Leigh Paatsch’s complete guide to every movie in Melbourne cinemas
The cinemas are finally back in Melbourne. Leigh Paatsch reviews every movie showing on big screens across the city.
Leigh Paatsch
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Walking an aisle in their shoes, US, 93 mins
Walking an aisle in their shoes, US, 93 mins
★★½
Solomon Chau and Jennifer Carter had locked in the perfect wedding date almost as soon as they were engaged. August 21st, 2015 gave them plenty of time to make all the crucial arrangements. Instead, that much-circled place on the calendar became the day of Solomon’s funeral. This unabashed weepie tells the sincerely moving true story of how this resilient couple didn’t let a worst-case scenario (Solomon was diagnosed with a terminal liver condition shortly after their engagement) erase their best-laid plans (a viral crowd-funding campaign ensured the couple got married before losing each other forever). While the movie is certainly nothing to write home about in terms of creative energies expended, its fundamental respect for a tragic, yet truly inspiring tale saves it from turning into manipulative mush. Likewise, stars Harry Shum Jr. and Jessica Rothe share a graceful, yet grounded screen chemistry that helps convey what this committed couple went through to salvage a dream from a nightmare. Definitely bring a hanky, and tissues for backup as well.
FREAKY (MA15+)
A who’s who of who are you? US, 102 min
★★★½
The title accorded this highly enjoyable and consistently clever horror flick falls ever so slightly short of perfection. Had it been called Freaky Friday the 13th, everybody would have sensed immediately where the filmmakers were coming from with their deceptively inventive premise. For what transpires here is unashamedly concocted from a winning blend of a body-swapping Freaky Friday and a body-chopping Friday the 13th. Not a dull minute is clocked as we work through the strange case of a serial killer known as the Blissfield Butcher (Vince Vaughn). Fresh from dispatching a quartet of his high schoolers to an early grave, this lanky streak of pure evil accidentally falls victim to a spell that sees him switching bodies with a meek, mild young lady named Millie (Kathryn Newton). Once the changeover is in play, both actors have a field day playing one another. Newton’s transformation from wallflower to psychopath is both chillingly convincing and archly amusing. Same goes for Vaughn’s highly skilled work heading in the opposite direction.
HAPPIEST SEASON (M)
Will the coming of Christmas stop a coming out? US, 102 mins
★★★
This Christmas-themed rom-com does the December-reunion-of-a-dysfunctional-family thing in a friendly and familiar way. With the exception of one key element of its premise, you are right to assume you have seen and heard all of this before. Doesn’t mean you won’t respond positively to Happiest Season, however. Far from it. This sprightly yarn of a same-sex couple trying to keep their relationship under wraps until the holidays are over is charming middle-of-the-road fare. Harper (Mackenzie Davis) does not wish to spend Christmas apart from girlfriend Abby (Kristen Stewart), so she hauls her home to join a family Christmas celebration by posing as her ‘roommate’. Much tension and an above-average number of laughs are drawn from whether Harper and Abby can keep their loving bond closeted for a whole week. Adding further complications are Harper’s control-freak mother (Mary Steenburgen), politically ambitious father (Victor Garber), and intriguing ex (Aubrey Plaza). That wonderful Schitt’s Creek scene-stealer Dan Levy disrupts the predictable proceedings exactly when required.
HOME ALONE (G)
At age 30, the kid is still one of a kind, US, 103 mins
★★★★
A very welcome December re-release to commemorate the 30th anniversary of this family classic. Don’t go feeling sorry for little Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin), OK? So what if his family abandoned him at Christmas? (Not once, but twice! Remember Home Alone 2?) Anyway, that McCallister kid knows how to fend for himself. So half-witted house burglars like Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) had better watch out. This wonderfully inspired movie has always been a clever, inventive affair that stands up strong to repeat visits. Expert conceptual construction from celebrated writer-director John Hughes (The Breakfast Club, Trains, Planes & Automobiles) elevates a low-flying caper comedy to great heights. It also helps that a child star with the charisma of Culkin is there to anchor proceedings – his chemistry with co-stars Pesci and Stern brings a real X-factor to the epic kids-versus-crooks battle in play. Let’s be frank. If you take your kids to The War with Grandpa instead of this, you have the makings of a Christmas Grinch.
