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The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant Review- starring Romola Garai, Alex O’ Loughlin, Jack Davenport and Sam Neill

Posted on December 26, 2012 Written by ripitup

The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant image via edbaran.com

In the 18th century, King George decides that instead of hanging criminals, he can just export them to Australia, where they will work under British soldiers forming a colony.

Convicts, regardless of their crime, are transported via ship to Australia- a-9-month journey they’ll endure under horrible conditions.

One of these criminals is a resilient young woman named Mary (Romola Garai) who is guilty of stealing food to feed herself. Realizing that she’s pregnant, she tries improving her conditions by appealing to the seemingly more humane officer, Lieutenant Clarke (Jack Davenport). Things go well for a while, but when he shows disdain for her pregnancy and takes his anger out on her friend, she turns back to her old conditions. She pays more attention to the advances of the handsome convict Will (Alex O’ Loughlin), who not only has saved her life, but has shown support.

Mary has her baby soon before they arrive and soon, she and Will become an inseparable couple. They use her wits and his fishing abilities to build a home, and live a somewhat better life than the rest.

But when conditions get worse, Clark doesn’t wait to rip them off their livelihood-and Mary begins to fear for the survival of her family, now complete with her daughter and her baby son from Will. She comes up with the best plan she can to escape, but she and Will have to sacrifice a whole lot to make it out alive. And even if they manage to escape, they will have to deal with men they don’t trust and survive even harsher conditions to make it to their destination…

The Characters / Actors

(this part might have spoiler(ish) details.)

Mary Bryant is the wonderfully complex (and obviously changed for artistic purposes) true story of Mary Bryant (who gets the Bryant surname after marrying Will). This mini-series has a lot to offer, and it offers them better than most big budget period pieces let alone a project made for TV.

The acting, cinematography, direction, costumes and story are all well done. The lines are powerful, sometimes shocking and with just the right amount of comic relief.

But the real strength comes from the characters and how the actors have handles their roles:

I love how Jack Davenport goes back and forth between humane and cruel, gets torn between duty and desire. Yes, I hate his guts throughout and want to punch his character the whole time. So yeah, I’d say he did a good job. And just because he is a well-ranking soldier again (the other one being Norrington in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl), don’t think they have much in common. Norrington earned a lot of sympathy points-despite his understandable contempt for pirates.

Clarke on the other hand…well, he did way too many things to piss people off. At one point his right hand was warning him that his men could/would turn against him. And we see so much character development from the worthless scumbag (who believed women were there to “serve” them, who thought having a woman on a boat was stupid, who didn’t really care about anything other than his own friends &interests…) grew to respect and understand Mary.

Alex O’Loughlin shows once more than he is a lot more diverse than some people give him credit for. Sure, he lands leading roles in TV series, but that’s because he can pull it off. Just take a look at his parts, on both movie and television: a good vampire (Moonlight), a psychopathic killer with a feeding fetish (Feed), a doctor (Three Rivers), a Navy-seal-turned cop (Hawaii Five-O), an oyster farmer (Oyster Farmer), a serial killer with OCD…

His roles require different accents, quirks and interpretations and he pulls it off well. Here, you don’t see Mick St. John (the vamp from Moonlight) or Steve McGarrett (Hawaii Five-O) – he is a nice, funny, young English fisherman who got busted for smuggling a bit of alcohol- and showed a much stronger and likeable personality than the supposedly religious, reform-believing, well-educated Clarke.

Sam Neill’s Governor makes his cheating/emotionally problematic/prejudiced/self-righteous character in The Vow seem like a cuddly teddy bear. And his solemn character in Alcatraz like a character from Friends. I never liked the character, but the moment I truly hated him was when he said they’d just let them be when the women were being brutally rated.

But while playing off O’Loughlin and Davenport well, Romola Garai has the hardest job. Not only is she in the most scenes, but her character is the one that has to make all the most difficult decisions and undertake the most horrible tasks. Her survival and protective instincts are the strongest. She also uses more brain cells than anyone in the film, but it is never out of arrogance or a desire for social climbing. She tries to help out anyway she can- but if it ever comes to her family, she just chooses her family.

Will and Mary make the perfect couple, and even when they seem like they’ll break down, one of them always reminds the other why they did what they did-and that they still want to be together no matter what. Some of my favorite lines come from those scenes- just when you think they’re not being fair, or letting their despair overcome their feelings for each other, they say something to remind you what makes their characters special and why you admired them in the first place.

You’ll love The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant if:

You are a fan of any member(s) of the cast
You love a well-done period piece
You appreciate many shades of grey in characters
You love compelling conflicts in stories
You love strong characters

Now, some of the Memorable Mary Bryant Quotes Scenes:

(There might be spoilers)

(This one by Will summarizes my thoughts about Mary.)

