The Elephant Man Review
The Plot
Based on the real life of Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man is the story of a 19th Century man who scrapes a tragic living on the sordid Victorian freak show circuit. When a renowned doctor takes Merrick under his care he is astonished by the man’s brilliant intelligence, unshakable faith and his resounding desire for love and understanding. He introduces Merrick to a beautiful actress and a complex friendship blossoms among the trio, as they struggle to protect Merrick form a world of questionable intentions.
The Good
Hollywood star Bradley Cooper has already won significant acclaim for his Broadway portrayal of Joseph Merrick. Bringing his unique performance to the West End, Cooper continues to enshrine himself as one of the best leading mean of his generation.
Forgoing the obvious options for elaborate make up and prosthetics, Cooper instead uses only a series of self-inflicted physical contortions to transform his handsome appearance into the pained disfigurement of The Elephant Man. It’s a consistently impressive and skilled piece of acting, which only serves to make his emotional and vocal performance more credible and arresting.
Through a mask of facial grimaces and slurred speech, Cooper portrays Merrick as a man who is left both vulnerably naïve and bravely insightful by the terrible physical afflictions he lives with and the reactions of others to them. His soft spoken voice conveys a gentle charisma beneath a supposedly monstrous exterior. Though perhaps the highest compliment possible is that Cooper manages to make audience utterly forget his Hollywood star status as he entirely become Merrick .
Patricia Clarkson is an intelligently cast choice as Mrs Kendall, the famous actress won over by Merrick’s sincere sweet nature. Having a well-recognised face in the role certainly helps to give credence to her as bone fide diva. But Clarkson’s genuine talents for portraying fragility and empathy are even greater assets. It’s the combination of Cooper and Clarkson that gives the play its true heart.
Alessandro Nivola also does a fine job as Dr Treves, the well-meaning surgeon who rescues Merrick, only to increasingly struggle with his ultimate inability to save him. It’s a functional but important role, representing the obvious desire of audiences to save Merrick.
Overall a strong supporting cast is consistently improved by sharing the stage with Cooper’s captivating and accomplished star turn. The play blends moments of humour and optimism into the otherwise tragic tale of Merrick’s troubled existence. It’s poignant and memorable experience for audiences.
The Bad
The life and tragic demise of Joseph Merrick has been very well documented, particularly through the classic 1980s Oscar nominated David Lynch film. Merrick is such an iconic figure and so symbolic of the dark human fascination with disfigurement that some may feel overly familiar with his plight. Those familiar with the high profile film version may also find it hard to avoid comparisons.
In particular while Bradley Cooper uses an impressive array of body contortions to portray Merrick’s physical afflictions, it’s tough not to compare this to the memorably dramatic make up that transformed John Hurt on screen. It’s a brave choice not to use any make up to transform Cooper’s otherwise gorgeous appearance for the role. It does work surprisingly well thanks to his flawless skill and physical commitment, though some people may find their curiosity for physical strangeness less satisfied.
The Ugly Truth
The Elephant Man is by turns, tragic and surprisingly amusing. A sensational star turn from Hollywood superstar Bradley Cooper is worth the admission price alone and makes this production essential viewing during its limited West End run.
San Andreas Review
The Plot
It’s The Rock vs Earthquakes (yes, plural!). When a massive earthquake hits California, Ray, a rescue-chopper pilot (Dwayne Johnson) must make his way through the city to save his estranged wife and daughter.
The Good
The first thing that needs to be said about this latest addition to the disaster movie genre is that it will only truly work if you have a good audience along for the ride. Opening with a rescue scene featuring a car trapped on the side of a mountain, San Andreas doesn’t really slow down from there. Dwayne Johnson barely has to prove he has the right physique for this role. One look at him and you can instantly believe he can pilot a helicopter, drive a boat and generally overshadow every other father before him in an attempt to save his family.
There’s no need to pay extra for a motion seat in the cinema either. Every time a quake hits (and there are a good few) you’ll hear it, see it, and feel it throughout your entire body. In fact the people in the screen next door will probably feel it too. San Andreas is unashamedly big and is certainly not the worst way to spend 2 hours.
The Bad
Considering that one of the problems with Mad Max, the other big action blockbuster still making the rounds at the moment, is the storyline or rather lack thereof, ironically one of the problems with San Andreas is the use of it. Or rather the overuse. While Paul Giamatti runs around providing constant exposition for us, Johnson is stuck struggling with a soap opera in amongst the rubble. His ex wife (Carla Gugino) is dating a not so fantastic architect (Ioan Gruffudd) who promptly ditches his daughter to fend for herself along with a cute british lad and his brother (Hugo Johnstone-Burt and Art Parkinson) in a sub plot that you can see coming a mile away.
Compared to the credible blockbuster action, the human drama is full of laugh out loud moments. Don’t go into it looking for anything else.
The Ugly Truth
Johnson does a good job as action hero, but that’s to be expected. At its heart, San Andreas is really just a big rumbling ball of fun and any attempt to look deeper for something more serious is blocked out by biceps, collapsing buildings and a huge star spangled patriotic American flag.
Review by Johnny Ellis
Man Up Review
The Plot
When unlucky in love Nancy (Lake Bell) is mistaken as Jack’s (Simon Pegg) blind date, she decides to take fate into her own hands and steal the date for herself.
The Good
Man Up is a brilliantly written comedy which perfectly encapsulates the awkwardness of a blind date. From Jack’s awkward bumbling greeting to bumping into the ex and the old school friend. It’s silly at times but the dialogue stays fresh throughout and Bell and Pegg are a perfect pairing.
