Posts Tagged ‘Janet McTeer’

Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Cast: Tom Cruise, Simon Pegg, Hayley Atwell, Easi Morales, Henry Czerny, Pom Klementieff, Angela Bassett, Ving Rhames, Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, Tramell Tillman, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Mark Gatiss, Cary Elwes, Pasha D. Lynchnikoff, Vanessa Redgrave, Jon Voight

Running Time: 2 hours and 49 minutes

Film Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Two years after the hugely successful Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning, the final film in the franchise has finally arrived and while the 2023 film was flashier and more glamourous, Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning is grittier and slightly retro in some scenes which director McQuarrie clearly takes inspiration for his film aesthetic from the 1960’s & 1970’s spy films. Think The Spy Who Loved Me and Diamonds are Forever.

Superstar Tom Cruise is back as Ethan Hunt in the final film which director Christopher McQuarrie expertly pays homage to all the previous films in the series especially the original Mission: Impossible directed by legendary auteur Brian de Palma back in 1996.

This film wraps up almost 30 years of possibly one of the most successful spy franchises next to the James Bond series.

Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning sees Ethan and his team including Simon Pegg as Benji and Hayley Atwell (Brideshead Revisited, The Duchess, Captain America: The First Avenger) reprising her role as Grace as they have to race against time, risking the fate of the world to control a megalomaniac artificial intelligence known as the Entity as it seeks quite malevolently to pit all the nuclear nations against each other.

While the plot of the Final Reckoning is quite far-fetched, the stunts are absolutely amazing particularly the claustrophobic diving scene inside a sunken submarine in which Ethan Hunt retrieves a special source code to the incredible vintage plane sequence over jaw dropping African mountains when Ethan and his evil nemesis Gabriel played again by Easi Morales are fighting atop a burning vintage plane.

Oscar nominee Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Whats Love Got to Do With it?) is sensational as the American President Erika Sloane who has the difficult task of protecting America while entrusting Ethan to contain the entity for eternity before there is an international nuclear fallout. Fortunately Bassett has a whole group of co-stars to play to.

There are several really crowded scenes in Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning, almost like chorus scenes in a theatre, which adds to the absolute spectacle of this film. For Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning to be appreciated you have to understand the theatricality of the film, the splendour and the phenomenal stunts. The end sequence is heart warming and suitably appealing with the scriptwriter tying up all the narrative loose ends.

While some of the flashback scenes are a bit excessive, this final outing of Mission: Impossible is amazing and definitely made for the fans. Look out for brief appearances by Vanessa Redgrave and Jon Voight who were in the original 1996 film. Tom Cruise is passionate about big screen spectacle and he achieves this in this worthy conclusion to a stylishly well executed spy franchise, which has seen the films being set all over the world.

Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning is brilliantly choreographed with some unbelievable sets and stunt sequences held together by a bursting cast full of talented actors wanting this beast of a film to be appreciated and supported.

Set in London, Austria, the Bering Sea and South Africa, Mission: Impossible Final Reckoning is pure escapism on a grand scale and gets a film rating of 8.5 out of 10.

Highly recommended viewing for those with a spare three hours to kill. The fate of the cinema world depends on the viewer going to see it. Trust me, the experience is worth it.

The Exception

Director: David Leveaux

Cast: Jai Courtney, Lily James, Christopher Plummer, Janet McTeer, Eddie Marsan, Ben Daniels, Anton Lesser, Mark Dexter

After its packed South African premiere at the 38^th Durban International Film Festival, http://www.durbanfilmfest.co.za/ The Exception is a riveting World War II drama told from the German perspective.

Set in Holland in 1940, German soldier Stefan Brandt played with bravado by Jai Courtney (Suicide Squad, A Good Day to Die Hard) is sent to guard the exiled king Wilhelm II wonderfully played by Oscar winner Christopher Plummer (Beginners).

At the end of World War One when the allies defeated Germany, besides the harsh reparations placed on the defeated nation, one of the conditions of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles was that the reigning German monarch Kaiser Wilhelm II be stripped of his royal title and sent to live in exile in Utrecht, Holland.

