Elite Squad: The Enemy Within

This Brazilian crime drama, overflowing with corrupt cops and well-meaning criminologists, is a fresh, relentlessly fast-paced two hours of cinematic inferno in the spirit of The Departed (originally the Hong Kong classic Infernal Affairs) and Heat.

Setting the tone, we are thrown right in to a prison riot that turns into a botched raid, ending in bloodshed and political recriminations for the police at the helm.  Nascimento (our flawed cop) takes the hit, stood down then swiftly “promoted” to government intelligence, while his nemesis (and new husband of his ex-wife) Fraga appears on national TV issuing scalding criticism of the police’s conduct.

So there’s the emotionally complex personal story.  On top of this we have gun battles in the anarchistic streets, where it’s hard to keep up with who’s a goodie (there aren’t many) and who deserves what he gets.  It’s exciting, endlessly noisy (the soundtrack composer clearly worked hard for his paycheck) and the story punctuates shocking executions with twists and turns that keep us guessing.  Echoing the quality of TV’s The Wire, the characters are sufficiently fleshed out, and the acting universally convincing, that we believe in their agony and we in turn care about the outcome.

Elite Squad 2 is allegedly better than its predecessor, which screened in the 2008 NZFF, and thankfully acts as a standalone film.  Put your earplugs in, sit back and soak it up.

The Other Guys

The Other Guys

It’s interesting that my favourite Will Ferrell film is Stranger than Fiction, doubtless one of his more serious (well, certainly more deadpan) roles – and Mark Wahlberg, who I adore in anything, proved his dramatic chops in fare as varied as Boogie Nights and The Departed.  (Albeit with tongue wryly in cheek in both of those films.)

Here, the comedy genius and the stereotyped cop do a great job of playing “the other guys” – loser cops whose awkward partnering provides plenty of conflict as they seek to replace legendary police Danson and Highsmith (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson, clearly having the time of their lives, and setting the tone of the film with an outstanding opening.)

Self-propelled on various missions, often without the blessing of their new-age, touchy-feely boss (a comforting return from Michael Keaton – man, since Christian Bale took over I can’t believe this guy was the first modern Batman!…) – police department accountant Gamble (Ferrell) and shamed officer Hoitz (Wahlberg), notorious for once shooting the city’s top baseball player, become embroiled in a kidnapping/corruption plot that could prove their making – if only they don’t mess it up.

Inititially, I feared that this latest Will Ferrell vehicle from the maker of Stepbrothers, Anchorman…, and Talledega Nights had all the markings of a film whose trailer feeds you all the funnies and leaves you feeling cheated.  But, no!  The Other Guys proves a welcome exception, a movie that can put its villain’s lottery money where its protagonist’s big mouth is.  It is replete with genuine belly laugh moments and plenty of opportunities for a quick wry smile as you listen carefully for the next subtle joke.  There are “ridiculous” set-pieces, and some paper-thin running gags, but the tone is infectious.  Notably, there are terrific supporting performances from Eva Mendes, personifying every guy’s dream wife, and Steve Coogan with his usual Englishness a perfect foil to the bombastic American nonsense.

Which isn’t to say it’s perfect.  There are patches where the audience comes up for air and has to go on a ridealong with the characters as they bounce from one plot point to the next.  However, afterward I racked my brain to recall the last comedy I would consider to be consistently hilarious all the way through.  (The Naked Gun?  This is Spinal Tap? right now I can’t think of any that are faultless.)  To that end, The Other Guys is definitely worth a trip to the cinema rather than a sneak down illegal download lane.  Detective Gamble would no doubt be pleased.

Some Must-Sees – movies boys will like, and girls ought to

Some excellent choices for a Saturday Night In

Heat – absolutely Top 10.  De Niro and Pacino play cat and mouse/cop and robber, with a brilliant supporting cast including Val Kilmer (the only thing I’ve ever liked him in), Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, Natalie Portman et al. It’s simply exhilarating – Michael Mann brings us the greatest bank robbery scene since Dog Day Afternoon, but not until he’s laid out a story so engaging and characters so multi-dimensional that I never wanted the film to end. So he made it 3 hours long! I’ve never been so ecstatic in all my movie-going life.

Goodfellas – one of Scorsese’s best. A gangster flick with the perfect voiceover; star turns from Ray Liotta, Robert De  Niro and a frightening Joe Pesci; the wonderful Lorraine Bracco (later playing the ultimate in-joke as Dr Melfi in The Sopranos) and cameos from Scorsese’s own mamma and papa. Also one of the longest and most accomplished tracking shots in film history. Right from the opening scene, it has you by the throat and you don’t even want it to let you go.

Children of Men – from a filmmaker’s point of view, this is just incredible. The photography is notable for its ability to drag you into the action and carry you along, and to elicit a “how the heck did they do that??” response on several occasions. Clive Owen carries the story of a dystopian future where no children have been born for several years, and the planet is clearly in a crisis of gradual extinction. Amazing, exciting, wonderful stuff.

The Insider – more Michael Mann. This time it’s Russell Crowe who stacks on the weight and goes grey to deliver a superlative performance as a tobacco scientist who turns whistleblower.  Al Pacino spars with him as the journalist who takes up his story.  It’s beautifully shot, scripted, acted and completely gripping to the end.

Casino – another Scorsese masterpiece, more De Niro and Pesci. But this time they share the screen with a luminous Sharon Stone, giving the performance of her career as the manipulative, drug-addled wife of a casino boss (De Niro) who’s trying to go straight, but can’t leave the gangster life behind. Another amazing soundtrack, too.

Carlito’s Way – Brian De Palma follows up Scarface with Pacino playing a different character with similar leanings. Sean Penn and Penelope Ann Miller provide excellent support to Pacino’s Carlito Brigante, an ex-con trying to go good, who gets entangled in the dubious business of his lawyer, friend and ex-colleagues. It’s violent and exciting, and romantic too.

Infernal Affairs – the original Hong Kong police thriller that Scorsese made into the Oscar-winning The Departed.  The original is better though – and stars the stunning Andy Lau and Tony Leung Chiu Wai as a cop undercover in a criminal gang, and a gangster who has infiltrated the police. Let the games begin.

(Needless to say this list could go on and on, but this will do for now.)