The film is an electrifying true story about an unknown actor with an unshakable belief that he wasn’t just meant to write Rocky—he was meant to be Rocky Balboa. Told “no” at every turn, Sylvester Stallone bets everything on himself, holding the line on playing the lead against seemingly impossible odds. The result is the ultimate underdog story behind the ultimate underdog movie.
Directed by Peter Farrelly, I PLAY ROCKY stars Anthony Ippolito, AnnaSophia Robb, Toby Kebbell, P.J. Byrne, Jay Duplass, Kiki Seto, featuring Matt Dillon with Stephan James and Tracy Letts
In this new clip from the film, Stephan James makes an unforgettable entrance as Carl Weathers in a NEW official film clip.
I PLAY ROCKY is Now Playing in Select Theaters. In Additional Theaters this Friday. Everywhere Next Friday, November 20
Written and directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Farrelly (Green Book), I PLAY ROCKY is the true story of how the iconic boxing film ROCKY was made. The film will enter the ring in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ten-time Oscar nominated and Best Picture winning ROCKY.
Anthony Ippolito stars as the young Sylvester Stallone, alongside AnnaSophia Robb, Matt Dillon, Stephan James, Toby Kebbell, Tracy Letts, Jay Duplass and P.J. Byrne.
The film is an electrifying true story about an unknown actor with an unshakable belief that he wasn’t just meant to write Rocky—he was meant to be Rocky Balboa. Told “no” at every turn, Stallone bets everything on himself, holding the line on playing the lead against seemingly impossible odds.
The result is the ultimate underdog story behind the ultimate underdog movie.
Going up against films like Network and Taxi Driver, ROCKY won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Editing at the 49th Academy Awards. Sylvester Stallone became the third person in Oscar history to be nominated in a single year as both an actor and as a screenwriter (the others were Charles Chaplin in 1940 and Orson Welles in 1941).
ROCKY is one of the greatest stories in Hollywood History and has one of the most iconic scores from composer Bill Conti.
I PLAY ROCKY opens in the US on November 13 and released by Entertainment Film Distributors in cinemas, UK and Ireland, on November 6th, 2026.
Okay action flick fans, it’s still fairly early in the movie year but who’s ready for a high-octane thriller based on a comic book character? I’m guessing the answer’s a resounding yes, though the superheroes don’t generally invade the multiplex for several more weeks. So which comics publishing company is the print home of the possible subject of a new big franchise? It’s not the current “golden stable of stars” Marvel (now part of the “Mouse House”). Nor is it the older line that’s trying hard to “catch up”, DC (linked with Warner Brothers). Perhaps it’s Image, the upstarts that gave us Spawn? Nope, but you’re getting closer. One of its ilk from around the same era is Valiant Comics (Entertainment as they expand), part of the independent press explosion of the early to mid-1990s. Back then the readers were all over the heroes with big “guns” (ripply, veiny muscles and massive artillery). Well, after a quarter-century, here he comes, blasting out of the “four-color” pages and on to the big screen, the man known as BLOODSHOT.
