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What's new on the big screen |
| Step Brothers |
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If you don't find a man whipping out his hairy knackers and rubbing them all over a drum kit funny, Step Brothers is probably not the film for you.
Think knob jokes are hilarious? Want to see a woman straddle a urinal and pee standing up? Then Will Ferrell's latest movie will have you laughing so hard, Coke will come out of your nose.
While it's by no means the comedian's finest work (better than Semi-Pro, not in the same league as Anchorman)
there are enough stand-out moments to prop up a storyline that's ridiculous even for a gross-out comedy.
Brennan (Ferrell) is a 39-year-old loser who still lives with his mother (Steenburgen). Dale (Reilly) is a 40-year-old leeching off his father (Richard Jenkins). When their parents marry, Brennan and Dale engage in an all-out war that gives new meaning to 'sibling rivalry'. With the pair's buffoonery driving their folks apart the stepbrothers have to grow up and work together to make the family whole again.
As you'd expect from a Ferrell film, the bizarre dialogue ("sticks and stones may break my bones, but I will kick you repeatedly in the balls!") and pratfalls fly thick and fast, with not every joke hitting the mark. When gags come up short, Adam McKay's movie is embarrassingly lame but, thanks to the chemistry between the two leads, a classic bit of lunacy (the building of bunk beds is flat-out hysterical) is never too far off. After the flaccid Semi-Pro, this is reminder that, when it comes to playing blokes who age disgracefully, Ferrell is still the best in the business.
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| Babylon AD |
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Vin Diesel's career slide continues with a cliché-ridden sci-fi film in which he plays a hard-arsed mercenary transporting a girl from Russia to America. Time to change your agent, Vin.
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| Ben X |
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An autistic teenager, who is being bullied at school, finds an escape in online gaming in this award-winning morality tale by Belgian director Nic Balthazar.
A poor climax spoils what is otherwise a very inventive docudrama.
PIERRE DE VILLIERS |
| Get Smart |
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And so the drought of fresh ideas in Hollywood continues, with yet another remake of a vintage TV show. At least the folks behind Get Smart got things spot on when it came to casting. Stepping into a role that fits him like a bespoke tux, Steve Carell is perfect as Maxwell Smart, the bumbling, but likeable, secret agent created by Mel Brooks in the late '60s.
Peter Segal's big-screen version of the spoof series has Smart working as a frustrated analyst at secret agency CONTROL. While brilliant at intelligence gathering, he really wants to be out in the field alongside dashing operatives like Agent 23 (Johnson). When terror organisation KAOS attacks CONTROL, compromising the identities of most of its agents, Smart gets his chance to play James Bond alongside sexy spy Agent 99 (Hathaway).
It's at this point, with Smart and Agent 99 working together to stop a diabolical plan by KAOS, that Get Smart properly clicks into gear. The combination of Hathaway's smooth operator and Carell's accident-prone agent works well, and results in some crackling exchanges and excellent comedy set-pieces, from a hilarious mishap in an aeroplane bathroom to some bizarre ballroom dancing. The two leads get decent back-up from Johnson, who shows fine comic timing, and Alan Arkin as CONTROL's harassed chief.
It's a good thing the actors are in top form, since the film's plot is so needlessly convoluted that you'll tune out in between the action sequences. Rumour has it this is the start of a franchise — if they can keep the cast together, it might actually be a smart move.
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| Hellboy II: The Golden Army |
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Guillermo del Toro shows why he is regarded as such a visionary with a spectacular sequel that sees Hellboy take on an evil elf prince. Action-packed, funny and visually breathtaking, this whets the appetite for the director's upcoming Hobbit movies.
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| Somers Town |
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A youngster who arrives in London from Nottingham strikes up a touching friendship with a Polish teenager in another superb offering from Shane Meadows. A poignant coming-of-age tale.
PIERRE DE VILLIERS |
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