It's good to see Mel Gibson back in the Director's Chair after an absence of ten years! The American born, Australian raised Actor, Director, Producer and Screenwriter has to a large extent been languishing in the Hollywood wasteland since his alcohol induced drink driving arrest and subsequent anti-Semitic rant back in mid-2006 which led to him being dropped by his agency and the movie offers well & truly drying up. With just six films made as an Actor in the last ten years including the recently released 'Blood Father', his last duty as Director came in 2006 with the acclaimed 'Apocalypto', with the much praised, commercially successful and controversial 'The Passion of the Christ' in 2004, the multi-award winning 'Braveheart' in 1995 and 'The Man Without a Face' in 1993. Being no stranger to multiple Academy Award and other noteworthy wins and nominations for his Directing efforts, Gibson is back in full force and it seems, finally once again, with the full blessing of Hollywood that appears prepared to forgive and hopefully forget those troubles of a decade ago now. This week sees the Australian release of his latest film behind the camera in the true story of WWII conscientious objector hero Desmond T. Doss who saved the lives of seventy-five or more men without firing a shot in anger, carrying a weapon or killing an enemy soldier. 'Hacksaw Ridge' was filmed entirely in Australia and largely in remote New South Wales where the battlefield scenes replicating the Japanese island of Okinawa were shot on a 500 hectare spread of cleared land near Bringelly, located about 70kms from the heart of Sydney. Featuring a who's who of Aussie acting talent and Andrew Garfield playing the lead role of Desmond Doss, 'Hacksaw Ridge' is already receiving much Oscar buzz. Marking thirty years since Gibson made a film in Australia ('Mad Max : Beyond Thunderdome' in 1985) lets hope that this latest offering puts Mel back in the driving seat, in demand, and doing what he does best - both in front and behind the camera.This week there are four new films to entice you out to your local Odeon kick starting with a true telling of a WWII hero who never fired a gun or killed another man but saved countless others, and is Directed by one of Australia's favourite sons - his first in ten years. This is followed up by a super smart mathematician (un)cooking the books for known criminals who discovers more than he bargained for when he takes on a seemingly legit company and bodies start dropping like flies. Up next is a teen coming of age story about the new found freedom of life on the road with a bunch of misfits travelling across the American mid-west discovering for themselves the good, the bad and the ugly of what the world has to offer. We then wrap up with an Australian post-WWI period piece of a couple desperate for a child, a baby thrust upon them and the decisions they make that in later years will have far more reaching consequences than they ever imagined.
With more adult fare on offer this week, there is plenty of choice with these films as Previewed below, and those Reviewed and Previewed in previous Posts throughout this Blog, and still out on General Release. When you have seen your film of choice, feel free to share your moviegoing thoughts, views and opinions by leaving a Comment below this or any other Post. As always, we'd love to hear from you. Meanwhile, enjoy your film.
'HACKSAW RIDGE' (Rated MA15+) - Mel Gibson is back - finally - and in the Director's chair for the first time since his acclaimed 'Apocalypto' in 2006 which he also Co-Wrote and Co-Produced. Since then he has starred in six films only, and most recently 'Blood Father' released only a few months ago to critical praise but lacklustre Box Office. Hollywood turned their back on Gibson for reasons that are well known and well documented, and so too did the movie going public, but in 'Hacksaw Ridge' it seems the Actor, Director, Producer and Screenwriter has served his time and there has been widespread applause for this, his latest Directorial offering which Premiered at the Venice Film Festival in early September to a ten minute standing ovation. After languishing in film development hell for a very long time, and having turned down the film twice before, Gibson finally agreed to helm the movie in 2014. Made for US$40M and filmed entirely in Sydney and rural New South Wales, Australia, this film features a string of fine Australian acting talent, and is already touted for Academy Award recognition come next February.
'THE ACCOUNTANT' (Rated MA15+) - Directed by Gavin O'Connor for US$44M and so far making back US$84M this drama thriller film has garnered mixed Reviews, despite its strong cast with Ben Affleck as Christian Wolff in the lead role as a forensic Accountant - a maths savant with more in common with numbers than personalities. He works for a small town Certified Public Accountants Office in Illinois, which he uses as a cover to effectively uncook the books of dangerous underworld and criminal organisations. When Treasury Agent Raymond King (J.K.Simmons) starts to close in on Wolff, The Accountant takes on a legitimate Client, Living Robotics - a state of the art robotics technology company which he soon discovers has its own financial discrepancies amounting to millions of dollars. Before you know it, the body count starts to rise as Wolff gets closer to the truth, and with various antagonists closing in, The Accountant reveals his true colours and his particular set of skills acquired over the years from dealing with various shady characters and organisations. Also starring Anna Kendrick, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Tambor and John Lithgow.
'AMERICAN HONEY' (Rated MA15+) - Written and Directed by British film-maker Andrea Arnold, made for just US$3.5M and selected to compete for the Palme D'Or at this years Cannes Film Festival and winning the Jury Prize at Cannes, this film has so far garnered positive reviews albeit lacklustre Box Office recovering just US$1.3M since its release a month ago in the US, and mid-October in the UK. Telling the story of Star (newcomer Sasha Lane) who has grown up on the poverty line in an abusive home, decides to break free of those shackles, experience the world and try to make a different life for herself. On the verge of adulthood, she teams up with a group of similarly aged young adults peddling magazine subscriptions door to door across America's mid-west, headed up by Jake (Shia LaBeouf) and Krystal (Riley Keough). Jake invites Star to join them and its not long before she finds herself embroiled in the culture of life on the road with a bunch of new young misfit friends - hard drinking, drugs, partying, abusing the law, the trials of young love and the big cities they pass through with a hapless abandonment, adventure and joy despite the harsh realities of life. At a running time of just over 160 minutes, you'll need to be patient with this one, but that patience is likely to be rewarded.
'THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS' (Rated M) - this romantic drama period piece is based on the 2012 debut best selling novel of the same name by M.L. Stedman, is Directed by Derek Cianfrance and is set off the coast of Western Australia in the post WWI years (although filmed in New Zealand and Tasmania). Here Tom Sherbourne (Michael Fassbender) is a Great War veteran who after the war is hired as the lighthouse keeper at Janus Rock off the Western Australia coast. In 1921 he marries local lass Isabelle Graysmark (Alicia Vikander) and over the next few years Isabelle suffers two miscarriages, and wonders if she'll ever have a pregnancy go full term. After her second miscarriage, Tom discovers an abandoned rowing boat washed up on the shore near the lighthouse - contained therein is the dead body of an older man, and a young baby girl. The couple unofficially adopt the baby girl as their own and name her Lucy. Years later when they discover Lucy's true parentage they are faced with a moral dilemma and the consequences of their actions to raise the child as their own in secret. Also starring Rachel Weisz, Jack Thompson and Bryan Brown, the film has so far received US$16M from its US$20M budget outlay.Four top choice films to tempt you out to your local multiplex in the week ahead, with decidedly adult oriented fare. When you have sat through your favoured screening, share your thoughts with us here. In the meantime, I'll see you at the Odeon in the coming week.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-