madanmarwah

The things desperate people do when driven to a corner. You can see this movie mainly for the super acting of Vanessa Kirby as the desperate young woman who has to raise 25,000 dollars overnight to pay back to bank so that she does not get evicted from her home. She lives with her bad tempered unhelpful mother and her older brother who is afflicted with down's syndrome. She plans to beg, borrow or steal money in that order and actually does so during the course of the night. To this you can add selling the stolen drugs too. She is humiliated and harassed both physically and mentally as she goes about expressing her anger and frustration at not receiving money.

Director Benjamin Caron does a fine job of depicting the misery of Lynette as she begs and pleads for money from uncooperative female friends and toxic males who want something in return from the favour. His picturisation of the deserted mean streets and sleazy bars at night is very effectively done. And of course he extracts an award worthy performance from Vanessa Kirby. Both Zack Gottsagen as the older brother and Jennifer Jason Leigh as the mother have acted well too. Some fine night cinematography and suspenseful background music heighten the action and thrills.

A romcom which follows the beaten track and a plot which we have seen many times over. Nothing new in this story too. All said and done it keeps us entertained as it chugs along. It avoids tear jerking moments though a few cringey scenes have crept in. The one liners and thoughts have been done well.

A well done romcom which keeps you engaged. Anna a young American woman goes to Oxford to study. There she meets a handsome young man who is her poetry teacher and who takes her along for fun activities there which include having a finger licking juicy burger, eating pastry, drinking and dancing in the pub, taking part in a costume party, watching a boat race etc etc. They fall in love and have a rollicking time forgetting that they are student and teacher!

No one seems to be bothered too. A noticeable flaw in the plot. She is fond of libraries and books. He believes in" living deliberately" ( Whatever that means). When prodded to talk he says the English don't talk about their feelings.

Things get serious when she discovers he has a serious illness and also has a dysfunctional relationship with his father. She gets down to methodically sorting out the issues and improving relationships. They do his bucket list together which takes them to a lots of places like Amsterdam and Venice The ending is well done and does strike a chord.

John Abraham has given a fine performance as DCP Rajeev Kumar after his super acting in " The diplomat". Here in a story based on true events he plays a highly motivated police officer on a self propelled vengeance mission to eliminate a terrorist. This covert and unauthorized mission takes him to Tehran all this even while he is abandoned by his own country.

The movie's narrative has more of intrigue and emotions as compared to action and so the one hour 55 minutes feels like three hours. At some places the movie does drag though most sequences are realistically done and full marks to the director and John.

The director has done a fine job with the script which allows him to project the necessary seriousness required. Also justice has been done in the depiction of the geopolitical tensions. Full marks for the cinematography and background music which greatly enhance the effect of the dramatic scenes. Results of some fine location shooting can be seen. The supporting actors like Maanushi Chhillar, Neeru Bajwa, and others have chipped in with realistic performances which further heighten the drama and the tension of the scenes.