As we meet his alter ego Ray Garrison (Vin Diesel) he is, indeed, toting a big ole’ gun as a “special forces”-type soldier on a covert mission in a hostile foreign land. After a brutal hostage rescue, he’s transported back to a US military base in Italy where he’s reunited with his lady Gina (Talulah Riley). Their romantic getaway is cut short the next morning when a squad of goons grabs them. When their leader, a grinning sadist known as Martin Axe (Toby Kebbell), doesn’t get the intel on Ray’s last mission, it’s “lights out” for the couple. When Ray awakens he’s on a metal slab in the high tech HQ of P.R.S. run by Dr. Emil Harting (Guy Pierce) and has no memory of his name or past life. He explains that Ray was indeed murdered and when no family claimed his remains, Ray was given to them for a risky experiment in which his blood was replaced by “nanites”, thousands of tiny insect-like robots. The doc grabs Ray’s hand and slices the palm open with a blade. To Ray’s shock, the “bugs” swiftly go to work, stitching, repairing, and closing up the wound in a manner of seconds. Plus he’s got enhanced stamina and strength, so he’s a super-soldier who can’t be killed. Again. Ray is then introduced to the doc’s previous “reconstructions” (he himself sports a robotic arm that replaced one lost to cancer). One man, Tibbs (Alex Hernandez), has an all-new visual system since he lost his sight, while Jimmy Dalton (Sam Heughan) has a pair of robotic legs that provide superspeed. Then there’s the lady, K.T. (Eiza Gonzalez), whose damaged lungs were replaced by a P.R.S. breathing apparatus that makes her immune to gasses and able to stay underwater a long time. One evening, as Ray shares a drink with her after training, a piped-in tune sparks a memory in Ray of his last moments. Brushing K.T. aside, he escapes the lab on a fevered quest for revenge. But is it all as simple as that? Could it be that random or is it part of a deeper plan?
Though he’s no doubt pleased to be out from behind the wheel of another super-charged auto and not having every other line of dialogue about “family”, Diesel seems to be doing a docile riff on the 1980s action film stars as Ray. We get to see a tear trickle as he endures his loss and learns the “big truth”, but his role is too much a wooden composite of iconic thriller SF characters. A touch of ROBOCOP, a pinch of THE WOLVERINE, and a big dollop of THE TERMINATOR as he just keeps comin’ at the baddies, only pausing for the “bug bots” to piece him back together. Aside from his weird glowing red chest and pale skin to signify his breakdown, there’s not much that Diesel contributes to making him unique. We keep hoping for him to team up with Gonzalez who makes a most formidable and sultry heroine, but she’s kept on the sidelines to bicker with Pierce’s devious doctor. As usual, he projects an aura of smug superiority, but Pierce never gets a chance to be more than the furious boss bellowing orders. Heughan appears to be having a bit of campy fun as the always sneering Dalton, but he’s reduced to another CGI-aided effect by the finale. Luckily the tone is lightened by the comic relief of Siddarth Dhanjayas Eric the main computer nerd (as Peter Parker’s buddy Ned would say, “The guy in the chair”) and a scene-stealing turn by Lamorne Morris as programming geek god Wilfrid Wigans, whose snappy comic timing and witty retorts makes us wish for a solo spin-off (doubtful).
Former special effects artist and first-time feature director Dave Wilson uses his visual skills to keep the flick moving though it seems to stall during the exposition exchanges in between the big action sequences. His reliance on the new action cliche of going really fast, then slow down for a bit (a spin on “bullet-time” from the now 21-year-old first MATRIX), then suddenly kicking back into double speed quickly becomes tedious. Some effort is made on providing an off-kilter look by using smoke. K.T. goes into battle holding canisters that release billowing red clouds. And Ray’s first big villain “take-down” is in a motorway tunnel turned into a white alienesque landscape due to an overturned semi filled with baking flour. Really? It feels more forced than original. We spared a lot of gore in order to snag the more teen-friendly PG-13 rating, but the carnage count is right up there with the JOHN WICK flicks, though without the sense of “over the top” comic irony. And because of the big “reveal”, we get to see rehashes of previous bits of business, making it seem as though the whole flick is “spinning its wheels” while going nowhere. It finally devolves into lots of noise, massive property damage, and pulsating pixels. Back to the garage, Mr. D. After two dull hours of this monotonous mayhem I felt dazed and truly BLOODSHOT.
Nicole Kidman stars as Erin Bell in Karyn Kusama’s DESTROYER, an Annapurna Pictures release. Photo credit: Sabrina Lantos / Annapurna. Courtesy of Annapurna Pictures
This is not how we are used to seeing Nicole Kidman. Kidman plays snarling, violent, even grizzled Los Angeles police detective bent on vengeance, in the gritty crime thriller DESTROYER.
