Somewhat glibly described by Empire (****) as ‘East is East without the laughs’, Brick Lane (based on the novel by Monica Ali) is the story of a Naszneen (Tannishtha Chatterjee), a Bangladeshi woman living in East London.
Drifting through an arranged marriage and with her own children now teenagers, Naszneen takes on a small job. She is immediately drawn to her colleague Karim (Christopher Simpson), a seemingly charming gentleman who holds her in high esteem. But is he just a serial love rat playing on Naszneen’s emotional vulnerability? "A sensitive and intelligent adaptation", continues Empire making this definitely one to seek out.
Following Quentin Tarrantino’s underrated Death Proof, comes part two of Grindhouse’s bloody double bill - Planet Terror. Flesh eating Zombies and a girl named Cherry (Rose McGowan) with a machine gun leg equal a rootin' tootin night out. Well, Total Film (***) think so anyway: "A homage to drive in horror’s cheap ‘n nasty heyday, Planet Terror snaps, crackles and pustule pops with ideas". We think it sounds remarkably like a parody of a parody, i.e. pointless.
More worthwhile is Once, the Dublin set tale of a busker (Glen Hansard) and a Czech Big Issue seller (Marketa Irglova) writing songs together and possibly falling in love. "Relentlessly sweet and appreciative" felt The Guardian, considering the film affecting, if just a tad mawkish. A big hit in America - let’s hope this leisurely musical yarn can attract a cult following here too.
Propped up with maybe the stupidest plot this year is Good Luck Chuck. Chuck (Dane Cook) is a good luck charm for women he sleeps with, as they all go on to find their true love. Now, should he sleep with Jessica Alba and risk losing her, or fool around trying to exorcise his ‘curse’ by bedding half of America? Empire (**) does not seem to care either way, declaring it a ‘clichéd comedy that relies entirely on the good looks of its stars’. One for slavish Alba groupies only then.
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Thu 22 Nov 2007 at 10:10am
