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Chronicle Review

Mrigank Dhaniwala — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:25:44 +0000

Three high school friends gain superpowers after making an incredible discovery. However, they soon find their lives spinning out of control. What happens then? Read the review of Chronicle for more.

Chronicle Movie Review

Business rating: 2 / 5 stars (Two stars)

Star cast: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan.

What’s Good: The interesting premise of the story; the racy first half.

What’s Bad: The disappointing climactic portion; the disconnect between the protagonist and the viewers.

Verdict:Chronicle is interesting and engaging in parts only. It will, at best, do average business at the Indian box-office.

Loo break: A couple in the latter half.

Watch or Not?: Watch if for its interesting take on the superhero genre.

Adam Schroeder Productions, Davis Entertainment and Fox Star Studios’ Chronicle is about three high school boys who acquire superhero-like powers.

High school kids Andrew (Dane DeHaan), his cousin, Matt (Alex Russell), and Matt’s friend, Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan), stumble upon an unknown glowing underground object in a drunken state after a party. The three fall unconscious when they come in contact with it but seem to have acquired the power of telekinesis (moving objects with mind control) after they wake up. When they go back to the spot where they had found the mysterious object, they find it sunk into the ground.

Andrew, a social outcaste and an awkward adolescent because he comes from a broken home, makes the most of his newfound powers. He shoots everything that he, Matt and Steve do with their ever-increasing powers, using a camera. He conducts a magic show at the school talent show and becomes popular. They discover that they can fly and that they seem to have bodies made of steel!

While Matt and Steve want them to have rules for using their powers after a freak car accident caused by Andrew, the latter is rather taken in by what he can do with his powers and will, therefore, not hear of any rules. He roughs up his drunkard father when the latter tries to beat him up at home. Andrew then tries to steal money from local hoodlums to buy essential medicines for his very sick mother, something that his out-of-job father is unable to provide.

However, things soon get out of hand and Steve is killed in a freak accident. Matt is unable to stop Andrew as the latter is more powerful than him. What happens next? Is Andrew able to handle the uninhibited power he enjoys? Is he able to save his mother from her impending death? What about his father, whom he hates? How exactly was Steve killed?

Chronicle Review: Script Analysis

Max Landis and Josh Trank’s story has an interesting premise although the screenplay (by Max Landis) takes a familiar trajectory like the X-Men films, where young people with unbridled power are shown to be coming to terms with it. The first half of the film is quite engaging and fun to watch as the three surprised youngsters experiment and play around. The characterisations, although uni-dimensional, are built up nicely. The idea of someone acquiring such powers in a freak incident might be preposterous, but the writer is able to make the narrative seem real enough for the viewer to be clued in.

But where he loses the plot is in the climactic portion, where Andrew’s power gets to his head, causing widespread destruction and tyranny. Although this part is a natural progression of the earlier part of the story, the manner in which it plays out makes it rather indigestible. As a result, the many action scenes, which are well-executed, end up boring the audience instead. Perhaps, this is because the writers are unable to get the audience to sympathise with their protagonist, Andrew, who turns out to be a grey character, at best.

Another drawback is that the writers seem to have cut corners because they depict the story with the help of hand-held camera/s, which are carried by Andrew and other characters of the film. Although use of this device, inspired by Blair Witch Project, does lend itself to a few interesting situations, the audience gets rather irritated when it finds the film’s characters making lame excuses to carry a camera around.

Chronicle Review: Star Performances

Dane DeHaan does very well as the reticent and mercurial Andrew. He looks the part but falls short in the climax. Alex Russell, as the cousin, is affable and effective. Michael B. Jordan (as Steve) is fine. Michael Kelly (as Andrew’s father) leaves a mark. Ashley Hinshaw (as Casey) does a fair job. Bo Petersen (as Andrew’s mother), Anna Wood (as Monica) and others offer average support.

Chronicle Review: Direction & Technical Aspects

Josh Trank’s direction is very good. He tells the story in an engaging manner. Matthew Jensen’s cinematography is nice. He uses the hand-held camera to the maximum effect. Production design, by Stephen Altman, is alright. Editing, by Elliot Greenberg, is sharp.

Chronicle Review: The Last Word

On the whole, Chronicle offers entertainment in parts but that won’t be enough for it to do much business at the Indian box-office.

Chronicle Trailer

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Staying Alive Review

Mrigank Dhaniwala — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:20:26 +0000

A journalist (Ananth Narayan Mahadevan) and a much-feared gangster (Saurabh Shukla) are admitted to an ICCU after suffering heart attacks. They develop a friendship over long conversations. What happens then? Read the review of Staying Alive for more.

