jbarnett76

..a bad school play. Poorly directed and acted, the narrative itself is constructed by someone who has no understanding of how narratives work. The best bit of this is watching actors, and I use that word quite wrongly, not respond in any way to the poor special effects that were obviously cobbled on later. How Patrick Stewart got attached to this, I'll never know, it is like he turns up at school narrating a school play, it is that strange. In order to post this review, I have to think of things to say, but this junk is not worthy, so I'm struggling. The acting is wooden at best, hammy baddie of course, this tries to emulate greater movies of the past but the director is not talented enough to even come close. Avoid.

This film has a tendency to wallow in its own self-importance, and doesn't really have anything substantial to say. Basically it's pretty dull. The message(s) of the text, if indeed there is one ultimately, has been said before and better elsewhere, it is curiously flat, plodding and insubstantial given the grandiose mise and tone the director tries to create. From a narrative perspective it's pretty clunky too; are all the characters in this film ciphers? I didn't relate to anyone and wasn't interested in how slowly they atrophy; there is something hollow at the core of this film that I didn't believe and didn't engage me.

It's not that I Am Love is a bad film exactly, being mediocre at best, it's just that it is nowhere near as important or lyrical as a lot of people would have you believe. So if you are planning on slipping into a coma for a couple of hours this could be just the ticket...

Overshadowed by the flashier Goodfellas on its release, this dark, brooding and deeply-satisfying thriller draws heavily on Shakespearean tragedy, Catholicism and the troubles, as well as more conventional gangster thriller narrative to deliver a giant film that will in time hopefully be considered as the masterpiece it is.

It is superbly made, lit and edited, and Joanou elicits magnificent performances from the entire cast but especially his three leads - this is Oldman's best work by some considerable margin. There is lots of attention to detail here - not least Kathleen's red dress during the Paddy's Day parade as the principals head for the Peckinpah-style denouement.

This is darker and more adult than any other gangster film and has a doomed hopelessness at its core: no-one can escape from what they really are. Consistently intelligent and understated, it is also superbly and movingly scored by the great Morricone, which almost lends a contemporary western elegy feeling to the film.

Quite simply superb.