Film review: The Edge of Love, Teeth, The Escapist and Couscous | Arts

The Edge of Love

This much-awaited Dylan Thomas biopic starring Sienna Miller and Keira Knightley (with a screenplay by Knightley's mother, Sharman MacDonald) had the potential to be a puffy and over-trumpeted exercise in movie-star indulgence. But in fact it triumphs as a film of great beauty and Britishness. The film focuses less on Thomas's poetry and more on the women in his life (they are, after all, more photogenic): his wife Caitlin (Miller) and the lovely Vera (Knightley), his childhood sweetheart. It's 1941, and Vera has established a nice line in entertaining the troops, winning the heart of a captain named William Killick (Cillian Murphy). But when William trots off to war, Vera embarks upon a kind of windswept love triangle with Caitlin and Thomas (Matthew Rhys). The most startling revelation in The Edge of Love is surely Miller, who, after all the canoodling and boho-ing about, suddenly reveals herself to be an actress of some clout. The movie makes for a surprising - and rather lovely - start to the summer.
15, 110 mins

La Graine et le Mulet (Couscous)

In the southern French town of Sete, the elderly men of the substantial North African population still struggle to find their place in the community while their womenfolk establish themselves and their children drift away from them. Slimane (Habib Boufares) is one of them: in his 60s, recently made redundant, separated from his wife, Souad, and now living in a guesthouse run by his lover. Each Sunday, the family congregate at Souad's house to cook her speciality couscous: expect the usual kind of messiness heralded by a meal attended by many members of an extended family - the wrong things spoken aloud, and things left unsaid. Really though, this is the story of Slimane, and how he attempts to forge an identity for himself by refurbishing a boat in the harbour and turning it into a couscous restaurant with the aid of his family and, most notably, his lover's teenage daughter Rym (a brilliant Hafsia Herzi). There is a certain predictability to Couscous, and it reaches its close by a rather rambling route, but alongside its weary plot, it also carries an irresistible warmth.
TBC, 151 mins

Numb

The battle to carve out a post-Friends career continues as Matthew Perry makes a renewed attempt at the big screen. Here, he's playing a somewhat successful screenwriter named Hudson, who one day finds himself in a muddy depression that is knee-deep and rising. His precise condition is named 'acute depersonalisation disorder', and is as alienating as it sounds. On the advice of his despairing writing partner Tom (Kevin Pollak), he embarks on a trail of various therapies and anti-depressants. It is only when he meets the buoyant and beautiful Sarah (Lynn Collins), however, that he begins to remember the reason for living, and the reason he wants to be cured. Numb is in fact an autobiographical film for writer/director Harris Goldberg, and as such Hudson's illness is treated with gentle good humour. It makes for a slightly dour kind of romantic comedy that - while enjoyable - never fully gets off the ground.
TBC, 93 mins

Superhero Movie

Approximately one part parody to two parts fart gags, there's a slightly flabby, over-used feeling to this one-trick spoof of the superhero movie. In its short but nonetheless overlong running time, it manages to cram in a plot that mirrors the first Spider-Man film, as well as heaps of references to Batman, X-Men and all the other spandex-clad heroes we've come to know on screen. What's more, there are sex jokes, Tom Cruise impersonations and an appearance by Leslie Nielsen. There's a lot going on, in short, and yet it's one of those films that tastes of absolutely nothing. Nevertheless, Superhero Movie will surely prove a zinging success with the summer holiday crowd - just don't go expecting a flamboyant show of wit.
12A, 85 mins

Teeth

Teeth is a whipsmart movie - a kind of horror-comedy, Fifties B-movie pastiche, knowing teen flick, and, upon contemplation, perhaps a rare example of the feminist slasher movie too. Dawn O'Keefe (Jess Weixler, perfectly cast) is a member of The Promise - a Christian association that encourages teenagers to remain virgins before marriage. Through The Promise she meets the swoonsome Tobey (Hale Appleman) and the pair start dating in a chaste and Christian fashion until, one day, Tobey can contain himself no longer and forces himself upon his lovely girlfriend. It's at this point that Dawn is revealed to have - how shall one put this? - an anatomical aberration that explains the teeth of the movie's title. Needless to say, Tobey's first time is not quite what the lusty young fellow envisaged. From here on in, Dawn realises that she and her teeth possess the ability to wage some kind of vengeful campaign on the hormonal young men of her safe, suburban town. It's only at this point that Teeth becomes a smidge repetitive. The rest of the time it's a crisp, clever kind of movie.
18, 88 mins

