Reviews by The Exile

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  North Country (2005)

  Review preview for North Country

  What finally raises the film above its somewhat programmatic, fight-the-power formula is its willingness to provide a believable context for the abuse.

  One woman fights sexual harassment in the mines of Northern Minnesota.
• 
  Grizzly Man (2005)

  Review preview for Grizzly Man

  Anyone who has seen Herzog's Fitzcarraldo will know of the director's fascination with doomed quests and magnificent obsessions, and in Treadwell he has found his dream subject.

  Werner Herzog examines the psyche of Timothy Treadwell, a man who lived and died with bears.
• 
  Munich (2005)

  Review preview for Munich

  By positioning itself carefully between the imperatives of retaliatory justice and their fearful consequences, the movie is ultimately less a political thriller than a mesmerizing study of psychological breakdown.

  Fictionalised reimagining of the aftermath of the Munich Olympics hostage taking and slaughter.
• 
  Mad Hot Ballroom (2005)

  Review preview for Mad Hot Ballroom

  Superficial but thoroughly charming.

  Competitive ballroom dancing for the ethnically diverse pupils of Washington Heights.
• 
  March Of The Penguins (2005)

  Review preview for March Of The Penguins

  The finished product is determined to ascribe human emotions to avian activities.

  A year in the life of the emperor penguins of Antartica.
• Separate Lies (2005)

  Review preview for Separate Lies

  No one oozes degeneracy like Everett; trouble is, he's the only one oozing at all.

  A breaking marriage exposes the meaning of love and an unsolved crime.
• 
  Where The Truth Lies (2005)

  Review preview for Where The Truth Lies

  Egoyan's innate classiness, so essential to his last movie, Ararat, is a liability here.

  A young journalist sets out to discover the truth behind the break up of a cabaret act, who split after a woman was found dead in a bath.
• 
  Shopgirl (2005)

  Review preview for Shopgirl

  Modest and beguiling.

  A bored sales assistant gets caught in a love triangle with Steve Martin's wealthy geezer and Jason Schwartzman's geek.
• 
  Flightplan (2005)

  Has Jodie lost her mind, or her daughter, on the long haul flight?
• 
  Broken Flowers (2005)

  Review preview for Broken Flowers

  Unpredictable, offbeat and peppered with absurdist humour

  Journey of self-discovery for dead-pan, retired Lothario.
• 
  Lord Of War (2005)

  Review preview for Lord Of War

  Original, explosive and dense with social criticism.

  The cynical dark world of an unscrupulous arms dealer.
• 
  A History Of Violence (2005)

  Review preview for A History Of Violence

  An unflinching indictment of the savagery at the heart of the American dream.

  Violence begets violence in a study of retribution and small town defiance.
• 
  Serenity (2005)

  Review preview for Serenity

  It's as if they found Lucas's discarded soul, mouldering at the edge of the galaxy, and returned it to the multiplex where it belongs.

  Buffy's creator does battle with the Reavers in space, as earthlings move off their overcrowded planet.
• 
  Because of Winn-Dixie (2005)

  A lonely girl finds companionship in a scraggy mutt.
• 
  Saraband (2003)

  Review preview for Saraband

  The joy of Saraband is watching Ullmann and Josephson fall into the groove of characters who are second nature to them.

  Ingmar Bergman returns to Scenes From A Marriage 30 years on.
• 
  The Island (2005)

  Review preview for The Island

  Fast, furious and Calvin Klein-ad slick.

  Futuristic clone colony action escape drama (in clinging white bodysuits).
• 
  Yes (2004)

  Review preview for Yes

  Amazingly for a film so teeming with ideas, it unspools in clean, lucid scenes of near Spartan simplicity.

  A lonely microbiologist embarks on passionate romance in verse with Middle Eastern cook.
• 
  Me And You And Everyone We Know (2005)

  A snapshot of a family and its struggle to adjust to a new life.
• 
  Walk On Water (2004)

  Review preview for Walk On Water

  Pleasantly unpredictable and unafraid to distribute blame wherever it sees fit.

  An unlikely friendship between a gay German tourist and a homophobic Israeli assassin.
• 
  War Of The Worlds (2005)

  Review preview for War Of The Worlds

  The director produces an unbroken stream of breathtaking images which, even to our effects-savvy eyes, look stunningly real.

