THE AWAKENING
Cert 15, 105 mins
* * * *
In 1921, Britain is still reeling from the million-plus souls lost during the Great War and the Spanish Flu – as viewers of Downton Abbey well know.
There are plenty of charlatans trying to capitalise on the increased interest in trying to contact the dead.
But out to expose the sham seances and fake mediums is author Florence Cathcart (Rebecca Hall). She’s a rare thing in that she’s an ‘‘educated woman’’ who’s been to university, an achievement viewed with suspicion by many. She’s a kind of ghostbuster, except “you can’t hunt what doesn’t exist”.
Asking for her help is Robert Mallory (Dominic West), a history teacher at a boys’ prep school in the Lake District he claims is being haunted by the ghost of a murdered boy. Now a pupil has died, apparently having been scared to death. After some persuasion, Florence agrees to visit the school to debunk the ghostly mystery.
She may not believe in an afterlife, but she’s clearly haunted by her own guilt and memories of a loved one who has died in battle. And Mallory has his own wartime demons to conquer.
Among the school’s staff members are matron Imelda Staunton, head John Shrapnel, handyman Joseph Mawle and teacher Shaun Dooley.
As night draws in at the isolated house, Florence sets up her high-tech – for the 1920s – ghostbusting equipment in a bid to catch whoever she thinks is pretending to be a ghost.
This is where it becomes a little like Paranormal Activity, only it’s far better crafted and more original. The Awakening is filmed in a much more elegant and atmospheric way, with a far superior cast and dialogue.
The tension builds as spinetingling events play out, in what is a clever cross between a whodunnit, a ghost story and a romance with overtones of the spooky 2007 film The Orphanage.
Yes, it gets a little melodramatic and nonsensical towards the end, but it’s still compelling. I left feeling a little shaken and unnerved. It’s always a good sign when a film manages to get under your skin, and this one resonates for quite some time afterwards.
RL
TOWER HEIST
Cert 12A, 104 mins
* * *
Eddie Murphy was once top of the A list, but the Beverly Hills Cop and Trading Places star hasn’t done much of critical note this century, aside from being Oscar nominated in 2007 for his best supporting actor performance in Bill Condon’s Dreamgirls.
Four years on and still only aged 50, he’s back to his fast-talking, lip-quipping ‘‘best’’ in Tower Heist, delivering lines like he’s a razor sharp 25-year-old again. Fine, if that’s what you like about him.
But, and this is a big but, he lets himself down, with references to the ‘n’ word and, just as uncomfortably for parents who take their under 12s to see this, a graphic discussion about the values of lesbians and breasts.
Other than that, Tower Heist is a competently made movie which fits comfortably into the genre which the title instantly signposts.
There are even two stronger than average female roles – one for the Oscar-nominated star of Precious, Gabourey Sidibe as maid Odessa Mentero. And Téa Leoni is strong as the throaty FBI agent Claire Denham.
There’s a good set-up in the opening act and some larger-than-life stuntwork to follow which anyone with vertigo would do well to avoid.
Ben Stiller plays building manager Josh Kovacs who emphasises honesty in the workplace.
When it transpires that Wall Street billionaire Alan Alda has been gambling with the workers’ pensions, they decide they will have to turn to crime in order to get their money back.
A likeable cast with new axes to grind include Matthew Broderick, Casey Affleck and Michael Peña.
This is where Slide (Murphy) comes in, a small time crook who dares them all to go shoplifting in order to prove they are worth his time.
Of all of Hollywood’s recent comedy ideas, this is one of the dumbest as Rush Hour director Brett Ratner appears to be suggesting that it would be all right to walk into someone else’s shop and take anything you fancy.
GY
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