Film: Detachment

Substitute teacher Henry Barthes (Adrien Brody) arrives at a High School full of rebellious teenagers and attempts to make a difference.

While coping with numerous issues at the school Henry also has to deal with the failing health of his elderly Grand-father and the welfare of young hooker Erica who he befriends during many late night bus rides.

This story has been done many times before (Dangerous Minds, The Principal) but Brody’s performance along with that of the rest of the cast, which includes James Caan, Christina Hendricks and Lucy Liu, elevate this from the pack.

Detachment is a powerful and emotional film but the constant down-at-heel feeling could have been helped by some lighter moments.  The overall mood created is one of despair and I can’t help thinking that it needn’t have been quite so vivid.

Detachment is available everywhere on DVD and is currently showing on Sky Movies in the UK.

Ric’s Rating: Highly Recommended.

Film: Splice

Interesting creature feature from the Director of cult movie Cube.

Two scientists create a creature from the DNA of numerous different animals and use it for medical research. When they are told they cannot use human DNA in their latest creation they decide to go ahead and do it anyway.

When the creature, Dren, is born she is spirited away and kept in hiding as she rapidly matures.

I then expected some sort of monster on the rampage film but this is not the case. What we have is a study of Dren's strange relationship with her "parents" played by The Pianist himself, Adrien Brody, and Sarah Polley.

It's a fine entry into the genre but it does take it's time to get to the point.

Thought provoking but not suitable accompaniment for a six pack.

Ric's Rating: 67%

Film: Predators

This latest attempt to kickstart the franchise sees the unlikely choice of
Adrien Brody stepping into Arnie's shoes.

It's pretty much a sequel to the original and kicks off with a group of (mostly military) people finding themselves in an unknown place.

The Predators then start hunting them down.

No need to go on about the story as that's about it, the film is about the action and I really don't think there was enough of it, actually I reckon A v P had more.

Brody shows his versatility as a believable action star and the rest of the cast are adequate without being outstanding although Walton Goggins from TV's The Shield steals a few scenes.

No new twists here and not a patch on the original, this just about gets by as a straight forward action movie but I wouldn't recommend a cinema visit, wait for the DVD.

Ric's Rating: 53%