Short reviews-A bittersweet Life

Revenge is sometimes a dish best served cold according to some and by the looks of things in Jee-Wonn kim's stylised thriller the main character completely agrees. We follow our protagonist Sun-woo(Byung-hun lee) from the daily works of an undercover job, working as an enforcer for the hotel company. Through traditional Asian cinema traditions this has a ring of a samurai story in partnership and structure. Sun-woo is a man who follows a strict regime of Self-discipline and obeys his master Mr Beak, played to an underwhelming affect by Jeogn-Min Hwang. Sun woo is giving a simple assignment, follow the girl, see what she's up to, if anything gets out of hand deal with it.He makes the wrong descion. Sun woo makes a bargain with the girl and her estranged lover- don't see each other and this will all go away. But the power of love, something sun-woo is unaccustomed to, cannot be stopped.

That's the force that eventually drives the story of A bitter Sweet life, a bravely cheap yet sleek crime drama. Continuing through the story and Sun-woon is now on the run.His boss has betrayed him. His colleagues are under Mr Beaks tiny little thumb. Through some technically dazzling feats of cinematography and camerawork that make you think how did they do that, we meet sun-woo where he will inevitably be: his death.He brakes out his code of silence to carry out cold hearted revenge. In a way that makes Jee-Woon Kims film at it's heart the perfect movie about a killer(s).To call the characters in A bittersweet life barren and emotionless is an understatement.There are scenes which are undeniably harsh, one scene which isn't particularly violent where someone is beating to death with a phone.Fine we see the justice,but these characters have not got any understanding of the word human compassion.It makes the villains technically great antagonist but not entirely compelling ones.

However on a side note it would be to simple to write this off as another crime thriller.This is a film which may look simple on the top but it's complexities lye underneath.There's an interesting shift with the gangster sub culture with the film "You can't play with life" is one line which seems contradictory,even funny when you take that against there job.

Sun-woo never let's his emotions get in the way of his work.He's a cooly calculated perfectionist.That makes him perfect for the job.But once the girl stops him in his tracks something human beckons in him.It's that twinkle of relief that he now has a purpose in life, which in turn (like last years sophisticated,high gloss euro thriller The American) Sun-woo becomes a killer with a heart.There are even ties to the traditions of gangster and samurai heritage, intermingled in A Bittersweet Life.The business that is run is illegal but legit, a type of inport-export service for the hotels rather unpleasant guests. Sun-woo is traditional when it comes to kicking ass.He,not until the end,never uses gun's, knifes or any weapons.Just good old fistie cuffs. Whether it was down to the director or the choreographer the film, when the action is on the screen, does a strangely realistic job of framing the action.The action throughout is unapologetic violent, so making the film watchable and pleasing is one triumph of the film and with an twisted wit (sometimes even quirky humour) at it's fingertip's it makes for a hard edged version of any R-rated film you've ever seen.

The action is seen as making these staged, almost acrobatic scenes seems natural.Everything is rough around the edges but feels like there was a great deal of work put into the fight sequences and this is without any of inducing sickness of shaky cam.A triumph of style over substance?.There are impressive shot's which are florid, kinetic and energetic all from the directors point of view.However i couldn't shake the feeling that something felt eminently cheap and forgettable, like a less memorable version of a John woo film. Recently i went on the IMDB page for the film.Underneath the first review there are always recommendations for other films, most of these are Asian crime dramas and two are from John woo. There will always be the notion that in every country there is a hack.In America there is Bay .In Asia........?.I wouldn't call Jee-woon kim a hack, i would just that the film is flawed.When the action kicks the film is thrilling, when it slows down, we are occasionally left with something half cooked.However, when a film tackles a romantic sub plot-this time down with beauty and grace contrasting the brutal and tired business he works for- and does it with this strong an execution, then we have adequate supplement to keep us engaged.It's flawed but the style, oh the the style.

Chalet Girl-Montage this for me please

It's a timely excuse to judge a book by it's cover and if a book had the phtoshopped cover of Chalet Gril the PR team would be running into marketing hell.But at the prise of taking a risk,Chalet Girl staring Felicity jones, pays off to bring a modest but enjoyable rom com to up hold the right of the cliche and what a matinee screening was made for.

