Come and Find Me (2016) - Review

Review:

*Originally written November 28th, 2016*

Aaron Paul is an actor I adore. He was part of the heart and soul of Breaking Bad and gave one of the finest performances in TV history, but he really needs and deserves better film roles.

Come and Find Me is a dumb, uninspired and bland thriller. Paul's girlfriend goes missing one day and he's goes on a year long search to find her, but she wasn't who she says she was. This whole thing goes to such silly places that I wasn't expecting. 

It feels like the second film to riff on Gone Girl this year (Along with the painfully average The Girl on the Train), but once again it is nowhere near engaging as David Fincher's deranged masterpiece. This is a fairly cheap and by the numbers VOD thriller.

Paul gives a reliable performance as always, but everything feels so dull and it gets more stupid till it reaches boiling point with a very unsatisfying ending. Sometimes VOD films can give you hidden gems, other reasons it shows why it didn't make it to theatres. Come and Find Me is another one of those films that it's not surprising it didn't hit theatres.


Come and Find Me is a disappointing thriller and a waste of the talents of Aaron Paul, who really should just stick to TV unless he gets a decent film role. Because as it stands, his best post-Breaking Bad role is Need for Speed....


3/10 Dans

Come and Find Me is out now on DVD in the UK
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Suburbicon (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written November 28th, 2017*

"Suburban life"

Suburbicon is an odd film of two halves, some of it is very good when it wants to be, while the rest of a big mess of muddled ideas that rarely come together to make a great film. It's a weird mix of a crime mystery, black comedy and a drama about race. It's certainly interesting to watch and held my attention, but I just couldn't help but feel a little more work on it could have made for a truly good film.

It feels like a Coen Brothers film (It was written by them), but George Clooney is no substitute for them as a director. He has a decent visual eye to make a nice looking film, but when it comes to balancing a film of many ideas, none of it comes together massively well. He does have an attention for detail in terms of the satirical period setting of the fictional suburban haven of 'Suburbicon'. 

I really liked some of the ideas here. A perfect suburban family in the 1950's are put on the radar of two loan sharks for the mob after Gardner (Matt Damon) gets in trouble and things spiral out of control for him. In the background of all this, a black family move into Suburbicon and the entire town is in an uproar.

If that sounds out of nowhere, that's because it is. These two stories never meet up or connect with each other. It's bizarre. There was potential here for a satirical drama about a family moving into an all white, racist and backwards haven for white people, which could have been an entire film in itself. Instead it's a few random shots shoved in the background of this crime mystery. It was so weird.

I will at least say that the crime mystery at the forefront of Suburbicon is actually pretty decent. Matt Damon was such a strange character that you slowly learn to find out is a psychopath. It helped I had no idea where this was going, making for a fun ride with some surprises. Like most Coen Brothers films, it does get violent and grizzly out of nowhere towards the end. There's some really funny moments of pitch black comedy too.

Oscar Isaac steals the show in his brief scenes as a claims investigator. I was surprised to see him feature so heavily in the trailers, as his appearance amounts to nothing more that a couple of scenes. Julianne Moore was also fantastic in her duel roles, basically walking straight from her role in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. I just wish there were a few more memorable characters thrown in. The two villains were largely forgettable and not very interesting.


Suburbicon is a mess of ideas that amount to an entertaining and watchable film that's not sure what it wants to be. I feel there's a genuinely great film here after a few more edits.

6/10 Dans (First time watch)

Suburbicon is out now in cinemas in the UK
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Murder on the Orient Express (2017) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written November 9th, 2017*

"Choo-Choo"

I've never seen a previous adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express or anything with Hercule Poirot outside of spoof, but this seemed as good a start to this material as you could get. It's not massively new or inventive. It's just an incredible entertaining murder mystery that makes the most of its cast and setting.

Kenneth Branagh does a fantastic job in front and behind the camera. His role as Hercule Poirot is pure pantomime and camp, which worked perfectly with the film. He's funny, smart and endlessly glorious to watch. His moustache is something of majesty. A piece of facial hair every man in the world should grow.

The story at the centre is immensely engaging. It really helped going into this blind. I had no idea who the killer was or why it happened, so it made the reveals that much more effective and surprising. It's rare twists come out and they don't feel forced. It doesn't itself too seriously, the ending is pretty mental, but with fun tone this was going for, it all worked in its favour. 

