Reviews by Jeff Robson

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  The Devils (1971)

  Review preview for The Devils

  It’s a frenetic ride, but one that builds to a sombre climax.

  A rebellious priest in 17th-century France is falsely accused of witchcraft.
• 
  Doctor Zhivago (1965)

  Review preview for Doctor Zhivago

  Every image drives the story on, or highlights the characters’ tragedy.

  Restored version of the Lean classic sees an idealistic poet/physician and the fiancée of a political activist meet and fall in love against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution.
• 
  Taxi Tehran (2015)

  Review preview for Taxi Tehran

  It’s a wonderfully subversive act...but on its own merits (which I’m sure is how Panahi would want it to be judged) it seemed to me overlong, repetitive and self-indulgent.

  An Iranian director forbidden to make movies works as a taxi driver, and installs hidden cameras in his cab…
• 
  Women In Love (1969)

  Review preview for Women In Love

  Russell takes a full-tilt approach to bringing DH Lawrence’s novel alive on screen in all its earthy, sensual – and often ludicrously overblown – glory.

  Two sisters in a mining town in the 1920s fall in love with two contrasting men.
• 
  Our Man In Havana (1959)

  Review preview for Our Man In Havana

  The innate absurdity of the secret agent’s life, with all its paranoia and double standards, has rarely been so elegantly and mercilessly skewered.

  An expatriate vacuum cleaner salesman is recruited as a Secret Service operative in Cuba.
• 
  Warlock (1959)

  Review preview for Warlock

  Dmytryk keeps it all ticking along nicely with the assurance of an old pro, while giving all the central relationships and subtler nuances room to breathe.

  Restored Western. A town terrorised by a rancher’s thugs hires a professional gunfighter to bring order.
• 
  Rocco And His Brothers (1960)

  Review preview for Rocco And His Brothers

  The taut, literate screenplay is always cohesive and displays a frankness regarding the earthier aspects of the story that a Hollywood film of the time could simply never have countenanced.

  A family from the rural south fight for unity and purpose in post-war Milan.
• 
  Nintendo Quest (2015)

  Review preview for Nintendo Quest

  As it progressed, Jay’s enthusiasm for the ruling passion of his life, and McCallum’s paternal affection for his somewhat unworldly bezzie mate, won me over.

  A Canadian gaming fan sets out to acquire all 678 Nintendo games.
• 
  Containment (2015)

  Review preview for Containment

  McEnery-West turns his restrictions to virtues, creating a nightmarish, hermetically sealed world where his audience share the protagonists’ sense of brutal dislocation.

  The residents of a tower block find themselves sealed in when a lethal infection breaks out…
• 
  Far From The Madding Crowd (1967)

  Review preview for Far From The Madding Crowd

  For me, and I suspect an entire generation, this is the definitive, almost faultless, take on one of English literature’s most powerful and evocative works.

  In 19th century Wessex, a young woman inherits a farm and attracts the attention of three contrasting suitors.
• 
  Dracula Untold (2014)

  Review preview for Dracula Untold

  The plot developments become progressively more ludicrous and inconsistent and the dialogue offers lead where ham and cheese would be much more appetising.

  To defeat a Turkish invasion, medieval Romanian warlord Vlad Tepes must enter into a demonic bargain.
• 
  Sunday Ball (2014)

  Review preview for Sunday Ball

  I’ll stick my neck out, Brian, and predict that this young lad’s got a bright future as a director.

  As the World Cup in Brazil reaches a climax, a very different final is taking place just down the road…
• 
  Bypass (2014)

  Review preview for Bypass

  Hopkins has an eye for a telling image and coaxes powerful, committed performances from his cast.

  A young boy on a council estate turns to crime when he finds himself the sole provider in the house.
• 
  Road (2014)

  Review preview for Road

  There’s no doubt that the film-makers know this world inside out and their cameras dig into every corner of it.

  Adrenaline-fuelled tale of a family who have dominated road racing for more than 30 years.
• 
  The Wicker Man: The Final Cut (2013)

  Review preview for The Wicker Man: The Final Cut

  [The new footage] doesn’t severely blunt, and in some other cases enhances, the impact of a film that yields more with every viewing.

  A policeman gets more than he bargained for on a remote Scottish isle - now in a new, restored version with additional footage.
• 
  1 - Life On The Limit (2013)

  Review preview for 1 - Life On The Limit

  Crowder’s film is clearly a labour of love and offers a more multi-angled approach than anything I can recall that’s gone before.

  Documentary charting the most glamorous – and dangerous years – of the Formula One motor racing championship.
• 
  Camille Claudel, 1915 (2013)

  Review preview for Camille Claudel, 1915

  An inward, austere examination of ideas of madness, empathy and the creative impulse.