  Earth is under attack and survival at a premium as giant alien robots gather for Armageddon.
• 
  Dark Water (2005)

  So-so adaptation of Hideo Nakata's Japanese horror movie.
• 
  Fantastic Four (2005)

  Cosmic rays unleash four new super heroes on the box office.
• 
  Madagascar (2005)

  Review preview for Madagascar

  Sporadically funny but underwritten.

  Four animated animals from Central Park Zoo are shipwrecked on the wild shores of Madagascar.
• 
  We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004)

  Review preview for We Don't Live Here Anymore

  A thoughtful but dreary examination of narcissism, disconnection and emotional dishonesty.

  Dysfunctional marriages encourage indiscretion amongst lazy, summer academics.
• 
  Undertow (2004)

  Review preview for Undertow

  Emphasising texture over tension, Undertow plays like a mud-splattered Hansel and Gretel.

  Atmospheric thriller from the Deep South resurrects shades of darker, deadlier incarnations.
• Silver City (2004)

  Review preview for Silver City

  A monumental bore.

  Part murder mystery, part political rant, John Sayles goes looking for trouble in Colorado.
• 
  Inside Deep Throat (2005)

  Review preview for Inside Deep Throat

  Full of fascinating revelations.

  Documentary on the making of the most famous blow job in the history of blue movies.
• 
  Friday Night Lights (2004)

  Review preview for Friday Night Lights

  Friday Night Lights never wavers in its commitment to that perfect, quintessentially American moment.

  A high school football team offering hope in a depressed American town.
• 
  The Jacket (2005)

  Review preview for The Jacket

  The Jacket is a time-travelling sci-fi thriller that looks marvellous but never untangles itself from its own ambitions.

  A casualty of war returns to a world that appears strange and unreal.
• 
  Be Cool (2005)

  Review preview for Be Cool

  The only flair exhibited in Be Cool belongs to the set designer.

  Sequel to Get Shorty moves into the music business.
• 
  Maria Full Of Grace (2004)

  Review preview for Maria Full Of Grace

  The movie feels driven by a realistic sense of outrage.

  A Columbian teenager becomes a drugs "mule" to escape the deadly routine of her poor village.
• 
  Constantine (2005)

  Review preview for Constantine

  Constantine is best enjoyed by ignoring the Milton-centric mythology and surrendering to the movie's lush atmosphere and wicked performances.

  The comic book adventures of a chain smoking paranormal gumshoe in post-apocalyptic LA.
• 
  Million Dollar Baby (2004)

  Review preview for Million Dollar Baby

  A tour de force of stark, pared-to-the-bone craftsmanship.

  A young female boxer persuades an old-timer to train her as a contender.
• 
  Kinsey (2004)

  Review preview for Kinsey

  Condon lightens the academic atmosphere with an entertaining montage of interview sessions.

  The life and ideas of a scientist who believed in sexual healing.
• 
  Hitch (2005)

  Review preview for Hitch

  Our culture's insistence that appearances don't matter to the average woman is not only insulting, it's false.

  Date doctor struggles to win the heart of a good lady.
• 
  Sideways (2004)

  Review preview for Sideways

  Sideways is a safer Payne, de-thorned and smoothed out.

  The adventures of two middle-age men on a wine-drinking stag weekend.
• 
  Assault On Precinct 13 (2005)

  Review preview for Assault On Precinct 13

  Richet is at his best when moving quickly - he's a director in love with momentum.

  Remake of the John Carpenter classic.
• 
  The Life Aquatic (2004)

  Review preview for The Life Aquatic

  Anderson creates sealed, self-supporting worlds, crammed with excruciating detail.

  An ageing oceanographer gathers a crew to hunt a shark that killed his partner.
• 
  Spanglish (2004)

  Review preview for Spanglish

  Lurking beneath the feelgood surface is a mean-spiritedness.

  Comedy of bad manners in Bel Air, with a chef, a neurotic wife and a beautiful Mexican servant.
• 
  The Door In The Floor (2004)

  Review preview for The Door In The Floor

  We may lose Irving's energetic prose but, thanks to Williams, we lose none of his narrative bite.

  Portrait of a marriage, contorted by tragedy, blistered by betrayal, shaken by change.
• 
  Vera Drake (2004)

  Review preview for Vera Drake

  Once again, the power of Leigh's films derives primarily from his obsessive attention to detail.

  A cleaning lady performs abortions on the side in Fifties London.