timothywalton-31924

I am sure when it came out, The Sting was an absolute sensation. It had an intelligent story with clever twists, gleeful, charming main characters, and a satisfying pay off. Many of these aspects still hold up well today, with the new 4K remaster providing gorgeous picture resolution and saturated colours. Robert Redford was absolutely charming as hooker, and Paul Newman appropriately suave. But the story is perhaps not as great as it once was. After The Sting, we had Thomas Crown, Ocean's eleven, Now you see me, Logan Lucky, and an absolute barrage of other caper movies with clever plotting. That is before talking about television, where many of the tautest iterations of the genre can be found: hustle, leverage, White collar, Money Heist, Lupin. So after five decades of such material, the story in The Sting didn't feel that special to me. Sure it was nicely constructed, with a smart twist at the end. And there are many taut moments in the film. But it still runs a tad too long, perhaps in its introduction. Otherwise, a well crafted film that is probing one of the landmarks of the light caper genre, though slightly diminished by what came after.

Leon The Professional Is a rather unique film that sets itself apart from the common American shooting festivals of its time. It is decidedly stylish and artful, and its themes are much more profound than your common action film. Many things have been written about Leon, and several of these have become legendary. Leon features a young Gary Oldman in an exquisitely psychotic performance, which is deliciously over the top. Oldman's Stanfield is absolutely unhinged, insane, and genuinely terrifying. Then there is the even younger Natalie Portman, who offers a powerhouse performance at only twelve years old. She is given a lot of screen time. Ordinarily casting twelve year old as a film's lead is a courageous choice, but Portman is hardly ordinary. She navigates the material deftly, and her character blossoms from a lonely twelve year old who's just lost her family to one who becomes more self assured. Then there is the magnificent Jean Reno, whose character also makes a transformation. He turns from an emotionless contract killer into an empathetic, loving father to Portman's Mathilda.

Many viewers of Leon however might feel uncomfortable at the film's central relationship. I find it mostly tolerable, though it does cross the line into dangerous in some scenes. For a girl who has never felt affection her entire life, it is probably more realistic that she could have an unhealthy romantic fixation with Leon. But some of the writing veers into creepy at times. There is a wealth of film which better portrays platonic relationships(though admittedly none of these films involved a little girl). My main gripe is however not with this problematic portrayal. It is with the slow mid section. After a dazzling introduction, the film slows down too much and almost abandons its central plot line. It takes far too long exploring the relationship between Mathilda and Leon in its mid section, and it moves far too slowly. It is only at the ninety minute mark where the main plot line involving Stanfield is picked up again, where the film races to its thrilling conclusion. That is far too slow for my liking.

But at the end of the day, there are still many things to like about Leon. It is shot in a gritty but stylish aesthetic, and the aforementioned performances are brilliant. The final thirty minutes of the film are also outstanding in its choreography. It is very much a "one man army". It is both tense and incredibly satisfying to watch. There is also some thought provoking symbolism involving a house plant going on. But the middle hour of the film is much too slow, and that, along with its sometimes problematic portrayal of a man and a little girl, means I cannot say I liked this film as much as others did.

For fans of car chase films, baby driver is a godsend. It is packed with impressive stunts that look and feel visceral, awe inspiring, yet realistic at the same time. There's also an absolute crazy final sequence where a tenacious villain character appears pretty much immortal to whatever our main character does. Worthy of praise are also the performances. Ansel Elgort's baby is portrayed as reticent but his facial language betrays a deep moral conflict with the work he is doing. Lily James also pulls off a very convincing American accent as Debora, and she is a perfect match for the kind and sensitive Baby. Together they share wonderful chemistry. Also magnificent was the cinematography and set design. This is a wonderfully retro film, with neon lights, huge American cars, and brightly lit scenes.

But ultimately this wasn't one of those films that clicked much with me, so I couldn't rate it higher. Sure, it is quite fun, but I wouldn't venture so far to call it thrilling. When there is action there is a lot of it, but when there isn't, the film can feel surprisingly slow. It is also portrayed with a light atmosphere, with some clever jokes, but I wouldn't call it a comedy. Notably, this film is also practically a musical in itself, for almost all of the action is punctuated by some kind of hit music track. I never did like popular music, I much preferred my films to have lush orchestral scores, so I can certainly appreciate but cannot fully connect to the music here. All this means I don't really know what to feel about baby driver. It certainly didn't disappoint me. But neither did it stun or shock me. It just that- a competently made yarn with colourful, well acted characters, a (supposedly) killer soundtrack, and a fair amount of intense action. Not exactly my cup of tea, but definitely worth a try.