Genre: Western/Drama
Director: Scott Cooper
Cast: Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Ben Foster, Stephen Lang, Jesse Plemons, Wes Studi, Adam Beach, Scott Wilson
Runtime: 2 hrs 14 mins
Rating: NC16 (Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 4 January 2018
Synopsis: 1892, New Mexico - legendary Army captain Joseph J. Blocker (Bale) undertakes one final mission before retirement: escort Yellow Hawk (Studi) - a dying Cheyenne war chief - and his family back to sacred tribal lands. After 20 years of violent struggle, this gesture of peace is as unthinkable as it is harrowing. Together they battle against a punishing landscape and the brutality of men alike, coming to the rescue of a young widow (Pike) amidst the carnage of her murdered family. Two great warriors, once rivals across the battlefield, must learn to trust each other and find peace in an unforgiving land. A heroic odyssey of survival, HOSTILES becomes a story not about the miles travelled nor the battles fought, but the journey towards respect, reconciliation and forgiveness.
Movie Review:
Whereas it used to be us-versus-them, ‘Hostiles’ represents yet another example of a new breed of revisionist Westerns that challenge earlier notions of white man superiority. Set at the tail end of the Indian Wars, this bleak and bone-chilling Western sees the distinguished US Army officer Captain Joseph Blocker (Christian Bale) being forced to come to terms with the genocide he has been committing against the Native Americans over the course of a road trip he is ordered to lead. That trip is to escort the Cheyenne chief Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi) and his family back to his tribal lands up north, where he hopes to spend his dying days before succumbing to cancer.
It’s not hard to understand why Blocker puts up such a vigorous resistance when his orders are first conveyed – after all, not only had he spent years hunting down types like Yellow Hawk, he had also seen many of his good friends and partners die at the hands of these very types – and it is no wonder that he has his fellow officers handcuff Yellow Hawk and his son (Adam Beach) as soon as they are comfortably out of sight of his commanding officer (Stephen Lang). Yet, as you would expect, Blocker’s own deep-seated beliefs about the Apaches will be challenged over the course of the journey, which ends up being for him one of reconciliation and redemption.
The first agent of this transformation is Rosalee Quaid (Rosamund Pike), a grieving widow whose husband and three children had been brutally murdered by Comanches in the opening sequence. Rosalee is expectedly shocked to see and hear of Blocker’s company, but her circumstance spurs the compassion of Yellow Hawk’s clan, which slowly but surely changes her impression of them. At the same time, the reappearance of the same Comanche war band that had slaughtered her family gives Blocker and Yellow Hawk a common enemy to unite against, and more significantly the opportunity to overcome their simmering suspicion with mutual trust.
The second agent of that change is Sergeant Charles Wills (Ben Foster), an Army officer who has been charged with the indiscriminate killing of natives and is due to hang. While stopping to rest at a fort commanded by a former buddy, Blocker is asked to lead Charles to the gallows for his execution, a favour which he agrees to on account of the former’s hospitality. Along the way, Charles so pointedly highlights how what he has been condemned for was no different from what Blocker had spent his entire career doing, forcing Blocker to realise again how times and policies have changed. To be sure, Charles doesn’t feature as much in the narrative as Rosalee does, but his presence further illuminates the third agent of Blocker’s conversion.
That final agent is Master Sergeant Thomas Metz (Rory Cochrane), a loyal comrade of Blocker who delivers a meandering but nonetheless meaningful monologue early on about how spilled guts and righteous retribution were the stuff of the good days. Thomas’s role remains largely in the background with the rest of the cavalry for the first two acts of the film, but his disillusion at the end of an era finally turns into enlightenment in the final act, where we see him atoning for his past sins in a heroic yet tragic manner. Having established their camaraderie at the start, it isn’t difficult to imagine why Blocker would be thus moved by Thomas’s eventual fate.
Based off an unproduced screenplay by the late Donald Stewart (best known for scripting ‘The Hunt for Red October’), writer-director Scott Cooper plays all that out deliberately over two-hours plus, which admittedly can be challenging for less-patient viewers. Cooper uses that time to allow both the beauty of the landscape and the violence of its inhabitants sink in – this is after all, a very different time from the one we are living in now, and one prone to misguided romanticisation – while giving his actors plenty of space to flesh out their respective characters. Combined with Max Richter’s brooding score, Japanese cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi turns the wilderness of sparse, stormy scrubland to lush, heavenly mountain ranges into sheer majesty, and the images are often stunningly composed.
