LindsayFlim's reviews

I saw Kevin's face on the screen cover and immediately rebuffed it for weeks as some bull. This was a sad mistake. It is it the best thing he has done without a shadow of a doubt. The casting for this is wild, I couldn't get enough of the plot and performances so binged it in a single sitting.

It isn't the routine predictable foolishness you might be expecting, there is plenty going on with plot threads and real effort has gone into the writing, characters, pacing and presentation. Everyone gets to shine. This is very evident when it gradually begins to tie itself together nicely into a sophisticated and satisfying conclusion which didn't at all unfold in the way I expected it would.

Please don't let any second-hand opinions sway you away from this rollercoaster of entertainment. Give it a chance and you'll be glad you had. I'd written Kevin Hart off completely with his same old tired, idiot comedy roles over and over, but this is has pushed him into the beginning of a whole new lane.

Also, a mention to all involved in the production. The makeup, wardrobe, set design, sound mixing, grading, title graphics and soundtrack were not taken for granted here. All top notch. Will watch this again.

After decades of searching online, boot fairs, charity shops and asking random strangers, I managed to finally find this childhood favourite of ours. The feeling of finding it filled me with an intense feeling of euphoria over the anticipated nostalgia to finally watch it on Tuesday 20th August 2024 again after about 30 years. (BFI archives in Stephen Street, London).

Sadly, it was a letdown. I'm guessing it was good for it's time? I am clueless as to why or how I revered it so much as a kid. There are no themes a child could relate to or glean from it really, yet even as an adult now, the movie was a very lacklustre experience in almost all respects bar maybe the soundtrack. The scenes in Jamaica are real and a rare glorious snapshot in time with the likes of Volier Johnson (Maffy) and Ann-Marie Fuller (Puncie).

Most won't be able to get their hands on this film so I'll sum it up. Joanna Bell, a young Jamaican mother (played by Josette Simon) travels to Toronto taking a job as a nanny for a rich couple in the hope of permanently immigrating to Canada. She later calls for her (pretty intelligent) son David and tries to smuggle him in illegally with the help of his new headteacher. They fail and are deported back. The headteacher then joins them shortly after.

There's an awkward semi-fling that develops between her and the teacher; one of her friends lashes her son; her employers rip her off with some pay and she engages in some tiresome colloquialisms with her girlfriends as filler. That's pretty much it.

Erm, there isn't much else to say about it really. Glad I got it out of my system; it was a life achievement but no need for me to watch it again. I'll just re-read this review.

The effectiveness of this picture lies in the unsaid. It is testament to the actors who use body language to the fullest extent to convey their feelings, and down to the editor to put that across coherently.

It shows you how complex, emotional and downright daft we can be for these things we call relationships. The inward and outward dishonesty we have within this devout faith inside this human concept. A societal doctrine we all adhere to on the whole.

Time and distance are put up against love. People can believe or convince themselves that life is going perfectly fine but when you have space away from a situation, clarity of thought and feeling can prevail. When you are distanced from a situation, you can never truly feel connected to it, really.

The last 5 or so minutes are powerfully stated. Without as much as a single word, you understand exactly what both actors reluctantly agree upon. I put this work in the same vein as Blue Eyelids. Less is more type storytelling.

Someone mentioned in the comments it would be nice to hear from the "professionals" about this. Which professionals? Could you be referring to a Tony Robbins or maybe a Noam Chomsky? There are no professionals. He is the professional. You are the professional. Nobody was more qualified than him to make this film dealing with the subject of life.

It should make you think, whether you agree, or disagree. I think everyone who has experienced the death of a loved one, also experiences a new way of looking at life in general and this is what this message/story is all about. A focus on inevitable death. I can only imagine that someone who can feel themselves slipping away will have the most profound sense of clarity for their life purpose.

Lastly, I thought the very last shot of the film was so ridiculously hilarious after all the seriousness of the topic just before it. That ending in itself was testing. He made me question whether I should have even used my time giving a monkeys about anything from the last 90 minutes or so watch time - very clever.

It hooks you in tightly and keeps you at your seat edge. The tension is built solidly from a foundation of subtle social uncomfortabilities within an unlikely setting and activity which is very entertaining to watch spiral. I was sure this was going to be a 9/10 rating.

The film gets even better; jumps up a gear, and now forces you to completely yield to its attention when the first of a few moments of utter shock occur and everything begins to feel truly exciting as it continues to double-down on them. Why is this happening? Is it real? What will happen next? And when?

