darrelltill

Look, this is a weird film. Not everybody will enjoy it. I recommended it to the most eccentric person I know and he turned it off after half an hour. But what if this is your favourite movie and you just don't know it yet? If you're into sci-fi and don't mind quirkiness, you need to watch this.

The movie has a comic book vibe - it's written as if budget is no object and anything is possible. Buckaroo is a brain surgeon, particle physicist, rock star, test pilot, martial arts expert and hero. That's a lot to process. But the joy of this film is figuring it out. It assumes you're intelligent and will put it together.

Chances are, you've watched something influenced by this movie. You'll think that the jet car is ripped off from the Back To The Future car, until you realise this came out a year before. Just like that band which never made it to the mainstream yet influenced all your favourite bands, Buckaroo Banzai is a movie-maker's movie. So many creatives have cited this as an influence.

I saw it on VHS some time in 1988 and loved it. It was one of the first DVDs I bought. Every time I watch it, I see something new.

If you haven't heard of this film, it is certainly not because it was bad. It was the number 1 film in cinemas in October 2001, but in a time of low attendance because the world was still reeling from 9/11. It's a near-perfect film. Fascinating, odd, funny, cool, poignant, sad. The two leads are perfect together. It's impossible to talk about any aspect of the film without giving spoilers, but I'll say that the film has both a satisfactory ending and an open-ended one. You are left with questions but are not bewildered, and I've found myself wanting to re-watch this film many, many times. Sometimes I'll hang off every word and take in all the amazing details, but the film is so beautifully shot with a chilled-out soundtrack and diffused lighting (that is part of the plot) that I can also enjoy it without overthinking. It has elements of sci-fi, but is a very human drama. If you have never seen it, your absolutely must rectify that.

It's not highbrow, it's not clever, it's not indie or artsy - it's just bad. Badly written, badly acted - even by the great Kate Winslet. You know a script is bad when the opening lines rely on heavy swearing to try and get laughs (not a titter from me). There are lots of familiar faces from things that do make me laugh and yet every one gives such an awkward performance it made me cringe. It's still early days for Apple TV and it feels like they are green-lighting a lot of stuff they don't really understand but are hoping finds an audience. I don't know who this will land with but it certainly didn't with me.