theOneliner.com: Handling the Truth

Back so soon? Ambassador (theOneliner.com staff), with this Ferrero Roche (frequent movie reviews) you are really spoiling (boring) us (us)!

Now, I cannot for the life of me work out an explanation of the plot of Burn After Reading, the latest Coen brothers outing, that makes it in any way compelling, so let's lightly gloss over it. Indeed it seems that the whole point of the plot is that no one character actually understands what's going on completely. The whole thing comes across as something of a cross between The Big Lebowski, The Good Shepherd and some light Ealing comedy farce. And is awesome. It's not as funny as The Big Lebowski, but it's not intended to be, as best as I can gather. It's a thriller strained through the Coen's unique quirks, and it's only really in the latter stages where things go completely off the rails that it becomes really funny. As someone who wasn't entirely on-board with the fawning over No Country For Old Men, I guess I get to say that it's in fact this film that marks a return to form for the Coens.

The trailer makes The Rocker look like an ill-advised mish-mash of School of Rock, Josie and the Pussycats and Spinal Tap, and that's at least partially true. Robert 'Fish' Fishman (Rainn Wilson) was booted out of an 80's hair metal band just prior to their big break, and remains bitter until his nephew asks him to fill in, proving to be an unlikely success. It's certainly wearing its influences on its sleeve, but as it happens its reasonably funny. Go figure. All in, there's a good mix of broad comedy, which is less successful than the rest of the film, and some fairly cutting remarks that ought to keep a wide audience range happy. All in all, The Rocker is surprisingly enjoyable. It's not Spinal Tap, but then what is? Apart from Spinal Tap, of course, which couldn't be any more Spinal Tap. None more Spinal Tap. The only real criticism I've got is that it's a little derivative and could use a bit less falling over, but other than that I'm quite happy with this film.

In Mirrors, ex-cop turned night-watchman Ben Carson (Keefer Sutherland) is trying to get over some past troubles and estrangement from his wife and kids, before he gets attacked by haunted mirrors. Yeah, haunted mirrors. Do I need to go on? After a short period of paranoia before he's sure he's not hallucinating things, he must investigate why the mirrors are haunting him before they rip the jaws off the rest of his family. Mirrors just really is not good. It's well polished, slickly produced not good, but it's still not good.

See you next week, assuming we can keep up this red hot, full tilt pace.