Reviews by Angus Wolfe Murray

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Batman Begins (2005)

  Review preview for Batman Begins

  Nolan has gone beyond DC Comics into a psychological no-man's land where lessons can be learned.

  The evolution of mixed up rich kid Bruce Wayne into the Dark Knight of Gotham City.
• 
  Battlefield Earth (1999)

  Review preview for Battlefield Earth

  Travolta doesn't seem to care what this might do to his fan base.

  Slave rebellion... with added turkey.
• 
  The Beach (2000)

  Review preview for The Beach

  The message is less of a warning against perfection's poison, rather a reminder that 'desire is desire wherever you go'.

  An American backpacker searches for happiness in Thailand.
• 
  Beast (2017)

  Review preview for Beast

  The feeling of exposure to evil never fades

  A teenager finds herself torn between the control of her family and an outsider who is suspected of murder.
• 
  Beautiful Boy (2018)

  Review preview for Beautiful Boy

  The performances are a tribute to a screenplay that avoids the worst indulgences of the urban jungle.

  A father tries to help his son break his cycle of drug addiction.
• 
  A Beautiful Mind (2001)

  Review preview for A Beautiful Mind

  Russell Crowe carries the can and he does so with honour and the can becomes a trophy, richly deserved.

  True story with Russell Crowe as a schizophrenic mathematical genius who overcomes inner turmoil to complete Nobel prize-winning theory.
• 
  Beau Travail (1999)

  An officer recalls his life in the Foreign Legion.
• 
  Becoming Animal (2018)

  Review preview for Becoming Animal

  If this was a lecture it would be an intellectual maze into which students lose themselves and never find a way out

  Audiovisual essay considering the spaces where humans and animals meet.
• 
  Being John Malkovich (1999)

  Review preview for Being John Malkovich

  It is a triumph of imagination. The real-life Malkovich is put through appalling humiliations, to which he subjects with grace and humour.

  "New York City, a puppeteer, a tragic marriage, a chimp, a boss, a receptionist, another woman, an actor, the New Jersey Turnpike, and a plate of lasagne." - Spike Jonze
• 
  Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

  Review preview for Bend It Like Beckham

  Bend It Like Beckham understands the rules of feelgood and will do well for that reason.

  An 18-year-old football-mad girl defies her parents' wishes to conform by pursuing her dream to play footie like David Beckham.
• 
  Ben Is Back (2018)

  Review preview for Ben Is Back

  The subject is important and relevant and Peter Hedges avoids the obvious pitfalls with a skilful, honest approach.

  A young man who returns home is welcomed by his mother, little realising trouble is coming through the door with him.
• 
  Big (1988)

  Review preview for Big

  The film has immense charm and skates skillfully across the surface of sentiment.

  A 13-year-old boy makes a wish at a fairground and becomes a man overnight.
• 
  Bigger Than Life (1956)

  Review preview for Bigger Than Life

  The performances are delicately balanced. Mason insinuates madness without loosening his bow tie and Rush internalises desperation without breaking the crockery.

  Addiction to a wonder drug has mind-altering side-effects.
• 
  The Big Lebowski (1997)

  Review preview for The Big Lebowski

  Nobody plays lazy like Jeff Bridges. You could say he was born to it. Or rather, he's such a good actor he makes it look as natural as an unmade bed.

  After someone puts the pee into rug, its owner goes in search of recompense from the man who shares his name.
• 
  Billy Elliot (1999)

  Review preview for Billy Elliot

  Films as conventional and predictable as this feel safe.

  Young lad from up north finds freedom through ballet.
• 
  Billy & Zorba (1999)

  Review preview for Billy & Zorba

  Brian Kirk's film has a sentimental heart and a lovely performance from 11-year-old Iain de Caestecker, as Billy.

  The friendship between a suicidal fisherman and a young boy.
• 
  Black And White (2002)

  Review preview for Black And White

  The performances fill the space between appeals and commissions with enough sincerity to retain your interest.

  Reconstruction of famous aboriginal murder trial in South Australia in 1959.
• 
  Black Hawk Down (2001)

  Review preview for Black Hawk Down

  Scott surpasses himself. The visual quality of the action sequences is exceptional.

  Attempt by US Special Forces to arrest Somali war lords in Mogadishu goes hideously wrong.
• 
  Blade II (2002)

  Wesley Snipes returns as the half human, half vampire destroyer of evil.
• 
  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
• 
  Blade: Trinity (2004)

  Review preview for Blade: Trinity

  Blade has no sense of humour - you knew that already - but Snipes is made to look iconic, which means he's a dull date.

  Comic franchise gets a comedy revamp(ire).
• 
  The Blair Witch Project (1998)

  Review preview for The Blair Witch Project

  The performances are naturalistic and believable. The dialogue sounds improvised - no-one could write banality this well.

  Handheld, hyped-up horror.
• 
  Bless The Child (2000)

  Review preview for Bless The Child

  Basinger can't run. Her acting is lame as well.

  Good and evil battle for the soul of a six-year-old.
• 
  Blinded By The Light (2019)

  Review preview for Blinded By The Light

  The film has a personal touch and an honesty that surpasses clever writing and naturalistic acting.

  In 1987 during the austere days of Thatcher's Britain, a teenager learns to live life, understand his family and find his own voice through the music of Bruce Springsteen.
• 
  Blonde Venus (1932)

  Review preview for Blonde Venus

  The sophistication of the storyline is impressive for the period, because what you expect is not what you get.

