Crisp Criticism - "They Came Together", "Locke", "Calvary", "Deliver Us from Evil"

by

Julien Faddoul

They Came Together *

A small business owner is about to lose her shop to a major corporate development. An arch parody of romantic comedies that is only occasionally funny. More often than not, it’s merely insipid.

d – David Wain

w – Michael Showalter, David Wain

ph – Tom Houghton

pd – Mark White

m – Matt Novack, Craig Wedren

ed – Jamie Gross

cos – Dana Covarrubias

p – Michael Showalter

Cast: Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Cobie Smulders, Christopher Meloni, Max Greenfield, Bill Hader, Ellie Kemper, Jason Mantzoukas, Melanie Lynskey, Ed Helms, Michael Ian Black, Michael Murphy, Kenan Thompson, Jack McBrayer, Ken Marino

 

Locke **

A construction foreman’s life falls apart through the phone calls he makes while driving to a hospital in London.

Tense, overly brooding actor’s piece that, while ultimately remaining a stunt, is both arresting and meditative for its entirety.

wd – Steven Knight

ph – Haris Zambarloukos

m – Dickon Hinchliffe

ed – Justine Wright

cos – Nigel Egerton

p – Guy Heeley, Paul Webster

Cast: Tom Hardy, Olivia Colman, Rught Wilson, Andrew Scott, Ben Daniels, Tom Holland, Bill Milner

Calvary *

After he is threatened during a confession, a good-natured priest must battle the dark forces closing in around him.

A movie with an awkward sense of tone: juggling the harshly gloomy with the aridly comic. The result seems both timid and baroque and one can’t help but feel it is only a whisper of its director’s intentions.

wd – John Michael McDonagh

ph – Larry Smith

pd – Mark Geraghty

m – Patrick Cassidy

ed – Chris Gill

cos – Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh

p – James Flynn, Chris Clark, Flora Fernandez-Marnego

Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Chris O’Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aidan Gillen, Dylan Moran, M. Emmet Walsh, Marie-Josee Croze, Domhnall Gleeson, Isaach De Bankhole

Deliver Us from Evil

A New York City cop investigates a series of heinous crimes involving the occult and possible demonic possession.

Another desperate horror film that bastardizes the effects of sound and motion to no cause or benefit. Like a lot of exorcism films, it’s Godawful.

d – Scott Derrickson

w – Scott Derrickson, Paul Harris Boardman   (Based on the Book by Ralph Sarchie, Lisa Collier Cool)

ph – Scott Kevan

pd – Bob Shaw

m – Christopher Young

ed – Jason Hellmann

cos – Christopher Peterson

p – Jerry Bruckheimer

Cast: Eric Bana, Edgar Ramirez, Olivia Munn, Chris Coy, Dorian Missick, Joel McHale, Sean Harris, Olivia Horton