We are all of us in Gaultier, but some of us look like stars
Saw "Munich". Not bad but not brilliant. Tells the story of a Mossad agent sent to assassinate eleven Black September terrorists after the Munich Olympics attacks. Has a good period feel, with lots of lavish long walk-by dollying. Found the grainy period film-stock effect annoying though, possibly because of my habit of sitting near the front: if I've gone to all the trouble of going to the cinema, forking out seven quid, and sitting through a bunch of warnings of the Terrible Quality of downloaded movies, I'd rather like a clear picture, thanks.
Good points: some nicely tense scenes at the beginning, and a kind of kitchen-sink realism atmosphere more reminiscent of Spielberg's earlier films than his later ones. Some good performances from Eric Bana and the motley team of assassins as they progress from nervousness to desensitization to paranoia.
Bad points: the plot tends to dissolve into sanctimonious generic hand-wringing later on, without much resolution or much happening. The tradecraft and spy detail is ludicrously unconvincing: the assassins are handed a list of names by Mossad and immediately make contact with a standard stock character/plot device: an Information Broker who knows everything about everyone, tracks down the terrorists themselves and hands over the addresses and details; even arranging safe houses and explosives. Even James Bond puts in more legwork than these guys, who seem to do nothing but laze around waiting for the next tip-off. The author of the book the film was based on has been accused of being a fantasist and there seems to be a lack of convincing detail.
Verdict: you might want to see it if there's nothing else on, but otherwise you might as well wait for the DVD.
IMDB, Observer review, Ebert review, Washington Post Op-Ed, Salon review (reg req), Salon Op-Ed (reg req), official site.
What I'm Watching: TV
Haven't really been able to get in to Hyperdrive. I don't find comedies as easy to watch
as I used to. Seems to have a couple of good touches per episode, but mostly seems pretty
clichéd. The part where the zombie-like cyborg girl was revealed to have been formerly
normal and vivacious before signing the contract was pretty neat; but the chubby second-in-command
full of unrequited love for the boss seems like a stereotype that's been floundering since the forties.
Have found "Life on Mars" growing on me though. Now he's not bitching so much it's turned into a decent period detective show; quite well balanced between comedy and drama. I got totally fooled by the red herring in last week's one.
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