  A German chorus girl marries an Englishman and becomes a star in the New York night clubs, before being seduced by a playboy and running away. Out to own now as part of Marlene Dietrich The Collection
• 
  The Blue Angel (1930)

  Review preview for The Blue Angel

  The Blue Angel has all the ingredients of a classic moral tragedy.

  A middle-aged professor becomes infatuated with a night club dancer.
• 
  Bobby (2006)

  Review preview for Bobby

  Estevez uses Bobby’s words too much, but you can’t blame him, because Kennedy’s compassion and sympathy for the underprivileged shines.

  Who was in the hotel on the night that Robert Kennedy was shot?
• 
  Body Of Lies (2008)

  Review preview for Body Of Lies

  This is an extremely well made movie, with exacting performances of the highest quality.

  Counter-terrorist thriller about a CIA operative in the Middle East and his US-based 'handler'.
• 
  The Bone Collector (1997)

  Review preview for The Bone Collector

  The killer's identity adds fuel to the flames of absurdity.

  A paralysed cop hunts a serial killer from his bed.
• 
  Boogie Nights (1997)

  A small-town boy's 'big' break in the Seventies porn industry.
• 
  Book Club (2018)

  Review preview for Book Club

  The boxes are ticked, the buttons pressed. You want happy endings? You got 'em.

  These ladies get hot and hotter reading 50 Shades Of Grey. They are mature enough to behave better, but, of course, don't.
• 
  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.
• 
  Le Bossu (1997)

  Review preview for Le Bossu

  The story has all the ingredients of a swashbuckling 17th century adventure.

  Swashbuckling in 17th century France.
• 
  Bouncer (2003)

  Review preview for Bouncer

  Director Michael Baig-Clifford has worked wonders with his actors and seems in full control of the plot's intricate construction.

  Memories of a bad night at the back of the club.
• 
  The Bourne Identity (2002)

  Review preview for The Bourne Identity

  [Damon] knows the moves, which are implemented with ruthless efficiency.

  CIA agent Matt Damon loses his memory and is chased around Europe by hired assassins.
• 
  The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

  Review preview for The Bourne Supremacy

  Performances by the entire cast are flawless. Paul Greengrass directs with energy and precision.

  Amnesic assassin is still on the run from the CIA after being framed for a double murder.
• 
  The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

  Review preview for The Bourne Ultimatum

  This is about car/motorbike chases, ruthless corruption at the highest level, a focused defense of one man’s pursuit of truth and ... the hint of romance.

  The chase goes on for the rogue CIA assassin in his search for recognition and revenge.
• 
  Bowling For Columbine (2002)

  Review preview for Bowling For Columbine

  As moving as it is disturbing.

  Documentary maker Michael Moore turns the spotlight on American gun culture.
• 
  Boys Don't Cry (1999)

  Review preview for Boys Don't Cry

  Kimberly Peirce has taken a newspaper story and given it style.

  The story of a transgender teen.
• 
  The Boy Downstairs (2017)

  Review preview for The Boy Downstairs

  As a film about non communication it feels real

  A woman finds a jewel of a home in New York until realising her downstairs neighbour is her ex whose heart she broke. Like a true New Yorker, she keeps the apartment.
• 
  Braveheart (1995)

  Review preview for Braveheart

  Only in the action sequences does Gibson touch base. These are violent, uncompromising and energetically choreographed.

  Hollywood retelling of the story of William Wallace.
• 
  Breakdown (1997)

  Review preview for Breakdown

  Mostow's lean, intimate style makes extensive use of redneck landscape, creating a sense of scale, isolation and awsome beauty.

  A man and wife are stranded when their car konks out. But when a trucker takes the wife for help, she disappears.
• 
  Bride Of Chucky (1998)

  Review preview for Bride Of Chucky

  The script was thrown out of Sickville and now resides in a multiplex near you.

  A sequel in which the malevolent doll is brought back to life by his girlfriend, who promptly becomes trapped in the body of a doll herself.
• 
  Bridget Jones's Diary (2000)

  Review preview for Bridget Jones's Diary

  The ending is a pastiche of the worst kind of Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks wet hanky job and a sop to the American market.

  Overweight middle-class secretary has trouble with men and other appetites in London. Re-released for its 25th anniversary.
• 
  Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason (2004)

  Review preview for Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason

  Firth is immaculately buttoned up and Grant delightfully flirtatious, although there is not enough of either.

  Bridget continues to put her fat foot in it, ending up in a Thai prison.
• 
  Bridge Of Spies (2015)

  Review preview for Bridge Of Spies

  What seems dry and dusty on the page is far from it on the screen

  An American lawyer is recruited by the CIA during the Cold War to defend a Russian spy
• 
  The Bridge: Season 4 (2017)

  Review preview for The Bridge: Season 4

  Season 4 proves to be difficult, absorbing, dark and of the highest quality of Scandi Crime.

  Final season of the Scandi crime drama.
• 
  Bringing Out The Dead (1999)

  Review preview for Bringing Out The Dead

  The movie resembles ER on speed. The hospital... is like a war zone.

  A night-shift paramedic in Hell's Kitchen finds himself on the brink of breakdown.
• 
  Brother (2000)

  An exiled yakuza leads a drug war against the mafia.
• 
  Brotherhood Of The Wolf (2001)

  A naturalist philanderer and an Iroquois martial artist search for a peasant-eating beast in 18th century.