Crisp Criticism - "10 Cloverfield Lane", "Triple 9", "The Finest Hours", "Grimsby"

by

Julien Faddoul

10 Cloverfield Lane ***

Waking up from a car accident, a young woman finds herself locked and chained in the basement of a man who says he's saved her life.

A difficult film to define: Weird, taut, extremely tense 3-person play with often brilliant cinematic orchestration and performances. Its heavy reliance on contrivances in the end – and its adherence to being a “spiritual successor” to the original Cloverfield (2008) – will irk some, but as a spooky thriller it’s superb.

d – Dan Trachtenberg

w – Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken, Damien Chazelle

ph – Jeff Cutter

pd – Ramsey Avery

m – Bear McCreary

ed – Stefan Grube

cos – Meagan McLaughlin

p – JJ Abrams, Lindsey Weber

Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, John Gallagher Jr

Triple 9

A gang of criminals and corrupt cops plan the murder of a police officer in order to pull off their biggest heist yet across town.

Disastrously plotted crime thriller with no serious themes or characters, rather empty husks for its all-star cast to engulf. Extremely dumb.

d – John Hillcoat

w – Matt Cook

ph – Nicolas Karakatsanis

pd – Tim Grimes

m – Bobby Krlic, Atticus Ross, Leopold Ross, Claudia Sarne

ed – Dylan Tichenor

cos – Margot Wilson

p – Keith Redmon, Bard Dorros, Marc Butan, Anthony Katagas, Christopher Woodrow

Cast: Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Winslet, Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Gal Gadot, Woody Harrelson, Anthony Mackie, Teresa Palmer, Clifton Collins, Jr.

The Finest Hours

The Coast Guard makes a daring rescue attempt off the coast of Cape Cod after a pair of oil tankers are destroyed during a blizzard in 1952.

Respectable but completely by-the-numbers disaster-drama based on true events. Its pleasures are intermittent.

d – Craig Gillespie 

w – Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson   (Based on the Book by Casey Sherman, Michael J. Tougias)

ph – Javier Aguirresarobe

pd – Michael Corenblith

m – Carter Burwell

ed – Tatiana S. Riegel

cos – Louise Frogley

p – Dorothy Aufiero, James Whitaker

Cast: Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Casey Affleck, Eric Bana, Holliday Grainger, Rachel Brosnahan, Kyle Gallner

Grimsby

Wrongfully accused and on the run, a top MI6 assassin joins forces with his long lost, football hooligan brother to save the world from a sinister plot.

Crudely shot gross-out comedy which might be funnier if read as a one-page summary. Cohen’s anal fixation is becoming tiresome.

d – Louis Leterrier 

w – Sacha Baron Cohen, Phil Johnston, Peter Baynham

ph – Oliver Wood

pd – Kave Quinn

m – David Buckley, Erran Baron Cohen

ed – Jonathan Amos, Evan Henke, James Thomas 

cos – Paco Delgado

p – Sacha Baron Cohen, Peter Baynham, Ant Hines, Nira Park, Todd Schulman

Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Strong, Rebel Wilson, Penélope Cruz, Ian McShane, Isla Fisher, Annabelle Wallis, Scott Adkins, Gabourey Sidibe, David Harewood, Sam Hazeldine, Tamsin Egerton, Johnny Vegas