Posts Tagged ‘Teresa Palmer’

The Fall Guy

Director: David Leitch

Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Teresa Palmer, Stephanie Hsu, Winston Duke, Ben Knight, Adam Dunn

Running Time: 2 hours and 6 minutes

Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Stuntmen never get that much credit. All those car chase sequences and falling out of windows and only the main action star gets his name in lights.

This disparity between film star and stunt man is brilliantly explored with a heavy dose of loud music, lots of stunts and energising entertainment in Bullet Train director David Leitch’s new film The Fall Guy bringing together Barbie star Ryan Gosling and Oppenheimer star Emily Blunt, both of which were Oscar nominated for those films.

Gosling and Blunt make a great onscreen couple all blond hair, blue eyes and perfect teeth but it is really Ryan Gosling who steals the film as the hapless but courageous stunt man Colt Seavers who accidentally stumbles upon a plot to cover up an accidental death on a big budget Hollywood Sci fi film being shot on location in Sydney, Australia.

Emily Blunt plays the no-nonsense aspiring film director Jody Moreno who is frantically trying to complete a huge star studded big budget film about a battle between cowboys and aliens. Moreno’s hard edged menacing producer Gail Meyer wonderfully played by Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham who is trying to keep the studio off their back while secretly trying to find out where the main action star really is.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Nocturnal Animals, Kick-Ass, Tenet) plays the macho big action star Tom Ryder, who is basically a poster boy for toxic masculinity, recklessness and an ego gone wild. Ryder and Seavers do not get along, although when both dressed as space cowboys they look identical so kudos to the casting director, who managed to get Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ryan Gosling together.

The Fall Guy with its cinematic self-reflexive narrative is filled with lots of noisy action sequences and multiple scenes of Ryan Gosling getting shot at, beaten up or falling off buildings. A notable scene is the garbage truck fight sequence through the pristine streets of Sydney between Gosling and henchman with a man bun Dressler played by Australian actor Ben Knight. Another Australian star Teresa Palmer (Hacksaw Ridge, Point Break) makes a memorable appearance as Tom Ryder’s volatile girlfriend Iggy Star.

While parts of The Fall Guy are very over the top, it is Ryan Gosling’s lovable star persona which saves The Fall Guy from being just another action film as he imbues each scene with a hint of goofy sexiness and almost naiveté. Gosling’s version of Colt Seavers is relatable and funny, mad and mischievous, a remarkable tribute to the stunt men in the film industry as alluded to in the original 1980’s TV series of the same name starring a young Lee Majors.

Although the storyline is weak, The Fall Guy is recommended viewing as an entertaining popcorn film with some outlandish action scenes cleverly making use of its Australian location, while the film’s hero discovers a deep fake Sydney style.

See The Fall Guy for Gosling, some explosive action sequences and a surprising cameo at the end.

The Fall Guy gets a film rating of 7.5 out of 10 and is loud and crazy like Colt Seavers and his outlandish outfits from neon to space cowboy. See it at a cinema near you.

Please note all images used courtesy of Universal Pictures approved images. UPI Media

Hacksaw Ridge

Director: Mel Gibson

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Teresa Palmer, Luke Bracey, Sam Worthington, Rachel Griffiths, Hugo Weaving, Vince Vaughn, Milo Gibson, Ben O’Toole

Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ director Mel Gibson has assembled a mostly Australian cast in the World War II drama Hacksaw Ridge about the Virginia conscientious objector Desmond Doss who refused to bear arms during the war against the Japanese. Doss is played by Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) in one of his best acting roles yet.

Hacksaw Ridge opens in The Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia in the early 1930’s where young Doss and his brother are constantly engaged in fraternal rivalry while their drunken father Tom played by Hugo Weaving (The Dressmaker) mourns the loss of his friends in the Great War and beats their mother Bertha played by Rachel Griffiths (Muriel’s Wedding).

As a practicing Seventh Day Adventist, Desmond from a young age takes a vow against violence yet is compelled to join the army soon after the Japanese attack Pearl Harbour. His romantic life is heightened when he meets Nurse Dorothy Schutte, a wonderful supporting role played by the gorgeous Teresa Palmer (Point Break, I am Number Four) which he soon proposes to.

While the first act of Hacksaw Ridge is taken up with establishing a credible back story of Desmond Doss, his religious beliefs, family and brief courtship, it’s really the second act of the film that captures audience’s attention as Doss undergoes basic military training under the supervision of Sgt Howell played by Vince Vaughn (Into The Wild, The Internship) and Captain Glover played by British actor Sam Worthington (Avatar, Clash of the Titans).

