Champions, Rye Lane and Shazam! Fury of the Gods are among the latest crop of films that Alex has run the rule over.
Champions is every bit as feelgood as I'd hoped it would be. Woody Harrelson plays Marcus Marakovich, a fiery assistant coach for a minor league basketball team who winds up with 90 days' community service after drunkenly rear ending a cop car as his life comes off the rails.
We see cynicism turn to passion as he winds up coaching a team of "adults with intellectual disabilities". Coming from Bobby Farrelly, this is a remake of a Spanish film called Campeones. Harrelson previously starred in the Farrellys' mid-90s ten pin bowling comedy Kingpin, and was outstanding in Champions.
Kaitlin Olson is the sister of one of "The Friends", and also ends up entwined in a romantic sub-plot, going from Tinder hook-up to something more serious as the story progresses. Some have said the jokes are at the expense of the disabled actors, but I didn't feel that way, although a couple sail close to the wind. There's even an unexpected burst of the Pina Colada song, along with prominent Chumbawamba in the soundtrack. I get knocked down, but I get up again...subtle it isn't, but it's really well done.
Rye Lane is another corking romantic comedy, hot on the heels of What's Love Got To Do With It, and reminded me of the superb Richard Linklater films Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. Yas (Vivian Oprah) and Dom (David Jonsson) are both hurting badly following recent break-ups, and saunter through the streets of South London whilst getting to know each other.
I left the cinema full of optimism for life, and loved the Colin Firth cameo, one of several nods to the rom coms of yesteryear (scarily, Love Actually is 20 years ago now!). This was whipsmart, funny, and gives me hope for a genre that I thought might have died a death.
Mia Goth is astonishingly bananas in Pearl, described by the Times as "Judy Garland goes rogue on a farm". This is a prequel to last year's excellent X, which you can catch on Prime Video. You can't take your eyes off Pearl in the many standout scenes, including a raunchy dance with a scarecrow, bloody escapades with a pitchfork, and the notorious pond containing a hungry alligator which is central to several moments in X. Bonkers and brilliant.
Much like vanilla ice cream, Shazam! Fury of the Gods was OK, but not terribly exciting. I'm not sure it's a sequel the world was crying out for, Once again, Billy Batson can simply shout "Shazam" and rather than looking up obscure songs playing on pub jukeboxes (reference for our older readers there), he transforms himself into a superhero hoping to save the world from the evil clutches of the likes of Helen Mirren. I think my superhero saturation point has been reached.
Two more to briefly mention that I watched on DVD this week. Emily featured beautiful rolling Yorkshire hills but was all a bit dull. And Bill Murray shone in On The Rocks, with lines such as "women are like flowers. They are all beautiful at any age. Even dried flowers". He remains one of my favourite actors, delivering every line with panache. Worth a watch.