British director David Leveaux assembles a fantastic cast in this interesting film also starring Lily James (Baby Driver, Cinderella) as a sexually provocative Dutch maid Mieke de Jong who quickly falls in love with the handsome and tough Brandt and Oscar nominee Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs) as Kaiser Wilhelm’s wife, Princess Hermine who is desperately hoping that her exiled husband will have his monarchy restored even though Germany has entered the Third Reich under the ruthless Nazi’s who have started World War II.

Eddie Marsan (Their Finest, Happy Go Lucky, Concussion) appears as the creepy Head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, in a brief yet comical scene stealer.

As a historical film, The Exception is a watchable tale, filled with intrigue, sexual conquest and lost dreams although its relevance will be lost on a mostly English speaking audience and also because most of the cast are British, Canadian or Australian actors playing German characters. If audiences want authenticity they should watch the excellent 2015 German film, The People vs. Fritz Bauer, which also premiered at #DIFF2017 http://www.durbanfilmfest.co.za/ as part of the German Film Focus.

Nevertheless, as a World War II thriller which deviates from the usual Allied scenario, The Exception is enjoyable in the same vein as director Mark Herman’s The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

What does stand out in The Exception, are the fine performances of Christopher Plummer and Janet McTeer but sadly their acting will probably be overlooked in the 2018 Oscar race.

Concisely written with an engaging plot, The Exception gets a film rating of 7.5 out 10 and was an impressive film to be screened at the Durban International Film Festival, attracting a full cinema house.

Recommended viewing for audiences that prefer a provocative World War Two thriller from the perspective of the so-called enemy.

Me Before You

Director: Thea Sharrock

Cast: Sam Claflin, Emilia Clarke, Janet McTeer, Charles Dance, Stephen Peacocke, Brendan Coyle, Jenna Coleman, Joanna Lumley, Vanessa Kirby, Matthew Lewis, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Lily Travers

Jojo Moyes’s heart-breaking romantic novel Me Before You was a hit among ladies book clubs around the English speaking world and possibly beyond. So it was inevitable that a big screen version of the celebrated novel should appear. Stage director turned film director Thea Sharrock does a reasonably good job of directing the film version with help from the author who also wrote the screenplay.

It also helps that the two main leads, Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin are so likable in this film, otherwise Me Before You would never have worked. Ironically both actors are known for appearing in big franchise movies and TV shows. Claflin for his role in the Hunger Games trilogy and more surprisingly Emilia Clarke for her portrayal of Queen of Dragons in the hit HBO series Game of Thrones.

Joining the cast is another Game of Thrones star, British character actor Charles Dance (White Mischief) who plays Will Traynor’s father Stephen and Oscar nominee Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs) as his mother Camilla.

#LiveBoldly

Me Before You centres on the tragic but fascinating tale of a wealthy corporate raider Will Traynor who is completely paralysed in a freak motorbike accident in central London. The once athletic and daredevil Traynor in the prime of his life has his mobility completed shattered and lands up becoming a quadriplegic. A devastating blow for his upper class affluent parents who see him as eventually inheriting the family estate which includes a castle.

On the other end of the economic scale, is the quirky and fun Louisa Clark who we first glimpse working as a waitress in a tea shop in a small town in England. Clark as she becomes known in the film, is superbly portrayed by Emilia Clarke, a positive and big hearted girl who soon becomes the carer of the selfish and arrogant Will Traynor who is sullen and angry at life’s cruellest blow.

What transpires in Me Before You is a remarkable love story without the desire of two young people who are both caught at pivotal points in their lives. The emotional arc of the film rests on how both Will and Clarke grow through their shared time together despite the dreaded intention of Will to consider euthanasia in a remote Swiss clinic.

Me Before You is a tearjerker of note, a heartfelt romantic drama which will certainly not leave a dry eye in the house. The film is ably assisted by some nuanced turns by a range of supporting actors including Downton Abbey’s Brendan Coyle as Louisa’s father Brendan Clark and the handsome physiotherapist Nathan played by Stephen Peacocke (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot).