Right on the cusp, the film then randomly, out of nowhere, decides it's completely done with quality storytelling, just 2 metres from Mount Everest's summit, and simply rolls clumsily all the way back down to the floor in a shattered, confusing mess.

In this case, the destination should've been as important as the journey. What an anti-climax and sheer waste of an opportunity for something great. Don't waste your precious time. My 5 star rating represents a perfect score for the first half of the film only.

I haven't watched all the superhero films; not that big of a fan. Too much noise, cheese and flashy stuff everywhere. However, this movie without a shadow of a doubt, is one of the best I've ever seen. It truly is an incredible piece of cinema. I'm gobsmacked at how many boxes they firmly ticked off. Dwayne Johnson is perfect for this and delivers on every level.

I cannot for the life of me fathom why it is scored so low on IMDb. It makes me worry that tactical voting is occurring between studios or something. Who knows.

Don't allow negative reviews to rob you out of enjoying this modern, polished, entertaining and funny edge-of-your-seat experience. If the film wasn't enough already, the end of it puts a great big bonus cherry on top to leave you beaming with excitement and wonder for the rest of the day.

How on EARTH are they going to top this one now?

First of all the movie is only worth watching for Shane Paul McGhie & Da'Vine Joy Randolph. Shane shines in this and makes the movie interesting to watch by way of a stellar performance, aswell as Da'Vine's.

However, this was a truly awful performance from ricard jerkins who spoils the film with his forced, over-the-top acting and silly grimaces at every turn. He ruined this and therefore I have knocked off 5 stars.

It is pointless trying to draw any pretentious themes from this film as the film is simply about white privilege. Watch the film from start to finish and you will see a plot unfold that explores the truth about our society whether you agree with it or not.

Sadly this is the norm in the world we live in today.

I do not like gimmicks at all in anything, and this is not a gimmick in any way. The whole thing literally only works as effectively as it's does because it is a single take. I can't think of any other setting that could benefit more from being shot in this way. It was an incredibly insightful idea that enabled us to be truly immersed in that feeling of non-stop tension and hectic pacing.

The viciously vitriolic arguments, the insulting of your co-workers mums, the passive-aggressive 'really close mates' advice and the superficial apologies in passing - it's London through and through delivered by a great cast who made it feel real (except for that ridiculously OTT racist diner) Thank you.

If like me you thoroughly enjoyed the plots of 'A Separation' or 'About Elly' then I don't believe you really need to invest the time watching 'A Hero' as all three are essentially the same film. You may enjoy the scenery and shots, but to me the director is diluting the glory of his earlier films by rinsing the same moralistic formula over and over and over.

1. A simple mistake happens.

2. Huge investigation over blame.

3. Everything blown out of proportion with nuclear fallout.

It's akin to a stand-up comedy. I hear the jokes the first time and keel over laughing, but when I hear the jokes repeated in another special, it makes that joke now feel cheap and unexclusive as if the comedian lacks creativity or is just exploiting the success of the first iteration.

Rated this very highly, initially, but if they'd like us to consider both seasons as one body of work, I'm revising that rating.

I suspect the "Season 2" appendage was a last minute sneaky attempt to latch onto and capitalise on the success of the first brilliant season only once they realised how abysmally unentertaining a watch it would be. I don't believe they ever planned for a sequel so this is just a great example of how to completely ruin the legacy of something with shameless greed.

Once Rick Grimes left The Walking Dead, the show was immediately over - same here. Why even consider continuing something without the primary nucleus of its draw? Odd.

If one becomes aware that their child is missing, I cannot fathom, as a human being, that filming ANYTHING at all is necessary. It's a matter of life and death. Not necessary for a documentary, not for proof, not for art, not for anything. Surely the ONLY thought and activity one would engage in, is in finding their child, not switching on a camera first to find their child. 'Life' itself is far more important than anything committed to cinema for entertainment.

It seems this first element of the documentary was staged, and as such, I just cannot respect the seriousness of the film as a whole. It appears only to be designed to stand out from other films with the intention of having a deep psychological effect in the viewer - which is quite insulting.

The worst movie ever made. I can't believe that actors of this calibre in 2013 would sign up to this complete stupidness. What a waste of everyone's time. It's a pointless embarrassment.

It's refreshing to see Alex Descas in a leading role or in anything else for that matter. The story is quite understated but still engaging and the characters in general work well together. Although it felt kinda long, it wasn't painful. I thought the ending was a little bit odd and seemed quite unnecessary - I suppose I didn't really understand it and there didn't seem to be any real associated clues along the way to warrant such an ending. Anyhow, not a bad film.

