SYNOPSIS: In “The Invisibles,” a new fantasy family drama starring Tim Blake Nelson and Gretchen Mol, and now playing in theatres, Charlie is feeling invisible. Ignored at work and having trouble at home, he leads a life of quiet desperation. As his troubles mount, he slowly disappears; literally unseen by everyone except those in a parallel universe who have also vanished from real life.
CAST: Tim Blake Nelson, Gretchen Mol, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Webster, Rachel Wilson, Tennille Read, Laura de Carteret, Juno Rinaldi, Courtenay J. Stevens, Rob Ramsay, Vinson Tran, Golden Madison, Jean-Michel Le Gal, Tal Gottfried, Elina Miyake Jackson, Nathan Alexis, Philip Van Martin, Grace Loewen. Written and directed by Andrew Currie.
REVIEW: Charlie’s (Nelson) trip into a new dimension isn’t so much an exploration of the hereafter as it is a journey of self-discovery. Charlie isn’t dead, he is simply absent from his life, watching his old reality from another point of view. It’s a little bit “It’s a Wonderful Life,” (with a charming Nathan Alexis subbing in for Clarence), and part low-key “Interstellar” rumination on human agency and what it means to be alive.
At the heart of it all is Nelson who gives Charlie a world weariness born of trauma, disappointment and apathy. He’s a “don’t know what you have till it’s gone guy,” forced to fight for his place in the world, and to accept that disappointment, frustration and loss are equal threads in the great human tapestry alongside love and joy.
The secret to the performance is in his eyes, as we see him processing whether to return to the unpredictable real world or stay in the relative emotional stasis of the invisible world. It’s lovely work, vulnerable but determined, imbued with both bliss and the blues.
As otherworld bartender Carl, Bruce Greenwood makes a convincing argument for sidestepping the pains of real life, but writer/director Andrew Currie chooses to dive deep, examining how and why emotional tumult shapes us.
“The Invisibles” is thoughtful, provocative filmmaking that asks fundamental questions about life, love and trauma is an entertaining, and often funny, way.
The name “Backstabbing for Beginners” sounds like a nasty teen drama, a high school how to on how to survive in the mean hallways of twelfth grade. “Mean Girls” with an edge. Instead, it’s a political drama, the kind of thriller that relies more on the cerebral inner workings of backroom manoeuvrings than the kind of things the newspapers write about. Proving the old adage that everything is high school, however, it turns out the two milieus are not dissimilar.
Based on the memoirs of Michael Soussan, the film details the corruption within the United Nations Oil-for-Food program during the early years of the Iraq War. Theo James is Michael, a principled but naive aide to an influential U.N. undersecretary Pasha (Ben Kingsley). A greenhorn, he is soon schooled in the crafty way Pasha does business. “The first rule of diplomacy,” says the older man, “is that the truth is not a matter of fact but a matter of consensus.” As the United Nations Iraq War-era Oil-for-Food program goes south Michael begins to poke around into the suspicious death of his predecessor. Coming into the orbit of Nashim (Belcim Bilgin) Michael struggles with where his loyalties should lie.
“Backstabbing for Beginners” isn’t a thrill ride. Deliberately paced, it covers a lot of ground. To guide the viewer through the story’s socio-political unpredictability Danish director Per Fly layers exposition throughout, in the form of explanatory dialogue and narration. He limits the detail to the ins and outs of what turns out to be a global conspiracy, but it slows down the action, sucking away much of the tale’s inherent tension.
The conspiracy and whistleblowing does not provide the rollercoaster ride it could have been but it provides Kingsley with the opportunity to chew the scenery. It’s a plum role for the 74 year-old actor who unleashes a controlled but spirited performance as the morally compromised, foul mouthed Pasha. It’s also a pleasure to see Jacqueline Bisset as his nemesis, a stern enemy who isn’t afraid to get under the skin of the undiplomatic diplomat.
“Backstabbing for Beginners’s” story of corruption from our recent past, complete with Pasha’s self-serving doublespeak about the “the growing pains of a new democracy,” is timely, if not exciting.
You can never go home again, particularly if you’re a former local legend gone bad. “First Round Down,” an offbeat new film starring “Orphan Black’s” Dylan Bruce is a story of hockey, hitmen and hometown expectations.
Split into three sections—or periods—Bruce plays Hamilton, Ontario’s Tim Tucker, a junior hockey star and prodigy on and off the ice. When an injury ends his NHL dreams he goes off the grid, disappearing, leaving behind his pregnant girlfriend Kelly Quinn (“The Republic Of Doyle’s” Rachel Wilson) and all traces of the life he once knew. After ten years of doing wet work as a Montreal mob enforcer he returns home after his parents pass away to look after his younger brother and get his life back on track. “Winning has been harder to come by since you haven’t been around,” says his old coach. “Winning has been harder since hockey hasn’t been around,” comes Tim’s rueful reply. A job as a pizza delivery driver is less than satisfying—customers who don’t tip bring out his bad side—so before long he takes on the proverbial one last job to make money to look after his brother and possibly woo Kelly.
A Cancon soundtrack—heavy on Junkhouse, Sloan, The Northern Pikes and Triumph—fuels the action. “First Round Down” is working class Tarantino, a scrappy crime story that proudly wears its low budget status on its sleeve, wisely investing in story and characters instead of oversized set pieces.
Bruce, Quinn and John Kapelos (playing a mob boss) keep things lively but it is the filmmaking that impresses. Full of energy, it’s a grubby popcorn flick with the spirit of a hockey fight.
SYNOPSIS: In “The Invisibles,” a new fantasy family drama starring Tim Blake Nelson and Gretchen Mol, and now playing in theatres, Charlie is feeling invisible. Ignored at work and having trouble at home, he leads a life of quiet desperation. As his troubles mount, he slowly disappears; literally unseen by everyone except those in a parallel universe who have also vanished from real life.
