When her daughter's kidnapped by murderous types in this odd, grisly gothic western, frontierswoman Cate Blanchett saddles up and gives chase, accompanied by estranged father Tommy Lee Jones. A tiresomely grim offering from Ron Howard, whose fussy, pointlessly tricksy direction is a consistently irritating distraction. Very poor.
In Clint Eastwood's self-consciously stately film of Dennis Lehane's cracking thriller, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon are former childhood friends, estranged by trauma, thrown into adult conflict by tragedy following the murder of Penn's teenage daughter. The novel is raw, seething, but Eastwood's stern, sober direction makes the film a bit of a slog, worthy but oddly unengaging, stripped of tension and the true sense of place Lehane brought to the book.
An object lesson in filming a gig, this, as Patrick Daughters (director of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' stunning "Maps" promo) captures The Rapture's nervous energies in long, unfussy, elegant shots. Recorded last Christmas, the quartet still resemble—happily—enthusiastic grad students who've stumbled on the ideal disco/punk hybrid. But Daughters exploits this, making them—especially soulful-eyed frontman Luke Jenner—look at once gawky and iconic.
