Movie of the Week – Trumbo
There’s not much to get cinema-goers’ adrenaline rushing this week. The best of a mediocre bunch is Trumbo, the story of acclaimed Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who found himself blacklisted for most of the 1950s due to his communist leanings. Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston is great in the title role, but the movie dances around Trumbo’s views and never really gets inside the man’s head.
Strangerland
Nicole Kidman got her break in the 1990 Aussie thriller Dead Calm, and she returns to her homeland for another thriller this week. Strangerland features Kidman as the distraught mother of two teens who disappear in the dead of night. The resulting investigation turns over quite a few red rocks, exposing secrets in an outback town. We’ve seen this premise handled far more interestingly in the likes of TV’s Twin Peaks and The Killing, and Strangerland has little going for it other than some impressive performances.
Rams
Rams is an Icelandic drama featuring an estranged pair of brothers drawn together when a crisis hits their sheep farming community. Again, this one features some great acting, but there’s not enough drama to sink your teeth into. A weekend for perusing the DVD shelf then!
By Eric Hillis of themoviewaffler.com
