By Sean Kelly
It was busy time for me at the Toronto Film Festival as I saw about ten or so films over the course of the week-long festival. I wrote reviews for films throughout the week; however, now that the festival is over I’ve decided to write some brief thoughts on films that I saw, but never had a time to write a full review for. And what a fine batch it was, for the most part.
Leslie, My Name is Evil
Directed by Reginald Harkema
Canada
Part of the Vanguard Programme
Reginald Harkema follows up his 2006 film Monkey Warfare with a dark comedy about a young man dealing with his infatuation for a member of the Manson Family while serving on the jury for their trial.
This film does risk some backlash by trying to make us sympathize with the title character of Leslie by showing the situations that lead her to joining with Charles Manson and participating in the Manson Family’s brutal murders. That said, the film definitely doesn’t candy coat the family’s actions and does contain many dark moments that contrast with the humourous moments. I have to say that it was a pretty decent film overall.
Get Low
Directed by Aaron Schneider
USA
Part of the Gala Presentations Programme
Having made slightly more eccentric picks for the festival this year, it was nice that I could fit in at least one ensemble drama.
This film stars Robert Duvall as an old hermit who gets the wild idea to hold a public funeral for himself while he is still alive. Bill Murray plays the director of the funeral home and adds wit to what is otherwise a serious drama.
Get Low is definitely one of the highlights of this year’s festival and might even result in a future Oscar nomination for Duvall’s performance.
Bunny & The Bull
Directed by Paul King
UK
Part of the Vanguard Programme
This British comedy is definitely one of the more unique films I saw at the festival this year. Most of the film features live-action actors against artificial backdrops, which results in a very surreal look.
This film will definitely be enjoyed by those that typically enjoy the more unusual comedy that comes out of the UK, rather than the more mainstream work of directors such as Edgar Wright. Definitely worth checking out if you can.
Solitary Man
Directed by Brian Koppelman and David Levien
USA
Part of the Special Presentations Programme
I would call this film a midlife-crisis movie if it weren’t for the fact that Michael Douglas is probably now a little too old to be having a midlife crisis.
Douglas stars as Ben, a formerly highly successful car salesman, who has recently fallen into disgrace after being caught committing fraud and is trying to work his way back to the top. His main obstacle is that he is a big womanizer, which always gets him into trouble.
Solitary Man is a fairly decent dramatic comedy, with a good performance by Douglas. There are also some good supporting roles, including The Office’s Jenna Fischer showing off her dramatic side as Ben’s suffering daughter, Susan Surandon as Ben’s ex-wife, and Danny DeVito playing the best friend Ben never knew he had.
Pretty good film.
The Hole
Directed by Joe Dante
USA
Part of the Special Presentations Programme
Gremlins is one of my favourite movies, so it was great seeing Dante return with this teen-oriented thriller, which is also the first film to be shown at the festival in 3D.
I haven’t seen many 3D films to compare, but The Hole is a good example of how live-action 3D films are improving. Most of the 3D effects in this film involve depth (such as shots looking down the titular hole) and there are very few of the gimmicky “pop-out” effects that are usually present in 3D films. Essentially, the film involves a group of teens who find a supposedly bottomless hole under a trapdoor in their basement. The hole goes on to release the teens’ biggest fears into the world, my favourite of which is a killer clown puppet that really brings back memories of Gremlins.
Even though the film is aimed at a PG-13 demographic, I still quite enjoyed the film and consider it one of my favourites of the festival.
Sammen (Together)
Directed by Matias Armand Jordal
Norway
Part of the Discovery Programme
I was looking for a final ticket to buy for the festival and I remembered this film as one of the P&I screenings I was stationed at during my volunteer shifts, so I decided to check it out (especially since I don’t often see as many foreign films at the festival as I probably should).
Sammen (Together) is a pretty standard film festival-type drama, as it involves a man trying to move on with his son after the tragic death of his wife (which was partially the man’s fault).
At the very least, the film kept me intrigued and though it wasn’t a film I picked right off the bat, I still thought it was a passable drama.
The Disappearance of Alice Creed
Directed by J Blakeson
UK
Part of the Discovery Programme
This film was a great way for me to finish off my festival experience. The Disappearance of Alice Creed is a very tight ensemble piece that only stars three actors and for the most part takes place in a single location (making it almost like a cinematic play).
Two criminals kidnap the title character and hold her in an apartment while they wait for the ransom. It is probably best that this is all one knows about the film before seeing it, since there are twists throughout that really change the dynamic of the story.
Overall, it was a very intriguing thriller and it ends up being second only to Suck as my favourite film of the festival.
Also, I have to say it was very classy for director J Blakeson to not only still be in the city on the final night, but to also give a Q&A afterwards. Since I’ve experienced so many late-festival screenings with no Q&As, it was definitely a nice change of pace.
