20s Movie Review - Wild Mountain Thyme

Director: John Patrick Shanley
Genre: Comedy/ Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 102 minutes
Year: 2020
Starring: Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan, Christopher Walken, Jon Hamm
Description: A pair of star-crossed lovers (Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan) in Ireland get caught up in their family’s land dispute.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2025 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 26: A MOVIE  WITH EMILY BLUNT
 
Review: The Irish landscape is lovingly captured in “Wild Mountain Thyme”. Unfortunately, that is the only good thing about this ridiculous romance movie.

Director John Patrick Shanley based “Wild Mountain Thyme” on his own play, which was performed on Broadway in 2014. American press was positive about the play, Irish and Britisch press were not. The main criticism, the accumulation of Irish stereotypes, has also made it into the film adaptation, including a number of implausible accents from the American and British actors. In the movie, the accents of Christopher Walken and Emily Blunt are strange to hear, but Irish actor Jamie Dornan is the least convincing as an Irishman. His flat acting does not help. Or is it the poor script that makes the main character Anthony Reilly such a one-dimensional, flat character.

When we’re almost at the end of the film, Anthony tells  the reason why he never declared his love for his neighbor Rosemary Muldoon. It is even a fundamental part of his character. It’s only elaborated on at the end, so that it can serve as a stupid twist. Which makes the ridiculous collection of clichés about stereotypical Guinness-drinking Irish farmers even more stupid. It's impossible to feel romantic emotions that the climax should have evoked.

Was the ending meant to funny? No, I don’t think so. And that’s why it’s so weird Jamie Dornan and Emily Blunt also have no chemistry whatsoever. This movie was really bad.

Rating: 1,5/ 5

Movie Review - A Haunting in Venice

Director: Kenneth Branagh
Genre: Crime/ Mystery/ Drama/ Horror/ Thriller
Runtime: 103 minutes
Year: 2023
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Michelle Yeoh, Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, Kelly Riley, Jude Hill
 
Description: In post-World War II Venice, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh), now retired and living in his own exile, reluctantly attends a séance. But when on of the guests is murdered, it is up to the former detective to once again uncover the killer.

Review: Hercule Poirot is invited to attend a séance and use hi unique skill to debunk the paranormal.

Kenneth Branagh shines for the third time as detective Hercule Poirot and once again takes on the role of director as well. After “Murder on the Orient Express”(2017) and “Death on the Nile” (2022), “A Haunting in Venice” takes a different approach. Crime, mystery and horror are merged to give this case a unique twist. Based on the book “Halloween Party” by Agatha Christie, one that fans call one of her more underrated murder mysteries.

The film succeeds well in putting you down alongside Poirot as a spectator of events. Like the detective, you try to unravel the story behind the haunted house and ponder the how and why of this murder. It remains fascinating to puzzle together the answers.

For fans of the genre, the horror-inspired scenes are a welcome addition. This is what makes “A Haunting in Venice” different from the other two movies. The variety between the three films, for example, in tone, location and characters, ensure that you won’t easily become bored with Poirot and his case.

If Branagh decides to continue this franchise, I would love that. Because “A Haunting in Venice” is definitely the best one yet. “Murder on the Orient Express” was okay and “Death on the Nile” was downright disappointing. I really loved “A Haunting in Venice”. Branagh managed to deliver an atmospheric production. With beautiful sets, clever use of one location and an intriguing mystery. I does not bore you for a moment. And I’m very confused that its average rating is so low.

Rating: 4/ 5

Movie Review - Heart of Stone

Director: Tom Harper
Genre: Action/ Crime/ Thriller
Runtime: 122 minutes
Year: 2023
Starring: Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan, Alia Bhatt, Jing Lusi, Paul Ready, Enzo Cilenti, Sophie Okonedo, Matthias Schweighöfer, BD Wong, Glenn Close
 
Description: An intelligence operative (Gal Gadot) for a shadowy global peacekeeping agency races to stop a hacker from stealing its most valuable and dangerous weapon.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2023 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 41: A NETFLIX ORIGINAL MOVIE
 
Review: Rachel is part of a small spy team, but secretly of a larger secret organization created to keep global peace. That organization uses the most powerful software in the world, so whoever controls it is basically the supreme world leaders. Someone has discovered that and is going to try to steal that power.