Felicity Jones plays Kim, a skateaholic (don't get that mixed up with Ice skating though) a pretty,successful skateboarder who is taken out of the limelight of her career after the untimely death of her mother, the force that pushed her to the top of success, that has now forced her to rock bottom.Now working in fast food version of MacDonald's, Kim is told of the amazing work as a Chalet Girl.Whoopee now we know the meaning of the title. Kim travels to the alps of Switzerland where she unexpectedly falls in love but here's the catch he's to posh and rich for her and she's just another Chalet Girl.

Dreadful title, dreadful poster, yuck filled premise of a cataclysmic proportions with a predictable string of events that would make Katherine Heigl blush and it's filled to the bone with sappy, OMG sappy sentiment.It's looking like the perfect romantic comedy for the Hollyoaks generation, a squeaky clean rom com with nice country views. In actual fact this is just another romantic comedy, there's nothing really that separates this from No strings attached, well minus the sex.

The tradition of the rom com also isn't tarnished either and seeming that this type of predictable schmaltz is the standard of romantic comedies, Chalet Girl sticks to the path pretty faithfully. Eventually Kim learns how to snowboard in the Alps "A Chalet Girl who doesn't know how to Ski,what will they think of next" and we get the inevitable montage of the triumph over the the task which she had given up on because of the loss of her mum-every time she gets too high, the memories just flood back, right on time to. It's all perfectly cued to a pleasant, popular soundtrack of No 1 chart topping hits and adds to the appeal of the film as a pleasant,well meaning film,smiley,occasionally very funny and occasionally not very funny.

The cast is unusually strong for this type of film and you wonder why the likes of Bill Nighy were attached.Not that they aren't good, in fact the non comedic actor is surprisingly funny- as is the other Bill, Bill Bailey. The two main leads at least for this comedy you might actually like,see or want to fall for each other.It's free from the cynical jokes of Bell or Heigl and is all in all strongly cast. The top cast consists of Brooke shields, Bill Nighy and host of famous cameos but this isn't one for the stars of British celluloid, this is the film to show the works of it's fresh new comers.

Felicity Jones has starred in other films, noticeably starting off in Cemetery Junction and lastly staring in Soulboy and will probably be propelled to stardom later this year with the sundance weeper "Like Crazy". But it's the two leads who steer the film in the right direction. However, this "teen" comedy might just be to hip clashing with it's old school premise with references to Facebook "poke me" and the creation of what will go down as one of the most annoying brother in Laws in movie history (seriously in all your screen time and mutter it's a constant string of dialogue ,reduced to sex in a gondala).The predictability is the film's fashion, it's never daring to take risk's but possibly the biggest risk of all is that the film was made and that it finally works and is never directly offencive.

The film is released in time for Red Nose Day, so i propose that if your not in the mood for doing a run or that £5 donation wasn't enough then you might want to spend the price of £6.75 on a matinee screening.

** 1/2/****

THE LOW DOWN
Harmless fun for the people who are sick of the "new"

The Adjustment Bureau- Blade Runner gets a make over

Ahhh, here we go again. Another Sc-Fi thriller to define the year banking on the success of Inception. This is, in actual fact,an apparent mind blowing science fiction film according to the adverts "the most mind blowing film since Inception ". Well seeing as inception is that mind bending and game changing film, then "The Adjustment Bureau" hasn't got much competition. But this heady mixture of romance and popcorn cinema mixed in with a twist of Science fiction is based around the Philip K dick short story "Adjustment team". A Phillip K dick adaptation will have all the trade marks of his character- a heady and always metaphysical look at life, mankind and according to the Adjustment Bureau fate.

Not on the grand scheme of the plan, Matt Damon plays David Norris a Governor for the great city of New York, who has a chance encounter with Emily Blunts character Elise,who changes the hollow and vote obsessed Matt Damon to to find something else in his life. Moving on through time and he has another chance encounter with Elise. Nothing wrong with that, right?. Yet we know he should never see her again as The Adjustment Bureau (the guys who make sure everything happens according to "The Plan") bluntly put it to David. He now knows that behind every decision he makes, there is someone pulling the strings, if you ever spill your coffee again you'll know who to blame. They reason with him. He knows that he cant see Elise and he knows he can never be with her but he knows that if he leaks there secrets he will be terminated, wiped, gone from the face of the planet.

