Review No.104: Mirror Mirror

I remember in 1998 when two studios were releasing 'asteroid' movies at the same time one was Armageddon and did tremendously well while the other was Deep Impact which hasn't really stood the test of time. Two movies coming out around the same time with similar subject matter isn't a rare occurrence most recently I remember the live action Peter Pan and Finding Neverland being released fairly close to each other while this year the big theme is Snow White with two films focusing on the fairy tale heroine the first being Mirror Mirror. The film fancies itself as an irreverent comedy on the story casting Julia Robert's Queen as the star attraction while Lily (daughter of Phil) Collins makes little impression. The film starts very similar to the story with The Queen banishing Snow White to her room before eventually ordering her death but this time at the hands of her effeminate dogsbody Brighton, played brilliantly by Nathan Lane, who lets her go due to his close bond with her late father. The Queen is then after another husband in the form of Arnie Hammer's Prince Charming who is portrayed as a charming if slightly dim-witted sort and she tries to ensnare him through magic she gains from the mirror. However mirror Julia Roberts warns evil Julia Roberts about the excessive use of magic but she ignores this in favour of getting hitched in order to bring more money into her kingdom. Snow White is captured by the dwarves, who in this version of the story are robbers, who later take her in after she charms them and teaches them to be more civilised. Obviously at the end of the story there is a happier ever after but before that director Tarsem Singh has to get in a few fights, some obvious jokes and that all important kiss to satisfy the tween girl audience.

As a fan of Singh's first major feature The Fall I looked forward to his re-telling of this fairy tale as that film was a fantasy film that still had its route in traditional story-telling. From watching Mirror Mirror you can certainly see similar visuals from the palace scenes to the snow covered forest everything looks fantastic which goes double for Eiko Ishioka's luxurious costume design. The problem I had with the film is that it seems to aspire to be a comedic spoof on the fairy tales you can tell that in the way the opening monologue resembles the start of Shrek or how the joust between Snow White and Prince Alcott bares similarities to the relationship of Buttercup and Westley in The Princess Bride. For me it fell short of emulating either of those films instead it felt more like I was watching an average British pantomime as the jokes were of that standard as was the very bland performance from Lily Collins who has seemingly been cast for her looks and nothing more. Roberts, Hammer and Lane are all great in their own way but don't seem to gel together to the extent where I felt that they'd taped their scenes separately with the results blended together to give the effect that they were in the same room together even though they weren't. I felt it should've been darker and there were moments where Singh drifted things in the right direction, most of which were located in the film's final fifteen minutes, however I felt that he'd be influenced too much by the studio who were obviously looking to appeal to a younger crowd. Overall I have to say this film left me cold despite occasional flourishes the finished product wasn't impressive at all.

Verdict: While there is some visual flair and some game performances Mirror Mirror generally left me feeling fairly flat so for that reason I'm going to give it 5/10

Review No.31: J. Edgar

Usually appearing in a biopic is a key to Oscar success and usually you're guaranteed at least a nomination however this year it seems that in the actor category the Academy Awards have bucked that trend with only Brad Pitt nominated for playing a real-life character. That's bad news then for Leo DiCaprio who was hoping to get another Oscar nod for his turn as infamous FBI head honcho J Edgar Hoover in a film directed by Academy favourite Clint Eastwood however that wasn't to be. The film is split into two parts one in which Hoover is narrating his autobiography to Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl and the other which follows his ascension to the position and his relationship with his deputy Clyde Tolson. The suggestion is made throughout that Hoover and Tolson are lovers but despite a declaration of love their relationship never blossoms mainly due to Edgar's mother, a great turn from Judi Dench, who tells him that she'd rather have a dead son than a gay one. The other recurring theme is that of Hoover's inflated ego and his belief that he had been involved in a lot more arrests than he actually had been so when Tolson confronts him towards the end of the film our belief in the story that Edgar has been narrating changes. The main case featured is of the kidnapping and later death of the Lindbergh baby and Hoover's involvement in that investigation but once again his personal life clouds his judgment.

A lot of what's good about J. Edgar can be found in its actors namely DiCaprio who over the past few years has proved himself to be a reliable actor and his performance here is reminiscent of the one he gave in The Aviator. Equally as impressive is Arnie Hammer who is known to most as the twins in The Social Network here he only has to worry about playing one character and he seems more comfortable playing the unspoken relationship between Hoover and Tolsen. If anybody was going to get an Oscar nod I feel it was Judi Dench her Mrs Hoover is a mixture of the mother from The Manchurian Candidate and Lady MacBeth and it is the only character that I have seen her play recently that has any substance to it. Unfortunately the negatives outweigh the positives as Eastwood's direction here seems to be both long-winded and a little big short-sighted. There are only a couple of references to Hoover's penchant for dressing in women's clothes and I also found this very episodic rather than entertaining. Another point of note is the make-up as in the final scenes both DiCaprio and Hammer don a large amount of old-man prosthetics and neither looks particularly convincing. It's a shame that this film wasn't nominated for any awards but after watching it I'm not that surprised that it hasn't.

Verdict: Some brilliant performances are marred by poor direction and shoddy make-up so at the most I can give this 6/10