Much Ado About Nothing Reviewed by Mark Adams


A warm, funny and breezy contemporary version of Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare’s comedy of love and misunderstanding, Joss Whedon’s impressively made film sees him pull together a stock company of performers who have worked with him in the past and come up with a film that will work for Whedon fans and may also impress lovers of the Bard. Presented in black and white, the film was made


during the brief holiday Whedon had between wrapping principal photography of Marvel’s The Avengers and starting on post-production, with Whedon shooting the entire film at his Los Angeles home in just under 12 days. Clearly a labour of love — the influence of


Shakespeare can be seen in Whedon’s TV work — his adaptation of this accessible and funny play is entertaining and pacy, with his core cast (Nathan Fillion in particular) playing to Whedon’s loyal supporters. The number of well-known — espe- cially in TV — faces will help release, though it is notoriously difficult (as Ralph Fiennes found with Coriolanus) to break out to mainstream audiences. Set in the modern day, Leonato (Clark Gregg,


from The Avengers) is visited by his friend Don Pedro (Diamond) and two of his officers, Benedick (Denisof) and Claudio (Kranz). While at his house, Claudio falls for Leonato’s daughter Hero (Morgese) while Benedick verbally spars with Bea- trice (Acker), Leonato’s niece.


SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS


US. 2012. 107mins Director/screenplay/ producer/music Joss Whedon Production company Bellwether Pictures Sales contact CAA, www.caa.com Executive producer Kai Cole Co-producer Daniel S Kaminsky Cinematography Jay Hunter Editors Daniel S Kaminsky, Joss Whedon Production designers Cindy Chao, Michele Yu Main cast Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Nathan Fillion, Fran Kranz, Jillian Morgese, Sean Maher, Reed Diamond, Clark Gregg, Tom Lenk, Ashley Johnson, Riki Lindhome, Spencer Treat Clark


With a marriage between Claudio and Hero


planned, Don Pedro’s evil brother Don John (Maher) plots to cause trouble by destroying the marriage before it can even happen, while at the same time Benedick and Beatrice start to fall in love. With comic and tragic events waiting in the wings, the stage is set for two couples to find a way to love and happiness. Amy Acker (who starred in Buffy The Vampire


Slayer spin-off Angel, as well as the Whedon-pro- duced Dollhouse and recent film The Cabin In The Woods) and Alexis Denisof (from Buffy and Angel) are thoroughly charming as Beatrice and Ben- edick, and especially at ease in some broadly


played comedy moments. Equally striking is new- comer Jillian Morgese as Hero, who was spotted by Whedon working as an extra on The Avengers. Fillion (from TV hit Castle, and who also starred


in Buffy, Firefly and Serenity) is a delight as ‘law enforcer’ Dogberry, with he and his on-screen part- ner Tom Lenk (from Buffy) hitting the comedy sweetspots and really playing to the audience. The fact Whedon also produced, co-edited and


provided the score is testimony to his commitment to something that appears small and niche, but which could well play the festival circuit and bene- fit from strong word of mouth from Whedon’s sub- stantial fanbase.


The Place Beyond The Pines Reviewed by Anthony Kaufman


SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS


Following Blue Valentine, his intimate, wrenching story of a relationship’s unravelling, director Derek Cianfrance takes on a broader canvas with The Place Beyond The Pines, a stylish story of interlock- ing families, generational links and redemption in upstate New York. Cianfrance shows a continuing maturity in his


film-making style, and once again shows a talent for narrative complexity, keeping the audience on its toes as the story divides into three distinct sec- tions spanning 15 years. But The Place Beyond The Pines does not have the emotional power of Blue Valentine; despite flashes of poignancy, this movie lacks the same gut-pummelling weight. Still, given Ryan Gosling’s rising stardom and a


handful of thrilling sequences, arthouse bookings are assured and — with strong marketing — dis- tributors could make a case for wider theatrical release. Pines opens forcefully with a close-up of a man


flinging a swing blade; the camera then pulls back to reveal the broad shoulders and tattooed figure of a man on a mission, as we follow him out of a trailer, through the hustle, bustle and flashing lights of a carnival, and then onto a motorcycle, where the full, peroxide blond, leather-jacketed fig- ure of stunt cyclist Luke (Gosling) emerges. Cut from the same cloth as his character in Nico- las Winding Refn’s Drive, Gosling’s Luke is a sensi-


n 10 Screen International at Toronto September 10, 2012


US. 2012. 140mins Director Derek Cianfrance Production companies Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Electric City Entertainment, Verisimilitude International sales Sierra/Affinity, www.sierra- affinity.com Producers Jamie Patricof, Lynette Howell, Alex Orlovsky, Sidney Kimmel Executive producers Jim Tauber, Matt Berenson, Bruce Toll Screenplay Ben Coccio, Darius Marder, Derek Cianfrance Main cast Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Rose Byrne, Ben Mendelsohn, Mahershala Ali, Dane DeHaan, Emory Cohen, Ray Liotta


tive, violence-prone bad-ass, a man who lives for speed, but then shows his gentle side when he learns he has a young son, with one-time fling Romina (Mendes). When Luke decides to abandon his itinerant


ways to bond with his child, he finds going straight a challenge. Soon, he shacks up with a likeable, bedraggled hillbilly mechanic (terrific Aussie actor Ben Mendelsohn, radiating equal parts victim and crook) and begins robbing banks to provide for his newfound family. In a surprising narrative pivot, the film’s second section follows novice police officer Avery Cross


(Cooper), who is hailed as a hero for shooting a bank robber, but then discovers rampant corrup- tion in his department. While dealing with immoral cops (Ray Liotta steals a few scenes as a veteran officer), Avery must also contend with the guilt he feels for killing another man. Gosling is given a few moments to exude his


now familiar mix of warmth and toughness, but as the film unfolds, it is clear his character is more of a catalyst than a protagonist. Ultimately, Pines is actually Bradley Cooper’s show, and he delivers a finely calibrated performance as a man facing mul- tiple moral dilemmas.


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