Tag: Pablo Schreiber

First Man

Rated: MFirst Man

Directed by: Damien Chazelle

Screenplay by: Josh Singer

Produced by: Wyck Godfrey, p.g.a., Marty Bowen, p.g.a., Isaac Klausner, Damien Chazelle

Based on the Book by: James R. Hansen

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, Patrick Fugit, Christopher Abbott, Ciaran Hinds, Olivia Hamilton, Pablo Schreiber, Shea Whigham, Lukas Haas, Ethan Embry, Brian D’Arcy James, Cory Michael Smith and Kris Swanberg.

Based on the biography written by James R. Hansen, ‘First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong’, First Man allows the spectacular phenomenon of man landing on the moon to speak for itself.

Oscillating – yes, it gets technical which is the main reason I enjoyed the film – between the drama of Armstrong’s family life and his courage to risk everything to go to the moon, this is a quiet film punctuated by nail-biting suspense.

It would have been easy to over-dramatise the achievement of America being the first to step foot on alien ground, instead, director Damien Chazelle (La La Land (2016), Whiplash (2013)) focuses more on the man: his sacrifice, strength and will to achieve what the American government so desperately wants to achieve before the Russians.

Ryan Gosling as Armstrong holds up the helmet well as the family man and as the brave, cautious and deliberate pilot navigating rockets, that are really bombs, set off while strapped inside what looks like a tin can.

The absurdity and risks are shown with lines like the technician buckling Dave Scott (Christopher Abbott) in for the test run of rocketing Gemini 8 through the atmosphere to see if it’s possible to dock one craft to another in space asking, ‘Anybody got a Swiss army knife handy?’

‘You’re kidding?!’ Dave says as the final adjustments are made.

First Man is about the years it took to accomplish the impossible, opening in 1961 with Neil beyond the atmosphere, testing the ability to cut through and be able to fall back to Earth – and the love of his wife Janet (Claire Foy), son (Gavin Warren / Luke Winters) and the devastating loss of his young daughter, Karen (Lucy Stafford).

This is a drama, the frailty of humanity given as much weight as the courage required to realise one of man’s greatest achievements.

When interviewed to join the Apollo team, Armstrong’s told by one interviewer that he’s sorry for the loss of his daughter.

To which he replies, ‘I’m sorry, is there a question?’

And he’s asked whether the loss has any effect on his wanting to join the Apollo mission.

‘It would be unreasonable to assume it wouldn’t have an effect.’

This statement sums up the movie for me – a quietly suspenseful and direct depiction of what it took and the motivation to drive someone to take such risks without unnecessary fanfare.

Skyscraper

Rated: MSkyscraper

Written and Directed by: Rawson Marshall Thurber

Produced by: Beau Flynn, p.g.a., Dwayne Johnson, Rawson Marshall Thurber, p.g.a., Hiram Garcia, p.g.a.

Cinematographer: Robert Elswit

Composer: Steve Jablonsky

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Neve Campbell, Chin Han, Roland Møller, Noah Taylor, Byron Mann, Pablo Schreiber, Hannah Quinlivan.

Going to see an action blockbuster with Dwayne Johnson at the helm, I felt I already knew what to expect with Skyscraper.

And as advertised Skyscraper dazzles with huge effects including: a burning super tower of 225 stories and more than 3,500 feet high, giant wind turbines used as power, an internal garden thirty-stories high with waterfall and all the tech that goes into the maintenance and functioning of such a massive building all controlled by the touch of one device, a tablet operational only with the bio imprint of security consultant, former FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader and U.S. war veteran, Will Sawyer (Dwyane Johnson).

The film opens on an operation that goes bad, Will severely injured losing his left leg below the knee.  But while getting treatment in hospital he meets his wife, Naval surgeon Dr. Sarah Sawyer (Neve Campbell).

He moves on with his life, getting married and having twins, Henry (Noah Cottrell) and Georgia (McKenna Roberts), but still struggles with his day-to-day life as an amputee.

Now consulting for the job-of-a-lifetime (thanks to his old buddy, Ben (Pablo Schreiber)) underwriting the security for the highest and most technologically advanced building in the world, Will and his family move into their new address on the edge of the Kowloon side of Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour: the first residents to move into the Pearl.

Skyscraper

We see the injured hero nervously getting ready to meet the building’s visionary creator Zhao Long Ji (Chin Han), and see the love and support of his family making it seem anything is possible, until it all turns bad when deadly assassins and bad guys’ hell-bent on revenge steal the tablet to shut off all counter-measures as a fire rages on the 96th floor – below the floor where Will’s family are trapped.

It’s amazing what Will can do to save his family: leaping off a super-crane 1,000 feet in the air, edging along a window ledge so high above ground you’d need oxygen; all believable because it’s The Rock and as always, he manages to bring you alongside with him – like the crowd below the burning building, I cheered him on.

