Loving life: Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh in ‘We Live in Time’.
WE LIVE IN TIME *** (108 minutes) M
You’ll need to have one heck of a hard heart to get through this unreserved tearjerker without getting misty-eyed at least once.
By any fair measure, We Live In Time is a routine, by-the-numbers heartstring plucker that uses the age-old device of chronic illness to test the love and devotion people have for each other.
The fine lead performances from Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield notwithstanding, the film’s chief point of distinction is its non-linear narrative – a lofty phrase that simply means the story is told out of order, jumping forwards and backwards across the timeline.
This demands that you pay a tad more attention than you otherwise would have had the film been strictly chronological. Essentially, it’s a clever gimmick, well-deployed so that it always keeps clear where you are. (Indeed, it brings to mind the 2013 Richard Curtis time-travel film About Time.)
Meeting in a singularly bizarre circumstance that adds a new dimension to the “meet cute” rom-com trope, ascendant chef Almut (Pugh) quite literally runs into Weetabix rep Tobias (Garfield), prompting an initially awkward relationship that blossoms into a mutually supportive romance that sets them up for a happy marriage and a lovely daughter.
But then their balloon is popped by the intrusion of ovarian cancer, confronting them with a crucial choice: to let their lives be defined by the terminal condition or to defiantly live life to the fullest.
They bravely opt for the latter, with Almut aiming to triumph by competing in a major culinary contest, an endeavour that proves extremely challenging.
The film is unashamedly old-fashioned – and welcome at a time when the aim of so many films is to induce a sense of comfortable numbness.
Blessedly, We Live in Time deliberately runs counter to that – and does so very well.
Just remember to bring a good supply of tissues.
WOLF MAN *** (103 minutes) MA
The latest in a century-long line of werewolf movies, Wolf Man chimes in as a worthy entry into the hirsute creature feature canon thanks to being sufficiently different to justify its existence.
There’s a lot that’s standard to the genre, with plenty of screaming and running and icky gore effects. Still, it boasts a neat twist amidst all the horror-movie tropes.
When Blake (Christopher Abbott) inherits the cabin in the woods where he grew up, he sees it as a opportunity to help fix his failing marriage to Charlotte (Julia Garner), his hard-working journalist wife.
The sojourn into the depths of the Oregon wild to take possession of the place will also strengthen his bond to daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth), to whom he feels he hasn’t been the best father.
Nearing the place they encounter a violent, hairy beast that forces their vehicle off the road, prompting them to take cover in the house. And they’re on their own against this thing because – wouldn’t you know it? – there’s no signal on their devices.
As the night wears on Charlotte and Ginger begin worrying over Blake’s behaviour, suggesting he has been infected by the monster and is slowly turning into a werewolf right there in the house. How awkward.
Ably directed by Leigh Whannell (Saw; Insidious; The Invisible Man), the film goes through the motions proficiently, putting just enough emphasis on the father/daughter relationship to make you care about what happens when matters get messy.
As a straight-up genre piece the film works fine, though it doesn’t have the killer scare moments we saw in The Invisible Man.
To register a quibble, the film’s influences are sometimes a tad too obvious with the final reel of Wolf Man playing like an unofficial tribute to David Cronenberg. No real problem with that, only the referencing is too glaring – at least, to hardcore genre fans.
DEN OF THIEVES: PANTERA *** (130 minutes) M
Regular as clockwork, prolific B-grade action man Gerard Butler returns with yet another fan-pleaser, with Den of Thieves: Pantera clocking in as an above-average follow on to his 2018 hit.
The central heist this time around involves an elaborate scheme to retrieve an invaluable red diamond from a vault ensconced deep in a French bank – and it’s a very special facility indeed, given that it has high-def cameras that work and security guards who actually care about their gig.
It does take a while to get to the meat and potatoes, but once it does the film delivers some top-grade tension and ripper action, including a knockout shootout that occurs during a high-altitude car chase. Nifty stuff.
SENIOR MOMENT *** (92 minutes) M
Great news. William Shatner and Christopher Lloyd have reconciled after their spat in 1984’s Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
As we all vividly recall, Lloyd (bka Doc from Back to the Future) played the evil Klingon commander Kruge who kills Kirk’s son before being thrown off a cliff by Kirk in a fit of furious vengeance. What a great moment in Trek lore that was.
Here, the pair reunite to play best pals in Senior Moment, a thoroughly likeable, feather-light rom-com set in the sunny retirement resort city of Palm Springs.
Shatner plays a spirited retiree who gets nabbed for reckless driving and loses his license.
It’s a tough break for the 72 year-old former NASA test pilot – though Shatner was 90 when he shot this in 2021 – but it does fling him into the orbit of Caroline (Jean Smart), a sweet-hearted artist, cafe owner and lover of an endangered local tortoise.
Congenial as it is, the film steadfastly rails against a raft of stereotypes about the elderly, with Shatner and Smart partying, having sex and sharing a roll-your-own cigarette filled with a substance they refer to as “grass”.
All credit to Shatner. The founding Star Trek captain is nearly 94 yet the guy still has heaps of comic verve, shining here with a winning performance that includes some golden moments that were clearly improvised.
On Prime