Reviews by Jeff Robson

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Katyn (2007)

  Review preview for Katyn

  While the film isn’t a complete success it’s still a powerful, heartfelt take on the cruelties of which people can be capable – and the courage and nobility they can display in their determination to find out the truth.

  In the early days of World War Two, thousands of captured Polish officers are handed over to the Soviet authorities – and vanish.
• 
  Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters (1985)

  Review preview for Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters

  In the end, the Mishima enigma remains elusive, which is perhaps the point.

  The controversial life and shocking death of one of Japan's most famous authors.
• 
  Once Upon A Time In The West (1968)

  Review preview for Once Upon A Time In The West

  This is what Westerns, and movies as a whole, are all about.

  Restored version of Leone's epic western.
• 
  Doghouse (2009)

  Review preview for Doghouse

  Doghouse offers a lot of shouting, a ton of gore and a male wish-fulfilment fantasy where all women really ARE nothing but trouble and the only way to deal with them is to hit them round the head.

  A ‘lads’ weekend’ turns into a nightmare when the boys arrive in a village where the women have turned into flesh-eating zombies.
• 
  This Sporting Life (1963)

  Review preview for This Sporting Life

  Anderson is astonishingly assured for a first-timer.

  A Rugby League player embarks on a doomed affair with his landlady.
• 
  Photograph Of Jesus (2008)

  Review preview for Photograph Of Jesus

  It’s all entertaining enough – but, perhaps inevitably given the context, it does have the feel of a promo film.

  Documentary focusing on the bizarre requests by the Getty Images picture archive.
• 
  Reach (2009)

  Review preview for Reach

  If you’ve ever wondered what kind of job Ingmar Bergman would make of directing a Pixar short, now’s your chance to find out.

  A robot given the gift of life has just one limitation... the length of his cable.
• 
  Round (2008)

  Review preview for Round

  I’d defy anybody not to be amused (and impressed) by Serpico’s dexterity.

  Man’s place in the history of the Earth, told through hand shadow performance.
• 
  Accident (1967)

  Review preview for Accident

  The brittle, feigned civility prompts dialogue the equal of any Pinter ever wrote.

  A happily-married academic develops an obsession with one of his students.
• 
  State Of Play (2009)

  Review preview for State Of Play

  The producers have kept what was best about the original, added some interesting touches and resisted the temptation to pile on the contrivances and explosions.

  An investigative reporter finds his loyalties conflicted when a story involving murder, blackmail and conspiracy centres on his old friend, now an up-and-coming Congressman.
• 
  Tony Manero (2008)

  Review preview for Tony Manero

  The nature of delusion and fixation has been explored many times in cinema, but rarely with such grim and gripping intensity.

  The story of a psychotic fiftysomething and his obssession with John Travolta's character in Saturday Night Fever.
• 
  The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)

  Review preview for The Outlaw Josey Wales

  At times Eastwood's character and the journey he undertakes have the resonance of Greek myth.

  A Missouri farmer caught up in the Civil War vows revenge after his life is destroyed by Union guerrillas.
• 
  Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (2009)

  Review preview for Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel

  If TV sitcom veteran Carrivick’s film debut doesn’t quite milk the film's comic potential to the full there are still worse ways to pass 86 minutes – in this dimension, anyway.

  A sci-fi nerd and his two mates discover a time travel portal – in their local pub.
• 
  The Usual Suspects (1995)

  Review preview for The Usual Suspects

  Singer and McQuarrie expertly sustain a rich and tantalising conceit, keeping the reader guessing to a superb climax – and beyond.

  Five criminals thrown together in a police line-up decide to team up for a high-stakes job.
• 
  Unforgiven (1992)

  Review preview for Unforgiven

  Perfectly paced and beautifully shot, this manages to be both a successful piece of revisionism and a classic Western at the same time.

  An ageing gunfighter is lured out of retirement to provide for his children.
• 
  Thelma And Louise (1991)

  Review preview for Thelma And Louise

  The fact that this film still gets people talking, and arguing, nearly 20 years on, is surely an argument for its quality and relevance.

  Two women go on the run when a road-trip vacation goes tragically wrong...
• 
  The Wild Bunch (1969)

  Review preview for The Wild Bunch

  A revolutionary film, in every sense of the word.

  A group of ageing outlaws plan one last big score in the dying days of the American West.
• 
  Flash Of Genius (2008)

  Review preview for Flash Of Genius

  See it for Kinnear’s career-best performance and a few effective scenes and pithy lines.

  A part-time inventor devotes his life to suing the Ford Motor Company for stealing his idea.
• 
  La Bohème (2008)

  Review preview for La Bohème

  Tasteful, reverential and just a teensy bit dull.

