Untitled Document

Typical UK bank holiday weather meant that me and my significantly better half (better, that is, in - literally - every regard except for film reviewing - her favorite film of all time is the Hulk Hogan fronted "Suburban Commando") spent most of it catching up on things we've missed over the past year or so. And, as I'm sure you've guessed from the themes of my recent reviews, surprise, surprise, this was another good idea that totally failed to deliver. Honestly, I swear I didn't plan this, it's quite ironic that all these films have this in common.

I felt as though MacDonald pitched it totally wrong, i.e. as (essentially) a political thriller when it would have been much (much) more effective as a psychological drama (which, let's face it, could hardly have ignored the political aspect, in fact it would surely have made it a more effective message), which would also have lived up to Forest Whitaker's immaculate portrayal as the disturbed and paranoid dictator. James McAvoy (another actor I really like) does okay, it's his character who lets the film down. He plays Nicholas Garrigan, who is so obnoxious (and who seems to delight in the fact that he's so obnoxious, although I think that might be a little kind to Garrigan's intelligence) you really don't care when he's forced to face the inevitable torture.

Whitaker, who has always been underrated, is, honestly and truly, the only really good thing about the film and it's almost worth recommending on the basis of his performance alone. Shock, horror, I think that this is another the academy got just about (though perhaps not absolutely) right. By the way, watch Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai, a film with a memorable performance from Whitaker that is really worth watching. It also has an awesome soundtrack. I think your two quid would be better spent at the video store on that than on TLKOS. Still, it wasn't awful and did manage to hold my attention though I feel that Whitaker deserves pretty much all the credit for that.