Staying Alive Review

Business rating: 1 / 5 stars (One star)

Star cast: Ananth Narayan Mahadevan, Saurabh Shukla, Navni Parihar, Sunita, Chandan Roy Sanyal.

What’s Good: The performances; a few light-hearted scenes; the sensitivity with which the subject has been handled.

What’s Bad: The screenplay which leaves a lot to be desired; the leisurely pace of the narrative; the boring first few reels.

Verdict: Staying Alive is a sensitive film but it will find the going tough.

Loo break: A couple in the first few reels.

Watch or Not?: Watch it because it is a well-intentioned effort.

Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd.’s Staying Alive is a story of an unusual friendship that develops between two men who are admitted to a hospital after suffering heart attacks.

A middle-aged journalist, Aditya (Ananth Narayan Mahadevan), and an underworld kingpin, Shaukat Ali (Saurabh Shukla), find each other in the same room in the ICCU of a Bombay hospital. While Aditya has suffered his third heart attack, it is the first one for Shaukat. As the duo gets talking, Shaukat is initially dismissive of Aditya’s profession. But the gangster soon becomes friends with the journalist, who helps him in coming to terms with the fact that he (Shaukat), a don, is bedridden and helpless. Aditya uses many anecdotes from his previous visits to the ICCU to tell Shaukat that taking it easy is the only way to survive his new reality. Slowly but surely, Shaukat starts seeing meaning in Aditya’s argument and even decides to give up on his life of crime.

Meanwhile, Aditya’s wife (Sunita), and Shaukat’s wife (Navni Parihar) and son (Chandan Roy Sanyal) spend many nervous nights in the hospital’s waiting room, helping each other out in their time of need. The two wives even share personal facts about their marriages and develop a bonding.

When Shaukat Ali is about to be discharged from the hospital, he bids a tearful adieu to Aditya, asking his friend to meet him once he is also discharged. What happens then? Are Shaukat and Aditya able to meet? Does their friendship last?

Staying Alive Review: Script Analysis

Sujit Sen’s story about two unlikely people sharing a bond over long talks in a hospital is quite simple and interesting. His screenplay, however, has a lot of issues. The first few reels, where the characters of Shaukat Ali and Aditya are being established, bore the audience a great deal. Several scenes of the interactions between the two wives are repetitive and unimpactful. The angle of Shaukat’s rivals threatening him seems to have been added only to introduce a dash of conflict; but the attempt falls flat on its face. Moreover, the pace of the drama is so leisurely that unless the viewer is completely clued in to the long talks that the gangster and the journalist have, s/he will be bored. The climax, though emotional, leaves a lot to be desired.

On the plus side, the characterisation of Shaukat Ali is very interesting; his love for kebabs and his feeling of helplessness over being relegated to a mere mortal brings a smile to the audience’s lips. Several scenes between Aditya and Shaukat, where they talk about love, life and death, are well-scripted and taken. A couple of emotional scenes – including the one where Aditya suddenly falls sick – also leave an impact. There is a sprinkling of humour in the narrative that adds to the appeal. The well-written dialogues are another plus point of the film. However, overall, the script entertains and engages the audience only to an extent as it is uni-dimensional and quite philosophical because of which it may not catch the fancy of a large section of the audience.

Staying Alive Review: Star Performances

Ananth Narayan Mahadevan is competent as the affable and courageous journalist. Saurabh Shukla shines in the role of the gangster. He makes the audience laugh and cry and makes his character eminently likeable. Sunita is alright as Aditya’s wife. Navni Parihar, as Shaukat’s worried spouse, and Chandan Roy Sanyal, as his dutiful son, fill the bill. Khan Jehangir Khan, Ranjana Sasa, Sanjay Swaraj and others offer average support.

Staying Alive Review: Direction & Techincal Aspects

Ananth Narayan Mahadevan’s direction is effective. He is able to handle the subject with sensitivity and never goes overboard. However, in spite of the running time of the film being a mere 91 minutes, the script is unable to sustain the audience’s interest throughout. The film has no songs. Background score, by Sanjay Chowdhury, is alright. Rajkumar K.’s cinematography is functional. Editing, by K.P. Praveen, is sharp.

Staying Alive Review: The Last Word

On the whole, Staying Alive may be a well-made film but it is meant more for the festival circuit. Commercially, it will turn out to be a below-average fare, the lack of awareness of the public about the film and its poor start only adding to its tale of woes.