  Rodolfo, a struggling writer in 19th-century Paris, falls in love with Mimi, a beautiful seamstress.
• 
  Say Yes (2001)

  Review preview for Say Yes

  Kept to a compact 80-90 minutes this could have been a classic, but the director spins it out past the point of believability.

  A young couple on holiday in rural South Korea encounter a psychopathic stranger.
• 
  The Secret Life Of Bees (2008)

  Review preview for The Secret Life Of Bees

  The film is even-handed... but I did feel like I was simultaneously having my heartstrings pulled and being lectured on female empowerment in African-American history.

  A young girl, escaping from her tyrannical father in Civil Rights era South Carolina, finds a very different surrogate family.
• 
  Bye Bye Blackbird (2005)

  Review preview for Bye Bye Blackbird

  Trust me, you’ve never seen a film quite like this.

  A construction worker joins a circus troupe and falls in love with a beautiful trapeze artist.
• 
  Transporter 3 (2008)

  Review preview for Transporter 3

  You can almost smell the burning rubber - and, indeed, the testosterone.

  Frank Martin is forced into another ‘transporter’ job. But this time the package is human – and very beautiful.
• 
  'Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris (2006)

  Review preview for 'Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris

  Any doubts that this film might just be a devotee’s wilful championing of a mediocre talent that found its natural niche are immediately banished when he sings.

  Documentary about "the greatest voice you never heard".
• 
  Boystown (2007)

  Review preview for Boystown

  By and large this is a warm, engaging and at times genuinely tense film with some interesting things to say about Spain’s burgeoning gay scene and its matriarchal society.

  A Madrid estate agent makes desirable apartments available by murdering the old ladies who live there.
• 
  The Thing (1982)

  Review preview for The Thing

  A classic white-knuckle ride.

  A group of scientists at an Antarctic research station discover a killer alien that can mutate into any life-form it touches. See it in all its glory in big-screen re-release.
• 
  The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)

  Review preview for The Baader Meinhof Complex

  Further evidence of German filmmakers’ willingness to confront the darker episodes of their recent past – and spark a controversy in the process.

  As protests against the West German government of the late 1960s become increasingly violent, a group of young left-wingers decide to take direct action.
• 
  Afterschool (2008)

  Review preview for Afterschool

  'An effective and realistic examination of a world where intelligent and privileged characters have reached near-adulthood without having any real understanding of basic morality.'

  A boy at an exclusive American private school becomes increasingly obsessed with watching video clips on his computer.
• 
  Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

  Review preview for Vicky Cristina Barcelona

  The best movie this wonderful writer/director has made in a long time; funny, sharp, perfectly paced and rather gorgeously shot, with a quartet of cracking parts for excellent actors placed firmly at its centre.

  Two young American girls on holiday in Barcelona become romantically involved with a Spanish painter.
• 
  Johnny Mad Dog (2008)

  Review preview for Johnny Mad Dog

  The film is a heartfelt cry for someone to stop these children being exploited so cruelly, but offers no easy answers.

  As civil war rages in an unnamed African country, the lives of a boy soldier and a young girl fleeing the fighting become intertwined.
• 
  Beirut Open City (2008)

  Review preview for Beirut Open City

  Habchi orchestrates the seemingly disparate plot strands with considerable skill, building a sense of disorientation and withheld information that reinforces his main themes.

  An Egyptian filmmaker based in Beirut tries to make an expose of the Lebanese security agencies, but finds that he, too, is under scrutiny.
• 
  I Am Alive (2008)

  Review preview for I Am Alive

  The film is, if nothing else, an intriguing snapshot of modern industrial Italy, a world away from the travel guide clichés of Rome or Tuscany.

  A young Italian worker, persuaded by his friend to take on a one-off ‘nightwatchman’ job for easy money, finds the reality is more macabre – and complex – than he expected.
• 
  Appaloosa (2008)

  Review preview for Appaloosa

  Harris the director handles both the personal moments and the action sequences well.

  Two professional ‘peace-keepers’ try to bring law and order to a town run by a murderous rancher. But matters are complicated when a young widow arrives.
• 
  Captive (2008)

  Review preview for Captive

  Uchitel shows enough directorial flourishes to make me think he could certainly handle a broader cinematic canvas.

  Two Russian soldiers force a Chechen prisoner to act as guide – and begin to develop a bond with him.
• 
  The Rocker (2008)

  Review preview for The Rocker

  After a slow and largely laugh-free start, this does build up a reasonable head of steam, with enough smart lines and well-timed physical comedy to keep its head above water.

