I have been reading the terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger's autobiography "Total Recall" since a week or two (has some 600+ pages!)- this book got me thinking about all the other mainstream heroes of the 80-90s like Sylvester Stallone, John Travolta and the omni-present, Nicholas Cage! So I watched one of their movies, read on to know more
FACE OFF
When my dad brought the Aiwa TV and CD player set into our lives back in the 90s, we got some CDs for free. We have watched Titanic (2 CD set) at least 25 times along with Dunston Checks In ! There was also one whose cover looked particularly annoying to me (I hated action movies, may be that's why!), which was of Face Off- it had half the face of Travolta and half of Cage. Whenever I saw it, I just put the CD case deep inside my mom's wardrobe and pretended it never existed
Coming back, while reading Arnold's book, I was trying to remember the name of this movie. Last weekend, while browsing Hotstar, as if a divine intervention, saw the same cover that I hated in their English Movie list! Half Travolta, half Cage. On a whim, I decided to watch it! Here's what I thought.
Cage plays Castor Troy, a terrorist who, in an attempt to kill Travolta's FBI Agent, Sean Archer, misfires and gets Archer's son instead. For years, Sean is in hunt for Troy for bloody revenge. The moment arrives when there is intelligence of Troy's new plan for bombing some location in Los Angeles. The FBI squad manages to catch Troy and his brother Pollux in a duel (This duel has to be iconic for the sheer amount of lameness plastered all over it- the FBI catches them while they are onboard a plane!). Archer shoots Troy which renders him unconscious.
Meanwhile, Pollux is sent to a high security prison. While Troy is unconscious, a bunch of FBI officers and a doctor hatch a plan to get the exact bomb location out of Pollux- have Troy's face transplanted on Archer and send him to the prison where Pollux is jailed and coax it out of him! You should watch the movie to see the beauty of the face transplant (I am of course being sarcastic, which is the general tone of this review, btw).
They carry out this plan and Sean ends up in prison, while his face skin is nicely preserved in the room that Castor is lying unconscious. Here's a "twist", prepare to be mind blown (NOT!). Troy wakes up one fine night, one thing leads to another and voila, he gets Archer's face transplanted on him and the fun begins! I don't want to get overtly critical of this movie because I am guilty of enjoying it at the end of the day!
The true star of this movie has to be John Travolta! His portrayal of the holier-than-thou Archer and his anti thesis, devil-may-care Troy has to be one of his best works. He gets Cage's eccentric mannerisms (That launched a thousand memes) just right. At the end, you cannot shake off the feeling that it still may be Troy pretending to be Archer. Cage has done a decent job too by the way. In my opinion, if you forget all logic and laws of nature, this movie can actually get pretty entertaining! (Just like most Bollywood movies).
MARE OF EASTTOWN
I watched Mare of Easttown too last weekend and boy, was this show brilliant! You rarely come across a crime thriller that has a good plot, is directed well, keeps you guessing, has exemplary actors and overall, is a decent show. This one crosses everything in the list.
Its about a suburb called Easttown, where a girl has been missing for over a year. While solving this murder, Detective Mare Sheehan has to grapple with the murder of another young girl with the help of an out of town detective, Colin Zabel. It starts to look like a serial killer has his grip on the town but does he? Are the murders connected or are they separate acts?
It was a little unsettling to watch Kate Winslet as a grandmother (come on, is she that old?!) but she has done an absolutely delightful job in the show. Her acting is composed and as stellar as the direction of the story. On a show like this, it is easy for a writer to go awry with their twists- not just what twist and how many twists but also where do you drop them! Mare of Easttown has got it all just right. Until the end, you are glued to the screen and just near the wrap up, BAM! there is a twist out of nowhere! It made sense too, the last one because without it, it just couldnt be the end.
Guy Pearce has made a surprising appearance, without having any actual part. Generally, you see such blink and miss parts given to actresses (for eg, the second-youngest Academy Award winning actress, Anna Paquin in a silent role in The Irishman). But I am not complaining, have been a fan of Guy since L A Confidential, such a good actor.
Evan Peters as Detective Jobel could have done better. His acting is spent on grinning with full teeth and no other expressions but may be that's just me. I saw some rave reviews coming his way online.
I have watched Kate Winslet in so many good movies after Titanic but she remained Rose to me all these years until Mare of Easttown. This changed it all. It is a 5-star worthy show, do watch it and let me know what you thought
No comments:
Post a Comment