BURNT - review

BURNT
Director: John Wells
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Daniel Brühl, Omar Sy, Riccardo Scamarcio, Matthew Rhys

Synopsis: Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper) is a chef who destroyed his career with drugs and diva behaviour. He cleans up and returns to London, determined to redeem himself but spearheading a top restaurant that can gain three Michelin stars. 

I had heard that this was the most authentic kitchen movie that had been seen for a while, from a friend who is a chef. I had also heard that the film was "intense" from some random cinema patrons who overheard me picking up my tickets. These were two of the better comments I'd heard about the film. Critics have been panning this film, calling it a "kitchen nightmare" along with all manner of other ridiculous food metaphors. I went in with an average expectation of what the film might be, but high hopes of what I would see from such a strong cast.

Off I went on Friday night, way past my bedtime, just hoping that the film would be enough to keep me awake as I settled in with a half full cinema (not a great sign on opening weekend) to see Cooper take on the role of a determined man with everything and nothing to lose. Adam Jones calls in every favour that he has, which is almost none and sweet talks himself into revamping a top restaurant in London to get his third Michelin star. He has burned almost all of his bridges over the years, by being a drug addicted, hot headed diva with all the talent and none of the self-control. Claiming he got everything he ever wanted too early and didn't know how to handle it, he's cleaned up his act and is back with a vengance. He wants nothing more than to get his third star and he will need to best of the best to help him get it.

Bradley Cooper as Adam Jones

image via The Weinstein Company

He recruits some old friends from his Paris days, a young upstart with a spare room and a talented chef (who he gets fired from her current position). The competition is fierce, his past is laden with drama that is chasing him down (and by drama I mean a drug lord who he owes a shit-ton of money to), it was really out of the frying pan and into the fire for this chef. There's also the guy whose life Jones' ruined and so is now repaying the favour, and the girl who love-hates him and the guy who just plain loves him. Unfortunately for Cooper and the rest of the cast, this film only scratches the surface of what could have been a truly dramatic masterpiece. The scenes in the kitchen are some of the most realistic scenes I've seen in a kitchen movie, including all of the food wastage.

Omar Sy and Sienna Miller - making magic in the kitchen

image via The Weinstein Company

Credit where credit is due, the cast truly were fantastic in this film, they really showed depth of character particulalry given that they were all given something deeper and yet never really had the chance to explore it for us. I think that's what I found the most disappointing about this film, there was so much more there and the tiny glimpses you got were enough to make me sad that I wasn't seeing any further into these people's lives. Don't get me wrong, I totally get that you can't go into everything in a film or we'd be there forever, and BURNT was already close to two hours in length, BUT, if you're not going to let me eat the whole damn dish, don't let me taste it, it'll only make me mad.

There's plenty to like about BURNT and if you can get past the lack of depth that is shown in this film, then I think you might really enjoy it. Sadly I don't think it's going to go that well at the box office, so if you do want to see it I would get in quick, I think it will have a relatively short run. If you're a Bradley Cooper fan, or you just like kitchen dramas then sure, it could be worth paying 20-something dollars for, but I'm not conviced it was worth it.

xoxo
The Blonde Bombshell

LOVE & MERCY - review

LOVE & MERCY
Director: Bill Pohlad
Cast: John Cusak, Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Giamatti

The story of the creative genius of the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson and his struggle with his emerging psychosis in the 60's and his struggle in the 80's under the 'care' of his psychotherapist Dr. Eugene Landy. It cuts between the 60's and the 80's and entangles the two tales together in a discordant manner that is somehow harmonious.

1960's Brian Wilson is played by Paul Dano, and takes us through the time in his life where he was working on the greatest album of his life while the rest of the band was on tour. He struggled with his own inner demons, and his obsession to please his father, a marriage he was too young for, drugs his mind couldn't handle and surmounting pressure from the band to produce a gold album that lived up to the standards of his earlier works.

Paul Dano is 1960's Brian Wilson

image via  Icon Films

1980's Brian Wilson is played by John Cusack, and takes us through a time in his life where he was highly medicated and barely functioning for a disease he didn't suffer from all under the care of his slightly off-balance and manipulative psychotherapist Dr Eugene Landy (Paul Giamatti), who was not only controlling his life, isolating him and over medicating him, but taking advantage of him financially. In the 80's Wilson meets and falls in love with Melinda Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks), who sees what is happening to Wilson and does all that she can to intervene.

John Cusack is 1980's Brian Wilson

image via Icon Films

There have been other on-screen versions of the Beach Boys and Brian Wilson, I haven't seen them, but they exist. I'm not sure if there is inspiration taken from the other bio-pics, for this version, and I don't know how much of this story is fact and how much is fiction, but I don't think it matters. I also wondered how it would work with Paul Dano and John Cusack playing the same character with so little physical resemblance, but I don't think it mattered either. At least it didn't matter to me and after my initial questioning of it, I didn't think of it again during the film. 

