DVD REVIEW: SLEEPWALKING

Icon Home Entertainment
Available now on DVD and Blu-ray

Props to Charlize Theron who continues to avoid trading on her good looks - which she could have so easily done after winning an Oscar in 2003 for uglying up in Monster - by chasing edgier, less attractive roles. She's also one of the producers of Sleepwalking where, as Joleen, a monster of another kind, she graciously plays support to Nick Stahl, as her brother, James, and AnnaSophia Robb as her daughter, Tara.

These three aren't exactly trailer trash but they're on the lower rungs of America's socio-economic ladder. And when James is saddled with Tara after Joleen skips town with her latest lover, things go from bad to worse. James struggles with the new found role of parenting and soon finds himself out of work, out of a home, and having to place Tara in foster care.

That situation doesn't last long, with James springing Tara from detention and the two taking to the open road. But with funds running low and police on their trail, they don't have many options. That's why James heads for the family farm, where he and Joleen grew up and couldn't get away from fast enough. Given that their father is played by Dennis Hopper, you just know things aren't going to get any better for the runaways.

For me, Sleepwalking suffers for not knowing exactly what it wants to be, starting out as the American version of a kitchen sink drama – the travails of the down-and-out – before taking another route when James and Tara hit the road, and yet another when we meet up with mad-eye Hopper.

The performances are all fine (Woody Harrelson and Deborra Lee Furness aka Mrs Hugh Jackman, feature in small roles) but for what end purpose I'm not entirely sure. It was obviously a project close to Theron's heart but I'm a stickler for a point and with Sleepwalking, I just don't see what she so obviously did.

FILM REVIEW: THE LAST STATION

Becker Film Group
Now Showing

In my Oscars 09 Report previewing possible Supporting Actor contenders, I pondered how Christopher Plummer, playing the role of Leo Tolstoy, could be a supporting character in his own biopic. The answer: Helen Mirren. As Tolstoy's wife, Countess Sofya, Mirren gives a towering, scene stealing performance, one that earned her a Best Actress Oscar nomination this year, and deservedly so. It understandably renders Plummer (also an Oscar nominee, the first time in a long career) a mere supporting player.

But The Last Station, directed by Michael Hoffman and adapted from the novel by Jay Parini, isn't so much a biopic about the great Russian author but a look at events in 1910, towards the end of his life, when interested parties were arguing over how best to carry on his legacy.

Sofya, Tolstoy's wife of 48 years, very much believes that her husband's literary estate should fall to her and their children; Tolstoy himself wishes to bequeath it to the Russian people. This view is shared by ardent Tolstoy disciple, Chertkov (Paul Giamatti), who uses the young and impressionable Valentin (James McAvoy), assigned to the author as secretary, as a spy in the house of Tolstoy. Chertkov wants the Tolstoyan movement to succeed long after the great man's death.

Valentin is in awe of his employer, although admittedly, a better Tolstoyan than the man himself. He's adopted both the tenets of vegetarianism and celibacy, the latter of which is sorely tested by Masha (Kerry Condon), a fellow follower and resident of the commune nearby to the Tolstoy residence. It's not long before Valentin begins to question his own beliefs, including the portrayal of Sofya, mostly by Chertkov, as an enemy of the movement.

Hoffman's film is played out in a theatrical manner with Mirren front and centre. But Plummer is equal to the task, his Tolstoy the perfect foil for Sofya's mood swings. “You don't need a husband, you need a Greek chorus!” he bellows at her. But there's love there, too. The scene with Sofya coaxing Leo to bed (with clucking noises, no less) reveals a romantic history spanning half a century.

And in spite of her histrionics (whatever the Russian equivalent of 'drama queen' is, Sofya is its embodiment), you can't help but feel the Countess is being hard done by. I would think that anyone, but especially her husband, would be somewhat more forgiving of a wife who not only bore you 13 children (this was long before TV and the internet, people), but also transcribed, by hand, your literary masterpiece - that doorstop of a book, War and Peace - six times.

For those accomplishments, Sofya deserves compensation. For making the Countess a melodramatic whirlwind of passions and yet a believable woman, Mirren deserves our praise.

DVD REVIEW: AN EDUCATION

Paramount Home Entertainment
Available now on DVD and Blu-ray

The three Oscar nominations for An Education (Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Actress) perhaps came too late for Australian audiences who, judging by box office receipts, stayed away from Lone Scherfig's wonderful coming of age film, An Education.

The DVD release in the wake of that Oscar acknowledgement should encourage more people to seek the film out, if for no other reason than the star making performance by Carey Mulligan.

Mulligan plays Jenny, a 16-year-old girl living in a London yet to find its swing (it's 1961) or be introduced to the Beatles. Like most 16 year olds, Jenny believes she is smarter than the adults in her life, including her parents, played by Cara Seymour and a wonderfully comic Alfred Molina.

Her plans for studying at Oxford are waylaid when she meets the much older David (Peter Sarsgaard), who introduces her to a more exciting life than she could ever have imagined and an education of a different kind.

Penned by author Nick Hornby, from a slim memoir by journalist Lynn Barber, An Education is a gem of a film, filled with wonderful performances by the likes of Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike, Olivia Williams and Emma Thompson.

But the film belongs to Carey Mulligan who perfectly captures every nuance of Jenny's transition from school girl to woman. Before Sandra Bullock's late entry into last year's Oscars race, the Best Actress category was a two-horse event between Mulligan and Streep (Julie & Julia), and either would have been a more worthy winner.

Just like Streep, I'm sure it's not the last time Mulligan will be up for such honours. I'm a card carrying Carey Mulligan fan; I'd advise you to get on the bandwagon now while there's still room.

FILM REVIEW: SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE

Paramount Pictures
Now Showing

Kirk (Jay Baruchel) suffers from low self esteem and it's not hard to see why. His family regularly invites his ex-girlfriend around for dinner, and along for the family movie night, with her new boyfriend in tow. That's probably why, when Kirk attracts the attentions of Molly (Alice Eve), a pretty but not silly blonde, he can't quite believe his luck, and is constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.

So, too, are his friends who tell Kirk that Molly is a “hard 10” and he is a mere 5. Apparently guys have a rating system, who knew? According to this rating system, you can't jump more than two points, so Kirk's budding romance is doomed to failure from the get-go, not helped by his friends' continual chorus of disbelief and Kirk's own issues.

Molly, who has a history of dating much hotter, manly men such as pilots, has decided that a guy like Kirk is the safer option. Again, not the best way to start a relationship, and not helped by best friend, Patty (Krysten Ritter), who believes that, while Kirk is a nice guy, Molly is certainly slumming.

I'm not sure if John Field Smith's rom com, penned by Sean Anders and John Morris, is trying to say anything deep and meaningful – that we're all 10's in the eyes of those who love us? – but it's just as false and misleading as all those rom-coms aimed at women that suggest someday their prince will indeed come along. Not that many men will be insulted by the premise here. Only in the movies can a guy like Kirk, a 6 on a good day (and this from someone who can relate), attract and keep a 10, although Alice Eve, with all due respect, is a 7.5 at best.

Still, Baruchel and Eve make for a sweet couple. And the film's kind of sweet, too, despite the genital and ejaculation sight gags, the cornerstones of these boy's own films. They're here no doubt to placate the teenage male who is going to be rocking up to She's Out of My League more for the com than the rom. Will they learn something in the process? Maybe, and if not about love than perhaps basic manscaping, so either way their girlfriends will benefit.