With this in mind, we know have to rules. 1- you can't be with her. 2-You can't avert from the plan. 3- If you talk, your history and lastly 4- if you go with her you ruin your dreams, your path and hers "Elise will be one of the top dancers in the country and eventually one of top choreographer's in the world, if she goes with you she will be teaching dance lessons to Six Year old's" says the perfectly cast Terrence stamp. The Adjustment bureau will delight some; a great concoction of philosophical ideas about our existence and place on gods green earth while remaining a highly original piece of cinematic entertainment. It's that rare moment with Hollywood films, a film that never sacrifices intellect for some overblown set piece or even better, a film that doesn't forget that it's audiences do have brains.

I like The Adjustment Bureau for that reason. The special effects that are used are impressive. The main way the bureau know everything and can travel so fast are through any doors and oddly enough those hat's that look straight out of an episode of Mad Men is what gives them their power, so much for blending in with the crowds. When the door's open, the special effects do take over, but it strangely feels natural and authentic, as if i were went up to a door on any day, turned the handle clockwise and i would be able to avoid the overpriced charges of the local transport system. Nolfi (oceans 12, Bourne writer and The Adjustment bureaus director) could have easily turned this adaptation into an overblown distopia, with tacked on 3D but instead we are in today's version of New York, no 3D and with a crackling script to add to the mix.The script, by Nolfi, allows the characters chance encounters to have a lasting effect and memorable feeling after. It's sincere and genuine, allowing it to feel that even though they have the unstoppable forces of the world on there shoulders, these two will find away to stop these unsuspecting figures, to be together.

It's another credit to Nolfi for allowing the story to feel unpredictable even though we know it is on a predetermined path. By the end we know that Elsie and David will be together but it's the question of how. Which door will they go through next?, how will he escape the bureau?. It's all questions after questions and mysteries within mysteries but that soon stops and Nolfi turns this mystery thriller about can you outrun your fate and turns into what you will do for love. On their first meeting you know these two are meant to be together and due to Damon and blunt their scenes are endlessly engaging, played out to excess but because of their chemistry, this possibly last encounter is memorable to David and the audience.

This is Phillip K dick in the end and the themes don't match the overall goal. It's never as smart as it thinks it is, can we out run are future or not isn't give the intellectual backbone it needs and sadly it runs into the troubles of Inception. It begins to follow it's on set of rules and turn the Bureau from menacing antagonists but to men in long coats dishing out compliments and some sort of half cooked answer to a much bigger question "why can't we be together?" asks David "It's part of the plan" says one of the Bureau. Instead of leaving it up for us to decide what will happen, creating a puzzle which we don't need explained, the film quickly allows us to follow only one path, canceling out all other scenarios.

Of course this is a film made for Hollywood and it fells like by the numbers film making, as if it were made by studio execs instead of it being a directors pet project. This could have turned out to be a different film and probably for better or worse. One side it could have been a simple yet effective love story or a heavy effects driven mess. You way up what you've got and you'll leave satisfied. An intriguing dabble into science fiction, always safe but always interesting.Like the well meaning Splice, it's a bit of compelling Sc-fi lunacy.

Damon are Blunt are the catalyst which starts of the mayhem in the first place. Damon is determined and fearless but possibly superficial in his goals but his emotions are genuine if not from the book of melodramatic cliches. Blunt is driven, ambitious and longing to feel in the right place. She's also the heart of the story and credit is due to the leads, who single handily turn this somewhat average thriller into a far more compelling and gripping film. Probably because we want them to be together.Instead of Inception for the romantic crowd it becomes the Manhattan for Sc-Fi crowd. But then you think "it's not Slepper".

LOW DOWN
Finally the first original film of 2011 and hopefully not the last. The Adjustment Bureau maybe isn't Minority report but as an idea, you can't help but admire the film for taking certain risks and chances on it's audience and Blunt and Damon add a classic charm to their tale and eventually the films tale of on the run for love.

***/**** (3/4)