HONEST THIEF (M)
A man of steal takes nothing for granted, US, 99 min
★★★
And there you were thinking a pesky little something like a global pandemic was going to break the supply chain of Liam Neeson revenge thrillers. Not going to happen in this lifetime. This latest one doesn’t rack up the body count of say, a Taken sequel. Nor does it simply play to Mr Neeson’s particular set of skills when it comes to looking overstressed, overtired and over 60. Old Liam plays Tom Dolan, a celebrated bank robber known for much of his career as ‘The In and Out Burglar’. Having found the love of a good woman, Annie (Kate Walsh), Tom finds himself striking a deal with the feds to go legit. Bureau chief Sam Baker (Robert Patrick) puts two of his best men on the case to sort out the finer details. And he could not have made two worse choices: Agents Nevins (Jai Courtney) and Hall (Anthony Ramos) need a stooge to frame for murder, and a career con like Tom fits the bill perfectly. What follows is punchy, crunchy, mid-strength pulp which doesn’t take itself all that seriously, and is all the better for it.
IN THE NAME OF THE LAND (M)
The growing, going, gone., France, 107 min
★★★½
Inspired by the life and times of the filmmaker’s own father, this unusually quiet, yet highly eloquent French drama tells a story immediately familiar to anyone who has spent time working or living on the land in recent decades. At the start of his career as a farmer, Pierre (Guillaume Canet) envisages an idyllic, rewarding life where nature and commerce merge as one. Unfortunately, his entry into the game coincides with the arrival of banks and corporations taking a controlling interest in global agriculture. Try as Pierre might, the odds are stacked against him. The banks drive a hard bargain with loan repayments. The corporations demand higher-yielding crops and the integration of state-of-the-art technology with traditional farming techniques. This means more loans. More repayments. More pressure. The contrast between the sheer beauty of the land and the harsh realities of big business is very skilfully controlled by writer-director Edouard Bergeon, who obviously knows this moving and subtly provocative tale inside out. A surprise major box-office hit upon release in France.
LET HIM GO (M)
Never too old to do the right thing, US, 113 mins
★★★½
The last time we saw Kevin Costner and Diane Lane together on the big screen was as Clark Kent’s parents in the Superman flick Man of Steel. Now the veteran stars have been reunited to play vigilante grandparents in what turns out to be a very solid genre thriller set in the American west in the early 1960s. Costner’s George is a retired lawman, and Lane’s Margaret is his resourceful wife. Together, they make a pact to not only ascertain the exact whereabouts of their lost grandson, but also haul him back to a safe place his own mother and her new husband are in no shape to provide. A long and worrying journey interstate puts George and Margaret on a collision course with a set of outlaw in-laws who will not relinquish their grip on the child, and will do anything to keep it that way. Pacing and performances (especially Lesley Manville as the evil backwoods matriarch who is Margaret’s polar opposite) remain in the right zone throughout here, even if the storytelling sometimes strays from clarity. Based on the novel by Larry Watson.
LIVERPOOL: END OF THE STORM (M)
For fairweather fans only, UK, 95 min
★★½
For all of its slick assembly and insider access, there is no getting around why a sports documentary like End of the Storm exists in the first place. For what we have here is nothing short of a self-congratulatory victory lap for reigning English Premier League champs Liverpool Football Club. If you are a true Liverpool fan, then you will definitely want in on this generic look at the team’s tumultuous and history-making 2019/20 season. Something like this will help bring some closure to all of those painful decades spent chasing the EPL dream. However, for those of us who do not carry the Liverpool flame, the doco makes precious little effort to engage or enlighten. Remember, this was a season in which the title race was almost called off entirely due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was uncharted territory for one of biggest sporting competitions in the world. Instead, the doco doesn’t spend too much time addressing anything in much depth, and it becomes quite a trial to watch for the uninitiated as a result. Screening this weekend only at select cinemas.
