Can Jason Reitman Make a bad film?

Jason Reitmans' daddy may have brought us Ghostbusters in the 80's but Jr.'s films to date have been nothing short of impressive. The latest offering sees George Clooney at his best as he has proven time and time again under the tutelage of the Coen brothers, comedy is where George shines. From the beautiful Oh Brother Where Art Thou to Burn After Reading, George delivers charm and wit. Watching him try to maintain a straight face when asking Ewan McGreggor if he had ever heard of a Jedi was one of the stand out moments of 2009 cinema. (The Men Who Stare at Goats)

Up in The Air

The film centres on George as a 'corporate downsizing executive'. In other words he does the dirty work of firing people who become a burden to the corporations that need to dispose of their human capital.

Unburdened with ties or relationships he is lumbered with a protege, and through the film reconnects with some aspects of life which he has purposely ignored or suppressed.

Its hard to talk about this film in terms of what it lacks, it has depth, heart, characters that you hate and grow to love, its not afraid to turn around and bite you when think you know how its going to turn out either.

Reitmans previous offerings include Juno and Thank you for Smoking. While Juno's indie appeal reached a mass audience Thank You for Smoking(2005) is a gem few have discovered, Aaron Eckhart shines as the incorrigible Nick Naylor a lobbyist for big tobacco in the US. As with all Reitmans films the hero is fallible, and in the end their inner determination and repose sees them emerge, not so much changed but enhanced.

If you like or think you would like Thank you for Smoking, then Armando Iannucci's 2009 In the Loop will appeal even more to those of us closer to Berlin than Boston, its funny as hell and has more complex strings of swear words you will ever hear, it raises profanity to an art form. Not suitable for those among us who spell out swear words even when the kids are not around.


Recommendation : It drops you from 30,000 feet but cushions the landing! See it today!

Them Bones, them bones

Oscar season is upon us, roll up the the glittery and the botoxed to listen to James Cameron accept ALL the awards.
For the next few days I'll run you through the films you might want to see or avoid in the coming month as the cinema becomes the only social outlet worth your pocket money (Fags, Drink, Chocolate and Beer still managing to maintain their hold on our guilt strings)

1: The Lovely Bones

There are many books that should never have been filmed, but for each bad book adaptation there are a dozen Gamers that should never have never have offended my hard drive with their presence. I was excited to hear of this adaptation, but as a book it evoked such personalised emotions and images that I had trouble imagining it. Just as the Catcher has never been filmed, somethings are best left your mind. Heathcliff was never Ralph Fiennes when I read Wuthering Heights, Sinead O'Connor did not appear as the mother of Jesus in the butcher boy. Let me also situate myself as the kind of person who cries over the Barrys Tea adverts at Christmas so I tend to avoid 'weepies'. The idea of going to see a film specifically designed to make you cry for an hour is anathema to me. If I want to cry Ill open my bank statements instead of hiding them behind the radiator.


Despite the fact that I blubbed through the book I was looking forward to this emotional heart tug, unfortunately Peter Jackson got lost down the rabbit hole on this one. The Lovely Bones it seems was a foolhardy foray for the good lord of middle earth. Somewhere along the line he decided to make this film about the murder, about catching the killer, about vengeance.
While these are all subtexts in the film they are not the crux of the tale. To me the book was all about the breakdown of Susie's parents' marriage and the building of new lives for the family and friends left in the wake. In Peters' quest to adapt the book to screen he has left out what gave the book its heart, the lovely bones themselves. These are the relationships and lives that grew around her demise.

While everyone who has read the book will find something that personally touched them missing in this film. For me it was the death of Susie's dog years after her own murder which led to them being reunited in her 'heaven'. Much will be made of the stunning visuals in Suzie's heaven but they came at a price, whats imagined and personal is more powerful than anything yet shown.

If your still convinced that sad films are for you then look no further than The Road, its unrelentingly sombre, the ochre tones remind of us how fragile life in all its forms is, in fact watching it feels like you've gone ten rounds with Tyson. The book delivers blow after blow to the reader and Vigo is once again exceptional as the father who loves his son enough to teach him how to put a gun to his head. It leaves you with more questions than answers, a film you never want to see again but somehow need to watch.

Recommendation : Buy the Lovely Bones, read it, then give it to somebody you love. Watch The Road instead but consider yourself warned.