STACK NZ Magazine December Issue 58

34 / 60

34 DECEMBER 2014 JB Hi-Fi
visit REVIEWS DVD&BD
Two lost souls united through music – if Once
comes to mind, that’s because Begin Again is
from the same writer-director, John Carney. Keira
Knightley is a Brit in New York, whose boyfriend
(Maroon 5’s Adam Levine) has dumped her for a
fame as a rock star. Mark Ruffalo is an out of touch
music producer who’s been dumped by his record
label. When he happens upon Knightley singing in
a bar, a connection is made, giving both of them
the opportunity to, well, begin again. It might sound
corny, but Ruffalo and Knightley sell it, and the latter even does her
own singing (well, we might add). As he demonstrated with Once,
Carney has a knack for fusing the power of music and the power of
love in a way that uplifts rather than nauseates; Begin Again is this
summer’s feel-good movie.
Once upon a time...
BEGIN AGAIN
In 1983, the America’s Cup yacht race overshadowed
what was transpiring in a Melbourne hotel room – a
simple TV repairman named Ray (Angus Sampson) is
being detained by the Federal Police until he moves
his bowels. Say what? During an end of season footy
trip to Thailand, Ray was roped into becoming a drug
mule and is now carrying 20 condoms of heroin
inside his stomach. That’s what the Feds are waiting
for, but Ray defiantly refuses to go number two –
and they can only hold him for a maximum of seven
days without evidence. But can he hold on that long? Co-directed
by Sampson from a script he wrote with Leigh Whannell (Saw) and
Jaime Browne, The Mule is a blackly amusing crime drama that
wrings suspense from a simple premise and builds to a potentially
explosive climax.
It’s what’s inside that counts
THE MULE
Rob Reiner has directed romantic comedy When
Harry Met Sally and seniors’ comedy The Bucket
List. Now he’s combined the two in grey market
rom-com And So It Goes, pairing Diane Keaton’s
widow with Michael Douglas’s cantankerous realtor.
“I’ve sold houses older than you, in a lot worse
condition,” he tells her. Throw in a granddaughter he
never knew he had and hey presto – instant family.
Fortunately, Douglas’s butt-baring days (circa Fatal
Attraction and Basic Instinct) are, er, behind him,
but he can still play obnoxious characters with gusto. Keaton’s
already a pro at this kind of film, having romanced Jack Nicholson
in Something’s Gotta Give. Together, they add spark to a predictable
but winsome rom-com for sixtysomethings.
When Diane met Douglas
AND SO IT GOES
Woody Allen returns to France – the location of his
most successful film, Midnight in Paris – for another
whimsical mixture of magic realism and romance.
A period piece set during the late 1920s, Magic in
the Moonlight follows Stanley (Colin Firth), a stage
magician and debunker of phony spiritualists, in
his attempts to expose Sophie (Emma Stone), an
American medium who’s been holding seances for
a wealthy family in the Riviera. Whether or not she’s
the real deal soon becomes incidental; you don’t
need to be clairvoyant to realise that Stanley will be won over by
the lovely Sophie’s charms. Firth and Stone prove a great match,
and they’re supported by seasoned pros like Jacki Weaver and
Eileen Atkins. It’s whimsical. It’s Woody.
Woody’s latest enchants
MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT
Format: Release Date:11/12/14
Format: Release Date: 03/12/14
Format: Release Date:03/12/14
Format: Release Date: 31/12/14
COMEDY