MISBEHAVIOUR (M)
Beauty queens met with an ugly protest, UK, 106 min
★★★½
Misbehaviour has a cracking true story to share with us: one that took place five decades ago, but is just as relevant today. Why the movies took so long to tell it is immediately apparent. What went down at the 1970 staging of the Miss World beauty pageant in London requires some nuanced explanation and a lot of information to be fired at the viewer. That is, if the movie is to be done right. And for the most part, Misbehaviour conveys the political turmoil, the sexism, the racism and the utter absurdity of the event in all its garish glory. If you don’t know the full details of what transpired at Miss World that year, keep it that way until you see the movie. All you really need to be across is that a prototype version of what would soon become the Women’s Liberation Movement had a form of protest in mind for the live global telecast of the show that remains more audacious, daring and kind of silly than anyone would dare try today. Though a bit slow to get going, the heated finale proves well worth the wait. Stars Keira Knightley, Greg Kinnear, Lesly Manville. Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
THE GODFATHER, CODA: THE DEATH OF MICHAEL CORLEONE
Third time a second time doesn’t win first prize, US, 156 mins
★★½
No, this is not a new Godfather movie. Now that originating author of The Godfather, Mario Puzo, is gone, that won’t ever happen. However, the longtime writer-director of the Godfather saga, Francis Ford Coppola, has never been totally happy with the job he and Puzo did on 1990s The Godfather: Part III. Therefore Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, is Coppola’s way of setting the record straight, delivering the definitive version of Part III in the shape he and Puzo first envisaged. All this really means is a stronger opening act and a less cluttered finale. Unfortunately, many of the original version’s obvious flaws remain unaddressed. Al Pacino underplays his famous role as Michael to the point you wonder if someone slipped something in his drink. The main plotline about the Corleones getting into bed (and then going to war) with the Vatican is sub-Da Vinci Code stuff. And poor Sofia Coppola (as Michael’s daughter) just can’t and won’t be bitten by the acting bug. Some nuanced, achingly heartfelt support work by Diane Keaton is the only constant saving grace.
THE COMEBACK TRAIL (M)
Lights! Camera! Traction!, US, 104 min
★★★
This unorthodox combination of madcap farce, showbiz satire and black comedy is definitely not going to accommodate all tastes. However, one thing that all viewers will agree on is that Robert De Niro has not been this amusing in a humorous setting for many years. Of course, this performance is not in the same league as his dignified return to form in 2019’s The Irishman. Nevertheless, Bob is making a real effort here, and the work eventually pays off well. He plays Max Barber, a 1970s movie producer with a dubious reputation to uphold – his most recent release was a box-office bomb about nuns with machine guns – and a stack of money owed to notorious gangster Reggie Fontaine (Morgan Freeman). Max’s only way out of debt is a dicey insurance scam, in which he requires the ageing star of his next production to die during filming to trigger a multimillion-dollar payout. Just one problem: Max’s leading man, alcoholic cowboy Duke Montana (Tommy Lee Jones), is as indestructible as a Marvel superhero. A bit corny at times, but some good stuff throughout.
THE WAR WITH GRANDPA (PG)
Fighting a losing battle to entertain, US, 98 mins
★★
Ouch. As we’ve all learned the hard way, when Robert De Niro turns off the talent tap, nothing good can grow. In fact, the only good thing that can be said of The War with Grandpa is that De Niro is not playing the same grotesquely gropey grandpa he played to widespread non-acclaim in 2016’s Dirty Grandpa. No, this here’s a family comedy, folks, so at least there won’t be shenanigans of the seedy variety. However, there won’t be much of anything amusing to be detected while this formulaic old-coot-versus-young-brat affair goes about its very average business. De Niro plays the role of Ed, a recently widowed retiree who has had to move in with the family of his daughter (Uma Thurman). No-one seems to mind his arrival except 12-year-old demon seed Peter (Oakes Fegley), who doesn’t take kindly to the news Gramps will be taking over his room. What follows is a faintly depressing escalation of cross-generational hostilities, not so much offensive as pointless. Best of an embarrassed support cast is De Niro’s old Deer Hunter pal, Christopher Walken.
