Your night in: Every Movie Tonight on Melbourne TV
From a compelling biopic on the secret life of Liberace to a mind-bending Brad Pitt classic, tonight’s movie line-up has something for everyone.
Leigh Paatsch
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THE BEST OF ME (M)
**
8.30pm CH. 9
Yet another movie based on the best-selling sob stories of Nicholas ‘The Notebook’ Sparks is here to mist you and mess you up. James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan play Dawson and Amanda, long separated by an unnecessary misunderstanding. They used to go out in their teens. Then something bad happened that – deep breaths, everyone – meant they had to part company. Amanda went on to marry elsewhere. Dawson never dated again. Now they have been brought together once more, by the will of an old dead friend. So what happened in their past? And what of what their future? Make it through the kisses in the rain, the candlelit confessionals and the sudden appearance of ripped male torsos, and all will be revealed. Sparks’ devoted following knows what it wants, and The Best of Me does not relent until it has delivered every last longing look, lovelorn lunge and lachrymose loss of luck.
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA (M)
***1/2
10.50PM CH. 9
Oh, how those eyes twinkled. Oh, how those ivories tinkled. And oh my, how that closet rattled. In a compelling drama from director Steven Soderbergh, the lid is belatedly lifted on the secret gay life of Liberace. Throughout a long reign as the Las Vegas king of keyboard kitsch, Liberace (Michael Douglas) went to extraordinary lengths to deny all accusations of homosexuality. The film spans the final decade of Liberace’s life, wherein he finally met Mr Right, only for it all to go so horribly wrong. Matt Damon co-stars as Scott Thorson, a sheltered young fellow too wide-eyed to resist the razzle-dazzle of all things Liberace. Nor can he cope with the demands of a dysfunctionally undercover relationship. The grotesquely gripping performances of Douglas and Damon are wonders to behold here. Both actors step inside difficult roles with ease, revealing not only the unlovable, spiteful monsters that Liberace and Thorson were fated to become, but also the loving, giving men they might have been.
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (M)
****
7.30pm 7MATE
Everything old gets literally younger by the day for the title character in this remarkable new drama based on a story by the celebrated American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. While performances are exemplary and the use of make-up and special effects technology is often astonishing, the most memorable characteristic of The Curious Case is undoubtedly its bizarre plot. Brad Pitt (in career-best form) plays a man born in 1918 with a mystical disorder that sees him ageing backwards throughout his life. This strange premise (and a hefty running time) demands a huge leap of faith from viewers. For those up to making the jump, a moving and rather mind-bending experience awaits. Co-stars Cate Blanchett. Directed by David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club).
COP LAND (M)
***1/2
9.45PM GEM
The phrases “Sylvester Stallone” and “the bloke can act” have rarely appeared in the same article together since the release of the original Rocky in 1976. A haunting and decidedly downbeat police drama, Cop Land marks one of the few times anyone could see fit to sing Sly’s praises. Stallone’s performance as a low-ranking, outer-suburban cop summoning the guts to blow the whistle on a ring of corruption inside the NYPD stands as the finest work he will ever do – no mean feat when you consider the quality of the cast he appears alongside in this movie. The likes of Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and Ray Liotta are forced to take a back seat to Sly’s uncharacteristically affecting display here.
FREAKY FRIDAY (PG)
***1/2
6.30PM 7FLIX
Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan are wonderful as a middle-aged mum and a tantrum-prone teen magically transplanted into each other’s bodies. This Disney remake trumps the old Jodie Foster version on every front, taking that familiar switcheroo gimmick and turning it into something fresh, highly entertaining, and even a little bit challenging. A light and likeable Face/Off for uncommunicative mothers and daughters. ***1/2
PERCY JACKSON & THE LIGHTNING THIEF (M)
**1/2
8.30PM 7FLIX
Pay no mind to those hypey whispers that Percy Jackson just might be the next Harry Potter. The young demigod hero from the best-selling series of books by Rick Riordan is playing in a lower league. Which is not to say his first screen outing is a dud effort by any means. Logan Lerman stars as Percy, an average teen shocked to find he is the son of the Greek god Poseidon. The gimmick in play here is the meshing of ancient mythology with the modern world. It remains a catchy enough idea for the duration, but The Lightning Thief leans too heavily on its bustling collection of effects-driven sequences. After experiencing some moderate exhilaration, most viewers will notice a sobering sense of sameness to all the fierce battles and close scrapes. OK, but only just. **1/2
28 DAYS LATER (MA)
****
11.00PM 7FLIX
A truly innovative and disturbing horror fantasy about a modern-day England totally ravaged by plague. Cillian Murphy (Disco Pigs) is a bicycle courier who awakes from a coma to discover everyone in London – and possibly the entire country – has disappeared. Directed with frightening authenticity by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting).
YEAR ONE (M)
*
9.30PM GO!
Dreadful historical spoof about two nomadic tribesman (Jack Black and Michael Cera) wandering through the early books of the Old Testament. They bump into a variety of biblical goofballs to minuscule comic effect. So many jokes crash and burn on impact that you’d swear the script was dictated straight to a black-box recorder. In a signature scene, Black pokes, prods and sniffs at some fresh refuse by the side of a walking track. Then takes a hefty bite. It might look like human excrement, says Black, but it tastes just like the droppings of a bear. Pop quiz: name one comedian, alive or dead, who could make this ‘joke’ work. If you left your answer blank, you are absolutely correct. (If you left any answer at all, Year One just might be your kind of movie.)
TWO IS A FAMILY (M)
**1/2
9.40PM WORLD MOVIES
This weapons-grade heart-tugger would be unwatchable were it not for the indefatigable charisma of its leading man, Omar Sy (The Intouchables). He plays Samuel, a happy-go-lucky playboy living it large on the Cote d’Azur. That is until a one-night stand with a self-centred woman of means (Clemence Poesy) leaves him with a baby daughter to raise alone. Flash-forward eight years later, and Samuel and little Gloria (Gloria Colston) have carved out an idyllic life in London. An absentee mother re-enters the scene. A custody battle ensues. You know the rest.
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Originally published as Your night in: Every Movie Tonight on Melbourne TV