It's hard to split the run time and fully develop thirteen characters, which is something the film struggled with. That said, everyone gets a chance to shine and have fun with the roles. Willem Dafoe is always wonderful, and I was reminded a little of Tim Roth in The Hateful Eight. It was also nice to see Daisy Ridley outside of the Star Wars series. Johnny Depp was a disgusting and horrible character, so it made it that much more satisfying as he was the victim. Peep Show's Olivia Coleman was a little underused, but it's cool to see her as part of a huge ensemble cast in a film like this. Everyone does fine, if a little under served, but it really is Kenneth Branagh's show. 

Even as a director his work is solid. Orient Express is a fast and flashy film with a lot of style. It's a gorgeous looking film that manages to be creative with its enclosed location of a single train for the most part. Loved the overhead angles and long takes of stuff like Poirot investigating a train carriage. There is some poor CGI and green screen here and there, it's not much, but it is very noticeable.


Murder on the Orient Express won't reinvent cinema or anything, but it's still an extremely fun and entertaining murder mystery with a great cast and a standout Kenneth Branagh sporting a glorious piece of a facial hair.

8/10 Dans

Murder on the Orient Express is out now in cinemas in the UK
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Inland Empire (2006) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written August 30th, 2017*

"Lynch Me"

Well, I've now seen every single one of David Lynch's films. It's been a weird, weird, but compelling and incredible ride. One I imagine I'll only appreciate more with each watch.

Inland Empire is by FAR Lynch's least accessible work to date. And that is saying something. The story of an actress losing her mind in an abstract and confusing way (Which is the point with Daddy Lynch). 

I think I might enjoy this more on rewatches (Like I say with every Lynch film), but I'm not really sure how I felt about the look of the film, which was shot on standard definition. It's a weird choice. It made things look very amateur, with an almost documentary, on-the-fly like feel. 

I have to admit, that Inland Empire felt far too long though. I watched this in one sitting and it was a little bit of a challenge to get to the end. Laura Dern was fantastic though, possibly the best performance I've seen from her.

I'm currently going through the Twin Peaks revival series, which is some of my favourite work from Lynch right now (See it, it's awesome). But, compared to Lynch's other work, it feels like a bit of a downer note to end his film career on, but I did like it for the most part.


I do hope to see Lynch return to film once the Twin Peaks revival is over. I'm in dire need of more and new Lynch in the cinema.

6/10 Dans

Inland Empire is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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The Girl on the Train (2016) - Film Review

Review:

I know a lot of people have said this, but best thing to compare The Girl on the Train to is 2014’s ‘Gone Girl’ which tackles a lot of the same themes as Girl on the Train, but succeeds far, far better than this mess that seemed like it was made as network TV pilot. Honestly, I have no idea what the $50 million budget went on. It looks like cheap TV which is outrageous. There is nothing visually interesting or even competent about this film. It’s embarrassing. I am really curious to see what the budget went on. The score tries to emulate things like House of Cards, maybe even a little of Trent Reznor’s Gone Girl score too.

 Either way it was completely forgettable, like most of the film. In terms of storytelling, it fails too. The story is messy and somewhat predictable. Aside from one surprising twist at the very end of the extremely long feeling run-time, nothing of interest happens. 

Emily Blunt

The big twist itself is lazy in hindsight, it twists the history of the character to pull the rug from under the audience, but it just feels unnearned and lazy. It might be one of the things that worked better in the book, but in film? No. It hits a lot of the beats you would expect from a film like this. The mystery is an interesting one at its core and I am curious to check out the book. It’s just that none of that translated well in the disorganised and bland script.

The police are also a laughable and incompetent force in the film. None of these police act like real police. They misuse suspects, ignore glaring evidence and can’t put together clues that are directly in front of them. It was a lazy way for our lead to be front and centre. If the police in this are like the real police in the US, then god help them all….

Haley Bennett

If there is a saving grace from The Girl on the Train it is easily Emily Blunt’s performance as the lead Rachel. She plays a broken alcoholic which really shows in her performance early on in the film. She looks worn, broken, down pathetic and beaten. It’s easily this films greatest feature, it’s just a shame that it’s in a film that doesn’t deserve a performance of this caliber at all. The rest of the cast do not fare well at all. Haley Bennett in particular tries so hard to copy the nihlism of Gone Girl’s Amy Dunne that it is kinda pathetic. Luke Evans at least conveys some emotion. Everyone else? Forgettable.

I really wish this was better. I am a huge fan of dark and twisted thrillers (Like Gone Girl), but The Girl on the Train just fails on pretty much every level. When one performance is the only reason to see a film, then your film is not worth watching. This is far from 2016’s Gone Girl. A huge disappointment.

4/10 Dans

The Girl on the Train is out now on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
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