Movie Review - The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger 

(2013)

Walt Disney Pictures / Jerry Bruckheimer Films / Silver Bullet Productions : Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Buena Vista Home Entertainment

6.5 / 10

As a kid, I remember watching the old black and white television series at my Nan's while mum and dad did their shopping.  Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels bringing much-needed justice to the wild west.  In 1981 they brought out The Legend Of The Lone Ranger, another big budget movie, for its time, and I remember I enjoyed that too.  So when this was released I had to watch it, after all, it was The Lone Ranger, starring one of my favourite actors, Johnny Depp...

...  However...

This is the most ludicrous telling of The Lone Ranger mythos ever filmed.  It verges on the insane and stupid.  It definitely feels as though they had too much money in the budget to burn and they did just that with the completely farcical CGI, of which there is way too much.  In one section it looks like the director was trying to better the awesome, and equally silly, horseback running of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, by having The Lone Ranger ride Silver on top of the train carriages and then through them; it's just not awesome, just silly.

Poor Johnny Depp's acting skills seem to now range from Jack Sparrow to Native American Jack Sparrow, even the headdress he wears gives his silhouette an all-to-familiar feel.  He's also brought across Helena Bonham Carter from his directing buddy Tim Burton.  It's a shame though as it appears only Mr Burton can give these two good actors decent enough characters to push them into giving a great performance.  

Unfortunately, the director here, Gore Verbinski, can only manage mediocre performances from the talented cast.  The worst thing being the actual acting scenes.  These look to have been added so the actors can actually stretch their acting legs a little.  These scenes though appear boring and dull, nearly to the extreme.  I think the main problem is there's not much characterisation to be done, apart from Tonto... and one man cannot hold a film of this size together.  The other characters should have been deeper and better thought out.  When you have a cast like this use them to their best potential, even if you need a rewrite, or two, to do it.  Spend the budget there and not the needless CGI segments.

So why the average rating if I didn't like the movie?  Well, there are a few things which give the mythos of The Lone Ranger a more powerful storyline.  Tonto's story is the prime example; as far as I remember no film or television series touched on why Tonto is called Tonto (which means fool); in this telling, there's a perfectly good and plausible explanation for his naming.  There's also a nice spiritual side with The Lone Ranger's horse, Silver, actually being a Spirit Horse who chooses which ranger to bring back from the dead, after Cavendish's ambush.

The comedy, which mainly comes from Johnny Depp, is right on point and pretty funny.  There are also some great Iconic moments in the film, especially Tonto standing at the top of a ladder on a speeding train, once you see it you'll understand.

So it's these issues that raise the film out of the doldrums to become a "watch once" film, possibly on a wet Sunday afternoon, after a decent dinner, and with the family.

Movie Review - Starred Up

Starred Up (2013)

Film4 / Creative Scotland / Northern Ireland Screen / Sigma Films : 20th Century Fox / Tribeca Film

2.5 / 10

This is a hard-hitting film based on the story of Eric Love, portrayed brilliantly by the talented Jack O'Connell, who is "Starred Up" - transferred from a young offenders institute to an adult prison, due to his violent behaviour.  Eric finds he has been moved to the same prison in which his father is incarcerated.  Their relationship is a troubled and loveless one, based on hate, mistrust and misunderstanding.  You think this would make for some interesting situations, though the writer, Jonathan Asser, missed the opportunity to add some depth into the characters and story. 

So what you have is a bleak and violent movie without any reason or story - it starts and ambles on through to the end - this had the possibility to be as good as Scum.  After watching it I had to ask myself what I had taken from this film?  The answer was, unfortunately, nothing.

The acting, other than Jack O'Connell was average or below.  The direction was mediocre at best and brought nothing to the telling of the story.

Only if you're a fan of Jack O'Connell then maybe watching this film once would be of interest to you, though I cannot see who this film would interest.

Movie Review - Lost Letter Mysteries

Lost Letter Mysteries

aka Signed Sealed Delivered

Love and Tragedy [Pilot Episode]

Front Street Pictures / Muse Entertainment Enterprises : Hallmark / MovieMax Family

2013

9.5 /10

This is a lovely well thought-out movie, that is well directed and superbly acted by a talented cast, headed by one of my favourite actors, Eric Mabius. who I originally saw in The Crow: Salvation.

I really loved the idea of the "Lost Letter Department" whose sole job is to get the undelivered mail to where it's intended destination.  If they cannot read the address on the envelope then they are allowed to open the letter, but they are only allowed to read as far as they need so they can deduce a delivery address, as it's a federal offense to tamper with mail.

In this case, though, they keep running into problems in determining the destination so they have to keep reading.  As they do the viewer is shown the story of the letter's writer and becomes embroiled in their tale.

The reason this works is the juxtaposition of the two ongoing stories, as well as the different characters within each.  It gives quite a lot of detail to keep you interested and entertained.

Eric Mabius plays Oliver O'Toole who is a stuffed shirt, but with a heart of gold.  He likes his rules and regulations though if there's a logical explanation to circumnavigate the rules to get the desired outcome, then he will.  He is a solid and strong character, a good lead.

Kristin Booth portrays Shane McInerney, "Miss McInerney" as Oliver likes to call her and the chemistry between them is nice.  She comes to the Lost Letter Department by accident and can only get redeployed to her desired department after a couple of months.  Even though she isn't good at hiding her disappointment, it's Shane who is pivotal in pushing the investigation to its conclusion.  It's her curiosity and enthusiasm that help make her a well thought-out character.

Then you have the two "Side-Kicks"  Rita Haywith and Norman Dorman, played nicely by Crystal Lowe and Geoff Gustafson.  These are the "Geeks" of the Lost Letter Department, but add a depth to the team, which makes the show stronger.

Even though there are some adult issues represented in the story these are handled with maturity and in a light manner.  This is not a doom and gloom show, and for that reason I loved it.

What works really well is the great direction, it cannot be easy to intertwine two stories and keep it well paced and smooth.  The director makes this look effortless, all adding to the enjoyability of the movie.

I would recommend this to everybody, especially the lovers of heart-warming tales.