Kidman also plays a younger, more innocent rookie cop version of the character, Erin Bell, in flashback. As the younger version, Kidman looks like herself, as we are used to seeing her, but as the older, hardened cop, she is nearly unrecognizable.
That Kidman’s character is damaged goods, and was once a far different person, as made clear by the reaction of her police co-workers when she appears unexpectedly at the crime scene that opens the film. A body with bullet holes is found in a little-visited area near the Los Angeles river, sparking a murder investigation, but a tattoo on the body hints at a connection to another long-ago crime in Detective Erin Bell’s past.
The script, written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, film toggles back and forth between the investigation linked to that murder scene, and flashbacks to a younger version of that character (a prettier Kidman), who as a rookie participated in an undercover investigation that went horribly wrong. Those events basically created the snarling animal we meet in that first scene, and who haunts the film throughout, as she hunts down the criminal leader Silas (Toby Kebbell) involved in that life-changing earlier investigation.
Kidman is not the only actor whose appearance is unconventional, or whose character’s life was transformed by the events that twisted Erin Bell, in this noir-ish drama.
The film never makes clear who or what is the “destroyer” in the title, but it may be the main character played by Kidman. When the crime figure who masterminded the robbery that so impacted the detective’s life re-emerges, Bell sets out to finish old business, tracking down Silas’ old gang members and collaborators, stepping over the line as the quest for vengeance unhinges her.
Revenge is a theme but so being held accountable for one’s actions, as Erin is not free of guilt herself. Kidman’s work is supported by a good cast. Sebastian Stan plays Chris, Erin Bell’s partner in the earlier undercover operation, who we see frequently in the flashbacks. Tatiana Maslany plays Silas’ lover Petra, while Jade Pettyjohn plays Erin’s teen-aged daughter Shelby. Bradley Whitford plays the money launderer Dennis DiFranco
This crime thriller is very much a character-driven story. Director Karyn Kusama takes a neutral, non-judgmental approach to this often-unlikable, violent character. She is a puzzle whose pieces are gradually assembled for us throughout the drama.
This is a film that is likely to stay with you, to haunt you, after its end, particularly the unforgettable character at its center. But this is a film that requires patience. You have to stay with it to the end to fully appreciate what it is doing. There is a bit of misdirection in the film and audiences will think they know what kind of story they are watching only to discover it is something else. It takes us down several rabbit holes, but clears up the questions it raises in its powerful conclusion.
Audiences are more accustomed to seeing male actors in this kind of gritty, unlikable anti-hero role. Of course, It is not the first time a beautiful actress has gone through this kind of physical transformation – we have certainly seen Charlize Theron do this more than once – but this is the first time we have seen Kidman tackle this kind of risky role. Not only makeup transforms Kidman’s appearance, as the actress bravely embraces this challenging character. Kidman adopts a squinting look, a stooped posture and a rolling walk that suggests a cowboy, along with a gravelly voice in a menacing monotone.
The film is visually striking, and the fine cinematography by Julie Kirkwood is one of its strengths. The action often takes place at the margins of the city, where broken pavement or overlooked spaces under bridges allow the natural environment to unexpectedly poke through.
The reference to Westerns are not just in Kidman’s portrayal. In fact, although the film is set in contemporary LA., subtle visual references to classic Westerns abound. The out-of-the-way locations are seedy, but they are also wind-swept and sunlight with a harsh light that recalls the dry, high plains of the West. While the drama has the shadows of film noir, occasional stabs of bright light that pierce that darkness, reflecting the influence of Michael Mann and ’70s films like THE FRENCH CONNECTION. But those moments of bright light are often through pale grasses growing in the margins. The film was shot entirely in and around Los Angeles, which gives it a distinct realism. The faded, spiky grasses suggest Western prairies, as if the natural Western landscape that L. A, was built on is struggling to breakthrough and reclaim the space.