I made a comment before heading into the cinema, wondering if the character would weaponize his prosthetic leg, and the attachment comes in handy as he escapes death again and again.

The injury also gives Will vulnerability – a different role for The Rock that forces the character, Will to overcome not only external forces but also internal as he battles his own insecurity.

And the way he overcomes each obstacle with self-deprecating, yet practical self-reliance, adds some great humour to the film – a talent writer and director, Rawson Marshall Thurber has also shown in previous films, Central Intelligence (2016) and We’re the Millers (2013). 

I was also impressed with the performance from Neve Campbell as Will’s wife, Dr. Sarah Sawyer, her quiet strength making a stoic contribution, the two parents a good team in keeping their family alive.

So, if you’ve watched the trailer, you know what’s coming but you won’t be disappointed either with good action, vertigo-inducing effects and a solid story.

I won’t say my expectations were surpassed but there was some good fun here making Skyscraper a worthwhile entertainer.

Den Of Thieves

Rated: MA 15+Den Of Thieves

Directed By: Christian Gudegast

Screenplay By: Christian Gudegast

Story By: Christian Gudegast & Paul Scheuring

Produced By: Mark Canton, p.g.a Tucker Tooley, p.g.a.

Produced By: Gerard Butler Alan Siegel

Starring: Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, O’Shea Jackson Jr. and Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson, Meadow Williams, Maurice Compte, Brian Van Holt, Evan Jones, Mo McRae, Kaiwi Lyman, Dawn Olivieri, Eric Braede, Jordan Bridges, Lewis Tan, Cooper Andrews, Nate Boyer, John Lewis.

I’m a huge fan of Heat (1995) – a crime thriller that graces my ‘Best of the Thrillers’ list and I’ll go there and state one of the best crime thrillers ever made.

In the same vein of Heat, Den of Thieves shows an armed robbery with machine guns and ski masks: these guys are ex-military and they handle their hard-wear like they’re still on the field of battle.

Led by special forces-trained and recently paroled, Ray Merriman (Pablo Schreiber), meet the Outlaws.

But when a robbery goes wrong and cops are killed, the Major Crimes Unit gets involved.  These guys are like a gang with tats included.  Add a badge and you’ve got the Regulators.

As the leader, ‘Big’ Nick O’Brien (Gerard Butler) says, they literally take no prisoners.

So, you get the tone of the film from the start with a familiar storyline where two crews face-off in a male-dominated pissing competition to see who can be the grande of men.

And I was dubious about rapper, Curtis James Jackson III, AKA 50 Cent, playing a major role as Enson Levoux; part of the Outlaws crew.  But hats off – 50 Cent can act as one big, scary robber/family man.

Talking of big scary dudes, it was cool to see some Pacific Islanders as part of the Outlaws crew; the effort made to authentically show Los Angeles’ southern-most neighbourhoods and one of many differences between Den of Thieves and its crime thriller predecessors.

The macho element pushed to its limit aside, there’s a point in the film where the script makes light of this brute male force with 50 Cent as Enson Levoux scaring the be-Jesus out of his daughter’s prom date by ushering him into a room full of his crew to confirm that yes, he’ll take care of his daughter, and yes, he promises to get her home by 11.30pm.

And the humanisation of these scary guys breaks the tension and leads to a more complicated and layered film with a high stakes play made by the Outlaws to rob the Federal Reserve Bank; a feat never successfully achieved and all the while under the surveillance of the Regulators leading to each crew trying to out-smart the other: showing brain more than brawn wins the game.

There’s clever building of tension with screenwriter and first-time director Christian Gudegast creating a film made of rapid gun fire and bullet casings spilling across the hood of cars, the soundtrack heaving with each impeding battle.

One notable scene with Big Nick and Ray Merriman shooting at a firing range – no words needed, just a show of skill and the double tap as ‘silver back’ Merriman shows his special ops training with a perfect configuration of shots through the target’s heart.

But a few holes in the story let down the believability.

Big Nick asks the question himself in the film, why did the Regulators go so bad?

And would police, even American, L.A. Major Crime Unit cops, open machine gun fire in a traffic jam?

And a few other bits (don’t want to give away too much of the story) that dent the cleverness of this multi-layered plot.

Overall, I was impressed with this film.  Even if Gerard Butler (and yes, I’m going to say it, Al Pacino did the same in Heat) overplays his role, just that little bit.

Yes, there’s echoes of Heat here, but there’s also a nod to other classics such as, The Usual Suspects.

Although a missed opportunity to make a unique classic itself, Den of Thieves evolves from a pissing contest into a layered absorbing entertainer ending with a knock of my knuckle-duster on the cinema cup holder in salute.

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