"Nine" and "Boy A"

[Mentalist]

The two movies I watched over the last two days. Nine at the cinema and Boy A on DVD.

Nine was OK but I think it was too ambitious for its own good and didn't quite hit the mark. Daniel Day Lewis was incredible of course because he's the best actor in the world and Penelope Cruz is fitness incarnate all the way through and she has competition from Marion Cotillard who was gorgeous as well. Incredible cast, production and competent directing but the story doesn't flow quite well enough and the songs were not catchy enough. Good but not great.


Uhh..... YES PLEASE.

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6.5/10



Boy A on the other hand is one of the best movies I have seen in a very long time. Low budget Brit flick about a young man who is released from prison and given a new identity and his subsequent attempt to create a new life for himself. Basically the inspiration of the movie is the Jamie Bulger killers. It's the same idea. He was involved in killing a 10-year-old girl with another boy when he was 10 himself and was locked up and branded evil and sick. His new identity is necessary for the same reason the Bulger killers were given new identity's. It's a tough film to watch but it is brilliant in what it sets out to do which is ultimately ask the question of whether someone deserves forgiveness after doing something so heinous. The lead actor, Andrew Garfield, is fantastic and I can't see many ways the film could have been improved. Definitely stuck with me after the end credits as well.

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It has to get a 9/10



So yeah, both are worth watching but Boy A is really good and should be watched if you don't mind great drama with such a dark subject.

 

[Fuddlemiff]

I watched Boy A when it was first shown a couple of years ago and enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. A child murderer doesn't sound like someone you could feel sympathy for, but it was really well written and acted.

I wouldn't really call it a "movie", though. Just because I think that'd give people the wrong expectations. It was shown here just as an ordinary C4 drama program, without too much hype.

 

[Eggs Mayonnaise]

I had really high hopes for Nine, as a stage musical it's one of my all-time favorites. But looking at it on screen, I can see that it's kind of impossible to make a compelling film version. It's a movie based on a play based on a movie...about moviemaking. There has been too many rounds of "interpretation", and too much playing of telephone for its soul to remain intact on the screen. I think I almost would have preferred a filming of the Antonio Banderas-led Broadway revival several years ago.

As for Boy A, I'm downl--looking into obtaining it, and will watch it soon.

 

[headvoid]

Boy A was brilliant. His interaction with his girlfriend and his social worker were very good.

I remember it very well, and I also remember seeing the young actor in other things since. I haven't googled, so cannot remember the name.

 

[Fuddlemiff]

I think he was in that Cape Wrath disaster, but also some good things.

 

[CaptainWacky]

SEE MENTY USED TO POST MOVIE REVIEWS.