Just as impressive is Bale’s understated performance as the embittered Blocker, whose part redemptive, part recuperative journey never strikes a false note. His co-stars are equally excellent, and in particular, there is moving chemistry between Bale and Pike’s traumatised widow. Putting the focus of the narrative on both their characters though diminishes somewhat the significance of Studi’s character or for that matter the Native Americans in their company, and criticism that the latter end up being no more than ciphers are not unjustified. Notwithstanding, the veteran actor Studi proves excellent as always playing a proud Apache leader coming to terms with his imminent death.
Truth be told, it is not easy to get a Western made these days, in large part because it seems difficult to find an appreciative audience of a genre that used to be a mainstay of Hollywood cinema. But Cooper’s film is a full-bodied (and even full-bloodied, seeing as how it doesn’t shy from moments of unflinching violence) Western, armed with an affecting story, haunting characters and great acting. Sure, Cooper could certainly have upped the tempo so that things unfold at a less languid pace, but that time is well-spent reflecting on the racial divide that manifests itself in a different but no less virulent form today. In that regard, the movie’s ambiguous title is highly appropriate, premised as it is not on us-versus-them but rather on the antagonism that tears our social fabric, an antagonism that could exist on either side.
Movie Rating:
(Lean, spare and deiberately-paced but effective, affecting and meaningful, this revisionist Western is a solid addition to a genre which seems all but forgotten these days)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Comedy
Director: Amanda Sthers
Cast: Harvey Keitel, Toni Collette, Rossy de Palma, Michael Smiley, Tom Hughes, Violaine Gillibert, Stanislas Merhar, Sue Cann
Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins
Rating: M18 (Some Nudity and Sexual References)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 7 December 2017
Synopsis: Anne and Bob, an American couple living in Paris, organise a dinner party and invite ten friends. To their surprise, Bob's son arrives, and the total number of people for dinner now becomes 13.
The superstitious Anne insists her maid Maria disguises herself as a mysterious Spanish noble woman to even out the numbers. But a little too much wine and some playful chat lead Maria to accidentally endear herself to David, a dandy British art broker. Their budding romance will have Anne chasing her maid around Paris and finally plotting to destroy this most unexpected and joyous love affair.
Movie Review:
‘Madame’ reimagines the classic Cinderella story as a modern-day class comedy. Instead of a young ingénue, the Cinderella here is an upper middle-aged woman named Maria (Rossy de Palma) who has been working as the principal housekeeper to crusty American couple Anne (Toni Collette) and Bob (Harvey Keitel) as well as their two children for the past ten years. Maria meets the British art broker David (Michael Smiley) when the latter is invited to the house for dinner together one evening, an otherwise carefully planned occasion thrown into disarray when Bob’s son from his previous marriage, Steven (Tom Hughes), makes a surprise visit. Rather than brook 13 guests, Anne requests that Maria dress up and pretend to be a family friend at the table, with strict instructions not to eat or smile or drink too much. Alas, Anne cannot quite restrain her vivacious self or her love for alcohol, her gregariousness turning her into the belle of the ball while leaving David utterly besotted.
Believing that Maria is some Spanish princess, David pursues her with dates, gifts and proclamations of love, much to the chagrin of Anne. Partly out of affront to Maria’s seeming disregard of her rightful place in society and partly out of sheer envy, Anne is determined to end their burgeoning romance. On the other hand, Maria struggles to keep up her guise, fearing that David will recoil if he found out that she were just a maid. As written and directed by French writer turned filmmaker Amanda Sthers who makes her English-language debut here, this is as much Maria’s story as it is one about Anne and Bob, the former’s fairytale-like affair standing in stark contrast with the latter’s waning marriage – not only have the two not have sex in a long while, both are becoming simultaneously embroiled in adulterous relationships that only serve to pull them further apart from each other.
