Reviews by Angus Wolfe Murray

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Funny Cow (2017)

  Review preview for Funny Cow

  The film is in danger of resembling a caricature of working class life, circa 1960

  A woman tries to make it as a stand-up in the Northern clubs at a time when sexism and alcohol and bad jokes prevailed.
• 
  Thoroughbreds (2017)

  Review preview for Thoroughbreds

  The weirdness thrives on understatement

  Two rich girls contemplate murder in Connecticut
• 
  Death Wish (2018)

  Review preview for Death Wish

  The film is not dedicated to the NRA although it should have been.

  Reputable surgeon turns vigilante to avenge the death of his wife.
• 
  A Quiet Place (2018)

  Review preview for A Quiet Place

  If it doesn't make sense terror dissolves into a puddle of giggles

  Family trapped by futuristic monsters that cannot see but have exceptional hearing which means silence is essential for survival
• 
  Love, Simon (2018)

  Review preview for Love, Simon

  Nice

  A young teenager worries that his family will discover he's gay before he's ready, and finds himself falling in love with a similarly closeted classmate he talks to online, without either of them knowing who the other is.
• 
  Unsane (2018)

  Review preview for Unsane

  Despite credibility overload claustrophobia floods your lungs

  A young woman is involuntarily committed to a mental institution where she is confronted by her greatest fear - but is it real or is it a product of her delusion?
• 
  Mary Magdalene (2018)

  Review preview for Mary Magdalene

  She won't marry. She refuses. Is she lesbian? Hey, that's an idea. Let's investigate.

  An interpretation of the Biblical story of the woman who travelled with Jesus.
• 
  Walk Like A Panther (2018)

  Review preview for Walk Like A Panther

  Predictability is the name. Wrestling is the game.

  Geriatric wrestlers return to the ring to save their favourite pub in a Yorkshire village from greedy developers.
• 
  Red Sparrow (2018)

  Review preview for Red Sparrow

  The lady can't keep her clothes on. It's part of the training

  A former ballerina is recruited into Russia's spy school where students learn the artifice of the honey trap
• 
  I, Tonya (2017)

  Review preview for I, Tonya

  Tonya's story is a blinder. You walk away with your heart bruised and your eyes swollen

  Dramatisation of the story of ice skater Tonya Harding.
• 
  Monster Family (2017)

  Review preview for Monster Family

  The plot stumbles into an abyss early. There is nothing left because there was nothing here in the first place

  A family is cursed by a witch and transformed into monsters.
• 
  Finding Your Feet (2018)

  Review preview for Finding Your Feet

  A cast to die for? Certainly. And they almost do.

  When a snobbish woman discovers her husband has been having an affair, she takes exile with her bohemian sister on a council estate.
• 
  Lady Bird (2017)

  Review preview for Lady Bird

  Her honesty cuts through you like an Arctic storm

  Teenage traumas in Sacramento, Cal, for 17-year-old Lady Bird who has love issues, sex issues, mom issues, when what she wants most is to be out of there, anywhere, especially New York because it's a long way away and packed with artistic promise.
• 
  The Mercy (2018)

  Review preview for The Mercy

  What is missing is the passion

  The story of Donald Crowhurst, an amateur sailor, who enters a round the world competition in the Sixties in an unfinished boat and decides to fake his journey to save face and impending bankruptcy.
• 
  Den Of Thieves (2018)

  Review preview for Den Of Thieves

  This is power unchained and unfiltered as the two protagonists position themselves for the final shootout like in an urban Western

  A maverick cop takes on the most dangerous and cunning thief in the bank robbery capital of the world.
• 
  Early Man (2018)

  Review preview for Early Man

  Despite a star studded voice cast it lacks the comic invention required to make an impossible dream memorable

  Stop motion animated cave men and a hog learn to play football and take on the best team in the known universe
• 
  Downsizing (2017)

