Angèle and Tony - Movie Poster

Angèle and Tony

4.0 Anne Murphy

A fragile woman returns to the seaside town of Normandy on completing a jail term and meets a fisherman through a personal ad.

The sensitivities around relationships are captured with few words in this intimate exploration of human connections. The characters are forthright and defensive, whatever warmth they may have is not to be squandered, and their innermost temperaments are reflected in the windswept coastline and grey subdued ocean. The tone is understated and the film is all the more powerful for the simplicity with which it captures restrained expressions of longing. Tony ❤ Angele and vice versa.


Carlos - Movie Poster

Carlos

2.0 Anne Murphy

A TV mini-series, chronicling the exploits of Carlos the Jackal, edited and cut for showing as a movie.

Carlos is an interesting figure to discover more about. He comes across as an opportunistic mercenary rather than a terrorist dedicated to a cause, and what's apparent is the ego of a man who considered himself a revolutionary. Part history and part reconstruction, the use of news footage provides a documentary sense of realism. A small screen budget is evident in the uneven set quality, lighting, and the use of a hand held camera; it's all a bit bumpy. Complex politics make surprisingly tedious viewing.


Potiche - Movie Poster

Potiche

4.0 Anne Murphy

When her husband is taken hostage by his striking employees, a trophy wife takes the reins of the family business and proves to be a remarkably effective leader.

The 70's are perfectly recreated with all of the colour and fashion to bring on pangs of nostalgia. The social attitudes are missed less. "Potiche" is a light-hearted movie loaded with social comment, looking at the role of women in the workplace, and the incumbent responsibilities of fatherhood. Focused on individual choices and growth, there's no haranguing, and the delivery is affable, warm, and comic. A gold medal for the trophy wife.


The Clink of Ice - Movie Poster

The Clink of Ice

3.0 Anne Murphy

An alcoholic writer is visited by an incarnation of his cancer.

"The Clink of Ice" is as original as it is deeply and darkly humorous. Imagine bantering with your life threatening illness and laughing. The premise of personifying a malignant disease in a suit sets up an intriguing film. Not that there is anything funny about cancer or facing death. Typically we deride perverse situations as being as 'funny as cancer' but the director and cast prove dexterous enough to turn that assertion around. As bleak as the themes of the movie are, the clinking of ice muffles the death knell.


Happy Few - Movie Poster

Happy Few

3.0 Anne Murphy

Two couples fall in love, lose sight of each other in the confusion and end up pulling through.

"Happy Few" covers many relationships between two couples, each person with every other, and then with their children. All of the inter-relationships are handled respectfully, and the characters are strong and credible. It's a shame the emotional development is secondary to the depictions of the physical encounters, and surprisingly, this translates to the movie revealing less intimacy than one might have expected. Still, there's much happiness to be found in this French romp. Many will be happily seduced.


Bus Palladium - Movie Poster

Bus Palladium

3.0 Anne Murphy

It's the 80's and the boys have formed a band, now all they need is the big time.

Five childhood friends form a rock band as young men, put them on a tour bus, and we're watching the movie equivalent of rock 'n' roll heaven. The stereotypical band members are troubled by nothing more than the usual sex and drugs and making music together, their travails accompanied by an authentic soundtrack that recreates the feel of the era. The boys are as likable as "Bus Palladium" is enjoyable. Get a ticket and get on the bus.


All That Glitters - Movie Poster

All That Glitters

3.0 Anne Murphy

Two young women who have been friends since childhood are daring in their attempts to gain access to a social class beyond their reach.

A surprisingly unpretentious comedy that will speak to the aspirations and angst of many adolescents enthralled by the world of glamour and fashion. The film is anchored by the friendship of two central characters, who enthuse the story with their daring and their dreams. There are social messages on many levels, as the girls also manage to dismay with their denial of their backgrounds and family. "All That Glitters" is stylish, energetic, mischievous... and glittering.


Anything for Her - Movie Poster

Anything for Her

3.5 Anne Murphy

With no legal means left to him, a high school teacher devises a daring plan to rescue his wrongfully imprisoned wife from jail.