As tempting as it may be to see ‘Madame’ as a satire on class and societal privilege, Sthers isn’t entirely comfortable making fun of the upper-class and/or drawing sympathy to the immigrant underclass. Whereas the first act plays like a comedy of manners, the latter two are constructed as character studies around Anne, Maria and, to a slightly lesser extent, Bob. In Sthers’ eye, both Anne and Maria are trapped by their respective social status and therefore in unenviable positions, although she does emphasise that either has the choice to break away from convention and forge their own path – and one of them, though we’re not telling you who, eventually does so at the end of the movie. But whether as parody or drama, Sthers’ film ultimately comes off too slight to be biting or compelling, offering no more than a handful of chuckles or thoughtful lessons on self-empowerment.
Though the titular lady of the house may refer to Collette’s Anne, it is de Palma who steals the show. Fans of Almodovar’s films will certainly recognise her as his muse, having starred in seven of his movies thus far, and true enough, de Palma is joyous to watch whether falling in love or fretting about it like a schoolgirl. Next to de Palma, Collette’s exaggerated take on Anne comes off false, but the actress does manage enough notes of authenticity towards the end of the film in portraying her character’s emotional frailties. Keitel, on the other hand, just seems to be enjoying his time soaking in the Parisian boudoirs and French countryside villas, though it is arguable that his character is easily the most underwritten among the three.
So even though it may boast the trappings of a classic Cinderella story, ‘Madame’ isn’t an uplifting romance in that way. There are some delightful scenes between Maria and David, but there is no fairytale ending to speak of. Neither is it biting satire, seeing as how it refuses to take sides. That eventually leaves the film nowhere here nor there, not quite funny or moving enough to justify a recommendation either way. It does have a jaunty, breezy vibe throughout, so unless you’re in the mood for some undemanding light-hearted fare, there’s probably no reason to pay this ‘Madame’ a visit.
Movie Rating:
(Not quite romantic, funny or moving enough to justify a recommendation, ‘Madame’ offers only the slightest pleasures for those looking for some undemanding light-hearted fare)
Review by Gabriel Chong
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Genre: Drama
Director: Justin Chadwick
Cast: Alicia Vikander, Dan DeHaan, Christoph Waltz, Holliday Grainger, Jack O'Connell, Zach Galifianakis, Tom Hollander, Kevin McKidd, Matthew Morrison, Dame Judi Dench
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scenes and Nudity)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website:
Opening Day: 31 August 2017
Synopsis: Set in 17th-century Amsterdam, TULIP FEVER follows a married woman (Alicia Vikander) who begins a passionate affair with an artist (Dane DeHaan) hired to paint her portrait. The lovers gamble on the booming market for tulip bulbs as a way to raise money to run away together.
Movie Review:
Tulip Fever is a tale of lust, greed and nudity, plenty of those but little of the fascinating tulip trading business in which the title implies.
It’s 1600s Amsterdam, a time where tulips are highly priced and traded. They called it tulip mania and as mentioned earlier, this is not a movie to delve into it anyway. A young orphan, Sophia (Alicia Vikander) is arranged to be married to a rich but elderly businessman, Cornelis (Christoph Waltz) who has everything in the world except a heir to carry on his name and inherit his fortunes. When Cornelis engaged a down-and-out painter, Jan Van Loos (Dane DeHaan) to paint a portrait of them, Sophia begins an adulterous affair with Jan which leads to unforeseeable, disastrous consequences.
Even though it’s marketed as a tragic triangle affair, Tulip Fever is also crammed with other subplots and obviously trimmed to a friendlier runtime making it an inconsequential movie to watch. There’s Maria (Holliday Grainger), Sophia’s faithful servant who is having an affair with the local fishmonger, William (Jack O’ Connell) and serving as the movie’s narrator as well. And there’s Dame Judi Dench as an abbess of a church who dispensed marriage advice such as “love, honor and obey” in her free time and also happens to have a day job tending tulips in her vast garden.
The supposedly Oscar bait production also boasts Zach Galifianakis as a drunken fool, a friend of Jan and Cara Delevingne who has moved on to bigger things in a fleeting role as a hooker. You can’t really fault these two miscast actors because Tulip Fever itself is a slow, uninvolving soap opera that mistook a simple racy tale as rich drama. Vikander despite her acclaimed acting in Ex Machina and The Danish Girl is absolute a bore to watch opposite DeHaan. Maybe pairing DiCapirio opposite Kate Winslet might deliver better chemistry instead of Vikander and DeHaan. Or maybe it’s the Weinstein effect that turned off Vikander. We shall leave it to your own interpretation.
