IT ENDS WITH US***

Absent the controversy surrounding Blake Lively's press campaign, IT ENDS WITH US is a perfectly decently made relationship drama about a woman who finally escapes her husband's domestic violence.  It stars Lively as Lily Bloom  - an on-the-nose named heroine who grew up with domestic violence and is horrified when she realises she is in exactly the same situation. She was swept off her feet by a handsome surgeon (played by director Justin Baldoni) and caught up in a fun friendship with his sister (played by the wonderful comedienne Jenny Slate).  But what at first seem like unfortunate accidents - a reflex slap - a trip down the stairs - eventually become clear as deliberate acts of violence. This is all brought to the fore when Lily reconnects with her childhood sweetheart Atlas (absurd name again!) played by 1923's Brandon Sklenar.  

The film has been criticised for making domestic abuse look romantic or by falsely selling the audience on the content of the film. I am not sure a movie based on a major bestseller can be accused of misleading its built-in audience.  Moreover, it's important to recognise that these stories have a layer of romance and charm and charisma.  Domestic abuse victims are emotionally manipulated into believing that the abuser really does love them. It does start off feeling like a romance. Even in the immediate aftermath of violence there can be declarations of love and promises of redemption.  I also feel that Blake Lively does a really good job of conveying how a strong, smart woman can be gaslit and also start diminishing herself as she pre-emptively appeases her abuser. 

Overall I found this to be a well-made and engrossing film. If anything is unbelievable, it's how fast Lily has the strength to leave her husband. Maybe that can be explained by her childhood experience. But we know that in reality it takes domestic abuse victims a number of times before they finally get the courage and practical support to finally leave, if they ever do.  

IT ENDS WITH US has a running time of 130 minutes and is rated R. It is available to stream.

BRAVE

BRAVE reached our shores much maligned - a Pixar movie that was too Disney, too earnest, too mashed up in the re-writes, not funny enough, not adult enough..... And it's true, BRAVE isn't your standard issue Pixar fare.  The protagonist is female, the setting is medieval Scotland, and instead of male bonding and pop-culture references we get an earnest, emotional and frightening film about maternal love and maturity.  Princess Merida (Kelly Macdonald) rebels against her arranged marriage to a clan heir, refusing to be a demure feminine wife like her mother Elinor (Emma Thompson).  Happening across a witch (Julie Walters) she unwittingly casts a spell that turns her mother into a bear - an animal her father Fergus (Billy Connolly) is most intent on killing. Moreover, if Merida can't undo the spell within two days her mother will remain a bear forever.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the film, and it even got a little dusty in the theatre by the end of the movie. Maybe that's because I am a female reviewer, or maybe it's because if you approach the film with an open-mind: while it's different from Pixar classics, it's still a good relatable movie.  I liked the voice work.  I really believed in the reconciliation between mother and daughter and that the stakes were real.  

Moreover, on a technical level, the film once again pushes the envelope.  Rural Scotland has never looked more lush. The scenes were Merida gallops through the countryside on her pony are just breathtaking.  And as for her wild, curly, red hair - I am just stunned by the movement, texture and detail that the animators were able to render.  I also loved the fact that the animation tips its hat to Studio Ghibli, with the witch-character and the will-o-the-wisps straight out of PRINCESS MONOKO or SPIRITED AWAY. Finally, let's not overlook the fact that for the first time ever we have a film with proper Scottish accents rather than Mike Myers painful imitation.

BRAVE was released in June in China, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Russia, Ukraine, Canada, India, Indonesia, Taiwan and the USA. It was released in July in Pakistan, Vietnam, Argentina, Chile, Israel, Paraguay,  Belgium, the Netherlands, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Japan. It was released earlier this August in France, the Philippines, Cambodia, Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Scotland, Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Croatia, Iceland, Lithuania, Spain and Venezuela. It opened earlier this week in the UK and opens this weekend in Portugal, Romania and the Czech Republic. It opens later in August in Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. It opens in September in Georgia, Italy, Serbia, Turkey, Panama, Slovenia and South Korea.

PERCY JACKSON AND THE LIGHTNING THIEF - also not entirely unwatchable

Another movie that’s easy to deride is PERCY JACKSON AND THE LIGHTNING THIEF. The similarity of the source material and the fact that it shares the same director as the first two HARRY POTTER films have led many reviewers to call it “Harry Potter lite” or a Harry Potter rip-off. Certainly, you can see their argument. Percy Jackson is a boy who is “special” and that being “special” relates to his now absent father. His being special leads him to a special school where he will learn to use his secret powers, and to make two friends – a loyal but doltish boy and a much more clued-on girl. They will ultimately have to contend with another student who has conflicting loyalties, and to go on a quest for high stakes. They will be guided by a wise old teacher and their adventures will take place both in a magical realm and in our real world. The only difference is that Harry Potter is a wizard and Percy Jackson is the son of the Greek god Perseus, and is thus a demi-God. And rather than battling Voldemort, he is battling to restore to Zeus his bolt of lightning in order to prevent a war between Zeus and Hades. There are even similarities in the production design, largely because of the journeyman-like-quality of all Chris Columbus movies. He’s the go-to-guy if you want a movie to come in on time, on budget, to have some serviceable special effects and not do anything too crazy.

The resulting film is just fine. It’s not the sort of kids film that adults should go and see unless they are accompanying a small child, but I’m betting good money that any kid, bored in the school holidays, will have a good time watching this film.

PERCY JACKSON & THE LIGHTNING THIEF is on global release.

MADE OF HONOR - a rom-com as weak as the alleged pun in the title

MADE OF HONOR is a desperately weak romantic comedy vehicle for TV star Patrick Dempsey. We know he can be charming and sweet because we've seen him in ENCHANTED. We also know that his lead actress, Michelle Monaghan, can be endearing and like-able because we've seen her in KISS KISS BANG BANG, not to mention as about the only good thing in the god-awful Ben Stiller project THE HEARTBREAK KID. We also know that the movie's director, Paul Weiland, can make emotionally engaging films rooted in authentic history, as he did with last year's SIXTY SIX.

So what went wrong with MADE OF HONOR? The script. Debutant writer Adam Stzykiel has created a collage of rom-com plot points - all of them implausible and none of them grounded in anything so obvious as character development. (Promiscuous, superficial boy realises he is love with his sweet best friend, but it's too late! She has fallen in love with a Scot (Kevin McKidd of ROME fame). So wanker best friend sets about trying to ruin his best friend's happiness so he can get his rocks off. Cue lots of picturesque Scottish scenery and lots of lazy Scottish jokes.)

The whole thing has the artificial, unwholesome, aeriated feel of aerosol can whipped cream and should have been punished for eternity in straight to video hell.

MADE OF HONOR is on release in Egypt, Australia, Estonia, Russia, South Africa, Iceland, the UK and the USA. It opens later in May in Germany, Singapore, Switzerland, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Spain. It opens in June in Argentina, the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium and France. It opens in Japan on July 12th, in Turkey on August 1st, and in Taiwan on August 7th.