What’s It Like?

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Starring: Troy Garity, Lee Pace, Andre Braugher, Shawn Hatosy, Philip Eddolls, Merwin Mondesir, Dan Petronijevic, Mike Realba, Jeanie Calleja, Barclay Hope, Tulsi Balram, Vince Corazza.

Directed by Frank Pierson. Written by Ron Nyswaner.

What a movie, Soldier’s Girl’s impact is all the more significant as it’s based on a true story. Barry Winchell (Troy Garity) is in the 101^st Airborne Division, a part of the US Army that has a well respected history and has all the necessary expectations that go with that. On a night out with the boys, led by Barry superior Justin Fisher (Shawn Hatosy), Barry finds himself infatuated with pre-op transgender performer Calpernia (Lee Pace). As relations between Barry and Calpernia heat up, Barry faces trouble with his Army colleagues and everything gets out of control.

Lee Pace and Troy Garity give great performances, Pace’s transformation into Calpernia is so convincing and Garity gives Barry the kind of humanity and honesty that is rarely seen. The rest of the cast aren’t slouches either. Nyswaner’s writing was on target, you can imagine the difficulty in writing this piece and he treats his subjects with great respect. Director Pierson doesn’t rely on flashiness and while that might be partly attributed to the budget, it gives Soldier’s Girl the earthy and realistic touch. This is a movie worth seeking out and you might just find it enlightening too.

5 out of 5.

Starring: Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Logan Lerman, Danny Huston, Lynn Collins, Rhona Mitra, Michelle Arthur, Mark Pellegrino, Paul Butcher.

Directed by Joel Schumacher. Written by Fernley Phillips.

What the hell is up with the criticism over Jim Carrey doing a serious role? While I thought he performed really well in two mediocre films, Man On The Moon and The Majestic, he still got flack from trying to act. Anyhow, The Number 23 is a good little mindbender of a flick, a few of the actors play multiple roles as there are at least two different worlds at play, the one that holds the story and the story within the story. Walther Sparrow (Jim Carrey) is an animal control officer and an all round normal family dude, with a nice wife, Agatha (Virginia Madsen) and a cool son, Robin (Logan Lerman). So what’s so messed up here? That life is turned upside down as he reads a book called ‘The Number 23’. Sparrow finds more and more that the actual number 23 holds some kind of significance as are the coincidences in the book with his life.

Carrey isn’t perfect here, the main problem being his tone used on the voiceover when he reads the book verges on mocking, apart from that though its smooth sailing. Madsen is one of few actresses that could play Agatha like a real mother, with the required intelligence and scepticism, but also be mysterious in her Fabrizia role. The direction is great here Schumacher is certainly on the road to recovery after the hell that was the Batman movies. And the screenplay is so deep and considered that it would have been worth fighting it out for, not something I can say very often either. Lynn Collins’ multi-roles are also worthy of kudos.

5 out of 5.

Starring: Charlotte Greg, Matt Zeremes, Ryan Johnson, Cindy Nelson, Gyton Grantley, Romany Lee, Sarah Kennedy, Christopher Sommers, Peter Nolan, Andrew Ryan, Neridah Waters, Stephen Vagg, Francesca Gasteen, Michael Priest, Sandra Galvin.

Directed by Lousie Alston. Written by Stephen Vagg.

Anthea (Charlotte Greg) is considering heading overseas as all her friends seem to have done the same, left Brisbane, Australia. Michael (Matt Zeremes) her platonic friend tries to convince her that if she leaves she will only hang out with people from Brisbane, talk about Brisbane and want to be back there. All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane gets a little complicated in the relationship arena as friends return, want to leave, Michael finds another woman to spend his time with, Michael and Anthea’s friends Tyson (Ryan Johnson) and Kath (Cindy Nelson) get together and not everyone is certain about what they want.

It felt like the music was intruding on the story at the beginning, however as things progressed it felt necessary for balance. While the acting was okay and the chemistry was too, I wasn’t feeling it 100%. On the humour side the supporting cast served up the best moments. The movie did feel a little short in the end, I’d suggest a little more time could have been spent between Anthea and Michael earlier on before Jake (Gyton Grantley) was in the mix and perhaps even a bit more of Tyson and Kath together would have helped. It is though, all round a good effort and based on a good idea that twenty-something’s seem to talk endlessly about; that ‘pilgrimage’ to London.

4 out of 5.