DONALD CLARKE& MICHAEL DWYERreview this week's DVD releases
THE ITALIAN JOB: 40TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION ****
Directed by Peter Collinson. Starring Michael Caine, Noël Coward, Benny Hill, Raf Vallone, Tony Beckley. PG cert.
The Italian Jobis nowhere near being a flawless film. I mean, it's not as if it's
The Great Escapeor anything. Troy Kennedy Martin's script is (or was) an absolute gem, but the stolid direction by Peter Collinson often squashes the life out of the best exchanges. Still, there is no denying that, like other deeply imperfect pleasures such as
Breakfast at Tiffany's,
The Italian Jobcontinues to have charm as a repository of some delightfully iconic sounds and images. The bus teetering over the cliff. "You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off." Those Minis zipping through Turin.
Kennedy Martin once told this writer that he never much fancied the finished film, so it is interesting to hear his musings on the commentary included with this decent 40th Anniversary release. The package also features another commentary from producer Michael Deeley and various trailers and deleted scenes.
DC
NOTORIOUS **
Directed by George Tillman Jr. Starring Jamal Woolard, Angela Bassett, Derek Luke, Anthony Mackie, Antonique Smith 18 cert
Woolard plays rapper The Notorious BIG, who was 24 when he was murdered in 1997. This formulaic biopic is disappointingly conventional but enlivened by its hip-hop soundtrack, and it helps that the cast bring vital presence and conviction to their underwritten roles.
IN THE CITY OF SYLVIA/EN LA CIUDAD DE SYLVIA **
Directed by Jose Luis Guerín. Starring Xavier Lafitte, Pilar López de Ayala PG cert
A young Frenchman returns to Strasbourg to seek out a woman he met there six years earlier. Director Guerín has no interest in addressing any narrative concerns in his meandering observational film.
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD ****
Directed by Kim Jee-woon Starring Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, Jung Woo-sung, Kim Pan-joo. 15A cert
The director of A Tale of Two Sisterspays homage to Sergio Leone in 1930s Manchuria.
At times, it feels like an overly referential postmodern gag, but Kim injects such unique chaos into proceedings that the film eventually starts to breathe its own air. Good, weird, but rarely bad.
FRANKLYN ***
Directed by Gerald McMorrow. Starring Eva Green, Ryan Phillippe, Sam Riley, Bernard Hill. 16 cert
Beautiful, perplexing, pretentious, infuriating British film set partly in modern-day London and partly in an elaborate gothic dystopia. The acting is strong and (particularly considering the low budget) the design is first-rate, but it will annoy as many viewers as it elates.
THE UNBORN *
Directed by David S Goyer. Starring Odette Yustman, Gary Oldman, Cam Gigandet, Meagan Good, Carla Gugino. 16 cert.
Dire horror film in which a near-nude young lady gets haunted by a twin brother who died in utero. Here’s all you need to know: about two-thirds of the way through, Rabbi Gary Oldman gets to blow a large ceremonial horn while performing an exorcism. It’s that sort of film.
PUNISHER: WAR ZONE *
Directed by Lexi Alexander. Starring Ray Stevenson, Doug Hutchinson. 18 cert.
The third film featuring Marvel comics’ most emotionally frigid vigilante is among the most gratuitously violent entertainments ever. Every time a bullet passes within the same zip code as a wrongdoer, at least half a pound of flesh is torn from his head. Sadly, the film has little else to recommend it.