This is as pompous as a piece of art with a single down brushstroke that happens to cost millions. The cinematography isn't anything special or unusual at all. Many shots are simply repeated and the overuse of weak sunsets are just corny gimmicks to mask the lack of any defined plot of substance. The wide angle POV van shot is the only decent shot in the film. This is a long drone of boredom. Yes, there are a couple of reflective conversations scattered about but to spread those over a feature length? A movie should be entertaining if a human is to spend 2 hours plus of its life sitting and giving it its full intention. Not sure I trust the Oscars anymore after this. I only pay to be entertained, nothing else. Russell.. no I was not entertained much at all here mate.

I found this difficult to follow since the dialogue is unforgivingly French and thus the speed of it was not conducive for reading all the lines with subtitles. Would have been better for the English release if they dubbed the whole movie in English, like they did to reel us in with the English dubbed trailer.

Well at least Beyoncé wasn't crammed in there aswell with all of that strong powerful singing foolishness to top it all off. Can you imagine?

The opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. That's how I felt after this sequel. Bleugh, next!

What I have just seen explains, in full, why this movie is rated so pitifully and by so few and why it didn't make much headlines or win any notable awards. This achieves a perfect score, not because of the gritty cinematography, or the lighting or even the razor sharp acting, but because of just how EXPLICITLY it lays out the HONEST TRUTH about American society.

The films message is so powerfully effective that it renders all of these reviews here (positive or negative) completely useless. Those who have experienced this piece of work from start to finish and paid attention to every line, will know exactly what I'm talking about. Every point of view you need is in the screenplay. It really doesn't need any further dialogue.

This was quite an original take on the common subject of infidelity. The plot was very well thought out; interesting and the pacing kept me engaged from the very beginning. It would throw me off from any predictability in fairly creative ways at well spaced out intervals throughout its nice length and the acting was of a decent standard from everyone too. The ending sealed this movie off really nicely and the moral lessons are sound.

On another note, I am so impressed by Nollywood movies nowadays. The storytelling and themes in general are leading the way for "black movies" because they have simply advanced way past the obvious notion that the cast or setting is black-orientated and instead they just focus more on everyday life without those patronising caricatures. So refreshing!

Quick note the editor: Less warp stabiliser.

Both of these actors must feel as though their careers are finished to have turned up to set each day shooting a plot like this.

I feel so embarrassed to have endured this patronising mess. My lady gave up after 30 minutes and told me EXACTLY what would happen and that she's done with it. I decided to persevere as I strongly believed that in 2020 there MUST be some sort of clever twist to spin it off course or shatter the textbook format before the end.... Their absolutely wasn't any.

What a waste of everybody's time. Netflix had the damn right cheek to put this as number 1 the second it was released ?!?!

I had the same time-wasting fears of stereotypical nonsense you did. Give it a chance and you'll see something else.

Some of the acting is dry and yeah the chroma key is less than perfect but the plot becomes engaging enough to forgive these things. In this film, the plot is everything. It's fresh, original and thought-provoking.

I find it hard to see how anyone who truly watched the film from start to finish could anticipate all the character twists in the story. This movie sparked a lot of passionate discussion after we watched it.

The film was well paced and quite entertaining but the thing that stood out immediately was the sound post-production quality. It seems like there were quite a lot of hands on this area so I cannot quite fathom how the final version was allowed to be released like this.

Yes, the soundtrack was outstanding, but no soundtrack should be showcased to the detriment of the film's dialogue which contains most of the essential plot. By looking at the credits, I'd point the finger at Tarn Willers - it's just not a great effort.

I think it was also unnecessary to flood every moment of suspense with music and at the same time have it at a volume level which drowned out the signal of everything else.

I only began to appreciate the greatness of this film upon my second viewing. Only then did I really take it all in and appreciate just how unflinching, superbly intricate and accurate this portrayal of relationships truly is. It really is a testament to the life experience of Woody Allen to be able to write something so deeply observed and then be able to direct this vision so it plays out with such normality.

It explores all the love and heartbreak elements of relationships I can bring to mind. The individual interviews are an extremely effective way of vividly revealing the thoughts that we all have about these human relationships. They capture so many thoughts around monogamy, insecurity, honesty, anger, capriciousness, philosophy, social etiquette/acceptance, courage, fantasy.. I could go on. It flips the whole wishy-washy notion of 'love' on it's head to instead really examine the practical nitty gritty of everyday life as a couple. It's also interesting to see just how these interplay affects these people of different ages.

It's one of those rare films you can watch several times. I've seen many Woody Allen films and this is definitely in the top 3 for me.