jillainsley Reviews

The Great Gatsby (2000 TV Movie)

Well, Toby Stephens was good

[4/10 · 2 June 2010]

Toby Stephens is a genuinely talented actor, and it is painful to have to see stuff like this on his CV. He's an excellent Gatsby -- much better than Robert Redford. He really conveyed the not- quite-at-home-in-his-skin quality of Jay Gatsby. Unfortunately, he has to contend with Mira Sorvino, who must surely have watched a lot of Marilyn Monroe films to prepare for the role of Daisy. She's such a dope you just can't quite believe Gatsby would a) fall in love with her in the first place or b), if he did fall in love with her in a fit of youthful stupidity, continue to love her once he met her again. Paul Rudd doesn't amount to much, either. But the truly awful thing is the score. Holy crap. I would rather drive red-hot pokers through my eardrums than listen to that dreck again.

Julie & Julia (2009)

Hard to digest

[4/10 · 22 March 2010]

I watched this film forearmed with the knowledge that others who had seen it loved Meryl Streep's scenes and absolutely hated Amy Adams's. That was my experience. By the midpoint of the film -- and I am aware that if the real Julie Powell is even half as self-absorbed and thin- skinned as her cinematic counterpart, she will read this comment and take to her bed for a month -- I found Amy Adams's character so irritating that I started to fast forward through her scenes. I don't blame Amy Adams. She's a fine actress. Julie Powell just isn't interesting or substantial enough to compete with a great woman like Julia Child. The snippets of blog we're shown also suggest she's not a great writer nor a particularly interesting blogger, either. Too bad the filmmakers didn't jettison the Julie Powell part of the story and just make a biopic of Julia Child, because Meryl Streep's performance is really wasted in this.

Surveillance (I) (2008)

Just awful

[3/10 · 17 September 2009]

I spent what felt like six hours of my life watching this film.

A trailer I saw months ago made it seem intriguing, especially since Hugh Dillon is in it.

I really wish I had spent my time bathing my eyeballs in acid instead. It would have been more productive and far more pleasant. Bad acting, bad dialogue, bad plot, bad directing.

Some things just shouldn't be put on the screen, and "Surveillance" is one of them. ("Boxing Helena," as I dimly recall, is another.) The three stars I gave it can be apportioned as follows: one for having Hugh Dillon, one for using some of his songs and one for the Saskatchewan scenery.

Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007)

A massive disappointment

[5/10 · 7 November 2008]

I absolutely love The Clash and, because I liked Temple's film about the Sex Pistols, I had high hopes for this. Like many other people, I found the campfire interviews completely unsatisfying, especially since none of the subjects are identified at all. We hear very little from Mick Jones and not all from Paul Simonon. On the other hand, we are treated to John Cusack and a pirate-costumed Johnny Depp. Matt Dillon shares a fascinating anecdote in which he recounts something a taxi driver once told him about Joe Strummer, and Anthony Kiedis tells us that Joe hired someone who used to drum for him. Gosh! If any of these people knew Joe in a meaningful way, they don't make that clear on screen. Why Bono and not Billy Bragg talking about Joe's political effect on his own music? Perhaps Julien Temple is hopelessly starstruck. The film's only redeeming features were the home movies, photographs, live performances and excerpts from Joe's BBC radio show.

This film is not worthy of the man who inspired it. I will keep my fingers crossed that another filmmaker, one who favours substance over style, will some day make the definitive Joe Strummer documentary.

The Invisible (2007)

If the Academy Awards had to be divided between this film and "Showgirls," "Showgirls" would make a clean sweep.

[1/10 · 7 September 2008]

Other perceptive IMDBers have noted the myriad flaws that riddle this film. A lousy premise becomes a poorly executed plot bogged down further with bad writing, bad direction, bad performances from the leads and tedious use of a soundtrack. (Someone noted that if you took out all the walking-around-and-staring footage the movie would be cut to an hour. If you took out all the times when the music takes centre stage, you'd be down to 40 minutes, and this film would still be unbearably long.) Callum Keith Rennie is the only saving grace, and he isn't given enough screen time to make up for having to watch the desperately untalented "stars" for the longest 90 minutes of your life.