One handsome devil: Jacob Elordi in ‘Wuthering Heights’.
WUTHERING HEIGHTS **** (136 minutes) M
No disrespect intended, but this is not your great-grandmother’s Wuthering Heights – unless, that is, grand-mama was a hot-to-trot sex fiend.
The umpteenth version of Emily Brontë’s eternal tale of doomed romance, unbridled jealousy, sexual sadism and steamed nookie on the blustery Yorkshire moors unspools as a barely restrained, goth-tinged bodice-ripper that gets you from the git-go. It’s a thoroughly satisfying sit.
With an unerring instinct for the sensational, writer/director Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman; Saltburn) renders the story at a cracking pace, dialling up the hormonal tension to 11 and smartly adjusting the age of our libidinous heroine Catherine so that middle-aged Margot Robbie – stunning as usual – doesn’t look awkward pretending she is 19.
Opposite her as Heathcliff is Jacob Elordi who, dashingly handsome as all heck, traverses an arc that takes him from dutiful adopted son to sexual sadist.
Visually, the film boasts some beautiful design work, both in the sets, the wily use of red (the colour of sex) and enough unsubtle symbolism to push the piece to the thin line between crass and class.
Anchored by passionate lead performances that revel in fiery, fruity dialogue delivery, the film is also graved with strong support from Martin Clunes as Cathy’s alcoholic father and Shazad Latif who does a splendid job as Cathy’s pathetic, cuckolded husband.
There’s been a bit of ballyhoo about the “diversity” casting of the film though to be honest – and as fun as it would be to tear into the issue – it doesn’t really stick out, thanks largely to Fennell having the good sense to account for it all in the narrative.
Who cares, anyhow? All that matters is that the hunger for a big, gorgeous, passionate, sexy, steamy romance is satiated with style and some lovely taboo jabbing.
To wit: brace yourselves for what will hopefully become known as the “consent” scene. It’s a snarky debate starter where political correctness collides with outright debauchery.
Lovely. Can’t wait to see it again.
CRIME 101 ***1/2 (140 minutes) M
Absorbing and tense, this classy, high-grade crime-thriller pits Chris Hemsworth as a high-class LA thief against a dishevelled detective (Mark Ruffalo) desperate to bring him down and stop him from relieving the super-rich of their precious accessories.
In the style of Michael Mann’s Heat (clearly a big influence here), writer/director Bart Layton infuses the well-mounted action with a raft of exceptionally well-drawn characters, including a frustrated insurance company executive (Halle Berry) who inspires the thief to devise one final retirement heist.
It’s tight, serious-minded stuff especially designed for those crime movie lovers who prefer their screen crims to carry strong motivations as well a few chips on each shoulder.
WAR MACHINE *** (107 minutes) MA
Finally, what we’ve all been waiting for – a killer robot movie!
Admittedly, after decades of Transformer and alien invasion movies, War Machine might not lay claim to being all that original, but as far as seat-filling, sci-fi-hued action mulch goes it’s very well done.
Merrily delivering all the over-the-top action you’re entitled to get, the serviceable story has a fireteam of elite US Rangers on a training mission knocking heads with a giant battle droid from outer space.
As silly as it is enjoyable, it’s a high-volume time killer starring Alan Ritchson (so good in Reacher, on Prime), directed by Melburnian Patrick Hughes who gave us the very good, if largely unseen, Red Hill in 2010 before going Hollywood to gift the world such immortal gems as The Hitman’s Bodyguard, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard and The Expendables 3.
If there is one quibble it’s that genre-based filmmakers should work harder to synthesize their chief movie influences into their narratives rather than wearing them on their sleeves.
To wit: one action sequence in War Machine references Aliens so heavily one hopes James Cameron is in a generous mood should he ever see it, taking the scene as an homage rather than anything else.
An American/Australian production, the film was made for Netflix and begins streaming on Friday 6 March.