THE WITCHES (M)
A new broomstick sweeps mean, US, 106 min
★★★
The witches in The Witches hate children. With a passion. According to this everlovin’ coven’s loathsome leader The High Witch (a gleefully deranged Anne Hathaway), their work will not be done “until every child in the world is rubbed out.” This is why these calculating crones are hiding in plain sight as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Any kid who dares accept an invitation to join them for some chocolate will be miniaturised into a mouse. This not-so-cosy arrangement was first filtered through the twisted mind of the celebrated author Roald Dahl in his 1983 book The Witches, then later ported over to a wonkily charming film adaptation starring Anjelica Huston in 1990. This entertaining new version is much truer in tone to the book, where the line separating the silly and the sinister is often blurred. There is definitely some genuinely frightening stuff happening here that could keep a sensitive child up at night, fearful of a visit from Hathaway’s sedately evil posse. For those old enough to go with Dahl’s demented flow, however, a wickedly enjoyable time beckons.
WORDS ON BATHROOM WALLS (M)
A mind starts games he’d rather not play, US, 110 min
★★★
Based on a well-regarded young adult novel by Julia Walton, this well-cast American drama starts out with many good intentions, and ends having followed through on most of them. To its enduring credit, the movie does not shy away from the difficulties posed by the issue it is exploring, even while trying to make them accessible and non-intimidating to a mainstream audience. Adam (Charlie Plummer) is a together-ish kind of teen whose life falls apart dramatically when he receives a surprise diagnosis of schizophrenia. While a transfer to a new school finds Adam a desperately needed friend (and possibly more) in the form of star student Maya (Taylor Russell), he remains prone to becoming lost inside his own contradictory thought patterns. The movie’s device of cutting to the action inside Adam’s head – where the imaginary voices he hears come to life in distinctly colourful ways – will be a deal-breaker for some viewers. However, the sincerity and sensitivity that has clearly been applied throughout here ensures the movie stays on the right track. Co-stars Molly Parker, Walton Goggins.
ON THE ROCKS (M)
Father knows best, suspects worst, US, 97 min
★★★★
Reunited once more with his Lost in Translation collaborator, writer-director Sofia Coppola, Bill Murray plays Felix, a veteran New York art trader who drifts in and out of the life of his cherished daughter Laura (Rashida Jones) as he pleases. A bit of a rogue, an obvious ladies’ man and a clandestine philosopher, Felix is about to add ‘private detective’ to his resume when he gets an inkling Laura’s workaholic husband might be cheating on her. Against Laura’s wishes, Felix is soon applying all kinds of unnecessary surveillance tactics to get to the bottom of what is going on. While this movie is definitely slender when it comes to plotting, the chemistry it nurtures and builds between Murray and Jones is as vivid as any screen coupling you’ll catch right now. Murray is the king of the one-note, multi-layered performance, but Jones – who excels in On the Rocks’ all-important dialogue exchanges between Laura and Felix – keeps pushing him not to rest on his well-earned laurels.
