ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES ****
THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY ***
Dir: Adam McKay (12A, 100 mins)
Scotchy, scotch, scotch, this is kind of a big deal. A sequel to the excellent
Anchorman, long in gestation due to studio reluctance, but now coming right atcha
with the Channel 4 newsteam reassembled in New York to work for GNN the Global
News Network. It was the 70s, now it’s 1980 affording Will Ferrell’s Ron Burgundy,
Paul Rudd’s Brian Fantana, David Koechner’s Champ Kind and Steve Carrell’s
Brick Tamland a whole new era to lampoon, with haircuts to match. Anchorman
spawned a thousand catchphrases, ‘the human torch is denied a bankloan’ being a
personal favourite, and the sequel with its freewheeling style looks set to continue
the rampant silliness. Smooth Ron Burgundy is a an encapsulation of male
arrogance, sexism and bigotry, here taking on a black newswoman Meagan Goode,
his first gay man and an anchorman even smoother than him, freshfaced James
Marsden’s Jack Lime. Christina Applegate also returns as Ron’s love interest, albeit
with some complications and Brick gets his own girlfriend in the demented form of
Kristen Wiig. Other cameos include Harrison Ford, Tina Fey, Sascha Baron Cohen,
Nicole Kidman and Liam Neeson amongst others. More Anchorman? Yes please. Be
prepared to love more lamp. Opens Dec 20
Dir: Ben Stiller (12A, 114 mins)
Ben Stiller’s slice of remake whimsy goes big on spectacle whilst having a
somewhat hollow core, as his faceless everyman gradually discovers life is for
living. Based on James Thurber’s short story, this version of Walter Mitty has our
banal hero squirreled away at a corporate desk at Life magazine, sifting through
camera negatives and daydreaming fantastical adventures against his bean
counter bosses or securing the love of fellow worker Cheryl, played by Kristen Wiig,
via mountain climbing and poetry falcons. When the opportunity to have a real
adventure happens, tracking down Sean Penn’s uber male photographer so that
Life Magazine can get a dynamite cover photo, Mitty grabs it, and finds himself
globetrotting and doing bouts of derring-do such as skateboarding towards a
volcano and swimming with sharks. Essentially about a lost soul, Stiller’s Mitty
is often unknowably blank, despite a childhood tragedy and a timid workaholism.
It’s beautifully filmed, but not quite fully engaging, Stiller’s daydreamer is far more
sombre than Danny Kaye’s 1947 incarnation, a more thoughtful, aloof fantasist for
more ambiguous times. Opens Dec 26
JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT ****
NEBRASKA ***
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET ****
Dir: Kenneth Branagh (12A, 110 mins)
The late Tom Clancy’s everyman spy Jack Ryan gets a
fourth incarnation, Captain Kirk himself, Chris Pine
stepping into the espionage loafers previously vacated by
the likes of Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck.
In this origin story, however, Ryan has been taken back
to basics by uber thesp director Branagh, who also gets
to show off his baddy acting and Russian accent as
Ryan’s adversary Viktor Cherevin. Moving from the CIA
Financial Intelligence Unit to active duty, Ryan is placed
under the guidance of William Harper, a grizzled Kevin
Costner, fresh from coaching Superman. Ryan’s new
duties have to be kept secret from fiancée Keira Knightley,
a task that proves more and more difficult as she is
drawn into the web of intrigue. Designed to be a taut-post
Bourne thriller with stuff that blows up, this adds some
murk to the questionable activities of the CIA but is an
unashamed thrill ride. Opens Jan 31
Dir: Alexander Payne (15, 115mins)
A monochrome, melancholic road movie with the occasional
laugh, as a father and son attempt to bond before it’s too
late. Bruce Dern plays Woody Grant, a curmudgeon taken
in by the promise of a million-dollar payout courtesy of a
postal scam. His wife played by June Squibb, and son, Will
Forte, know that it’s nonsense but in a bid to placate their
faltering alcoholic loved one they decide to drive him to the
HQ of the firm and collect his ‘winnings’, hundreds of miles
away. A character study that works because of Dern’s central
performance of a man edging towards the twilight of his
existence, Payne’s film is laced with dry humour, especially
when people start believing Dern’s claims about becoming
a millionaire and start coming out of the woodwork to ‘help’
or sponge on him. Payne, the director of The Descendants,
Sideways and About Schmidt, creates an intriguing if often
arch journey that has some uncomfortable tonal shifts but
Dern keeps the attention and quietly breaks the heart.
Opens Dec 6
Dir: Martin Scorsese (15, 165 mins)
Scorsese and his new muse Leonardo DiCaprio reteam for
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