What's on Film Reviews
Action packed thriller
The International
action
Dir: Tom Tykwer
Cast: Clive Owen, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Brian F O'Byrne, James Rebhorn, Naomi Watts
Theatre: PVR
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What's it about: Agent Salinger (Clive Owen) is a handsome loner and Interpol agent in a quest to the IBBC, a Luxembourg banking enterprise which he believes has secret dealings with a company supplying weapons. As he delves deep into the case, he partners with New York's assistant district attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) and together they begin to dig into Salinger meets his match in IBBC adviser Wexler (Armin Mueller-Stahl). In their high voltage interactions, Wexler draws out the disparity between truth and fiction. And though in fiction, the good guys win, reality is rather different.
What's hot: Clive Owen who will remind you of Agent 007 with au00a0 Quixotic twist. As he globetrots from New York to Manhattan to Istanbul, Clive proves his mettle in carrying off an action packed thriller. The dialogues between Clive and Wexler are power-packed.
What's not: The shootout at the Guggenheim Museum, though quite intriguing, gets a little long-drawn and far-fetched. When the shooting starts in the museum, there are countless guards in view but when it continues, there is not a single guard in sight. Were they unarmed and did they run in the right direction, unlike a fewu00a0 gallery patrons who keep screaming and running helter-skelter?u00a0
Verdict: If action films are what get your adrenaline racing, go for this one. Considering that the movie drought continues because of the face-off between producers and multiplexes, you don't have much choice, anyway.
Hues and wedding blues
Chellidaru Sampigeya
Drama
Dir:u00a0 S Narayan
Cast: Prashant, Vishwas, Bianca, Anath Nag, Spoorthi
Theatres: Abhinay, PVR
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What's it about: It's the story of four youngsters who sit around and do nothing. Their biggest dilemma seems to be whether or not to get married! Soumya (Bianca Desai), daughter of landlord Swamy Gowda (Ananth Nag) is all set to tie the knot with Puttaraju (Prashanth), who hails from the same village and a well-to-do family.
Puttaraju is all excited about the marriage. But his dreams of marrying the beautiful lass are short lived as he gets to know that his fiance had an affair with a guy called Kishore (Vishwas) during her college days. Sowmya too confesses that she had been in love with Kishore, who supposedly cheated her. Puttaraju then sets on tracking down Kishore to teach him a lesson for cheating Soumya.
What's Hot: The entire cast has done a neat job. Sundar Raj and Doddanna stand out.
What's Not: The script is downright awful in places. So is the camerawork and music. Chellidaru Sampigeya, directed by S Narayan, is a frame-to-frame remake of Telugu blockbuster Chandamama. It's also very loud and utterly out of step with definitions and dimensions of courtship and romance.
Verdict: Silly, mindless fare