  Confined to an asylum, the former mistress of sculptor Auguste Rodin tries desperately to obtain a release.
• 
  Blue Jasmine (2013)

  Review preview for Blue Jasmine

  Blue Jasmine has all the wit and insight of classics from Allen's autumnal period.

  A troubled woman travels to San Francisco to spend time with the sister she hardly knows.
• 
  Kelly And Victor (2012)

  Review preview for Kelly And Victor

  Evans coaxes excellent performances from a couple of very talented young actors.

  Two people trying to survive in difficult circumstances embark on a passionate affair
• 
  Rush (2013)

  Review preview for Rush

  Undoubtedly a classy mainstream product.

  The rivalry between Formula One drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda comes to a fateful head at the 1976 German Grand Prix.
• 
  Wadjda (2012)

  Review preview for Wadjda

  A cracking film by a born filmmaker and I can’t wait to see what all involved in it do next.

  A young Saudi girl who will stop at nothing to earn enough money to buy the bicycle she craves.
• 
  Local Hero (1983)

  Review preview for Local Hero

  In retrospect, Local Hero can be seen as a high point for all concerned.

  An American company attempts to buy up a Scottish village for pennies so it can site an oil refinery there, but the locals have other ideas.
• 
  Gregory's Girl (1980)

  Review preview for Gregory's Girl

  The real pleasure of the film is in the non-stop parade of funny, well-observed scenes and killer lines of dialogue.

  A gangly schoolboy develops a crush on a girl who plays some of the best football he's ever seen - but dealing with girls is even more complicated than it first appears.
• 
  Broken (2012)

  Review preview for Broken

  Underneath the sound and fury is a subtle, poignant and often very funny take on growing up.

  A young girl’s life changes when she witnesses a brutal attack.
• 
  To The Wonder (2012)

  Review preview for To The Wonder

  Once again, Malick tackles the big themes full on – love, the nature of creation and creativity, the relationship of Man to God, and of humanity to the environment – and reaches what seems to me a pretty pessimistic conclusion.

  A young couple – one French, one American – try to keep their relationship alive across two continents.
• 
  For Ellen (2012)

  Review preview for For Ellen

  It took me a while to warm to this film...But as Yong Kim explores her characters a more nuanced, rewarding movie emerges.

  A rock musician in the middle of an acrimonious divorce tries to gain access to his six-year-old daughter.
• 
  Laurence Anyways (2012)

  Review preview for Laurence Anyways

  Poupaud and Clement subtly delineate their character’s changes while maintaining an intensity that keeps the audience involved amid all the flashy distractions.

  A teacher and aspiring writer in Nineties Montreal tells his girlfriend he wants to live as a woman.
• 
  Idiocracy (2006)

  Review preview for Idiocracy

  A film well worth seeking out, or rediscovering, if you like stupid films that are actually made by very clever – and very funny – people.

  A soldier who took part in a hibernation programme reawakens to discover he is the most intelligent person left alive.
• 
  The Snows Of Kilimanjaro (2011)

  Review preview for The Snows Of Kilimanjaro

  Guediguian takes a subtle and even-handed approach, well aware that the selflessness of the central characters will be construed as weakness and misplaced guilt.

  Director Robert Guediguian returns to his old Marseilles stamping ground for an entertaining, politically passionate drama starring the director's ensemble regulars.
• 
  The Forgiveness Of Blood (2011)

  Review preview for The Forgiveness Of Blood

  The screenplay deservedly won a Silver Bear at last year’s Berlin Film Festival, taking the audience to the heart of a culture at once markedly different and universally familiar.

  An Albanian family are caught in a blood feud.
• 
  The Brooklyn Brothers Beat The Best (2011)

  Review preview for The Brooklyn Brothers Beat The Best

  O’Nan the writer and director consistently pulls an unexpected development or a priceless piece of dialogue from up his sleeve, ensuring you never lose interest in the tangled lives of a flawed but basically good-hearted main trio.

  Two musicians go on the road.
• 
  Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)

  Review preview for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

  Grahame-Smith’s script manages to condense the original novel to a manageable beast.

  The president has a stake in a deadly game.
• 
  Late September (2012)

  Review preview for Late September

  Sanders’ melancholic, low-key meditation on human relationships in many ways seems the perfect film for a typical British summer – somewhat gloomy overall but with an underlying warmth and occasional flashes of brilliance.

