Date Night

Date Night is a 2009 film that stars Steve Carell and Tina Fey as average working couple Phil and Claire Foster, who put aside a certain day for 'Date Night's', where they go out together to the same restaurant and talk about pretty much the same thing. Spurred by the news that their close friends (Kristin Wiig & Mark Ruffalo) are getting a divorce, Phil and Claire decide to take a break from the norm and attempt to get into the upmarket restaurant Claw. In order to get a table, they steal another couple's reservation and soon get involved in a mafia blackmail plot.

It's an okay film. It was by no means brilliant, and with Carell and Fey both involved I did expect to laugh more than I did. A lot of the humour came from the set-up part of the film; the parts that show the average life of the Foster's, with book clubs and children running around everywhere. Once the action starts the humour somewhat dies down, although the action is most definitely tongue-in-cheek. The one scene that made me almost want to fast forward was when Claire and Phil pose as strippers in order to access the person that is being blackmailed; for me the scene wasn't funny-it was just cringeworthy

Carell and Fey have good chemistry in the lead roles, and are believable as their characters. The other cast members are all pretty underused; Mark Wahlberg appears as a James Bond-type security expert but does little other than not wear a shirt, Mark Ruffalo has just about three lines in the film, James Franco as the real Tripplehorn also appears for about a scene; the only cameo performances that make much impact are Mila Kunis as the real Mrs Tripplehorn who proves that she can do some acting and Ray Liotta as the mafia boss (who appears to be wearing purple eyeliner).

All in all, Date Night is an okay film. I wouldn't rush out and buy it on DVD, but it's pretty short, less than 90 minutes, so it would be worth watching if it came up on television or something.

Shutter Island

Shutter Island is a 2010 Martin Scorsese-directed film, based on a novel by Dennis Lehane. It follows Teddy Daniels (Leonardo diCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) who got to Boston's Shutter Island Ashecliffe Hospital which is a hospital for the mentally ill. The hospital is run by Dr Crawley (Ben Kingsley), who insists on referring to the inmates (as they are pretty much locked in) as patients. There are there to investigate the disappearance of Rachel Salando, a woman who drowned her three children. However, the investigation seems to hit dead ends when Crawley won't reveal the information that Teddy needs; and Teddy himself becomes plagued with flashbacks of his dead wife Dolores Chanal (Michelle Williams)and the events that happened when he was present at the liberation of one of the concentration camps in Germany, and his investigation into the disapparence of Rachel Salando becomes tied to his personal desire to find Edward Laeddis, the warden of the building that he lived in with Dolores, and who started the fire that killed her.

That's pretty much all I can say about the film without giving it all away. I will just say that nothing is as it seems; and there is a fairly massive twist about 3/4 of the way through the film.

This is the first Scorsese film I've ever watched, so I cannot really comment on whether its style is similar to his previous works or not, similarly, I read a lot of reviews that compared Shutter Island to Hitchcock films, and I've never seen any of those either (based purely on prejudice that I know he Hollywood-fied Rebecca). I do think it was very well shot; the scenes on the Island were good, although my favourite thing about the filming was the flashback/hallucination sequences, which were very well done and left little hints about the twist that was coming. That said, I'm in two minds about said twist. It is surprising, and somewhat heartbreaking when you find it out, but it does seem a little...contrived to make a point about mental illness that I think could I have been explored in a different way.

That being said, the performances were pretty good. This is the first film I've seen with Leonardo DiCaprio in where he plays a proper deep character (I've only seen him in Titanic and Romeo & Juliet) and he was brilliant, especially as Teddy comes closer and closer to the edge. Mark Ruffalo was also good as Chuck, as was Ben Kingsley. I also enjoyed Michelle Williams' slightly deranged appearances and Emily Mortimer's cameo is good as well.

Unfortunately I really can't expand much more on the film, because of it's rather gigantic twist. I think I enjoyed it; although I disliked how the change in plot came from out of nowhere (I'm guessing if I watched it again I could spot points in the story where it was suggested), but that same plot gave DiCaprio the chance to really shine. All in all, I'd recommend it for its quite interesting explorations of mental illness, and its great performances; but I'd advise going into it with an open mind and preparation for it not really being a scary Scorsese film.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind begins much like any other typical romantic comedy. An uptight guy and a spontaneous girl have an instant connection, it seems like a typical case of opposites attract.

However, Charles Kaufman's screenplay takes a totally different approach. When the next seen switched to Joel (Jim Carrey) bemoaning the fact that Clementine (Kate Winslet) had broken up with him I assumed perhaps we were going to see the relationship in reverse. Which is what we see, but with a very unique twist.

In the world that Joel and Clementine live, there is a company named Lacuna Inc, owned by Dr Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson) which can remove memories of people from someone's mind. Joel is heartbroken to find that Clementine has had him removed, and decides to have the same procedure in order to rid her from his mind. Yet whilst the procedure is being carried out, Joel realises that despite the pain they cause him, he wants to keep these memories that he has with Clementine intact, and the film follows his attempts-in his mind-to preserve the memories he has with Clementine, who is similarly aware of what is happening and they attempt to hide deeper and deeper in Joel's past.

At the same time, we are exposed to the lives of the Lacuna Inc employees. Patrick (Elijah Wood) is an intern, who falls in love with Clementine when they are removing Joel from her mind. He is currently attempting to win her over, by using the same words that Joel used. On the other side is the main operator Stan (Mark Ruffalo) who is dating the receptionist Mary (Kristen Dunst).

As well as dealing with the nuances of relationships; exploring what draws people together and in turn what draws them apart-as well as examining what really happens when 'opposites attract', Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind also deals with the issue of the importance of memories to who we are. To me, whilst there are aspects of my past that I would like to forget they have made me the person I am, and this seems to be what the character of Joel discovers. The whole ethical dilemma facing this kind of company is revealed towards the end of the film where Mary, having just initiated a kiss with Howard, is informed (by his wife) that she has already had an affair with him-but she agreed to have the memory removed in order to carry on with her job. Mary responds by sending out the files of all the clients back to them-the scenes where Mary, Joel and Clementine listen to the tapes that describe the person they want to get rid of is one of the sadder moments of the film.

Personally, I find Jim Carrey grating a lot of the time-perhaps because I have only seen him in films like Bruce Almighty, Son of the Mask and Ace Ventura-but he gives a wonderfully quiet performance as Joel in this, a character that the viewer never fully understands. Similarly, Kate Winslet manages to bring a vibrancy and humour to Clementine that she undercuts with a level of insecurity. Other good support is provided by Kristen Dunst, in a slightly underwritten role, and Mark Ruffalo, who brings humour and awkward tenderness to the role of Stan.

Whilst this a film that gets confusing if you look away for a moment, as you try and grasp to whereabouts you are in Joel's mind, it is a lovely, gentle, intelligent exploration into relationships and how the past affects the present.