Two slightly different trips to the 1970's this weekend...…….
BlackKklansman (UK iTunes)
Witty and amusing, tense and thrilling all at the same time, this Spike Lee Joint was an unexpected pleasure, even if it got off to a very slow start for me.
The first thirty minutes were what I feared the film would be - slow, ponderous and far too long spent listening to messages we all know, it seemed to take too long to get us into the meat of the film: Colorado Springs' first black policeman joining the KKK. Understandably setting up multiple plot strands - the institutional racism within the Department even after he's appointed, yet gaining the Trust of his superiors to enable his investigation to even get off the ground, the distrust from his own people and the isolation Stallworth felt when all he wanted to do was help, its a lot of plot to get through, yet it felt far longer than the thirty minutes it actually took.
Thankfully from here though, the film absolutely flies - Washington and Driver make for an instantly likable, relatable and believable double act, the members and machinations of 'the organisation' at once scary and insanely stupid and the plot unfolds in a surprisingly thrilling way: the constant need for protecting both Washington's and Driver's identities leading to some scarily tense setpieces. Amusing in the face of the hate - some of the calls between Washington and Grace's David Duke are genuinely hilarious - the only bum note in the film's back three quarters is the relationship between Washington and Laura Harrier's activist: it feels like its sole purpose is to explore the 'black perspective' of the whole thing, never once feeling like a real relationship thanks to all the conversations the two have being about the politics rather than the characters themselves.
The film's final shots, no spoilers, showing the events of Charlottesville in 2017, now feel wholly in keeping with the themes of the film and serve as a very important reminder how the thematic undercurrent of the entire film, from a time nearly 50 years ago now, are still scarily relevant. It didn't feel too hamfisted, it didn't feel out of place and it felt like it was absolutely needed.
An interesting, exciting, amusing film, despite its oppressive themes and events, make it past the slow start and you're in for a real treat.
The Nice Guys (US iTunes, via Movies Anywhere)
Gosling and Crowe give us a double act for the ages, easily up there with Bogart and Bacall, Tracey and Hepburn and Gable and Colbert. Given Black's filthy, frothy and fizzy dialogue, with so many genuinely funny one-liners, these two A-list Hollywood hunks take huge pleasure in trashing their reputations through drunken buffoonery (Gosling and his shriek) and toxic thuggery (Crowe and his knuckle duster).
In most films like this, the plot is an afterthought (Maltese Falcon, The Long Goodbye, I'm looking at you), an excuse to hang the zingy dialogue off and often random and thoroughly meaningless to the film overall - not so here, its dense, its intriguing and most importantly, as the plot comes to the fore in the third act, the humour and amazing character work doesn't disappear. Some surprising pathos from these two and the film's third MVP, Angourie Rice as Gosling's teenage daughter, also feels real and nicely balanced against the characters already established.
And its still got plenty of those wonderful Black-isms - lashings of period detail, plenty of skewering of the movie business and a downbeat dark ending that manages to still feel wholly fulfilling, yet leaving us in no doubt that here, just in real life, the Nice Guys don't always win.
For me, this is Black's masterpiece, narrowly edging out Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and its a worth a watch just to hear all that delicious dialogue and stuff.
I know, I know......I shouldn't say '....and stuff'. I should just say its worth a watch just to hear all that delicious dialogue..........