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Out on Friday 24 July
Pixar takes you on a guided tour of the brain. Jake Gyllenhaal's boxing skills are hit and miss. Arnie is back... in a zombie drama. Yes, heres this weeks new releases. Click on for our reviews of Inside Out, Southpaw, Maggie, Ruth & Alex, The Legend Of Barney Thomson, Eden, You're Ugly Too and The Best Of Enemies. For the best movie reviews, subscribe to Total Film.
INSIDE OUT
Fittingly for a movie set inside someones head, Pixars 15th feature is a fireworks display of fizzing ideas and bursts of imagination. By some distance the animation giants finest since Toy Story 3 kicked the stuffing from us all in 2010, it shows just why director Pete Docter (Monsters Inc., Up) and the rest of Pixars key creatives call themselves the Brain Trust. The heroine/host of Inside Out is 11-year-old Riley (Kaitlyn Dias), whose happy Minnesotan childhood bites dust when her parents (Kyle McLachlan, Diane Lane) decide to up sticks to San Francisco. Until now, the five Emotions that marshal Rileys thoughts and feelings (they reside inside Headquarters, operating a control panel and looking out through the windows of her eyes) have been captained by Joy (Amy Poehler), a round-faced saucer-eyed cherub dressed in sunny yellow. Three of the other four Emotions needle-thin, purple Fear (Bill Hader), short, square, crimson Anger (Lewis Black) and recoiling, green Disgust (Mindy Kaling) have been on the periphery of things, while hunched, pouty, blue Sadness (Phyllis Smith) has lurked so deep in the background as to be almost out of sight, out of mind. But now, with Riley hating her new house, unable to make friends and losing her mojo on the hockey ice, Sadness is suddenly working front and centre. Rileys misery in Minnesota is only the outside story. The inner journey sees Joy and Sadness get accidentally locked out of Headquarters, lost in a candy-coloured mindscape of vast dimensions. In order to return and wrestle the controls from Fear, Anger and Disgust, they must navigate a vast zone packed with seemingly infinite memories, each one a glowing sphere, and such distinctive regions as Imagination Land, Dream Production, Subconscious and Abstract Thought. Joy, of course, tries to lead the way, but it is only by accepting Sadness that a solution might be found. Even by the standards of the Pixar bods, who make it their business to mix brain with heart in order to entertain adults as much as kids, this is, well, heady stuff, sure to boggle fragile little minds. And theres more, too, with Personality Islands, a literal Train Of Thought and a prized vault of Core Memories that have shaped and shaded Rileys spirit. This last, especially, is a tricky concept for nippers to grasp, even before its revealed that Rileys increasingly downbeat mood can filter perception to show old events in a different light Core Memories, forever golden, are suddenly tinged blue for they now represent that which has been lost. As the voices in Keanu Reeves head might say in unison, Whoa. But even as the bigger-brained concepts pass the little ones by, theyll be dazzled by the bright animation of the retro-styled interior landscapes, and by the darker, more realistically rendered real world. Inside Out, like all Pixar movies (yes, even Cars 2), is a technical marvel, and the perilous journey undertaken by Joy and Sadness is sure to command attention, with its collapsing panoramas representing Rileys crumbling innocence. Its scary stuff, on several levels, which makes the presence of Rileys former imaginary friend, Bing Bong part cat, part dolphin, part elephant a welcome inclusion, his affable bumbling dovetailing with Poehlers indomitable, sing-song radiance (she makes Dory sound depressed) to add grins to grimaces. Also arriving thick and fast are the gags, be it glimpses into the workings of other peoples minds, the dumping of needless memories to make room for new ones (there go the names of all the US Presidents) or a delicious explanation as to the origin of earworms. Its sterling stuff, with one throwaway gag pertaining to YA vampires providing the biggest laugh youll likely hear in a cinema this year. Oh, to peek inside the Brain Trusts heads those trains of thought rocketing hither and thither must look