Bollywood World

Rating : 7/10
Release Date : 28th August, 2015
Time : 116 minutes
Director, Co-Writer : Guy Ritchie; Co-Writers: Jeff Kleeman, David C Wilson, Lionel Wigram based on the TV series by Sam Rolfe; Music : Daniel Pemberton
Starring : Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, Luca Calvani, Sylvester Groth, Hugh Grant, Jared Harris, Christian Berkel, Misha Kuznetsov



This one is all style, barely any substance but still quite good fun


It�s 1960, the peak of the Iron Curtain paranoia. An American agent , robber turned spy, Henry Cavill and Russian KGB, Armie Hammer, have to combine with East German car mechanic, Alicia Vikander, to track down her father (Udo), a top Nazi nuclear scientist, who�s disappeared from the USA. The suspicion is he has been taken by a wealthy Italian couple, Elizabeth Debicki and Luca Calvani, known to be Nazi sympathizers, who work closely with his brother, Sylvester Groth, and plan to sell nuclear weapons to the Nazi remnant�s, seeking to make a comeback to the world stage.



One thing you�re guaranteed with a Guy Ritchie film is a pulsating soundtrack, and an attitude to match. This one doesn�t disappoint either front and you get a gaggle of good-looking people too.



I�d never really warmed up to either Henry Cavill (Man of Steel), found him wooden, or Armie Hammer (Lone Ranger), who came across as a bit of a softie, but here they work in their respective roles. Alicia and Elizabeth provide plenty of leggy glamour, while the men strut around in fancy suits, with all posh fashion brands bandied about (What would go better with a Boss belt, a Rabanne suit or a Dior?). The one liners are pithy, crisp and plentiful. The contrast between the leading men well-defined. And everyone lives in this beautiful, happy world while plotting world destruction.



The plot, strangely for a Guy Ritchie film, is the weak link here. Nothing much really happens and what does, doesn�t make complete sense (there would surely be easier ways to do this and surely wealthy, intelligent villains should display more sense ?). But, it�s undeniably fun and you surely wouldn�t mind another film in the series, especially with Hugh Grant, from British intelligence, running the show�

Rating : 6/10
Release Date : 17th October, 2014
Time : 142 minutes
Director: David Dobkin; Writers: Bill Dubuque, Nick Schenk; Music : Thomas Newman
Starring : Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Billy Bob Thornton, Vincent D�Onofrio, Jeremy Strong, Leighton Meester, Emma Tremblay



This one is about father-son relationships and they make it about as complicated as it can get, throwing in lots of flashbacks, emotion, a dead mother, melodrama, two other sons and even a murder trial to keep us gripped as the narrative slowly unfolds.


Robert Duvall is the iron-handed, bull headed patriarch of the family, a respected, practicing judge at the court of the little town where they reside. Two of his sons live in the same town. Vincent D�Onofrio, the eldest, hasn�t really recovered emotionally from what could�ve been since an event from many years ago. Jeremy Strong, the youngest, isn�t really all there. Robert�s relied on his wife to be the emotional binding thread in the family. Now she�s gone. And he�s being charged for murder, a hit and run case that happened on the evening of his wife�s funeral.


Robert Downey Jr, the middle son, returns to town after twenty years, for his mother�s funeral. Doesn�t get along with his father at all, used to speak to his mom on the phone occasionally. Is probably about to get divorced, has a cute little daughter. Is one of the top lawyers in the country, with a fiercesome reputation for finding ways to get the guilty off. And his father wants nothing to do with him for his own defense.


There are bits that work and bits that don�t. Watching Robert as a normal screen person after a while, without either the iron exterior nor the garb of a famed fictional detective, he is very convincing as a man with lots of angst from his childhood, unresolved issues. Robert Duvall is good as the obstinate, opinionated man who is coming to terms with his own physical frailties and also the fact that the murder trial may destroy his forty-two year legacy as a judge in the town.



However, a lot of the things he does, do not make sense. There are decisions he makes regarding his trial which are whimsical, not in keeping with his logical demeanour as a judge. The film is also riddled with a lot of unnecessary sub plots. And, almost like a Hindi film, this one is injected with deliberate tear-jerker moments at almost every opportunity. Everyone has unresolved issues from the time Robert left, about twenty years ago, including his then girl-friend / childhood sweetheart, Vera Farmiga, who is now a successful local businesswoman and a single mother.


Robert�s interesting bumper sticker methodology of juror selection was the funniest part of the film, with �Lost Wife And Dog � Reward for Dog� probably the piece de resistance. Billy Bob Thornton, as the opposing out of town attorney does make the trial interesting but this film isn�t a courtroom drama. It isn�t about the law. Its about relationships. Coming to terms with our actions and events from many years ago. And hopefully, finding some closure and peace while we�re at it.