RAMS (PG)
Nothing more to say, so much more to do, Australia, 115 min
★★★½
This is a fine Australian remake of an astonishing (and utterly engrossing) Icelandic production that made quite a ripple on art house circuit a few years back. The story unfolds inside a close-knit sheep-farming community in WA, where two brothers live on adjacent properties. One goes by the name of Colin (Sam Neill). The other is Les (Michael Caton). The sibling’s houses stand less than 20 metres apart. They have not spoken in over 20 years. Intriguingly, Rams never really fully clues us in about what drove the brothers apart. Instead, very subtly and skilfully, the movie steers both men on differing paths through the same personal crisis: a bovine disease outbreak which threatens to obliterate everything this pair have lived for. Like the original version, this take on Rams is a difficult movie to classify. At times, it is as charming a comedy as they come. At others, it is a strikingly well-observed drama. The minimalist performances of Neill and Caton convey much more than most viewers will expect, particularly as their characters are the embodiment of “men of few words.”
TENET (M)
Back to the future and back again, with added zigs and zags, US, 150 min
★★★
When you realise you are watching a movie where the protagonist is known as The Protagonist, you also realise you have just bought yourself a one-way ticket to Pretentiousville. This won’t prove much bother to fans of trailblazing director Christopher Nolan. They are probably already across the advance word that Tenet is Nolan’s most ambitious, challenging and downright strange work to date. Indeed, this globetrotting, brain-blotting spy thriller unfolds on a scale (and folds in on itself) in ways that make previous Nolan noodle-scratchers like Inception and Interstellar look like straightforward popcorn flicks. Visually, Tenet is a game-changing triumph, resetting the outer limits of how lights, cameras and action can be configured to conjure new feats of movie magic. See this movie on a screen that needs its own postcode and the sheer, overwhelming splendour of what is before you will recharge the most ailing of senses. However, when it comes to following exactly what going on it terms of Tenet’s plot, the task is all but impossible. The story is propelled by the concept of ‘time inversion’, where both the past and the future are capable of moving in multiple directions. (Not just back and forth, mind you. That’s for those dummies who believe in time machines.) Therefore it is up to that fella The Protagonist (John David Washington of Blackkklansman fame) to stop a wily Russian oligarch (Kenneth Branagh) from summoning a tsunami of evil from the future that could exterminate the present forever. As a work of storytelling, most viewers will liken trying to understand the hyper-baffling Tenet script to finding chunks of concrete in a bowl of breakfast cereal. It is fun to wonder how they got there, but you know better than to swallow any of it. Co-stars Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Michael Caine.
TROLLS WORLD TOUR (PG)
Making a concerted effort, US, 90 min
★★½
In this bright, bouncy and ever-so-slightly loud animated adventure, Poppy and her friends across all the Troll kingdoms come under threat from the Queen of the Hard Rock Trolls. Parents who put emphasis on quality control can be assured that this musically-inclined sequel surpasses the original 2016 hit Trolls in all departments. Sure, it did not have to beat much (and does not make the movie any easier to watch for anyone of adult age). Nevertheless, World Tour’s easy-to-follow story, inspired visual design and irresistible singalong sequences will be much loved by very young viewers in particular. Featuring the voices of Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, James Cordern.
UNHINGED (MA15+)
Crowe-ing, going, gone, US, 88 min
★★★
Watching a stabby, crabby and flabby Russell Crowe misplace his marbles over and over again may not be the most therapeutic choice to mark your return to cinemas after a lengthy. Nevertheless, this trashy anxiety-fest completely delivers upon what little it promises. Rusty’s unnamed character comes down with a chronic case of road rage, and then comes down hard on anyone and everyone connected to the poor woman (Caren Pistorius) who happened to honk her horn at him one fateful morning. Sure, Crowe could crank out a pill-popping psycho like this in his sleep, but he’s never been one to simply phone in a performance. So the intensely off-kilter way in which he leans into the role means that boredom is never an option.
Timely take on Munich Olympics terrorist crisis
The edge-of-your-seat factual drama September 5 takes viewers behind the scenes in one of the Olympic Games’ darkest hours with a message that still resonates today.
Companion’s a terrifically twisting thriller best seen spoiler-free
Companion is the kind of original and inventive thriller that comes around all too rarely – but the top-level twists hit hardest by going in spoiler-free, writes Leigh Paatsch.