Film Talk: Latest Movie Releases – Sir Michael Caine in moving story of defiant veteran
He is, quite simply, one of the finest British actors ever to have lived... and a lot of people do know that.
Indisputably Elephant and Castle’s greatest ever export, Sir Michael Caine has appeared in more than 160 films over a glittering career spanning eight decades. With two Oscars, a BAFTA fellowship, and, of course, a knighthood in his back pocket, there are few stars grown on our shores who have made an equivalent impact on cinema and become such icons of the industry.
From Alfie to Zulu, The Italian Job and Get Carter, Caine spent the earlier years of his career immortalising himself and his Cockney twang in flicks that were destined to become classics. In the years since, he has only gone from strength to strength; shining across a breadth of roles and leaving no doubt as to the extraordinary depth of his talent.
For me, Sir Michael in the flesh has always been an elder statesman, and Christopher Nolan giving him the part of Alfred Pennyworth in 2005’s Batman Begins marked the greatest casting choice for a British actor since Alan Rickman got the Snape gig.
Caine excelled in the Dark Knight trilogy, and has indeed shone in supporting roles across five other Nolan films: The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, and Tenet. In recent years he has also stolen the show in flicks by other film-makers, including Zach Braff’s Going In Style and Daniel Barber’s Harry Brown.
Now he is opposite the late Glenda Jackson in Oliver Parker’s The Great Escaper – a flick based on the true tale of a World War II veteran who ‘broke out’ of his nursing home to attend the 70th anniversary D-Day commemorations in France.
In this latest effort, does Sir Michael run true to form and blow the bloody doors off? Let’s take a look...
THE GREAT ESCAPER (UK 12A/ROI 12A, 96 mins)
Released: October 6 (UK & Ireland)
Emotions run high in a lovingly fictionalised account of the 89-year-old former Royal Navy officer who made headlines in 2014 when he snuck out of a care home in East Sussex to attend the 70th anniversary commemoration of the Normandy landings, a turning point for Allies in the Second World War.
Not only does Oliver Parker’s moving picture deal sensitively with the trauma of conflict through the eyes of Bernie Jordan, portrayed by Sir Michael Caine, but The Great Escaper also marks the final screen appearance of Glenda Jackson.
Delightful on-screen chemistry between two national treasures of UK cinema galvanises scenes in The Pines care home where screenwriter William Ivory embroiders the 60-year marriage of Bernie and wife Rene with earthy humour.
Platonic love stories between residents and carers, and veterans who have buried their anguish for almost 70 years, embellish Bernie’s 48-hour odyssey to France including a choice one-liner to deflect criticism of one inebriated British veteran from his American counterparts: “We started earlier than you. Like the Second World War.”
Parker’s film opens in June 2014 on a windswept Hove seafront where Bernie (Caine) is happily settled with wife Rene (Jackson) at a care home managed by Judith (Jackie Clune) and her team including Adele (Danielle Vitalis) and Martin (Brennan Reece).
Unfortunately, Bernie hasn’t secured a place on the official British Royal Legion trip to France where The Queen will meet veterans. He needs to make the trip to Normandy for personal reasons and with Rene’s terse blessing (“Just go!”), he sneaks out of The Pines with a plastic carrier bag containing a fresh pair of underpants and toothbrush.
Making his own way to Dover, Bernie befriends young veteran Scott (Victor Oshin), who lost a leg during the war in Afghanistan, and former Royal Air Force pilot Arthur (John Standing), whose daredevil heroics in a cockpit make Bernie feel light-headed (“I get giddy on the top of the bus!”)
Camaraderie between Bernie and Arthur strengthens the men’s resolve while back in the UK, Judith raises the alarm about her missing resident and the media splashes the octogenarian’s face across front pages.
Punctuated by flashbacks to first flushes of romance between a young Bernie (Will Fletcher) and Rene (Laura Marcus), The Great Escaper trades on the undimmable star power of the lead actors to de-romanticise old age in the 21st century.
Caine and Jackson are magnificent, gently tugging heartstrings in naturalistic scenes of tenderness and unerring companionship.