When it comes to target practice, the rest of the soldiers including a handsome Smitty Ryker played by Luke Bracey (The November Man) and Lucky Ford played by Gibson’s son Milo Gibson are all eager to take up arms to defend their country, while Doss completely refuses to hold a rifle on the grounds that he is a conscientious objector.

After a military inquiry into whether Doss can still serve in the armed forces without bearing arms, the action swiftly moves into the third act, the dreaded battle sequence at Hacksaw Ridge, on the island of Okinawa, a battle so gruesome that many of his fellow soldiers are killed instantly as the ruthless Japanese attack the Americans without restraint.

Director Gibson excels in the battle sequences of Hacksaw Ridge as a combination of frenetic sound editing, utter brutality and emotional tension is vividly captured as the soldier bravely battle a more sophisticated and disciplined opponent. As the battle for Hacksaw Ridge continues, many American soldiers are left wounded, easy prey for the bayonets of the Japanese soldiers.

Doss in this terrifying battleground questions his own convictions and has a crisis of faith amidst bullets whizzing past him and bodies rotting in shallow graves.

Hacksaw Ridge was indeed a vicious battle of attrition, but Doss realizes that if he can save as many wounded American soldiers as possible then perhaps the American military might recognize his true valour and bravery.

In terms of recreating one of the most gruesome battles of the Pacific Theatre of World War II, Hacksaw Ridge is an excellent film comparable to similar war classics like Steven Spielberg’s Oscar winning Saving Private Ryan and Oliver Stone’s Platoon.

Historically accurate, Hacksaw Ridge superbly retells the unbelievable story of Desmond Doss, the first Conscientious Objector who was in a battle and received the Medal of Honour without firing a single shot. This is highly recommended viewing and judging by its critical claim, Hacksaw Ridge will have a cult following for lovers of genuine war films.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Doss

Point Break

Director: Ericson Core

Cast: Luke Bracey, Edgar Ramirez, Teresa Palmer, Ray Winstone, Delroy Lindo, Tobias Santelmann, Nikolai Kinski, Clemens Schick

The 2015 remake of the 1991 surf thriller Point Break, which originally starred Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves and directed by Kathryn Bigelow moves the action from California to the French Riviera and features a more international cast including Venezuelan actor Edgar Ramirez (Zero Dark Thirty) as Bodhi and Australian actor Luke Bracey (The November Man) as Johnny Utah yet does not live up to the original.

Nevertheless, Ericson Core’s version of Point Break comes across more as a globetrotting extreme sports adventure film than a hard core action film and whilst the stunts are fantastic, the storyline does not feature anything fresh or innovative, but remains loyal to the original plot of an FBI agent who infiltrates a group of extreme sports men, headed by the alpha male Bodhi as they jet set around the globe and attempt some awe inspiring stunts while their criminal acts appear to be philanthropic.

The onscreen bromance between Bodhi and Johnny Utah is an essential ingredient which director Bigelow captured so well in the first film, however in this version, the actors Bracey and Ramirez do not quite accomplish that genuine competitiveness. Their fragile friendship is strained too early in the film and soon the narrative and characterisation gets lost amidst the spectacular stunts and action sequences mainly in the French and Italian Alps.

Whilst the rest of the cast assist with making this bromance believable including Ray Winstone as Utah’s FBI handler and a cast of European actors which make up Bodhi’s crew including Norwegian actor Tobias Santelmann (Hercules) as Chowder and German actor Clemens Schick (Casino Royale) as Roach with Natassja Kinski’s younger half-brother Nikolai Kinski (Saint Laurent) playing a wealthy reckless playboy Pascal al Fariq who funds their various international heists from Mumbai to Mexico.

The extreme sports in this version of Point Break range from snowboarding to wingsuit flying, high speed motor cross and surfing 70 foot waves in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Viewers get the impression that Ericson Core’s version of Point Break tried to dazzle 21^st century audiences yet got carried away with the visual possibilities especially since he originally was director of photography for such films as Daredevil and The Fast and The Furious. This version of the film is by no means as good as the original directed by Kathryn Bigelow who went on to win an Oscar for The Hurt Locker.

2015’s Point Break does have that international multicultural feel which the original film does not, but somehow the narrative of a gang of dare-devil extreme sports men chasing the elusive eight feats of man conquering nature gets lost amidst the stunts. In the end Nature ultimately proves a worthy contestant.

Australian actress Teresa Palmer (I am Number Four) plays Samsara whose initial love interest with Johnny Utah is soon smothered by the general overwhelming masculine desire to push these natural limits beyond their own human capabilities. Despite its visual appeal, 2015’s Point Break is fun to watch but in no way eclipses the original film which was far better directed and a more exciting action thriller.