Movie Review - Beckett

Director: Ferdinando Cito Filomarino
Genre: Thriller/ Crime/ Drama/ Action
Runtime: 110 minutes
Year: 2021
Starring: John David Washington, Alicia Vikander, Boyd Holbrook

Description: Following a tragic car accident in Greece, Beckett (John David Washington), an American tourist finds himself at the center of a dangerous political conspiracy and on the run for his life.

Review: When Becket is on vacation with his girlfriend April they get into a car accident. In this accident Beckett sees a boy with red hair, but doesn’t know if it is an illusion or not. When Beckett wakes up in the hospital, he goes back to the place where they crashed to see what exactly happened. From that moment on, Beckett is on the run for his life and must survive in a strange country where he doesn’t know who he can trust or not.
The movie has a quick introduction to our main characters, before we get into the action and suspense. “Beckett” has a lot of tension and you really become eager to find out why this is happening to him. The movie captivated me from start to finish.
John David Washington, in the lead, does a good job and proves ones again that he can carry a movie well. Boyd Holbrook and Alicia Vikander both have smaller roles, but are solid.
I liked “Beckett”, but it will probably be a movie that will be easily forgotten.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 119: Tulip Fever

Director: Justin Chadwick
Genre: Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 105 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Christoph Waltz, Dane DeHaan, Holiday Grainger, Tom Hollander, Jack O’Connell, Judi Dench, Zach Galifianakis, Matthew Morrison, Kevin McKidd, Cara Delevingne

Description: An artist (Dane DeHaan) falls for a young married woman (Alicia Vikander) while he's commissioned to paint her portrait during the Tulip mania of 17th century Amsterdam.

Review: In the Golden Age, tulip fever drove everyone crazy in The Netherlands. Anyone with enough florins joined the trade. In shady bars the most exotic tulips were auctioned, sometimes even before seeing them. In “Tulip Fever” this sets the background of he story of a forbidden romance between a married woman and an artist. Together they scheme a plan to flee the life they are living now.
Cornelis Sandvoort marries the much younger Sophia. He want a beautiful portrait of them and he hires painter Jan van Loos. A decision he will later regret. Because Jan falls madly in love with Sophia and they start a passionate affair.
Cornelis is a old man, who someone you can never sympathize with. He is a cold man who only married Sophia for one reason: to get a son. His personal losses from a previous marriage make him not any more human. It’s not that strange that Sophia seeks the love of another man. But she doesn’t seem this unhappy with Cornelis either. The motives of the characters are so shallow and bland. Sad, because director Justin Chadwick managed to get so many fantastic actors.
Somehow Sophia feels the love for Jan right after the first portrait session and immediately wants to flee from her husband. The chemistry between Alicia Vikander and Dane DeHaan never really convinces. And they hardly pay any attention to Sophia’s conscience, only in the last couple of minutes of the film.
The film rushes, the ‘master plan’ feels a bit improbable and sometimes comes off as ridiculous. “Tulip Fever” lacks of subtlety and the characters are somewhat soulless.
I was so excited for this film, but man did this disappoint me! I hate when that happens.

Rating: 2/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 56: The Light Between Oceans

Director: Derek Cianfrance
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 133 minutes
Year: 2016
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz

Description: A lighthouse keeper (Michael Fassbender) and his wife (Alicia Vikander) living off the coast of Western Australia raise a baby they rescue from a drifting rowing boat.

Review: “The Light Between Oceans” is a film where viewers will need tissues. The plot is a bit slow, but Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander are excellent in it.
Fassbender plays Tom, a veteran that doesn’t say too much. He takes a job as a lighthouse keeper. He meets the lively Isabelle, played by Vikander. They fall in love and get married. After two miscarriages, Tom sees his wife getting more unhappy every day. One day a little boat comes ashore. It has a dead man in it and a baby. They decided not to report the boat and the dead man, a raise the little girl as their own.
The film is about loss and disappointment, sacrifice and how to deal with the past. The setting of the film is beautiful and if it wasn’t for Fassbender and Vikander, this film would be a forgettable and mediocre melodramatic film. Now it’s a more than that.

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 8: A Royal Affair

Director: Nikolaj Arcel
Genre: Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 128 minutes
Year: 2012
Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Alicia Vikander, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, David Dencik, Trine Dyrholm, Thomas W. Gabrielsson, William Jøhnk Nielsen, Cyron Bjørn Melville, Laura Bro, Zinnini Elkington, Erika Guntherová, Søren Malling, John Martinus, Bent Mejding, Rosalinde Mynster, Karin Rørbeck, Klaus Tange

Description: A young queen (Alicia Vikander), who is married to an insane king, falls secretly in love with her physician (Mads Mikkelsen) - and together they start a revolution that changes a nation forever.

