Get you entries in and be part of one of the fastest growing popular international festivals in Africa.

Film Reviews:

"Bridget Jones Diary: The Edge of Reason" ***

NOMINATED for the Golden Globe Best Actress Award, which she didn't win, Renee Zellweger did not reprise her success in "Bridget Jones Diary" in "BJD: The Edge of Reason." This was because the script adaptation of Helen Fielding's novel turned what should have been a comedy into a caricature. Consequently, Zellweger's performance went over the top. She was more British than the British, more plummy and mannered in voice and action and relied on superficial "ham-comicality" with little sub text to perform her role. Fortunately, the script didn't mangle her two leading men's roles quite so much. Colin Firth as Mark Darcy, a human rights lawyer and Hugh Grant as a heart-throb television presenter were both better scripted and therefore well acted.

Down the line from the first "BJD", BJ is still looking for Mr Right. She thinks she might have found him in Darcy, but her bumbling clumsiness embarrasses both her and him and they break up for a while. She's slowly climbing the TV presenter's ladder and does a live skydive to find out if it's dangerous or not. Predictably, she muffs it and expects to be fired from her job. But the powers-that-be think she's great and send her off to Thailand with Cleaver to do a documentary with him. What was unnerving was seeing gorgeous shots of Thailand's lovely beaches on Phuket and other tourists resorts, recently seen on news items demolished in the tsunami disaster. They are recognisably the same beaches. There are many amusing twists and turns in the plot and its a nice three star way to spend a couple of idle hours.

"The Door in the Floor" **

ALL grief is terrible. But possibly the worst, most tearing experience is when parents lose a child through accident or illness. Often the marriage breaks down irretrievably with feelings of blame and guilt even when there is no such reason for these feelings.

Certainly most marriages go through a bad time and many changes as the parents adjust to the loss.

Written and directed by Tod Williams, "The Door in the Floor" deals with this tradegy in Ted (Jeff Bridges) and Marion (Kim Basinger) Cole's lives. Ted is a successful writer and painter; he illustrates his own children's books. He's also a womaniser, often with his female models. Marion copes with this. The couple have moved to a beach property in Massachusetts' arty community to start a new life, have another child, the four year old Ruth (Elle Fanning - her elder sister Dakota who was superb in "Man on Fire," a very talented pair!), and generally try to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.

The move hasn't worked and the pair are separating. Into this tourmoil comes a young high school student, Eddie (Jon Foster) who wants to take up writing himself and has been employed by Ted as his assistant during the summer holiday. Aware of the impending more and more intricate and difficult as relationships change, move and break asunder.

As the publicity blurb says "The most dangerous secrets are the ones we're afraid to tell ourselves." The "Door in the Floor" is a popular psychology euphemism for the painful process of exploring the hidden basement emotions that sometimes rule people's motivations and lives. The film might have been better if this had been explored more honestly instead of pandering to the worst simplistic surface generalities of the situation. Two stars, particularly for little Fanning's excellent performance.

Comments (0)

Show/Hide comments

Show/Hide comment form