The film opens with an action sequence in which an arms dealer in hiding must be captured. Rachel is the computer wizard of this small theme, her team members not knowing yet that she is part of a larger organization where she does way more than just hack a computer.

The title is supposed to make sense, but Rachel’s last name is Stone and she works for Heart. So Stone of Heart would have been more accurate. But that’s just nitpicking. The overall film is really just so-so. Which is not the fault of Gal Gadot. She is an extremely skilled actress, very good as an action hero as well. The script is the real problem. Is uninspired. It feels like a lame rip-off of the “Mission: Impossible” movie series. The film tries to add some twists, but you at that point, you really don’t care anymore. Zero surprises.

Jamie Dornan is also not that great. I never really liked him as an actor, but he impressed me in “Belfast” and managed to portray a very convincing villain in the TV-series “The Fall”. Here, he is just as uninspiring as the script. I did like Alia Bhatt. Her character still has some conflict with a bit of layering, and she conveys it well.

I don’t think you’re missing out if you don’t watch “Heart of Stone”. Mediocre action flick that lacks inspiration.

Rating: 2,5/ 5

Movie Review - Belfast

Director: Kenneth Branagh
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 98 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Jude Hill, Jamie Dornan, Catriona Balfe, Judi Dench, Ciarán Hinds, Lewis McAskie
 
I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2022 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 31: AN OSCAR-WINNING MOVIE
 
Description: A young boy (Jude Hill) and his working-class Belfast family experience the tumultuous late 1960s.

Review: Actor and director Kenneth Branagh made a lot of films lately: from the flopped “Artemis Fowl” this his pompous Agatha Christie film “Death on the Nile”, which wasn’t very successful either but at least enjoyable. But with “Belfast”, Branagh really steals my heart. He based it on his own childhood in a working-class street in Belfast, where everyone knows each other and grandma and grandpa are always around.

The film is set in the late 1960s, filmed almost completely in black in white, with minimalist sets and plenty of natural light. Branagh manages to sublimely translate his memories to the silver screen.

Branagh knows how to direct his actors to great heights, as the actors fir seamlessly into his Northern Island lane. Child actor Jude Hill is the obvious heart of the film, as Buddy who is sincere, wise and naïve at the same time. And smaller roles are for “Pop” and “Gran”, played by veteran actors Ciarán Hinds and Judi Dench, who were both nominated for Academy Aways for their roles. Branagh himself won an Oscar for “Most Original Screenplay”, which is well-deserved.

It's wildly clever that “Belfast” manages to create melancholy and nostalgia for a time and place that, for most viewers, is not in their own past. I loved this film.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

TV Show Review - The Fall (Season 1-3)

Season: 1-3
Genre: Drama/ Crime/ Thriller
Number of episodes: 17
Year: 2013-2016
Starring: Gillian Anderson, Jamie Dornan, John Lynch, Aisling Franciosi, Niamh McGrady, Bronagh Waugh, Sarah Beattie, Stuart Graham, Bronagh Taggart, Valene Kane, David Beattie, Archie Panjabi

Description: A seemingly cold but very passionate policewoman (Gillian Anderson) goes head to head with a seemingly passionate father (Jamie Dornan) who is in fact a cold serial killer.

Review: The thriller and crime series “The Fall” is about Paul Spector. He seems like a kind family man, cares for his wife and children and works as a grief counselor. But he also stalks and murder women. Detective Stella Gibson goes in search of the perpetrator.
This is a true cat and mouse game. An exciting and constructive series that is especially convincing in the first two seasons. The third and final season was a bit disappointing and didn’t really end the way I had hoped. But then again, the first two season were excellent and the third season didn’t change that.
Gillian Anderson, who plays Stella Gibson, is the star of the show. This is how we like to see her. Subdued, fragile, a bit cold. Her acting is sublime. Jamie Dornan plays Paul Spector and he sure knows how to play a creep. The interaction between the two is rousing. There is a psychological game being played between the two.
“The Fall” is a raw, the tension builds, with the only thing you find yourself wondering is if they’ll get him at all. A clever scenario. I really enjoyed this series.

10s Movie Review - Fifty Shades Freed

WARNING: IF YOU'RE A FAN, YOU MIGHT GET HURT!