Staying Alive Trailer

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Love You To Death Review

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Love You To Death Review

Mrigank Dhaniwala — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:15:34 +0000

A guy (Chandan Roy Sanyal) and his mother (Suhasini Mulay) plot to kill his wife (Yuki Ellias) who controls the purse strings at home. What happens next? Find out in the review of Love You To Death.

Love You To Death Review

Business rating: 0.5 / 5 stars (Half star)

Star cast: Chandan Roy Sanyal, Yuki Ellias, Suhasini Mulay, Kallol Banerjee, Nicholas Brown, Sheeba Chadha.

What’s Good: The performances.

What’s Bad: The uninteresting script.

Verdict: Love You To Death will get a quick burial at the box-office.

Loo break: Several.

Watch or Not?: Watch it for the performances but beware of the fact that, as a whole, the film does not work.

Fat Mama Films’ Love You To Death is a Hinglish film about a rich girl and her family’s attempts to usurp her money.

Sonia (Yuki Ellias) is a rich girl, married to a businessman, Atul (Chandan Roy Sanyal). The couple lives with Atul’s mother, Sundari (Suhasini Mulay), and his father, Ravi (Kallol Banerjee). Atul and Sundari try to influence Sonia to fund their business proposals but Sonia, who signs all the cheques at home and at work, has a mind of her own. She fawns over her dog and often consults with a tarot card reader, Maya (Sheeba Chadha), who helps Sonia with her personal problems.

Meanwhile, Atul is meeting a Russian arms businessman, with whom he wants to start a factory. For this, he needs Sonia’s money and her piece of land in Daman. To keep her tied in their marriage, he plans to conceive a child with her, but fails in doing so.

Atul and his mother are shocked when they discover that Sonia has decided to fund a fledgling solar energy business run by John (Nicholas Brown), a smart young man she had met at the veterinarian clinic. They decide to finish off Sonia before she can transfer the land to John. After a failed attempt to electrocute her at home, the mother-son duo hires a theatre person-cum-goon to do the job for it.

After that attempt also fails, they plot another murder plan. What happens then? Are they able to kill Sonia and get her money and land? Or does Sonia realise their true motives and fight back? Or does she realise that her husband needs to be supported? Is Atul’s father also a part of the evil designs of Atul and his mother? Or does he have nothing to do with them?

Love You To Death Review: Script Analysis

The story of Love You To Death is quite commonplace. The writers – Rafeeq Ellias, Abhro Banerjee, Yuki Ellias and Pallu Newatia – have tried to infuse the story with an eccentric set of characters. However, the story lacks substance for the most part. What’s more, the screenplay is such that it takes a lot of time to come to the point. And even when it does – the audience isn’t entertained by what it sees. Probably the worst part of the screenplay is that once the motives of the characters are established, there isn’t much the film offers as after that, it is only about how, not what.

A few scenes – including the one when Atul and Sundari hire the goons; when Ravi’s intentions are revealed; when Sonia does what she does after she learns some things – have an impact. However, most others – including the one when Atul is consulting a sex expert; when he is shown to be interacting with the Russian businessman; when Sonia and the soothsayer have long conversations; when Sonia’s dog is cremated – bore the audience to no end. The narrative moves at a slow pace and even when it gathers steam in the last few reels, it isn’t engaging enough because the storyline is thin. In fact, the plot was more suited for a television serial or, better still, for a stage-play, than for a full-length film. There are no emotional scenes to speak of and the comedy is tepid, at best. The climax is unsatisfactory. The Hinglish dialogues are alright at most places and average at others.

Love You To Death Review: Performances

Chandan Roy Sanyal does a fair job as the husband who lacks self-confidence and who eats out of his mother’s hands. Yuki Ellias is very good as the stylish wife, Sonia. Although she doesn’t have the looks of a heroine, her performance is very confident and convincing. Suhasini Mulay shines as the greedy and ambitious mother-in-law. Kallol Banerjee, as the father-in-law, springs a surprise. Nicholas Brown does an average job as John. Sheeba Chadha, as Maya, is good. Sohrab Ardeshir (as the sex expert), Chetan Sashital (as the theatre person), Sagar Salunke (as Chhotu), Uday Chandra (as the undertaker) and others offer very good support. Leonid Kudryavtsev, Graham Colley and Ella Kudryavtsev do ordinary jobs in their guest appearances.

Love You To Death Review: Direction

Rafeeq Ellias’ direction is fair. He extracts good performances from out of his cast members, but fails to hold together the faulty script. Ellias’ cinematography is good; several outdoor shots are well-taken. Music (composed by Ronit Chaterji) is stylised. The background score is functional. Action (by Manohar Verma) is quite nice. Editing, by Abhro Banerjee, is sharp.

