Movie Review - Forbidden Cargo

Forbidden Cargo

1954

The Cast

Smugglers disguised as Navy Personnel are bringing French Liqueurs into the country.  Unfortunately, they decided to drop them off in a nature reserve watched over by Lady Flavia Queensway (Grenfell).  Concerned about her beloved bird population being in danger from the transgressors, she informs Customs and Excise of the events.  They send Agent Kenyon (Patrick) to check it out.  This, in turn, leads them to a more important smuggling ring who are about to bring in a large volume of drugs.  Kenyon sets out on their trail, which takes him to the south of France and closer to one of the suspects than he would like.

What makes this such an enjoyable movie to watch is the lightheartedness within the script.  This at first centres around Lady Flavia Queensway.  Since this is played by the great Joyce Grenfell, how else was this going to be played(?).  Then later in situations, especially those between Rita (Sellars) and Kenyon.  However, this is not a comedy film and the drama, intrigue, and suspense are evident in every scene.  All of this is enough to keep the viewer interested.

Then you add in the acting and it's hard to walk away from the movie until it's finished... even to pause it for a toilet break.  The cast is solid and everybody is superb in their roles, though it's Theodore Bikel as Max who stood out the most for me.  There's an air of menace and power to his character whenever he's on screen.  Even when he's playing the guitar to entertain his guests.

Though there are some places in the story that are realistic and believable it's the south of France section that feels a little awkward.  It's hard to believe that Customs and Excise would be able to afford Kenyon's lifestyle as he lives it up, OO7 style.  Though this is forgivable as it progresses the story nicely and it's more than a little entertaining to watch.

If you like your thrillers to have a lighthearted entertainment value this film is right in your ballpark.  I would recommend this to all thriller and suspense fans out there.  It's a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon after dinner.

I give this a White Line of 7 out of 10.

The Film Clip

Movie Review - Killer Assistant

Killer Assistant

2016

The Cast

Love is eternal.

Suzanna Austin (Zucker) is a successful magazine editor.  Used to working by herself, her boss, Janet McAlper (Baron) assigns her an assistant, David (Eaton), after noticing how stressed she's been getting.  David appears too good to be true and as time progresses Suzanne begins to believe he's got an ulterior motive...

I really liked this story for its characterisations.  Tilson and Wakefield have created a well structured and ingenious tome.  Suzanne is a strong career-minded woman, who can be relied upon to get the magazine out... but not to be a great mother or wife, as she spends most of her time at work.  Then when David's character enters the story we get to see how the stress of her work and family life help her to become suspicious and paranoid.  This starts off small but builds up fast, to the point she's worrying about her own sanity.  Add the element of her family getting to know David and actually trusting him, into the mix, and this keeps the story interesting... at times, actually engrossing.

The good thing is, both the lead actor and actress are great in their performances and bring their characters to life; giving the film and story strength.

Though Boyle does add a couple of nice shots the filming is pretty standard, which is okay when you have a good cast and an even better storyline.  However, it would have only strengthened the movie to make it more engaging for the audience.  Thank God, he's better at manipulating the pace.  Boyle is good at building the tension and atmosphere from a simmer to a full boil.  This starts right at the beginning with the "Years Earlier" scene up to the climax.  He also throws in a couple of peaks along the way, giving the audience a rollercoaster ride.

I'd recommend this to all Mystery Lovers and Armchair Detectives worldwide.

I give this mysterious soul-mate a 6 out of 10.

The Trailer

Movie Review - Lies And Deception

Lies And Deception

2005

The Cast

Jean Brooks (Amick) is surprised when Detective Ortuso (Calabretta) turns up on her doorstep with news of her husband's death.  This is a shock as her husband died five years earlier.  The mystery grows deeper as the dead man's identity is proven to be Jean's Husband Sam (Thibaudeau).  Unable to help her, Ortuso recommends P.I. Eddie Fate (Walker).  They set out to discover what Sam had been doing for the missing five years.

This is a slow burner of a mystery film as the twists and turns unravel slowly.  However, this works well within the confines of the story and it allows the actors to shine.  Everybody does a good job with their characters, though I think Amick's portrayal is a little lax and lazy.  I would've  expected more emotion coming from a person in her predicament.  Walker does a respectable job with his character and keeps his portrayal engaging, for the viewers.

Belanger directs the film to an average standard.  There's no wonderful or iconic shots or camera angles in the movie.  He doesn't even use filters to change the atmosphere and mood, opting to work in optimal light at all times.  This isn't a bad thing, it doesn't detract from the film but it doesn't add anything new or interesting to keep the audience's attention.

Though it's not too original or adventurous in it's filming I still found the movie enjoyable.  For a TV Thriller, it's worth at least one viewing, though I'd only recommend watching it if you have nothing else to watch.

I give this undead dead husband a 5.5 out of 10.

The Trailer

Movie Review - The Saint

The Saint

2017

The Cast

I have to admit that I enjoyed this take on Simon Templar.  I do agree with other reviewers that the TV series and the films haven't really got The Saint's personality and morality perfect.  This is a hard thing to do as each medium has limitations, but this is pretty close - and was probably meant to reflect Roger Moore's TV character rather than Leslie Charteris' original, and it comes near.  It's even nice that the better previous Templar's appear in the film.

What the writers, Jesse Alexander and Tony Giglio, also had to contend with was bringing the character up-to-date.  So enter a tech-savvy partner, Patricia Holm (Eliza Dushku), who can actually hold her own in a fight.  For me this is a good idea as it gives Templar somebody to work off and flirt with, lessening the sexist machismo, which you could get away with in the '60's.  The writers also totally blanked out the grey area of murder as an option by turning The Saint into a martial arts expert who loves his sleeper hold and knockout punches - if this had been made for English telly or by HBO or Fox then the murderous side of The Saint may have made it into the story.  Even when the helicopter crashes and explodes the bad guy walks away... however, there's a reason for this which is shown in a later scene.

Also, nowadays, people like conspiracies and more tangled webs of mystery... and this story has that.  Not only do we have Interpol and the FBI after The Saint there's also The Brotherhood - a shadowy alliance that was formed to destroy The Knights Templar.  Thought to be extinct, we learn that the Knights are still around and Simon's father was a member.  This and The Saint's latest case of a missing two and a half billion dollars are slowly revealed to be interwoven, though we are shown this pretty early on.

So there's a lot of story for your money in this little film and the director, Barbarash, does a great job of tying it all together with action, wit, and good acting.  I wasn't looking forward to watching this as I remembered the Val Kilmer tragedy (though a great theme track).  However, I was happy to be wrong.  This is an enjoyable and watchable film and I'd recommend this to all Saint fans.  It's different from the original - but it has to be - but it's not all bad... in fact, it's mostly good.

I give this rendition a saintly 7.25 out of 10.

The Trailer