Review #1,315: 'Coco' (2017)

With Coco, Pixar reminds us once again why they are the creme-de-la-creme when it comes to American animation, with another emotionally resonant and visually breathtaking picture that will have both adults and children sobbing into their sleeves. This is their finest work since game-changer Inside Out in 2015, again tackling complex themes most studios would shy away from exposing their young audience to, and doing so with a technical flourish and completely free from the white-washing so common in American films dealing with a culture and folklore from overseas. I'm not ashamed to admit that I wept like a baby at Coco, the first time I had done so since, again, Inside Out.

Despite the title, our protagonist is Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez), a 12 year-old wannabe musician who seems destined to follow his elders into the family shoe-making business. 96 years earlier, Miguel's great-great-grandmother forbid the sound of music in their house when her song-writing husband left town in search of his dreams. As a result, Miguel is forced to teach himself guitar and worship his idol Ernest de la Cruz, a famous crooner who was killed in an unfortunate on-set accident, in secret. His grandmother Abuelita (Renee Victor) is keen to enforce the rule, literally shoeing away a mariachi who asks Miguel to play for him. His refusal to follow his family's ban leads to an argument and a supernatural encounter, after which Miguel can only communicate with those from the other side who have crossed over to take part in the Day of the Dead celebrations.

Miguel's only hope of returning to his family before he fades away himself is with a magical marigold petal willingly handed to him by an ancestor. It doesn't take long to locate great-great-grandmother Mama Imelda (Alanna Ubach) and some other faces familiar from photographs, but the matriarch will only allow him to return if he promises to give up music forever. With the help of lovable scoundrel Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal) and a large-tongued stray dog, Miguel journeys across the Land of the Dead in search of the musician ancestor his family have been banished from mentioning. with only an old photograph with the face torn away for help. But could it be that Miguel was always destined to follow his muse, and that Ernest de la Cruz himself, who came from the very same town, may hold all the answers?

Pixar take every opportunity to illuminate the screen once we cross over with Miguel into the bright, almost psychedelic land of his ancestors, which is protected by dazzling alebrijes and connects itself to our world by a glowing marigold petal bridge. Yet beneath the surface there is a richly textured script by Adrian Molina and Matthew Aldrich, complete with fully realised characters, fluid storytelling and heavily-researched attention to detail. Ana Ofelia Murguia as the titular Mama Coco does some stellar voice work, easing us into those lip-quivering final scenes assisted by Pixar's wonderful animation, as does Benjamin Bratt as the self-admiring de la Cruz, a man who does well for himself in a world in which you can only exist whilst you are remembered on the other side. And this being Disney, it wouldn't be complete without a signature song, and Remember Me, written by married team Kirsty Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez of Let It Go fame, is another winner. The song might be stuck in your head for days, but the emotional impact of this tale of family, music and death will last much, much longer.


Directed by: Lee Unkrich
Voices: Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renee Victor
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie

Review #1,098: 'The Infiltrator' (2016)

Faring far better as a big-screen leading man than he did in last year's disappointing biopic Trumbo, Bryan Cranston brings a slightly grizzled decency to his role as U.S. Customs special agent Robert Mazur in Brad Furman's The Infiltrator, a by-the-numbers, if suitably engrossing, fact-based drama. Mazur decides that his final operation before retirement will be to go undercover to infiltrate the criminal organisation headed by one of the key figures in helping turn Miami into a bullet-ridden, cocaine-fuelled war-zone during the 1980s, Pablo Escobar.

Mazur is a mild-mannered, if fiercely intelligent, family man, who must transform himself into a slick money launderer that will somehow talk his way into Escobar's inner circle, befriending one of the drug baron's top lieutenants - Benjamin Bratt's Robert Alcaino - in the process. Similar to Walter White's transformation from passive high school teacher into a mass-murdering, downright evil bastard in Breaking Bad, Cranston is again required to undergo a complete character change throughout the course of the story (albeit here as an act). Yet while Walter White was given 5 years to convincingly develop his arc, Mazur's seduction by a more dangerous way of life isn't given the attention it deserves.

Cranston is still terrific however, as are the supporting cast. A slip of the tongue means that Mazur's alter-ego Bob Musella also has a fiancee, so fellow agent Kathy Ertz (Diane Kruger) is called in, and the relationship between the two secret agents, both professionally and the obvious sexual chemistry between the two, is one of the more interesting aspects of the movie. Also assisting Mazur with the sting is Emir Abreu, played with wide-eyed, jacked-up intensity by John Leguizamo. Abreau is a fellow agent whose motivations may rest more with the adrenaline rush that naturally goes with living constantly on edge than a desire to see justice served, and many of Leguizamo's best scenes are in those moments when you feel everybody is about to get rumbled.

It's interesting, no-nonsense stuff, but sadly doesn't strive to be anything but that. Hints made at Mazur's inner-conflict and the finer details of the case itself are left relatively unexplored, so anyone hoping for a deeper experience than your standard genre movie will no doubt be left disappointed. The Infiltrator is instead happy to sit within the comforts of cliche, covering everything from the concerned wife at home (played by Juliet Aubrey) to the criminal who is actually quite nice deep down. But to give the film it's credit, it does the cliches very well, successfully building tension and delivering the occasional heart-in-mouth moment when called upon. Cranston has done his inevitable ascension to the A-list no harm either, and Leguizamo proves why people really need to take him seriously as an actor again.