After having had to leave Sam (Abe Forsythe) behind, Mary is trying hard not to have a breakdown:

Will (matter-of-factly): I could never leave that boy behind. Not more than I could sleep with Ralph Clarke. But we got this far because you could. They all know it but none of them could say it.

Mary (still shaken about it all): We got here because you sailed us here.

(They are on the boat again, trying to figure out who has been stealing (eating) their share of limited stored food)

Will: We are all thieves.

They all stare at him.

Will: Someone give you this boat?

Governor is surprised that their colony attempt is later decided to be a success by England-even though things have been getting worse.

Governor: It seems Parliament has declared us a success.

Clarke (amused): By what criteria?

Mary realizes that the others are going to turn against her and Will-leaving them all behind. She also knows the others have the only musket with a bullet left and that they will use it.

So she grabs it while they are asleep and points it towards them:

Mary: We had a plan. Plan thought of by men who had been sick of being treated like animals. We’ve come all this way and nothing has stopped us. But if we stay here, we’re finished. Now, you’ve made no secret of not wanting me along. One woman in a boat of men. It’s daft idea. But if you leave me, and Will and the children here, you’ll come across a wind you can’t read, a bid you can’t land, a rock you can’t see and you won’t last a week. Now, Will is the one who got us here and Will is the one who’ll get us to Timor. He sailed out from England to Spain and back again in a boat not bigger than ours and in storms far worse than you saw last night.

Cox (Dan Spielman): Going out there in that boat is madness.

Mary: Yes it is madness. A wonderful madness. The kind where strong men grab with both hands – not the kind that eats away weak and frightened men. Now there is a strong wind. We should take it.

Then she fires the gun in the air and walks towards the boat.

Martin (Tony Martin)-to the others: Let’s go.

Mary is mad that a drunken Will almost spilled out everything to the Dutch.

She knows that he doesn’t like the charade, pretending to be somebody else, the attention all the men are paying to Mary and that she might just be too happy with all the luxury.

Will: You’d be better off here.Marry a Dutchman. God knows you’ve enough of them lying around your feet. No witnesses. No paper. We were blessed by a fool on a beach. Wasn’t legal outside the colony. You’re free.

Mary angrily pins him down and looks at him.

Mary: I’ve never thought myself as being anything other than free. Ever.

Then she kisses him.

The Next Three Days starring Russell Crowe & Elizabeth Banks: Emotional, Captivating, Entertaining

Posted on December 16, 2012 Written by ripitup

The Next Three Days starring Russell Crowe & Elizabeth Banks Featuring Olivia Wilde and Liam Neeson.

The Next Three Days movie poster via slingomom.com.

The Plot

College teacher John (Russell Crowe) and his wife Lara (Elizabeth Banks) are happily married with a young son, Luke. But life as they know it is over when Lara gets convicted of murdering her boss. All evidence points towards her, but John doesn’t doubt her innocence for a second.

But despite John’s efforts, he can’t change her 20+ years sentence. Devastated, she attempts suicide.

At that moment John realizes that it’s up to him to save his wife, and it’ll only be possible through a meticulous prison escape plan. With the fundamental tips from the former convict-turned-novelist Damon (Liam Neeson), he starts devising his plan. He has a million obstacles…and not nearly enough resources. But he sets his plan into motion, and no one can change his mind. Including his wife.

The Next Three Days: How to Kidnap Someone from Prison 101

And I’m not saying it as a bad thing. It made some great moments to see an ordinary guy trying to come up with the perfect plan. A guy who doesn’t have a criminal gene in his system is ready to deal with shady characters, rob criminals, lie his butt off and muster an enormous amount of guts so that he doesn’t lose his wife.

Most prison escapes in movies are usually conducted by experienced and/or violent criminals, maybe with the help of their criminal buddies. The 2009 movie Public Enemies (starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale) has some great jail break scenes, for instance. But again, the escapes are planned by the mastermind robber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp).

And movies featuring prison escape usually focus a lot on the hunt. But the beauty and the fun of The Next Three Days is that it spends sufficient time on how it becomes the last resort, and how the crime is planned by a nice guy. Intelligent and determined, yes. Aggressive, violent, criminally experienced? No.

But with the aid of 21^st century resources and his mind, we follow him through his research and action. His failures and his success. As he gets his ass kicked and as he turns badass, all the while trying to maintain a sense of normalcy for his son.

1/3 of Guy fighting the system, 1/3 Guy Hatching a Plan, 1/3 Actual Escape and Action

It’s a drama for the most part, but the depressing parts are balanced by hope and love. It’s also balanced by John’s sense of humor (in the beginning), his self-teaching to be a jail-breaker and the last, very exciting part.

It’s easy for an action movie to become a bit tedious after putting one action scene in front of the other. But here all the drama builds up the suspense so by the time the plan is in motion, you are sitting, fingers crossed, highly anticipating. Sure, it could blow up in his face. But you sincerely hope he doesn’t.

