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The
Weather Man
Cert: 15
Starring: Nicolas
Cage, Sir Michael Caine, Hope Davis, Gemmenne
de la Peña, Nicholas Hoult
Director: Gore
Verbinski
Running Time: 102
minutes
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David
Spritz (Nicolas Cage) is a TV weather man in Chicago whose life
is falling apart. His ex-wife (Hope Davis) is becoming increasingly
exas-perated with him, his two children have behavioural problems
and his esteemed author father (Michael Caine) has been diagnosed
with a terminal illness.
The only thing going right in Spritz’s life is career and
he is being courted by a national news programme; a move which
would represent reaching the very top of his profession. The
only problem is, Spritz finds his job undemanding and unstimulating
which only adds to his feeling of worthlessness. It doesn’t
help that members of the public regularly throw things at him
(usually fast food) when they see him on the street.
As a dark comedy, The Weather Man has its moments but overstays
its welcome rather quickly. The root of the problem is the character
of Dave Spritz. The more you get to know him, the more you begin
to agree with him that he is a waste of space and therefore a
waste of your valuable time.
He is the least sympathetic character in the film and you begin
empathise with the people whose lives he is affecting. Watching
him stagger from one humiliating episode to another becomes monotonous
after a while.
It is of course possible to make funny films with real intellectual
and emotional wallop, but here the mixture of comedy and drama
just doesn’t work. If they had played it more for laughs
the whole thing might have worked better. As it is, some of the
gags become repetitive (the flying fast food) and the film (like
Dave) bottles it when it might take a properly dark and interesting
turn.
Thinks it’s clever and funny, but falls short on both counts. |
Walk
The Line
Cert: 12A
Starring: Joaquin
Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Patrick,
Ginnifer Goodwin, Shelby Lynne, Dallas Roberts,
Tyler Hilton, Waylon Payne
Director: James
Mangold
Running
Time: 136
minutes
|
 |
David
Spritz (Nicolas Cage) is a TV weather man in Chicago whose
life is falling apart. His ex-wife (Hope Davis) is becoming
increasingly exas-perated with him, his two children have behavioural
problems and his esteemed author father (Michael Caine) has
been diagnosed with a terminal illness.
The only thing going right in Spritz’s life is career and he is being
courted by a national news programme; a move which would represent reaching
the very top of his profession. The only problem is, Spritz finds his job
undemanding and unstimulating which only adds to his feeling of worthlessness.
It doesn’t help that members of the public regularly throw things
at him (usually fast food) when they see him on the street.
As a dark comedy, The Weather Man has its moments but overstays its welcome
rather quickly. The root of the problem is the character of Dave Spritz.
The more you get to know him, the more you begin to agree with him that
he is a waste of space and therefore a waste of your valuable time.
He is the least sympathetic character in the film and you begin empathise
with the people whose lives he is affecting. Watching him stagger from
one humiliating episode to another becomes monotonous after a while.
It is of course possible to make funny films with real intellectual and
emotional wallop, but here the mixture of comedy and drama just doesn’t
work. If they had played it more for laughs the whole thing might have
worked better. As it is, some of the gags become repetitive (the flying
fast food) and the film (like Dave) bottles it when it might take a properly
dark and interesting turn.
Thinks it’s clever and funny, but falls short on both counts. |
The
Matador
Cert: 15
Starring: Pierce
Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis
Director: Richard
Shepard
Running
Time: 97
minutes
|
 |
David
Spritz (Nicolas Cage) is a TV weather man in Chicago whose
life is falling apart. His ex-wife (Hope Davis) is becoming
increasingly exas-perated with him, his two children have behavioural
problems and his esteemed author father (Michael Caine) has
been diagnosed with a terminal illness.
The only thing going right in Spritz’s life is career and he is being
courted by a national news programme; a move which would represent reaching
the very top of his profession. The only problem is, Spritz finds his job
undemanding and unstimulating which only adds to his feeling of worthlessness.
It doesn’t help that members of the public regularly throw things
at him (usually fast food) when they see him on the street.
As a dark comedy, The Weather Man has its moments but overstays its welcome
rather quickly. The root of the problem is the character of Dave Spritz.
The more you get to know him, the more you begin to agree with him that
he is a waste of space and therefore a waste of your valuable time.
He is the least sympathetic character in the film and you begin empathise
with the people whose lives he is affecting. Watching him stagger from
one humiliating episode to another becomes monotonous after a while.
It is of course possible to make funny films with real intellectual and
emotional wallop, but here the mixture of comedy and drama just doesn’t
work. If they had played it more for laughs the whole thing might have
worked better. As it is, some of the gags become repetitive (the flying
fast food) and the film (like Dave) bottles it when it might take a properly
dark and interesting turn.
Thinks it’s clever and funny, but falls short on both counts. |
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