#13: PHANTOM OF THE OPEN

Starring Mark Rylance, Sally Hawkins, Rhys Ifans, Jake Davies, Christian Lees, Jonah Lees, Mark Lewis Jones and Johann Myers. Written by Simon Farnaby, and directed by Craig Roberts.

This is a light-hearted, gently-paced, feel-good bio-pic of Maurice Flitcroft a shipyard crane operator from Barrow-on-furness who earned himself the title of  'the world's worst golfer' thanks to his score of 121, 49-over-par, achieved when he blagged his way onto The Open Championship golf tournament in 1974.

The plot sees Maurice Flitcroft (Mark Rylance) deciding to take up golf at the age of 49, when redundancy looms its ugly head, despite never having picked up a golf club in his life. Initially aided by his best friend, his twin disco-obsessed sons, and his long suffering, but deeply loving wife, Jean (Sally Hawkins), Maurice lies on his application form and finds himself the unlikely underdog on the golf course when his ineptitude earns him the adulation of the public. Less so the golfing governing committee, lead by Lambert (Rhys Ifans) who bans him, forcing Flitcroft to adopt a variety of disguises to continue entering competitions.  

The film follows the well-worn structure of these sorts of film, offering nothing new or ground-breaking. It follows our plucky hero's rise to the bottom, followed by a spot of family drama - mostly through the introduction of a fictitious third son to give the film some dramatic bite - followed by his slow decline until his unlikely, third act resurrection. It suffers from a soft underbelly and offers no serious drama or upset. The film also suffers from some jarring CGI and the overuse of a Van Gogh inspired painting as a visual cue, which is unnecessary and jarring. And as mentioned, the introduction of a third son, in the guise of his adopted step-son offers the only drama of the film, but its false, generic one-note quality brings nothing to the table.

This is the second 21st Century Ealing Comedy of the year. It doesn't outstay its welcome and it's enjoyable, gentle and humorous, and you'll definitely smile along with it, perhaps even chortle, and even laugh, but it won't stay with you and sadly it didn't inspire me or lift me, like Eddie the Eagle did, which is a shame because with a cast this good it should have soared.

7/10

#12: THE BATMAN

                               

Starring Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Tururro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy (There but the grace of God went I) Serkis and Colin Farrell. Written by Matt Reeves and Peter Craig, directed by Matt Reeves. Budget $200 million, running time 176 minutes, or four minutes shy of three hours.

The plot! When The Riddler, Penguin, Catwoman and the Joker team up to steal Commodore Schmidlapp's dehydrator weapon with the view to using it to kidnap the United World Organization's Security Council, it's up to Batman and Commission Gordon to thwart their dastardly scheme, and battle shark attacks too! Cue submarines disguised as penguins, romance and some good old batman fun! 

Well, that was the plot of the first Batman movie made in 1966. This time, 56 years later it's time for the Batman we deserve, mean and moody, moody and mean. Brooding, racked with angst and bottled up rage. It's year two of Batman's campaign of vigilante justice and even by his own account, he narrates the film, it's not going too well, in fact it's safe to say he's actually made everything worse.

The best way to summarise The Batman is like this. Imagine Batman (1966) crossed with Seven and you have this, the single best Batman film since Batman Begins (2005). And that's a lot of Batmans in one paragraph.

The plot for this 2022 outing isn't as simple as the 66 version. There's this nutter going round town murdering the rich, powerful and corrupt and leaving cryptic riddles in letters addressed to The Batman. Now it's up to Bats, or Batty as he asks to be called in this outing, to thwart the crimbo and bring the ne'r-do-well to justice. All shot at night time and preferably in the rain, there's no time in this outing for anti-shark repellent, the Batusi, or fizzing bombs! But there is time for savage slap-downs, spectacular car chases and deep, inner brooding as Bats and Gordo slosh around Gotham on the tail of an insanely clever murderer with a diabolical plot for vengeance. 

Directed fantastically by Matt Reeves (he also co-wrote the script) who previously helmed the equally brilliant previous three Planet of the Apes films. Robert Pattison makes a fantastic Batman, and for the first time makes the idea of a masked vigilante in the real world seem actually plausible. Aided by a superb cast, from Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle, Jeffrey Wright as Gordo and a seriously unrecognisable Colin Farrell as the Penguin, to John Tururro menacing turn as crime boss Carmine Falcone, every one is bringing their A game to this particular table.

The plot uncoils slowly and with deliberation, and if there's a failing it's that it's perhaps a tad too long, one couldn't help thinking with a bit of gentle cutting this film could probably have been 15 minutes shorter, likewise it's going to test the patience of those expecting another Suicide Squad or Batman vs. Superman as attested by the 10 people who walked out during my screening. But those are the only issues I had with this film and have to say that it ranks up there as one of the best Batman films so far, and it's truly great to see a Batman who will not kill.

I bloody loved this and will be going back to see it again! 

9/10

#11: THE DUKE

 

Starring Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren, Fionn Whitehead, Anna Maxwell Martin and Matthew Goode. Written by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman, directed by Roger Michell. 96 minutes long.

This 'based on real life' comedy drama tells the story of the 1961 theft of a painting called the Duke of Wellington by Goya from the National Gallery. Starring the superb tag team of Jim Broadbent (whose film this is) and the always excellent Helen Mirren. 

Broadbent plays Kempton Bunton, a 60-year old idealist, social activist and would-be playwright who steals the £140,000 painting in a bid to blackmail the government into giving away free TV licences to all O.A.Ps and war veterans. His world-weary wife, Dorothy (Mirren) struggles with both her bottled up grief at the death of their 18-year old daughter several years earlier and trying to keep the family financially afloat as she works as a clearer.

Meanwhile, Kempton, bounces from one minimal job to another thanks to his strong sense of social justice, which sees him stand up to racism, giving away free taxi rides to disabled war veterans - to the chagrin of his employers, and spending spells in prison for his refusal to buy a tv licence. 

Aided in his antics by his loving son, Jackie (Whitehead) Kempton seems to bounce through life like a teenage rebel, his passion and earnestness makes him a deeply likeable character but this has the adverse effect of making Dorothy seem almost unlikeable, so buttoned up and angst-ridden is she.

With its mix of gentle humour, loveable working class characters and undercurrent of sadness and grief, The Duke feels like is a 21st Century Ealing Studio comedy, which is no bad thing. 

Featuring great performances, a good soundtrack and some very nice cinematography that at times mixes Broadbent into vintage footage this was a thoroughly enjoyable, and like its hero, likeable movie, which is well worth a visit.

8/10