DESTROYER is worth seeing for Nicole Kidman’s remarkable performance alone. While it is not a flawless film, it is worth the effort and patience, and that patience is well rewarded by the film’s devastating conclusion. DESTROYER opens Friday, Jan. 18, at Landmark’s Tivoli Theater and Plaza Frontenac Cinema.
A high-stakes heist goes down during the most unforgiving weather event imaginable in The Hurricane Heist,arriving on Digital May 29 and on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (plus Blu-ray and Digital), Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD and Digital), DVD, and On Demand June 5 from Lionsgate
high-stakes heist goes down during the most unforgiving weather event imaginable in The Hurricane Heist,arriving on Digital May 29 and on 4K Ultra HD™ Combo Pack (plus Blu-ray and Digital), Blu-ray™ Combo Pack (plus DVD and Digital), DVD, and On Demand June 5 from Lionsgate. Directed by Rob Cohen, the director of high-adrenaline action blockbusters TheFast and the Furious, xXx, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, this edge-of-your-seat action-thriller showcases some of the craziest action sequences in recent cinematic history. Starring in the film are Toby Kebbell (War for the Planet of the Apes, Kong: Skull Island, Gold), Maggie Grace (Taken series, The Choice, TV’s “Lost”), and Ryan Kwanten (TV’s “True Blood,” “The Oath”).
A perfect storm of action is unleashed in this high-powered action-thriller. As a massive hurricane builds, criminals infiltrate a U.S. Mint facility. Their plan: to steal $600 million and escape using a Category 5 hurricane as cover. But a treasury agent and a storm chaser have a plan of their own, desperately racing against time—and the hurricane—to save the hostages and stop the thieves before their town is reduced to rubble.
The Hurricane Heist home entertainment release goes on a wild behind-the-scenes ride with special features that include deleted scenes, two never-before-seen featurettes, a VFX reel showing the impressive skill involved with creating a computer-generated Category 5 hurricane, and an audio commentary with legendary action director Rob Cohen. The 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray versions will also feature Dolby Atmos audio remixed specifically for the home-theater environment, to place and move audio anywhere in the room, including overhead. The Hurricane Heist will be available on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, and DVD for the suggested retail price of $29.99, $24.99, and $19.98, respectively.
4K ULTRA HD/BLU-RAY/DVD/DIGITAL SPECIAL FEATURES
Deleted Scenes
“The Eye of the Storm” Featurette
“Hollywood Heist: A Conversation with Rob Cohen” Featurette
GOLD is the epic tale of one man’s pursuit of the American dream, to discover gold. Starring Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey as Kenny Wells, a prospector desperate for a lucky break, he teams up with a similarly eager geologist and sets off on an amazing journey to find gold in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia. Getting the gold was hard, but keeping it would be even harder, sparking an adventure through the most powerful boardrooms of Wall Street.
Also features Edgar Ramirez, Bryce Dallas Howard, Corey Stoll, Toby Kebbell, Bill Camp, Joshua Harto, Timothy Simons, Craig T Nelson, Stacy Keach, and Bruce Greenwood.
The score is from composer Daniel Pemberton. Pemberton was Golden Globe nominated this year for Best Original Song for GOLD. He co-wrote the original song along with Iggy Pop and Danger Mouse.
Directed by Stephen Gaghan, GOLD opens in St. Louis, Friday, January 27.
WAMG invites you to enter for the chance to win TWO (2) seats to the advance screening of GOLD on MONDAY, JANUARY 23 at 7PM in the St. Louis area.
Answer the following:
What’s the name of the 1974 thriller film, starring Roger Moore and Susannah York, that had to do with a South African gold mine?
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OFFICIAL RULES:
1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.
2. No purchase necessary. A pass does not guarantee a seat at a screening. Seating is on a first-come, first served basis. The theater is overbooked to assure a full house. The theater is not responsible for overbooking.
