Whatever Works

Whatever Works

This film just doesn’t work. In parts, it has itself believing it’s a romance-driven story, in others it appears to be a barely cohesive fable about how life sets itself in an order we are not meant to stand in the way of.

Larry David plays the part of Boris, a previously suicidal pessimist who seems to be a less aggressive version of his famous small-screen character Larry David from the hit US show Curb Your Enthusiasm. His rantings are altogether more intelligently pieced together but as the film strolls along – seemingly unaware that it’s even supposed to be a professional production given the standard of script and shoddy acting – the long-winded and ever so tiresome monologues begin to wear thin. Whether it’s the fact that the recipients are one-dimensional simpletons with little to no actual personality nor ability to be offended, or it’s the fact that Boris plays across from Southern cretin Melody who doesn’t seem to show emotion or common sense, the power of the rants and the dialogue itself lacks the brilliance of Curb’s opposing characters, each of whom display a comic hostility which makes them so endearing and Larry David a much more loveable and stupendous character.

The film itself doesn’t seem to know what it wants to tell the audience. Boris will often speak to the camera as if confiding in the faithful understanding of the cinema audience, letting us in on how he feels about certain characters at points in the film. The problem is, we don’t care about the characters nor the plot which seems to throw bizarre scenarios at the audience and expects them to shrug their shoulders and continue watching.

The love-story plot lacks any credence or realism, characters are introduced on a whim and seemingly require little to no background information, whilst those who should be taken aback by sequential plot points appear to not give a damn. We are expected to believe that a 20-something year old would happily settle down with a 50 year old at the drop of a hat, regardless of his overall feelings towards her and his habit of spewing nothing but derogatory remarks her way. When a new man enters her life – quite where he came from we truly don’t know – she is all too happy to forget she was ever married to Boris in the first place, dismissing her deep-rooted traditional values of staying true to one’s husband and sleeping with the next man to speak to her.

For a film written and devised by Woody Allen, Whatever Works lacks the wit and sharp attributes which made his back catalogue such a mass of classic works. However, here we find an outdated film presumably set in present day but which possesses the mindset of a 1940s love story gone wrong. The values at work don’t suit the hustle and bustle of New York City, the characters lack any real personality nor genuine emotion and the dialogue reiterates the confusion of the supposed era. The only saving grace – but one which does nothing to actually save the film any blushes – is the inclusion of Boris’ smart one-liners which add an element of dry humour amongst a backdrop of boredom, archaic beliefs and a surprisingly lacking piece of work.

6/10

Away We Go

Away We Go Review

From director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road) comes this bohemian guide to parenting; a film which does its best to tug on the heartstrings and present the morals which so many first time parents find hard to establish and implement themselves.

The film takes us on a journey across the United States as we join parents-to-be Burt and Verona attempt to decide just how they're going to raise their child in new age and contemporary America. The very idea of being pregnant comes as a shock to Verona (Maya Rudolph), but when she and Burt (John Krasinski) decide to keep the child they suddenly start questioning just how they would approach parenthood in a world full of mixed messages of sex, marriage and how to raise children.

Along their journey, the couple come across childhood and college friends, each of whom has their own backhistory and their own methods of raising their children. Of those, they meet a couple who effectively disown their offspring and distance themselves where possible, an overly bohemian couple who quite blatantly follow a hippy lifestyle, a husband and wife who cannot conceive and so chose to adopt a quartet and give them the lives they had previously deemed impossible and the final chapter; a recently divorced father who cherishes everything his daughter does and stands for in his life.

Whilst the messages played to the audience are obvious and simply play up existing stereotypes, it's the relationship between Burt and Verona which moulds the film together. Their encounters with the different couples reflect in them what they need to understand and appreciate in order to better the life of their unborn child, Burt's brother proving in particular a poignant reminder that the child is more important than any indifferences between the parents.

Where Away We Go excels is in its simplified presentation. There is rarely a scene which overwhelms and whilst the stereotypes put forth to the audience are at times unnecessary, there is a certain quality about the subtle tragedies behind each chapter that brings the film above what would normally be a pedestrian film. There are definite similarities between this and Revoltionary Road in that they both share a frank sense of reality which soon dawns on the audience, but all that aside, this is a novel and refreshing piece from Mendes.

8/10

Bioshock Review

Bioshock Review

A critical and relatively commercially successful title, Bioshock places the gamer in the role of Jack, the only survivor of a plane crash who finds his way into the underwater utopia that is Rapture, a city created and built in 1946 by one Andrew Ryan in a bid to not only give citizens a new way of living in freedom but to also experiment with pseudo-democratic regimes and powers.

As the game progresses and the story begins to unfold, we are explained through audio diaries just went wrong. As Rapture began to thrive, Ryan decided to experiment with new ocean organisms and create ADAM which gave test subjects increased abilities and supernatural powers. Led by a revolt started up by aggressive opposition leader Atlas, the citizens of Rapture upset Ryan by launching a full scale war which effectively crippled the environment, the hierachy and the society Ryan had envisaged. Ryan chose to create splicers, a personal army of offensive creatures who would fend off unwanted trespassers, leaving Atlas to rely on the player, known as Jack, to find a route to the heart of the problem and bring down the tyranny.

The game itself is incredible. The atmosphere created by the retro, grim and diverse surroundings manage to recreate a time long past magically and the audio diaries allow the player an idea of what it was like to not only live in Rapture when Ryan was in total control but also when the riotous behaviour seized control of the city. The audio deserves special mention as it conjures scenes most other games fail to do in the present-day form and the settings within the metropolis-cum-microcosmic society are a sight to admire. Market stalls are recreated, train stations loom large and rainforest-like botanical gardens make up the various environments within Rapture, all full of life in one way or another.

The biggest criticism of the game is the gun gameplay mechanics in that shooting is incredibly basic. Calling upon the plasmids created by Ryan's one-time competitor, Fontaine, Jack is able to stun, shock, hyptonise, throw, burn and freeze enemies at the pull of a trigger, allowing them to follow up with either a spatter of bullets or a whack of one's wrench. The oversimplified controls can become tedious especially when enemies appear all at once and the game doesn't always recognise when specific enemies are purposefully targeted. However, the random and varied attacks possible through the plasmid/weapon combination makes killing the vicious creatures slightly more enjoyable.

Looking back on the game as i do now, i appreciate it for it is. It is a masterpiece in story-telling. The twists and turns are unpredictable and the at times random splicer battles are invigorated with the always foreboding echoing of nearby Big Daddies, the game's infamous enemy whos powerful footsteps and unmistakable groans add to the terrifying atmosphere already laid at for the player to marvel at. With the added moral choice offered to the gamer, in that they can choose whether to spare the life of every Little Sister (the brainwashed servants employed by Ryan, guarded by the Big Daddies) may make little difference to some but i felt it served as an emotionally loaded reminder of the reality behind the tragedy that brought about the downfall of a once-prospering Rapture, they are the last remainging 'real' humans and their existence within the world reiterates not only the sense of what once existed there but also acts as a disturbing nod to the methods employed by Ryan as a means of fulfilling his political and egotistical realms of power.

As a game, Bioshock comes highly recommended. As a piece of gaming history - maybe even solely as a powerful, emotional and thought-provoking rollercoaster ride of storyline narrative - i do it no justice in placing it in the top ten games i have ever played.

Aside from slighly underwhelming gameplay mechanics, sometimes repetitive enemy battles and a ridiculously short and easy final encounter, the game is near-enough perfect.

9/10