  Review preview for Downsizing

  There is a message here which is neither fresh nor original

  Satire about a man who starts to think he would have a better life if only he could shrink himself.
• 
  Hostiles (2017)

  Review preview for Hostiles

  Sound fades into nothing and the pace slows

  An Army captain escorts a Cheyenne chief through hostile territory.
• 
  Molly's Game (2017)

  Review preview for Molly's Game

  The tension is too tight to touch

  The true story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game and became an FBI target.
• 
  The Greatest Showman (2017)

  Review preview for The Greatest Showman

  The style is confused

  Musical celebration of PT Barnum's life as salesman, circus promoter, freak show entrepreneur, producer and show biz risk taker in 19th century America
• 
  Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (2017)

  Review preview for Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle

  Entertaining, adventurous and funny, certainly not a mental whiteout as expected

  Four teenagers are swept into a dangerous jungle with the help of a magic board game where they become different grown up people and are chased by big creatures and bad men.
• 
  Better Watch Out (2016)

  Review preview for Better Watch Out

  Careful what you wish for because a more subtle version of torture porn is back

  As a 12-year-old prepares to confess his romantic feelings for his babysitter one Christmas Eve, something starts trying to break into the house.
• 
  Stronger (2017)

  Review preview for Stronger

  The film has grit as if volcanic dust had scorched its rose tinted glasses

  Story of Jeff Bauman, who became a symbol of hope after the Boston Marathon bombing.
• 
  Human Flow (2017)

  Review preview for Human Flow

  Breathtaking and heartbreaking

  An exploration into the global refugee crisis.
• 
  Wonder (2017)

  Review preview for Wonder

  The film has predictability sewn into its DNA

  Auggie has a facial deformity which means he looks odd and people stare and kids are cruel. He comes from a loving home. Will that help in the real world?
• 
  Daddy's Home 2 (2017)

  Review preview for Daddy's Home 2

  Screen humour has dropped below the level of funny-ha-ha into an abyss where mechanical failure and humiliation are the stuff of legend.

  Christmas holiday mayhem with all the families, including grandads.
• 
  Will It Snow For Christmas? (1996)

  Review preview for Will It Snow For Christmas?

  It is a tough watch but, like everything of value. remains with you longer and deeper.

  On a Provençal farm, a protective and devoted mother raises her seven illegitimate children... under the uncaring eye of the farmer, who is the father of her kids.
• 
  Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool (2017)

  Review preview for Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool

  Annette Bening plays a different character, raging against the truth, a bitch angel feeding her emotions.

  A faded romance between a young British actor and an aging Hollywood star is rekindled as her terminal illness draws a veil over the sunset finale
• 
  Professor Marston And The Wonder Women (2017)

  Review preview for Professor Marston And The Wonder Women

  It may be an odd choice for a biopic but it is certainly a brave one

  The true story of the creator of Wonder Woman.
• 
  Only The Brave (2017)

  Review preview for Only The Brave

  Half way through you ask yourself, why am I watching this film?

  A group of firefighters try to protect a town from a wildfire.
• 
  Paddington 2 (2017)

  Review preview for Paddington 2

  This is exactly what a sequel should be, respectful, goose bumpy and warm hearted

  Paddington gets into a scrape over his Aunt Lucy's birthday present.
• 
  Breathe (2017)

  Review preview for Breathe

  The film reeks of privilege, which should not matter, but it does

  The true story of courage under profound difficulties faced by Robin and Diana Cavendish.
• 
  Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

  Review preview for Thor: Ragnarok

  Wow, and double wow! Ragnarok knows how to party

  Imprisoned, Thor finds himself in a lethal gladiatorial contest against the Hulk, his former ally.
• 
  The Death Of Stalin (2017)

  Review preview for The Death Of Stalin

  If you have ever laughed at the headmaster when he slips on an egg yoke this movie is for you

  After Stalin dies farce and political intrigue (equally hilarious) ensues. Somehow the USSR survives. The rule of fear is superseded by a gang of fools
• 
  The Ritual (2017)

  Review preview for The Ritual

  Fear is a delicate emotion. It's not what you see, it's what you think you are going to see.