Review: King Christian VII was barely 17 when he became king in the 18th century. He ruled for a long time, but he had an unstable mental health and people claimed he was schizophrenic. This is the image we seen in “A Royal Affair”, that cause a lot of discussion in home country Denmark. The biopic by director Nikolaj Arcel focusses mainly on the secret affair his wife Caroline Marhilde had with physician Johann Friedrich Struensee.
Caroline was the princess of Wales and only 15 when she became queen of Denmark. Her marriage with Christian was arranged and she had to move to Denmark. Caroline and Christian only did their royal duty, which is more to say for Caroline.
The new queen discovers that the rules, rights and censorship isn’t far from what they had in the middle ages. Caroline tries to makes something of the forced marriage, but eventually she is only there to give Denmark a heir. She even starts to hate Christian. He drinks, gets visits from prostitutes and has strange ideas.
When a new physician arrives, things change. Christian finds him very interesting and is easily influenced by his ideas. And Caroline finds him interesting for a whole different reason. Caroline and Johann start a passionate affair. From this moment the influence of Johann is clearly visible.
Mads Mikkelsen excels in his role as confident doctor. He isn’t an opportunist, but a free thinker. The Danish aren’t used to someone like him. The narration of Caroline feels sometimes a little but melodramatic, but “A Royal Affair” is a very solid royal drama.

Rating: 4/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 131: The Danish Girl

Director: Tom Hooper
Genre: Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 120 minutes
Year: 2015
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Eddie Redmayne, Amber Heard, Ben Wishaw, Matthias Schoenaerts, Sebastian Koch

Description: A fictitious love story loosely inspired by the lives of Danish artists Lili Elbe (Eddie Redmayne) and Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander). Lili and Gerda's marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili's groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.

Review: “The Danish Girl” starts in 1926, where we meet Einar and Gerda Wegener. Einar is a very successful painter, Gerda’s work isn’t as popular. When Gerda asks Einar to dress up as a woman, because her model is absent, it’s the beginning of a big change in their lives. Einar feels surprisingly comfortable in woman’s clothing. When the two plan on a joke, where Einar dresses up as a woman and pretending to be Lili, the long way from man to woman starts for Einar. He isn’t Einar anymore, he is Lili.
What I find conspicious is that the radical transformation hardly gets any social resistance. The film is set in the twenties/ thirties and this is a pretty shocking and groundbreaking action. It’s not very realistic. What we see is a melodramatic story where Lili struggles with her identity an Gerda stays by her side.
The actors make this movie good. Eddie Redmayne is really strong, but it’s Alicia Vikander that steals the show. She is sublime and manages to lift the film to a higher level. The chemistry between the two is very good.
The film looks fantastic, the ydillic shots of Denmark, the costumes, paintings and décor. But the movie is simply a melodramatic story with great actors.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 108: The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Director: Guy Ritchie
Genre: Action/ Comedy/ Adventure/ Crime
Runtime: 116 minutes
Year: 2015
Starring: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Hugh Grant, Jared Harris

Description: In the early 1960s, CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) participate in a joint mission against a mysterious criminal organization, which is working to proliferate nuclear weapons.

Review: Since his Sherlock Holmes movies were a success, director Guy Ritchie looks like someone who can bring back old franchises. This time it’s “The Man from U.N.C.L.E., based on a televions show from the 1960s. And although the film isn’t as memorablem “The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is definitely a very entertaining comedic espionage.
During the cold war, the American CIA agent Napoleon Solo joins forces with the Russian KGB agent Ilya Kuryakin. Not very surprising is their rivalry at the beginning of the film. During an action packed opening, Solo manages to escape Kuryakin, together with the beautiful car mechanic Gaby. Gaby is the daughter of a nuclear scientist who is missing and she is probably the only clue to a potential conspiracy.That’s the reason why the two agents decide to work together.
Of course working together is not going to go smoothly, because of the differences between the two. And the interaction between actors Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer is fun to watch. Cavill works his charm as womanizer Solo and Hammer is more physically present. But it’s Alicia Vikander who steals the show as Gaby.
The atmosphere and the look of the film is great. It’s like we are really in the sixties. The location, sunny Rome, is perfect and the costumes are beautiful.
“The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” isn’t as surprising as espionage rival “Kingsman: The Secret Service” was, but certainly entertaining and enjoyable.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 102: Jason Bourne

Director: Paul Greengrass
Genre: Action/ Thriller
Runtime: 123 minutes
Year: 2016
Starring: Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, Alicia Vikander, Vincent Cassel, Julia Stiles, Bill Camp

Description: Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), the most dangerous former operative of the CIA is drawn out of hiding to uncover hidden truths about his past.

Review: Jason Bourne is back. After a spin-off with Jeremy Renner and almost 10 years without Jason Bourne, director Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon joined forces again and brought him back to the big screen. Bourne knows about his past, but there are still hidden truths to uncover.
The return of Matt Damon as Jason Bourne is so pleasant. The film starts with an amazing chase scene. Fast paced and it gets your immediate attention. The rebelling of the Greek citizens against the government is a perfect theme, but they stay with referecenses to recent happenings. The plot goes over to a subplot that isn’t as compelling.
Nicky Parsons introduces a new mystery in Bourne’s past by leaking important information. And then there is also Aaron Kalloor, who gives information to the new CIA boss. There is this whole social media thing going on. This subplot is not interesting at all. Because of this, Jason Bourne almost becomes a supporting character in his own film.
The acting is great. Matt Damon proof he hasn’t lost it yet and Tommy Lee Jones does a solid job as the CIA boss. Vincent Cassel is a convincing villain, but Alicia Vikander probably plays the best part.
Luckily for us the action is still there and very well done. And “Jason Bourne” is by no means a bad movie. It’s just the least of all the Bourne movies and the story isn’t as compelling.

Rating: 3,5/ 5