Love You To Death Review: The Last Word

On the whole, Love You To Death is a below-average fare which does not entertain. It will fail at the box-office.

Love You To Death Trailer

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Man On A Ledge Review

Mrigank Dhaniwala — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:10:40 +0000

A convict (Sam Worthington) on the run, who is also a former cop, gets on the ledge of a high-rise hotel building to prove his innocence in the theft case he was convicted for. How does he do it? Read the review of Man On A Ledge to find out more.

Man On A Ledge Movie Review

Business rating: 0.5 / 5 stars (Half star)

Star cast: Sam Worthington, Jamie Bell, Elizabeth Banks, Ed Harris.

What’s Good: A few moments in the drama.

What’s Bad:The dull, unnecessarily convoluted and convenient script; the uninspiring performances; the poor direction.

Verdict: Man On A Ledge has very little to offer in terms of entertainment; it’ll flop at the Indian box-office.

Loo break: Several.

Watch or Not?: Watch it at your own risk.

Summit Entertainment, Di Bonaventura Pictures and Tanweer Films’ Man On A Ledge is about a man who gets on the ledge of a high-rise in New York to prove his innocence in the theft case he is convicted for.

Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) is an ex-cop who has been convicted for theft of a diamond. He is accused for stealing from a rich real estate businessman, David Englander (Ed Harris), whom he was escorting when the alleged theft happened. Sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment, Nick is let out for a few hours to attend his father’s funeral. There, he gets into a fight with his younger brother, Joey (Jamie Bell). Nick manages to escape at gun point, leaving both, the prison guards and Joey, behind.

Next, he enters into a high-rise hotel under an alias, has supper there and climbs out on to the ledge of the hotel building. This attracts instant media and police attention. The whole area is cordoned off as crowds gather to see the drama. Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks), a cop who is a psychological expert too, is called in.

As Lydia tries to talk Nick (whose real identity is not known to the police because the entry in the hotel register is that of another name) out of jumping, she realises that he has placed himself there not to commit suicide but to buy time for something that is about to happen. Once the cops learn of his identity, they are ready to forcibly take him down. Nick, on the other hand, pleads with Lydia to help him establish his innocence.

In the meantime, Nick’s brother, Joey, and his girlfriend are trying to break into a building bang opposite the hotel in an attempt to steal the diamond that Nick was supposed to have stolen in the first place. There are also two shady cops, Mike Ackerman (Anthony Mackie) and Dante Marcus (Titus Welliver). David Englander is, in the meanwhile, getting ready to address a press conference

Does Joey succeed in stealing the diamond? Is Nick able to get off the ledge safely and prove his innocence?

Man On A Ledge Review: Script Analysis

Pablo F. Fenjves’ story is too commonplace. We have seen several such films, including the recent Tower Heist, where people try and steal something by creating a distraction; the ‘man on a ledge’ being the distraction in this film. The story’s biggest fault is that the audience is aware of Nick’s real plans a few reels into the film and this kills all the intrigue and suspense. Had the writer not told the audience what was happening behind-the-scenes while the police dealt with Nick’s life-and-death situation, it would have made for a much engrossing drama. But for that, the scenes of interactions between Nick and the cops would have needed to be tension-filled, which is simply not the case. The writer also fails in utilising to the hilt Nick’s vertigo angle: a man is shown to be standing on a ledge on a high-rise, yet there are very few shots that effectively make the viewer aware of the dangers of being in that situation.

The writer fills the screenplay with unnecessary sub-plots, where he doesn’t even provide enough information to the audience. The action sequences in the latter half do not impress. Overall, apart from a few scenes in the initial few reels, the drama is mostly boring and doesn’t make much sense.

Man On A Ledge Review: Star Performances

Sam Worthington does not inspire confidence. Elizabeth Banks (Lydia Mercer) also fails to impress. Jamie Bell looks ill at ease in most scenes. Genesis Rodriguez (as Angie) pouts and makes for good eye candy. Ed Harris (as David Englander) is alright in a small role. Anthony Mackie is effective. Edward Burns (as detective Dougherty), Titus Welliver (as officer Marcus) and others offer average support.

Man On A Ledge Review: Direction & Technical Aspects

Director Asger Leth fails in presenting a cohesive narration of the thriller story. Henry Jackman’s background score is appropriate. Paul Cameron’s cinematography is functional. Production design, by Alec Hammond, could have been a lot better. Editing, by Kevin Stitt, is shoddy.

Man On A Ledge Review: The Last Word

On the whole, Man On A Ledge is a poor fare. It will flop at the Indian box-office.

Man On A Ledge Trailer

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