The script adapted by screenwriter Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare In Love, Anna Karenina) based upon the novel by Deborah Moggach is tremendously streamlined that an elaborate (the highlight of the movie by the way) plot hatched by Sophia, Maria and a shady doctor to hide a fake pregnancy and to elope with Jan later on is told in such sketchy, hurried manner that audiences probably have no idea how Cornelis, the bright cunning businessman is convinced by the entire conspiracy in the first place.
While the entire production is shot in the UK instead of the Netherlands, the movie boasts enough lush sets, elaborate period costumes and blooming tulips to please the eyes. Danish cinematographer Eigil Bryld (Becoming Jane) accordingly attempts to emulate the depth and compositions of paintings in his shot and the results are flawless. The in-demand Danny Elfman (Justice League) contributes a pleasant yet not particularly memorable score.
From stars and directors dropping out to a delayed release, Tulip Fever is a troubled project right from the start. Justin Chadwick who has better luck with another period drama back in 2008, The Other Boleyn Girl perhaps needs better material or in this case, a better producer in his next outing.
Movie Rating:
(The steamy sex and skin can’t slavage a dying tulip)
Review by Linus Tee
We first heard Michael Giacchino’s work on Pixar’s superhero movie The Incredibles (2004). The energetic score blew us away, and we knew that the American composer had big things coming his way. Besides becoming a trusted collaborator with directors like JJ Abrams (Star Trek Into Darkness) and Matt Reeves (War for the Planet of the Apes), he would also become a go to person for scoring Pixar movies.
Ratatouille (2007), Up (2009) and Inside Out (2015) are excellent films, and music played a big part. One fine example is the “Married Life” cue which elevated the famous opening sequence of Up – the score won Giacchino an Academy Award for Best Original Score. We are hoping that the 50 year old musician will get recognised for his latest work on the musical fantasy film directed by Lee Unkrich.
The score section of this highly recommended CD opens with “Will He Shoemaker”, and it sets the tone for the Mexican themed soundtrack. Bring on the guitars, strings and brasses – everything is festive and fun! The rhythms are infectious and listeners will have no problem enjoying the music.
As the album progresses, Giacchino explores different emotions: from poignancy (“Miguel’s Got An Axe to Find”) and wonder (“Crossing the Marigold Bridge), to adventurous (“The Skeleton Key to Escape”) and celebratory (“Reunión Familiar de Rivera”). The gorgeous themes are nicely summed up in the last track "Coco – Día de los Muertos Suite".
There are 73 generous minutes on this soundtrack, and about a third of it is dedicated to the songs from the film. Germaine Franco, Adrian Molina, Robert Lopez, and Kristen Anderson Lopez are the geniuses behind these tunes.
The lovely ballad “Remember Me” has a few versions. Opening the album is the hilarious operatic “Remember Me (Ernesto de la Cruz)” performed by Benjamin Bratt (we won’t give away spoilers here), and there are the moving “Lullaby” and “Reunion” versions elsewhere in the CD. The producers wouldn’t forget a radio friendly rendition performed by Miguel featuring Natalia Lafourcade. Other songs like “Much Needed Advice”, “Un Poco Loco” and “Proud Corazón” will please fans who adored the movie too.
There is a lot to love on this soundtrack, and you won’t be disappointed getting your hands on a copy.
ALBUM RATING:
Recommended Track: (38) Coco – Día de los Muertos Suite
Review by John Li
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Cast: Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Jonathan Banks, Sam Neill, Elizabeth McGovern, Florence Pugh, Shazad Latif, Letitia Wright, Killian Scott, Clara Lago, Ella-Rae Smith, Damson Idris, Andy Nyman, Colin McFarlane, Kingsley Ben-Adir
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 11 January 2018
Synopsis: In this action packed and high concept thriller, Liam Neeson plays an insurance salesman, Michael, on his daily commute home, which quickly becomes anything but routine. After being contacted by a mysterious stranger, Michael is forced to uncover the identity of a hidden passenger on his train before the last stop. As he works against the clock to solve the puzzle, he realizes a deadly plan is unfolding and is unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy. One that carries life and death stakes, for himself and his fellow passengers.