Director: James Foley
Genre: Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 105 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Rita Ora, Marcia Gay Harden, Luke Grimes, Jennifer Ehle, Eric Johnson

Description: Anastasia (Dakota Johnson) and Christian (Jamie Dornan) get married, but Jack Hyde (Eric Johnson) continues to threaten their relationship.

Review: The opening scene of “Fifty Shades Freed”, the third film based on the bestselling trilogy by author E.L. James, sets the tone for the film. Anastasia and Christian get married and fly to Paris together for their honeymoon. It’s not your erotic thriller, it’s a sugar sweet romance film with absolutely no plot. Because the sex is pretty standard, they do things many couples in love do and IT SUCKS!!!!
Anastasia has to get used to her new life. And the possessive, controlling and jealous Christian has to get used to the married life. And I seriously don’t understand why anyone wants to be with Christian Grey, because he is POSSESSIVE, CONTROLLING AND JEALOUS! When Anastasia does so much as just talk to a semi-attractive man, he is raged with jealousy. And if she doesn’t go home straight from work, she gets punished. And it’s weird that Anastasia still gets shocked about the fact that Christian has handcuffs or that she doesn’t know he has an airplane is beyond me. Plus the fact that they never talked about having children before they got married. WHY ARE THEY TOGETHER (a lot of frustration as you can read).
To spice up the non-existent plot, they bring back Jack Hyde, for some thriller elements. Which brings no tension whatsoever. Oh, and did I mention those horrible scenes that are practically commercials for Audi. Or that every word spoken is cringeworthy. And they are straight from the ‘best-selling’ novels. The fact that they are best-selling kind of worries me. Or to be more specific, people actually like this. How?
The acting is awful. Even Dakota Johnson isn’t even trying anymore. And Jamie Dornan has the charisma of a doorknob (because that’s what his last name sounds like).
These films are all atrocious and I never want to see them ever again!

Rating: 0,5 / 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 95: The 9th Life of Louis Drax

Director: Alexandre Aja
Genre: Thriller/ Drama
Runtime: 108 minutes
Year: 2016
Starring: Jamie Dornan, Sarah Gadon, Aaron Paul, Oliver Platt

Description: A psychologist (Jamie Dornan) who begins working with a young boy who has suffered a near-fatal fall finds himself drawn into a mystery that tests the boundaries of fantasy and reality.

Review: “The 9th Life of Louis Drax” starts as a light and somewhat funny boy’s adventure, but it goes onto a more dark path about bad parenting, trauma and a cry for attention. The fantasy elements in the film feel very misplaced because of this. Louis Drax is a nine year old boy who got into a coma after a fall off a cliff. It sounds like bad luck, but it’s not the first time that Louis had an accident. Ever since his birth, there have been several accidents that other children probably wouldn’t have survived. Doctor Alan Pascal studies him and his grieving mother draws his attention. There is more to Louise and his parents than meet the eye.
It’s a mysterious crime story with paranormal elements. For a film targeted at a younger audience, it would have worked. But it gets darker and the fantasy elements feel a bit ridiculous.
When you’re invested in the characters, a movie can be a bit more bearable. But Louis Drax is a really annoying kid and very unlikeable. Jamie Dornan, who plays the doctor, is not good. I think he has the charisma of a doorknob and he is very unbelievable in this film. Sarah Gadon and Aaron Paul do their best, but can’t save the film either.
“The 9th Life of Louis Drax” is unbalanced, somewhat silly and not very well executed. A movie you should probably pass.

Rating: 1,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 24: Fifty Shades Darker

Director: James Foley
Genre: Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 118 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Eric Johnson, Bella Heathcote, Rita Ora, Bruce Altman, Kim Basinger, Marcia Gay Harden

Description: While Christian (Jamie Dornan) wrestles with his inner demons, Anastasia (Dakota Johnson) must confront the anger and envy of the women who came before her.