Irina Palm

The magnificent Marianne Faithfull is Maggie: a safe, suburban housewife (now widowed) whose plans for a slow, dwindling retirement are suddenly thrown into disarray when her beloved grandson is diagnosed with a dreadful illness. With his family short of cash and the only treatment to be found in Australia, the prognosis does not look good. And so, in a resourceful effort to raise funds, Maggie heads to London and answers a job ad that leads her into the world of prostitution. It turns out Maggie (aka Irina Palm) is so skilled at her chosen profession that she is soon doing a roaring trade. And though she is undoubtedly in it for the money to begin with, Maggie soon finds a renewed confidence and a whole new social world through her work. There's something predictable about the plot of Irina Palm - it treads the same path as so many comedies from these shores do, offering a mixture of illegality and sturdy British humour. But what rescues the film from stodginess is Faithfull, who plays Maggie with immense charm and subtlety.
15, 103 mins

Sex and the City

Whether the big screen return of Sex and the City fills you with unbridled glee or a sense of unremitting gloom (and I have to say, I'm in the latter camp), there has been an undeniable fanfare surrounding the whole event. But can this movie ever hope to live up to its unofficial title of 'the most important chick flick ever'? Well, it rather depends on what sort of chick you are. If you were the sort to revel in the televised tales of columnist Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and her cocktail chums - career-gal Miranda, sex-aholic Samantha and prim little Charlotte - then it's chocks away for you: a clattering of high heels, fancy drinks and mucho shagging. There is a plot, too, buried deep in the two-and-a-half hours of this film, and it involves Carrie planning her wedding to Mr Big (Chris Noth), things going wrong and things going right, and a trip to Mexico. But the plot's not really the point here: the point is that, gee, there's nothing so important as your best friends. And shoes. And a walk-in closet. And sex.
15, 148 mins

The Escapist

In the tunnels that run beneath London, a group of convicts make their escape from prison, led by Frank Perry (Brian Cox) - a man intent upon rescuing with his drug-addicted daughter before it's too late. Frank has hand-picked his raggle-taggle bunch of companions not because they will make for a fine band of merry men, but rather to increase the chances of a seamless escape. We have the jail's Mr Bigtime, Rizza (Damien Lewis) and his unpleasant brother Tony (Steven Mackintosh), not to mention the dour Lenny (Joseph Fiennes) and the young whippersnapper Lacey (Dominic Cooper). Made on a budget, Rupert Wyatt's writing-directing debut actually benefits from the lack of copious locations and wizardry that the extra bucks might have allowed. It makes for an intense, restless movie, in which Cox, one of Britain's oft-overlooked actors, is really able to shine.
15, 102 mins

The Happening

With The Sixth Sense, M Night Shyamalan introduced cinema-goers to a new kind of thriller; one that was slow, subtle, sinister - and subsequently much-imitated. His work since then, however, has lacked sophistication, and sadly The Happening falls at the same hurdle. It stars Mark Wahlberg as a Philadelphia science teacher named Elliot Moore who flees to the farmland of Pennsylvania with his wife (Zooey Deschanel), best friend (John Leguizamo) and young daughter (Ashlyn Sanchez) when things start turning a bit strange in the city: glowering skies, people keeling over dead, mass suicides. As they hunt for a place to hide, Elliot first tries to work out what the heck is going on, and second to mend his marriage - the former often seeming less complex than the latter, and ultimately attributable to Nature's long-overdue revolt against mankind. It's not a bad idea for a movie; it's just that, despite the pedigree cast, The Happening is played out with such heavy-footed tedium that it's rather hard to care.
15, 91 mins