So it is a remake. So what?

If the plot sounded familiar, it is probably because it is a remake of the 2008 French film Pour Elle starring Vincent Lindon and Diane Kruger. I haven’t seen the original so I can’t compare similarities and quality. But will be seeing it soon.

But The Next Three Days holds its own. Russell Crowe is perfect, Elizabeth Banks is good albeit overshadowed. Olivia Wilde is the perfect red herring. I mean why throw a single woman that gorgeous in front of the dad who’s so devoted to his wife? But even with her small screen time, she is crucial to the plot. And while Liam Neeson is practically in one scene, he is one of the most important characters, and he does fit the part perfectly. We buy it when he kicks ass internationally, and we buy it when he is a jail break expert.

Much more drama than action, but worth it.

I really liked it. Currently rated at 7.3 on IMDB. Adapted and directed by Paul Haggis. And don’t roll eyes at the “romance” label on its IMDB page. John has to be one of the most romantic, dedicated and loving husband the screen has ever seen. So yeah, there is a very strong love at the center of the film too.

One of my favorite Crowe movies and performances.

Fun cast note: Olivia Wilde also worked with Elizabeth Banks in the movie People Like Us (2012) , starring Chris Pine.

Also on Russell Crowe:

State of Play starring Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel Mcadams and Helen Mirren

A Good Year starring Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard

A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris & Paul Bettany

Also on Elizabeth Banks:

Man on a Ledge with Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Edward Burns & Jamie Bell

Falling Overnight starring Parker Croft and Emilia Zoryan

Posted on December 1, 2012 Written by ripitup

Falling Overnight movie poster — Image via culture.com.

Falling Overnight starring Parker Croft and Emilia Zoryan

It’s official. I have a weakness for a good romance that takes place during a day (night). Before Sunrise and Forget Me Not, and most recently, Falling Overnight proved that.

However Falling Overnight is a lot more similar to Forget Me Not than Before Sunrise with its premise:

1) The guy has a horrible disease.

2) Guy has earned enough money pre-disease to sustain himself.

3) He meets a girl who is full-of-life, starts spending time with her.

4) As they spend the night together, they start falling for each other.

5) He becomes conflicted over whether to tell her.

6) He tells her.

7) She…well, I won’t give away the ending by saying how either woman reacts.

Of course both movies are so much more than these sentences, but I just wanted to point out the things in common. Now of course there are a lot of differences too: the setting, ages of characters, the dialogue, the guy’s disease, girl’s life…

And there’s always room for another heartfelt drama/romance.

Falling Overnight Plot:

Elliot (Parker Croft) is a young guy suffering from a brain tumor and is set to have an operation the next morning. He runs into Chloe (Emilia Zoryan) at the shop she’s working for and she gives him an invitation for her art show that evening.

Elliot eventually goes, and they decide to spend more time together. Neither of them seems willing to end the night and they form a stronger bond than Chloe’s friends realize. Elliot will eventually have to share his secret, and it will be up to Chloe to decide where they go from there…

Simple. Heartfelt. Well-acted. I am happy that it was appreciated at many festivals, but I do have my complaints. The movie could have used 10 more minutes, spent on just Chloe and Elliot. They often have a lot of Chloe’s friends hanging around, and it really isn’t that hard to ditch your friends for a couple of hours.

I get that it is one of her friends’ birthday, and she needs to be there and she does spend time with Elliot- but when it is time to confess, Chloe’s reaction seems so soon, so strong. She comments about it, and it is a good sign that the writers know this. But I needed a bit more time between them for that reaction.

And I definitely needed more time afterwards. That being said, the ending is great. It is not melodramatic or depressing (well, all things considered). It is sweet, realistic and gives us the chance to add our own thoughts.

But I guess even my complaints are complimenting the movie. I liked the characters, and I wanted to spend a bit more time revolving around them. Too many other characters might add realism when portraying the life of a social, friendly young woman’s life, but it does steal time from the connection we need to focus on.

All in all Falling Overnight is a sincere effort from director/co-writer Conrad Jackson, actor/co-writer Parker Croft and co-writer Aaron Golden. Croft is impressive with the sincerity he brings to the role, and impressively this is his first leading role, as well as his screen-writing debut. I have a feeling he might be my generation’s Edward Burns if he keeps it up, maybe even getting to direct later. Oh, and I really liked Emilia Zoryan- and it was her first role.

It’s worth a shot. Yes, if I have to pick one, I’d go with Forget Me Not because I think it established the connection between the characters better, and in the end I found Eve’s emotional outburst more timely and more realistic than Chloe’s.

But the later you tell a story, the bigger chance people will compare it what has been done before. But when the movie has heart, and the crew does a good job, it only adds to your recommended movies.

