Tag Archives: 68

Jack the Giant Slayer  (2013)    68/100

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Rating :   68/100                                                                     114 Min        12A

A fantasy adventure film from director Bryan Singer (‘The Usual Suspects’ 95, ‘X-Men’ 2000) surrounding the legendary children’s tales of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and ‘Jack the Giant Killer’. Jack, played here by ‘Warm Bodies’ Nicholas Hoult, is forced to go on an errant hike up the mythic plant to rescue the young princess, played by relative newcomer Eleanor Tomlinson, whom he has, understandably, developed the horn for, accompanied by several of the perhaps less keen of the King of Cloister’s guards. Included in the entourage are old ‘Trainspotting’ (96) Scottish pals Ewan McGregor and Ewen Bremnar, along with Eddie Marsan, perhaps having acquired a taste for fantasy after appearing as one of the dwarfs in last year’s ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’, along with American Stanley Tucci as the next in line to Ian McShane’s throne. Tucci always invests in his roles with playful relish, and here is no exception with his tone perfect for the film, as is McGregor’s posh gallantry. Bill Nighy also voices the leader of the giants, with his accent wavering between the one he used for Davy Jones and a reasonably convincing Irish one.

The effects are good, I don’t believe seeing the film in 3D really adds anything, although that is hardly anything new, and the efforts made with the story to make it interesting are successful in a lot of ways, although despite good intentions a certain drag factor does creep in, which for adult viewers will probably not see this advance beyond the ‘likeable’ category, which is a shame. Overall though it remains an enjoyable fairytale romp, which should see both romantic hopefuls prove likeable and attractive enough to hold interest to the end.

Arbitrage  (2012)    68/100

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Rating :   68/100                                                                     107 Min        15

Dictionary.com’s definition of the word arbitrage is “Finance. The simultaneous purchase and sale of the same securities, commodities, or foreign exchange in different markets to profit from unequal prices.” for those of you who, like me, were not entirely sure what the title of this film actually means. It can also mean to arbitrate between parties, but it’s the financial context that is implied here, loosely describing the business transactions of central character Robert Miller, played by Richard Gere. The successful head of a multi-million dollar company, one that also employs both his children, his ledgers aren’t all that they would seem, which produces a ticking time bomb as he struggles to dig himself out of an enormous economic crevice, and the growing pressure cracks begin to fracture other areas of his life in the process.

Gere has played many similar roles over the years and he does a very good job here, and overall it’s a pretty solid, interesting film. The story plays with shifting around our sympathies to a small degree, and seeing this explored further, as well as tweaking the supporting roles to make them more involving, could have added an extra degree of intrigue and complexity. As it is, it remains a drama worth going to see, with decent acting support from Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, and up and comers Nate Parker (‘Red Tails’) and Brit Marling (‘Another Earth’). It is the first dramatic feature film to be written and directed by Nicholas Jarecki.