Reviews by Angus Wolfe Murray

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Donnie Darko (2001)

  Review preview for Donnie Darko

  A film of extraordinary complexity and fascination.

  Californian teenager is told by imaginary friend in rabbit mask that the world will end in 28 days.
• 
  The Doors (1991)

  Review preview for The Doors

  Stone emphasises the loss of innocence to an extent beyond credibility.

  Biopic of Jim Morrison and his Sixties iconic rock band.
• 
  Double Jeopardy (1999)

  A woman wrongly convicted for the murder of her husband aims for revenge.
• 
  Downfall (2004)

  Review preview for Downfall

  Although everyone knows the outcome, the film remains riveting.

  German dramatisation of the last days of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich.
• 
  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.
• 
  Downtime (1997)

  Review preview for Downtime

  Belief is beggared and patience exhausted.

  A psychologist finds himself trapped in a lift with a girl he talked out of suicide.
• 
  Down To Earth (2001)

  Review preview for Down To Earth

  The racist jibes aren't sharp enough. The love story beggars belief.

  Budding black stand-up comic is killed and comes back in the body of a nasty white billionaire.
• 
  Do The Right Thing (1989)

  Review preview for Do The Right Thing

  The madness and the badness is everywhere - the dangerous and the foolish

  Racial tensions come to the boil on the hottest day of summer in Brooklyn.
• 
  Dragonfly (2002)

  Review preview for Dragonfly

  The entire movie is about a boring, sad man being boring and sad.

  A grieving doctor thinks his dead wife is trying to contact him through his patients.
• 
  Dreamer (2005)

  Review preview for Dreamer

  The story is told without frills and if you find yourself choking with emotion practically all the way through, it doesn't feel faked.

  The story of a racehorse with a broken leg and a little girl who won't give up.
• 
  Driven (2001)

  Review preview for Driven

  The action sequences are state-of-the-art and there is a chase through the busy streets of Chicago in racing cars that is genuinely thrilling.

  A chase for the championship in Formula One motor racing.
• 
  Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)

  Review preview for Drop Dead Gorgeous

  There are too many clashes of style, as if rookie director Michael Patrick Jann has thrown everything into the pot and stirred.

  Over-the-top parody of US beauty pageants.
• 
  Dr Akagi (1998)

  Review preview for Dr Akagi

  Akira Emoto brings to Akagi an understanding of humanity's ability to find compassion in the face of defeat.

  A doctor battles hepatitis in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.
• 
  Duets (2000)

  Review preview for Duets

  The plot swithers this way and that.

  Ensemble road movie sees Gwyneth (and others) compete at karaoke.
• 
  The Dukes Of Hazzard (2005)

  Review preview for The Dukes Of Hazzard

  The Dukes Of Hazzard is what-you-see-is-what-you-has.

  Luke, Bo and Daisy make big-screen comeback.
• 
  Dead Man's Curve (1998)

  Review preview for Dead Man's Curve

  Rosen's script is dazzlingly witty.

  Black comedy sees teens find it's murder to get into college.
• 
  Dear Frankie (2004)

  Review preview for Dear Frankie

  There are too many loose ends

  Mother of a nine-year-old deaf boy pays a stranger to be dad for a day.
• 
  Dear Wendy (2005)

  Review preview for Dear Wendy

  As an example of pretentious filmmaking, Dear Wendy scores high marks.

  Allegorical story of guns and gun culture set in a mythical American mining town.
• 
  Death Becomes You (2007)

  Review preview for Death Becomes You

  Jim Carrey isn’t going to lose any sleep over this.

  The Grim Reaper comes to the wrong house.
• 
  Death Of A Gentleman (2015)

  Review preview for Death Of A Gentleman

  A brave and shocking statement of the blinding obvious - success drives money and money corrupts.

  Two cricket journalists, Sam Collins and Jarrod Kimber, set off on a journey to the heart of the second most popular sport on Earth, only to stumble upon something more sinister than they could ever have imagined.
• 
  The Death Of Mr Lazarescu (2005)

  Review preview for The Death Of Mr Lazarescu

  A reminder of what it was like when writer/directors had the freedom to be truthful without fear of being shut down by penny-pinching producers.

  The Romanian health service is exposed as a sixtysomething borderline alcoholic progresses through the grim reaper’s waiting room.
• 
  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
• 
  Death To The Tinman (2007)

  Review preview for Death To The Tinman

  A macabre fairy tale in black-and-white without fairies is superficial enough to be frivolous.

  An amputee's rom-com, cut short. Showing as part of World Shorts 1 at EIFF 2007.
• 
  Deception (2000)

  Review preview for Deception

  Before getting excited, remember the title. Nothing is as it seems and nothing makes sense.

  An ex-con assumes his dead cellmate's identity and gets caught up in a heist.
• 
  Deep (2005)

  Review preview for Deep

  This is Simone van Dusseldorp's first film and she is courageous in her use of close ups, as if trying to inhabit the emotional heart of this strong-willed girl, sensitively played by Melody Klaver.