It’s only 86 minutes. What do you have to lose?

My favorite line(s):

Elliot: Gotta keep a pretty healthy sense of humor about shit like that or you go crazy. It’s like people talking like you’re supposed to live like you’re gonna die tomorrow…stuff like that. I mean if you think about it, it’s a very stressful way to live. You wake up and you just fucking freak out! Aargh! I’m gonna die tomorrow! I‘d better figure out what I’m supposed to do today because I’m dying tomorrow. I mean how are you doing man? I’m not great ‘cause I’m dying tomorrow.

Chloe: No. Don’t say that.

Elliot: Yeah, it is pretty morbid. But it helps.

Favorite Scene:

(you need to see the movie for this to make any sense at all!)

Where Elliot puts the dinosaur he made out of tinfoil on the dashboard.

Recommended One-Day Romances:

Before Sunrise

Before Sunset (sequel to Before Sunrise)

Forget Me Not

Review for A Royal Affair starring Mads Mikkelsen: Denmark’s Submission to the Oscars

Posted on November 10, 2012 Written by ripitup

Trailer, Expectations, Premise

I’d been looking forward to see A Royal Affair, and I am so glad it didn’t disappoint. It was as exquisite, touching, romantic and inspirational as I expected to be. And while it is primarily a romance/drama period piece, it has its genuinely funny moments.

It is one of those movies whose trailer gives you all the main points: a love affair between the queen and her husband’s physician, the idealistic views of the lovers making things even more complicated and the quite unique relationship between the doctor and the king.

However this is not a thriller, and we were never expecting plot twists. The trailer is supposed to be just a taste of what’s the come, and it does a wonderful job of doing that.

But while the affair gets to be the catalyst of bigger events, the movie is so much more than a love story (though it has become one of my favorite love stories ever).

The movie is about an era when personal freedom or free press doesn’t exist. When free-thinking get you despised or in trouble, and even if you are a princess, you don’t have a lot of options. And politics is as about personal interests, religious influences and manipulation as ever.

Plot

Denmark’s young king Christian (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) couldn’t have been less suitable for being a king: he is impulsive, childish, inappropriate and…well, he looks and acts crazy. He’d much rather sleep around with hookers, drink a lot and be oblivious to anything else around him. Of course this serves the court’s interest, as they do whatever they want and just get Christian’s signature. So while the court thrives, the country is in a horrible state: people are dirt poor, there is no freedom of speech or press, there’s corporal punishment for prisoners and serfs…

When English princess Caroline Mathilde (Alicia Vikander) marries the king, she is willing to make the best of the arrangement. However her romantic illusions disappear when Christian treats her horribly, making her avoid him for good as soon as she delivers a son.

But things at the kingdom things are about to change tremendously with the arrival of Doctor Johann Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen), who has charmed the king with his unique way of approaching him. He is everything the court despises: a free-thinker.

Christian decides that Struensee can make the “boring” queen fun, and Struensee quickly realizes that she is a lot more like him than he initially realized, and as they spend more time together, the attraction and friendship soon turn into something much more intense.

A Royal Affair — Alicia Vikander and Mads Mikkelsen. Image:movie’s fb page.

They also realize that, together, using Struensee’s friendship with the king, can make a positive impact on the country. But everything will turn out to be a lot harder than they thought…

What Makes It Special: Set in the 18^th Century, Yet Extremely Relevant

I’m absolutely in love with this movie. Hope it gets picked to be one of the foreign film Oscar nominees (and wins, should it be nominated.) It is just my kind of love story: two people share a connection on many levels, there is intense mutual love, they have fun together and most importantly, they fall for each other because of who they are- they can be totally themselves next to each other.

Then there are the universal and timeless concepts of freedom, freedom of expression (even those who are supposedly free don’t have that freedom here), individuality, oppression, religion, politics, ideals and sacrifice.

Last, but not least, there is the “unique” love triangle where the person loved by two people is not the queen, but the doctor. Christian despairs at the possibility of losing Struensee, and he started to enjoy the idea of being a king after he got into the picture.

In addition to the wonderful story, the acting is superb, and the set decoration as well as costume design would probably win Oscar nominations, had this not been a foreign language film. It has 2 Silver Berlin Bears: Best Script and Best Actor (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard).

While the movie as a whole can appeal to the masses, it will please period romance/drama lovers and Mads Mikkelsen fans even more. It might also come across as more meaningful for people who find that they don’t quite belong with the majority and society’s expectations.

It’s worth seeing more than once.

Also on Mads Mikkelsen

Elsker dig for evigt (Open Hearts) starring Mads Mikkelsen, Sonja Richter & Nikolaj Lie Kaas

After the Wedding starring Mads Mikkelsen – 2007 Best Foreign Film Oscar Nominee

Mads Mikkelsen Trivia

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