The Waiting Room

The exceptional Anne-Marie Duff is worthy of a grander vehicle than this likeable but rather insipid tale of a single mother. Anna (Duff) lives in south London next door to some wearisome, upwardly-mobile sorts (Zoe Telford and Rupert Graves) and makes a connection with a man named Stephen whom she runs into at the station (Ralf Little). He unfortunately has a mithering girlfriend (Christine Bottomley) who is desperate for him to settle down. Anna and Stephen share a lovely kindled warmth and a compassion that manifests itself in their attitudes to the elderly - Stephen is a care home worker who is variously advised on his romantic travails by his charges. It's all rather charming (if a little too clunkingly obvious in the plot department) and one can't help feeling it would make for wonderful television, but Duff surely has a great movie in her. And sadly this is not it.
15, 110 mins

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Anyone pining for the rip-roaring Indy films of yore may find themselves a little disappointed by this fourth instalment, shrouded as it is with a sense of flagging enthusiasm. However, while it may seem a little short of breath at times, it still has much to offer. Nearly 20 years after his last outing, it's now 1957 and our archaeological hero Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is attempting to locate a highly prized crystal skull before those dastardly Soviets (including the peerless Cate Blanchett as evil Russian operative Irina Spalko). Joining him are a young hopeful who might just be his son (Shia LaBeouf) and Karen Allen, who returns as his ladylove Marion Ravenwood. The film thrives when in familiar territory and only really goes awry when attempting to introduce fancy new elements - the biggest dampener being director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas's penchant for computer-generated foes which just can't compete with those wriggling insects and writhing snakes of the past.
12A, 124 mins

The Incredible Hulk

Hark! The sound of cinema cash registers ringing across the land! Yes, everyone's favourite raging man-monster is back. The story goes that nuclear physicist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) has been irradiated in a lab - an event that means every time he gets a little cross he turns green and transforms into The Hulk. As exciting as this is for General Thunderbolt Ross (William Hurt), who foresees a way of gathering The Hulk's DNA to spawn a generation of super-soldiers, it's less thrilling for his daughter and Banner's girlfriend, Betty (Liv Tyler), who soon gets a little weary of her boyfriend's fancy new tantrums. While Banner is on the run seeking a cure for his condition, a biochemical experiment is turning power-crazed soldier Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) into a malevolent force named The Abominator - which only The Hulk stands a chance of defeating. The Incredible Hulk is precisely how comic hero movies ought to be - the pace is whip-smart and zingy, the effects suitably zappy and the cast unarguably impressive. What's more it makes a fine companion piece for Ang Lee's Hulk (2003), and a worthy stable mate for Iron Man.
12A, 114 mins

Gone Baby Gone

For his directorial debut, Ben Affleck strikes a pose about as far-flung from his chisel-jawed hunk days as he could get. Gone Baby Gone is an adaptation of Dennis Lehane's novel about a missing four-year-old girl named Amanda McCready who has disappeared from her Boston neighbourhood. As the search spreads wide and the media frenzy grows, Amanda's aunt Bea (Amy Madigan) turns in desperation to local private investigator Patrick Kenzie (a phenomenal Casey Affleck) - an unlikeable, underdressed sort who raises as many suspicions as he unearths. But this film is much more than a whodunnit. Rather, it's a portrait of a community and a class that is largely dismissed by Hollywood: the welfare mother (an equally impressive Amy Ryan) who is druggy and wayward but not easy to dismiss, the run-down streets, the dejected and the down-and-out. And it's here that Affleck's direction shines - his portrait is never patronising or trite, but sensitive and somehow dignified. Excellent stuff.
15, 114 mins

California Dreamin'

Last year at Cannes, two of the most coveted prizes went to Romanian movies - the Palme d'Or was awarded to 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days, while the Un Certain Regard prize landed in the lap of California Dreamin', Cristian Nemescu's first and only feature film (the director died two years ago in a car accident, aged just 27). Set during the Kosovo war of 1999, it follows a group of US soldiers travelling with a shipment of Nato equipment who find their train journey abruptly halted in the small town of Capalnita, where the station master - seemingly a stickler for rules and regulations - actually harbours secret black market connections. Against a potentially bleak setting, Nemescu's tale is in fact a rambunctious farce. At times it proves startlingly funny, and at others provides a sad, gentle reminder of the social disarray in Eastern Europe at that time.
15, 155 mins