MOVIE INFO
When we first meet New York hedge-fund magnate Robert Miller (Richard Gere) on the eve of his 60th birthday, he appears the very portrait of success in American business and family life. But behind the gilded walls of his mansion, Miller is in over his head, desperately trying to complete the sale of his trading empire to a major bank before the depths of his fraud are revealed. Struggling to conceal his duplicity from loyal wife Ellen (Susan Sarandon) and brilliant daughter and heir-apparent Brooke (Brit Marling), Miller's also balancing an affair with French art-dealer Julie Cote (Laetetia Casta). Just as he's about to unload his troubled empire, an unexpected bloody error forces him to juggle family, business, and crime with the aid of Jimmy Grant (Nate Parker), a face from Miller's past.
First thing, I've discovered that it can look incredibly homosexual for men to argue about what type of popcorn they'll be sharing when at the kiosk, then to compare calories between Minstrels and Maltesers, then to top it all off, whether the high level of saccharin in Coke Zero is actually more damaging than the actual sugar in regular Coke. I'm surprised after the lengthy metrosexual debate that Neil and I had on said issues, they didn't have an usher monitor us during the screening just to ensure we weren't going to chug each other off in the back row.
I digress.
So Richard Gere is a guy that has been acting for over 40 years but never once been nominated for an oscar. Why? Same reason they don't give Tom Cruise an oscar. He's not a character actor, he's a brand. And like any brand, you are either signed up to the product, or you simply don't use it. I happen to be a fan of Richard Gere films because my mum is in love with the man. Her favourite Gere film is not Pretty Woman, or Officer and a Gentleman, but Breathless. It's also Tarantino's favourite too. He says about the film,
"Here's a movie that indulges completely all my obsessions - comic books, rockabilly music and movies."
My mum likes it because he gets his dong out in a shower scene for all of 2 seconds.
But before you all start feeling sorry for Gere for never being nominated for an oscar, remember he banged one of the hottest girls on the planet (Cindy Crawford) for 4 years. He is no stranger to excess as well spanking £20,000 on an advert in the Times saying that his marriage to Crawford was 'Not on the rocks'. They divorced 6 months later. For me that's better than the hamster up the arse story which I won't bring up, it happens to the best of us. He is also married to a Bond girl now so I think you can call that a life don't you?
Oh and Tim Roth is in this, and has anyone noticed that Tim Roth can't sit on a chair? He adopts a permanent slouch in every scene where he sits now, its quite interesting.
Actually, not that interesting.
Tomato Meter - 87% critics
Tomato Meter - 65% audience
Peter Meter - 78%
So this weekend I went to the local Cineworld to watch Side Effects.
MOVIE INFO
SIDE EFFECTS is a provocative thriller about Emily and Martin (Rooney Mara and Channing Tatum), a successful New York couple whose world unravels when a new drug prescribed by Emily's psychiatrist (Jude Law) - intended to treat anxiety - has unexpected side effects.
I couldn't find any company so did a solo run. Went for a 50/50 sweet, salt split on the popcorn. Apparently Soderbergh penultimate film. His last being a film about my hero Liberace called 'Behind the Candelabra'. With Michael Douglas as Liberace and Matt Damon as his gay lover. And the wonderful fact that I love telling everyone about Liberace is that he got his much younger lover to have plastic surgery to look more like himself. So effectively, he could fuck himself. Is there no better form of narcissism?
Anyway can't wait for that, will probably have a hard time convincing anyone I know to watch it with me but never mind.
So the first thing to say about Side Effects is that there is a stabbing scene that is quite brutal. It is one of the only times I have heard audible gasps from an audience and I'm not giving anything away here, it's in the plot synopsis. The tempo of the film is good, the subject matter of whether people have a divine right to happiness by simply taking a pill is a good one. The overall message of whether we are all guinea pigs in this generation of consuming prescription drugs, strikes home. And there's a good fuck scene, so ticked a few boxes for me.
Tomato Meter - 85% critics
Tomato Meter - 76% audience
Peter Meter - 74%
This week I also got to see the 1973 directors cut of The Wicker Man. Remember Edward Woodward from The Equalizer? He was like a retired Bond who hung around in the shadows of the New York subway waiting for shit to go down. Well he's in this. Oh and talking of Bond, if you ever wondered what 'Goodnight' from The Man the Golden Gun looked like in the buff, then this is the film for you. Incidently no place for The Wicker Man in the Barry Norman top 50 british films, but Shakespeare in Love made it in.
Come on Norman, no wonder you're not on the tele no more.
Anyway Edward Woodward is good in this but even better in The Equalizer. Watch the opening credit sequence of The Equalizer in this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB1NiNKwueE and NOT Arbitrage OR Side Effects.
@thepeterbrooker
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