Movie Review:
Hard to believe that it has been 10 years since Liam Neeson became an unexpected action star with the lean, spare but brutally effective thriller ‘Taken’, and in the decade that’s passed cemented his late renaissance with well-executed B-movie fare like ‘The A-Team’, ‘The Grey’, ‘Unknown’, ‘Non-Stop’ and ‘Run All Night’. The last three were also notable for being collaborations with director Jaume Collet-Serra, and the now 65-year-old has extended their team-up with ‘The Commuter’, which sees Serra further lay claim to a modern-day Alfred Hitchcock with a couple of high-wire scenes that would certainly make the latter proud.
As with before, there is a high-concept scenario at the heart of this deliberately old-fashioned thriller: an everyday insurance salesman Michael McCauley (Neeson) finds his routine evening commute back home from work disrupted by the enigmatic stranger Joanna (Vera Farmiga), who sits opposite him on the Metro-North train and offers him a hefty financial reward if he is able to spot someone on the train who isn’t a familiar face. In order for Michael to be tempted in the first place, first-time screenwriters Byron Willinger and Philip de Blasi set him up to lose his job on that same day, leaving him floundering over his two mortgages as well as tuition fees for his college-bound son – although because this is Neeson we’re talking about, you know Michael will eventually do the right, honorable and even heroic thing.
To up the ante, Michael is only given slightly more than half an hour before the train reaches Cold Spring to find the individual he is told later on goes by the name of Prynne; and to raise the stakes, it turns out that Joanna has also held his wife and son hostage, both of whom she threatens to kill if Michael fails to complete his mission. True to his Hitchcockian ambition, Serra spins an intriguing web of mystery over most of the middle act, and there are at least three riveting questions that are teased. Who is Prynne? Who is Joanna and/or the people she is working with or for? And finally, what does Joanna want with Prynne? These in turn translate into solid character work for the proverbial strangers on the train whom Michael probes to locate his mark – among them a feisty college student (Florence Pugh), an arrogant Wall Street banker (Shazad Latif), an emotionally distraught nurse (Clara Lago), a tattooed bruiser (Roland Moller) and a taciturn teenager (Ella-Rae Smith).
Yet Serra is all too aware that a whodunnit in and of itself is unlikely to satiate a good proportion of his audience, who are here to watch Neeson engage in the sort of close-quarter fisticuffs a la ‘Taken’. So in between playing detective, Michael also gets a couple of well-choregraphed brawls – one of them takes place in the confines between carriages, while another that is impressively done in a single take plays out over an entire carriage with everything from a gun, an ax, a guitar and seat cushions used as weapons. There is visibly concerted effort to keep these fight sequences real, so even though Neeson’s character is revealed earlier on to be an ex-cop, the film doesn’t (thankfully) use that as an excuse to gift him with “a very particular set of skills” to take down his opponents too easily, skilfully or neatly.
Like other locomotive-set thrillers, this one doesn’t escape without the train in question going out of control and then literally off the rails. That it is well-staged is undeniable – not even some subpar CGI in some shots can detract from the sheer white-knuckle tension of seeing almost the whole train flip into the air – but this spectacle-fuelled conclusion arguably strains the credibility of the high-concept movie even further, and is therefore both better and worse off for it. Notwithstanding, Neeson remains through and through the film’s emotional centre, conveying the frustration, helplessness and resolve of a regular guy who is trying to get his life back in control from those that have snatched it away from him. Lest we forget, this is a role that the thespian can easily do in his sleep, but Neeson still brings his considerable gravitas to bear.
Mind you, not all the gaps in the narrative will be filled in by the end (which seems to set up the possibility of a sequel) nor will some of the explanations pass muster under closer scrutiny. Still, a film like this isn’t meant to be held up under such examination or intended to offer any more than solid B-movie guilty pleasures; on the latter count though, it does succeed brilliantly and beautifully by mixing classic Hitchcockian tension with adrenaline-pumping action. We dare say that it ranks among one of Neeson’s best in his action oeuvre, and if you’re in the mood for some pulpy thrills and suspense, then you’ll definitely want to get on this train.
