Tag: Michael Caine

Best Sellers

Posted on by Paul Risker

Just as a writer weaves a tale of fiction, so do people construct the narrative of their lives. We take licence with and embellish the truth, or as the cantankerous writer of Best Sellers would say, it’s “bullshite.” We’re all storytellers at heart, and director Lina Roessler and writer Anthony Grieco’s Canadian comedy drama is humorous and warm, a thoughtful reflection of the lies we tell one another.

Lucy Stanbridge (Aubrey Plaza) is desperate for a bestseller. Without one, she’ll be forced to sell the publishing house she inherited from her father. When she discovers an old contract that says the reclusive one time author Harris Shaw (Michael Caine) owes her a book, Lucy sees an opportunity to hold onto her father’s legacy. Dragged along reluctantly on a book tour to promote his new novel, the first in more than 40 years, she struggles to prevent Harris’s antisocial outbursts going viral. As the two grow closer, secrets threaten their newfound relationship.

The appeal of Best Sellers is the journey we watch these two characters go on, who discover they have more in common than they first know. Each are weighed down by their insecurities, but unlike Lucy who wears hers on her sleeve, Harris guards his vulnerability.

From a mutually beneficial transactional relationship, their financial motivation is matched with a genuine mutual respect that brings with it surprising choices. If the story has a message, it’s that a warmth can lie beneath one’s abrasive personality, which may just be a defence mechanism against one’s vulnerabilities. The question is whether we will take the time to peer deeper into a person’s soul to discover who they are? Or as the old saying goes, never judge a book by its cover.

Best Sellers effuses a good-natured spirit in part because of Harris’ lewd personality. When Roessler and Grieco finally decide to show his gentler side, it carries more emotional weight, but the lewd humour also guards against the story becoming too saccharine or sentimental. In the tough world of publishing where success is hard-fought, the story airs on the side of optimism, not realism. It’s offset with darker shades of tragedy and personal anxiety that gives it the genuine vibe of a story that hasn’t been conceived, so much as characters encountered.

If so much of our lives are spent telling stories or constructing narratives, what does this say about the way creatives are represented in stories? Are they has habitually cantankerous as we make out, or is it exaggerating the artistic temperament for entertainment purposes? Thinking about Grady Tripp (Michael Douglas) in Wonder Boys (Hanson, 2000), the writer creates a storm in a tea cup, and Harris is a violent storm that spills over the top and onto the saucer. Stories need their characters to be less than perfect, to confront some personal or professional struggle. Hence, stories lean with a prejudice towards the more devilish side of the writer, and yet, they still manage to show their better natures.

Best Sellers opens the Raindance Independent Film Festival on Wednesday, October 27th

King of Thieves

Posted on by victorfraga

The Brits love a majesty. It could be a ruling monarch, a thespian or even a thief. Or a combination of any of the three. King of Thieves tells the real story of the infamous Hatton Garden heist, an incredibly audacious and unusual burglary that took place in 2015 in the heart of London. The “king” in the film title refers to 77-year-old gang leader Brian Reader, a cold and calculating crook. By extension, it also refers to the actor delivering the role: 86-year-old Sir Michael Caine.

The Hatton Garden Safe Deposit burglary confounded and perplexed Britain for many reasons when it took place just three ago. Firstly, because of the sheer amount of money taken: the goods stolen – mostly diamonds, gold, jewelry and cash – may have had a value of up to £200 million. Secondly, because London is the surveillance capital of the world, and few would believe that such crime could take place under the purview of the umpteen CCTV cameras on every corner and corridor of nearly every street and building in town. Thirdly and perhaps most significantly, the crime was carried out by a geriatric gang where the minimum age was 57 (except for one member, as man in his 30s known as Basil).

King of Thieves is a romanticised reconstruction of the robbery. Not that all men are painted as kind and generous. Some of them – particularly Brian Reader – are portrayed as selfish and aggressive males mostly concerned about how they will splash the vast amounts of money they are about to rob. Others are painted as kind and affable, sweet old men who find a slightly unorthodox way of making ends meet. The film almost seems to suggest that their actions are justified by the financial crisis. Plus, the whole ordeal is painted as exciting and adrenaline-inducing. Like a football match. To boot, Reader is so smug and confident that he seems to bask in the attention he gets for being a grey-haired bandit. This is a film that celebrates recklessness at old age, instead of challenging it.

In addition to the adrenaline, King of Thieves is intoxicated with a further hormone: testosterone. This is a lad’s film in almost every conceivable: the parlance, the jokes, the ambitions, the inhibitions. Overall, it wouldn’t perform very well on the Bechdel test! That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but does render the narrative a little Manneristic and tedious.

The humour isn’t entirely effective, either. The old-age jokes are mostly predictable (farting, incontinence, insulin injections, useless testicles), there are a few slapstick elements (particularly as the clumsy old men attempt to operate the heavy machinery required for the heist). Despite the obvious comparisons, King of Thieves is nothing like the Ealing comedy The Lavender Hill Mob (Charles Crichton, 1951). Not just because of the age of the criminals, but primarily because it isn’t as funny.

Also, there is virtually no room for character development. We hardly learn about the background and the motives of the elderly criminals. Instead the narrative focuses almost exclusively on the nuts and bolts of the actual crime and its aftermath (the police investigations).

Michael Caine is very comfortable in the skin of an arrogant and insensitive old man. His recent remarks about Brexit and criminality suggest that the actor has a certain disdain for the poor, and is entirely out-of-touch with the reality. He’s therefore a natural for the role.

The music is catchy and groovy enough. The score consists mostly of strings very much à la Pink Panther, in an attempt to make the entire predicament very elegant and cool. Plus there are a few indie and pop songs thrown in. And yet another majesty comes along, and this time it’s a “queen”. Shirley Bassey delivers the final note as it becomes increasingly clear that justice is inescapable. But which song is it? Diamonds are forever? Or maybe Goldfinger? I’m afraid you will have to watch the film for the answer!

King of Thieves is out in cinemas across the UK on Friday, September 14th. On VoD on Monday, January 14th (2019). On DVD and Blu-ray on Monday, January 21st. For a far more effective, humane and meaningful heist movie, watch American Animals (Bart Layton).