  A group of ex-university friends take a hiking holiday in Nordic Noir country. Ooo er... (Swedish for "Cripes!")
• 
  The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017)

  Review preview for The Lego Ninjago Movie

  How the film avoids animation overload is with a script that apes cynical teenspeak and a voice cast that is ensemble perfection.

  A battle royal in the city of teenage ninjas with special powers and a fine line in witty dialogue in the plastic world of Lego.
• 
  Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

  Review preview for Blade Runner 2049

  If you haven't read the synopsis you won't have a clue what is going on

  An LAPD officer makes a discovery that leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former blade runner who has been missing for 30 years
• 
  The Glass Castle (2017)

  Review preview for The Glass Castle

  What makes this better than a smack in the face with a wet cliche is Woody Harrelson's performance

  A young girl comes of age in a dysfunctional family of nonconformist nomads with an artist mother and an alcoholic father.
• 
  Home Again (2017)

  Review preview for Home Again

  What is Reese Witherspoon doing here? That's a loaded question, safety catch off

  Divorcee with kids returns to L.A from New York and hitches up with three likely lads who want to break into the movie biz.
• 
  Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017)

  Review preview for Goodbye Christopher Robin

  Biopics are seldom so well mannered

  A look at the life of author AA Milne and his most popular creation, Winnie-the-Pooh
• 
  Song To Song (2017)

  Review preview for Song To Song

  Some films need to be watched alone. This is one of them.

  Modern love story set against the backdrop of the Austin music scene.
• 
  Borg vs McEnroe (2017)

  Review preview for Borg vs McEnroe

  Why make a movie about this match? Why now? Is it the danger factor with Superbrat or nostalgia for IceBorg or the ingenuity of the stunt guys to make the players look genuine?

  The story of the tennis rivalry between the Swede Björn Borg and the American John McEnroe.
• 
  Victoria And Abdul (2017)

  Review preview for Victoria And Abdul

  Judi Dench has become the living embodiment of fine acting, so much so that it is easy to take her for granted. Don't even think it!

  Queen Victoria's friendship with a young Indian clerk.
• 
  Mother! (2017)

  Review preview for Mother!

  In the realm of the insane reason has no place. Anything is possible. Even the impossible

  Uninvited guests threaten a couple's relationship.
• 
  The Limehouse Golem (2016)

  Review preview for The Limehouse Golem

  The film has a genuine sense of grand guignol, the Gothic undercurrent of bloody horror

  A detective goes on the trail of a serial killer in Victorian London.
• 
  Stratton (2017)

  Review preview for Stratton

  The plot is repro sans style. The acting is like an Amazon parcel, half empty

  A British Special Boat Service commando tracks down an international terrorist cell.
• 
  Detroit (2017)

  Review preview for Detroit

  The film is orchestrated at perfect pitch

  Amid the chaos of the Detroit Rebellion, with the city under curfew and as the Michigan National Guard patrolled the streets, three young African American men were murdered at the Algiers Motel.
• 
  Logan Lucky (2017)

  Review preview for Logan Lucky

  The script depends on the pieces fitting together at the right time in the right places, ignoring daft coincidence and ludicrous possibilities

  Two brothers attempt to pull off a heist during a NASCAR race in North Carolina.
• 
  The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017)

  Review preview for The Hitman's Bodyguard

  A high octane, low credibility caper

  A top professional bodyguard gets a new client, a hitman who is required to testify at the International Court of Justice. They must put their differences aside and work together to make it to the trial on time.
• 
  Annabelle: Creation (2017)

  Review preview for Annabelle: Creation

  In the dark no one can hear you die

  Several years after the tragic death of their little girl, a dollmaker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, soon becoming the target of the dollmaker's possessed creation, Annabelle.