Review: I was warned, but I saw it anyway. If you thought “Fifty Shades of Grey” was bad, you haven’t seen the worst. Because “Fifty Shades Darker” is horrendous.
Everyone who had the need to, and many who didn’t, know the books by E.L. James. That the story is based on “Twilight” fanfiction says enough about the quality of the writing.
In “Fifty Shades Darker” we follow Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele once again. Anastasia left Christian at the end of the first film, but within the first five minutes of “Fifty Shades Darker”, the two meet again and hook up.
What director James Foley, who also directed “Glengarry Glen Ross” (great movie), was thinking, nobody knows. This film’s story is ridiculous. Wait, there is none. There is no story! The characters are stupid and dumb and very unbelievable. “Fifty Shades Darker” is just two people, that have sex. The rest that happens is unimportant. The trailer led you to believe that there was going to be tension. The girl for instance, that shows up in Anastasia’s room. That is indeed all she does. She appears a couple of times and she is gone just as fast. It does nothing for the story (that is not there). And there is a scene where Christian crashes with his helicopter. He is literally missing for five minutes and then returns asking: “What did I miss?”
The bedroom scenes aren’t sexy, just like in the first film. It’s very mild and not as controversial as people might think it will be. I at least expected to see some more of Jamie Dornan’s butt.
They added Kim Basinger (an Oscar winning actress) to the party, as Christian’s former lover. He was her submissive. But she is in three or four scenes. And Anastasia’s new boss is introduced, who transfers from just being Anastasia’s boss to full on psycho creep in no time. Talking about lack of character development.
The fact that Christian went from the “I don’t do romance” guy, to the “all I need is you” guy, is also very unbelievable. Anastasia is a pretty and kind girl, but given Christian’s personal trades, interests and ‘extraordinary hobbies’, I just don’t get why it’s her he wants so bad.
Gosh, I’m looking forward to “Fifty Shades Freed”. NOT!

Rating: 0,5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 28: Fifty Shades of Grey

Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson

Genre: Drama/ Romance

Runtime: 125 minutes

Year: 2015

Starring: Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Rita Ora, Luke Grimes, Jennifer Ehle, Marcia Gay Harden, Eloise Mumford, Max Martini, Rachel Skarsten, Victor Rasuk, Callum Keith Rennie, Emily Fonda, Dylan Neal, Anne Marie DeLuise, Anthony Konechny

Description: Literature student Anastasia Steele's (Dakota Johnson) life changes forever when she meets handsome, yet tormented, billionaire Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan).

Review: Anastasia Steele meets handsome and rich business man Christian Grey, during an interview. The two feel attraction, but the intimidating Christian has a sexual preference that scares Anastasia at first. The two keep seeing each other and Anastasia discovers a side of herself she didn’t know and it will change her life forever.

The “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy was a worldwide phenomenon. Over 90 million copies were sold. Off course there had to be a movie. And the big question was: who will play Mr. Grey? It was announced that Charlie Hunnam would take on the role, but due to his show “Sons of Anarchy” the role eventually went to Jamie Dornan. For Anastasia they choose unknown actress Dakota Johnson, who is the daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith. That people were looking forward to the movie was obvious. The trailer alone was viewed over 100 million times.

The book isn’t very subtle and neither is the movie. Where the book deals with the clichés seriously, in the movie they add a bit more (cheesy) humor. Anastasia’s character is very naïve and she doesn’t seem to have a spine, but in the movie Dakota Johnson made her more human. Jamie Dornan has bigger shoes to fill. He has the looks, I’ll give him that, but Christian Grey is such an underdeveloped character, that there’s hardly anything he can do with it. No more than giving Anastasia some sultry looks. The emotional moments between the two don’t go anywhere either. Every time Anastasia asks Christian why he can’t show more of himself, he sits melodramatically behind a piano. The lighter scenes work better between them, but they don’t fit the movie.

The most important thing about the book is the sex. BDSM (bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism – yes, I looked it up) for a mainstream audience. The question was: how will they put this in the movie? First off, the movie is brought to us by a big American studio, so we don’t have to expect anything shocking. To be quite frank, the sex scenes are not that kinky. Christian keeps his pants on way to many times and we get a lot of close ups of Anatasia’s face. With that “Fifty Shades of Grey” has bad dialogues and is very unsexy for a movie that is supposed to be sexy.

The book is bad, but the movie isn’t any better. And there are two more of them. Dakota Johnson made it a bit more bearable and I don’t mind looking at Jamie Dornan, but trust me people, you can better skip “Fifty Shades of grey” and watch “Basic Instinct” instead.

Rating: 1,5/ 5