Dallas Buyers Club: while it’s an interesting and inspiring story, this film is so schematic and simplistic in its approach that it almost defeats the purpose. Characters are underdeveloped, so it’s almost surprising how good the acting is; of course, a good part of the effectiveness from both Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto come from the extreme physical transformation they went through, but both of them (Leto in particular) are able to infuse humanity into the roles.

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: biopic / historic, drama

Saving Mr. Banks: a film of two mismatched halves; one half is so joyless that it takes away (some of) the pleasure of the whole. What is worse, from a storytelling point of view, it’s a clunky resort. It does, however, portray well what can be behind creativity and how painful the process can be.  Emma Thompson, at first, seems to be doing a one-note curmudgeon (oh, but how well she plays that one note!), but her character rounds out […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: biopic / historic, drama

Philomena: as it usually happens with fact-based stories, this is at the same time unbelievable and sadly believable. The screenplay smartly mixes comedy with the drama, but is unable to sidestep its bias (warranted or not) or to hide its manipulative tendencies. The best reason to watch it is the masterful presence of Judi Dench, who created a great character, well-rounded, flawed and very touching; Steve Coogan is better than adequate in a role that doesn’t require all that much. […]

Categories: Film reviews • Tags: biopic / historic, drama