 Two giant monoliths of British film in Dame Helen Mirren and Sir Ian McKellen turning a yarn of deception and intrigue as two online daters who seemingly innocently cross paths and hit it off.
However we are shown early that perhaps the latter’s intent isn’t exactly honourable and we begin to feel compassion for the former as she is slowly but surely manipulated into a position of vulnerability and primed for a sting. Yet we have this sense that all is not what it appears to be and as we wade through the set ups & turns, we see that these senses are not unfounded and what starts off as a con comedy clearly becomes something more. Sterling performances from the two front row members of Brit film royalty with nice supporting turns from the others and a plot that spills unexpectedly into our laps. Those of nefarious intent ultimately receive just desserts and we’re left with a some sense of justice done, if somewhat a notion of query around bygone sins needing revisiting. Keeps you guessing and while I figured something was amiss I would not have guessed it was what it was, 8.5/10
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 The story of mob hit man Frank Sheeran (no relation to Ed!) from Netflix who unlike most of his ilk was not Italian.
Also unlike most, he made it to a ripe old age at a time when his contemporaries were usually dispatched well ahead of time. Three giants of moviedom, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, nicely digitally de-aged for relevant scenes, own the almost three and a half hours of screen time, and our own Anna Paquin shows up as one of Sheeran’s daughters, prompting a few local complaints around her lack of the same. The proceedings explore the relationship between Sheeran and Teamster’s Union head honcho Jimmy Hoffa, splendidly portrayed by Pacino, and his supposed involvement in Hoffa’s disappearance in 1975. Lotsa perhaps’ and maybe’s around nailing anyone for the assumed murder which remains open even today and which are certainly emphasised here, no doubt to avoid any legal ramifications the portrayal might have. Dazzling turns by Pacino and De Niro however I think Joe Pesci probably edges it by a nose for his rendition of mob boss Russell Bufalino, who like Sheeran was one the few to avoid an early dispatch. Nice reproduction of mid-seventies eastern US as Frank trundles up and down the coast painting houses and acting as mediator between varying mob factions as he goes. Long but enjoyable and perhaps does offer the most likely answer to Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance. 8/10. |
Geoff HorneI'm a movie nut from way back with my first ever being The Hallelujah Trail from 1964. Ever since, I've been mesmerized by the giant screen, and the darkness that went on forever. Despite the infernally uncomfortable seats, (plus having to stand for God Save the Queen), I've been enticed ever since to duck into a theatre whenever I can for a few hours of escapism. Archives
July 2022
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