I’ll give this to “The Madness of King George” (1994). It’s the first time I’ve ever been compelled to Google “blue urine” after watching a film. OK, so it’s a period piece with a self-explanatory title at the turn of the (19th) century with lots of the type of Britishness that a certain segment of the moviegoing public loves. If you’re part of that segment, see it. If you like Helen Mirren but still want a plot, you’re going to be disappointed. It feels like watching a BBC series at your aunt’s house, wishing you’d seen the previous three episodes.
Archives for posts with tag: Helen Mirren
Two thirds of the way through “Collateral Beauty” (2016) I was starting to wear down. The story, about a man (not) coping with his daughter’s death, was work. But I hung in there. This deep dive of a film let me up enough to see the surface, even if I couldn’t take a breath just yet. I thought I had the plot twist figured out. I was (almost) right. I didn’t go away happy, but at least I wasn’t sad. This kind of film is OK, once in a while. The cinematic world can’t be all superheroes and fart jokes.
Nothing goes together like love triangles and Nazi atrocities. Apparently, that’s what the makers of “The Debt” (2010) thought. What you end up with is a sorta spy movie sorta mystery sorta love story. But Helen Mirren is in it, so all is supposed to be forgiven. She plays a famous Nazi hunter with a secret. The secret unfolds in a very gripping, very interesting way, but there’s this love triangle thing that just gets in the way. It’s like the producers didn’t trust the story enough, so they had to stick something (Sam Worthington) in it to sell tickets.
100wordreviews 