Regulars
Vivid CINEMA
November 2004
FAHRENHEIT 9/11
Director: Michael Moore
Writer: Michael Moore
Stars: Michael Moore, George W Bush, Al Gore, Lila Lipscombe, Condoleezza
Rice, Britney Spears, Donald Rumsfeld, Robert De Niro, Dick Cheney
Certificate: 15
Running time: 122 minutes
Made: US 2000
Premieres: 12th November
Rating: 
After rage and counter rage, accusations exploding like shrapnel,
the Walt Disney corporation disowning the film before Cannes and the Palme
D’Or, it seems as if Michael Moore’s documentary on the failings
of the Bush administration and how it has damaged the reputation of America
throughout the world is already history.
For two years after the attack on the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon
building in Washington by Saudi extremists, it was deemed unpatriotic - treasonable,
if you will - to criticise the government. Words such as 'freedom,' 'terror,'
'security' and 'homeland' were used to smother dissent and divert attention
from the truth of what was happening at Guantanamo Bay and in bomb-shattered
suburbs of Baghdad.
The feeling of ordinary people everywhere is helplessness and fury. Fahrenheit
9/11 reflects this admirably.
Since the film was made, Richard Clarke’s insider revelations have been
published and the scandal at Abu Ghraib exposed. There seems no end to the
horror, the double talk, the lies and the appalling diplomatic - let alone
humanitarian - catastrophe. And yet the man stands. Or rather, the men - Bush
and Blair.
Compared to the anger felt by those who watch, incredulous, at the rampant
arrogance of the neo-cons in the White House and the (allegedly) socialist
prime minister of Great Britain, Moore appears almost gentle in his admonishment.
Inundated with too much negative information and not enough time to nail down
the hypocrisies/corruption/contradictions, he softens the blow with humour.
For those who can remember life before 9/11, George Dubya’s impact as
president was even more laid back than that of Ronald Reagan. Moore notes
that he spent 42 per cent of his first year on holiday. He ignored warnings
about al-Qaeda, cut back anti-terrorist budgets and cared little for foreign
affairs, except to get the guy who tried to kill his daddy.
Moore remains mostly off screen, unlike in Bowling For Columbine, taking the
role of investigative journalist, exposing the Bush family’s connection
with the bin Ladens and other shady deals on the Middle East/Texas axis, as
well as George Jnr’s failure in the oil business, before being shoehorned
into state politics on the back of his name. To say that it stinks is like
pinning a label on a skunk’s tail that reads: BE NICE OR ELSE.
With the use of film snaps from off duty moments and government leaders ‘in
make up’, he can undermine their dignity with ease, but what comes across
naturally is Bush’s schoolboy charm. He appears diminished, intellectually
dwarfed by the hard-faced grownups surrounding him, and surprisingly vulnerable,
as he sits on a child’s chair in a primary school in Florida, reading
My Pet Goat, after being informed by an aide on 11th September that his nation
is under attack.
When the film stretches beyond propagandist hyperbole, it reaches the bloody
corpse of Bush’s good intentions, to a mother from Moore’s home
town still grieving the death of her son, the soldiers in the field who say
they didn’t come here to kill innocent people and Iraqis howling amongst
the ruins of their bombed houses.
Moore has too much to say to be consistently coherent. Fahrenheit 9/11 requires
a second sitting to take it all in. By the end, you are left, like the lady
from Flint, choking back tears of pain and fury.
'' Why?'' she demands. ''Why?''
Moore asks a Congressman about passing the Patriot Bill without reading it.
''We don’t read most of the bills we pass,'' he says, offering a tired
smile.
Let freedom reign!
WIMBLEDON
Director: Richard Loncraine
Writer: Adam Brooks, Jennifer Flackett, Mark Levin
Stars: Paul Bettany, Kirsten Dunst, Robert Lindsay, Celia Imrie, James McAvoy,
Bernard Hill, Eleanor Bron, Sam Neill, Jeremy Child, Jon Favreau, Penny Ryder,
Annabel Leventon, Amanda Walker, John McEnroe, Chris Evert
Certificate: 12A
Running time: 122 minutes
Made: UK 2004
Premieres: 12th November
Rating: 
Wimbledon is the latest charming
romantic comedy from Working Title, the people behind Notting
Hill and Love Actually. That the film is good, rather than great,
is presumably because the script isn’t by Richard Curtis, the undisputed
master of the genre.
The film stars Paul Bettany as Peter Colt, a British tennis player coming
to the end of an undistinguished career. While playing his final Wimbledon
tournament, he is seduced by brash American superstar Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten
Dunst) and finds his game starts to dramatically improve.
Wimbledon has some good scenes and is consistently funny. When Peter’s
mum complains that his dad suspects her of having an affair, he replies wearily,
''Mum, he saw you snogging in the car park.''
I also liked Peter’s first press conference, where he announces his
imminent retirement just as the journalists spot someone more interesting
and desert him. The romance is convincing, too, with real chemistry between
the leads. Bettany reminds us of the comic talents he displayed so memorably
in A Knight’s Tale and Dunst is appropriately driven in a slightly underwritten
role.
The film does suffer from the lack of Curtis’s sparkling dialogue, but
is nonetheless a thoroughly enjoyable rom-com. It may not be as good as Love
Actually, but very few films are.
These reviews first appeared on insideout, an Internet-based review of
films, videos and DVDs, which is accessible at www.io.co.uk