Okay you “horror-hounds”, just put the brakes on. Despite the “M” word in this film’s title, this is not a “creature-centric” rehash of the 70’s stalker classic WHEN A STRANGER CALLS. This is actually a sensitive look at one young lad’s difficult pre-teen years. And he’s not just dealing with skin problems or vocal changes, but a major family tragedy. Why the title monster? Perhaps he’s an allegory, a towering stand-in for the boy’s, nearly insurmountable future. Or this “beastie” may be his “bestie”, a friend he desperately needs. In Hollywood’s golden age it was thought that children would be repulsed and horrified by Frankenstein’s monster and his ilk, but when their stories became TV staples in the late 1950’s , the lil’ ones embraced them. They weren’t villains, but heroes (or anti-heroes) to youngsters (giving birth to the “monster kid” phenom). Just as with the superheroes, the creatures were part of a power fantasy role model (especially “monster superheroes” like the Hulk and the Heap). That’s certainly the case with the lad at the center of this tale, when his sad life gets much more complicated when A MONSTER CALLS.
The story begins as young Conor (Lewis MacDougall) dashes about the simple two-story house in rural England as he gets ready for school . He’s fixing his own breakfast because his Mum (Felicity Jones) is very ill (and dad’s out of the picture). The army of pill bottles in the kitchen hint at the severity of her sickness. She’s fighting a losing battle against cancer. The teachers at his school try to be sympathetic, but after class Conor is mercilessly bullied by a gang of taller lads. When he finally returns home, Conor must deal with his rigid authoritarian Grandma (Sigourney Weaver) who sweeps in to bring order to the chaotic household. But Mum is still full of fun, particularly when she drags out an old projector to share the original KING KONG to Conor. Later that night, as Conor sits at his desk, sketching away, he’s distracted by a noise. Looking out his window, he sees something emerging from a nearby forest. Erupting from the ground is a huge walking tree-like creature. It peers through the window at the terrified lad. The monster (voiced by Liam Neeson) scoops him up and proclaims that he will return the next night. “I will tell you three stories, then you will tell me a fourth…but it must be the truth!!”, it bellows. Suddenly it is gone and the bedroom is back to normal. Could this be a dream (more like a nightmare)? Conor tries to go about his life, getting a visit from his Dad (Toby Kebbell), who has remarried and started a new family in California, then contemplating sharing a home with Grandma. But the monster-tree does return, reciting dark and twisted “fairy tales”. How can Conor appease the giant with a true tale?
The power of this coming of age story rests on the character of Conor and (then) thirteen year-old Lewis MacDougall ably carries the film on his young shoulders. He easily grabs our sympathy as he is battered at school and faces a difficult future at home , but he’s more than a “poor lil’ laddie”. He’s more than just misery, Conor’s a repressed ball of anger, frustrated over his circumstances. We’re startled when his emotions come to a boil, first when he stands up to the title monster, and later when he unleashes a display of mindless destruction which leaves audiences in shock. It’s a compelling, complex role and Lewis’s performance hits every note perfectly. As his beloved mother, Jones turns in a subtle portrait of a creative, loving spirit that refuses to give in, even as we see that life force slowing draining from her body. Her work in ROGUE ONE, and earlier in THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING and LIKE CRAZY, have established her as one of cinema’s most gifted leading ladies, and this role is a worthy supporting turn. Screen veteran Weaver tackles a most difficult character, a switch from the ‘warm and fuzzy” screen grandparents usually seen in movies. Aside from the schoolyard bullies, she’s the story villain, until we realize that her hard, no-nonsense demeanor is built up to protect herself, distracting her from the devastating loss soon to come. The accent may be hit or miss, but the passion is always there in Weaver’s work. Though most of his recent screen work has been masked by motion-capture CGI, Kebbell excels here as a likable father, who can’t quite ‘step up to the plate” for a son that desperately needs him. And speaking of “mo-cap”, Neeson is spectacular as the best walking tree since we met Groot a couple of years ago.
