FILM: 3 Days To Kill
Cast: Kevin Costner, Hailee Steinfeld, Amber Heard…
DIRECTOR: McG
Writer Luc Besson has done some clever tweaks to the recycled story of a dying contract killer on the verge of reconnecting with his family. One last mission, a sexy handler with a deceitful agenda and 3 Days to Kill.
The film tries to ape several different genres: a family drama, a love story and an action spy thriller. However, many of these aspects fail to come together into something concrete. Unfortunately, the plot is so cliched that it quickly becomes a bore.
In this distinctive action-thriller, Kevin Costner plays a characteristic licensed hit-man Ethan Renner, working for the CIA. After learning that he is suffering from a terminal illness, he decides to give up his high stakes life in America and returns to Paris to finally build a relationship with his estranged wife Christina, whom he fondly calls “Tina” and daughter Zoey, whom he had previously kept at bay to keep them out of danger.
But he is soon tapped by a mysterious agent named Vivi Delay to identify and help assassinate two international marketer of terrorist weapons – Wolf and Albino – in exchange for an experimental and potentially lifesaving drugs. It is an offer he can’t refuse.
Juggling between his work and his family forms the crux of the story. The narration gives equal footage to both.
To break the tension and add a different comical dimension to the story is the track of black squatters residing in Ethan’s long locked house in Paris.
Apart from the regular shootout and hotel blasting sequence, there is a dazzling scene showing Ethan kidnapping an accountant on a Paris boulevard in broad daylight. With a gruff and unpretentious look, the charismatic Costner plays his role convincingly. He delights the audiences as an action hero and at the same time equally wows them as an endearing and lovable father. He plays each scene as if he meant it, with honesty and sincerity. Hailee Steinfeld as the stubborn and brash daughter is a competent actress and she holds her own against Costner.
Connie Nielsen as Ethan’s ex-wife is not just the love interest for Costner, hers is a solidly-written female character, but unfortunately she is not long enough on screen to make a strong impression.
Amber Heard as the mysterious femme fatale Vivi Delay lacks depth. Her constant wig-changing over-the-top approach takes away the seriousness of her character.
Eriq Ebouaney as Jules, the patriarch of the family that seeks refuge at Ethan’s place, is a cheerful personality and has easy-going charm, which makes his scenes pleasant.
The others who leave an impression are Jonas Bloquet as Zoey’s boyfriend Hugh, Tómas Lemarquis as the villain Albino, Bruno Ricci as the Italian henchman named Guido who in his desperation willingly trades off his mother’s secret spaghetti sauce recipe, and of course the kidnapped accountant.
Overall, with respectable action scenes and good production quality, the visuals are well laid and edited. Director McG has managed to put up a good show, but the film lacks the wow factor. And the fault lies in screenplay writers – Adi Hasak and Luc Besson’s cliched plot, which is steaming with some major unconvincing graph. (IANS)
FILM: August Osage County
Cast: Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Sam Shepard, Benedict Cumberbatch…
DIRECTOR: John Wells
Shame and scandals within the family have always been excellent ingredients for a robust film, and there is plenty of it here in August Osage County.
Based on a play by Tracy Letts, this is a character-driven film where the plot revolves around the dysfunctional family of the Westons who live in August Osage County.
With his three daughters Barbara (Julia Roberts), Ivy (Julianne Nicholson) and Karen (Juliette Lewis) out on their own, author and poet Beverly Weston (Sam Shepard) finds himself seeking comfort in the bottle while trying to escape from his cantankerous “cancer-stricken, pill-popping” wife, Violet (Meryl Streep). They co-exist while leading their own lives, till one fine day Beverly, without any warning or announcement moves out.
After Violet half-heartedly and grudgingly informs her daughters and her family, which includes her boisterous and rowdy sister Mattie (Margo Martindale) and her husband Charlie (Chris Cooper) of her husband’s disappearance, they congregate.
Each one comes with their own baggage of heartaches, pain and anguish. Barbara, the oldest comes with her soon to be divorced husband Bill (Ewan McGregor) and teen daughter Jean (Abigail Breslin). Karen the other daughter comes with her scummy fiance Steve (Dermot Mulroney). Also there is the cousin, Little Charlie and the live-in maid. Once cooped together, their anguish explodes exposing the angst and resentment that each member of the family harbours within them and against each other. The dining table is the battlefield where issues, problems and secrets are discussed and trashed.
Each character, from the oldest to the youngest is well defined with each one having a meaningful and crucial moment to display their histrionics. The nature, tone and graph of every personality is archetypal and follows a dynamic sequence that opens up the film to Streep’s showy performance.
While it is fascinating to observe the layers of this family unfold with brilliant performances from the lead pair, Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, it is the climax that seems unnatural, rigid and borderline over-the-top, a bit disappointing considering that the two ladies are such natural actors.
Juliette Lewis as Karen brings a much needed flightiness and amusing relief to the brawl, but her reactions are often tacky, misleading her act as a stereotypical bimbo whereas Julianne Nicholson as Ivy, who innocently and patiently waits to put up her defences when the conflict inevitably pushes her away from her family, seems to be lost in the farce. Being a matriarchal family, you realize that the men are relegated to the background and are wasted.
The terse dialogues that discuss traits and genes are packed with a no-holds barred vocabulary which flows freely owing to the character’s frustrations and good intentions. They evoke disgust, aversion, sadness and pity.
The camera elegantly captures every nuance of the mood swings and with a very decent production quality, director John Wells has managed to pull this play through giving it a life.
Overall, the film is a satisfying rich brew of drama.(IANS)