Thankfully, the story focuses on just one day, following Nancy and Jack as they wander around the sights of London while Nancy tries to blag her way through the day as the 24 year old triathlete that Jack’s expecting. One of the biggest highlights comes from Rory Kinnear in a scene stealing role which is undoubtedly the craziest he’s had yet. It’s Lake Bells performance which is the most striking though, Nancy is a wonderfully fleshed out character and Bell nails the british accent perfectly.
The Bad
Though the storyline is fresh and fun for the entirety, Man Up does succumb to the inevitable big gushy romcom ending that we’re all used to and perhaps secretly hoping for. Still it’s perhaps a shame really as up until that point, the film has willfully avoided becoming overly sentimental. Recently divorced Jack and pessimist Nancy had their fair share of big romantic gestures it seems and are finally just accepting the reality in romance.
Perhaps had the plot gone past just one day, the grandstand finale could feel a bit more warranted. Thats not to say that the 24 hour timeline for the film isn’t still a good point. Just that the plot should have really chosen one of these instead of both…
The Ugly Truth
Man Up brings a brilliantly realistic pairing with Bell and Pegg playing off each other well as mismatched romantic underachievers. Though it falters a bit with the cliched finale, the film remains a consistently funny and adorably awkward way to spend 90 minutes.
Review by Johnny Ellis
Check out red carpet London premiere interviews below:
Tomorrowland: A World Beyond Review
The Plot
When Casey (Britt Robertson) comes across a badge that transports her to a whole new world whenever she touches it, she goes in search of the truth behind it all. With the help of inventor Frank Walker (George Clooney) and a young girl named Athena (Raffey Cassidy) she soon discovers Tomorrowland.
The Good
Director Brad Bird (Mission Impossible 4) brings a huge spectacle of a film to the screen in a way that only Brad Bird could. Serving as both an original sci-fi film and an advertisement for Disney World, Tomorrowland is a sight to behold. Opening with a flashback to ‘where it all began’ with young George Clooney’s inventor desperately trying to build a Rocketeer type jetpack and Britt Robertson’s Casey finding the pin that instantly takes her to Tomorrowland – in some completely breathtaking and seamless transitions – Tomorrowland’s first half is a treat to the eyes.
It’s the latter half that brings the important message to the forefront though. Without spoiling too much, Tomorrowland’s moral is incredibly poignant for today’s day and age. Comparisons can be made to Interstellar and even slightly Nightcrawler (at least in terms of its themes…). It’s hard to go into any more detail without spoiling the experience. Sufficed to say, Clooney and Robertson are fantastic, but the real highlight comes from Raffey Cassidy who knocks them out of the limelight most of the time. An incredible feat for a 12 year old actress!
The Bad
While the main cast are spectacular, the main antagonist, Hugh Laurie’s Nix, feels hugely underused. Considering he is set up early on, he doesn’t reappear for a good while, instead his robot minions – who alas, are human form and not yellow… - are used as the main threat for a big chunk of the storyline. Laurie’s character is an interesting one. His ideas and plans feel occasionally warranted but they aren’t explored as fully as they could or should have been. What starts out as an interesting villain, soon ends up a forgettable one.
And though the two halves of the film, the former, stunningly breathtaking spectacle, followed by the latter, poignant and thought provoking moral, are both interesting and well done on their own, together they affect the pacing of the 130 minute runtime. The latter half thus feels slightly more dragged out than the opening.
The Ugly Truth
Brad Bird brings his usual swooping visuals to a genuinely thought provoking story which will make you reflect on the state of our world today. It’s just a shame that the two don’t connect together so easily. At times it becomes clunky and unsure of itself, but when it works it’s a triumph.
Review by Johnny Ellis
Poltergeist Review
The Plot
After a family moves into a home that sits on a former cemetery, they soon become haunted by evil forces and must come together to save their youngest daughter when she’s taken captive.
The Good
Remaking a horror film as classic as Poltergeist was always going to be an idea which would provoke some worry. Released 33 years after the original, this remake does a perfectly fine job at updating it for modern audiences. The original story is still there, but with the addition of drones and a reality show ghost hunter in the form of Jared Harris to help things move along.
Thankfully it’s not a complete shot for shot remake and does actually try to bring something new to the story. One prime example being that when the family do start to take notice of the strange activities going on in their new not so humble abode, they start to work to get rid of it instantly, as apposed to, say, using your child as an experiment/plaything for the poltergeist (see the original for more…). With a plot that runs 20 minutes shorter, Poltergeist somehow manages to cram in more activity in than it’s predecessor. Though perhaps this might not have been the right way to go about it…
The Bad
Unfortunately it’s impossible to view Poltergeist without instantly bringing comparisons to the original, and because of this, it falls short. While it’s certainly brave of director Gil Kenan (Monster House) and writer David Lindsay-Abaire (Oz the Great and Powerful) to go a different way, the fact is that this remake barely constitutes a horror. Where the terror of the original came from the slow burning threat which is eventually paid off, this new version only manages to shock with the use of cheap jump scares.
The cast too don’t seem to be very invested or confident with the idea of it either. Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt make for simple and uninteresting characters that seem bored with the script. Meanwhile the biggest highlight of the child actors is Kennedi Clements (whose biggest previous credit includes Jingle All The Way 2…) and this is only really because she’s the unfortunate child who gets taken in by the ghouls.
The Ugly Truth
Poltergeist should be respected slightly for not trying too hard to stay exactly like it’s original and instead trying to bring something new to a classic. However all attempts that are made are scuppered by cheap jump scares and a bored script.
Review by Johnny Ellis