Director J.A. Bayona, who gave us the wonderful family disaster drama THE IMPOSSIBLE in 2012, delivers another emotional rollercoaster, expertly shifting between fantasy and everyday heartbreak. He handles the screenplay from Patrick Ness with great sensitivity, never going for easy “three hanky” melodramatics. Yes, the “monster” is a marvelous CGI creation with tree limbs shooting from his back like a stegosaurus, and glowing yellow eyes that can instantly go to fiery red, as if its veins were filled with searing lava. But there’s more visual wonders in the stories this creature relates. One is illustrated with moving watercolor-like splashes while another uses figures that seem made of crinkled paper and tuffs of cloth and fur. Each feels like a grand short subject that fits snugly in the narrative. The cinematography from Oscar Faura gives the early scenes a haunted, overcast look, one that gradually brightens as things become bleak. And Fernado Velazquez’s score never overwhelms or pummels the ears. This is a touching, life-affirming tale, superbly told by the film makers and an outstanding cast, proving that one should always answer when A MONSTER CALLS.
Stories are the wildest things of all. — The Monster
Close your eyes and let your imagination do the work. Listen to Liam Neeson as he reads the first chapter of Patrick Ness’ A Monster Calls:
Directed by J.A. Bayona (The Impossible, The Orphanage), A MONSTER CALLS is a visually spectacular and stunningly emotional drama based on the award-winning novel. The screenplay adaptation is by the book’s author, Patrick Ness. Mr. Ness wrote the novel from an original idea by the late Siobhan Dowd.
12-year-old Conor O’Malley (Lewis MacDougall) is about to escape into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales. He is dealing with his mother’s (Felicity Jones) illness, which has
necessitated Conor’s spending time with his less-than-sympathetic grandmother (Sigourney Weaver). His daily existence at his U.K. school is one of academic disinterest and bullying by classmates. As Conor’s father (Toby Kebbell) has resettled thousands of miles away in the U.S., the boy yearns for guidance.
He unexpectedly summons a most unlikely ally, who bursts forth with terrifying grandeur from an ancient towering yew tree and the powerful earth below it: a 40-foot-high colossus of a creature (portrayed in performance-capture and voiceover by Liam Neeson) who appears at Conor’s bedroom window @12:07 one night – and at that time on nights thereafter.
The Monster has stories to tell, and he insists that Conor hear them and powerfully visualize them. Conor’s fear gives way to feistiness and then to looking within; for, The Monster demands that once the tales are told it will be time for Conor to tell his own story in return. Ancient, wild, and relentless, the Monster guides Conor on a journey of courage, faith, and truth.
Catch A MONSTER CALLS nationwide on January 6th, 2017.
WAMG invites you to enter for the chance to win TWO (2) seats to the advance screening of A MONSTER CALLS on JANUARY 5 at 7pm in the St. Louis area.
Answer the following:
Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning actress Sigourney Weaver has created a host of memorable characters, both dramatic and comedic, captivating audiences and winning acclaim as one of the most esteemed actresses of both stage and screen. Her first feature starring role was in what film?
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OFFICIAL RULES:
1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.
2. No purchase necessary. A pass does not guarantee a seat at a screening. Seating is on a first-come, first served basis. The theater is overbooked to assure a full house. The theater is not responsible for overbooking.
The movies have long been fascinated by BEN-HUR, Lew Wallace’s 1880 bestselling novel – two silent versions, a 1907 short one and a spectacular 1925 feature film, and the familiar 1959 Technicolor classic with Charlton Heston. This will be at least the 4th movie version.
The 1925 version has the most thrilling chariot race, with a raw energy and real sense of danger – very real danger as the director hired Italian men skilled with horses to essentially run a chariot race, with all the inherent dangers (if you have never seen it, you really should). Memories of that gripping, cinematic chariot race helped prompt director William Wyler to remake BEN-HUR in 1959, in full color and sound, with a top-star and all the epic “cast of thousands” grandeur of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
Now a new technology has its say with the old story -with CGI effects and 3D. Director Timur Bekmambetov, best known for NIGHTWATCH and ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER, certainly has the knack for action and effects but might not be the director you think of for BEN-HUR. You just know it is going to be all about the chariot race.
