUREY SIDIBE – PRECIOUS*
While co-star Mo'Nique has the showier role as her abusive mother, the film wouldn't work without Sidibe's quiet, contained performance as Precious. Online clips also reveal that, despite the physicality, Sidibe is far removed from the role she plays.

MERYL STREEP – JULIE AND JULIA*
What can you say about Meryl that hasn't been said a thousand times before? This is a fun role but not lightweight like Mamma Mia! Streep becomes Julia Child: not just mimicry, she makes her real. Nomination #16 could earn Streep her 3rd Oscar, her first in 27 years!

FILM REVIEW: THE DAMNED UNITED

Sony Pictures
Now Showing Exclusive to Dendy Opera Quays

The best sports films are those that are about more than the sport in question. Soccer, sorry, football is the sport in question in The Damned United but it is not the main game. That would be Brian Clough and the wonderful performance by Michael Sheen.

It matters not if you know nothing of 1970s English football, of Clough, or of his doomed 44-day tenure as manager of Leeds Utd, then England's best club side. That's because The Damned United, written by Peter Morgan (who also penned The Queen and Frost/Nixon, both of which starred Sheen) and directed by first time feature director Tom Hooper (he directed the award-winning miniseries John Adams), is more concerned with Clough the man.

As played by Sheen, he is a self-confident, cocky son-of-a-bitch who knows how to hold a grudge. Believing he was snubbed by Leeds Utd manager, Don Revie (Colm Meaney), at a club game with Derby in 1968, Clough seems to make it his mission to make Revie pay. When the manager's position at Leeds becomes available in 1974, following Revie's becoming England's manager, Clough assumes the Leeds post and sets about removing all traces of Revie. He doesn't endear himself to his new team, when on the first day of training he denounces all their achievements of the past years as the spoils of cheating. He's immediately on borrowed time.

The film continually flashes back to 1968 and the fallout from that alleged snubbing, but it also reveals Clough's strong working relationship with assistant manager Peter Taylor (Timothy Spall), as well as Clough's constant run-ins with Derby club chairman Sam Longson (Jim Broadbent); Clough repeatedly buys players the club does not have the funds for, all in his quest to beat Leeds and Revie.

Regardless of your knowledge of, or love for football, The Damned United is worth seeing for the performances alone. Spall, Broadbent and Meaney are all good but the film belongs to Sheen. After strong performances in The Queen and Frost/Nixon, he again proves more than adept at getting under the skin of historical figures. It's not a flattering portrait of the man, but as with a top footballer, arrogance can often be overlooked in the face of brilliance.