Connor Irwin

**Jack: “I wonder if the three of us would've been friends in real life. Not as brothers, but as people.” ** Decided to turn my Wednesday morning on with Mindhunters watched the first 20 minutes and went you’ve watched this idiot and landed on this film, I’ve been wanting to jump into more Wes after The Grand Budapest Hotel. This maybe a film I have to rewatch and sit on because I didn’t love the story as much but all of the technicalities and underlying themes are amazing and what won me over! I think I need to talk to the emotions and themes firstly, this film just seems weird and yes our good friend Wes is exactly that but early on i couldn’t help but think where in the world is this going? From a plot point of view very simple 3 brothers all dealing with the loss of their fathers and navigating their lives in very different ways whilst trying to bring them all back together, the dialogue points of family and perception of family was very well thought out and discovered here with one brother suggesting that they were never that close. We see Peter who is clearly very guilty from not being able to save his father whilst worrying about becoming a father himself. Francis has had a big motorbike crash who is trying to heal his brothers whilst clearly he hasn’t healed himself first. Jack is someone who can’t let go of his ex girlfriend or she won’t let him go and is on a self destructive cough syrup and meaningless love with Rita. I really enjoyed the baggage that the brothers hold above and literally with all of their bags they haul around from place to place, which they are able to set free and let go of at the conclusion as they set off on the Bengal Lancer I think it was called. I really enjoyed how all of their brothers are flawed, nobody is perfect and we get to see this and so do they this is perfect for real humans and family dynamics. I thought it was very real they way they bicker and fight over silly little things like belongings etc. These themes were really portrayed well and carried by the acting on display here, I don’t like him as a person which is a big call but he has rubbed me the wrong way after the Oscar’s a few years ago here but dare I say I may now be a fan of Adrien Brody he was amazing as Peter and really has the biggest range here, has some great physical acting moments of slapstick and just overall acting and line delivery. Owen Wilson was very good here and maybe the best acting I’ve seen from him! He brought enough charm and Witt to a character who was very overbearing, controlling and flat out annoying which really balanced him out and made him quite relatable to people anyone can connect with whilst not bringing the film and character down. Jason Schwartzman was a very bizzare character here but i did enjoy his portrayal of it and it really created an all round trio that everyone can connect with. Outside of this we had a bizarre cameo of Bill Murray and some great supporting acting from Amara Karan, Wallace Wolodarsky and Waris Ahluwalia. It wouldn’t be a Wes film with out talking about the sets, this is very different from all of his other ones I have seen from him, he uses the real world a lot more here whilst still having his gorgeous colour palate and style that he does, his and his crews attention to detail and symmetry is so pleasant on the eye and really is such a distinct style, I love how he labels some things instead of us wondering what they are and it’s just so cartoony and him! He does a really good job of pairing this with his cinematography the way he pans, zooms and uses everything in his power from blocking, framing and even mirrors. I can watch this style all day everyday! I thought they also done an amazing job of using and immersing us in Indian places I’m unsure if it was actually shot there but if it wasn’t well done on make it look like it was. So rich in colour with strong reds, yellows and oranges, scenery and landscape! The score was really impressive to me and also done a great job of setting, time, space, tone and where we were in the film it was quite subtle but done an amazing job of that which really elevated a lot of the scenes and the film. I don’t think I have missed anything here, I just have to say I did find due to the weirder storyline that the pacing for me was off in the sense of it sped up and slowed down and really had no end goal or meaning, until I started to get the beats. This is silly but It was a thought so I thought why not mention it I found that people could find this very self indulgent and hyper aware to the degree that it maybe too quirky and just may miss all of the beats for the viewer albeit I felt this way in very small doses overall I enjoyed it and thought there was great depth to this. Overall this is a film that must be seen if you enjoy Wes Anderson’s style it is gorgeous to the eye, uses the camera well paired with amazing production design. The score is quite good along with some A list acting from some of the very best, with some very deep themes and ideas to explore which I’m sure would be better on a rewatch. I recommend to anyone who is a Wes fan or an entry level into his style

**Det. Nick Detillo: “There's an old Italian saying: Never scald your tongue on another man's soup.” ** **Tom Hardy: “Yeah? There's an old Irish saying: don't listen to old Italian sayings.”** Home sick today and decided why not put something on to pass the time, I’m a sucker for 90s Sunday Dad thriller movies and this perfectly embodies that, this review will be quick as there isn’t a hell of a lot to write or talk about here. I thought one of the biggest strong suits in this film was the cinematography nothing ridiculous but it uses Pittsburgh and the Rivers oh so well, like they could’ve just shot it on the river and called it a day but they were quite meticulous with it and done a great job and really enhanced and made it, its own character in a way. We had a stacked supporting cast and just cast full stop here, Bruce Willis as the lead you know what you are going to get out of him and this is exactly that! Sarah Jessica Parker who I know but don’t often see in screen wasn’t too bad herself and played her role alright. Dennis Farina played quite a good role and the more the film went on the more I enjoyed! Tom Sizemore was great which is no surprise we all know he can act it was nice to see him in something else, Brion James was quite solid in his role as well I really didn’t like him which was the point and he brought that to life. Robert Pastorelli played his part extremely well when on screen and finally it was nice to see the great man Andre Braugher back on my screen in a cop movie but not the captain here! I thought although ridiculous and very fictional and sometimes overdrawn the car chase scenes were top notch, they were shot well and kept us quite engaged! Speaking of engagement I think the action scenes outside of the chases were quite good also that kept the film moving along and not dragging throughout. I was a fan of the sound design it was quite subtle but I really enjoyed it and some stages it worked really well and enhanced certain scenes and moments. Look outside of this there is a lot that isn’t so good so I’m going to quickly dial it all into one, first of all it is predictable I guessed very early who the killer was, albeit there were a few more twist and turns that I didn’t see like the court room testimony and how Tom’s Dad died, however once revealed it felt too familiar and almost cliche in a way. The script just really lacked any depth, stakes at times and just overall feel and care to anything that is going on, it seemed too fast paced for its own good and never let us feel or let the moment breathe. The characters and just story as a whole has no point, spark or meaning. Not much more to even touch on here, just turn your brain off and enjoy it is realivley enjoyable albeit with a very formulaic simple plot there is still plenty of enjoyment for a somewhat entry level Bruce Willis film. It has some beautiful shots of cinematography, some fine bits of acting that could entertain some, not disgraced but not the best of this genre.