A Man Called Otto, which stars Tom Hanks, is the Hollywood remake of the Swedish comedy/ drama A Man Called Ove, a film I haven’t seen. Hanks plays Otto Anderson who, as the films byline tells us, is ‘the grumpiest man in the world’. Bitter and contemptuous of just about everyone he meets, he spends his days stalking the grounds
Read moreThe comedy-tinged drama Misbehaviour depicts the events surrounding the 1970 Miss World telecast in London when feminist activists staged a protest that plunged the event – hosted by Bob Hope – into chaos. The protests earned headlines around the world and put the women’s liberation movement on the map. It also saw an unexpected result to the competition itself that
Read moreTwo decades ago, Guy Ritchie’s quirky, cartoonish but violent British gangster films such as Lock Stock and Two Smokin’ Barrels and Snatch were the cinema equivalent of Britpop to Tarantino’s grunge. Featuring a colourful rogues’ gallery of geezers, hard men and con artists tangled up in convoluted scams, Ritchie’s films were ridiculous froth but still fun. In recent years his
Read moreLittle, the latest film for What Men Want writer/director Tina Gordon tries to follow in the tradition of Freaky Friday, Suddenly 30, 17 Again and Tom Hanks’ Big, in what might be called the ‘pseudo-magical body transformation film’ where, by becoming someone else, a person is given a new view on their life and if they’re a prat they’re (supposedly)
Read moreThe preposterous title of the hit rom-com Crazy Rich Asians suggests a crass race comedy of the kind not seen since TV shows of the 1970’s but thankfully that’s not the case. While this adaptation of the highly successful Kevin Kwan novels indulges a few clumsy stereotypes it’s really an extravagant take on an old-fashioned romantic fantasy with interestingly non-western
Read moreGerman writer/ director Maren Ade’s long and very quirky tragi-comedy Toni Erdmann carefully negotiates the line between pathos and farce for one of the more unusual but affecting films so far this year. The title character (Peter Simonischek) is a hulking dishevelled man in his 60’s whose life appears to revolve around playing weird Andy Kaufman-style practical jokes on people.
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