The Eagle

http://focusfeatures.com/the_eagle

The Eagle is a strange one for me to peg. I'd only seen the trailer once and wasn't particularly fussed about seeing the film either way. But as I've said before, I always feel I should get the most out of my Cineworld membership and so I try to see as many films as I can, that are as diverse as Cineworld allows.


So I went to see The Eagle. I wanted to see Limitless again, if just for the sight of Bradley Cooper in his tiny black shorts, but my cinema buddy wanted to see The Eagle over Limitless so we went with The Eagle.


The film is set around 140 AD, the Roman's have invaded Britain and set up their stronghold in the south. Roman Centurion Marcus Aquila decides to undertake a journey to the savage north to retrieve 'The Eagle', an artifact lost by his father when he commanded the Ninth Legion of the Roman Army and brought disgrace to the family name. Aquila, determined to bring back 'The Eagle' and restore his family's reputation, sets out on this journey with only his British slave Esca to help him navigate the treacherous north.


Despite the film not really being my cup of tea I was pleasantly surprised by The Eagle. For one, the acting's not half bad. Channing Tatum, who I expected to just stand around with his shirt off looking pretty, actually pitched in with the fighting, getting as mucky as everyone else, and looking pretty beaten up and really quite sickly in some scenes. Hats off to him for at least getting in on the action. Jamie Bell, who I've never really taken to, was similarly watchable and both were convincing enough in their roles. 


What I will say is that the film really does try. It tries, and I would say succeeds, at not being a Gladiator rip off, it stands apart and tells a different story entirely. The only similarity being the 'swords and sandles' description which the film unfortunately can't escape being saddled with. It is what it is. But for me the similarities end there. It also tries to be as historically accurate as it can be, with depictions of how and why Hadrian's Wall was built, the inhabitants of the north during that time, how Romans built their fortresses etc. 


Despite it's efforts I still found the film to be a little dull in places but as I said, it's not really my cup of tea. I don't mean to be vague, I also don't want to sound as if I'd given up on The Eagle before I walked into the cinema but some films, no matter how much you want to like them, don't work for whatever reason. For me, I felt that The Eagle worked better than I expected it to, but that doesn't mean I loved it.


If you're a guy, or particularly like your swords to be wielded by men in skirts and sandles, then you'll probably really enjoy The Eagle. If you're a girl, chances are you'd rather re-watch Dear John or Step Up. 6 out of 10. 

Viewing Date - 29th March 2011

UK Release Date - 25th March 2011

Cast Overview:

Channing Tatum ~ Marcus Aquila

Jamie Bell ~ Esca

Donald Southerland ~ Uncle Aquila

Mark Strong ~ Guern

Tahar Rahim ~ Seal Prince

Denis O'Hare ~ Lutorius

Douglas Henshall ~ Cradoc

Director ~ Kevin MacDonald 

Writer(s) ~ Jeremy Brock (Screenplay) and Rosemary Sutcliff (Novel)

Limitless

http://www.iamrogue.com/limitless

For those of you who know me, you will know that writing this review is the first real test of my ability to remain professional in the face of undoubted favoritism. Can I be objective about a film when I openly lust after the male lead? This test will be applied again when Source Code comes out on the 1st April. Only that will be an even bigger test than this, seeing as my love for Jakey goes above and beyond my love of anyone else.

But for now we're talking about my love of Bradley, err, what I meant to say is that we're talking about Limitless.

Limitless is based on the novel The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn. This is a well known book but one which I was not aware of until the first rumblings about the movie adaptation were being discussed back in the early part of 2008. At this time Shia LaBeouf was attached to star, but then he broke his hand in the infamous car crash/DUI of the summer of 2008 and The Dark Fields movie had to find itself a new star. Enter Bradley Cooper. Fresh from the success of The Hangover and The A Team, Cooper took on the lead role of Eddie Morra and also bagged himself a producer credit on the film. He's also responsible for the addition of Robert De Niro to the cast as he pitched the film to De Niro himself.

The story is told from Eddie's perspective, a struggling writer who is given an experimental drug which allows him to access 100% of his brain. This allows him to finish his book in 4 days, a book he's been trying to write for years. It also allows him to absorb information at an alarming rate, he learns languages and instruments in a matter of days and figures out very quickly how to play the stock market. But his body can only handle so much and eventually he starts to feel the ill effects of the drug and has to make a life altering decision.