In fact, the film does begin with the chariot race, but then flashes back to an earlier point in the story, when the two young men in the race still regarded each other as brothers.
To Bekmambetov’s credit, he does not simply remake the 1959 film but tries to make the story his own. The story goes back to when Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) and Messala Severus (Tony Kebbell) are grow up like brothers in Jerusalem in the Ben-Hurs home with Judah’s widowed mother Naomi (Ayelet Zurer), sister Tirzah (Sofia Black-D’Elia), and family servant Esther (Nazanin Boniadi). Even under Roman rule, the family lives well. The two boys are close but very competitive. As close as they are, Messala never forgets he is an outsider, a Roman orphan, while Judah is a Jewish prince. Messala leaves to make his own way in the Roman Empire, and rising through the ranks, returns to Jerusalem as a protege of Pontius Pilate (Pilou Asbaek), and a very different man. An incident occurs and Judah is accused of rebellion. The family is imprisoned and Messala has Judah sentenced to a Roman slave ship.
It all leads up to the big highlight of the film: the chariot race. This version wins the prize for highest body count – drivers, support staff, spectators, even horses. Bodies are trampled, chariots flipped or shattered, panicked horses bolt for the stands. Yet even with all the CGI tools in play, – and in 3D too – it really is not as thrilling or as immediate as either of the two previous races with their live stunt work, just more gruesome.
Bekmambetov tries to reshape the story a bit from the 1959 version, mainly by rounding out the Messala character and making the film more about the relationship between the two men. Details of the story change and a theme of revenge and forgiveness are added. It is a good plan but basically brought down by the wooden acting by the two leads, Jack Huston and Tony Kebbell. The film never becomes very emotionally involving or develops much dramatic heat. Too often Huston ends up saying something like “I’m a Hebrew prince, you’re a Roman, but we’re brothers, so let’s race.” Morgan Freeman comes in and weaves his magic in a supporting role as an African chariot team owner Ilderim, but even his efforts are not enough to save this film.
The film is not quite all about the chariots. The full title of Wallace’s book is BEN-HUR: A TALE OF THE CHRIST and unlike previous versions of BEN-HUR, Jesus Christ has a much larger role in this film. While we never get much sense of Judah Ben-Hur’s Jewish faith, Christian content is far more present. Unlike earlier versions, we get full view of Jesus, played by Rodrigo Santoro, and even little bits of sermons and scenes from the Gospels, not just the Crucifixion scene usually featured. The increased Christian focus should please Christian audiences but maybe less so non-Christian ones.
Ever since GLADIATOR, it was inevitable someone would remake old Hollywood’s historical epics in CGI, even more so now with 3D. BEN-HUR is better than the other recent remake of a Hollywood “cast of thousands” epic, EXODUS, but it in no way rivals either the 1959 Technicolor version or the great 1925 silent one.
The movie opens nationwide from Focus Features on October 21, 2016.
The visually spectacular drama is from director J.A. Bayona (THE IMPOSSIBLE, THE ORPHANAGE).
12-year-old Conor (Lewis MacDougall), dealing with his mother’s (Felicity Jones) illness, a less-than-sympathetic grandmother (Sigourney Weaver), and bullying classmates, finds a most unlikely ally when a Monster appears at his bedroom window. Ancient, wild, and relentless, the Monster guides Conor on a journey of courage, faith, and truth. Toby Kebbell plays Conor’s father, and Liam Neeson stars in performance-capture and voiceover as the nocturnally visiting Monster of the title.
Written by Patrick Ness, A MONSTER CALLS is based on upon the novel written by Patrick Ness from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd.