Naturally as Will’s parents Camilla and Stephen, Janet McTeer and Charles Dance do a superb job of both conveying emotional support and regret at the terrible fate which has happened to their only son, the heir apparent to the Traynor fortune.

However, Me Before You really belongs to Emilia Clarke who lights up every scene with her delightful sensitivity as she portrays Louisa Clark to perfection, the carer that ultimately falls in love with her patient.

This beautifully shot romance is highly recommended viewing, a lighter more British version of Julian Schnabel’s superb film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Audiences should look out for a brief but amusing cameo by Joanna Lumley as she channels Patsy from Ab Fab in a touching wedding scene.

The 57th Golden Globe Awards

Took place on Sunday 23rd January 2000 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Golden Globe Winners in The Film Categories:

Best Film Drama – American Beauty

Best Actor Drama – Denzel Washington – The Hurricane

Best Actress Drama – Hilary Swank – Boys Don’t Cry

Best Actor Musical/Comedy – Jim Carrey – Man on the Moon

Best Actress Musical/Comedy – Janet McTeer – Tumbleweeds

Best Film Musical/Comedy – Toy Story 2

Best Supporting Actor – Tom Cruise – Magnolia

Best Supporting Actress – Angelina Jolie – Girl, Interrupted

Best Director – Sam Mendes – American Beauty

Best Foreign Language Film – All About My Mother (Spain)

Albert Nobbs

We are all disguised as ourselves

Directed by Rodrigo Garcia (son of Colombian Magic Realist author Gabriel Garcia Marquez) the extraordinary film Albert Nobbs see Glenn Close play the title role along with an equally impressive performance by Janet McTeer as the mysterious painter Hubert Page. Both Glenn Close and Janet McTeer give startlingly brilliant performances as Nobbs and Page respectively and deservedly garnered a 2012 Oscar nomination for Best Actress for Close and Supporting Actress for McTeer.

The central tenet of Albert Nobbs is that of woman being disguised as men so that they can survive economically in 19^th century Ireland and is set in the plush Dublin hotel Morrison’s with Mrs Baker being the hotel owner, played with a dramatic panache by Pauline Collins (Shirley Valentine). Nobbs as a waiter has aspirations of owning his own tobacconist shop and when he meets the brash painter Mr Page who show him that despite their disguise, they can achieve their dreams. Mr Page even shares a home with his ‘wife’ Kathleen and shows Nobbs that the possibilities are endlessly disguised.

At a time when homosexuality was reviled and Oscar Wilde would soon be sentenced to two years hard labour in 1895 for sodomy after the public exposure of his affair with Lord Alfred `Bosie’ Douglas by Bosie’s father the vile Marques of Queensberry as elegantly told in the 1997 film Wilde, Albert Nobbs shows a different side of homosexuality, lesbian women who cannot be themselves financially, sexually and socially especially in 19^th century Europe and have to disguise themselves as men in order to survive.

All the extraordinary complex relationships which the Morrison’s Hotel have are gradually revealed as the film progresses and even the one so called traditional relationship between Helen, the Hotel maid played by Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland, The Kids are Alright, Jane Eyre) who falls for the charms of the rough boiler maker Joe played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson(Anna Karenina, Savages) is steeped in deceit and disloyalty. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers makes a brief appearance as Viscount Yarrell whose preferences when staying at Morrison’s is for inter leading doors to his male lover in the adjoining suite.

At the centre of Albert Nobbs, director Garcia really emphasizes the plight of women, whether they are abandoned by an ambitious lover after becoming pregnant or having to disguise themselves as men to survive financially in a patriarchal society which stifled any form of female freedom, not to mention lesbian women who have to hide their homosexuality behind a mask of conformity even if that means dressing as a man.

Albert Nobbs is a brilliantly told film featuring a superb performance by the ever versatile Glenn Close (Dangerous Liaisons) as a gaunt and cautious waiter saving up his pennies to one day fulfil his dreams, and how those dreams through a series of events are tragically thwarted leaving a rather unusual scenario by the films close. This is an exceptional and thought-provoking period film, commenting not just on the period of the late 19^th century but on the costumes which define the characters and the disguises people hide behind in order to survive and how those disguises define who they are.