Director Parker confidently orchestrates brief wartime interludes but the heaviest emotional blows are reserved for a visit to the cemetery in Bayeux and a moment of mutual understanding between Bernie and a group of German veterans.
A touching of hands, weathered by conflict, speaks volumes.
BLACKBERRY (UK 15/ROI 15A, 120 mins)
Released: October 6 (UK & Ireland, selected cinemas)
The fierce rivalry between Android and Apple has dominated the smartphone market for the majority of the 21st century but these two brands were beaten to the technological punch by a Canadian company that rose to dominance then crashed into obsolescence.
Writer-director Matt Johnson and co-writer Matthew Miller pay tribute to unlikely trailblazers in a bittersweet comedy drama inspired by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff’s non-fiction book Losing The Signal: The Untold Story Behind The Extraordinary Rise And Spectacular Fall Of BlackBerry.
Prefaced by a disclaimer that this entertaining fiction is inspired by real people and real events, Johnson’s picture unfolds in an age of analogue data modems and fax machines, when technical giants dared to dream of a working day when “men no longer commute, they communicate”.
A sharp script contrasts the goofball culture of Research in Motion, creators of the BlackBerry based in Waterloo, Ontario, with the relentless, profit-driven ambition of co-CEO Jim Balsillie, who barks orders like an escapee from the pages of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross.
Glenn Howerton devours the screen as this unscrupulous shark surrounded by fun-loving nerds, sparking incendiary on-screen rivalry with Jay Baruchel’s mild-mannered technical wizard.
A brutal tug of war between polar opposites dominates the two-hour running time of a sleek satire that merrily mines nostalgia and deftly incorporates technical jargon without feeling like a dry history lesson.
In 1996, engineering student Mike Lazaridis (Baruchel) and best friend Douglas Fregin (Johnson) stand on the precipice of creating the world’s first smartphone but a lack of cut-throat boardroom acumen prevents the duo from taking their company to the next level.
Unscrupulous businessman Jim Balsillie (Howerton), recently fired from Sutherland-Schultz, bulldozes his way into a position of power by investing 125,000 dollars of his own money and remortgaging his home in exchange for a 33% stake in RIM and the title of co-CEO.
The BlackBerry becomes a dominant force in the communications market, but dreams sour in 2007 when Steve Jobs launches the iPhone, which Lazaridis dismisses as “an overdesigned trying-to-do-too-much toy that will crash any network gullible enough to take it on”.
He fails to hear a death knell for his company.
BlackBerry perfectly encapsulates the scrappy, unorthodox approaches of Lazaridis and Fregin with twitchy handheld camerawork more suited to a fly-on-the-wall documentary.
The seriousness of every setback is palpable and Johnson confidently walks a tightrope strung between comedy and tragedy.
He’s sure-footed when everyone on screen is at the mercy of gravity and reckless ambition and heading for a wince-inducing fall.
THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER (UK 15/ROI 16, 111 mins)
Released: October 6 (UK & Ireland)
Fifty years on from its original release, William Friedkin’s supernatural horror The Exorcist, based on the best-selling book by William Peter Blatty, still possesses a rare ability to send shivers down the spine.
Director David Gordon Green, who recently resurrected the Halloween franchise, hopes to pull off a similar feat with a direct sequel that welcomes back Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil, whose daughter Regan was possessed in the 1973 film. Single parent Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr) raises his daughter Angela (Lidya Jewett), 12 years after the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake. A shocking chain of events convinces Victor that his daughter’s soul is at stake and he calls upon Chris MacNeil to help him confront an ancient evil.
GOLDA (UK 12A/ROI 12A, 100 mins)
Released: October 6 (UK & Ireland, selected cinemas)
Academy Award winner Dame Helen Mirren portrays a divisive political leader during one of the pivotal moments of their tenure, the Yom Kippur War, in a biographical drama written by Nicholas Martin and directed by Guy Nattiv.
In October 1973, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir (Mirren) initially refuses to act on intelligence that suggests Egypt and Syria intend to launch a co-ordinated military offensive against Israel. On the day of Yom Kippur, the attacks begin.
