Film Review : Harry Brown

Much publicised as possibly Michael Caine's last movie, this is a gritty tale of modern life in an urban wasteland. An additional appeal is that the story is set in the same part of London where Caine himself was brought up.

As such, he undoubtedly brings an emotional strength to the role of Harry who is a recently bereaved widower who also loses a friend who was murdered by the local gangs. These events result in his growing anger at what is happening all around to boil over, and the quiet retired man turns vigilante using the skills he learnt from his long service with the services.

Caine is compelling as you would expect, but you do feel that this is a role he has played many times before. However, the very clear emotional connection he has with the material does add punch to the tale.

Emily Mortimer plays a police sergeant out of her depth amongst the amoral behaviour all around. You suspect that, in real life such a well meaning person would simply not survive in such an environment but in the film, she is the one who sets the moral compass around which the tale revolves.

It's very easy to describe this as a British Gran Torino, and whilst there are many similarities in the tale it is, as you might expect, a more realistic and bleak picture of a crumbling urban environment.

It's also worth saying that whilst this isn't by any manner of means a happy-clappy film, it's not as unremittingly bleak as some of this style of movie can be. It was even enjoyed by my wife, and I lost my bet that she wouldn't enjoy it.

Concert Review : Andy Fairweather Low - The Ferry, Glasgow

One of the great joys for me over the past few years has been the return of Andy Fairweather Low to the live arena in his own right. Having put his solo endeavours to one side after the failure of Mega Shebang to make a meaningful impression on the world, he spent the years since then acting as guitar for hire. Given that this included long term engagements with Eric Clapton and Roger Waters suggests the skill and talent that he brought to that role.

Of course, those of us of a certain age remember AFL as the teen idol lead singer with Amen Corner, whilst those less chronologically challenged will recall his biggest solo hit Wide Eyed And Legless which is a condition I well recognise from my younger years. Of course, his previous career never really gave a hint of what a fine guitarist he is.

I've written previously on this blog about AFL, and it will be no great surprise to find me waxing ecstatically about his latest appearance in Glasgow on 6th November. Whilst much of the set was familiar, the songs were given a different twist in that the keyboards were replaced with a horn player which gave them a different feel.

What was different - indeed, almost a month later it still strikes me as astonishing - was the size of the crowd. The previous gigs at The Ferry had been reasonably well attended but left no doubt that the boat was in no danger of loosening itself from its' moorings. This time, however, the place was packed. Not full by any manner of means, but the audience had increased by about three time since the last show.

I'm not sure what's happened in the interim. The tour he is on, and the gig at The Ferry in particular, was no better advertised than happened previously. There's no new album to have generated any more of a profile.

What was clear was that all the "new" folk in the audience were more than familiar with the songs that were played. Hell, there was even three women who started screaming - yes, screaming - when he played Hello Susie, the first of the old Amen Corner songs played in the set.

It made it quite a thrilling evening for me as AFL is someone I'm happy to continue to champion as, in my (admittedly not very humble) opinion, not enough people recognise his worth. It was clearly just as thrilling to Andy and his band who were visibly quite taken aback with the reception which started at noisy and built from there.

All the hits from Amen Corner, Fairweather and solo segments of his career were played along with a number of songs from his excellent last album Sweet Soul Music. As he has done since his comeback, the set also contained a sprinkling of old blues, gospel and country tunes that provided a grand potted history of the key styles of the last 60 years. Most enjoyable and touching was his tribute to the recently departed Les Paul, playing the song Just Because which was his first ever released record way back in the 1960's.

Encoring with Bend Me Shape Me and (If Paradise Is) Half As Nice had The Ferry in singalong mood. Bend Me Shape Me was always a favourite of mine and it's been marvellous to be able to hear AFL perform this live over the past couple of years.

I did notice that AFL will be supporting the Robert Cray Band on their British tour in the summer of 2010. Hopefully, that will help to (re)introduce Andy to a wider audience which can only be a good thing.

Film Review : The Fantastic Mr Fox

The world is made up of two types of people or, at least, two types of film fan. Those who "get" Wes Anderson and love his films and those who most certainly don't and who would rather watch X-Factor than suffer one of his films. (Mind you, that does suggest that a very large number of people form the latter category!). I fall into the former category although it would be fair to say that there's a sameness to his movies that has the potential to pall somewhat. (And that might be aimed at you, Jason Schwartzman!).

This films marks something of a break with his other movies in that whilst featuring many of his regular ensemble, the principle parts of Mr and Mrs Fox are voiced by George Clooney and Meryl Streep respectively. The other significant break is indicated by the use of the term "voiced" - this is an animated feature. Not just any old animated feature, mind you. In an era of photo-realistic digital extravaganzas, The Fantastic Mr Fox is made using good old-fashioned stop-motion animation which gives it a unique style amongst its' peers.

Ironically, this does provide something of a hurdle for the viewer - well, it did for me! - as we are now so used to the latest technologies lighting up our screens that the decidedly old school feel of the visuals take a while to settle in. That they do is as a result of the tale based on Roald Dahl's book which like all of his work reveals a more challenging world than the apparently childlike veneer.

The titular character is a charming and over-confident fox whose bravado sets his family and their community at peril to local farmers who seek to rid themselves of the pests who are ruining their business. Being a Wes Anderson movie, the family and other members of the community are an angst-riddled bunch whose various foibles both assist and restrain Mr Fox in his endeavours to defeat his foes.

Clooney is his usual charming, debonair self as Mr Fox, whilst Meryl Streep plays his loving but long-suffering wife to perfection. With a certain air of predictability, the aforementioned Mr Schwartzman plays the young Fox, and the playing out of his issues with both family and friends forms the moral core of this tale.

It's worth pointing out this isn't really a children's movie - there's nothing inherently problematic about the film being seen by youngsters, but it does play as reasonably hard-core Anderson may make it a little incomprehensible to some. Indeed, that may make it incomprehensible to some adults as well, but that's why I like his movies.

This is an extremely enjoyable movie, and one that I hope will allow Anderson himself to recharge his creative batteries after The Darjeeling Limited which I thought was little disappointing and showed him to be in danger of parodying himself.