  A teenage girl swims in the choppy waters of sexuality, out of her depth and determined not to drown.
• 
  Deepwater Horizon (2016)

  Review preview for Deepwater Horizon

  You cannot begin to understand what's going on, or not going on

  A story set on the offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, which exploded during April 2010 and created the worst oil spill in US history.
• 
  The Deep End (2001)

  Review preview for The Deep End

  Suture, have avoided every cliche of film noir.

  A mother tries to protect her son from suspicion after his lover is found dead.
• 
  Deep Water (2006)

  Review preview for Deep Water

  The story is tragic, at times heartbreaking, always enthralling, never dull and ultimately ironic.

  The story of the disastrous 1968 round the world yacht race.
• 
  Deja Vu (2003)

  Review preview for Deja Vu

  The concept may be simple, but the application is full of confidence.

  monochromed young man in pub starts seeing the future in colour
• 
  Le Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe (1959)

  Review preview for Le Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe

  For a filmmaker so adept at the nuances of human relationships, Le Dejeuner Sur L’Herbe lacks subtlety.

  A famous scientist falls victim to nature’s seductive charms. Currently out to own as part of the seven-disc Jean Renoir Collection.
• 
  Dekalog: The Ten Commandments - Parts 1 - 5 and Parts 6 - 10 (1989)

  Review preview for Dekalog: The Ten Commandments - Parts 1 - 5 and Parts 6 - 10

  Probably the finest example of filmmaking in the last three decades.

  Ten films set in Warsaw, based on the 10 commandments.
• 
  The Delaware Project (2007)

  Review preview for The Delaware Project

  The mystery is the girl.

  Sad girl has trouble with her eyes.
• 
  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.
• 
  Derailed (2005)

  Review preview for Derailed

  Owen can do this kind of thing standing on his head, while balancing a cage of turtledoves.

  The terrible cost of flirting with an attractive banker on a commuter train.
• 
  Desperate Measures (1998)

  Review preview for Desperate Measures

  Keaton half-deranged is an improvement on Keaton half funny.

  A bone marrow transplant from a sociopath is the last remaining hope for a cop's son.
• 
  Despite The Falling Snow (2016)

  Review preview for Despite The Falling Snow

  Baffling and slow

  A spy falls in love with the politician she is supposed to be watching.
• 
  Detroit Rock City (1999)

  Review preview for Detroit Rock City

  This movie hypes the old glammers, with a story of such banality it encourages brain death.

  Four kids in a KISS cover band try to get in to see their idols.
• 
  Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999)

  Review preview for Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo

  Even the title is rubbish.

  Unsuspecting man becomes gigolo in case of mistaken identity.
• 
  The Devil's Advocate (1997)

  Review preview for The Devil's Advocate

  A movie like this should be fun, or disturbing. To be neither means that two-and-a-half hours watching Reeves attempt a purposeful expression and Pacino play the diabolical charm card is a long time waiting for cheesy effects and naked bods.

  An upwardly mobile lawyer discovers his boss is the devil in disguise.
• 
  Devil's Due (2014)

  Review preview for Devil's Due

  The performances are brave; the script is not

  Pregnancy spells something sinister for a newly wed couple.
• 
  Devil's Gate (2003)

  Review preview for Devil's Gate

  The melodramatic undercurrents flow backwards into an ocean of absurdity.

  A nurse relives the horror of her youth after returning to her family's home when her dad has an accident.
• 
  Diana (2013)

  Review preview for Diana

  The film has been unfairly treated, just like the lady herself. Neither deserve it.

  A dramatisation of the last two years of the life of Princess Diana.
• 
  Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003)

  David Spade is a grown man who hires a family to teach him how to be a child.
• Did You Ever ... (2002)

  Angry girl picks up hitchhiker and gives him a bad time.
• 
  Die Another Day (2002)

  Review preview for Die Another Day

  [Brosnan is] put through his paces by Maori director Lee Tamahori and comes out of it stirred, but not shaken.

  Pierce Brosnan as 007 and Halle Berry as the bird in the wetsuit fight North Korean face changers.
• 
  Digging for Dutch (2001)

  Review preview for Digging for Dutch

  This is not so much a treasure doc as an upstate New York small town story.

  Documentary about the world's most wacky treasure hunt.
• 
  Dinnerladies: Series 1 (1998)

  Large serving of canteen comedy courtesy of Victoria Wood.
• 
  Dinner Rush (2000)

  Entertaining ensemble movie, set in a New York restaurant.
• 
  Dinosaur (2000)

  An orphan dinosaur hunts for fresh nesting grounds after a meteorite wipes out his home.
• 
  Dirty Pretty Things (2002)

  Review preview for Dirty Pretty Things

  Ejiofor's performance is perfectly judged.

  Illegal immigrants in London become caught up in an organ replacement racket.