richarddonlan Reviews

Presumptes implicats (2007 TV Movie)

An enjoyable and funny film

[9/10 · 11 March 2008]

I saw this at the Spanish film festival last night and found it to be an enjoyable film with lots of laughs.

The basic outline of the story is the tale of a five a side football team who are a mixed bag of characters who always get beaten at football are thrashed by the best team in the league and humiliated by there square chinned and handsome team captain.

In a bar later they see there tormentor drive up in his fantastic sports car, with his beautiful and rich girlfriend, and they decide to get there own back for his humiliating them, by taking his phone and sending a text message to his girlfriend but pretending it is from a former or current lover.

This leads to Santi the victim getting a punch in the nose, he loses his beautiful girlfriend who he was engaged to, loses his company sports car and gets sacked from his job, as his employer was his girlfriends father.

The team under threat of being exposed as the ones behind it all by one of there number, are given four weeks to try and rebuild Santi's life without him knowing it.

How they go about this is the main part of the film where all the humour comes from, this groups of misfits who can't even sort there own lives out, trying to sort someone else's out and get him a new job, car and girl.

It's not a film of great depth and you can probably guess the rest of the plot, but the characters are fun to spend time with and I really enjoyed it.

King Kong (2005)

Two hours I ain't getting back

[1/10 · 6 January 2006]

I only stayed for the first two hours of this film, it did not hold my attention at all. The first hour is just plain dull, the acting was below par & i did not warm to any of the characters & started to pull for the dinosaurs. Thought the film would pick up when they got to skull island, it just turned into another cgi fest, it doesn't impress me one iota. As for this film being a masterpiece, I don't think so, you should check out the work of Kurosawa, Fellini & Bergman then compare & contrast. Sorry I would have liked to have jumped on the bandwagon with a good deal of you but I can't. At the very least see the original instead.

Election (1999)

Alexander Payne's comedy based around a High School election campaign

[8/10 · 28 September 2005]

My current favourite film is Sideways, directed by Alexander Payne. As I enjoyed this film so much I began to seek out his previous films & I was not disappointed.

This is the story of two characters ambitious high school student Tracy Flick & popular but stuck in a rut High School teacher Mr McAllister. Tracy is very driven her goal is to win the election of student body president, nothing will stand in her way.

Mr McAllister decides that the election should not be the walk over for Tracy it looks like being, resentful of her, he lays the blame for his colleague & friend Mr Novotny's sacking squarely at the feet of Tracy following an affair the two had.

Mr McAllister decides to throw obstacles in Tracy's path, to this end he recruits popular but injured star quarter-back Paul Metzler to stand against Tracy. Under hand tricks, to down right cheating ensue, lives start to fall apart as everyone pursues their own agendas using the election.

The film sweeps you along at a good pace, the characters are so compelling, Reese Witherspoon is the picture of determination, even when she is silent her expressions tell you what her character is thinking never taking her eye off the prize. Matthew Broderick starts the film as a popular teacher everyone's friend almost unaware he is in a rut. However looking at Tracy he starts to look at the rest of his life then starts to long for change which by his actions he gets, even though it ends up far from the button down life he thought he was happy in.

Funny throughout, this film shows Alexander Payne is a director you should keep an eye on, he went on to make About Schmidt, then the aforementioned Sideways. These are films focusing on people's trials & tribulations, reviewing truths they once held as true, but with a lightness of touch that is very endearing, Alexander Payne treats these situations like life, sometimes you want to cry sometimes you just have to laugh.

See this film.

The Girl of Your Dreams (1998)

As a non Spanish speaker I really enjoyed this...

[8/10 · 31 March 2005]

I have just got this film on DVD I saw it a couple of years ago during a Penelope Cruz season in Manchester, I enjoyed it then & I enjoyed it just as much now.

As a non-Spanish speaker I still got the comic elements & the historical references to a point & now I have it on DVD I can go back & check any bits I have missed.

I just like the characters in this film, the fish out of water element of the Spanish in Nazi Germany is very funny the off the cuff one liners are priceless.

Cruz & Resinas may be the focus of the film & they are lead the way but everyone gets a moment to shine in this film, segura is my favourite he always steals some or all the limelight in any film he appears.

I would heartily recommend this film it may not be up to Belle Epoque but its not far behind.

Torremolinos 73 (2003)

An honourable debut

[7/10 · 13 April 2004]

I think everyone is being a tad harsh on this film, there is no way they could have kept the pace of the first half of the film up it would have been exhausting.Seeing this film in a packed cinema @ cornerhouse certainly helped, seen Candela Pena in two films recently she shines in both.As for the second half of the film & the transition from comedy to drama the laughs didn't dry up they just were a bit more subtle i thought he bergman stuff especially carrying the sithe on the rollercoaster & playing chess on the pedolo was hilarious. An honourable debut for me it looked like the seventies, all brown & beige. The donkey bit was very funny, definitely not subtle.