Movie Rating:
(Part Hitchcockian whodunnit and part white-knuckle thrills, ‘The Commuter’ overcomes what it lacks in logic with well-executed suspense and action)
Review by Gabriel Chong
Genre: Biography/Drama
Director: Aaron Sorkin
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner, Michael Cera, Jeremy Strong, Chris O'Dowd, J.C. MacKenzie, Brian d'Arcy James
Runtime: 2 hrs 21 mins
Rating: NC-16 (Some Coarse Language & Drug Use)
Released By: Shaw
Official Website:
Opening Day: 4 January 2018
Synopsis: MOLLY’S GAME is based on the true story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested in the middle of the night by 17 FBI agents wielding automatic weapons. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans and finally, unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally was her criminal defense lawyer Charlie Jaffey, who learned that there was much more to Molly than the tabloids led us to believe.
Movie Review:
Who would have thought a movie about the founding of Facebook would be one of the most culturally and socially important film ever made? We are, of course, talking about The Social Network (2010), the drama directed by David Fincher from a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin. The scathingly witty piece of work has been widely praised for Sorkin’s writing. Based on Ben Mezrich’s book The Accidental Millionaires, Sorkin’s triumphant effort won him an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay.
The 56 year old’s following feature film projects Moneyball (2011) and Steve Jobs (2015) gained acclaim as well, and people started taking note of his works. It all made sense when we found out that he is the writer behind TV shows like The West Wing (1999 - 2006) and The Newsroom (2012 – 2014). Oh, and remember Jack Nicholson’s “You can’t handle the truth” scene in A Few Good Men (1992)? Sorkin penned those lines too.
So it is with great anticipation that we review the talented writer’s directorial debut. Based on the memoir Molly's Game: From Hollywood's Elite to Wall Street's Billionaire Boys Club, My High-Stakes Adventure in the World of Underground Poker by Molly Bloom, the crime drama chronicles the author’s life as she grows up as a young skier with Olympic potential, before finding her way to become a successful woman running high stake poker games. She rubs shoulders with Hollywood celebrities, businessmen and even the Russian mob. It isn’t a happy ending however, with the FBI eventually arresting her.
Told through voiceovers and flashbacks, the tale is told in an engaging manner. You realise how shady showbiz, business and politics can be when you see the rise and fall of the underground poker games Bloom hosts for the big players. You also realise how success can take a toll on an individual when you see Bloom runs game after game, making lots of money and trying to keep herself together with drugs.
The 121 minute movie is captivating enough to hold your attention throughout, mainly because of the larger than life story it’s telling. Sorkin’s trademark rapid fire dialogue is evident here as the characters go about their conversations. You will be in awe seeing Bloom’s breathlessly exciting life unfold on screen. There is also a human element in the form of Bloom’s demanding father – the man is a crucial factor of how she lived her life.
Credit also goes to the impressive cast. Jessica Chastain takes on the responsibility of portraying Bloom. Dressed in outfits that show off her assets (the real life Bloom knows her customers’ taste well), the 40 year old actress is on form here. Throughout the movie, you will be fixated with Chastain’s charismatic portrayal of the gutsy woman, and empathise with her when she gives it her all to keep things together. This role may just earn Chastain her third Oscar nomination after The Help (2011) and Zero Dark Thirty (2012).
Idris Elba, who left critics awed by playing Nelson Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013), delivers another commendable performance as Bloom’s lawyer. The 40 year old actor, whose enigmatic voice we loved in Zootopia (2016) and The Jungle Book (2016), is effortlessly appealing in the movie. Kevin Costner takes on another prominent father role after Man of Steel (2013), and is memorable despite the limited screen time. Elsewhere, Michael Cera (The Lego Batman Movie) plays a celebrity poker player, Brian d Arcy James (Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House) plays a hedge fund manager and Chris O Dowd (The Program) plays a man who has shady dealings with the Russian mob.
For a movie that runs more than two hours, there are just enough elements to keep you entertained.
Movie Rating:
(Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba deliver impressive performances in this larger than life drama about a woman who dared to dream)
Review by John Li
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