  A group of friends start to question their lives after a 65th birthday celebration turns sour.
• 
  The Innkeepers (2011)

  Review preview for The Innkeepers

  You can’t help thinking that West would have made a better (and perhaps more genuinely unsettling) film if he’d focused more on the inner demons of his young protagonists

  An old inn is about to shut its doors for the final time and two of its employees get more than they bargain for when they go ghost hunting.
• 
  Sing Your Song (2011)

  Review preview for Sing Your Song

  It’s impossible not to admire Belafonte's courage and commitment.

  Documentary charting the career of Harry Belafonte - singer, actor and political activist.
• 
  The Old Curiosity Shop (1934)

  Review preview for The Old Curiosity Shop

  Does a no-nonsense, often inspired job of tackling one of his lesser-known and least-admired works.

  A young shopgirl and her grandfather flee from London to escape an evil moneylender.
• 
  Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

  Review preview for Monsieur Lazhar

  Superior stuff, highly recommended.

  An Algerian teacher helps the class of a Montreal grade school cope with the aftermath of a tragedy.
• 
  Dragonslayer (2011)

  Review preview for Dragonslayer

  Patterson’s undoubtedly got the confidence of these rad dudes, creating the feel of a genuine dispatch from another tribe.

  Documentary following a year in the life of skateboarder Josh ‘Skreech’ Sandoval.
• 
  Last Screening (2011)

  Review preview for Last Screening

  The implausibilities pile up to a ludicrous extent and by the time the climax arrived I’m afraid I’d ceased to care what happened to any of them.

  The projectionist of a small-town French cinema leads a murderous double life.
• 
  Correspondence: Jonas Mekas - JL Guerín (2011)

  Review preview for Correspondence: Jonas Mekas - JL Guerín

  Without any constraints of time or budget, and no need to impose any narrative on their musings, the result is often vague, undefined and verging on the pretentious.

  Two filmmakers exchange ‘letters’ in the form of filmed reflections on their personal experiences and the nature of cinema.
• 
  Bernadette: Notes On A Political Journey (2011)

  Review preview for Bernadette: Notes On A Political Journey

  Doolan does a good job of distilling an incredibly complex period of history down to a manageable length.

  The remarkable political life of Bernadette Devlin McAliskey.
• 
  Corpo Celeste (2011)

  Review preview for Corpo Celeste

  The two central performances – Vianello’s bewildered, sensitive, lonely young girl and Cantalupo’s harassed moral inadequate – are pitch-perfect.

  A young girl struggles to cope with a family move, while preparing for her confirmation ceremony.
• 
  Tintin And The Mystery Of The Golden Fleece (1961)

  Review preview for Tintin And The Mystery Of The Golden Fleece

  The somewhat uneven performances and machine-translator dubbed dialogue add to the sense of ramshackle charm.

  The eternally youthful reporter/ detective and his chums find themselves involved in a treasure hunt when Captain Haddock receives a surprise inheritance.
• 
  Dark Horse (2011)

  Review preview for Dark Horse

  The plot’s undoubtedly secondary to the characters, and once again Solondz has drawn a gallery of very recognisable and very flawed human beings.

  Todd Solondz draws dark comedy from the story of two dysfunctional thirtysomethings planning to marry.
• 
  Red Rock West (1993)

  Review preview for Red Rock West

  Stick a Johnny Cash CD on, fix yourself a JD and a Bud, then settle down for some good, thoroughly unclean fun.

  A drifter is mistaken for a hitman and falls in love with the woman he’s supposed to kill...
• 
  Homicide (1991)

  Review preview for Homicide

  The testosterone, sweat and fag-smoke ambience of a New York precinct house is so well-realised that you might want a shower afterwards.

  A Jewish detective finds his loyalties and sense of identity questioned when he investigates a murder with anti-Semitic overtones.
• 
  One False Move (1992)

  Review preview for One False Move

  It’s one of the most perfect examples of this quintessentially American genre that I’ve ever seen

  A small town sheriff prepares to to apprehend a trio of criminals heading his way.
• 
  The Indian Runner (1991)

  Review preview for The Indian Runner

  Penn had a definite feel for the incidental details and the everyday rhythms of small-town life.

  A State patrolman tries to keep his troubled Vietnam veteran brother on the straight and narrow...
• 
  Last Man Standing (1996)

  Review preview for Last Man Standing

  As Brucie bursts into yet another room and unloads his automatics into yet another group of anonymous heavies you’ll find it hard not to think that this has all been done before – and better.

  A mysterious stranger arrives in a small town and begins to play two rival gangs off against one another...
• 
  Hard Eight (1996)

  Review preview for Hard Eight

  As a director, he captures the seedy glamour of the gambling world perfectly and as a writer he propels a taut, no-frills story along with a screenplay that’s literate and believable.

  A veteran gambler takes a young drifter under his wing.