like time-lapse footage of Waterloo Station. Given Pixars recent favouring of sequels, Inside Out deserves applause for bringing such a dazzling original concept to our screens, even if it does harbour a passing resemblance to classic Beano strip The Numskulls. That said, this, more than any other Pixar movie, demands a sequel, trilogy or more, much as Francois Truffaut revisited his The 400 Blows hero, Antoine Doinel, throughout life. Can you imagine what will be going on in Rileys head when she becomes a teenager, or goes to university and discovers mind-altering substances, or hits middle age? You know that Pixar can; its a no-brainer. THE VERDICT: Like the Toy Story trilogy, Inside Out is about leaving childhood behind. Its not quite as moving as those films but it is A-grade Pixar, full of Sadness and Joy. Directors: Pete Docter, Ronaldo Del Carmen Starring: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Kaitlyn Dias, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling Theatrical release: 24 July 2015 Stephen Kelly
SOUTHPAW
Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando, Daniel Day-Lewis, Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Denzel Washington If you really want to be taken seriously as a Hollywood heavyweight, you have to get your boxing gloves on. Earning even more Method points for bulking up straight after slimming down for Nightcrawler, Jake Gyllenhaal throws everything hes got into the ring, delivering a knockout performance. Shame that the film itself doesnt hit as hard. Billy Hope (Gyllenhaal) is at the top of his game a left-handed champ (aka a southpaw) with a pimped-up house, a blinged-up wife, Maureen (Rachel McAdams), and a surprisingly not-messed-up daughter, Leila, (Oona Laurence) who practises her counting on his cuts and bruises every night. Everything goes wrong when a rival shoots his wife and sends Billy into a spiral of anger and alcohol. He loses all his money and custody of his daughter. Starting again from the bottom, Billy works his way back to the big time via a grizzled old mentor, Titus (Forest Whitaker), and a lot of training montages. Because prize fighting is obviously the best way to prove that hes capable of looking after a seven-year-old, right? Smartly, Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer) directs the fight scenes like hes working for HBO. A few Raging Bull slow-mos aside, the camera doesnt give Gyllenhaal anywhere to hide just long takes and full body shots that look achingly real and utterly unlike most other boxing movies. Outside the ropes things are less interesting but Gyllenhaal never stops throwing the punches. Radiator abs aside, its an unflattering, unshowy role that he refuses to overplay. The result is a street-smart, coiled spring of a turn, as psychologically acute as it is physically authentic. Elsewhere, Naomie Harris is fine but forgettable as a social worker, Whitaker is Whitaker, 50 Cent is 50 Cent and pop star Rita Ora cameos as a junkie in what feels like a screen test for something else. But the biggest problem is the story. Given that it was originally written (by Sons Of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter) as a metaphor for Eminems custody battles, its a shame the narrative plays like something derived from other movies rather than real life. In fact, given all the melodrama and the stackable list of clichs, you could probably cut the film together with bits of other boxing movies and not really notice anything that isnt Jake Gyllenhaal. THE VERDICT: Floats like a bee, stings like a butterfly. The script keeps its gloves on but Gyllenhaal gives his all, notching up one of his very best performances. Director: Antoine Fuqua Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams, 50 Cent, Forest Whitaker, Naomie Harris Theatrical release: 24 July 2015 Paul Bradshaw
MAGGIE