  The original drummer of an Eighties hair metal band gets a second chance at stardom when his nephew’s group makes it big.
• 
  The Fog (1980)

  Review preview for The Fog

  Simple things like a radio suddenly switching on, a wine glass falling to the floor, or an insistent knocking at the door are an object lesson to contemporary horror’s blood-soaked tyros.

  A small town on the California coast is swathed in a mysterious fog containing the vengeful ghosts of shipwrecked sailors.
• 
  A Bloody Aria (2006)

  Review preview for A Bloody Aria

  As an examination of the sometimes narrow gulf between civilisation and savagery, and with a claustrophobic in your face combination of edge-of-the seat thriller and jet black comedy, it works very well.

  A music professor and a young student, on an illicit country drive, encounter a group of murderous young yokels.
• 
  Fashion Victims (2007)

  Review preview for Fashion Victims

  Rasper’s sparky farce does prove that a German joke can sometimes be a laughing matter.

  A German clothes salesman finds his territory challenged by a young rival – who’s also become romantically involved with his secretly-gay son.
• 
  Vampyr (1932)

  Review preview for Vampyr

  Profoundly unsettling, richly atmospheric, a milestone in the development of cinematic ‘grammar’ as well as an edge-of-the-seat horror movie to rival the best.

  A young occultist stumbles upon a French village shrouded in fog and haunted by a vampire.
• 
  Sabotage (1936)

  Review preview for Sabotage

  A gem of cinematic storytelling.

  A cinema owner working for foreign agents is instructed to plant a bomb in Piccadilly Circus.
• 
  Wild Child (2008)

  Review preview for Wild Child

  It’s straight from the screenwriters’ manual and the final outcome is as inevitable as a Zimbabwean election result, but there’s a fair degree of fun to be had along the way.

  A spoilt LA rich kid is packed off to a traditional English girls’ school. At first she is determined to escape, but then she begins making friends – and catching the eye of the headmistress’ handsome young son...
• 
  Atlantic City (1980)

  Review preview for Atlantic City

  Sarandon is a beguiling mix of innocence and toughness and Lancaster brings all his charisma and dignity to bear on a role that is in many ways an older version of the handsome but doomed noir heroes he made his name portraying.

  An ageing small-time gangster becomes infatuated with an aspiring casino croupier.
• 
  The X-Files: I Want To Believe (2008)

  Review preview for The X-Files: I Want To Believe

  The story boils down to a pretty familiar chase scenario.

  Mulder and Scully are reunited for a case involving a disgraced priest who has psychic visions linked to a series of gruesome abductions.
• 
  Rebellion: The Litvinenko Case (2007)

  Review preview for Rebellion: The Litvinenko Case

  Anna Politkovskaya...emerges as a truly heroic figure and the rage Nekrasov feels at anyone who could consider taking her life to be a justifiable ‘means to an end’ is palpable.

  Documentary charting the exile of Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned by polonium in 2006.
• 
  Meet Dave (2008)

  Review preview for Meet Dave

  It’s a pleasure to report that Meet Dave, while by no means a total career resuscitation, is surprisingly bearable, despite having a ‘back of an envelope’ premise.

  A spaceship in human form, crewed by tiny aliens, comes to earth to retrieve an orb vital to the future of their planet.
• 
  Death Note: The Last Name (2008)

  Review preview for Death Note: The Last Name

  The cumulative effect is of a film straining to keep it all together.

  A brilliant Japanese student uses a book given to him by a ‘god of death’ to dispense his own brand of justice.
• 
  Intimate Enemies (2007)

  Review preview for Intimate Enemies

  While it never achieves the classic status of some of its forebears, it’s a gripping study of modern warfare at its most savage.

  A young army lieutenant volunteers for frontline duty in Algeria in 1959, and soon learns the realities of France’s “dirty war”.
• 
  Ikiru (1952)

  Review preview for Ikiru

  In the end what makes this a classic is the direction – stately and assured, with a keen eye for a telling image.

  A civil servant, told he has incurable cancer, resolves to change his mundane life before he dies. Out on re-release.
• 
  Sands Of Iwo Jima (1949)

  Review preview for Sands Of Iwo Jima

  Undeniably gung-ho and corny at times... but the characters are more than mere stereotypes.

  A tough US Marines sergeant trains a squad of new recruits and leads them into battle, culminating in the fierce fighting at Iwo Jima.
• 
  Chemical Wedding (2008)

  Review preview for Chemical Wedding

  One of the key plot developments in the film is a process by which you can reverse time and live a day all over again, sadly an option not available to filmgoers yet.

  A mild-mannered academic takes part in a virtual reality experiment and is possessed by the spirit of notorious British occultist Aleister Crowley.