The Kids are Alright

Wednesday 2nd February 2011

Downstairs at the Prince Charles Cinema

The Kids Are All Right is the story of a lesbian couple Nic and Jules, played by Annette Bening and Julianne Moore respectively, they live in a wealthy suburb of Los Angeles with their two biologically created children Joni and Laser. There is just one problem however, Joni is about to leave for University and to fulfil the wishes of her brother she seeks out the pairs biological father, Paul (played by Mark Ruffalo). They meet in his trendy, green friendly restaurant and whilst Laser is cautious of the free spirited Paul his easy going demeanour strikes an endearing chord with Joni, who invites him into the nucleus of the family. 

The script tackles its subject of same sex marriages with the depth and thoughtfulness it deserves. Whilst Nic is a clearly a typical representation of lesbian femininity, Julianne Moore's Jules gives a more dynamic and complex portrayal as the uncommitted, confused recreational landscape gardener. This is of course a thoroughly contemporary portrayal of lesbianism and same-sex marriage - with Nic and Jules' longevity and commitment to one another carefully construed through their cosy affection for one another. The role of the kids, Joni and Laser plays an significant part in this depiction of the non-nuclear family as a harmonious easy going bunch. One sequence in particular where the parents describe how they first met through the problem of Jules' numb tongue is handled with brilliant poise, full of immaculate comic timing and brilliantly knowing looks.

The film is shot with a deft, Hollywood sheen to it all whilst the locations never veer far from LA prosperity - this is the middle classes in their most unconventional form, a same sex marriage. Thus, it is the performances which are really to be admired here. In particular Mia Wasikowska gives a brilliant turn as the thoughtful, intelligent Joni seeking out her place within the world but never becoming the overly dramatic, trouble teen we so often see portrayed in these dramas. Playing a free spirited, easy going single male with whom the audience can emphasise with is no easy feat but Mark Ruffalo does a sterling job portraying the kind-hearted, uber cool birth father of Paul. Interestingly following the introduction of Buffalo's character, the films narrative goes off into a rather predictable tangent. This is not at the cost of the light hearted, humorous tone which opens the film but the focus does slowly shift to away from the endearing characters of Joni and Laser towards those of their parents. Becoming a well worn routine of self questioning and doubt from the adult minds. Whilst the opportunities for breaks of humour are endless during these sequences the director opts towards a moral conclusion that in effect outlines what Hollywood melodramas have done for years - 'marriage is never easy folks'. Indeed Jules' concluding speech delivered in the cosy environment of the living room, borders on the cringe-worthily righteous and is full of Hollywood moral cliches but nonetheless allows the film to draw to a neat close. As Laser summarises - 'you guys shouldn't break up, your too old'.

Overall this is a thoroughly enjoyable, light-hearted affair that perhaps could have ventured to more interesting realms as the story had progressed. Nonetheless it demonstrates more than anything else the importance of an interesting screenplay - one that's full of dynamic conflicting relationships, witty one liners and brilliantly crafted scenes. The Hollywood sheen to the whole affair wasn't as irritating as I had expected and having being set underneath those famous white letters, the look felt appropriately at ease with this contemporary tale of love and forgiveness.

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Catfish

Thursday 27th January 2011
Upstairs at the Prince Charles Cinema

Fact or Fiction? is not normally a question a documentary filmmaker would want his audience to be asking as they come out of the cinema but in the case of Catfish it is a valid, if ultimately irrelevant, question. Directed by film students Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, this contemporary tale of deception, love and betrayal treads a fine line between the acceptable and absurd in keeping with it's subject's own weakness in life - Facebook. Nev, a New York photographer strikes up a relationship with the seemingly attractive Megan, whose sister has sent him a painting of his well published photograph. Their relationship is established first online and then through endless amount of phonecalls between the pair, calls that will take on a cringeworthy, side-splittingly funny role as the story progresses. As the relationship progresses Nev utilises a number technological devices in a bid to discover more about his new found romance. The camera zooms around Google Earth outlining the physical distance between the two, Google Street reveals the house Megan lives in to Nev amongst other more revelatory finds whilst the pairs Facebook messages are shot in stark close-ups filling the cinema screen with bright computer light.