Its not easy being Arnold Schwarzenegger. Keep doing the action stuff youll get told youre too old for it; try something a bit more grown-up and everyone will spend the whole film waiting for a one-liner. Such is the problem facing Maggie, a brave but painfully slow-moving zombie drama that gets squashed under the same Austrian Oak trying so hard to prop it up. Early on, Arnies Wade Vogel picks up his eponymous daughter (Abigail Breslin) from the hospital and she starts scratching the teeth marks on her arm. Stop picking at it! he yells, like Kindergarden Cop having a bad dream. Its hard to take him seriously and this is a serious film, all right. Bitten by a zombie in the first throes of a slow-burning apocalypse, teenager Maggie has about a month left before she turns. Shes been quarantined in her rural farmhouse so the whole family can come to terms with her horrible, sad situation. And thats about it, plot- wise. Arnie might punch a couple of zombies in the face and get mildly angry at a few local cops, but this isnt End Of Days. Instead, its a thinly veiled metaphor for dealing with terminal illness; the real horror here comes from watching a man slowly losing his daughter. In what is by far the weightiest and most restrained role Schwarzenegger has ever attempted, he does an incredible job given what he has to work with. Unfortunately, what he has to work with is a body like a stack of breeze blocks and a voice like, well, Arnie making it difficult to see him as a normal person. When it works, its devastating (a single tear rolling down his granite face carries the emotional heft of an entire career), but when it doesnt, it pulls you out of the film like nothing else. Breslin turns in some of her best, most sensitive work to date but its hard to see her when shes constantly standing in Schwarzeneggers shadow. Harder still when shes standing in an actual shadow, as debut director Henry Hobson shoots everything in almost complete darkness. Dingy bedrooms, overcast skies and gloomy barns Maggie certainly looks like a horror film even it doesnt act like one. Odd casting and lighting choices aside, theres a genuinely affecting drama at the unhappy heart of Hobsons film. And its refreshing to see an original, low-key take on such a ubiquitous genre even if it doesnt prove quite as groundbreaking for Arnie as he might have hoped. THE VERDICT: A sad, gloomy family drama dressed up as horror, Maggie proves that Schwarzenegger can act when he wants to even if he still looks like hed rather be blowing shit up. Director: Henry Hobson Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abigail Breslin, Joely Richardson, Douglas M. GriffinTheatrical release: 24 July 2015 Paul Bradshaw
RUTH & ALEX
The titular couple are Diane Keaton and Morgan Freeman, happily married for 40 years but now reluctantly putting their beloved Brooklyn apartment on the market to make ends meet. This might not be high-octane dramatic fuel but its the purring motor of Richard Loncraines (Wimbledon) whimsical drama about getting old. Remarkably, this is the years second film (after Love Is Strange) to focus on the intricacies of New York real estate. As in Ira Sachs movie, Loncraine offers a humane look at the everyday travails in a city built on money, albeit here with greater satirical emphasis. The films strongest moments detail a surreal open house, where would-be owners or nosy eccentrics swarm in to pour judgement on the couples home. In revenge, Ruth and Alex assign their own demeaning nicknames to the buyers: watch out for the dog ladies. Meanwhile, a clunky subplot about an apparent terrorist threat in the neighbourhood threatens to blow thousands off the asking price, while the pressure to sell intensifies when their dog falls ill and incurs expensive veterinarian bills. Yet even as Loncraine attempts to engineer tension via a bidding war, the conclusion is never really in doubt. It works better as a low-key debate on the relative merits of cost versus value, with artist Alex pondering why his studio is worth more than his portfolio. Its a bittersweet love letter to boho, pre-gentrification New York and the shift from counter-cultural to corporate lifestyles (personified by Cynthia Nixon as Ruths over-caffeinated estate-agent niece). Mostly, though, its an opportunity for two icons to share the screen. In mainstream Hollywood, both Keaton and Freeman have aged disgracefully with geriatric capers (Somethings Gotta Give; Last Vegas) but this presents a touching portrait of togetherness. Freeman is winningly grumpy as he rails against modern-day unkindness, while Keaton tones down the la-di-dah mannerisms to play Ruth with laid-back intelligence. Long scenes of the duo pondering offers, scouring classified ads or just walking and talking, allow the actors to trade rueful barbs with real rapport. THE VERDICT: A drama about an apartment sale might the most middleclass movie imaginable but, anchored by its effortlessly likeable leads, its the people who provide the real estate. Director: Richard Loncraine Starring: Morgan Freeman, Diane Keaton, Cynthia Nixon, Carrie Preston Theatrical release: 24 July 2015 Simon Kinnear