The Beach BOys as depicted in LOVE & MERCY

image via Icon Films

I didn't know much about Wilson's story in the 80's, and I was amazed and saddened by what happened to Wilson, and yet somehow not at all surprised. I was not surprised that there are people in the world that could take advantage of someone like that and destroy their life in such an isolating way. I would like to do a bit more research into this story and find out how much is true story and how much is fluff, and if there's anyone out there who knows more about this I would be happy to hear about it! I love a bio-pic, but I am always fascinated by how much is real and how much is fluff. 

Cusack and Banks as Wilson and Ledbetter

image via Icon Films

The casting in this film was fantastic, Paul Dano and John Cusack both play an incredible Brian Wilson during those periods in his life, and they carried the story well. It could have been a disaster if one was better than the other in the role of Wilson, but they were astounding in this film. Elizabeth Banks' Melinda Ledbetter was every bit the angel in opposition to Paul Giamatti's Dr. Eugene Landy, who is pure evil in this film. While neither of them quite match the quality of acting by Dano and Cusack, they certainly don't let the film down. 

Elizabeth Banks is Melinda Ledbetter

Paul Giamatti is Dr. Eugene Landy

images via Icon Film

The music through the film is magical - I mean it is Brian Wilson after all - and it was woven throughout the film wonderfully. The film is quite choppy and as I mentioned earlier discordant, but somehow it comes together nicely and that falls largely on director Bill Pohlad and his strange ability to make the discordance work for this film rather than piss the viewr right off. Don't get me wrong, there were some omembers of the audience who complained (very loudly throughout the whole film) that it was hard to follow, and that perhaps they were all on the same drugs as Brian Wilson, but for me it worked. 

If you're not into the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, or bio-pics in general, then don't bother with this one, but I liked it and if you are into those things then I think it's worth the 20-something dollars to see it. 

3.5 out of 5

xoxo

The Blonde Bombshell

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD - review

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen, Tom Sturridge

Based on the novel of the same title by Thomas Hardy, FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD has once again been adapted for the screen, this time by David Nicholls (ONE DAY, GREAT EXPECTATIONS, TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES). If you're unfamiliar with the book, the plot like goes like this;

In Victorian England, the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak, a sheep farmer; Frank Troy, a reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood, a prosperous and mature bachelor. 

********************************SPOILER ALERT**********************************

Or as I like to put it, independent and headstrong girl charms the pants off three different men, marries the worst possible one, torments the most appropriate one, and friend-zones the one she really loves. Then everything falls apart and **SPOILER ALERT** she realises she was wrong the whole time.

I know this story very well, I loved English Lit and did a fair amount of reading, this version was pretty pared back, far less angsty than the original story, and with a lot less heart. That being said, it was well directed, and the casting is superb. Carey Mulligan plays Bathsheba Everdene and palys her well. She is astoundingly beautiful, wistful, kind and plays the independent woman well. Matthias Scoenaerts, does justice to Oak, he's easy on the eye *wink*, and you can see the underlying love in his eyes the whole film (even if Bathsheba can't). Sheen and Sturridge, are a little flimsy in comparison, but they are still good even if slightly mismatched.

Carey Mulligan as Bathsheba Everdene

image via Fox Studios

The film is a pretty looking period piece, and I didn't feel like I'd wasted my time. What I did feel was that the film didn't do the book justice. I think it suits the general audience, it's a nice story, with a fantastic love triangle, but for the literary fan it doesn't quite hit the mark. 

Everdene and Oak

Everdene and Troy

Everdene and Boldwood

images via Fox Studios

The relationship between Everdene and Oaks, is the one that needs to be right in this film as it is the stallwart of this whole story, and they do get it right. The tension between them - love, hurt, regret - it's there the whole time and palpable. Unfortuantely the other relationships don't have room in this film to blossom the way they should and it's a crying shame. 

Everything we know about Everdene crumbles in the scene where she falls for Troy and it shouldn't . The reason she falls for him in the book is tied greatly to his sexual magnetism and the fact that he is the one man that doesn't need her. All it takes in the film however is a fancy bit of sword work and a kiss. I found that greatly disappointing. The same goes for Sheen's Boldwood. The fact that Everdene doesn't love him is irrelevant, she is the precious treasure that he can't have and he will do everything in his power to get her. He doesn't care that she doesn't love him, he just wants her. The film doesn't give Sheen the room to breathe that obsession, and he has the talen to have managed it, and managed it well. 

Everdene and Oak sharing a tender moment

image via Fox Studios

If you're after a nice period piece with a feel good ending then FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD could be for you. In my opinion, I wouldn't spend the 20-something dollars on it, but rather wait for it on DVD. 

2.5 out of 5 

xoxo The Blonde Bombshell