I can't vouch for whether the film is loyal to the book as I haven't read the book. However, I can say that the direction of film, while impressive in the way it puts you in Eddie's mindset, also enduces a certain amount of queasyness with it's fast fowarding through time and upside downside angles. I can also say that having now seen the movie I have a hard time picturing Shia LaBeouf in this role. I'm not sure whether that's thanks to Bradley making it his own or just the fact that the script demands an older actor? I'm not sure if the script was re-worked for Bradley when Shia dropped out but with an 11 year age gap between them it's not as if they vie for similar roles.

Leaving my bias at the door I must say that I thought Bradley did a really great job. Eddie is not the most likable character and yet through the use of the Cooper charm he becomes someone that you root for, hoping that things end well for him. He really does carry this movie, even with support from De Niro this is Bradley's film and kudos to him for holding the audience's attention for the duration whilst also holding his own against an acting heavyweight. 

It's not going to win any awards but Limitless is entertaining and well acted. 8 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 23rd March 2011

UK Release Date - 23rd March 2011

Cast Overview:

Bradley Cooper ~ Eddie Morra

Robert De Niro ~ Carl Van Loon

Abbie Cornish ~ Lindy

Anna Friel ~ Melissa

Johnny Whitworth ~ Vern

Director ~ Neil Burger

Writer(s) ~ Leslie Dixon (Screenplay) and Alan Glynn (Novel)

Fair Game

http://www.fairgame-movie.com/

Before you ask, this is not the dodgy 90's movie with Cindy Crawford and one of the Baldwins. This is a new Drama/Thriller based on the true story of a CIA Agent who was outed by the press in Washington in the early noughties.


I hadn't seen anything about it other than an interview in the metro with the real CIA Agent - Valerie Plame - on who's book the film is based. My reason for going is slightly more complicated. One of my friends asked me what films were out which were suitable to take her mum to. I suggested this - although I knew very little about it I figured it would be suitable - or The Adjustment Bureau, which I had already seen and would recommend for anyone.


In the end her mum went with this but decided 20 minutes into the film that she'd rather watch Hall Pass. A film I did not suggest or recommend as I thought it wouldn't be suitable or any good. I decided to stick with Fair Game and was later told that my assumptions about Hall Pass were both correct.


As mentioned above, Fair Game is based on the true story of CIA Agent Valerie Plame, who was outed by the press in 2003. The film sheds light on why this happened to Valerie - her husband, diplomat Joseph Wilson, was sent to Niger on behalf of the CIA to investigate claims that Saddam Hussein was purchasing and shipping bomb making supplies. Wilson found no evidence of this and said as much in a story he sold to the New York Times. This subsequently upset the US Government as it made their invasion of Iraq look un-necessary (which it probably was). To make Wilson pay, they drag his wife's name and reputation through the papers. The film tells us what became of her life, her job and her family in the fall out. 


It's not the most riveting film, I will concede to my friend's mum on that fact. But it's also not a bad film. It's an interesting story, if you like political expositions and films that allow you to look behind the scenes at the US Government. I don't really get my kicks from such movies and so it didn't really appeal to me in that sense. It was well acted by both Naomi Watts and Sean Penn and the direction and writing were both adequate for the story at hand. 


If you like your 'Drama/Thrillers' to be more drama than thriller and you enjoy political films I think you'll enjoy this. For anyone else taking their mum to the cinema I'd stick with The Adjustment Bureau. 6 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 15th March 2011

UK Release Date - 11th March 2011

Cast Overview:

Naomi Watts ~ Valerie Plame

Sean Penn ~ Joseph Wilson

Khaled El Nabawy ~ Hamed 

Ty Burrell ~ Fred

Sam Shepard ~ Sam Plame

Bruce McGill ~ Jim Pavitt

Brooke Smith ~ Diana

Michael Kelly ~ Jack

Noah Emmerich ~ Bill

Director ~ Doug Liman

Writer(s) ~ Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth (Screenplay), Joseph Wilson (Book The Politics of Truth) and Valerie Plame (Book Fair Game)