THE LEGEND OF BARNEY THOMSON
Robert Carlyle? Scottish urban black comedy? Aye, thatll be that nasty wee Begbie, right? Well, no. For a start this is Glasgow, not Edinburgh and far from the psychopath of Trainspotting, Carlyle plays depressed, middle-aged barber Barney Thomson so glumly incapable of making conversation with his customers that the boss is about to fire him for having Nae patter. Nae sparkle. And just to add to the general air of doom, a serial killer is active, posting back body parts to the various victims nearest and dearest. The police (of course) are baffled. Adapted from The Long Midnight Of Barney Thomson by Scots writer Douglas Lindsay, this also marks Carlyles first movie-directing role and a very fair fist he makes of it, too, drawing top performances from fellow thesps. Theres Ray Winstone as Inspector Holdall, a Cockney resentfully trapped in this shithole, Tom Courtenay as Rays prissy boss Chief Superintendent McManaman and best of all, Emma Thompson as Barneys mum Cemolina. Barely two years Carlyles senior, Thompson gives gusto to the role of a boozy, foulmouthed, karaoke-singing old biddy. The script captures the pitch-black humour of Lindsays writing, and the cast plays it to the hilt. The plot which inevitably sees Barney getting a little closer to the killer than hed like sags a bit in the middle, and the final shootout stretches credulity. But its relishably disreputable, entertaining stuff, and a fine cheesy music track just adds to the fun. THE VERDICT: Robert Carlyle launches his directorial career with a grimy, flavoursome black comedy and gifts Emma Thompson a standout role. Director: Robert Carlyle Starring: Robert Carlyle, Emma Thompson, Ray Winstone, Tom Courtenay, Ashley Jensen Theatrical release: 24 July 2015 Philip Kemp
EDEN
When would-be writer/DJ Paul (Flix De Givry) describes dance musics euphoria and melancholia, he sets the emotional backbeat of the slow but sure fourth feature from French director Mia Hansen-Lve. Like its predecessor, 2011s Goodbye, First Love, this intimate epic is an immersive growing-pains tale, circling around Paul and coke-blitzed compadres on the 1990s French club scene. A moving tale of dreams compromised by age, Eden infuses seismic cultural shifts with the buzz and ache of lived-in experience: an ace running Daft Punk gag cushions any comedown. Director: Mia Hansen-Lve Starring: Flix de Givry, Hugo Conzelmann, Roman Kolinka, Pauline Etienne Theatrical release: 24 July 2015 Kevin Harley
YOURE UGLY TOO
Game Of Thrones Aidan Gillen dials right down for this minimalist Irish drama from first-time writer/director Mark Noonan. Gillen plays Will, an ex-con released six months early from jail to look after his unruly niece Stacey (Lauren Kinsella) after her mother dies suddenly. Emotions are underplayed and dialogue sharp as these two reluctant relatives are forced to get to know one another. With Will facing a return to prison if he doesnt find a job to support Stacey, the ticking clock lends some real poignancy in the final stretch. Low-key but impressively executed. Director: Mark Noonan Starring: Aidan Gillen, Lauren Kinsella, Jesse Morris Theatrical release: 24 July 2015 James Mottram
THE BEST OF ENEMIES
Morgan Neville and Robert Gordons documentary rewinds to summer 1968: as the US Presidential contest hots up, ABC airs a series of live debates between two of the countrys most prominent intellectuals: ultraconservative William F Buckley and ultra-liberal Gore Vidal. The result is gladiatorial TV at its best. Since both are highly articulate, the quality of debate is impressive leading up to the legendary moment when Buckley spectacularly loses it. Happily, Neville and Gordon maintain order, skilfully placing the whole event in historical and cultural context. Directors: Robert Gordon, Morgan Neville Theatrical release: 24 July 2015 Philip Kemp