"Anything for Her" is a gripping thriller that will be watched heart pumping, and eyes glued to the screen. Tension is maintained throughout this tightly edited and well acted film that moves credibly between middle-class lives and the underside of the streets of Paris. While it may stretch plausibility, it is an action packed yarn that prompts questions about innocence and guilt, love and desperation.


Every Jack has a Jill - Movie Poster

Every Jack has a Jill

3.5 Anne Murphy

Jack is encouraged to take the romantic Paris vacation he won, despite just being dumped by his girlfriend.

Despite the odd title, "Every Jack has a Jill" is a thoroughly enjoyable romantic comedy. The genre dictates the happy outcome so the ending is no surprise. Apart from the conclusion the rest of the story is delightfully unpredictable with a cast of eccentric characters. See this movie to enjoy a warm hearted story which has all the quirky and charming elements required to weave an endearing spell.


Mademoiselle Chambon - Movie Poster

Mademoiselle Chambon

2.5 Anne Murphy

Jean, his loving wife and son live a simple, happy life.

"Mademoiselle Chambon" is an emotional drama laden with unexpressed feeling that hovers between sensitive and stagnant. While subtlety must have been the director's intention, the effect is slack and stifled. The story has a very long fuse, as restraint is favoured over illicit passion. Unfortunately, the wick is so slow burning that by the final scene interest in the characters has been extinguished. With barely any action and sparse dialogue, the movie fails to ignite (which could be the point), and for many this film will seem pointless.


Welcome - Movie Poster

Welcome

4.5 Anne Murphy

Bilal, a 17 year old Kurdish boy from Iraq sets off to England to see his love who lives there.

"Welcome" is an authentic exploration of a divisive social issue of our time. The device of narrowing the focus from exiles and asylum seekers to one man allows sensitivity to infiltrate the story, and attitudes of caring emerge from unlikely sources. The movie is grounded with a heartbreaking love story at the core. Strong performances hold the production together, keeping it from showing undue concern in a bleeding heart fashion. Always welcome are extraordinary, powerfully emotional, and well directed films about unwelcome immigrants.


You'll Miss Me - Movie Poster

You'll Miss Me

4.0 Anne Murphy

The lives of six people converge briefly at an airport, where arrivals and departures are the norm.

"You'll Miss Me" is composed of a delightful series of vignettes that deftly intersect and overlap, exploring loves lost and found. The movie delves into the emotions of people with vastly different lives, the laughs laced with feelings. The production has a warm hearted feel, perhaps only possible because it's French - it's certainly not as theatrical as the English ensemble pieces it is so reminiscent of. Try not to miss this one.


Dolls and Angels - Movie Poster

Dolls and Angels

2.5 Anne Murphy

Chririne and Lya are sisters growing into womanhood, who need to escape their abusive father and tense family situation.

Survival in the projects on the outskirts of Paris necessitates navigating the dark shadows of the glamorous city of love. This movie's raw tone is at times hard to watch, depicting love as having many forms of expression, including physical violence. The characters are either so strong (all of the women) or so obnoxious (most of the men) that it's hard to connect with them. The angels become dolls to survive - wooden caricatures more typical of puppets.


A Pain in the Ass - Movie Poster

A Pain in the Ass

2.5 Anne Murphy

An unlikely friendship develops between a hitman and a suicidal guy who have both checked into the same hotel for different reasons.

The latest episode in the life of Francois Pignon, for some, this film may be a laugh-out-loud slapstick comedy. However, if farcical screwball is not your bag, then this movie could be seriously unfunny. The situations are 'black' and the delivery is heavy-handed. Rather than the satirical wit we expect of Monsieur Pignon, laughs are sought from situations such as suicide, divorce, and incompetent medical specialists. Funny? More like a pain in the ass.


Actresses - Movie Poster

Actresses

4.0 Anne Murphy

Marcelline has the lead role in Turgenev's "A Month in the Country" and is in rehearsal for the stage production while rendezvousing with her real and imagined mid-life crisis.

This is a charming dramatic comedy about arriving at a certain life stage unfulfilled by the journey and irrevocably aging. Time ticks to an off-beat rhythm as players and characters collide, even the director's metronome can't restore a more even beat for members of the cast. It's the off-stage drama that is most engaging, where emotions are held in check only to emerge in theatrically inappropriate ways. Encore.