seen 26th Aug-1st Sep : 1408 [5/10]; Boxing Day [8/10]

Wednesday, 29 August 2007

1408 : [5/10] : US 07 : Mikael HAFSTROM : 105 mins (BBFC)
seen at Empire, Newcastle : 29th August : press show

   1408's striking poster - featuring the glowering visages of John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson - turns out to be the most mendaciously misleading such image since Scream 2. Jackson's role turns out to be little more than an extended cameo - unfortunate, given that the first-reel dialogue scene between Jackson and Cusack is easily the best thing about the whole movie. A promising but ultimately disappointing and superfluous Stephen King adaptation, it's perhaps this year's Secret Window.

   Cusack's Enslin, meanwhile, is the latest in King's endless line of discontented-author surrogates: after failing as a "serious" novelist, he finds lucrative, undemanding work penning jcoular guides to "haunted" hotels - such as Manhattan's discreetly swanky, old-school Dolphin. Checking in, Enslin is regaled with the terrifyingly bloody history of room 1408 by hotel-manager Olin (Jackson) - but stubbornly ignores the latter's polite-but-firm suggestions to stay elsewhere. Enslin soon learns the error of his skeptical ways - and gets his brash atheism (shades of Clark Gable in San Francisco) knocked out of him in the process.

   Both Cusack and King have explored similar turf before - King via the Overlook's room 237 in The Shining, Cusack having encountered 'motel-hell' in 2002's daft Identity. And 1408 is much more of an Identity than a Shining: the picture abandons its initial, darkly-comic quiet creepiness for increasingly elaborate, silly, twisty and sentimental shenanigans as Enslin confronts his personal demons, and Cusack gamely endures all that Paige Chaytor's hyperactive FX team can (quite literally) chuck at him.
29.8.07 / 9.9.07

BOXING DAY : [8/10] : Aus 07 : Kriv STENDERS : 82 mins (approx)
seen on DVD, Mickle Trafford : 31st August : with thanks to Kristian Moliere

   There have been several "one shot" films before - movies apparently consisting of a single, extended, 'real-time' take - but seldom, if ever, can this particular device have been put to better use than in the remarkable character-study-cum-dysfunctional-family-drama Boxing Day. On one level, the picture (reportedly made for only A$175,000) is something of a technical marvel: there are 12 cuts in the picture, but only the most eagle-eyed viewers will be able to spot a single one of them. Most of the time, however, you'll be too engrossed to even notice.

   The plot treads what seems to be rather familiar turf, but manages to make potentially hackneyed material fresh and surprising. A grizzled ex-con and recovering alcoholic, fortysomething Chris (Richard Green) is trying to lead a quiet life in a sleepy Adelaide suburb - but his resolve is tested when old partner-in-crime Owen (Stuart Clark) turns up, asking him to hide a stash of drugs. In the middle of the ensuing argument, what's left of Chris's broken family - his niece, her boyfriend and daughter - arrive for a post-Christmas visit. Violent complications rapidly ensue...

   Stenders wrote the pared-down script with Green, whose nuanced, painfully vulnerable work provides the rock-solid foundation upon which the film is constructed. He's seldom off screen from start to finish, his every step, indoors and outdoors, accompanied by the relentless scrutiny of Stenders' claustrophobically intense camerawork. The result: an admirably tough, unsentimental, no-nonsense little picture, which marks Stenders - and Green - as considerable talents. 17.9.07

Neil Young

NB
1. all films seen in the UK, and all timings approximate, unless stated otherwise
2. timings taken from the BBFC website are rounded to the nearest minute (i.e. 100min 29sec = 100min, but 100min 30sec = 101min)
3. an asterisk [*] in the rating indicates that film is not a feature (i.e. 0-39m = short; 40m-63m = medium-length; 64m+ = feature)

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