All is not as it appears though and as Nev along with his two director friends decide to take a visit to see Megan, the films slip into a dark realm that threatens to tip towards a harrowing conclusion but eventually becomes a story of understanding and forgiveness in the face of the betrayal. The film provides no answers to the problems Nev faces rather provides understanding to the dangers of social interaction through forms such as Facebook. As Peter Bradshaw recently noted The Social Network 'shrewdly suggested that Facebook's popularity lies in allowing its users to regulate their contact with other people, to present and manipulate an image of themselves in ways previously available only to celebrities' and indeed Catfish is the harrowing after-thought of this notion. 1 How much of this documentary is true to life is irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. Go and see this for it's honesty, it's humour and most of all its moral value in this the new digital age of Facebook.

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1 Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 16th December 2010

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The Social Network

Thursday 27th January 2011
Downstairs at the Prince Charles Cinema

Providing a neat double header with Catfish, The Social Network opens with brilliantly zesty, frantic dialogue sequence with protagonist Mark Zukerburg (played by Jesse Eisenberg), the founder of Facebook and his soon to be ex-girlfriend Erica Albright. It's dialogue that has the West Wing's Aaron Sorkin's written all over it and with the dab hand of director David Fincher, The Social Network excels in becoming much more than a film about colleague kids threatening one another to 'lawyer up asshole'. Told through a varying array of flashbacks The Social Network tells the story of the beginnings of Facebook and the ensuing legal battle Zuckerburg had with fellow Harvard students desperate for a piece of the Billionaire pie. Interestingly, Sorkin and Fincher resist giving Zukerburg any substantial backstory. We know little of where he is originally from and about the upbringing he had although this being Harvard even British audiences will be acutely aware this is hardly a rags to riches tale. The manner in which Zuckerburg's invention and launch of Facebook is constructed - seemingly over a few nights of 'Eureka' moments with a crate of beers in front of his laptop - clearly seeks empathy from the audience with the otherwise unlikable character of Zuckerburg. Indeed as the credits roll up to the tune of The Beatles 'Baby You're a Rich Man' and the Facebook owner's current fortune is revealed one can't help but wonder - 'it could have been me' (of course it couldn't, but nonetheless this is the overriding impression Sorkin and Fincher's portrayal leaves upon us).

Jesse Eisenberg puts in a thoroughly acceptable if at times one dimensional portrayal of the future billionaire whilst surprisingly Justin Timberlake is utterly convincing as Zukerburg's mentor and eventual business partner Sean Parker. It is however, I would argue Andrew Garfield as Zukerburg's college roommate Eduardo Saverin who gives the most impressive, dynamic performance. Having plied his trade with a host of British television roles the future Spiderman is developing into an accomplished screen presence and his portrayal of the naive, fool hardy Eduardo provides the perfect antithesis to the arrogance and greed of Eisenberg's Zukerburg. In most part it is a film that is confined to long dialogue sequences played out within the University halls and lawyers hearings although when the writing is this good and delivered with such stellar performances and poised direction, the story becomes elevated in both credibility and cultural significance.

It looks a two horse race between this and The Kings Speech for the highest accolade at the Academy Awards this February and interestingly the two films share a familiar and recurrent theme; the effect of new technology has upon our lives. Whereas Sean Parker champions the coming of the Facebook revolution; 'We lived on farms, we lived in cities, now we live on the internet'. For George V the advances in radio technology are a position of threat to his standing as a monarchial figure - 'In the past, all a king had to do was look respectable in uniform and not fall off his horse. Now we must invade people's homes and speak... This family is reduced to those lowest, basest of all creatures. We've become... actors!'. It's an interesting parallel between the two and indeed further readings will be drawn from the result of the Academy Awards - American vs British, Contemporary vs Historical and so on. I for one hope The King Speech wipes the floor but for a film about the fight for a billion dollar franchise by a group of largely detestful American colleague students The Social Network is a commendable effort.

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