Directed by: Brad Furman
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Diane Kruger, John Leguizamo, Benjamin Bratt, Juliet Aubrey, Amy Ryan, Joseph Gilgun, Jason Isaacs
Country: UK

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #875: 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2' (2013)

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs was a pleasant surprise back in 2009, with directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord - before they hit the big-time with 21 Jump Street (2012), it's sequel 22 Jump Street (2014) and The Lego Movie (2014) - taking a rather ridiculous premise based on a slim children's story and making it both hilarious and supremely inventive. It was a story that was wrapped up nicely as not to require a sequel, but with box-office success comes the inevitable follow-up. Miller and Lord lampooned the whole idea of sequels with 22 Jump Street, but decided against helming the next chapter in Flint Lockwood's eccentric world, which makes it all the more surprising that Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 is even more delightful than the first.

With the town of Swallow Falls engulfed by giant food as a result of the events from the first film, Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader), his girlfriend Sam (Anna Faris), his father Tim (James Caan), and the rest of his fellow townsfolk are relocated to California by inventor and TV personality Chester V (Will Forte) while the place is cleaned up. Flint, Chester's biggest fan, is invited to work at Live Corp., where he will be allowed to work on his crazy inventions undisturbed in the hope of landing a permanent job. His 'celebrationator' creation falls flat, but Flint is still summoned by Chester to be informed that the search-parties back in Swallow Falls have gone missing, and the place is now overrun by giant cheeseburger spiders.

The cheespiders are just one of many delightful and bonkers 'foodimals' in the film, others of which include shrimpanzees, tacodiles and watermelophants. They're the type of physics-dodging nonsense a child would come up with while bashing plastic figures together, so no doubt children will love them. Adults too, will no doubt get a certain kick out of temporarily switching off the logical side of the brain and turning up the nostalgic side. It's also beautiful to look at, in a hyperactive, blink-or-you'll-miss-it sort of way, with the sheer volume of these bizarre creatures darting in and out of the picture providing a feast for the eyes, and the cheespiders proving to be somehow terrifying and cute at the same time.

Above all, it's laugh-out-loud funny and relentlessly chaotic, and there's probably a 'message' in there somewhere as well. Not that the film is too concerned with preaching morals and not that the audience will call for it; it's too busy being exhaustively entertaining for all that. The returning acting talent (although Terry Crews replaces Mr. T as super-ripped cop Earl Devereaux) is uniformly excellent, and newcomer Forte, along with some loopy character design, helps turn Chester V into a charismatic and ever-bending (literally) super-creep. Like a packet of sweets, it can be like a sugar overdose at times, but you'll most likely keep on eating and feel buzzed for a short time afterwards.


Directed by: Cody Cameron, Kris Pearn
Voices: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Will Forte, Andy Samberg, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris, Terry Crews, Kristen Schaal
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #684: 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' (2009)

Based on the 1978 novel of the same name by Judi and Ron Barrett, directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller took the foundation of the literature and created a sort of 'origin' story. The book told of a fantastical town where it rained the inhabitant's daily meals until the portions span out of control, creating gigantic food storms and oversized grub. The film imagines this phenomena is caused by science-nut Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader), who after witnessing his small town getting shut off from the world and forced to eat nothing but sardines, thinks he can win the hearts of the townsfolk by creating a machine that turns water in the food of your choice.

At the opening of Sardine Land, hosted by Mayor Shelbourne (Bruce Campbell), Flint's contraption goes haywire and shoots off into the sky. Soon enough, pickles, buns and cheese are raining from the sky, which soon become full cheeseburgers. The townsfolk lap it up, plying Flint with requests, and even the intern reporter Sam Sparks (Anna Faris) starts to enjoy her pun-filled reports. That is until the machine starts to lose control and begins spewing out giant spaghetti tornado's and giant steaks.

Similar in a way to the Belgian madcap comedy A Town Called Panic, released the same year, Cloud With a Chance of Meatballs find most of it's charm in its relentless and hyperactive approach. Jokes litter both the foreground and background of the movie, producing some inventive, old-fashioned slapstick alongside some modern, more neurotic humour. It's an insane film at times, but there's a lot of genuine wit here. In a montage of Flint's failed inventions, we see televisions that walk to you on legs so you can change the channel, spray-on shoes that never come off, and ratbirds. The inventions are then seen throughout the film, either taking an active role in the plot or, in the television's case, looting the town's electronics store for an enjoyable throwaway gag.

But beneath all the frenetic energy, there's some heartfelt moments involving Flint's father (voiced by a gruff James Caan) who can't quite communicate with the son he doesn't understand. There is also some subtle commentary on humanity's wastefulness and penchant for greed. All the uneaten food gets flung miles over a hill so it can rot away out of sight, and as the dollar signs increase in size in Mayor Shelbourne's eyes, so does his waste size. The ending takes the disappointing route of continuing the current trend of animated films having overblown, action-packed climaxes, but if you can put that aside, there is a lot to savour here.


Directed by: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Voices: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Andy Samberg, Bruce Campbell, Mr. T, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie