June 2014 book and film review

BOOKS


RUBBERNECKER, by Belinda Bauer. Patrick is what we used to call "an odd boy". These days we say he has Asperger's syndrome. But he also, like all Asperger's cases in novels, though rather less often in real life, has some "special powers"; in his case acute observational skills and an obsessive need to solve problems around him. Enrolling in an anatomy class so he can unravel the mystery of his father's death he stumbles on what appears to be a case of murder in one of the cadavers the students are studying. Trouble is, no one else will buy his crackpot theories...


Here we have two essential ingredients of a successful novel today: a thriller combined with a fashionable medical problem, as in, say, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, (autism) and Nathan Filer's The Shock of the Fall (schizophrenia). The style is very simple and naturalistic, and the narrative races headlong to its dramatic conclusion, but for me there were too many twists and turns in the plot, and the details of the dissection room, while doubtless fascinating for the lay person, actually have a number of factual flaws (remember, I did a year of anatomy myself as part of my medical studies). Sound holiday reading though.


THE RIDDLE OF THE SANDS, by Erskine Childers. A civil servant offers to crew a small yacht cruising the Frisian Islands with a friend, but finds his friend has developed a theory that the Germans are preparing for war, and this is in 1903. Our narrator is sceptical at first, but slowly the evidence mounts up, as does their own jeopardy...


A strange, dreamy book which is almost 70% maritime detail, though none the less intriguing for that. Childers's famous novel grips one from the outset with its meticulous prose and its slow, but relentless build-up of tension. Today the novel is seen as prescient in view of its highlighting of the threat to Britain Germany represented, even though the book was written 11 years before the outbreak of the Great War- that and the fact this is clearly a pro-British book, even though it was written by a man who was later to become the president of the Irish Republic and therefore not necessarily expected to be seen as a supporter of a country that had oppressed his homeland for centuries.


THE SCENT OF THE NIGHT (An Inspector Montalbano mystery), by Andrea Camileri. A banker goes missing, just as his massive Ponzi scheme is exposed. Only to be expected, surely: he's run off with the cash. But has he? Inspector Monalbano isn't convinced. In his own unique, highly relaxed style, he sets about unravelling the threads of lies and deceit to find the truth.


If you're on holiday in Sicily, what else can you do but read one of Camileri's highly successful Montalbano stories which are based in that distant outpost of Europe? And I did enjoy this tale a lot. Montalbano has an anarchic edge I found myself identifying with very quickly; for instance there is a wonderful moment early on where he discovers an ancient olive tree has been uprooted to make way for a luxury apartment and is so infuriated at this act of vandalism he sets about the house with a baseball bat and a can of spray paint. Superior thriller writing.


FILMS


DARBY'S RANGERS (1958) D- William Wellmann. As the build-up towards D Day intensifies, a group of US Rangers finds themselves training in a small Scottish village. There they hone their killing skills under the tutelage of colonel James Garner, but the grunts always have half an eye on the local talent. Inevitably some fall in love with the local lasses. But will their dads approve?


William Wellmannn was nearing the end of his glittering career by the time this movie was made, but his skill and subtlety still shine through strongly. The action sequences are powerful and the romances are great fun. A different kind of war film.


PUNCH DRUNK LOVE (2002) D- P.T. Anderson. Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) runs a factory making novelty items. It makes a working profit, even though Barry clearly has problems, not least his numerous sisters, all of whom seem to have a down on him for some reason. One day he seeks solace in a phone-sex encounter, but the girl he rings then tries to extort money from him. That's it! Now he's mad as hell and isn't going to take it any more...


In 2001 PT Anderson had just made the highly successful, but long, Magnolia and announced that his next film would stick to 90 minutes and would star his favourite actor of the moment, Adam Sandler. It was a wise move. Sandler is absolutely brilliant as the dysfunctional protagonist, often hilarious but also very moving at times. Terrific little movie.


IN A WORLD (2013) W/D- Lake Bell. In a world where male voice-over artists roam the Earth unchecked, one girl is brave enough to challenge their might. And succeed... The voice-over industry is huge, especially when it comes to movie promos, where a voice can be enough to persuade millions to hand over their hard earned cash at their local multiplex one more time. And it's true: most of these promos use those same few gravelly-tonsilled men whose tones we have come to know so well. Enter Carol Solomon (Lake Bell) whose dad is one of the biggest players in the promo voice-over game. To his horror she enters her own tape in a contest to do the job for the next blockbuster- in direct competition with him...


Neat little offering, with excellent performances all round, especially Lake herself, who wrote, directed and starred in this film which only cost $1 million to make, but which brought in many times that sum at the box office. You go, girl!


LOOK WHO'S TALKING (1989) W/D- Amy Heckerling. An attractive New Yorker (Kirsty Alley) has an affair with her boss, but she protects the rat (George Segal) by telling people it's a sperm donor baby. She settles down to live as a single mom, but a kindly friend (John Travolta) would wish to alter her status. Oh yeah, and did I mention? we can hear baby's thoughts, courtesy of Bruce Willis.


 An interesting idea, with good characterisation and the novel idea of using America's favourite tough guy to voice the baby. Plus the fact that in 1989 Kirstie was looking as gorgeous as she ever would, before the comfort eating spoiled her looks forever. Oh well... A fun little outing, snappily written though badly dated now (it's always the music that gives them away, am I right?). Having said that it is well made and still a lot of fun. Was a smash at the box office at the time and spawned numerous sequels and remakes. You could probably leave all those out though, and just try this one.


THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE (1976) D- John Cassavetes. Cosmo Vitelli, a night club owner in Vegas gets into the mob for a large sum of cash and is offered a get out of jail free card, on the condition that he kills one of their principle rivals. He isn't keen, but needs must...


John Cassavetes was known for his avant garde movies which made some of his films hard to watch (Shadows, Faces), but here is Cassavetes at his most approachable, with a film which delves deeply into the hearts of its protagonists, especially that of Cosmo Vitelli, brilliantly played by Ben Gazzara in what may be his finest filmic achievement. Somehow Gazzara is able to convey  Cosmo's strange emotional makeup: a blend of toughness and vulnerability, plus the sensitivity and even love he has for the people who work for him. Quality film making from one of Hollywood's leading auteurs.


OMAR (2013) D- Hari Abu Assad. Omar (Adam Bakri)  lives on the West Bank and is mainly interested in marrying his girl before someone else snags her, but is distracted by his friends who are planning to shoot an Israeli soldier as an act of protest against the military occupation. The hit goes down, but he is immediately picked up by the Israelis. They know he's involved but can't prove it. So they threaten him with life in prison unless he comes over with the goods about who the actual shooter was. Thus Omar is placed in a tricky situation: he likes freedom, he wants to pursue his romance, but he is deeply loyal to his friends.


An intelligent, finely wrought movie which graphically illustrates how occupying forces work: a network of spies and informers, a population intimidated into co-operation by fear of prison or worse, the whole leading to the occupier's desired end: divide and rule in a toxic atmosphere of fear and paranoia. As in his previous film Paradise Now, Hari Assad gets us into the hearts and minds of his Palestinian players in a unique and powerful style.
Not easy to watch, but if you want to get a highly skilled, non-Israeli spin on events in the West Bank, you probably should...


POST SCRIPTUM


Rather fewer films on offer in June, but then I've been away for a week, and there were other distractions:  Game of Thrones, Wallander and Fargo, to say nothing of Wimbledon and the World Cup, so you can see I've been kind of busy. Should be a bit better in July, no wait,  Le Tour starts on Friday...  Oh well, I'll try to do my best. So much to watch, so little time!